OVERSCORE's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Chiptune Hero]

Love how nostalgic this sounds! I am actually so impressed with how much character you can put into a song with such limited instrumentation, well done 8-BITek!

8-BITek responds:

Thanks

[my philosophy]

An interesting philosophy, one that this track illustrates quite well. It definitely echos that insignificance, but it also speaks to the grandness that we can be a part of.
A philosophy I don’t know if I quite agree with in full, but a respectable one nonetheless.
As for the actual track itself:

Musicality - 21/25
Plenty of beautiful themes spread throughout the track. The composition is creative and engaging. However, there was just too much emptiness, even for a stylistic choice. There is also nothing really tying the second half to the first— a little familiarity goes a long way.
Mixing - 17/20
The mix isn’t really all that ambitious, and that isn’t a problem in this case. There is a distinct lack of low frequency presence though— a little more bass could give the song so much more warmth. I understand if this was a deliberate choice as well though.
Atmosphere - 17/20
This is an immersive piece, very spacious in the headphones. This is in part due to the minimalist approach, which allows the few elements in the mix to all be heard clearly. The sound is just very empty in some sections— however, if this effect was used a little more sparingly, it could definitely ADD to the atmospheric quality of the song.
Sound Design/Instrumentation - 21/25
Everything sounds bright and crisp! All of your elements fit well together. However, there really aren’t that many sounds and instruments to speak of. I also found the piano in the second half to be a little too artificial-sounding.
Overall - 8/10
I like the track and how well it represents the philosophy you had in mind while writing it. I think you could have been a little bit more ambitious with how you filled the space, though, and maybe tied the second half to the first in some way. Keep it up, JinZ!
Total = 84/100

JinZ responds:

Appreciate the feedback ^^/

[-poizone atmos-]

This has a lot of interesting sounds, all of which perfectly suit the title. Keep going with your new computer, keep getting used to the new DAWs! All of the mixing techniques are the same, you only have to learn how to execute them on a different interface.

Creeperforce24 responds:

Tru, which makes me think this won’t be as hard as I think lol… + now I have more opportunities! Such as new vsts!

[♂️♀️ Inescapable]

Judge Reviews

Creativity - 29/30
You took the haunting aspect of the original track and RAN with it. You took this in such a new direction! From re-recording some of the vocal lines to constructing a whole new composition around them, you’ve seriously gone the extra mile. I respect you so much for that! Way to personalize it. I will say though, there are moments where the track becomes almost unrecognizable— maybe there were some instances where it would be favorable to recycle melodies of the original track instead of writing new ones? However, the insanely creative direction you’ve gone, and how far you went, for sure gives you some points back— as well as the 8 minute duration!! I admire your dedication!

Technical Soundness - 16/24
Unfortunately, there are quite a few moments where the mix gets unreasonably muddy. This likely results from the low chords clashing with the kick drum, and other elements. There is also a lot of grating dissonance in some sections, and some awkward transitions between chords. In general, there is way too much low-frequency presence.

Atmosphere - 16/22
You seriously delivered on that slightly haunted sadness of the original track! The general distortion and neat, sweeping sound effects throughout are very nice touches as well. The echo on your voice is WONDERFUL! It sent chills down my spine. But the technical issues and strange dissonance in some cases spoiled the effect at times, and that hurt the track somewhat.

Instrumentation - 10/16
First of all, your narration throughout the song was beautiful. The distorted, almost 8-bit-sounding drums also perfectly fit the song. Everything just has this nice crunch that adds a lot of character. However, I wish you could have included more engaging pads or background sounds than just tge droning chords played by that filtered synth. There is so much room for more ear candy, more synths, more variety.

Overall - 5/8
I am still in awe of how well you personalized the track and your dedication to do so. I know that making this song must’ve been time-consuming, and I admire the effort you’ve put in. Sadly, the issues throughout the mix (and at times, the composition) drowned out the exceptional creativity you brought to the table. Thank you for participating in my remix contest, CrimsonKero! Sorry once again for the delay, I hope this review has been helpful though. Have a great day.

Total - 76/100

[OVERSCORE - youre not one of them (Remix)]

Judge Review

Creativity - 27/30
You’ve added so many awesome ideas to this track, and absolutely given it that awesome G2961 touch! I have no clue how you make bangers like this so fast, there are so many intricate details in the production. I love the new melodies, and the VOCALS?? You’ve done very well at making this one your own. I love that intro!

Technical Soundness - 24/24
The first perfect score in this category! Of course you were the one to get it, considering your experience with making these high-quality songs. The mix was perfect from what I could tell, and although there were a few moments that the vocals were buried, they aren’t really the focus anyway. Every element has space in the mix, in the stereo mix and the frequency spread— in other words, you killed it. This song is AMBITIOUS, and you’ve absolutely earned a perfect 24/24 here. I can’t think of anything I would take a point off for.

Atmosphere - 22/22
Your pads are so beautiful here, and I love those glitches spread throughout the track— they truly give the song that extra immersion. Sections like 1:42-2:25 put this on full display; your attention to detail really pays off (that glitch at 2:03 took my breath away). It’s clear that every second of this was intended to bring the listener into your world, excellent work G2.

Instrumentation - 14/16
I really enjoyed listening to a lot of the elements you had. As I said earlier, you use a lot of cool pads! The drums really drive the track in an intense way. The leads are a little basic though, so, when they are combined with the ethereal pads and rest of the sound design, they fall flat in comparison. I wasn’t entirely sold on the vocals either— I can’t ever quite tell what is being said, and they sound a little too robotic to quite capture the mood you were going for.

Overall - 7/8
I love how much more intense you made this track! I think your song choice was very fitting, because these melodies sound amazing in your style. I’m continually stunned by how quickly you make songs of this quality! The beautiful soundscape you crafted had me eager for an equally interesting synth to lead on top, but unfortunately I was a bit disappointed by the basic supersaws and squares. Thank you for participating again this time around, G2!! I honestly prefer your remix to the original in many regards. I love your work!

Total: 94/100

G2961 responds:

Thank you very much! I'm not complaining about the second place, because, no fucking jokes, lmao, in 1 month my skill in music has changed again.

[close my eyes (remix)]

Judge Review

Creativity - 28/30
I really love the direction you took with this, completely pivoting from the relaxed nature of the original and taking to this frantic, intense DnB! The sampling of the original is very well done as well, used to sell that reverse theme. I also like the melodies you came up with! I totally could’ve sent you the stems if you needed them, but I like the melodies you wrote more.

Technical Soundness - 21/24
This was a really ambitious project, and I think you really nailed it for the most part. I love how you have those reversed sounds panned to the sides, it really helps the overall immersion of the track. There were definitely some spots where the mix sounded oversaturated, especially 0:51. That same section could have used a lot of widening as well, because at the moment everything is stacked on top of each other. The high end gets a little strong at some points, a detail especially noticeable at sections like 3:09, but I didn’t mind it too much. Most parts of it sound really clean, there’s just a few areas for improvement!

Atmosphere - 20/22
This piece sounds truly larger than life! The whole song just has this massive sound, and it’s truly impressive. Your aggressive panning seriously helps you in this section because I am a slave for this kind of immersion in the headphones! I will say though that I felt like there was almost TOO much going on, and there were moments where the wall of sound was overpowering the main melodies. One last detail— that section at 1:29 is AMAZING, I practically forgot where I was. The huge bass drop, the sirens, the crazy breaks… really cool concept.

Instrumentation - 14/16
A lot of the base elements themselves were basic, but the combination of everything created a super unique blend of sounds! I actually thought your choice to use basic sawwaves as your leads was a great idea. They fit very well into the harsh sounds you have throughout the song. The samples of the original were placed very thoughtfully. The think break was a GLORIOUS choice! My critique on this is probably that the wall of sound is created by a lot of very similar sounds, which can sometimes cause phase issues, or meld together in less effective ways. Try to layer a lot of very different sounds on top of each other; you’ll find that the final sound collage is much fuller, but also less busy in the mix.

Overall - 6/8
This is an absolutely FIRE remix, with so many impressive concepts and ideas. You took every single idea from “close my eyes” and flipped it on its head in very interesting ways! And while the mix gets a bit messy in some areas, but the huge sounds and ambitious ideas overcome that. I’m really impressed that you managed to recreate so many of the melodies by ear, you’ve got a knack for that! Thanks for participating in this contest Striciton, I really enjoyed listening to this one.

Total - 89/100

Striciton responds:

Thaks for the review, and thanks for hosting this remix contest! I agree that the mixing (especially in the high end) wasn't the best, which is mostly due to sound selection (mostly the think break, idk why but it's high end at this pitch was so narrow and at like 12-14 kHz, I am never working with it as a main break ever again lmao). Anyways, I'm glad you liked it, especially the more experimental stuff like 1:29, it's definitely more my style.

[understand me - OVERSCORE [REMIX]]

Oh my gosh, you’ve created peak… I’m not sure this is drum n bass though?

—

Judge Review

Creativity - 29/30
This was not at all what I was expecting, which made for QUITE a pleasant surprise! You kept some of the core aspects of the song like the main melody, the focus on pads, and the gradual dynamic buildups— but each and every one of those aspects, you turned into something so uniquely yours. Even the main melody, which you set to minor chords instead to bring out a whole new side. It absolutely resembles the original, but it resembles your musical style just as much. This is exactly what I wanted, amazing work!

Technical Soundness - 22/24
The frequency spread sounds… just amazing. You executed the dynamic variation perfectly, and I also never noticed any unwanted dissonance. You also did a great job with the volume of each instrument: you can hear each with clarity, but the important sounds are always the easiest to hear. My only critiques would be a minor nitpick about the volume of that pulsing pad at 1:49 (it is a bit too loud, and drowns out the piano and other sounds consideray.) and the lack of panning. Panning is such an underutilized effect, but it can really do wonders for a track! Most of the elements hear are very, very close to the center of the stereo field, but spreading them out allows us to hear all of your instruments with even MORE clarity.

Atmosphere - 21/22
My God, you killed it. The Reese bass was a great choice, especially with that low-pass filter on it. It gives such a warmth to the track. The pads are so beautiful, and the way you build them and release them wonderfully shapes the song. And I also just ADORE your lead here, and I could listen to this combination of sounds all day. I would have given you a perfect score in this category if the elements had been panned— this track wants to surround you in warm sound, but it’s all confined to just the middle of the stereo space when it could be all around me. Pan some the instruments around, and this song will become your WORLD

Instrumentation - 16/16
Almost none of the sounds here are like the original. And yet, when combined in this way, they create music that is eerily similar, in a way I can’t quite place. The final product is a beautiful collage of sounds worth so much more than the sum of its parts.

Overall - 7/8
I could listen to this remix all day! It’s incredible how well you executed the idea of using the original work as a canvas to express your style, because I can see both my inspiration and your musical ideas so clearly. I love the structure of this track, and how you’ve shaped it with the dynamics and the instruments coming in. You’re a really talented musician, and I can’t thank you enough for joining!

Total: 95/100

KI1 responds:

Wow, what an awesome review - thank you! I almost wanna print this out and frame it. I'm gonna respond paragraph by paragraph.

You're 100% right - definitely not DnB, but it didn't feel like hip hop either... or all that experimental. NG needs a 'wtf is this' genre I think!

- This was probably the hardest part for me. So much of my "style" is writing in minor, I find it so hard to go with anything else without sounding painfully corny. I'm glad you hear enough of the original in there - your guided commentary was extremely helpful in getting making it happen!

- I certainly hear what you mean @ 1:49, by this point in the project I'd definitely gone somewhat deaf to hearing this pad over and over again - oops. You're totally right about panning! You know, I get so caught up in fussing over frequency spread, EQing, cutting lows and mids etc. that I never stop to consider stereo spread as a mixing technique. I think there's a little bit of LFO panning on something in there, and a bit of rudimentary stereo spread on something else, but actually making a focused effort on panning is definitely something I want to work on - so thank you :)

- Thank you! I was fairly careful on synths for this - no presets, but trying to fit the 'inevitable, inescapable' mood. I'm VERY happy you liked the lead. I was worried about writing something in that wasn't based on the original in any way (apart from mood).

- 'inevitable, inescapable' had a feeling throughout that I feel like I definitely "got" in my own way. I think this made it a lot easier to build instrumentation up to meet that feeling instead of forcing some sort of idea into all the synths and instrumentation I normally use anyway.

- You are way too kind, thank you so much for this review and hosting the contest. I feel as though much of your style of music is similar to my own, which is why this remix was so much fun to do :)

[To Be Left Alone (remix)]

Judge Review

Creativity - 24/30
Still retains much of the core identity of the original, but with your lovely leads and a few new melodies. These were some difficult chords to work with, and you’ve done a wonderful job. I like the filter you’ve used at the intro and outro as well! I’d say this is pretty much what I was looking for when I said to put your own style to the original track— I would have loved to hear some MORE new thoughts, however. You’ve stayed very close to the original compositionally— the only break was that interesting bridge where you implemented the vocals.

Technical Soundness - 17/24
Unfortunately, there are a number of problems to address on this side of the production. The short explanation: muddling. Your mid frequencies are really clashing with each other in some parts, especially with the heavy reverb effect on the piano. I also noted that the chord transitions were a bit messy in some cases, also because of the reverb— the melodic notes of the previous chord would briefly cause dissonance, and a bit more of that muddiness. One aspect of your mix that really stood out to me though was your stereo field! I love how you panned everything, and that really alleviates some of that congestion in your mids. One other thing that really held back this remix was the lack of presence in the high frequencies. Especially in that bridge section, there’s really none at all. This can be alleviated by adding some bright noise at the top of your mix, boosting the high end of some of your sounds (around the 2500s from I can hear), and by using some clearer hihats.

Atmosphere - 20/22
Now this is the category where you really brought it! The panning on the instruments was a very solid choice, adding much to the overall immersion of the track. The reverb on the piano may have been a bit too much, but it still feels very on point for the mood you created. Implementing the vocal samples was a PHENOMENAL idea! That was a really cool feature of your track, one that you executed very well. The pauses between the lines are an excellent way to build the tension up a bit more, and I also found the slight echo to be a very nice touch.

Instrumentation - 12/16
I always enjoy listening to your leads! That always have such personality, no matter what melody you use them on. But the star of the show for me was the subtle string instrument you had coming in around the 1:24 mark: GENIUS. Just that soft melody really gave that section the tension you were after. However, besides the leads and string section, all of the instruments are… mostly the same. It seems like you were working really hard to create “what OVERSCORE would compose if he used FL Studio” instead of “what Dynamic0 composes when he hears OVERSCORE’s song.”

Overall - 5/8
The intro and outro were a very cool way to give that lonely, empty mood. But the limitations brought by the unbalanced frequency spread stifle the idea you wanted, and more importantly, I really wish you had been more adventurous instead of staying so close to the track your remixed. But I truly did like this remix, and the elements of personality you brought to the table. Thank you so much for participating in my contest again, it’s always a pleasure to listen to your tracks!

Total: 78/100

Dynamic0 responds:

Wow, your review is amazing as always :) Thanks!

I tend to make my remixes similar to the original, there's a lot of space for improvement here.

I composed the song with the intention to not boost the high frequencies, but I oversupressed them instead. I thought the hi-hats thrive the attention away, and that was right, because they were the loudest high-end instrument. Unfortunately, the correct solution isn't to supress them, but to boost the other elements.

Your advice has been helpful, panning helps a lot. Also, I could've made the reverb quieter, or put a separate EQ on it, so it doesn't interfere with the rest of the track.

Thanks! At the Boss Showdown Contest, I learned that spiccato strings can be used to create the tension. You paraphrased me very well, I should have been more creative here.

So, quick recap: I should make my remixes more creative, boost higher frequencies and not let the mids collide.
Once again, thanks for your detailed review, I really appreciate the feedback.

[AIM - Octane]

Dude THIS is why I followed you, MY GOD. Literally every part of this is so intense and hype! It definitely fits the artwork in my opinion because it NAILS that high-speed sci-fi thrill of the picture. Really nice work, keep it up and good luck in the AIM contest!!

nyrrr responds:

Thanks man :D

[G2961 & Lakie - Space Travel]

This is an incredible journey, it’s truly amazing how you’ve managed to create over 40 minutes of engaging music. Keeping a song unique over that long a span of time is such a challenge, but you’ve really outdone yourselves. Congrats on your first FP, Lakie!

LakieGD responds:

Thank you so much, OVERSCORE! That really means a lot to me (and to G too)!
We definitely poured a lot of love and time into this piece, so knowing it resonated with you — especially over such a long duration — is incredibly rewarding.
Maintaining variety and momentum across 42 minutes was a huge challenge, but also one of the most fun parts of the process.

Thanks again for the kind words and support, and for being part of what makes Newgrounds such a motivating area!