McGorilla42's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Drunk Guitar]

Oh, Audacity...I have fond memories of that DAW, if you can even call it that. That is a very interesting and weird VST you've found. It's actually quite believable and has pretty convincing articulations that an actual guitarist would use -- not sure if you or the plugin does that, but it sounds cool! Either way, you did a great job with playing your midi controller like a guitar! Nothing stood out as being "unplayable" :D

Very interesting piece overall. This would actually make a great backdrop to a scene in an old western film or game!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Yeah, it just shows how lazy a recording this was, haha xD
I actually recorded a second improv with the VST too, this time more balanced, in Cubase. But since I already uploaded one, I decided to not upload it here. If you're interested in the VST though, here's another demo I guess: https://instaud.io/1L57

I think it's really fun indeed. It's expressive in the weirdest of ways :D
Since it's so cheap, I just decided why not?

I'm surprised that it sounds playable to you, since I know you play the guitar! It probably helps that the controller is so small, and that I could listen to the instrument at the same time :)

I get the western feel out of this too! Thanks for the nice words ^____^

P.S. "not sure if you or the plugin does that" - It plays like that out of the box

[Näcken]

This is beautiful :) The chord that comes in 1:00 is so rich and a little crunchy and changes the mood. It's a short piece but it tells a story and gave me feelings of something drawing to an end (perhaps I'm imagining the end of a Zelda game or something, although that wasn't your intention).

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I think the chord at 1:00 is more or less the same as the chord from the start, but it gives a different feel since it's a bit lower (might have a different bass note too? I don't have headphones with me now, and I don't remember haha).

I think the length is alright, considering it fits the poem. I could make this a lot better with my new violin VST though. But I'll set my sights on future works instead :D
Thanks again!

[~SW~ 8 Bars]

I love the idea you and your friend had with sharing a progression and writing a song with it -- I'd enjoy doing the same with you some time!

Really cool track! That bass is juicy and fat and gritty and a tiny bit ugly (I mean that in a good way!) and I dig it. I also enjoy what you did with synth and getting it to sound guitar-y.

Great job, Skye! :D

SkyeWint responds:

Woo distorted bass! :D

Also, just put some overdrive and vibrato on a mod wheel for the synth so that it would distort like a guitar at will.

[-Last Day on Earth-]

This is rad, Predator! The mix and sounds you've used are all great! However, I feel like if you added a pad a bit sooner, it'd take this from sounding good to being amazing and really fat and huge, especially if you had something a bit more centred. Everything is panned really nicely and there's a great feeling of spaciousness, but it feels a bit lonely in the middle. Even your bass feels too spacious and not central. That snare could also be bit fatter and louder, I think.

Overall, you did a kickass job on this! I'm always impressed by what you're doing and can tell you're improving all the time and that's great :) Keep it up!

Preds responds:

Aww thank you so much! I'll work on the "snare power" and pads next time!

Lately I've been playing with new styles, tweaks and mixing, learning new stuff, improving a lot on the way!

Thanks again!

[-Ervo's Theme- [Ervo's Adventure OST]]

This is great! I wish the beat came in a bit sooner because it's so damn good once it drops. I know people hate being compared to others, but you remind me of Waterflame and Waterflame is fantastic so hopefully that comes across as the compliment it's intended to be!

Awesome work, Master Predator! :)

Preds responds:

My man! Thanks for the awesome words.

In the videogame version, the beat comes sooner, I made this variation here to extend a bit the song!

[Gentle Breeze (With Strings and Brass)]

Wonderful piece of music! I'm usually not a fan of "pretty" arpeggiated piano, but this somehow spoke to me and I enjoyed it. It feels sincere and creates a very peaceful, uplifting mood. The mix could do with a little tweaking (probably just some EQing around the low-mids), but I still love it!

Have you found someone to play this for you yet? I do read and play sheet music, but I'm not sure if I'll have time in the near future :( This actually sounds pretty convincing for MIDI so you did a great job with that too!

JessieYun responds:

Hello, MrGorilla.

Thank you very much for the comment and suggestion! So glad you enjoyed the piece!

No, not yet -- but will be happy to update when I find one! :)

[Look to the Stars | Project 5: Sightseer OST]

Ah, Finn this is fantastic! I'm impressed that you can nail this as well so many other styles. During NGADM I loved your work, but wrongly assumed that that was your only forte, but here you've shown you're incredibly versatile. Amazing. I could learn a lot from you!

FinnMK responds:

Thanks so much!

[We Are Heroes]

This is a really great track, Finn! I'm very excited to see how you and John/Ethan do against each other. Best of luck and congrats for making it so far!

FinnMK responds:

Thanks a bunch!

[C'mon, Girl]

Jordi + Fred = <3

Great work, guys and good luck for the grand finals!

johnfn responds:

McGorilla42 + us = <3

[Chapter II: Believe]

This is wonderful, Jordi! I'm so happy to see how well this turned out considering your mood and time pressure that was put on you. This piece felt truly sincere in a way that a lot of songs of such a deeply personal nature struggle to. I can't wait to see the results of this round and have my fingers crossed for you. Excellent work! :)

etherealwinds responds:

I think that a lot of the time, when you don't have to force a song, it will in some ways just create itself. It doesn't require a lot of effort or frustration, so I was lucky this time. I had put myself under a lot of pressure to force myself to create something before, and it's just nice sometimes to shed that and just make something without worrying about what you're making. <3