SASKID's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Rise of The Pharoh]

Great idea and great song, just a bit too muddy.

1:18 the melody is great but the bass lead behind it ruins the buildup. You could have used an offbeat rubber bass here after 16 bars of the melody to really create an awesome buildup and atmosphere if you combined it with a pad.

Effects here, namely the sweep at around 3:12 is amazing. Really seals the end of the piece and is better than your average boring reverse crash. Good addition!

Maybe get rid of more instruments towards the end instead, maybe you could have squeezed it out to over 4 more minutes doing this.

PhatBoiJ responds:

Thanks! Love your reviews as always! Improvement usually comes from them.

[Re-Education Through Trance]

Bassline sold it for me. 0;55 - 1;43 just sounded amazing. However the section i mentioned could have done with some more instruments to make it sound like more of a buildup, not just a break with vocals.

The whole song is just fantastic though, your arps/lead sound complimented the bass really well and makes for an awesome remix.

Only suggestion, bit more instrument variation.

[Welcome To Euphoria]

Much better. Intro has a lot of energy. Uses effects and reverse crashes well to introduce new elements. Build up is a lot longer and actually gets to a point where you're WANTING the track to drop, rather than it just happening. The snare build up is good and well mastered. I love the 1 bar gap before the drop. Big plus!

Finally I love the way the track finishes as it started with that bridge at 2:22.

But I'm afraid there is always flaws...

This one as a whole isn't mastered quite as well, I think you're using a bit too much delay/reverb in places. Especially with the main lead, when it comes in at 1:19 it has far too much reverb and it just sounds muddy. You also could have changed the lead up a lot more between 1:18 and 1:43 maybe having 2 seperate lead melodies to add variation. Unlike your last track there isn't a bridge that really acts seperate from the main drop so although every element of this track is short. It falls into the repetitive catagory I'm afraid.

Progress in places though, good work

PhatBoiJ responds:

Thanks!

[Distant Memories]

Intro has a lot of untapped potential. Should have added more instruments/effects to really open the track up. Same with the buildup, it's pretty underwhelming and just throws you into the rest of the track. Look at it from a listeners point of view, not a producers.

On the plus side, the melody and instruments you've used is catchy and fits together well. Mastering is really good. Nothing is out of place or over pronounced. Your bridge at 2:10 is really good and gives us a break from what we've already heard. Getting rid of the repetitive style we hear with these genres.

Good job overall. Just take in my feedback for your intro and buildups.

PhatBoiJ responds:

Thank you!

[Check the Score]

Thought you were dead bro!

With you hardly ever posting on facebook or any recent audio. Thought you'd disappeared dude.

Good to see you back, track sounds epic. Vocals are well mixed. That bassline and melody is disgusting dude. Love it!

Good job as expected from you :)

- SAS

[Star Soaring (Trance)]

Simple but good!

Bassline is great again, drums are much better mixed this time. Kick needs a bit more punch here, nothing wrong with it. I'd just like to hear it have more presence.

Like my previous review. Try to make your drums more variant, adding extra claps or different hi-hat patterns. This will make it sound less repetitive.

This is mixed better than the other track, but the other track had more variation and a better structure. But since your mixing is better here, you get the extra .5 star.

5/5 on Vote as well. Great work man

PhatBoiJ responds:

Thanks!

[Sun VS Moon (Trance)]

You weren't kidding. This is actually fucking sick. First impressions, the kick and bassline at the start are unbelievable. Unfortunately the clap is a bit LOUD from a mastering perspective and doesn't quite fit. I would have stuck with just a kick for a few bars before dropping to the hi-hat/claps.

The offbeat bass is nice, really sets the baseline on fire. But again, bit loud. The rumbling bass is what makes this style of trance music flow and shouldn't be drowned out. But it doesn't take anything away from the track. It's awesome.

I love the plucks, very good psytrance/dark melody that fits the song well. If you listen to the final part of the song with everything together, you'll see the drums are a bit loud! They should be a little quieter, maybe a bit more complex in terms of clap and hi-hat patterns. Even throwing a couple of extra kicks into a breakdown can make the difference.

I know this sounds critical, but I really had to listen hard to find problems with this track, it's absolutely amazing, and definitely your best yet by far. Take the points i've made on board and have a play around with the mastering and give me a message when you've improved them.

Excellent track! 4/5 (5/5 vote)

PhatBoiJ responds:

Thanks! I have recently begun trying to figure out how to get better at mixing, and so this track is the product of that!

[I.Am.Your.Friend (final draft)]

Pointless writing a review for critical feedback. Every song i've heard from you has been flawless.

[Adrenaline Rise (Original Mix)]

When this started i thought holy shit, this guy gets trance. Uplifting bassline as it should be, (I'd have put it an octave lower) drums are mastered almost perfectly. A little reverb on the bass would have helped it sound less dry in the opening. The sound effects building up to 2:20 are awesome, definitely trance like (as i said you seem to get trance production)

It's the mastering that lets this track down, too many elements make it muddy and not enough EQ/Leveling/Mastering in general is used.

You have huge potential, i can tell this from this track alone. Keep it up dude.

4/5 on both scores

[Chaoz Psytrance]

Overall, not bad at all. Bit too fast IMO for psy trance. Bass is a little muddy but not a bad choice of instrument. Kick is good, some good power to it, but the hi-hats don't fit the song, maybe it's the tempo again idk.

Lead choices are excellent and they're mastered well. Conclusion: A good remix of an awesome song.

4/5 on both ratings

PhatBoiJ responds:

Haven't seen you around for a while! Thanks!