thebitterroost's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Too Soon - NGADM Round 1!]

This sounds great, and quite relatable, to boot!

[Zhong Lives]

Niiice

[Prism]

Awesome as per usual! Really dig the delay arpeggios, gives the song more mood. I'm super jealous of your geetar skillz.

[(Nr 7)]

And again, great tune, lovin' the melodies, especially the bridge/outro at 6:30. Cool use of the guitar to make a percussive track. You're really able to get an impressive amount of tones out of your instrument. I'm curious what you used to get the synth-bass sound. Keep it up!

bjarneliland responds:

Thanks! I just used an octave pedal, with an amp simulator and reverb, nothing fancy.

[Petals]

I really like this. Fun composition, and liked hearing it build to see what else could be squashed in there in the later portion. It sounds like a sonic interpretation of a manic episode, bouncy and light that eventually spirals until it runs out of fuel. Very cool.

I dig the whole approach, too. I've seen some other solo musicians work with massive pedalboards and it doesn't always pan out, but it seems like you know what you're doing for sure. Keep it up, looking forward to hearing more!

bjarneliland responds:

Thanks a lot! I like your interpretation of the song.
I try to keep the amount of effects to a minimum, so I won't confuse myself, and I also just think it's cooler that way.

[Past, Meet Present]

You are hands-down the guitar lord of the Audio Portal! Great tone, super precise. Not a huge fan of the dissonant djenty bridge at 1:50, but that's just a genre preference on my part more than anything, and it doesn't linger. Super catchy hooks all around, although I really wanted the melody from 1:12-1:30 to come back at some point (that part was my favorite).
SHRED ON!

[BVYS N GVRLZ]

Damn dude, this track rules! Really dig the mix of modern and retro sounds, especially the synth slap bass and chiptune arps sprinked in the background after the return to the opening riff. The buildup back from the quiet section was very well composed. Hell, the whole thing was. Great job man :)

[~SW~ Thurm ins_wa_]

Dude, this is awesome. The extra time with the panning really paid off. Really cool melodies, and I also enjoy the smooth glass pads that carry through the piece. Kinda gives it a stealth game feeling. I feel bad for whoever's up against you!

SkyeWint responds:

That panning took so goddamn long. ;_; I hope the judges appreciate that.

The smooth glass pads are *literally* nothing but FX-covered sine waves. Like, nothing in this isn't basic waveforms with editing or one of the three drum samples I used.

I'm up against the also excellent EliteFerrex, whose piece can be heard here: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/642213

I feel fairly confident in this piece, but we'll see how things go!

[Forest Temple]

Great ambiance, nice choice of patches, and great dynamics! Everything sounds very smooth. Love the details, like the wildlife/percussion sounds in the background. Captures exactly the feel you were aiming for. I only docked the half point because I wanted it to be longer, lol.

Welcome aboard, dude!

[Son of Beach (NGADM '15)]

Don't count yourself out just yet dude. One important area in which you have a leg up is in creating a distinct mood and atmosphere in each of your pieces. This may be especially important in the context of newgrounds, where the general idea is that we're creating audio for media. Your piece does a really good job of invoking the feeling of running through an intense dungeon a la Binding of Isaac or something like it.
Guitars sound great, and I'd venture a guess I'd have little to teach/suggest in that arena. I can, however, give you some pointers drum wise that I think will help your sound without too much extra effort. The drums are programmed well, and I rather like the mix approach where the snare is warm (toms, too) and slightly dampened, which gives them a more modern-analog sound like from a Baroness or The Sword record. In keeping with that tone, try cutting a tad bit of the high end off the kick and adding some dynamics in. A lot of metal dudes may scoff at that suggestion, given that the boilerplate sound of the genre these days is clickier than a tap dance routine and the only note velocity is 127, but it will yield a much more convincing (and pleasing, imho) sound. Also, don't forget to use some reverb and room mic, even if it's light. Drums are almost always heard in an acoustic space, and that space usually imparts a significant degree of character, unless we're talking about a super-dampened, almost anechoic room or wide open outdoors. Easy to overlook when using Addictive or EZD (sounds like one of those two, anyhow) where you can cut the bleed out of everything and disregard the room. This makes the kit's elements super isolated from one another and easier to set levels, but the price tag is in losing some realism.

Good luck, man! Your track kills.

JDawg00100 responds:

Oh wow thank you for the review and drum advice, I am always looking for ways to improve my drums, I will for sure give some of those suggestions a try! Glad you enjoyed the song :D