Spadezer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Palace of Tales and Memories]

This is an Official NGUAC '18 Knockout Round Review:

Beginning Comments: I get the feeling of a rock ballad song. It was pretty open and had a hopeful feel to it. Not something I would have expected for a Newgrounds contest so it was refreshing.

Production / Mixing: For the most part I think it was good. The beginning was pretty good, I think the drums were a little too quiet for the mix, but the only part I would want to complain is that the synths that came in at 2:14 seemed to have a bit too much reverb I felt. Or at least combined with the guitar which I get the feeling also had some reverb, compounded a little with itself and made the overall mix feel crowded. Aside from that, the production was pretty decent.

Composition / Structure: The intro chords were captivating, and had a good impression for the style you were going for. After that it I could start to get a good feel for the ballad you were going for. It reminded me a little bit of top gun in a way. It wasn't "Danger Zone" but would I would have imagined replacing "Take my Breath Away" if I were to change it (lulz). Anyway, the composition doesn't have much going for it. A little slow which made it easier to put in the background and concentrate on something else. The progression of the structure wasn't bad, I liked the continuous rising throughout the whole song and it climaxed at a nice crescendo. I think it may have developed a little too slowly, but I do like how you've managed the energy through it for the most part. I didn't realize at first but the pads are a nice touch. They're subtle but add some good fullness to the song.

Sound Design: The beginning guitars sounded great. Almost live recording. The percussion when it came in I wasn't as impressed but I wasn't distracted by them once the song built some more energy. I wasn't sure about the synths that you brought in, but I feel like there was a lot of reverb to slightly mask what they were. Again, the guitars sounded great.

Ending Comments: Not bad. A bold choice to make a song of this style I think for a NGUAC entry, but decently executed.

Score:

Production - 0.5

Composition - 0.5

Structure - 1

Sound Design - 1

Replay - 0.5

Total - 7

*Disclaimer - to make judging consistent with other judges, individual category scores are multiplied by 2 to make a total possible 10 points.

350teric responds:

Thanks for the review man! Reminded you of “Top Gun” (hahaha omg). I guess it has that 80’s production undertone, with all the reverbs going on. Fun fact, one can say the guitars are live recorded, with no software and post production, directly recorded out of an amp with overdrive, delay and reverb effects. :)

[As The Crows Fly By]

This is an official NGADM '18 Round 1 Review:

Beginning Comments: A fun, but solemn groove to relax to. I was excited to hear what you had to bring since I've studied you music before in chips compos, so I was pleasantly surprised by what you had to bring to the contest.

Production and Mixing: Nothing much to write in this category. It was well mastered and carefully balanced with the end result sounding like a finished product. Everything had it's place and I didn't feel like there were many elements competing with each other. Elements that were leading the piece were brought to the forefront as they should have, and the intricate background details did well to spice up the piece without being distracting.

Composition and Structure: Very simple intro. Makes for a solemn theme. This is not what I would have expected from you, but the first section after the intro came in pretty nice. Maybe a little suddenly. The vocal chopping is interesting, usually I'm not up for that stuff, but I like what you got here. Okay, I'm really digging the 02:00 section. It has a nice groove that easy to ride with. There's nice use of background details happening as it's going on too. The structure has nice use of dynamics, although I wonder if it's a little too bare in the quiet breakup at the 2:40 section. The rhythm was a very sudden changeup at 2:59. It's interesting but you loose the ambient feeling you were riding the whole way through. Granted, that's more the style I excepted you to have from the beginning, but it was quite the change compared to earlier. Overall, for the main theme / melody that you introduced originally, it was really basic. Which is fine for this style of ambient piece, and you did develop the structure a bit around that theme. I enjoyed that.

Sound Design: You had a very interesting choice of sounds and synths used. They were unique, but they did a cool job of emphasizing the feel you were creating with the composition. It all had a pleasant but uneasy atmoshpere that was fun to explore. The vocals you brought in were a nice touch. Didn't understand them or why they were there, but they seemed to work. The crows, will initially sounding a bit gimmicky, were a nice addition as well.

Ending Comments: It's a cool piece. One that displays your abilities in making calmer and more somber music. Not the style I'm used to hearing from you, but one you pulled off well. It was well developed, but ended on an inconsistent style compared to the rest of the piece. Good work.

Score:

Total - 7.5
Production - 2
Sound Design - 1.5
Composition - 1.5
Structure - 1
Replay - 1.5

[Jewel Box]

This is an official NGADM '18 Round 1 Review

Beginning comments: Hey cool, a music box song. The execution was interesting but the idea was unique for this contest setting.

Production and Mixing: It sounds like someone held the microphone really close to the box. It was a little hard to listen to with the higher frequencies as piercing as they were. It would have been nice to maybe filter out some of the higher frequencies down a little bit, and then maybe throw on a compressor or so to make the overall mix sound more polished and less dry. Not too much to comment aside from that.

Composition and Structure: I like the concept. It's bold to simply stick to one instrument like this for this contest, but I'm not sure if you should have gone with a music box, assuming the instrument was your inspiration. Regardless, you have a good composition made for a music box. It's peaceful in a way that fits the nostalgia of a music box. The chord structure and the rolls into the lead notes do a good job. Only real issue was that I felt like some of the sections felt a bit too similar feeling like the song dragged a little bit around the 1:00. Maybe I would have liked to have seen a little more development of the theme to keep some of my interest.... Speaking of dragging, missed opportunity to slow the tempo down as it was getting towards the end of the song in true music box fashion.

Sound Design: Well you picked a music box… not much to say other than that. A bold choice, but I enjoyed it.

Ending Comments: I think the song was handled well. It would have benefitted with a little more care for some mastering or production, but not a bad attempt in of itself. Music boxes I feel like are usually synonymous with nostalgia or innocence themes and you have a composition that helps reflect that. Sounds deceivingly simple and not something I would have expected in this contest, but I like the product you have.

Score:

Total - 6.5
Production - 1
Sound Design - 1.5
Composition - 1.5
Structure - 1
Replay - 1.5

SourJovis responds:

Thank you for the review you did one year ago. From your comments I've learned the most. Too bad you didn't like this song that much, but by explaining very thoroughly what you liked and didn't like, I was able to improve a lot on this song as well as finally finishing the multi instrumental version of this song I intended to submit to the NGADM18 instead of this one.

In the author comments under the edits you can see what I've changed exactly.

I changed the chords and structure a bit. What I took from your advice was increasing the tempo changes a bit more. Also I repeated the beginning at the end, but slowed it down to get that "true music box fashion" ending you suggested.

Production wise, you said it sounded like it was recorded from too close by and the high frequencies were to piercing. I fixed this by using different, less piercing samples. I've filtered out some of the higher frequencies with an equalizer, note per note, so the higher notes are filtered a little bit more drastically filtered. I've added/increased a few nice impulse response reverbs to make it sound like it was recorded further away so the sound is softened a bit. Also I made it stereo, which makes it sound a lot more interesting. There already was compression, but I did a little more of it. I didn't want to use too much of it, because I wanted to still make it sound like an actual music box, but it was enough to make the sound a bit fuller.

You may want to check out the multi instrumental version I finished after a year time. Like you said, this song works well for a music box, yet the other other version I created sounds very different and also works well.

https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/872860

[The Elvenking’s Prayer]

This is an official NGADM '18 Round 1 Review:

This review is going to be quite different compared to my other reviews. Mostly because if I were to do it in that fashion, I wouldn't have found anything to critique on to correctly (take that as a compliment). I don't know if I could have said much other than the production is on point, the composition and structure fits not only your intent, but the lore of this as well, and you have an interesting sound design to use for this (more on that as later), and I could listen to this over and over without getting tired of your voice. So I'm going to need to revert to other methods.

So know I see that this song is formulated with Lord of the Rings lore. Fortunately I am a LOTR enthusiast, meaning while I'm not an expert in this subject by any means, I have had my fair share of homework to look into as I read through the trilogy and the Silmarillion for a LOTR class I took in college. Unfortunately I didn't pay that much attention to Thranduil as much as you did so I had to do a small bit of research…. Which I think you've outdone me on that too…

So now after watching a few LOTR scenes and songs, I've come back to listen to yours and the thing that sticks out the most is your choice of music. I bring this up because I know Tolkien was very keen on what music was like in his world. Similarly with the languages he used to portray different regions (for example middle earthen language was more harsh and violent while elven was more romantically Latin sounding). With all that being said I find it very interesting that you used what sounded like middle eastern elements used to portray Mirkwood sourced music.

After some other research I found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Depf1gKhBno
Now this song is not from Mirkwood, but it's still elvish and I would argue that the styles should be similar enough to know that while they would be different regions, they should still have the same elvish feel (btw, especially to bystanders reading this review, that's a really cool song).

Now depending on what part of you're song I listen to I feel like it could go both ways. You start off with a droning cello which I think is excellent. The root note also gives it a good Celtic drone as well which fits within the Tolkien universe. The vocal inflections and trills are perfect, but the key you use is what I question along with some of the instrument choices. The key your using I'm sounds like I'm guessing is a harmonic minor (again, based on some Youtube research, you're really stretching me with this one). In itself a great key for describing the mood you're trying to convey, but it misses getting the right feel of it being a Mirkwood elven song in my opinion (refer to previously linked video). I think this probably would have had a better effect if you picked more of a natural minor which I'm assuming that linked song is in.

As a smaller second point, the heavily reverb background instruments you have as a type of response to the lyric's call sounds middle eastern in a sense. Not the Irish strings or flutes I would expect for this type of song, but this is more of a continuation I feel of the previous paragraph.

So all of that to say I only really found one issue I could have with your song and it's that it doesn't have the right LOTR feel in certain spots, but I had to show you how much effort it took me to get to that conclusion and why I thought that. Aside from that, beautiful song and well made. I definitely appreciate hearing LOTR artwork since there's such a big rabbit hole to travel you could dive into, and I appreciate it so much.

Ending comments: It really sounds like the verse starting at 1:11 was really hard to sing. I thoroughly enjoy LOTR lore based music and this is a good example I think.

Score:

Total - 9.25
Production - 2
Sound Design - 1.5
Composition - 1.75
Structure - 2
Replay - 2

etherealwinds responds:

Hey hey!
Sorry for taking so long to respond to this - I meant to respond sooner but as I mentioned, I was travelling when I read it and intended to respond to it later. Meeting LSD was quite the distraction!

Thank you for putting the effort into reviewing my track so thoroughly and it's especially nice that you're familiar with the source of inspiration in so much depth! :) I'm happy you liked the technical musicality of the piece so much.

Yikes, I remember trying to read the Silmarillion and I really struggled with it. When I was writing the lyrics, luckily the Sindarin speaker that helped me with the translation also had a lot more knowledge of the lore than I did myself. In that sense, it comes in handy being a purist; something I can't really define myself as on any level!

In terms of how I went about deciding to compose in the way that I did, I didn't really think too much about referencing it back to the films' soundtracks and the specific locations. For me, I decided to focus on the mood of the piece; the darkness and the desperation, yet also the hope. I wanted to incorporate a sort of call and response to ignite a sense of interaction between Thranduil, the elves of Mirkwood and Legolas; I also wanted to carry that call and response element not only in the vocals but also in the instrumental to cut through the drone. I myself don't tend to think Irish strings or flutes when drawing on the darkness of the lore, but I would say that comes down to personal interpretation. I suppose it also depends on how you mix and compose those parts! I just felt the deep weaving performance of the stringed instrument really brought out the mysteriousness and darkness that perfectly conveyed the tone of the piece for me. It was really interesting to read your different interpretation as well! I'm happy someone managed to really get into the depths of the piece.

Once again, I'm sorry it took so long to get to this review and I hope it doesn't put you off putting as much effort into any future reviews - I really appreciated this one and I'll endeavour to respond promptly in the future! Have a wonderful day :)

[Gaero - Blood Haiku]

This is an official NGADM '18 Round 1 Review:

Beginning Comments: Pretty hopping dance/house song. Sounds pretty decent but here's the breakdown

Production and Mixing: So right from the beginning it's super heavy and fun with the bass, but it's for the most part clean. However, it seems like when the mix gets loud at 0:56 I feel like I'm overwhelmed by everything in the sub and bass range. There was so much of it that it took up the whole track and didn't allow for the rest of the instruments you have to have the atmoshpere they need. Aside from the loud points, the mixing overall was carefully done I thought, and you do good job of balancing when you're tying not to be all up in my face, but when it was loud I felt like it wasn't maintained as well. 2:23 felt like not only was the bass and kick loud, but then you managed to try to overlay a lead on already loud elements. I can tell by your waveforms up above that you were relying heavily on the compressor to try to keep everything from clipping instead of leaving a ceiling for sound and bringing up the levels with a multi band compressor or something. The mix wasn't bad, but it felt a little tiring to the ears.

Composition and Structure: It's simple and catchy. But in terms of the melodies or leads I was never felt captured by what was going on. I was more interesting in listening to the sound design of the chords and other background details since my attention waned a little bit. The dynamics were handled well so you show good skill there. Nothing much else to comment on though. Nothing bad.

Sound Design: Pretty decent sound choices. They fit the genre well and don't do a bad job setting the tone you're going for. They're nothing too spectacular, or rather there wasn't anything that wowed me but they create an atmoshpere I enjoy.

Ending Comments: A lot of the scoring for this is consistent across the categories. You know how to make a good song, but I never thought there was anything ever really good about this track. I didn't have many big issues with the song aside from some production things, but there was nothing that I felt was underselling the track aside from a slightly shallow composition. A good attempt though.

Score:

Total - 7.25
Production - 1.25
Sound Design - 1.5
Composition - 1.5
Structure - 1.5
Replay - 1.5

[stardust [NGADM Round 1]]

This is an Official NGADM '18 Round 1 Review:

Beginning Comments: A very unique song. It was like a melodic dance trance song. It was happy but not overbearingly so. A very intriguing style I don't hear very much of.

Production and Mixing: I was a little removed with the first gated chords. The gate was fine, but I felt it was almost so much that I couldn't hear the chords. It was to the point that the kick was almost overpowering while piercing the silence they were leaving behind. Other than that, the mix felt very clean (the best being example at 1:15). You added some nice details like the panned snare at 1:37 I thought was a really nice touch, and I really loved the ambience you threw in at 1:05. That in particular was a really nice touch.

Composition and Structure: I never got the sense of a melody but I hardly felt it was needed. There is some sort of melody here and there but it's so minor I'd call it a bit ambient. On the other hand there was so much percussion and dance style synths going on that I couldn't really call it that. It was really well pulled off. The only thing I would think about complaining about is the outro. I like the feel, but it's just a contrast of mood / theme compared to the rest of the track that I felt it wasn't needed. Kind of through me off too because it felt like you had another direction this song was going to go to, but then it went off the rails and ended in a sense. Aside from that, I liked the transitions and enjoyed the ride you were leading.

Sound Design: I really enjoyed what you used. Nothing felt out of place and everything you used created a unique flavor to add to the overall end product. The only thing I would question is the snare particularly at 1:47. It sounds fine everywhere else, but it's big, and a little dull and tinny compared to what I felt should have been used at that section.

Ending Comments: I had no problem putting this on repeat as I was writing the review. I think you were able to pull of something very original and unique, and did a decent job putting in elements to help develop the song.

Score:

Total - 8
Production - 1.5
Sound Design - 1.5
Composition - 2
Structure - 1.5
Replay - 1.5

N1NJA-Official responds:

Thanks! I appreciate the review.

[On Go]

This is an official NGADM '18 Round 1 Review

Beginning Comments: A song I think that fits your style, but also a good display of your skill. Something you should be proud of.

Production and Mixing: It's so clean at the beginning, and I can tell you pay special attention to your mixing. The only issue I had, which I didn't notice the first time around, the levels did seem to get a little tiring. Maybe the bass overall was a little bit much or the highs were a little too piercing. Not sure exactly what it was, but other than that I think this is well mixed and sounds like a finished product.

Composition and Structure: The beginning melody you use to build the theme is beautiful, and I think you build off of it nicely with your development. The only issue I had with the structure is that I was starting to think the first big section started to overstay its welcome about 15-30 seconds before you dropped the intensity down a bit. However, the change in dynamics are really nice.

Sound Design: I love your synths. The first synth you used for the intro reminded me of the Aquatic Ambiance song from Donkey Kong Country. Great nostalgia, but even without that in mind, it's such a cool sounding synth what you have. I like your very subtle use of rain at the beginning. Throughout the whole song you use some really interesting elements for background details. Those sound elements in the background may be off putting, but I enjoyed the details and helped with the tone of the piece. The other synths you use are a unique style to you because I know I've reviewed that style in previous chipscompos, but I never get enough of them either.

Ending Comments: I really didn't have many issues with your song. Which maybe as a judge that's not the best thing to say in a Deathmatch setting, but at least the few thoughts I could jot down could help with your improvement. Don't give up. Don't be too hard on yourself either. You're not going to make the best music if you think you're not good enough. Don't worry anything else aside from your music. Go On and enjoy the gift of sOnG…..or whatever.

Score:

Total - 8.75
Production - 1.75
Sound Design - 2
Composition - 2
Structure - 1.5
Replay - 1.5

Onefin responds:

ey spade

feel like your comment about the levels getting tiring and the comment about the drop section overstaying its welcome are tied together, probably has something to do with the fact that the whole thing is 9/8 swing which feels fast but the bars pass by really slowly

ooh aquatic ambiance, not entirely what i was going for but i do love me some david wise

i'm against you-know-who so i'm gonna have to pull myself together for the next three weeks :P i'm gonna try to take your advice to heart man thanks so much

also niiiice, i didn't think of putting "Go On" somewhere in the description, that's brilliant gg

[breaking glass]

This is an official NGADM '18 Round 1 Review:

Production and Mixing: Decent attempt overall, but I felt wanting more. The guitar introduced felt like it was too weak and the bass through the second half didn't fill out the bottom of the spectrum like I felt like it should have. I'm not saying it should be louder, because the mix is pretty good, but it just felt…..shallow. The percussion was quite solid.

Composition and Structure: The intro is really good. The strings and the piano have a really good sound to set the song with. The electronic synths are also introduced well. I feel like it runs out of steam part way through, and I feel like you started to notice that and rolled the song out to finish. The outro was good though (other than the fade out pet peeve, but that's personal preference). There's a lot of neat details you've added to add flavor and color to the song. I liked the interrupting bass stabs.

Sound Design: The filtered piano and strings at the beginning are ok for an introduction I think, but I love the plucked synth you bring in. And I love how it transitions to a more bass heavy synth. This is a really good mix of orchestral and synthetic elements. I had no issues with the choice of instruments. It has an Assassin's Creed feel at times. I'm most disappointed in the first guitar you introduce. By itself it falls flat. It adds a nice element when the mix is more full, but it's so empty by itself.

Ending comments: I dig this. It's a nice background piece in a good way. You've been able to incorporate electronic elements without being disruptive which makes this good study / background music. It carries a nice theme that develops through the song and I never felt that the song was long. Cool work.

Score:

Total - 7.25
Production - 1.5
Sound Design - 1.5
Composition - 1.25
Structure - 1.5
Replay - 1.5

Sequenced responds:

Yeah the guitar library I got isn't the greatest. #poormusicianlife

[A Naïve Admirer]

This is an Official NGADM '18 Round 1 Review:

Beginning Comments: It's a cute little piece that fits both the description and the style I would expect from you. It showcases your cinematic strengths and does a good job of putting the composition and structure first.

Production and Mixing: It didn't feel perfect but it was overall pretty good. It's about the balance I would expect for a piece like this, but I get the feeling that whatever had the lead was almost being overpowered by the background instruments. Other than maybe having slightly less low end in certain spots like at the 1:05 area, I never really was distracted by the mix.

Composition and Structure: Obviously where this song shines. The story is well illustrated from your description to the point where I could almost picture the images. Quick aside: one of the coolest parts is 1:38-1:46. There's a lot of details going on, like the shameless use of the triangle everywhere, how the brass have a quick interjection at 3:10, all of the layers that combine within each part whether they're bass or 2-3 beat staccatos, there's a lot to pick apart and digest. The more I listen to it, the more I enjoy it.

Sound Design: I'm really enjoying what you've used for each voice / instrument, and you really embellish that violin solo VST without shame, and it works well. However, everything you use sounds wonderful. I never was never detracted by anything sounding out of place or fake. The only, only, complaint I could make is that the piano sounds a little too muffled.

Ending Comments: Out of everyone I hear at Newgrounds or through previous relationships, you've consistently been the strongest waltz composer, and this is no exception.

Score:

Total - 8.25
Production - 1.25
Sound Design - 1.5
Composition - 2
Structure - 2
Replay - 1.5

[Quixotic (Original Mix)]

This is an official NGADM '18 Round 1 Review:

Beginning Comments: Nice and heavy. I song I would definitely expect to hear in this contest and one I'm fond of critiquing.

Production and Mixing: The details are well organized at the beginning. The filter automation and percussive elements are pretty nice. Then there's the first big open section, and it sounds like it's a loud mix that relied too much on a compressor to keep it in check. Every time the kick comes in it sounds distorted. Maybe if you focused more on sidechaining it would have been a little cleaner. Aside from the poor mastering, the mix itself sounds decent. It's well balanced for the type of heavy song this is, and there are some nice production qualities happening. If you focused more on keeping volumes in check and then raising the volume of the song later with something like a multi band compressor, this would have been really rocking.

Composition and Structure: Good intro, and I really like how you built into the first drop. In terms of composition, this is actually pretty detailed in spite of it being a heavy drum and bass / dubstep song. Usually I expect these songs in this contest to be a bit basic / simple to make way for the sound design of the synths involved (which isn't a bad thing), but you have this chalked full of details. And the transitions between styles and rhythm changes are well polished. Every section is a fresh new development that always felt based on the original intent of the song. Great work. I'm not sure if I completely agree with how you ended the song by doing sudden recaps of each style you used, but it was interesting and unusual, so I give you that. The more I listened to it, the more I was becoming okay with it.

Sound Design: Like I mentioned earlier, songs in this genre usually let the composition be simple for the sake of sound design, but really is definitely not an example of that case. I was never really wowed by the choice of sounds or synths, but there was a good effort I think. You did a good job of picking ones that worked, and actually a lot of the stuff you introduced at the beginning were pretty cool. It's fun listening to what you're doing in the background too. There's a lot of carefully placed details that give this song a lot of flavor and good tone.

Ending Comments: I'm sad the production quality got in the way of me enjoying this as much as I could. There's a lot of brilliance happening here. It's chalked full of interesting details and ideas, and the execution was pretty good actually. Clean up the mix a little and you've got a pretty solid song. I enjoyed it though and I think this was pretty good.

Score:

Total - 7.25
Production - 1
Sound Design - 1.5
Composition - 2
Structure - 1.5
Replay - 1.25

KaixoMusic responds:

Thanks! I don't know what u mean with the mastering cuz it's fine imo... It's loud, but I don't hear any distortion at the kick. And any distortion that you do hear was put on it with a waveshaper to make the kick sharper and punchier. Which sounds okay imo...

The type of mastering varies per genre in the EDM world, and I am going for the heavy style mastering, if you listen to Muzzy - In The Night for example, that track is mastered very loudly. So I guess it's all taste...

Edit: The sidechain is just a volume automation and did the job correctly.