LD-W's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[CRY.NN - Men In Shades [SIN 3.5]]

Both club & animation-ready as always :bop:

CryNN responds:

exactly. call me mr. universal atp :D

[AIM - Bellowers of Grief]

The most important part is ticked: it 100% matches up with the artwork. As mentioned in other review(s), it does have immediate TES Skyrim vibes, which is excellent since that's one of the greatest orchestral-ambient OST's in VGM history, so being able to do something comparable with ease like that is a testament to your skillset!

Since I'm always a big fan of cranking the volume up and basking in the fine-detailing of layered texturing, I do want to give a special shoutout to 2:34 to 2:57 as being one of the best orchestral ambiences I've outright heard in a long time, from anyone

Since you're after some useful feedback from another pair of ears, the main things which I'd say are worth double-checking and potentially revisiting in a track update would be the following:

- The piano used and primarially featured at 0:51 to 1:11. While it does sound nice, from my perspective of the soundstage towards the right side, it feels like the lower notes are jumping too far away from the mid-notes, and are diverting off abit too far to the right, making it sound more like you've got two piano's positioned there next to each other instead of one (which is fine if you've duplicated instances and performed some extra positioning to DIY a Piano Ensemble AGE-style, but not something intentionally sought after from a single instance). Also around 2:43, it sounds like the low notes are diverting off to the left-side of the soundstage randomly. I do also feel as if the sound is a tad too full on it considering it's perceived position x distance, and it could benefit from being thinned out abit (but not so-much as to destroy it's warm-rich tone), or alternatively made more distant

- The signal noise situation in the quietest part of the tracks (mainly 0:50 to 1:11, and the outtro). It is understandably a pain to deal with and something which I've noticed in particular with certain Spitfire Libs in other works/demo's I've checked out, but any attempts to reduce it without a negative influence on detailing is always a big plus. Acoustica Standard or RX Standard may be the best two options to consider, and both can be demo'd to see which of their DeNoise algo's you prefer. Or a Waves option such as X-Noise can also help here!

- I'm detecting something going abit odd at 2:26 to 2:28 in that two second window. While the slow vibrato coming from the ensemble is playing, it actually sounds like it's 'warbling' the room noise in and out in an unnatural way alongside it. Which makes it very strange as that's the only tiny part of the track which does that. Possibly signal noise being dragged along for the ride and interfering?

Overall, a top-tier AIM piece with only a few small bits to mention <3

Everratic responds:

Thanks for the detailed mix feedback and review!

[Particulate Matter]

NGAIC -

This caught my attention immediately upon hearing it the first time. Very good Orchestral Drone which fits the theme you're specifically going for, insta-fav'd!. Are you utilising Spitfire Orchestral Swarm for this? There's a few small parts which sound somewhat familiar upon playing this back a few times

As ironic as it may seem to say this based around Particulates: I think there's too much 'air' in the overall mix, possibly from the mic signals (if you are running SF Orch-Swarm, it's a known side-effect of it that I also struggle to deal with). If that's the case, then there's not a huge amount you can really do about that tbh, other than (as a compromise) running those individual sections through careful DeNoising via RX or Acoustica to deAir it gently without compromising on the close & gentle detailing that the library samples are meant for. Or alternatively, very careful shaped filtering above the 10kHz region and then individually boosting-up the most detail-rich frequency ranges on everything else individually.

nyxl responds:

Thanks for your comments! You are close with your Orchestral Swarm guess, but it's actually Albion Tundra :)
Having a lot of "air" was what I was going for, but perhaps it's indeed too much... Maybe I have to listen on some different speakers and check what can be done. I actually used a woodwind articulation that they simply called "Air", it might come from there.

[FD - Requiem for a Dying Universe]

NGAIC -

Listening through it at random during the week, I actually think this could be very interchangable with Atmos-Black if the Guitars were tuned up like half-an-octave and given a few slow-doublekick segments haha
But yeah, pretty decent funeral doom with a symphonic edge to it. I could imagine some good Saturnus/DOOM:VS sounding vocals elevating this to another level if presented with the opportunity to record vocals in a similar manner! I can't nitpick too much considering the genre, but a boost over the entire drumkit from around 8Khz to 14Khz by an extra 1.5db in that region (before any reverb) I think, could balance things out a tad more in the mix department

Good stuff as usual ;)

ForgottenDawn responds:

Hey, thanks for your feedback! If I were to perform vocals without destroying my throat, they would probably sound like a mix of whispering and very distant, distorted growls. I wanted to try something different with the drums this time around and decided to put them way in the back, for better or worse. Anyway, it was a fun experience 👍

[House Of Immolation NGAIC Layer 3]

NGAIC -

Yeah it definitely has 00's demo tape energy to it! Respect for staying in 13/4 throughout aswell.
All things considered, I can only nitpick that the guitar solo is a tad too loud compared to everything else (I'm not expecting perfect balance lol, but dropped by like 2db would bring it abit more in-balance, since the centre-image is already left fairly open for it!). Fun stuff overall ;)

Banana-head responds:

Thanks for the review!

[FD - Aurora Australis]

NGAIC

Already heard this one a few times and made sure I was the first to favourite it upon release! I'll go off on some quick thoughts and notes:

- Always a big fan of layered pads and textures (especially the really synthetic and vocal-like results!). We're probably two of the biggest enthusiasts around here for designing and 'collecting' a whole arsenal of options to allow us to do that and have a big design edge over others. Even in a quicker Space Ambience piece, it's definitely a showcase here of your mastery over creative, evolving, scene-building options, and why you're always a step above the rest in that department!

- The second half really does have a nice 'sparkling' quality to the high bands which is pleasant to hear on open-backs and monitoring speakers turned up loud. Perhaps it's worth a tiny bit of extra 'air' boost of around 0.5db @ 40k target for it just to drive it a tiny bit more and make it truly become perfect? (Brainworx MAAG EQ4 or it's equally good freeware brother Luftikus will do that really well)

- Only mixing feedback I can give would be to have a closer look at the bass processing: the sub sounds like it's almost 'behind' my head in the soundstage when playing this back on open-back headphones. Experimenting with a quick boost-and-cut of ranges below 80hz may be a quick fix for this: there are certain parts of it which can incur that effect unintentionally, but can be a pain to spot at first glance.

ForgottenDawn responds:

Thank you so much for your glowing review! Bass processing is still a work-in-progress, so I'm definitely saving your technical notes my next Ambient pieces. I look forward to your Layer 2 entry!

[Super Bright Colours]

NGADM FINALS REVIEW

Welcome to the finals lad, good to see you here! You've done super-well this year. Perhaps in a future ADM if the stars align, it would be great to deathmatch against you ;)

My scoring for everything in the Grand Finals is very close between each competitor, so the way I'm going to approach this is much more stream-of-conciousness, little standouts and notes that I've picked up on over several playthroughs. Yours has alot going on within 3:28, so I'll try my best to timestamp bits I'd like to praise, and bits I'd like to nitpick to help push you even further in the future. I won't reveal what I've scored, but all I'll say is that you're somewhere in my personal top-3 for the round ;)

In the first 60 seconds sequence, I'd first like to praise how clean and how well the guitar plucks are EQ'd. Clean enough to stand out, just the right amount of post-8k freq balance to sound sharp without being overwhelming, and at a well-balanced gain. To that extent, I'm using that as a measuring stick against everything else in that segment, which does mean I feel as-if you could do with some fine-adjustments:
- Strings, Piano and the Sax (in the later part of that section) could really do with a subtle pinch of extra MAAG-styled Air Band (the freebie 'Luftikus' does this very well for no cost). Set the high boost to 40k, add around 1.5 to 2.5 on the Air Gain, and you should experience abit of extra sparkle (really nice on anything vocal-like aswell!). The theremin-like synth could do with similar treatment, setting to 20K and then given a similar 1.5 to 2.5 boost
- A small extra touch of submarnonics could also benefit that section and several parts beyond that. Just a very small %-boost via bx_subsynth or Waves Renaissance Bass should allow for everything to feel a touch more three-dimensional in their presentation
- The ping-pong delayed chip-lead around 0:51 could do with being dropped by around -1.0 to -1.5db, otherwise I've got no other nitpicks for it!

1:40 to 2:15 section is also very solid! The sliding leads, alternating hats and chord-work underneath are a thumbs-up this side. Some small parts I'd like to go over here:
- The kick could do with a tiny bit of extra 'punch' via parallel compression, alongside a small touch of subharmonics added to it like with what was mentioned earlier. Waves H-Comp is god-like for that exact duty on kicks, but if you don't have access to it, AudioDamage's RoughRider3 is a very capable freeware alternative which allows for parallel (wet/dry). 30-40% wet it, experiment with an attack value around 12 to 25ms, deep threshold/sensitivity all the way down to it's heaviest value and you've got some solid results!
- The snare could be gain-boosted by around an extra 0.5 to 1.0db I feel, otherwise it's pretty ok!
- The brass at 2:01 I feel is getting abit lost in the mix there. Repositioning it to a left or right pan just to get it away from the center of the soundstage alongside a small +0.3 to 0.5db gain boost could really help it stand out more without any extra EQ work!

For the last third of the track:
- The looser 808-esq kick could be given similar treatment to the kick described earlier in the track with tightening up a tiny bit to give it some extra punchiness
- The theremin-like synth lead which returns at 2:54 could do with a small gain boost, 0.5db to 0.8db just to help it stand out abit more

Outside of mixing nitpicks, I would like to give general thumbs-up to how you've handled reverb-usage, especially with the crystal-clear decays on it which are not being inhibited by any kind of unintended dynamics affecting them (an issue that has been noticable for a few tracks in the contest). Your delays-usage has also been very solid in the context of how well it sits in relation to the rest of the soundscapes you've designed across the piece. Other general processing seems pretty lite, but it's enough to make sure that individual elements can be identified when referenced across different systems, so that's all good!

The crystalline qualities of your designed synth-runs is an especially nice touch spirnkled across the piece which really does augment the atmosphere that you've intended to project, and something I've come to expect from your tracks almost like a signature-feature of your style. The overall design-palette across the piece as a whole tbh is near-perfect, almost as good as what you accomplished with 'A Slice of Astrophyllite' earlier in the contest!

If there is one thing which I'm really not sure on, it's the compositional direction of the last 25% of the track. There is to a certain extent abit of a jarring difference between how you laid out the middle-chorus, and how almost-different the last 25% of the track is. Almost gives off a mental direction of 'relates to the presented sound palette, but compositionally like a different track'. It's a tough balance to achieve with a more progressive & daring piece like this, and the rewards can be immense if it works out. While the other judges might feel differently to me in this: I think that last section of the track gets a 'sort-of/not quite' from me. Stands out as very solid on it's own of course, but it's main compositional differences (i.e. the pulsing synth riser, it's sudden change of kick-design, it's structure sounding more like a traditional chiptune-like piece instead of the more 'open' atmosphere and experimental-feeling sections before it, and all of the mentioned combined together with a speedup) I feel makes it abit too different to give you perfect compositional or design scores (albeit they are still very high!)

Beyond that, yeah. The other competitors should be feeling rather worried: you've made the most of your limited amount of time and squeezed every single droplet out of every single second of this track that you're able to. Top work!

Those are the main notes from me for now. I'll give you a ping if suddenly edit in anything else!

Zechnition responds:

Thanks for all the suggestions, and especially the freeware options for plugins! I plan on remastering this piece eventually, so it's all very helpful :) . You might have guessed but I only allocated a few minutes specifically for mixing, so a LOT of issues ended up getting through.

[zetsubō no hatake]

NGADM Feedback Request

Your entries was one of the ones which did score above an 80-average, so my feedback here is mainly going to be the specific nitpicks to keep in mind if you're approaching a similar project in the future.

- From a mix perspective, I've personally found that the piano sounds like it's being brought too far forward in the centre of the soundstage and could do with moving further back, either from decreasing your close-signal, or remodelling how it sits in the soundstage with a positoning toolset such as dearVR Music/Pro (in stereo output instead of binaural!). There's also a situation with too much of a 'robotic' brass output to the left of the soundstage after 2:25, which I'd assume would be from a TM Pro ran Kontakt patch with speed control? If so, speeding it up abit should help eliminate that issue. Volume automation around 2:35 on the staccato strings to boost their gain upwards by an extra 1.0 to 1.5db would also be beneficial.

- From a 'Production Elements' perspective, the main nag would be the seemingly inconsistent reverb response/tails when it comes to certain sections and articulations playing. The staccato strings from my end when played back, seem to be drier than the rest of the string ensemble. The main staccato/staccatissimo brass parts aswell (along with the short arcs) also seem to suffer from being dry compared to everything else. My #1 piece of advice in this scenario would be to reapproach *all* of your libraries, strip their built-in reverb down to 0, and then insert your own quality reverb plugin onto every single mixer channel, model a hall/chamber enviroment, and then use that as the baseline preset for everything, followed by fine-tweaking the wet/dry and tails according to how close/far the perceived audience would be from each section of the orchestra (but make sure it's fine-adjustments only!). It's alot of extra work, but worth it once you've got reverb consistency!

- Atmosphere-crafting and Design choices are 'fine-to-decent', but one way to boost it further in this kind of project is to bring some more woodwinds into it, they're not to be underestimated and a few good legato flute lines towards the lower registry and even some single/double staccato burst rythmns within a few minutes of effort can make alot of difference, and potentially land you a tangibly higher score! They also in a traditional orchestral arrangement help fill up the center of the soundstage, which is something this track is fairly lacking in, so it's worth setting some extra time aside to plan out how you want to approach your inclusion of winds (either in a 'leading' role in smaller sections, or supporting rythmns/arcs/bursts/legato's in busier sections)

NoStereo responds:

I wanted the piano to stand out a bit, but maybe I did take it too far forward which hurt the overall mix. I'll admit I ran out of time when I was adding the brass section and wasn't able to spend time tweaking automation and stuff. I will keep all this in mind for next time!

Good advice for the reverb, I was using the built-in reverb like you said, I'll def strip that out and model my own from now on!

Thank you very much for the lovely feedback!

[Archway to the Unknown]

(VGM Challenge Category Review)
(Score is hidden as standard for all entries in the category)

The first thing which comes to mind when checking this VGM entry out for the category is 'Rogue Legacy' for some reason, in particular imagining the almost spacy-like forest section from that game in some ways. Maybe also a touch of Minecraft's 'End' dimension almost from certain design touches you've made in the piece.

While this doesn't go in the direction of a more cinematic and terror-like state like I've personally envisioned for the theme if I was to go and enter my own piece for the category (maybe sometime later in the year haha), this kind of entry does explore more on he probability of a more mystical, somewhat tangible result on the possible outcome of entering into various Outer Realms. Perhaps more decipherable, but still nethertheless a lot of danger.

Mix sounds pretty fine to me, design choices for the direction also match up pretty well. It does stand alone pretty well as a VGM piece and it can certainly fit the theme under certain circumstances. The category theme in itself has alot of chance to it, so it's sort-of the same for alot of other individual's entries where it can or can't fit depending on the environment that is on the other side!

Kassich responds:

Thank you for the detailed review! I agree that this category could go in a lot of directions and it was great to hear how you would have gone different with it!

[FD - Into the Chasm]

It's a pretty basic track in composition (which isn't an issue for this scope of genre's), I'd definitely say that anyone else listening to this should and would be focusing much more on the design choices made, as it's what makes this track.

The track is best enjoyed on speakers. Headphone listening can be just as good under the circumstances that it's mainly a consumer pair of on/over ears or earbuds, as I've found the tape hiss in proportion to the tracks somewhat low amplification to be pretty distracting when checking it out on monitoring systems.

First thoughts when running through this for the first few times is that it's a tad more Berlin School in design choices while taking the simpler dungeon synth and dark ambient composition approach (sort of like a slower Offermose in some ways). It's pretty refreshing to hear the warping tones coming from likely either the analog-esq synth patching alternating up/down in it's tuning, or a tape emulator pulling the duties well. It fits the 'empty chasm' theme approach you're going for. That kind of theme trope is usually done either in a more subdued and simplistic matter, or a sparkly and almost crystalline/ancient vibe. You've definitely got the first one sorted for sure.

If you're definitely committed to doing a full story-style Dungeon Synth (with Berlin School design) album, let me know when you're getting closer to completion and I'll definitely listen to the whole thing ;)

ForgottenDawn responds:

Wow, now that's a review! Berlin School, definitely, and I'm glad you caught that. I'm influenced by 60's and 70's classics, as well as 90's "black ambient" (Les Légions Noires) and Aphex Twin. I was being... very enthusiastic about the tape emulation thingamajigger I grabbed a while ago, so I wanted to immediately put it to good use. Funny thing about the hiss is I actually lowered it from -40 to -55 dB because I thought it was masking everything a tad too much. But yeah, I agree it's better enjoyed on speakers. Just testing the waters, is all. Thanks for your feedback and I'll surely share my next work with you~