Everratic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Omnis Evanescet in Nihilo]

-NGUAC Review-

I like the instrumentation, orchestration, and structure. The choir writing is well done for the most part. There are a few voicings I dislike, such as 1:19.

I gave you very high scores in composition, emotion, and creativity. You lost most points in production. I sense some mud in the mix from the percussion, and there's some harshness in the high end. The part at 1:34 is too loud and harsh, and it seems like the mix hit the limiter pretty hard. Some instruments, such as the woodwinds, sound too dry. Maybe this video can help with that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0axfEAU5vbg

With a better mix, I think you would have passed - maybe with one of the highest scores.

SourJovis responds:

Thank you for the review. Glad you liked the song. I'll see what I can do about the mix.

That's a good tutorial. I've watched many tutorials like that, and I've been using my reverb settings quite like that for some time now. For this song however I've used mostly the actual reverbs recorded within the samples, because I really like the ambience of the room the instruments are recorded in, and nothing sounds as realistic as real life reverb. The placing in the room was determined mostly by the person who recorded it, but you can adjust the volumes of each individual mic manually. I kept the placing in the room mostly the same as they were when they were recorded, but sometimes I switched the left and right output if I wanted to have an instrument on the opposite side and I've done some (mostly minor) panning myself. To enhance manual room placing adjustments, and as an artistic choice, I've added a bit of digital reverb for what they in your video refer to as "early reflections". I've used the TSAR-1 by Softube with very subtle "dark" settings. The woodwinds are placed behind the violas, but in front of the brass ensemble, so they have more early reflections than the strings, but less than the brass (also less than the double bases which are behind the celli).

[DAZZLING DUNES]

This is very catchy and lively :D

RedSkiesOfficial responds:

Thanksies

[Glass-cutter]

-NGUAC Review-

The intro is intriguing and well-executed. The sound design is quite pleasant here. There's a nice surprise at :33.

After this point, I feel like the composition meanders and loses its meaning. The melody in section A isn't catchy, interesting, or memorable, and it seems too far in the background when it should be in the forefront imo.

The drop at 1:06 is less interesting melody-wise, and it's not clear how it relates to what I heard previously. This section is fairly repetitive until the 1:39 point.

1:39 is an awesome moment. The abrupt chord change and the runs are quite pleasing. But like in the intro, the composition seems to meander again shortly afterward.

The outro is satisfying by itself but feels weak in context because I don't feel like the song took me anywhere or made me feel a certain way.

The sound design is pretty good, and I like the delay effect on the piano. I like the bass and percussion together.

Regarding the mix, I think the bass range can be cleaned up a little (particularly around 150hz); the highs can be boosted on some instruments such as the pad, snare and piano; and low-mid resonances can be reduced across the board. The mix could sound wider as well - perhaps with those changes it will automatically sound wider.

Sorry for the long wait. I hope this is helpful! Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Stargame responds:

This review actually comforted me in a way - these are all things I've felt about the piece, particularly concerning the composition, and it was nice to hear from a fellow musician who is able to articulate what I, myself was feeling about the song. It's comforting to see where it would need work. It's also nice because I had very little time and energy to make the piece, and I was very stressed while doing so (newborn third child) - as mentioned, it was done in 6 hours. I know it needs more time - I was burning out pretty bad at the time. I feel like if I can take more time on this piece a little later, I can really flesh it out. Thank you for the honest and articulate review.

[Recalibrate]

Nice sound design :o

zybor responds:

Thanks EverErratic :)

Also thanks for tagging me on the NGUAC thread, else I'd have forgotten about it.

[What Lies Ahead (NGADM)]

The sound design and percussion are lovely!

I would have liked to hear a melodic solo at some point.

FateModified responds:

Thanks Everratic! I actually was trying to add a JBV solo but it didn’t quite work out. My piano skills are not so great and when I try to program solos on JBV they never sound right for some reason. Thanks for the comment and good luck in the contest! :) <33

[I Go]

Wow, this is a masterpiece! Every note sounds gorgeous and highly emotional.

I feel like you transported me into a timeless musical world where many emotions are totally transparent. It’s quite heavenly.

Phonometrologist responds:

Hi EverErratic. You are very generous with your words; I don't take that for granted. While working on any piece, one is never quite sure how it will be perceived so I appreciate the encouragement. Your description reminds me of a story I once heard when another visioned what heaven is like and in that even the walls surrounding us were singing.

[Adrenalinic Obstinacy]

You’ve improved a lot! I think this is the best song of yours from the ones I listened to.

My only gripe is that some instruments can sound much better with EQing, including dynamic EQ.

I really like the atmosphere and percussion. The structure is good and you nailed the ending.

AlbeGian responds:

Thanks! I was fearing that it was gonna be a bit too repetitive cuz 4 chord progression, but I'm glad that it was enjoyable

[[IV]Nigdzie]

This is beautiful! <3

What cello did you use?

IglicaV responds:

Thanks a lot! It's Tina Guo Solo Cello Vol 1 with the legato patch update

[Elven Lullaby]

Your voice sounds heavenly side by side with the flute. I think this is one of your most beautiful songs. I really like the scale changes - they greatly enhance the emotion.

etherealwinds responds:

Thank you, I'm glad you think so! :)

[Dreamland]

I like the bittersweet chord progression, and the orchestration is pretty good. I especially like the solo cello and choir lines. The transitions and pacing of the song are excellent.

I think the main thing that's missing from this track is a strong, thick bass line. I'm not necessarily referring to bass frequencies - it seems you covered that. To achieve the desired warmth with this type of music, you need a strong underpinning that could just be a single bass note per bar played by multiple instruments.

You might want to reduce the high-mids in the master channel to get a more dreamlike and less in-your-face sound. Here's a picture of what I mean: https://imgur.com/a/qinVPr3

I first listened to this with my phone speakers, and the sound was very distorted. That can be fixed somewhat by using dynamic EQ on certain instruments such as violin and piano or using a plugin such as Gullfoss.

Nice work!

KevinMueller responds:

Thanks for the review :)

Those are some great tips and I'll try to consider them next time.
Thanks a lot!