Spadezer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Interlude For The Day]

This is an official NGADM '19 Review

Composition:
I'm really digging this jazzy feel you got going on. Super intricate chord work and really compliments the melody you have going for this. You had me hooked in at 0:20, which set a great tone for the rest of the song, and I ate up what you were doing. There was really good moments were it was a steady beat, but every moment had a nice jazzy fresh take going on and led me along for the whole ride. No complaints from me.

Production and Sound Design:
Super clean mixing. Everything fit really nicely and complimented the composition really well. If anything I feel like the piano should be mixed more to the high end, but really it's only a preference thing because it fits great even the way it is. You do a really nice job of managing the energy through the mixing and balancing too

Structure:
Oh man this needs to be longer. Like I mentioned earlier, there's really great dynamics happening with the energy, and it all has really nice flow. But this song is begging to have more progression.

Emotion / Conclusion:
Really light, but fresh style. It's not unfamiliar, but like I've said I can't get enough of this.

Composition: 9

Production: 9

Sound Design: 10

Structure: 7

Emotion: 9

vocaloutburst responds:

Thanks a bunch for the review! Definitely wanted to make it a bit longer but I was running out of time, I'll probably (hopefully) extend and finish it sometime soon!

[Lost Joy]

This is an official NGADM '19 Review

Composition:
Don't ever let me stop you from making waltzes. Making this a piano piece was a really cool different take on what you normally do, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This had a nice fresh take and there was some great emotion behind it. I really enjoyed having it play on repeat and pick up a new thing here and there. Never got tired of listening to this.

Production and Sound Design:
Not much to work with here since it's mostly a piano and fiddle. However, it sounds nicely polished and realistic. Instantly through me into the environment you were working in.

Structure:
Ugh this needs to be longer. Especially since you added the fiddle into it, that alone gave it the feeling of a lot more potential to develop. This had good flow and I was really enjoying how it developed.

Emotion / Conclusion:
It felt more like a waltz-like Bach piece than an Everratic piece. Lots of emotion and the potential for some serious good composition like you were already displaying in this. I'm super proud to have heard this.

Composition: 9

Production: 8

Sound Design: 9

Structure: 8

Emotion: 10

Everratic responds:

Don't worry, I'll continue composing in 3/4, but you're right in that I shouldn't get too comfortable with one particular style.

I wish I could have made this longer, but my fingers were hurting too much :(

Saying my music reminds you of Bach's is a great compliment.

Thank you for the review!

[Sanctum]

This is an official NGADM '19 Review

Composition:
You've already won me over just to the fact it's some good clean rock lol. I like seeing it in this contest, but you're also doing it right. It wasn't much that was super complex IMO, but the performance was really clean and tight.

Production and Sound Design:
A lot of what I feel makes or breaks a mix with rock I feel is the drums, and you've got them down. They're crisp and thumpy, and oh so delicious. Maybe the only thing I'd tweak is something like the splash you're using in the 2:58 section. I really like the sound of the guitars that you're using. They sound really professional and dialed in

Structure:
I feel like this is the weakest part of the song. Mostly because it felt like a rock ballad that was missing an overall lead or vocals on top of the composition. However there's some really nice and notable sections, like 1:15 and 2:58 where you get it right.

Emotion / Conclusion:
I really enjoyed listening to this. It struck right where it needed to on most cases and sounded really good doing it. I feel like there could have been more, but I think more rock song should sound like this in NGADM.

Composition: 9

Production: 9

Sound Design: 9

Structure: 7

Emotion: 8

JDawg00100 responds:

Thank you for the detailed review :)

[Agente.001 - Melancholia]

This is an official NGADM '19 Review.

Composition:
The beginning absolutely had me immersed. The rest of it was definitely my type of thing. It was in this fluid state of being a melodic dubstep / drumstep style and I was eating it up (although probably leaned more towards drumstep).

Production:
I think this could have been a little cleaner. You handle the quieter sections beautifully, but in the drops I think there was a little too much going in in the mids, and the kick I think was a little too bassy. In reality though, these are minor complaints and didn't stop me from enjoying it.

Sound design:
Again, the beginning sounds had me hooked from the start. Everything you picked worked wonderfully to the main sound of the whole piece, and I love how wet and metallic the bass synths sounded in the drop. The only real complaint I have is the piercing synth at 2:27.

Structure:
Good progression and good transitions. I can really see the storyline you were trying to create in the description. There was a lot of dynamics in energy, and it the themes you have really added well to the emotion.

Emotion / Conclusion:
I loved it. I kinda wish I made it lol.

Composition: 9.5

Production: 8

Sound Design: 9

Structure: 9

Emotion: 10

Agente001Tomhson responds:

Thank you very much man!

[Virtual Riot ~ Init (Incise Arrangement) [Refix]]

I think some of the chord stack overpowers the mix a little bit, but otherwise this is for sure a banger. Right up in my alley. Maybe not quite Virtual Riot level, but that's a high benchmark. This pretty sweet.

Incise responds:

yeah i agree

the mixing in the drop is a bit muddy and cluttered, and i put too much reverb on the saws oof

[AIM - Timeless Adventure]

I like the dainty feel with the piccolo/flutes at the beginning, however they are a little piercing by themselves. I can hear your distinct waltz feel, and this time it has a nice Zelda Windwaker / Treasure Planet feel so you're really pouring on in the nostalgia for me. Based on the description and the art you have you've definitely nailed the theme.

The production quality is really good. The only thing that keeps me away from being immersed completely I think is the french horn/brass when they first come in at like 0:43. I like their presence but they sound too powerful for what they're doing. Not saying their too loud, but they sound like they're trying too hard type of thing. Maybe the glockenspiel sounds a little too close and the choir sounds a little too far away, but now I'm just being nitpicky.

In terms of composition and song structure, high praise with nailing the nostalgia part. The only issue I have is that I would have liked more variation with the melody motif. After listening to it on repeat I think it's a bit too repetitive. The chord structure is vary hopeful and uplifting during the whole piece, and it definitely helped with that adventure is just beginning feel. I like all of the trills on the piccolo and the drums are a nice compliment to what you have going on while also really driving the direction of the atmosphere.

Nice and happy piece. Again, it gave off that Windwaker feel and I bathed in its nostalgia. I'm going to have to bring up Windwaker Title music again. Good work

Everratic responds:

I'm glad to hear the song poured on the nostalgia for you! That was one of my goals :D

I deliberately made the horns sound powerful enough to just barely dominate the mix. I know it looks bad when someone responds to criticism by saying the matter of the criticism was deliberate, but I sincerely stand by my decision. I think the climax wouldn't sound nearly as pleasing as it does without that feature. But I'm glad the production sounds good to your ears otherwise.

I agree that I could have added more variation to the main melody. I thought changing the articulations and instrumentation a lot would be sufficient, but indeed, once you become accustomed to it, it does feel a bit repetitive regardless.

Thank you for the review!

[Pretentious]

This is pretty cool. I haven't heard any grunge/punk songs in either the NGADM or NGUAC up to this point so this is refreshing. Not only that, this is really fun. Your voice is rock solid (haha) and I totally didn't expect that, and the guitars are produced pretty well.

You have a bit of an earworm with the chorus. It may be a tad repetitious but I'm enjoying it to the point that I pretty much don't care. Listening the second time through, however, I think you could maybe have developed the structure a little more. Maybe throw in some different chord progressions here or there, and maybe have a different verse structure or something.

The bigger issue I find though is the production. I think it could use a little more balancing. A couple vocals are a bit hot in some spots, and everything sounds a little too dry.

To quickly wrap it up though, I enjoyed this a lot. Regardless of the criticism I gave, this sounds like a finished product albeit with some rough edges.

dude2312 responds:

To be honest with you, I saw a lot of paragraphs in here and I was like: crap! I'm in trouble. Lol I second that on the production, I definitely feel I could have done more to it. But I was in such a time restraint that this is all I could do. Newgrounds does need more grungy, punk, music here and there!

I welcome any type of feedback with open arms and I thank you for sharing your insight over my little musical project here.

[TeslaX - Dark Deity's Sorcery]

This is an Official NGADM '18 Round 2 Review

Beginning Comments: Congratulations on making it to round 2

Production / Mixing: I was imagining what the mix was like based on the waveforms I was seeing and they didn't lie. It was definitely loud, but intriguingly I don't think it felt too crowded. I could here all the details you were adding into the mix and nothing felt buried. The quieter sections were handled well too. This sounds quite finished and professional. I think maybe the main growls/wub wubs in your longer second drop could have been taking down just a decibel or two, but still sounds pretty good regardless.

Composition / Structure: Such a deeply dark intro. Given the name of this song you stuck with that theme and developed it well. It's a pretty neat style that you have here and you didn't sacrifice the surrounding audio or music around those growls. This has nice little details that you've added in places and never has a stagnant chord progression.

Sound Design: So, obviously this is where it shines, and I'd wager you're using serum to use this because the growls and bass elements you're using in the second drop or so deep, rich, and metallic. Very unique sounds that make me wish I could recreate those somehow. Those sounds make me imagine a sci-fi style of Harry Potter that's set 100 years or so in the future, and everyone throwing around lights and fireballs around like some lethal light show.

Ending Comments: Pretty enjoyable ride. I had to listen to it a few times to appreciate it the most, but you showed a lot of skill and talent with this piece.

Score:

Production - 1.9

Composition - 2

Structure - 2

Sound Design - 2

Replay - 1.5

Total - 9.4

*Disclaimer - please disregard this copy and pasted note of a remnant disclaimer

TeslaX11 responds:

yup, 95% of basses in 2nd half of drop are made in serum and razor. Thanks for the review!

[Darkness and Light]

This is an Official NGADM '18 Round 2 Review

Beginning Comments: Congratulations on making it to round 2

Production / Mixing: All I can hear is the elven singer. You're piano playing has mystical abilities too, don't hide them too much like that. The piano would have benefited by some reverb or something to not sound so dry though.

Composition / Structure: Yeah the darkness and light line is pretty neat. The contrast is nice in terms of the subject of the lyrics and the style you have to compliment it. The subject being dark and ominous is reflected in the music behind it, but there's still a feeling of hope The lyric writing is actually pretty cool, I would like to hear more from you like this. It's so poetic, and it's not immature either.

Sound Design: The piano sounds a little tinny. For this type of contest being this far into it, I personally would have liked to have heard something a little different or more refined, but I'm assuming it's what you had to work with since this sounds like a live recording.

Ending Comments: Wow that man can sing low. Fantastic writing from you that I enjoyed listening too. The piano quality I wish was better but that doesn't impede my enjoyment.

Score:

Production - 1.75

Composition - 2

Structure - 2

Sound Design - 1.75

Replay - 2

Total - 9.5

*Disclaimer - I have headphones that cancel out the magical properties of elven singing to help make sure you don't get an advantage through hypnosis.

P.S. I will gladly lend my voice to any of your songs. I've wanted to sing a lot more vocals but I suck at lyrics.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

This is an Official NGADM '18 Round 2 Response ;)

Thanks for the congrats!

Yeah, I've had the opportunity to listen to the track on a few different kinds of speakers since I made it, so I've been able to tell that the vocals are a bit louder than they'd need to be, especially at a few parts. Now that the judging is over, I can rework the mix a bit when I get the time :3
The piano has plenty of reverb, but the vocals probably have more, which might make the balance sound a bit out of place?

I'm glad to see you liked my lyrics well enough! I actually have one unreleased song (not recorded) that I think is even better, both lyric- and structurewise. I've been trying to write more lyrics lately, and think of how to arrange around singing. It's quite fun! Now if only I could learn to sing half as well as Jordi too...

The piano isn't a live recording in the sense that I used a microphone, but it is recorded in one go on my electronic piano, after which I pasted the MIDI on a track with a piano VST (and ofc, edited the dynamics/velocities to fit the piano in question). I have my sights on a better piano VST that I want to buy at some point during the year :D
The piano VST I want requires 200GB of free disc space though, so I'll have to buy an external SSD first xD

Jordi can sing low indeed! I've known this for some time, so I intentionally wrote the last verse in a low octave, so the track could highlight that. It also sounds very emotional and pure like that, imo. Personally, since the range of the voice in this track is so wide I can't even properly sing it myself :3

Thank you for the review! I don't write too many song with lyrics, but if I do write something fitting for a different voice than Jordi's and mine, I'll let you know!

[Invincible]

This is an Official NGUAC '18 Knockout Round Review

Beginning Comments: It has a really bubbly intro and set s a nice tone. A little quiet but it's nice.

Production / Mixing: Most things here are balanced well. The overall volume is a little too quiet, but it sounded like a finished product.

Composition / Structure: There wasn't much to it. The bubbly synths you have going on at first were pretty nice. The bass gives it a nice happy feel, and there's a soothing choir synth going on in the back. You introduced the happy melody as it was going over the regular structure, but the song felt flat. There was very little development of chord progressions or meshing ideas involving the melodies you used. I would have enjoyed hearing the guitars that you introduced a bit sooner. You do, however, do a good job in keeping with the theme you have when you do develop it. Whatever you've added or introduced does a good job of keeping with a similar style.

Sound Design: Most everything had a quirky and happy style to it. I would have changed probably a couple of properties of a couple things, like the first lead synth maybe felt a little too sharp, and the piano at 4:11 felt too dry. Other than that they all worked pretty well.

Ending Comments: Not a bad piece. A bit too repetitive, but the theme was pleasant.

Score:

Production - 0.5

Composition - 0.5

Structure - 0.5

Sound Design - 0.75

Replay - 0.5

Total - 5.25

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

ZaneLittle responds:

I appreciate the feedback!