frootza's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Waves of Color]

Well done overall Spadez!

When the first synth solo comes in at around 1:11 in the song, where you divide the snare in the rhythm becomes odd, and more poly rhythmic in nature. It's something I personally like, a lot! But if there is something that is throwing people off, that is the area they are referring to in particular.

What the song seems to be lacking harmonically, just a bit, is a solid low end. This could really do with some deep bass lines to compliment the floaty highs that you have written which would also compliment the pad work you've done. I think personally that producers overall need to back up on using "air sweeps" as transitional crutches, and while you didn't have too many here, you did have more than needed to get the job done, but, that's just my opinion.

For the most part, I REALLY enjoyed it, you did a great job with this one. It was a fun listen, relaxing, very nice atmosphere, poppy and slidey. If I were to compare it to a dish, it would be like gooey icecream that was melting with rainbow sprinkles on it, and that's what you were going for right? :P

Spadezer responds:

......yes, totally what I was going for. ;)

Poly rhythmic rhythms are good, and anyone who disagrees is wrong. lol

I think I get what you're getting at the low end. I think I really only have a sub going and maybe neglected to add a higher bass along with it. Not sure how I neglected but I could see that being something I may have missed.
Heh, "transitional crutches". Man you cut right to the heart of that issue. lol. I guess air sweeps are now a bit cliche.

Thanks for the kind words and feedback. Much appreciated

[Shadow Steps]

I haven't even written a review in a long time but I was like OKAY NOW IT'S TIME.

Damn son, this is so blippity bloop good. Gooey mechanical essence atmosphere amenbreak flow intensity that just will not quit. I'm not even going to comment on what you can improve on because I enjoyed it so much. I feel like sending this to JoJo Mayer to see if he wants to play it. Bravo .

DEM0NW0LF responds:

I did accidentally forgot to add that 20-minute drum solo at the end

[Royal Flush]

You guys totally SLAYED!!!!

Could use some vocals and screaming. Drums sound programmed, but that's okay, lots of people do that. I like'd it a lot! Sweet work. I think it's better to like. Sit back on it for a while. It doesn't need to be longer. Sweet riffage, nice and heavy just like I like it. -frootza

TSRBand responds:

Glad you like it! I agree, some screams and vox would really spice up these demos. I'd love to work with someone who can do that sort of thing and knows how to mix it in. You're right about the drums, they're put together with EZDrummer 2. I can barely play a live kit, let alone mic one up and record it! The samples leave a bit to be desired but I think they do the trick for now :) Thanks for the feedback!

[Ways to wander]

I really dig this track! What it makes me visualize is sort of like a space-like city. Dark blue, hints of light purple and hints of black too.

Some pink, but not too much. Very grid like, but that is good. Simple rhythmic ideas presented and counted in a nice way.

Also, really enjoyed the orchestral backing string section that keeps the undertone of the beat as a whole very refreshing, I felt that the most when the choir came in!

Overall, excellent work. Hope to hear more from you soon! Followed! Follow back, eh? :)

frootza

BlastBeats responds:

Thanks for your positivity and the follow. I followed back :)

[Wylde Ride-Metaljonus]

Really like the harmonization and heaviness throughout. Very well done!

Mind if I ask what program and vst's you used for the drums? (Or if everything was programmed, even more impressive).

Excellent work overall, great playing!

frootza

Metaljonus responds:

Thanks dude! For drums I use Superior 2.0 I love it I need to check out ezdrummer 2 soon too! Thanks for listening dude!

[Musical Meadow - Across the Worlds]

Splendid work dudes! Stunk, if you'd like to work on anything in the future, don't hesitate to add me on Skype!

stunkel responds:

Thanks man! And sure feel free to add me!

[FD - Well of Tears]

Very boring and simple song. Nice mix. It lacks meaningful depth. Think about what the song needs to shine, you can do it. Build your work like you are building a house.

You are building but you aren't building with bricks.

Keep at it :)

-M

ForgottenDawn responds:

An outpour of emotions is boring? Simplicity implies complexity as well, so I'm not sure how much did you immerse yourself into the track. Each instrument tells a story and a very specific moment during the time it was made. I can understand if it doesn't resonate with you, but I disagree with your statement about not building with bricks, since the creative process allows me to treat my ideas like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. It's your opinion, however, and I respect the fact that you took your time listening to it. Btw, a song should have lyrics in it, this one has none.
//FD

[~SW~ Thurm ins_wa_]

I can't get over how much I love this track. SUPERB job on everything. The pitched high hats following the flow of the bass were a nice touch. The rotating cog sound was also awesome, hauntingly slide-like melodies that floated in and out so perfectly. Your mixing has gotten crazy good over the years, serious props Skye. It was built so well!

SkyeWint responds:

Hey, frootza! Awesome to see your review here!

The pitched high hats were a royal pain in the ass. There are actually some half-time pitch edits in the fine pitch parameter to make them match half-steps in the bass (because you know, imprecise pitches of the hats).
The "rotating cog sound" that you're talking about, is probably the pitched snare drums going around in the high pitches, I think. That was fun to do. :D

The melodies were probably the hardest to do. Melodies in alternative time sigs are HARD.

Mixing... Also a bit of a pain in this tbh, but I really appreciate the compliment there! I've worked hard and I want to do it as my actual primary job, so that's great to hear. :)

Good luck in your round!

[Get Fabulous]

Dude, you have a lot of really radical songs that I just checked out but I thought I'd leave a review for this one in particular.

It's convenient that you have so many songs out at this point that are loops and it shows you have a certain degree of diversity to what you are able to compose.

Love the samba-esque vibe on the percussion.

I don't hear much strings in modern jazz, it's something that I miss from the later end of the big band era where you would hear that more frequently. Very light and relaxing song overall, I think that you definitely got the desired result you were trying to achieve here.

I hope to hear some more of your work that is fleshed out into fuller compositions, while this is great, and I'm sure you would agree, this could be spun into so many wild and interesting directions! It would be great for a simple jazz trio or quartet to improv on at a club or something too.

Looking forward to more tunes!

sleepFacingWest responds:

Thank you! I recently ventured out into the freelance world after nearly a decade of post-school shit jobs and attempting to be an artsy fartsy avant garde arteeeest. Some of the stuff I'm putting here was written for specific projects which required short formats for a segment. A lot of the other stuff was written to showcase versatility. I've found people won't hire you for a project unless you can demonstrate that you've already written something in the exact style they want. I still haven't found professional niche yet, so I've been writing a bunch of short vignettes to cover more stylistic bases.

All that said, I totally agree. It's more satisfying writing something longer and more developed. A lot of what I find interesting in music has less to do with the raw musical material, and more with how it is manipulated and developed. If I can ever get through this "how the heck am I going to pay my rent, oh crap" phase of my life, I would love to work on some longer pieces.