GrapheneKid's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Mission | Game | Royalty Free Instrumental |]

Despite the chiptune style this is surprisingly atmospheric

[Fresh Start]

I miss this style of music. The guitar/bass work is excellent here, but unfortunately you can hear the drums dragging about halfway in. It recovers pretty quickly after that but it is unfortunately very noticeable and very bad for a song with this kind of rhythmic energy.

I went and checked out some of your older stuff and you've clearly improved your composition and mixing skills a lot over the years. The mix here has an endearing "garage band" feel to it but everything sounds very nice and the guitar is given lots of room to shine here. The only thing I can suggest would be to improve the cymbals and maybe bring the kick drum forward a little bit, I'm not sure what your composition process is but the kick feels like it has some room to be a little louder if you wanted it to, and the cymbals sound very bitcrushed, it kind of detracts from how clear the guitar and bass sound in comparison.

Sorry for the wall of text. This was a really good song and I hope you'll keep uploading!

[Scarlet Blitz]

I'm not very well-versed on trap music but this sounds great. Nice clean percussion, excellent audio sampling, and the melody is nice and melancholic. The oscillating synth noises you have panning in the background are such a nice detail, they give the whole song an ethereal feel.

[GuyFD - Mouse In A House (Jam. 1)]

As others have said, the mix could use some work. I think bringing the percussion forward and moving the lead synths more to the back would help the mix feel less crowded and obnoxious. Vocal samples are alright but man that choir pad is cool

[FIRST ONE IS ON THE HOUSE]

Definitely very funky. The mix is entrancing without being an oppressive wall and the piano chords are delightful. Love the orchestral hits too. You could definitely expand this if you wanted to

xanxoepico responds:

Those aren't orchestral hits LOL, just FLEX strings playing a single note

[Echoes of War [Jamuary 1]]

Definitely captures early JRPG vibes for me, but that dissonant chord just isn't really doing it for me, it's like you're setting up a feeling of something being grand or intimidating, but then it falls flat and there's no payoff for that buildup. I apologize if I'm not explaining myself well.

I do like what the song transforms into halfway in, definitely creates a mystic, empirical feeling, like a battlemage's tower or a king's castle.

[LYON]

Juuuust teeters on the edge of being a certified banger for me. The mix sounds impeccable and it the structure of the song feels so clean and sophisticated, but I feel like it's missing a little something on top, a melody or maybe chord progression of some kind. But for being minimal this is great

[u feel me? - Jamuary Day 1]

Very chill beat, the progression and chords give me intense feelings of nostalgia. Percussion is a little loud but it's not annoying or anything

[Crooked Mate]

The aggressive-sounding drum kit is an unusual choice for a song with such a laid-back tone, but it still sounds quite good. You may want to move the percussion track a bit back volume-wise but that's just me.

Also breadbug profile pic <3

ZuwerWS responds:

Now that you say it yeah I can totally invision this track being much more laid back with a slower drum and maybe also a one more quiet, I think I went with this because of the melody, without the drums or melody this definitely would be a completely different experience