Spadezer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Queer As In Fuck You]

Official NGADM '20 Review for Mooke

Composition and Structure:
What are scales, am I right? Honestly I'm left confused by the end of it. What gets me is that you don't really stick to anything in any certain way, except the feeling of being frantic. Like the percussion, the high energy, and tempo are the only constants in this whole shindig. Aside from that I can't tell if you want to say screw it to the idea of having sensible notation or not, because there's a lot of phrases that start off as something I could latch onto and make sense off. There is something of a chord progression that you use so it makes me think that there is a scale I should be able to pick out, and you start using it. Than halfway through the phrase you do a 180 and just go chromatic in whatever direction you want. I guess that's kinda what you're going for trying to tease the listener along and then throwing it back in their face, but that comes across as bipolar and aggressive. The lack of energy dynamics too also gives a sense that you really don't have any sort of story, you're just trying things and then giving up on them before they get to completion.

Production and Sound Design:
I was a little dissapointed with the sound quality of this song. It sounded overcompressed and crowded which made it tiring to listen to a couple of times through. Individually I like what you have. I like the percussion and they positively add to the feel of the song, and the synths you have going here I think fit with the sections that they're in. There's a couple here and there that sound dry or too flat, like you have some basic sytrus presets and cranked them up a bit, but the mixing as a whole doesn’t leave very good space to be able to pick out things very well.

Composition: 7
Production: 6.5
Sound Design: 8
Structure: 6.5
Creativity: 8.5
Total: 74/100

zybor responds:

That's the beauty of doing things differently :) The risk is big but who care, I'm not aiming to please people with fancy scale or notation, fuck all that, what I need them to do is to feel. Feeling is all I was looking for. And you exactly feel what this work supposed to feel like.

I'm happy that you gave my creativity score good, because it's a clear representation of what I have always done, never conform. :)

Thank you for judging and thank you for the review!

[A Dream]

Official NGADM '20 Review for EverErratic

Composition and Structure:
That intro is gripping. Without reading any of the description it instantly threw me into a different world, and all it took was 7 chords. I kept wanting to repeat the intro and really savor in how much, and you're use of 4/4 really gave it a largely different feel from your other works. Ugh the more details I notice the more I like this. Like what you're done a lot with a lot of your 3/4 and 6/8 works have generally had a swaying to them, something that gives the sense of dancing most times. Here you really get the feel of how heavy every beat is. Especially once the driving low strings start really playing in full force at 0:28, and it really drives home the emotions that would come across like what you have in your description. The 1:27 temporary key change into a major key felt kinda alien in the flow of the structure, but with the description I can see how it's a nice nod to happier times. Without knowing your intent with the song it might have made some more sense if you temporarily had the driving low strings stop for that moment until you brought the dark tones back in maybe since it feels like the person the song is being told through is of someone who temporarily ties to pick themselves up in vain and is quickly thrown back to the original state. I want to sit here for a good half hour just eating up what you're doing with the chord progression.

Production and Sound Design:
I'll admit one of my weaker judging points because I don't feel like I know what to look for in orchestral pieces still. I don't believe I'd be able to distinguish it from a live recording. The sounds are all very warm and rich, but the only thing that I probably don't like is maybe the harp is a little muddy in the end with the mix. Otherwise no complaints from me.

Conclusion:
This song hurts good

Composition: 10
Production: 9.5
Sound Design: 9.5
Structure: 8.5
Creativity: 9.5
Total: 94/100

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the review!

I'm glad you like appreciate the use of 4/4. I didn't think about it at the time, but I see how much of a difference it makes now.

The key change represents a change in the stream-of-consciousness narrative. The person reminiscences the happiest moments with their loved one and realizes they are in a better place. Then the sadness returns.

The harp was difficult to mix. I've seen professional orchestras up close, and the harp tends to be far off to the left and is barely audible. I tried to replicate that placement but with a higher volume because it's an important line. I made sure to control low-mid resonances and cut off a bit of the low end, but it could still sound better. Maybe reducing the stereo image could help.

Thanks for being a judge and writing many reviews :)

[Riot Ribs]

Lol you're so wrong about what we dislike

zybor responds:

Hehe, yeah it's more of a humorous personal reflection. Every contest I've failed for the past 15 years happen because I do things differently. :( But as soon as I make things generic, I'd have better chance making it than when I do things outside the box.

I've reached the point of cynical perspective on this, because I'd rather make things I love than doing things other like. lol it's basically the reason why I haven't gone mainstream despise I had so many chances in the past. Ah well, now I lost that chance cuz the pandemic. :(

Thanks for the review, I guess. Hope you have a great week.

[I'm a Simp For You by The Simpletons]

Brings a tear to my eye

VoicesByCorey responds:

Tears of love I’m assuming 😏

[MrSnuggles dress-up game]

Where's the new DLC?!

RealMrSnuggles responds:

Coming soon I promise

[mantle of blue]

Oh I didn't even notice that it was 7/4. It felt so natural with the composition. I'm really enjoying the piano work too.

Hope you'll be feeling better. I always appreciate seeing your traffic amd I out on Discord

Troisnyx responds:

Welp, you're in my server now so it might not be an in-or-out appearance 😅

Thank you for listening, and for your kindness. ❤️ I hope I feel better.

[Last Light]

This is an official NGADM '19 Review

Composition:
I've really enjoyed every work you've made this contest, and this one is no exception. One thing I love about this contest is when people take risks like singing for the first time. You did a great with the lyrics. In terms of composition, the only thing I don't really like about the voice is that a lot of phrases you fall at the end of them instead of ending the notes. Otherwise this song felt very powerful. You created a large space that felt very inspiring and it actually supported your voice pretty well.

Production and Sound Design:
The drums were great. Especially right at 3:00. The strings maybe felt like they were a little too far in the background, but the vocal was very nice and centered where it needed to be. As for the vocals, your voice works great. Good singing voice and I think it paid off well. However, for this style you need to open up the palate to make it sound like more of an open and supported voice for this. Otherwise you could hold a tune pretty well and don't really need vibrato to avoid it sounding like it's strained. I'm not sure if I like the delay that was on it, but it felt pretty decently processed. However, past this point I think it would be best to get feedback from Jacob. He's a lot more knowledgeable about vocals than I am. Aside from that, for the most part it sounds like a finished product. Maybe a little tweaking to make it sound fantastic, but even at this point nothing stops me from enjoying this a lot.

Structure:
Yeah! I really like how it progressed. Great use of energy dynamics. 2:07 is a really great moment, and the way it drops to build back up again is a really good transition. Man was I jamming out with you at 3:16. Really cool moments. It maybe felt like it was a little repetitive near the end, but it's only maybe ever so slightly; even to the point that I think it might be based on taste.

Emotion / Conclusion:
Really cool work. Like I've said I've really enjoyed each one you've made, and the risk you took in this one I think will really pay off.

Composition: 9

Production: 8

Sound Design: 9

Structure: 9

Emotion: 9.5

CloakedSoup responds:

Thank you! The vocals definitely could have used more work; I'm used to singing with a classical kind of sound, and I've never done any kind of 'popular' singing before, so this was definitely an experiment for me. Maybe a different approach would be useful if I have more time to try out different kinds of sound for each section, but for now, it is what it is. I've been thinking of writing something that was more suited to the 'classical' kind of style of singing to show what I'm used to actually doing too.

[Wolfhome]

This is an official NGADM '19 Review

Composition:
Holy crap that humanization. I felt like my heart was getting ripped out of my chest for the first 2 minutes. I don't know what instrument / synth you're using but it hurts so good lol. Your composition creates a lot of imagery too. Just to use an analogy, it felt like a deep and mystic take on something like the lost woods from Zelda OOT. The song never felt too empty anywhere, and everything was carefully placed to add to the main theme.

Production and Sound Design:
This definitely sounds like a finished product. I can easily hear this in a video game or soundtrack setting. The only complaint is that at times the lead instrument feels like a little bit too much, but some of that might be taste, so it's not a big complaint. One small issue I do have is at 2:58, there's too much reverb going on and the mid-low area is getting muddy with what I believe is some brass showing up there. Pretty good otherwise.

Structure:
Simply great. Very coherent main theme, and easy to get caught up in. And then once it started picking up around the 1:40 with the driving synths in the back, it never felt trying too dull. And it kept growing too. I really like how you built the climax for the 3:00 area. You also did a great job with the outro too.

Emotion / Conclusion:
This is the most emotional this piece this round by a long shot. You really captured a lot of feeling and told a intensely heart-moving story through it. Beautiful work

Composition: 9

Production: 9

Sound Design: 9.5

Structure: 9.5

Emotion: 10

Baumarius responds:

Thank's for the review! I'm very glad that you were able to enjoy it! I had unfortunately succumbed to ear fatigue while finishing up the song, and couldn't hear the issues that remained or even tell if the song was any good at that point. I'll definitely work more on the expression and mixing of the duduk (the flute) after the competition is over, as well as the issues with the reverb and brass. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to record the duduk live for this too, if I manage to place third!

[Time To Recoup]

This is an official NGADM '19 Review

Composition:
I enjoy dnb a bit, and this fits the bill pretty well. You developed the main theme in ways that always made it feel fresh throughout the whole song, and never felt that it was repeated too much (which some dnb artists have issues with for my tastes). Looking back at the title of the song it really fit that description too. I can feel what you were putting into the song, and made a nice narrative, which is also kinda neat since dnb is mostly based on a groove instead of telling a narrative. Props for that. The only issue I really had is that I really wanted the 1:58 section to sound more full and well rounded similar to like what happened in 2:20 ish. I tell you what though. The more I repeated this song the more I loved it.

Production and Sound Design:
Very clean work. Everything you picked balanced well with every other element you had, and there's some decent details you added in, like the panning in the chords at 1:17, the plucked synths in the sides around 1:37, it all sounded professional and polished. Especially the drums. My only complaint is that maybe it's a little too dry in spots. This is also a nice work of combining electric and organic elements like the square(?) wave with drums and strings in the back. Pretty neat.

Structure:
Great work especially in how you built it. Like I said in the composition, it's really cool that you were able to tell more of a narrative with a dnb song instead of finding a good groove and developing it. With the title I can really feel the emotions you were adding into the writing, and I really felt it at the outro. In spite of the fact that it's a fade out, the fade out actually works well with what you're doing. I usually see fade outs as lazy writing or a cop-out (see my last NGUAC song), but this was a well intentioned use that fit. I could also put your song on repeat and enjoy it just as much each time BTW.

Emotion / Conclusion:
Well done. It had me hooked in the intro and carried through the song on a groovy chill ride that I never got tired of repeating.

Composition: 9

Production: 9

Sound Design: 8.5

Structure: 9.5

Emotion: 9

vocaloutburst responds:

As always, thanks so much for your reviews!!! That's super interesting that you took the title of the track and used that as a way to interpret the piece, I really love that!! Happy to hear you enjoyed it and REALLY happy to hear that the production sounded professional and polished, I really wanted to try to improve upon that throughout the contest!!!

[Staying with You]

This is an official NGADM '19 Review

Composition:
This piece felt intricate and masterful in terms of your playing and compositional ability. Listening to the song I could imagine a type of triumphant and joyful scene from a musical. It feels grand and celebratory mostly. The runs are well played and it feels also like a modern style of piano music.

Production and Sound Design:
I don’t have much to say about this. It's a solo piano, and it's sounded the same as your other piano pieces.

Structure:
Good use of energy dynamics. I also like the contrast of styles especially in the first 2 minutes. The first 40 seconds are really technical and even, and well contrasted by the swung and polyrhythmic section that followed. Then what you have as the most contrasting section of the whole piece between 1:00 and 2:11, which has a lot of emotion backed into it. Afterwards though I didn't feel like there was as much contrast or energy dynamics.

Emotion / Conclusion:
After listening to it a few times, what I kept feeling was that the song felt a little more on being technical than it is emotional. At the end of the song, what I take away from it was some well played runs more so than a theme I could latch on to. I still enjoyed it, and I could still pick out parts here and there that felt really genuine. You still did well on conveying the intended emotion, but it may have been lost a little bit

Composition: 9.5

Production: 8.5

Sound Design: 9

Structure: 8.5

Emotion: 8

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thank you for the review!

I tried to put together everything I've learned from composing for this year's NGADM in this piece, without forcing anything of course. I'm glad that the 'triumphant' sound came through. I often write melancholic pieces. This time, I wanted to challenge myself to write something mostly positive. Perhaps this is why you felt it was less emotional overall, since it plays on very different emotions. For me, personally, I'm quite happy with the atmosphere.
The intro was a little bit inspired by some of the techniques used in Liszt's "La Campanella".

As for the production, I actually spent many hours trying to get the right sound for this piece. I used a piano I don't think I've used previously this year, and was a bit obsessed with getting the sound like I wanted it. I'm afraid that maybe I overproduced it a little bit though! I'll have to think about how to best achieve a good sound for solo piano pieces.

You're right in that I wanted to contrast some of the faster sections of the composition, with the slower parts after the one minute mark. I feel that it's the parts like that one that really 'make' the piece, since they provide a well needed break from everything that's going on. I tried to do something similar at 2:57 and a few other later points, but maybe I should've taken a slightly longer rest in those parts.

While I agree that there are many technical elements of the song, personally I feel like that was in an attempt to portray emotions and an atmosphere that I couldn't otherwise get across. But I understand how it can also feel like a bit much, and that maybe more focus should be put on clearer melodies. I like trying out different approaches though :)

Thank you for listening, and for diligently judging throughout the competition!