Reviews for [NGADM] Undertow

[ChronoNomad]

Yo, Jimmypig! You're the fifth one to release your NGADM track thus far, and I continue to be impressed by the diversity across each one. This flows so freely from the softer, more ambient sections into the hard-thumping beats that I can't help but move my head to.

Your initial build is nice and steady, but also uniquely subtle, which I find to be refreshing and very well done. The percussion in this is absolutely fantastic! Just the right levels and velocities; kicks are nice and punchy with an appropriately airy hiss. Lots of awesome things are going on in the background, so it requires a couple times through to really dig into the depth of the music.

I really like the syncopation on the rather metallic-sounding instrument you used for your arps, though I'm not quite sold on some of the more atonal notes, especially when they seem to clash with the bass. It sounds good on its own, but when other things are going on around it, not so much...but hey, that's just my opinion.

The one thing that bothered me, as it is often does, is the way the song just stops so abruptly. The piano note simply cuts off, and that leaves me feeling a bit cold at the end of an otherwise epic ride. Let that final piano note play out, man! Do yourself a solid and fix that one thing. Believe it or not, that's the main thing keeping me from giving you full marks on this bad boy. Good luck, man!

Jimmypig responds:

Okay I updated my song! I tried not to add too much, just changed the harmonic part to make it fit better rather than be such a sudden change, added a few quality of sound changes and let that final note ring out properly!

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[Onefin]

Wait, is your album art a picture of this song in your DAW?

House music! I clicked the link expecting to get something great, and boy, I wasn't let down! The sound design and originality in this track are amazing! Especially your drums, which sound awesome!

Man, the originality. You kinda fused ambient with house, which I really love. You've done that mix exceptionally well, far better than I would have done, anyway.

Some of the sounds you used here gives me some World of Goo vibes... like the lead at around 1:10. Don't worry, that's a good thing! ;)

Now, things I didn't like so much. I felt that a lot of this track kinda sounded the same. There were really no new (at least, distinguishably new) sounds introduced from 1:00 to 2:30, and your song started to get kinda boring. Now, you did eventually introduce some strings at 2:30, but the 1 1/2 minute stretch from 1:00 to 2:30 had a rough time keeping me interested. But hey, that's not a big deal, because regardless it's very pleasing to listen to. And it's not like my songs don't make the same mistakes. :)

Also, I have to agree with ChronoNomad about the ending. If there was one thing I would change over the remaining period of round 1 time, it would be that ending.

Overall, amazing track! 5/5, 9/10, awesome. Good luck with NGADM! ;D

1f1n1ty

Jimmypig responds:

Thank you very much! I just updated the song to add a few quality of sound changes, nothing over the top, I tried to add something different to the later parts but it sounded too much to my ear by then. I let the last note ring out properly though :)

Oh and yes it is my project file as the picture haha

[Daxter250]

this track is kinda neat i have to say.
i especially like the beginning up to around 0:30.
i have to agree with the others being a bit repititive, but somehow i have the feeling this critic from the others might be 'cause you labeled it as house music. for me this track is more some kind of a trip and i have the feeling, when taking it as a trip and not as a typical house music, the repitivness kinda fits. the ending needs to be redone, you can do it a lot better!
other than that its kinda good, hope to see ya next round (the more rounds the more music from ya ;D).
so cheers and good luck fro ya bro.
quality 4/5
taste 4/5

Jimmypig responds:

Haha thanks man! It is repetitive, it's house, house is repetitive as fuck but it always sounds really clean which was my challenge here. Mixing a track well is as hard as composing it well IMO, but that said it's not a genre I'll be doing much else on, I like the more dynamic songs.

Thanks for the review again :) I replied to your last review but the song had to be taken off to redo it.

[TaintedLogic]

I like the mood at the beginning, but I think the pauses were extremely unnecessary. The piano has this awesome, flowy and smooth quality, especially with the reverb, and the pauses sort of detracted from that flow. Once the synths come in at :43, I understand where you were going with the pauses, but they still impact the pacing of the piece negatively IMO. This piece progresses very slowly. I liked the part at 1:00, although I thought you might’ve been able to equalize out some of the treble tones in that rather high-pitched lead. The part at 1:00 is still rather minimalistic, though, and I thought you could’ve done a lot more to add to the harmonic content and progression of this piece. The strings during the breakdown at around 2:30 also sort of caught me off guard. Generally, it’s not a great idea to introduce new instruments 2/3 of the way through a track. By the end, this track is repetitive and fails to keep me engaged, unfortunately. The octave jumps around 3:00 – 3:15 don’t really serve to channel the energy in this track very well, and the coda was a bit rushed and lazily done IMO. I admire your sense of rhythm, but overall this track was pretty generic and repetitive. It’s also catchy, and the production quality is pretty high. Still, I would’ve liked to see some more creative and varied content. I hope this review helped. Keep at it, man! ;)

6.5/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

[Geoplex]

This is an NGADM 2015 review.

In the judging stage, I recall not being sure what to make of this one. On an initial listen, I was like wha? Then it hit me that this kind of awesome and unique, despite some questionable stylistic choices that may be a little odd in a consistency sense. I'm gonna go over what I like largely in this review because I really do like a lot of this song.

Nice piano in the beginning, GREAT low frequency noise. I dont know why but I just really enjoyed that. TaintedLogin didn't like your breaks in the intro, but I actually kind of do - I think the concept is solid, but you need something to fill in the space. That pluck bass is good stuff, man. It quickly reinforces the idea that this track is largely electronic and it does it well. So now I obviously have to talk about your pitch bending synth thing. Initially, I wasn't sure it fit, but after a few listens i actually love it. It's weird, really, because it took me a while to enjoy it; but now I really do and I understand why you used it.

It might get a little repetitive after the 2 minute mark, but honestly it's not stylistically inappropriate for it to do so. It's not prog house but it's still house. I'm not sure about the strings at 2:33 stylistically. They're pretty cool but if you wanted to use them I think you should have made more of the motif, used them more, you know? Otherwise they're this one little rogue inconsistency that kind of pops out of nowhere :P that said, the way you transition back into the synth is great! Fantastic stuff.

Speaking of stylistic inconsistencies, I don't think I liked the rock style drum transitions... if that's an appropriate way to describe them (there's one at 2:45-2:46). I think the strings were enough with the stylistic inconsistencies. I think the ending was a bit lazy, too.

Production was solid, though. Clear, strong, fairly loud, good bass. Strong kick with good low end, claps and hats were excellent and crisp... in fact now that I'm focusing on them, I'm really appreciating how well they sit in the mix. Nice job.

Anyway, despite a few negative comments, this song is sick. It's unique and interesting and well produced. Great work.