pitbulljones's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dixie Pink]

This is nice. I'm really digging your expansion into lofi/indie/ambient. This kind of work is soul food to me, it's exactly where I want music to be. Admittedly i'm not on monitors but as far as I can tell it's well mixed.

All over your drums and percussion, they sound live, wide and balanced with a healthy reverb. I always prefer live kits, they add so much more. Your stabs, glitch, modulation and overall fx usage is excellent. Everything sounds like it is relevant, nothing out levels anything and it's all complimentary. I like that there's no excess, everything is placed with purpose and it allows for a wide, dynamic mix with nuanced eq and excitation.

A female vocal would be killer on this.

Fantastic work

10

Midnights-Ocean responds:

Ah so glad you dig it! I've been practicing keeping my self from overloading my tunes with too many ideas. I wanted this one super chill and wide open. I agree. Vocals would be awesome. <:3 Thanks for the 5!

[SpaceCat Spinnin]

Just open on the beat :)

Really enjoying the glitching. Drum samples are functional but lacking presence, the kick especially (a fault I have too). That big fuck off tom verb'd to hell needs to go, it's distracting not enhancing.

It's a good exercise in glitch fuckery and I think further experiments will yield great results. As it stands it's fine, I like it, but it's not great. But I know with practice you will create greatness

Midnights-Ocean responds:

Thanks dude! There are definitely some mismatching elements that I think will be dropped when I finish this. The drum bus is dry at the moment so, that might explain the lack of punch. I usually add a bit of saturation to the drum bus last thing to get a bit more kick without trashing my levels. Thanks for listening! : )

[Sky guitar (rough mix)]

Ahhhhhh monitors! I was getting to review this last week without them but opted to wait.

There's some Led Zeppelin to be brought out in the opening vocal and (guitar). Replace the modern synths with a rhodes and you stay in there.

It's a hip as fuck track and I love everything about it.

My suggestions here are just that, suggestions. I would try and make this sound as 'live' as possible. Bring in a sampled bass, a big verb'd drumkit. Get your synths as guitary as possible. Develop a mix that sounds like a live gig captured with magic.

It's 10 already love it

Midnights-Ocean responds:

A compliment indeed! Thanks so much. :3

Your suggestions are interesting and I will consider them for sure. Swapping the synth for rhodes is easy. The bass work I have at present is super minimal, so there's definitely room for that idea. These are the times I REALLY wish I still had my real life electric bass. I'd love to get a real savory live take for the drums too. It sucks, a full kit is the easiest thing for me to play but the hardest thing to fit/record from home. It makes a huge difference to a track though. Makes it special in ways you can't easily do in the box.

[I Was Me The Whole Time (leveled)]

oh yes

That sine pad tickled me.

Triangles and sawtooths in the arps :)

Now this is a wide mix. Your drums potentially could benefit from wide panning, i used to do it all the time, essentially mix the kit like you see it, so wide crashes and rides, off centre snares and hats. it's a preference and takes effort perfecting it.

Love it mate, incredibly zen and mixed well.

Midnights-Ocean responds:

Hey thanks! I'm glad you liked this one. It's one of those tracks I didn't expect anyone but me to dig lol. Indeed! Never underestimate the beauty of simple waveforms <:3. I set up the automation to slowly modulate back and forth between wavefroms/harmonics and was very pleased with the result. I agree about the kit and hats. Now that you mention it, it would suit this track well. I will try to remember to tackle that next time I do a mixing pass on this one. : )

[Catgirls]

Absolutely not for me.

But it'll well mixed (on monitors). Fair bit of dissonance in your parts, which seems deliberate. It's difficult for me to rate this. I don't actually like it. That huge kick is too big, the overall soundscape a bit narrow. I hate being harsh, but I have heard better compositions and better mixing from you. It's always a good thing to experiment, it's better than a lot, but not as good as the top end. Sorry for being a wet blanket :(

Midnights-Ocean responds:

Mate if you loved every single thing I released, I'd be worried about you lol.

Never refrain from criticism. Even if it's harsh, it's incredibly helpful and I'm not offended one bit.

Thanks though for not downing my stats with less than a 5. It's very much appreciated. : )

[some feeling]

FOD! Front page! Well done :)

Father-of-Death responds:

THANK YOU!!! YOU LEGEND

[Trumpet Voluntary]

Congrats on FP. It's always nice to see an old name still posting :)

It's a beautifully performed piece, very much in line with the original composition. Though my personal preference is for a softer organ, per expression it's fundamentally correct. Your trumpet is the standout part, it sounds as good as any orchestra performance.

It's overall well arranged with no errors. My only complaint being a personal preference prefering more width and some natural reverb to make it sound like a hall performance instead of a room.

sorohanro responds:

Thank you for the very insightful review. I may edit it later and try to fix that.
The organ is the Kontakt default one, might put a tape simulator on it to make it softer.

[Destiny Of Hearts (leveled)]

haaaaaaaaaaaaa.

This is old. I can hear it in the mix. Was this in propellerhead rebirth? or reason.

The vox stand out. If you have stems, grab them, make anew. oh that synth guitar is cheese lmao.

definitely too bassy. but i hear your intent. this activity sounds far more sequence based compared to your modern output. it's interesting to hear and witness your progression

Midnights-Ocean responds:

Mid 2000s if memory serves. I had both reason and rebirth running on an old trash computer tower from the 90s lol. My production has changed a lot since then. thanks for the 5 all the same. : )

[The Fractal Method (leveled)]

I'm on monitors by a stroke of luck.

It's clean. Your kick is bassy as. I hear all your arps, your 808s, acid stabs and the whole acid house vibe. All them lows kick, in a club it works. On stereo, on monitors....its all in the low mid. Nothing in the mid high or high. All that low energy could potentially kill some speakers where peeps try and bring highs out.

It's a great track, the composition is great, it's clean and well comp'd. I don't necessarily know exactly what to make high, maybe some octaved arpeggios? idk.

it's about a 7 now with potential for a 10

Midnights-Ocean responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I always appreciate it. Not sure what I could add to fill out the uppers more without there being too many elements, which I'm notorious for doing lol.

[Be With Us]

Front fucking page!

Who'd you buy off lol.

Nah, this is banging. Acid house as fuck. Remember 90's Wipeout? It's there!

Mix is clean as a whistle, i'm impressed as shit with the key ranging, the blends are superb. Breakbeat transition yes man, back to the glitch.

Ok. It's monitors and headphones time........

Dude it's a 10. All across the board. Basses bang, drums bang, all the elements meld to an exciting piece of old skool acid.

This is ready phenomenal, You deserve every plaudit you get on this. You have elevated yourself to a new level. I couldn't do this.

10.

perfect

Midnights-Ocean responds:

WOW WOW! THANKS!

Oh yeah I remember the 90s >X3. A grand golden decade for electronic innovation, which I miss dearly. I always wanted to keep that kind of music alive. I’m very pleased and honored to get another front page. It’s thanks to people like you and David from mixbus TV that I have made as much progress in my production as I have. Finding the formula that allows my creativity to do it’s thing, while still sticking to the bread and butter that people enjoy. I do listen to all the critique, good and bad, even if it doesn’t always seem like it. It’s hard to see one’s own slow progress sometimes. Bless you for pointing it out to me.

Thank you so much for the encouragement. All of it! ^_^ Maybe if life lets me, I could release a really banging album some time, heh.

Cheers mate. : )