Spadezer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Overclocked Chip [NGADM + NGUAC 2024]]

Yo that intro is dope. Super good hook. It really had me jiving and ready for whatever you came in with the drop. I wasn't quite sure about the drop at first, but as it continued on, I think it's a solid complextro feel. I'm definitely impressed with those that can pull of this style similar to MDK since I don't think my writing process would help me emulate this well at all. I do want to nitpick the drop though, and the issue I had repeated itself at the start of the second drop too at 2:56. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think my issue is both that it feels a little dry, and it's also missing some connecting background white noise of some sort. I wish I could find the video again of a producer who was breaking down their design process, but a trick I've done is to add crowd noise in the background. It's not very loud so it's more felt than heard, but it really can make a section feel connected and energetic without adding more sounds to the mix. It's a pretty neat trick that's hard for people to notice too ;)

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the mixing. It's so nice to hear loud music that's not crowded, and I was even starting to get afraid that I was just turning into a broken record repeating "compressor abuse" in this contest. I think you also manage to make it sound full and big while also using a minimal amount of sounds, so I might actually be taking notes on what you did here for myself. However, and I hinted at this earlier, I think you managed to accomplish this at the sacrifice of having the synths feel a little dry. Some of this I would attribute to sound design choice. Kinda taking a guess here, but your bass synths have a sense of mostly being made of saws and squares without any poly voices or dimensional expansions (assuming your using serum). Best example is 2:15. Again, I appreciate what you've done because it makes the mix super clean, and I personally appreciate clean mix more than pretty sound design. But it feels like it needs a few sprays of water mixed in lol.

Also where's the cover art? It's not placed in the description (at the time of this writing)

NatahDN responds:

the cover art is the thumbnail of the song ( I'll probably start posting the art in the description lol)

also tysm for this great feedback :3

[Illusion]

I seriously dig this. There's a lot of solid work that went into this, but especially for a psytrance song it's a bit too dry. The bass sounds really good, albeit a little tiring on the ears, but it really could do with some filter and slight reverb automation. It also feels a little too shallow too, so it probably could do with some beefing up in the low frequency area, and the higher frequencies of the base could be more stereo to help it feel wider. There was a lot of details in the background that really added some nice atmosphere to the mix, and I was soaking it up since this really grooves well. It's a solid piece that grooves well, but feels a little stagnant.

burningmagma responds:

Thanks, I'll make my next song more full. :)

[Why Do They Build The Walls Like That?]

What I need is some good rock/metal in the NGADM, and I think I got it

Mischa-head responds:

Thank you! More coming soon :D

[Ryzmik - "Digital Obsession"]

This has some really solid MDK vibes. If you clean up the mix so the basses aren't overpowering the mix, I probably would have you confused with them. Solid sound design

Ryzmik responds:

I didn't know this sounds like MDK, I had only listen his music in Geometry Dash. Thank you for the comparison!

[3manon X Yastik - Echoes of The Mountains]

NGADM 2024 Audition review:

I liked the general tone of what you've got here. It's an interesting fusion of a cinematic feel into a drum and bass style. The intro sets up the tone pretty well for what you're going to go into, and then the drums come in and take it and put it into a frenzy. I do have some issues with the production quality. While things are generally well balanced, once the DnB part takes off, the mix starts feeling muddy in the bass/sub area. It sounds to me like you have some unchecked reverb that clutters the mix up, and it sounds like it's in the cello/bass area. I first notice this type of issue with the bass drum that comes in at 0:43. Which, btw, that drums specifically sounds like you can't hear the attack/transient, but it trails off for a long time which will battle with the low end voicing. I also don't like how overpowered the kick is at the 3:00 area. I don't think the kick is a bad choice, but it distorts the whole mix every time it comes in, and looking at your waveforms makes me think you've got it slamming into your master compressors/limiters. To contrast, some nice things I notice. The stereo spacing of the instruments is nice, especially where it's quiet. The drums in the main breaks that come in I think might be a tad overpowering, but their presence is fitting.

I really like your melodies. There's good use of harmony outside of the main breaks. The reprise of the intro at 1:58 is touching, so great marks on that. The cinematic percussion does a good job of influencing the energy dynamics between the different sections. The only issue I have with the writing, that becomes apparent with the breaks, is that the melody is ditched for the high energy spots, and on top of that, the writing is a little repetitive in a way that feels uninspired. The main breaks are just some arpeggiating violin, with a nice (and honestly epic) chord progression underneath, and madd drumming. If there was focus on having a melody/theme/motif underneath the main breaks, it could have had some more driving force to carry through the whole song and help the listener latch on to something without feeling ambiguous. Otherwise, it feels like nice orchestral stuff broken up by Animal on the drums.

Overall, I think this is decent. It fits the drum and bass vibe pretty well, and still feels like its own and fresh piece. It has a decent flow throughout the whole song

3manonMusic responds:

You're absolutely right. It's true that I left some melodic variation behind to make room for the high energy drums in the drop, that was made by Yastik. I did that so the drums had more place to shine and the focus wouldn't be shifted. In terms of motif; I felt like the violin arpeggio was my main one, but I also realize that arpeggio's don't really work as motifs. And yea those mixing issues definitely need some work. Thanks for the feedback!

[AIM 2024 - The Spirit Fisher]

oh yeah, this is the good stuff. I was not expecting it to sound so clean at 0:50. Very ethereal and light, and I kinda wish I sounded like this. Very pretty

GameBoyFireworks responds:

Thank you so much!! Means a lot coming from you!

[AIM - And Then the Storm]

I'm just giving it 5 starts because LukcyDee didn't

Just kidding, this is pretty neat though. Cool work

LuckyDee responds:

Thanks a bunch dude <3

[The Morning After]

Lol I think you basically remade my song from last year. Love jazzy/funky songs

Albe responds:

Oh shit I'm really sorry, I completely forgot you had made jazz last year so I went for that this year myself. Yours was superior and actually sounded like slow jazz, and I just made it... albe-style I guess. Merry Christmas man and I'm glad you liked it!

[Real Me]

I've always been interested to see what you come up with in contests since seeing your content in years past. I've always liked your take and style that you've brought to NG

SkankyMojo responds:

Cheers man, that's really lovely of you to say. You're someone I really respect musically, so that genuinely means a lot.