EctiBot's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Vessel Full of Dreams]

Should actually be illegal to make something this good. Just wow.

Phonometrologist responds:

It actually is and I have been banned from writing anything new for the rest of 2020 :(
Thank you for commenting!

[AIM 2020 - a weary heart]

The composition and arrangement is really good, but the mixing is a bit chaotic
Though there are a lot of mixing pointers I could mention, I think the main problem with this track is the way the "space" is handled. I would personally turn off all the reverb and delay effects(make sure them off both in the mixer and in the VST's themselves) and then go through them one by one to make sure you have a clear idea of what the purpose behind them are. "Why do I need to pan this" and "Do I really need this much reverb" etc. Once you start thinking about stuff like this consciously, your mixing will improve immediately

Yoshiii343 responds:

hi there!

apologies for taking a thousand years before responding to your review; it took me quite some time listening (and re-listening) to this track and countless others before i actually understood what you meant by my handling of space in the mix.

in hindsight, i probably shouldn't have panned the guitars too much, nor should i drench them in that much reverb; but i was worried about the frequencies would clash too much.

still, thank you for the review!

[Obelisk]

Sometimes I wonder if you guys are just physically unable to make something bad. This piece is insanely good, great work!

Onefin responds:

don't worry i'm in the process of making something bad right now

[AIM - sursum=corda.EXFLOW_cls.PANDAEMONIUM::STORMFALL/.]

-- Official AIM review --

It's not like I didn't expect this from you, but...wow.

What stands out first and foremost is the percussion. It's rarely I hear percussion this engaging and unique in a track like this. The vocals were also amazing as always. There are so many pleasing harmonies that I couldn't count them even if I tried.

The way the track builds up was an experience in itself and you were able to incorporate so many different ideas into this without it sounding the slightest bit incoherent. At 4:50 you introduce some complex melodic textures that I've never heard before.
Mixing is spot on. The vocals could have been slightly louder at times, but wasn't really a big issue.

This piece perfectly captures both the atmosphere and the story behind the artwork. Well done!

Troisnyx responds:

Eee thank you!

An example of the vocal textures at the end chorus is — in fact, please look this up because this and many others like it have been inspirations — Singing Hill, Harmonics Frelia. I'm glad it came out alright in the end.

[AIM - Timeless Adventure]

-- Official AIM review --

Really loving that main theme. You really captured the feeling of a medieval port city very well. The flute has a very nice sound, though I think it could use some more velocity variation to make it sound realistic. Other than that, you did a really good job in making the orchestra sound realistic. Especially like how you slightly altered the timing of the brass section.

The mixing is well done, but the drum that comes in at 0:31 is a bit too loud and bassy. It takes up a lot of space in the mix and ends up slightly overpowering the other instruments

Overall it's a very nice piece that goes perfectly well with the artwork, and even though the leveling could be altered slightly I still think it deserves a high score.

Everratic responds:

I'm glad to hear you think I captured the feeling of a medieval port city well! That was pretty difficult.

Indeed, the piccolo (flute) could sound much better. I actually had a better VST, but I used the inferior one because I paid a lot of money for it whereas the better one is from kontakt factory library. In hindsight I realize how illogical that is :P

Your comment on the mix is very helpful. I personally don't have a problem with the drums sounding too bassy, however, it's a reminder that I should take into consideration the biases of my headphones while mixing. For example, if the bass sounds strong on my headphones, I should consider that it might sound too strong for someone using headphones with boosted bass. Also, I think I could have turned down the bass decay on the reverb a bit more just to be on the safe side.

Thank you so much for the review and for being a judge.

[[AIM] Felix Zophar - Nuclear Aftermath]

-- Official AIM review --

If this is you at a producers block, I'm honestly a bit scared of what happens when you're out of it.

The mixing is very well done and all the elements fit very well together. The reverb work is extremely good, more often than not the mix becomes very muddy with this amount of reverb, but you've balanced it perfectly.
The kick sample has a bit too little thump in it so it doesn't cut through the mix properly on it's own. I think it would be better if you layered it with a higher pitch kicked to help it shine in the higher frequencies.

The saw lead is a bit tiresome to listen to. I do like the idea of it, but should probably tame those higher frequencies a bit more.

Overall a solid track that goes very well with the artwork You've done a great job in fusing two genres together.

FelixZophar responds:

Yeah thanks! I was in like half producers block. I did notice a lot of my tracks were muddy because of reverb. I am working on using less reverb, but more control. Thanks!

[AIM - WTFTW]

-- Official AIM review --

That kick is bloody sweet to listen. Could listen to that all day. The sound design overall overall is spot on. Especially love the very subtle bass you got going on. You've done a great job of incorporating sfx into not only your track, but also the composition. The water sound becomes a bit too much after a while though.
The composition and arrangement are both very strong in this piece and the way you build it up is very interesting.

The piano sounds very robotic and dry. It could benefit from more reverb. I would also alter the velocity and timing of the notes to make it sound a bit more realistic. The piano chords are also very quiet and hard to hear.

Overall, this was an extremely strong entry that captures the artwork very well it's very unique and both the Sound design, composition and arrangement are all top notch.

BryceSummer responds:

Thanks for the feedback, and thanks again for hosting/judging this contest! I agree on all the points you brought up.

[AIM - Moon Waker]

-- Official AIM review --

Mixing is top notch. The guitars are all bright and clear and really blend well together. That hi-hat is way too loud though, it's very distracting at times. The drums in general also sound a bit dry compared to the guitar, which kinda takes away from the illusion that they are in the same space. A little bit of the same reverb you used on the guitars on the snare and hat would help a lot.

The melodies are nice and engaging and guitar solos are amazing. The guitar does sound a bit too quantized at times which make it sound a bit less human. The drums were really repetitive and could use some variation, especially during the climaxes. Imagine the drummer rocking out on the drum kit and hitting that snare as hard as he can. 90%(arbitrary number) of the dynamics in a song comes from the drums, so I really wished you had played around with the dynamics a bit more.

You've really captured the atmosphere of the artwork, and with some more dynamic variation in the drums this would have gotten an even higher score from me. Great work!

VortexVisionz responds:

Thank you for the review! The drums are definitely my biggest challenge. It’s a whole learning process, but I’m always doing my best to improve! :)

[AIM - Gestalt]

--Official AIM review--

This is strange close to being very good at times. You have a lot of very interesting ideas , and the mixing is decent. I really love those low sub-harmonies you got going on. it's easy to drown out the mix when harmonizing at such low frequencies, but it sounded very well done to me.

It does get very repetitive after as there's never any real change in dynamics. The entire track is pretty flat without any highs or lows. There's also no proper structure as the melody keeps changing completely in each section without much coherency between. There wasn't really any main theme melody to latch onto. The melodies themselves are interesting at times, but they're not very memorable.
Also, don't be afraid of using reverb and delays to make your sound fuller. It sounds very dry at the moment.

Overall it was interesting and I liked the ideas, but I think the composition and arrangement could use some work.

TheFantasticZ responds:

Aighty, thanks for the tips, even though it's only been a month, I've been steadily improving ever since I released this track, I'm looking forward to the next AIM.