JimmyTheCaterpillar's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Odo Lost]

I love the sharp droning at :27. This track is DRENCHED in eerie and dread. I love how sharp everything is, the synth lead, the horn cutting in the background. I love how the melody continues throughout the song. I feel like the mixing could have been a bitttttt better, but, as an emulation of 70-80 years ago, I respect the presentation. I really enjoyed this!

TurtleBox420 responds:

The Synth is actually a cello I own pitched up. Mixing this was incredibly challenging, as we develop the soundtrack for this project I find myself experimenting with more and more different ways to emulate the sound of the original Godzilla OST.

Trying to recreate the analog soundspace of something like the original record is a bit wild. Things end up sounding to artifical or way to low fidelity to be pleasing for modern viewers.

Did a bit of research on how tracks like Deadly Broadcast were "mixed" back in 1954 and the overall soundtrack and tried to apply a lot of that to the tracks going forward https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTdH2bkGS6M&list=PL3c2UQa5GRqOaQF3x_My5x_L0KYQqdh2k&index=15

We took a lot at the Diagetic music within the film and sort of tried to replicate a mix of that with the actual recorded soundtrack - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGZQhbdX8jk&list=PL3c2UQa5GRqOaQF3x_My5x_L0KYQqdh2k&index=26 The more blatant "This is composed horror" we could get the better but it was super hard to really find a strong foot with this and the other tracks we worked on that day.

I'll have more posted here from this project soon hopefully. Mixing High Fidelity audio and trying to find EQ settings that that further set the mix back 100 years is such a challenge, but I'm learning a lot from it.

The best piece of advice I could give for recreating stuff like this is do NOT use filters, lol. They're way to front and center and sort of just feel way to pushed as opposed to just layering a bunch of different instruments with higher shelved EQs.

I'll do some screenshots of the mixes of these on my Patreon when the project is done probably.

[Amigo]

I think this is a pretty fun track! I love how full and crunchy everything sounds. I really enjoy how it fades out into singing, which I imagine is one of the samples, I think it creates an atmosphere that is city-drenched and kinda cyberpunky, almost. As a soundtrack piece for a game, I think this is very strong.

(as an aside, I sense bitterness when I read that most ppl won't "get" this music. it reads as generally unproductive and kinda tragic. I love weird shit. let people appreciate if and when they will, yk? i'm grateful to hear your efforts regardless.)

TurtleBox420 responds:

There's no bitterness at all, there's a lot of freaks like me on NewGrounds who just really want to make weird shit like this over stuff that would typically get front paged or scouted quickly. There was a period online where places like NG and /mu/ were basically just homes to people making the most weird and non-traditional compositions and all I mean is that I miss that era of online music sharing.

A lot of what we see on NewGrounds today is similar in a lot of ways, and I don't think anything's wrong with that but I personally wish more people would experiment with weird software like Amigo and weirder daws like Bitwig with absurd FX generators and stuff.

I think it's safe to say from my behavior that I truly love music and music composition, I'm just sort of old enough to know that most people won't understand a lot of stuff in this more experimental lane, and that mostly comes from writing a ton of really far out ambient albums lol.

[Friends]

i really like the sense of the progression in the song! The way the song mostly continues forward without looping back on itself too much seriously aids to a sense of nostalgia evoked in the listener as they kind of imagine alongside the song.

I thought the little lead bit around 2:20 was super cute too.

I feel that the song could be just a little shorter, it drags a biiit toward the end and in parts here and there, but overall it is a very pleasant listen, and I think you definitely achieved what you set out to do,, so nice job! Keep going :D

PotangNG responds:

I agree completely with what you said about the length, I think I might have milked the melodies a bit much haha! I'm glad you liked the lead bit, that's one of my attempts at sound design (which I am a complete beginner at). Thanks for taking a listen!

[Comfort in the presence of Horror]

I really like this.

I love the layering effects -- it's very inspired and cool. Your guitar is definitely the highlight here. It is very peaceful and I feel as though I am in an autumn backyard and there is a bunch of odd, dark slabmetal sheds and scrap just off into the yard. Not so far to be near the horizon and intrusive or invading, but close enough to be familiar and harmless.

Was this your intent?

Not so much to the literal description, but the feeling. Should there be more presence of unease whittled within this track? If I were in a brief respite from the horrors of this world, would I feel so free from the terror outside?

Personally, I feel that the comfort ambient nature of the piece is very well-achieved, but I wish there were a bit more intent to creating a fuller piece with more elements of the unease around us, and how -- despite it being there -- right now, everything is okay.

TurtleBox420 responds:

This track is for an upcoming indie horror title, set to release on Steam in October. I put as much creative freedom in as I could, which means having this 3:49 loop for the OST, but something close to 22 minutes of granular looping for the actual game itself. The bits and pieces you hear around 1:40 are entirely procedural and repeat every 2 minutes or so. They're set to trigger off different instances of Portal (Output- https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/2-Effects/45-Granular-FX/5458-Portal ) Then sort of just looped around back into itself via a plugin called Replika, which then reverbs back into itself through a plugin called Spacey, lol.

I wish NewGrounds was a safe space for 22 minute long ambient uploads, but these first 4 minutes are the loop that just ends up being pushed through a bunch of stacked delays.

I might go live this week and show how it's going ot sound in the game, but it's quite trippy. It's sometimes entire minutes of just the ambient hum while the guitar takes a minute to loop back through.

I really just like Ambient pieces like this too, peacefully non-energetic loops. We did a pass of this with drums (sampled one, I think from Akira Yamaoka's SH collection, so I'm not sure the source) and it was nice but kinda felt super out of place for the overall 22 minute feedback.

If I could continue to release 22 minute tracks like this into a sea of breakcore and chiptune I would, but sadly it's not what really going to get me more work in the long run, lol.

[Machine]

the panning is doing so so much here i love ittttt ahhh

Latadenata responds:

Why, thanks! I'm glad you like it!

[AIM - Nurture]

rad! :) very rainy but still very comfy -- i particularly like the subtle tempo change-ups. (one of my favorite songs by MF DOOM is Tick, Tick... for that very effect!!)

Latadenata responds:

Thank you! Glad you liked it!

[AstroGrids]

i like this!!! weird spacey vibes are SUCH a jam. i actually find the offkilter sounds endearing personally, but i agree that too much of anything, even a good thing, can sour over time -- it'd be nice if those notes shifted or altered in some way throughout the track. they do however, give the piece a unique spacey sort of identity. thank you for sharing, its very fun :)

Charlmot responds:

I get what you mean, i see how it could be a bit much for some people, but still THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I really appreciate the feedback!!! :D

[Asteroid Sweeper]

the track does a great job at maintaining a forward sound, never falling overtly to repetition, and its still so cohesive amd flows immaculately from start to finish!!! really dope, congrats on the front page :)

Charlmot responds:

Thank you so much!!!! Thats so kind :D

[CLOUD F Ivory]

there is ultimately a positive energy to this track, a spaciness, a sensuality, a sense of relief! it transported me to an early date going well or a project that suffered many roadblocks being finished. very enjoyable, thank you for sharing :)

Charlmot responds:

Im glad you enjoyed it! :)

[Mesage - Criminal Mission]

the big energy here is pretty fun. i like the song in its quieter moments the best, the outro especially was a treat for me. the way the intro comes in with these big bells and the stompy drums creates a cool atmosphere and i love the shrill stabbing synths. and the reverse scream sound at like 1:15 is crazy cool. at this point the song seems to stagnate a bit, from 1:30 up until the outro, and i feel like it could stand to be a little shorter for that reason. maybe because there's not much of a bridge? im not sure. regardless, i really like the outro!!

Mesage responds:

thank you for your feedback! it was a pleasure reading this and I'm glad you liked it!
I regret that I rushed the 1:30 to outro part.
I'll try not to make such mistakes again.