MetalRenard's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[redemption]

This is a NGADM Quarter-Finals Review!
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Automatic admission to the next round, lucky you! :)
It's a chill track for sure and the way the slower section really throws you off the beat with different sections coming in early or late making it feel like 3/4 mixed with 5/4 works well to lose the listener in the music. The sound effects of children playing at 3:00 really brought the piece home for me. Coupled with the title and that section I think I understand what you were aiming for emotionally in this.

I can see what you meant by the drums not quite being there yet - they're a bit distant and separate from the rest because of the reverb, but that's the only thing I can fault in this track. I love the sounds you used (special mention for Etherealwinds' lovely vocals too) and I really enjoyed the journey.
Fantastic and good luck in the next round!

9.5

johnfn responds:

It's funny how some people love the drums and some people don't. Eh... I'm a drum noob, but I'm getting better!!!

Thanks for the review! Though I don't really remember using a mix of 3/4 and 5/4 hehe. I think you think I'm smarter than I actually am ;-)

[There]

NGADM Quarter Final Review!
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Solid as always!!!
As usual, this song benefits from an impeccable mix, you're one of the most consistently good sounding producers I know. It helps that this song is catchy as hell and that I'm loving the retro/90s vibe. The vocals remind me (in all the best ways) of Savage Garden too, I'm assuming that's you singing, very impressive work.
I really enjoyed the composition - the level of work this competition has dragged out of you guys is insane and forced me to revise how I score tracks from 1/2s to decimal places. What can I say? Excellent work Garlagan. Best of luck in the final!
9.6/10

garlagan responds:

Wow cheers Sam!
Yep, that's me singing. And it reminds you of Savage Garden?! NICE.

[Reborn as Machine]

I really love this piece of music. The way the synth and guitar play of each other at times, it's kind of retro but in a really cool way. Oustanding guitar playing as always, too (yeah, I've listened to a bunch of your tracks).
Awesome! \o/

DanJohansen responds:

I am very inspired by retro video games and I love mixing up the synth and leads XD Glad you dig it dude, appreciate it! \m/

[WHATEVER]

Loving the track, you have a great sound, clean and precise. The drums sound great too. The riffs are also really cool.
You could maybe clean up the bass a bit, it's overpowering the rest. Other than that, awesome!

RobSoundtrack responds:

Thanks dude!

[On The Glass Edge]

This is a NGADM "Round of 16" Review!
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This is on a whole new level from your other pieces, and those were already fantastic. This just blew me away. Your guitar playing is outstanding, honestly I could never play this. You know how much I like this already but I have to say it again. Bloody hell. Brilliant. Haha
I was torn between giving you 10/10 and 9.5/10 and gave you 9.5/10 because I pussied out and didn't want people to think I'm super biased about metal... Sorry. They wouldn't be wrong. ^_^"

Seriously though, nothing I can see wrong with this. Marvellous. You fixed any mixing issues I picked up on in previous pieces too, including making the lead sound fit so well in the mix.

What more can I say? Sold!

PirateCrab responds:

Dammit I was hoping for a 10 ;)

But honestly thanks bro! Your constructive criticism last round helped immensely, took it all on board and completely upped my game! Now my production is down, I guess that leaves it all to composition! Here goes!

Again, thanks dude! Means a lot :)

[A Girl's Champion]

This is a NGADM "Round of 16" Review!
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I can see the difference between this and something you'd usually make. It doesn't have lots of the subtle details you usually throw in that make it polished and realistic. It's a shame because I think it's a good piece. I had to remove half a point because it's short - also a consequence of not having time to finish. To add to that, the fade-out ending is disappointing too.
I was sorry to hear you weren't able to finish, Bosa, I know you're a very capable composer and orchestrator.

What you did do well, though, is making lush, beautiful melodies right from the start. The whole thing flows overwhelmingly well, weaving a heart-warming image of peace at the beginning to something more powerful as the music progresses. I love how you weave the different instruments together at the start, you're such a pro. I'm envious of people who can do that, I'm a much more straight-forward kind of composer and those details and techniques elude me.

Please send me a PM when this is done (I mean it), I want to hear the final version (and to download a copy!). If you upload it as a separate piece I'll review that one too.

Bosa responds:

I will do it.

[Can Your Cow Do This?]

This is a NGADM "Round of 16" Review!
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It looks like I scored you the lowest out of all the judges. That's always a bit awkward when you have to leave a detailed review too. Well, here goes.
I guess some of it is personal bias, I find lots of the sounds in dubstep quite jarring and unless you mix it really well they come off quite harsh. Your mix is good, indeed. The drums are full, the backing synths are awesome and I love the lead sound, so awesome.

Sadly during the signature dubby bits (if that's a thing) I feel like you underestimated the power of a pure synth to blow out ear drums since their perceived volume is so much higher than a complex sound. What I mean by this is that an electric guitar won't sound as loud as a sine wave because its sound is full of harmonics and the distortioin throws those all over the place too whereas a pure sine wave or something similar seems so much louder.

tldr: What I'm trying to say is that I had to turn your song right down to listen to it, not because it was loud but because the differences from moment to moment in perceived volume made my ears hurt.

What I did like is the variation from section to section. I also think you're really good at making melodies and backings that fit really well together. That backing wouldn't have been complete without that melodie and vice versa. Complete synergie between the two.

Congrats on making it this far in the competition, it's been really tough and you did admirably. Keep it up!

introstalge responds:

Not awkward at all. I was actually hoping you'd be allocated to Group D so I could see in which areas I need to improve! Thanks for picking apart the positives and negatives, it has been very encouraging to read as well as informative. I will try to work my mixing even more for my future tracks. Thank you for the detailed review and also for being a judge for this year's NGADM :)

[Adel's Theme (Menu)]

The issue with the looping is because of the large amount of reverb in this. Otherwise I think you did a marvellous job buddy.
The simple solution for the reverb is to reduce the decay a bit, it will tidy it up but still sound roomy.

Step responds:

I thought it'd be the reverb on the piano... I tried wrapping the remainder of the track during export so that the reverb tail at the end continues at the start, but that ended up still leaving a click at the start of the track, for some reason. Maybe it's because the waveform of the reverb tail didn't start at 0 amplitude so it produced a clicking sound? Like, instead of the reverb tail in the intro starting like this: http://puu.sh/bnUDi.png it started like this: http://puu.sh/bnUEB.png producing the clicking sound... I'm a dumbass when it comes to this stuff so I wouldn't know for sure.

Super glad you like it though, I really value your feedback! Thanks man.

[Glitchy Grindy Stuff]

This is a NGADM Round 1 Review!
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Please wait.
Rebooting.
Bleep bleep!
Sorry that was necessary to fully comprehend this piece, it's most definitely unique and I love that you experiment like this. The problem is that it's really hard to judge a submission like this one...
Mix: 8/10
I think you did a good job with this. I mean, the recording sounds quite decent and you went all out with your editing and FX to create a very interesting auditory experience unlike anything I've ever heard before. This also means that I can't really say what I think you could improve or what I think you did wrong because of how unusual it is. I hope you're happy to settle for an 8, all that considered.
Composition: 8/10
Same thing here...! How do I judge this? At the very least I think this track is extremely cool. I don't say that often or lightly. In my notes I actually gave you a bonus point because of the risks you took presenting something like this in a composition filled to the brim with EDM and cinematic styles which rely on much more conventional interpretations of the word "music".
Despite this you managed to include melodic elements in there too and they worked well together.

8/10 total and a piece I think deserves a spot on the front page of NG because it shows just how creative you are. Great work.

CaperCube responds:

Thank you! As I said before, after listening to the submissions I was up against, I wasn't expecting to get more than a 4/10. But after seeing these reviews, I for sure will be trying to post more of my music here for feedback, and I'm sure I'll also join NGADM next year.

Thank you again, this greatly encouraged me!