SplatterDash's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Chasin' The Jester]

This is an official NGADM 2021 Final judge review.

One thing that strikes me is how fresh and different every single section is, alongside how smoothly it transitions into most of them. It of course still has a really good feeling to it and feels original - while it's labelled as heavy metal, I could definitely see this playing at a surf bar or something like that in some sections. In others, like at 1:54, it definitely sounds like something from an 80s cartoon - and I mean that in the best ways. No matter what, though, it feels really good, feels very fresh and sounds amazing with its instruments.
I think the only thing that I feel is off about this is the drums. While they definitely do have the feeling of a heavy metal song, they also feel like they're extremely muted and cold. This is especially true with the toms that are used beginning at 3:59, which I think sound too close to the kick drum to be considered toms. I think bringing both of their pitches up would help, but also finding a way to make them less... for lack of a better term, heavy would allow it to really shine out.
Overall, though, this really provides some good competition! It's interesting to see your change in style from your previous rounds, but I'm all for it. I wish you the best of luck against the three other competitors this round :D

MaldivirDragonwitch responds:

Thank you so much for the extensive review!
Firstly, I am very happy you liked the parts you did like!
And secondly, I have to agree with all of the constructive criticism you provided. Once the deadline was finished and I had some time to rest my ears, I noticed so many wrong choices that were made hastily that I will definitely not be making again. This was a serious learning experience, as was my plan all along. ^^
Thank you once again!

[R o R e v o l u t i o n (...We Will Take Over Your Soundwaves...)]

This is an official NGADM 2021 Finals judge review.

The atmosphere you build here is really good, and while most cases of including sound effects outside of what would be a film or animation don't usually go too well, it works pretty good here (and a brownie point for those WALL-E references lol). When the song goes into full kick, it feels like it loses some of that energy, but it still delivers a pretty good song with some well-mixed elements. It's also really good at keeping a good and fresh feeling throughout without keeping on one specific element for too long. The sounds used here are also really high quality.
If I have one thing to say in specific about the piece, it's that the energy of the beginning 1:12 seems to die out with the lack of sound effects for a lot of the rest of the piece. While the focus should of course be on the main song, adding in those effects wherever they can fit helps to carry over the energy from the first part of the song and keeps telling the story about this rogue AI through the entire piece.
Overall, really good job! Compared to your previous rounds, this feels a lot more cohesive and definitely better. I wish you the best against your three competitors in the final round :D

[The Tridecahedron Blood Summoning - Insanity Abstract Emerges]

This is an official NGADM 2021 Finals judge review.

As always, your atmosphere here is really good. Like in many of your songs from the previous rounds, it seems to take priority for the intro of this piece and sounds really good. I also notice this changes drastically from every single section, which is important for a piece like this. The different ways you utilize each instrument is also pretty good, and it makes this feel like a scene out of some horror movie.
That being said, I think that some of your instrument choices are a bit questionable in certain areas. For example, at 2:59 I feel that the male voice that comes in is a bit too classical for the feeling of the moment. It sticks out to me like a sore thumb as something that is too... for lack of a better term, operatic and bright in a moment that is meant to be intense and gritty. Adding a choir into that part is understandable and honestly a good choice, but the voice used here doesn't give that intensity. Later on, the violins at 4:25 are again a good choice on paper, but they feel too much like MIDI instruments to fit in with the other realistic- and dark-sounding instruments playing around them. While most of the moments are really good, those two stuck out to me as being weird and questionable.
Overall, it's really good, especially for a piece of its length. There are things to improve of course, but it still provides a good competitive edge for others. I wish you the best of luck against your other three competitors :D

[Sacred Space - NGADM FINALS!~]

This is an NGADM 2021 Final Round judge review.

From the first listening moments of it, it's really obvious to tell you've improved your game over the past rounds. The instruments feel much better to the ears, and while there are definitely some things to fix up here, it feels much better in terms of the composition. It feels complex and fresh throughout, and everything transitions pretty well. It's also pretty good to hear what you do with the vocals throughout, and the song overall gives me some really good pop song vibes. It's something I'd go back and listen to quite often.
I'd say the one main weakness of this piece is definitely in production. There were some specific elements that I thought were out of place in terms of the overall mix, such as the electric guitar at 2:13, but the big thing I notice is the vocal mixing seems a bit low overall. This is especially notable in places like 0:45 and 1:44, where the synths overtake the vocals by just a bit, and at 2:13, partially due to the electric guitar shoving them aside. One thing I also thought was interesting but done a bit too much is the vocal sidechaining at 0:14, which I thought was too strong for the section but definitely a good idea.
Overall, though, this is a really solid final piece! I think it definitely brings its best to the table and provides some great improvement from your previous works. I wish you the best of luck in the finals against your other three competitors :D

[It Takes Me (feat. Waylon Reavis)]

Wow, Boom Kitty is really fighting that apocalypse, whoever this imposter is doesn't know that Boom Kitty never posts more than once a week LOL

On a legit serious note though, I really like this. From both this and Boom Slayer (which I assume are both on that rock-EDM style you mentioned you were working on recently), I can tell that there's a certain style emerging that's different from a lot of your other songs, and different from quite a few others that I've heard, too. Of course, starting from the beginning: that opening bass is so good. Honestly, it took me a bit to adjust to it being the setup for the song, but it grew on me after a few listens and it is a pretty good setup. The drums are really good too - I think this is a great combo/balance between EDM and rock drumming, which fits the piece well. There's plenty of moments where the drums shine in an EDM way, and other times where they fit right into a rock way - and even times where both are going at once, which is impressive.Waylon did really good on those vocals, too - it adds to the rock feel of the piece and it worked out well.
I don't really have that much to complain about here. Maybe the only thing that I could nitpick is that I'm a little confused on 2:52 with that final sound. To me, it seemed off because the overall piece didn't really use too much sounds like that (which is alright, of course), so I'm curious as to the reasoning behind it. That's just nitpicking, though.
Like I said, I really like this and can feel a really good new style coming out. Keep it up, I'm excited to see more from you!

[Boom Slayer (feat. Scott Foster Harris)]

I'm going to be insanely honest, I'm not a huge fan of metal but this SLAPS. I love the atmosphere and the setting up at the beginning, and then it leads to this amazing buildup to the main song. Tell Scott he did a really good job at those vocals too - they absolutely enhance the song tenfold. And those drums - the way you mixed EDM drumming with rock drumming amazes me. It works so well and makes the song so energetic and hyped. I would prefer this over some of the DOOM tracks, but that's more of a personal preference lol.
It's hard to really think of anything that you didn't do well. The only thing I can figure that can improve the song is if you layered on a few different vocal takes at some parts, like at "live another day" at 1:15 or "tear it down" at 2:42. It could help bring even more hype to the upcoming bass/metal breaks and add to the metal part of this track. Again, though, those parts aren't bad as is at all.

I absolutely love this, and I think it may be one of my - if not my absolute - personal favorite of yours. I look forward to the other tracks you're working on in this style :)

BoomKitty responds:

Thank you so much! I agree with your critiques. Working with vocals is hard and I'm still new to it. 1:15 actually has like 4 vocal layers but it's just really hard to make them cut through the mix without really reducing the impact of the instrumentals. Mixing and working with vocals is something I'm going to keep working on!

[Do Not Disturb - NGADM 2020 - R3]

Official NGADM Review for Round 3.

That intro is honestly soooo good! It gets the listener in the mood, and then BAM! HERE TIMMY CHECK OUT THIS ROCK BALLAD! It's just so good in terms of its composition, keeping itself fresh and even working well with a change of tone in the middle. The sound design here is really good, and the production value is also a knock out of the park.
My critiques? I think that while the sound design is really good, there can definitely be some improvements made to it, mainly coming from the lullaby portion. I thought the music box and flute were a little too bright, but that might be just what I've gotten used to in terms of how music boxes and flutes sound lol. To me, it just distracted me only a little bit, and they are smaller problems that really don't overshadow the entire piece. One other thing that I will mention, and this isn't really affecting your score, is that I felt the delay rate could be slower - rather than being closer to a quarter note value, it might be worth experimenting bringing them to the value of a dotted eighth instead. Again, though, that's just a personal preference that isn't going to affect your score.
Overall, this is suuper good! The two different tones achieved in one piece with similar melodies is hard to pull off well, but I think you did it wonderfully! Great job!

Mackievellian responds:

Amazing, thank you. I actually had it set to a dotted value before but changed it due to it sounding like a three over four polyrhythm, lol. Thank you very much for this feedback, and the kind words, man.

[L. Mity - Bloomy Sunday! [NGADM R3]]

Official NGADM Review for Round 3

The title really fits this. I actually ended up finding this really warm and fuzzy, and I find it kinda interesting that the style you went for kinda reminded me of Lockyn, especially at 0:31. Knowing that your previous pieces have been piano soloed, I think it makes sense that your piece here is focusing on that, since it is honestly a strong spot of yours (and it definitely shows here with the rhythms and melodic lines). That key change also helped out with spicing things up for the piece, and while they usually aren't approached well, I thought this one was definitely a decent approach. The production is really good, the sounds are super good, and I definitely ended up replaying this once or twice because I actually wanted to.
My critiques here? I think that while the structure does generally keep itself fresh throughout (especially with the key change), there still is some room to play around with the main parts of this - 0:31 and 1:52. While some instruments come in to make this sound less repetitive, the main parts can still use some playing around to make it so much better. Other than that, my only other comment is that I kinda wish your bass was brought out a tad bit more in the overall mix.
Overall, I really enjoyed this! I think that working outside your comfort zone was a good idea, and it really worked here. Great job!

[-Arcade Prix-]

Official NGADM Review for Round 3

This honestly kinda reminds me of Waterflame mixed with some meganeko - it's so fun and bouncy, while still keeping a modern retro feel throughout. The composition is really good at keeping the song generally fresh throughout, especially in that half time at 1:27. It's also got some really good production, especially with panning (which I notice is hardly used). The quality of sound here is also super good, mixing in the retro with modern.
It's actually kinda hard to critique this, but I think if I had to nitpick, I think that the general structure of the piece could use a bit more of a flexible feel. I felt that some sections lingered for a bit, and there wasn't too many changes from the main feel, but honestly the changes done here were pretty good enough.
Overall, I love this! I think this is definitely a really good modern-retro piece that is definitely able to take the lead. Great job!

Preds responds:

Thank youuuu! I love this constructive criticism, I'll work on my song arrangements and structures more :D

[Wiccan Heart]

Official NGADM Review for Round 3

This is honestly really good, and it does remind me of those older rock styled songs that show up in movies from time to time. The song does really good in terms of keeping itself compositionally fresh, and it tends to play it safe in that regard. It has a good melody and the vocals are really good!
My main critique is as follows: the production of this piece is a general mixed bag. While I can hear the bass guitar in here (which is good), this is actually a rare instance that I felt some of your drums/percussion were up too high. Listening from one ear alone (left), I thought the kick was clipping at times, and the crash amplifies that up. This isn't too big of a problem (in fact the problem that usually happens with musicians is that the kick is turned too low), but it does hurt the production aspect. I also agree with Neko in that the vocals are a bit quiet, so it would definitely help to make sure they can be heard better in the mix.
Overall, pretty good! It's a nice nostalgic trip, and I think despite the few critiques it's a solid piece. Great job!

ConnorDeVaux responds:

Thanks a lot, I agree with all of that really. I pulled the 57 a little low as to pick up the kick more and hopefully keep the sound of the crash from clipping too much and yeah the vocals I wish I could've completely re-recorded and just overall did a better job but it is what it is and I'm just really glad someone enjoyed it if anyone. Thanks a lot for the in-depth review and kind words :)