Spadezer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Shapeshifter (N G A D M '14)]

Based on the name and the style of the song, I get the feeling of someone like a lonely bounty hunter/assassin wandering in life trying to fill a hole in his soul (hey, makes me think of Elektra).

The sounds you used are all really crisp and the mixing is pretty spot on. Just about everything has its place and it's not trying to overpower anything else. The only problem I hear with the choice of sounds is the higher pitched lead you use in the WUBWUBWUBWUB (it makes it come across as more BLUBLUBLUB instead of WUBWUBWUB). If you wanted to make it feel a little more dubstep I would suggest having a some heavy growling bass and a high pitched chorus that chimes in when the bass takes a break every other beat or something, oh like the bee drill you have that shows up 03:11. Although this is just my opinion, if it matches more with what you're trying to bring across I could simply be misunderstanding the song. I really like the spacey band saw thing I hear at around 02:40.
For song structure: It seems a bit too empty specifically at 00:49 up until 01:19. It's a really sweet atmosphere, but I think you can add a couple of pads or even some background strings like you used in the very next section after that. It still would give it an atmospheric setting without being too open.
Now you have a lot of good things going on here:
Your percussion is to be praised. I wish I could recreate a snare that sounds exactly like that, and even though it's loud it's not overpowering. You're also doing a good job bringing out a really sweet atmosphere. You're mixing the piano and string instruments really well with sum modern synths and dubstep type of things. I'd wager that this is more cinematic than dubstep. I like the transition you have at 01:17. I don't know if it's a percussion instrument or what, but I'd like to hear it more than once in the song.

Whew *swipes hand on forehead* Hope this helps. I enjoyed it and I think you should have higher than the 3 starts that I see you have right now. I voted a 5 to raise it up a little bit. Otherwise I think this song is a good 4 stars. Not a solid four unfortunately because I think it does need some work, but it does sound really good, don't get me wrong.

-Spadezer-

Kabalist responds:

That's a nice interpretation there, Spadezer.

Firstly: about the wubwubwubbb, I didn't really intend to make a regular dubstep wobble-section. It was supposed to be a little more like you said; "BLUBLUBLUB". I usually enjoy both new- and old era dubstep, but I figured I could go somewhere in the middle since I think the growl-synth has become a tad overused over the past few years. I'm not saying it's bad to use the synth, I just don't figured it would fit in this song. I might try adding something heavier in the second drop, just to make the song fulfil its name.

Secondly, I totally agree that the song should be a little fuller in the beginning. A little whitenoise and padding oughta fix that.

Glad you liked the percussion and all that. The fill at 1:17 is actually just an electronic tom. I think it might become an overplayed card if I use it more than once since it's so... Biting(?)

Anyways, I'm taking huge note to every review I get, but just like any other musician in the world I can't please everyone. I'm gonna keep working on this shit. Hopefully it might get better. If so I might tell you.

Thanks fore the constructive review, Spad! Not sure if you participated in the contest, but if so, good luck in knockout!

//Kabalist.

[Future]

Your name does not indicate how good your skills are as a composer. As I'm looking at the left side of the screen the related content shows some ParagonX9 Chaoz songs and I think "hmmm, must be decent." Then I hear 01:06 and then my jaw drops like this...

D8

and then it flips around like this

8D

I'd love to see how you made some of this stuff. In case you haven't figured it out, you've gained another fan. I'd consider it a great honor if I have to compete against you.

Be awesome, be more awesome, repeat.
-Spadezer-

Pandasticality responds:

glad you enjoyed it n__n i made this song in FL Studio 11, took me 3 to 4 days straight to make this.
im currently trying to figure out a core melody into a song that im currently working on in case i make it to the next round, thank you for your review.

- Pandasticality

[I Owe You The Same]

Don't know what to say about this (or at least the song as a whole). I'm pretty fond of the fact that you did this all with a microphone. I really like the solo at 01:02. I know I couldn't play that so clean. Everything from that point I like a bit more than the beginning, but now I'm getting into more opinionated tastes. I like how you're doing the percussion but it sounds like its muffled like your holding your hand in front of your mouth the whole time.
I really like the last part of the song (01:38 to the end). You change up the style from fancy guitar to bubbly vocals, and you definitely have a good range with your voice. Good punch line at the end as well.
I'd say a 3.5 since I could tell that some of the timing wasn't quite perfect, but all-in-all a fun little song.

Your friendly competition
-Spadezer-

Ceevro responds:

Well, we shall see how well it does. I was shocked to make it past auditions in the first place...

[Hero's Arrival]

I can't find anything wrong with this. You got some complex harmonies that make the piece pop, you repeat the main themes without sounding repetitive.

I wish I could give you a better review but I can't find any problems. Well done.

Be awesome, be more awesome, and repeat.

Guylee responds:

You just made my day man :)

I am really glad you like this, and I'm glad that it all sounds good considering I spent so much time on it, and kind of lost the compass on the quality and how organized it felt. Thank you very much for this kind review! :D

[The Weapon]

Beautiful from beginning to end. All the hard work you put into this paid off sir. I love how you mixed in the electronic sfx in the beginning along with a full orchestra. Nothing is out of place (but to be really nit-picky, I think the drums should be louder and fuller at 01:38).

I tip my hat in your general direction. Full 5 stars.
-Spadezer-

Mattashi responds:

Thanks Spadezer :)
And I think your right I should probably make the percussion louder there.

[Raving P-bots]

I'm digging it. There's only a couple of things that I think could be improved. The rhythm (like at 02:15) and the volumes to those melodies are too straight forward and make them feel plain and awkward. It's like going on a roller coaster with no hills and the ride only goes one speed. No matter how many turns and tunnels there are it will still feel like something's missing. This might be why RealFaction feels left out. The other thing that would help would probably be making sure in the mixing that nothing is overpowered and that nothing is being left out.

But enough with the negatives. I like how it sounds. It's peppy and fun to listen to. With a little tweaking it could be better, but is still fun to listen to without.

-Spadezer-

EctiBot responds:

Glad you liked it :D. I'll take your points into consideration and tweak a bit on this ;)
Thx for the review :). Helps alot :D.

[Shards]

Spectacular!

Especially at 01:09 and onward. That particular section sets the piece up correctly and then at 01:30 is purely spot on. The only reason why I didn't at a half of a star is that it's not quite perfect in the first half of the song.

I wish I could have written like that for this: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/567502

Pure respect
-Spadezer-

LunyAlex responds:

Thank you! Glad you like it!

[AIM - Alien Cave]

Hey, good to see your music here.

I'll agree with the other reviews. It seems a little bit chaotic at spots. The bass synth that you use before about 1:23 sounds a bit muddy. I don't know how else to say it. The low levels of that bass synth are too high. Also, I suggest trying to make sure you don't have multiple bass synths trying to play at the same time. Even so, it seems like you were able to get multiple bass synths to play well with each other (level balancing wizardry at play I bet). But having multiple bass instruments going at the same time generally will wash each other out so try ti stay away from that in the future.

One thing I can really dig here is the part at 1:03. That part has some solid mixing going on.

I'm interested to see what you're going to do next.
-Spadezer-

FortressLord responds:

Thanks for the review, all suggestions taken on board!

And I'm surprised where the compliments/criticisms are aimed - I am first and foremost a Sound Engineer, so I'm glad to know spending the most time on mixing and mastering paid off.

(Sorry I can't be bothered with doing a lengthy thanks.)

[Contemporary]

I don't need to mention anything about the quality of the piano, however the way you added everything around the piano had me going for the whole piece. There are some things that need to be stitched up that other people have already mentioned so I won't bother. Except the birds, I don't understand the birds chirping... oh wait. After hearing the WUBWUBWUBS it makes sense now.

With all of that aside, what program did you use? Everything sounds really good and clean. All of the sounds are crisp and give my ears all sorts of good feelings. I'm blown away by everything that's playing in my ears.

Live long and prosper fellow earthling!
-Spadezer-

Kabalist responds:

The chirping birds was a complement to the atmosphere of the image that inspired me to write this track. It added some nice texture to the prelude of the drop.

This song was created using FL Studio 11, and a bunch of sexy VSTs. Maybe I should add that to the description... I've been working with FL for six years or so. I didn't really get into mixing up until a little while ago. Once you get the hang of it, everything will make total sense. I'd recommend using this program since it's an extremely well-developed and versatile software.

By writing those words you have aroused a tingling sensation in my chest, which I assure you is not a symptom of heart disease. I'm super happy to hear that you enjoyed the song.

Thanks for your review, Spade!

//K.

[Emotionless]

I gave you a five since I thought it deserved no less than a 4.

I can't really point anything that sounds bad. The only thing I can think of is that the synth could change a little in dynamics. It generally sounds like it's at one volume level and you don't want to do that. Or maybe fade out the synth for a bit longer than what you have. This might allow it to breath a little more and add a little variety to the song. Also this makes the synth fresh to the listener when it returns.

Other than that, I'm really digging the synth and I'm curious to see how vocals would sound with this. And after listening to Liquid Ice, I have to say you've acquired another fan.

Keep rocking on.
-Spadezer-

SynthGoddess responds:

That's so amazing to hear from you like that, thank you so much for the kind words! I don't know, I was kinda in a rush to get through with the instrumental, too. So maybe after I apply the lyrics I can modify some of the synths. I don't want it to be too monotonous.