McGorilla42's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Reveries]

Wow, this is really damn good. Your voice is great and the melodies are very interesting. The way you've blended a bossa with an epic rock track is unique and impressive. And to think you did all of this in only two weeks...wow.

I'm sure you're going to kick butt once again in NGADM and I look forward to hearing everything you do!

bassfiddlejones responds:

Thank you sir gorilla, we worked hard!

[Deadshot Desperado]

God damn it, Connor, this is SO good. I love it! The way you layer sounds and have things popping in and out just for an instant is excellent and that blues solo was fantastic. You keep things interesting rhythmically throughout the song, but it has a consistent drive. Fantastic.

PS. Teach me, senpai.

ConnorGrail responds:

Glad to see you pop back in again, thanks for enjoying the tune.
P.S. If you non-ironically want some tips or feedback hit me up anytime

[Love Beyond Time]

Hey! This piece is really great. It's very interesting and atmospheric and your melodies are great. I've listened to some of your music before and have always enjoyed the way you tell stories and use instruments as characters.

I'm actually your competitor for this round of NGADM, so I had to see what you had done. Our pieces are COMPLETELY different, so seeing the results will be really interesting. I can't wait.

I wish you all the best! :) I'll upload mine a little later if you'd like to hear.

PomicStone responds:

Thank you very much! It really pleases me, that you appreciate my instrumental storytelling!
I'll go listen your submission for this round, it really is difficult to comparate two different genres.
It's very nice to see this friendly-competitive setting for this competition.
I wish you good luck!

[The Ultraviolet]

Killer as always, Jamie! I really dig the chorus and you HAVE to teach me how to do that cool stuttering effect at 2:25. Sweet solos, great riffs and pinch harmonics that aren't totally cheesy - 5*

TSRBand responds:

Thanks for listening! Glad you like how this one came out :D

[Magick]

Interesting track! Very atmospheric and dark. That bass at the start and throughout the piece seems a little off to me. It's almost in tune, but I think you've added some pitch-shift oscillator on it and it kinda warbles and makes it sound slightly out of tune (I tend to totally avoid any kind of pitch-shifting automation on bass as it's so foundational to a piece). Really enjoy the build around 2:15 and the section that comes after it. Think the drums might be a tiny bit loud, but this type of music is drum-driven, so that might just be my personal taste :) Maybe that bass is also part of a style I'm unfamiliar with? Either way, interesting piece!

Aterum responds:

Thank you! Witch house the genre is kind of characterized by its Lo-Fi sounds rich atmosphere and sometimes borderline dissonant nature, I definitely took inspiration for that element from the last minute of Mercenary by Crystal Castles. I did not however check how loud my layered drums in the second half of the track definitely something I'll try not to forget to do in the future. I appreciate the review!

[Machine]

Really like this. I see it fitting nicely into an action-based game on here. Enjoy the rhythmic basis of the track, but you employ good melodies into the chorus, which is nice. The mix is good, but I'm not too sold on that bass tone. Maybe it's just a little loud? I know this is an oldie for you, but I came here from your music thread :) Good work!

Aterum responds:

Thank you! yeah there's a few things I wish I could go back to change about this track but since it's last update I've have lost the project file, on top of the bass tones, I felt as though it had a very harsh high end especially towards the end of the track that makes it too unpleasant at high volume. I'm glad you enjoyed.

[BIT.TRIP REMIX [05] FATE]

Coming from R4R. Wow, this is nothing like I usually listen to and I'm not familiar with the songs that you have remixed, so hopefully I can give you some sort of meaningful view. If I must be honest, I actually have no idea what remixing involves, so I can't comment on how well you've done it, but it sounds flawless.

You create a uneasy atmosphere in the intro with some very interesting sound design. Curious to know what you did there, but I like it.

Overall the mix sounds pretty damn good. I'm really digging the sparse, dark atmosphere of the song and the slow build up. Each element you add sits nicely in the mix and there's little clutter. When you add something new, it takes the forefront and something else drops out, so it never feels messy, but there's always something to maintain interest in the mammoth of a song. Your melodies don't demand attention and remain subtle and I enjoy that. I actually envy it a little because I have a habit of wanting to make the melody the centre piece of my music and it prevents it from being too atmospheric in the way yours is (could totally picture your song in a game)

The change around 5:00 is good too. Enjoying the change in the rhythmic and percussive aspects of the song. Again, it feels like everything has been thought out and well placed in the mix. Nothing is there that shouldn't be there -- you aren't adding things to fill up space. I'm writing this review as I listen, I'm 7 minutes in and am in no way bored yet which is a feat within itself.

I haven't said anything bad yet. I don't even know what to criticise. I'm enjoying every aspect of this, from the musicality, to the production, from the sound design to the composition. You've done a great job here. Feel like I could learn a lot from you (if you have any resources to share, I'd love to see them!). I often feel like music in a similar vein shies away from elements of tradition composition, like melody and harmony and instead focus more on the percussive aspect of the music, but you've incorporated both the nerdier production side of music with the "traditional" aspects.

Great work! Looking forward to hearing more from you! :)

ganon95 responds:

glad you liked it. to do this remix i listened to the original source songs and placed all the notes by ear. for some parts that had too many electronic sounds to be able to figure out note placement I simply mixed in the source track with my own beat using EQ to make it sound consistent as I do not have the original sounds.

the BIT.TRIP remixes are all about adding length without being boring, which im happy to hear you enjoyed.

[Dark's Adventure, prologue]

Fantastic. Would love to hear and extended version of this. Love that you recorded a lot of it with actual instruments and you did a great job with it!

Troisnyx responds:

I hope to do one in future. Hope I don't forget...

[The Man That Funk Built]

Really great job with the mix and the guitar sounds. This song is super cheesy, but in a good way (like an anime intro). Interesting change around 2:00. I like that you've managed to integrate real instruments and vocals in with some more 8-bitty synth sounds and have it sound consistent and good -- the guitar vs synth solo was 5/5.

The big problem I have with this piece s the vocals, or maybe the autotune on the vocals. Initially, it felt almost deliberate and fitting with the style, but the more it went on the more I disliked it. It's almost too small an amount to feel like a deliberate effect, but too much if it's not actually meant to be heard. You are pretty competent so I'm guessing it was deliberate, but my opinion would be to crank the hell outta that pitch corrector if you want it to be heard at all, otherwise make it more subtle with melodyne.

Anyway, great work!! :)

ConnorGrail responds:

Thanks! Yep the vocals were definitely on purpose, wanted him to sound like a cyborg. Mostly I just thought it sounded cool (which is why it was a common occurrence throughout the EP), but thanks for the good feedback Gorilla friend

[Remember Me]

This piece is cute and I think it has a lot of potential to be good. The melody in the intro is simple and catchy and builds up nicely. I can hear what you're aiming for, but I think the mix is a bit off, with the drums being too loud in the verse, then way too quiet in the chorus after the drop where they really should be driving force behind the section.

Also, I'm not too sure about the 3/4 timing after the drop. Maybe it's one of those things that my ear would adjust to after a few listens, but it feels like it's begging to be in 4/4 instead.

At 0:48 there's a weird dissonant note in that chord.

I see that you're only 11 and this is really impressive for your age. Keep writing and learning and improving and you'll be great in a few years!

Chliz responds:

Thanks for the constructive criticism! I agree that I need to work on drops a bit more.