X3LL3N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[just something else (NGADM Round 2)]

Official Review for NGADM Round 2 :

I like the soundscape in the beginning, it's pretty fun.
The basses and strings you add afterwards are intense, they bring so much and makes us expect a lot from the following part.

But then : Nothing.

This caught me by surprise and was obviously intended. It's a pretty cool idea.
Also, the metronome type thing (which I assume to be the sound when you go backwards in a car) works really well.

I like how you slowly transition to the part at 1:00; It's simple, but it works well. The sound choice is pretty cool and the chords feel a bit crispy.

I like the buildup quite a bit, it prepares us for the bouncy drop. Nice rythm and vocals there.

I love the lfo in the drop btw. The sound combination isn't very common in that genre, which makes this stand out (it works pretty well by the way, nice vibe you're going for).

After the drop, it's even better. There's a nice soundscape and some ear candies again (but the I'd have prefered it if you added some reverse strings before 2:15, the y come out too suddenly for my taste here.

The drums and foleys work really well and the synth choice is cool again (one of my favourite parts). I like the following rythm and melody. it feels like the stakes are getting higher and we're approaching a climax if that makes sense.

The drop fakeout is a really good detail imo, it helps setting this drop apart from the previous one.

The outro of the song is what I was expecting, but it's a good thing :)

This feels like the kind of song I'd listen to on a ride at night, there's a lot of cool details and synths, and I love the aesthetic ! A very solid entry for me personally ^^

CrowdDoll responds:

Thank you so much.

[Year]

Official Review for NGADM Round 2 :

I honestly don't have much to say about the first 4 minutes.

It starts with a retro house loop, which reminds me of 80's/90's musics.
You slowly introduce new elements, which is pretty cool. I really like the bass and ear candies in particular.

I do think it dragged on for too long though, until 4:23 when you finally introduce some more changes (cool lead btw).

The outro is pretty nice, especially because the bells and piano.
Also, that flute at the end is the cherry on top :)

So yeah, I just don't really have much to say about this song, it's pretty hard to criticize it. It's the kind I could put in the background while I'm doing something else, chilling.

Sequenced responds:

This intro is pretty standard for the genre. I can make it longer for ya lol

[The Isles of Self-Once-Whole]

That's pretty good honestly !

LLAAPPSSEE responds:

Thanks for the love!

[Colorful Dreams [Seikatsu Release]]

Good song !

Astedroid responds:

hehe

[Village Fest - NGADM Round 2]

Official Review for NGADM Round 2 :

The song starts of with a chill vibe with some happy instruments. I love this glockenspiel-type of sound.
All instruments complement each other well. The pluck, the piano, the strings, honestly it kinda put a smile on my face.

The part at 0:26 really hit me. It's simple, but in terms of composition, it's amazing :D

By 0:40, I understood you were going the story route with your song. It's really obvious at 0:47 with the introduction of the flute, and soon after the brass and strings. It feels like a fantasy village.
We did have another entry going that route, but you executed it in a different way, which makes this stand out.

There's so many parts here that stand out to me with all great things going on.

I'm having trouble describing it because honestly, it's close to perfect to me. I'm vibing so much that I can't write the damn review.

I have to say, the melodies are really good. Lots of emotions are going on. Again, the instruments choice isn't complex, but sometimes, simpler is better.

This is one of the best entries submitted so far in the contest in my personal opinion.

I was trying to hold back with my rating, because honestly, you were gonna beat the record of the most full-marks per category.

I was gonna try lowering some grades, but then, I noticed "1337 views". And as it turns out, it's one of my lucky numbers. So fuck it, it has to be a sign.
I'll fight the other judges if I have to. I'll stay true to my feelings and not change my ratings !

*I love how you can see how I just gave up during my review because I preferred just listening to it, having the time of my life*

*also, I showed the the track to a certain friend who pointed out the 6.9mv, 69 is another lucky number of mine. Not only that, but after we both followed you, you got to 69 followers. This has to mean something for sure*

Santi-Montali responds:

Woah thank you so much! I'm really glad you liked it and reading stuff like this about something I made makes me realize I should probably stop doubting so much. Plus I was just listening to some osts that got me into this world a couple years ago and that somehow triggered all these emotional memories while reading this, so again, thank you so much :)

[NGADM 2022, Round 2 - U S E D T O F E E L]

Official Review for NGADM Round 2 :

This was honestly the hardest piece to judge by far, honestly.
In a way, it is my greatest disappointment, because it could have been so much more.

The songs start of with a piano in the background (which I love). You slowly introduce the instruments while fading the background noise away (a bit too fast imo).
I'm not sure if the jazzy instrument is a saxophone but I absolutely love it, especially when it goes in the highs. The pad is also super cool !

You also used some kind of effect on your sounds at 0:47, which makes them super crispy. While it could annoy some people, I really like this :D

At 1:11 you add a synthwave-type bass which I do like, but I think the pattern is a little bit weird and the sweeps are a bit too loud.
In this part, I do like the drums and wobbly/funny lead quite a bit. There's a mysterious but interesting vibe going on. The part does stretch out too much for me though.

The part at 1:58 is quite interesting. It can be a bit weird and experimental, but it's not bad. It just feels "kinda wrong" in some parts, almost out of key.

I much prefer the next segment at 3:02, outside of the weird vocals at 3:26, it feels much more coherent. I guess I prefer the melodic parts of the song.

I think the outro could have been better, especially at 4:38 where the vocals are kinda pissing me a bit.

So, on a technical standpoint, the song could have been much better. The mixing is a mess sometimes, the song can be clippy and have some extremely annoying resonances here and there, and some of the vocals just do not work imo.

No matter what the final result is, I MUST point this out. The intro is probably the one piece of audio that stood out to me the most OUT OF ANY SONG in the contest so far.

Sure, it's not perfect, but the idea and the emotions it transmitted are out of this world. Really. I could actually just listen to it on loop non-stop. Oh wait, I have actually been doing that for the past 30 MINUTES !

If the song stood out as much as the first minute did and was better production-wise, you'd probably have been my top contestant. One of the most creative NGADM entries by far.

I beg of you, one day, please rework this song. It really is worth it.

TheVodouQueen responds:

Hi there, and thank you so much for going out of your way with such a busy schedule and all to review my song. :) I'm very sorry if it (beyond the minute mark) was disappointing and the mixing a mess. I've tried over the course of this whole year to refine that technique, but seems a lot more work needs to be done there...and I'm unsure how to pull it off any better ATM.

Also apologies if the vocals didn't mesh as well this time around. I was experimenting with the vaporwave usage and techniques with weirdly FXed vocal chops... Also, that bit that was pissing you off towards the end was actually me singing and giving it a vocoder effect, before it was just my voice unvocoded. ...Guess that was rather hit and miss... Was trying a couple of new frontiers with this one (including my singing), to obviously mixed results.

I'll have to figure out how to get better at both that and mixing, I guess. Everything is EQed, got compressors, side-chains, etc. But I'm unsure.

I digress... Thanks again for your critique. :) I'm probably going to fall short of making it to Round 3 this year, but at least the attempt was made... xD I also very much appreciate how much you liked the song nonetheless, despite its shortcomings. I do try my best to put a lot of heart, soul and emotions behind every piece I make... :D

[The Mystical Forest]

I love the ambience :D

anthonyragus responds:

Thanks dude! Apart from my one cricket recording, it's all synthesis and synth presets.

[Running on hot Sand]

Catchy :)

supermelon-creations responds:

Yo sorry x3ll3n for the late response... But still thanks for the kind words!!

[Fortress]

Official Review for NGADM Round 2 :

I have to be honest, at first, I wasn't really impressed. The reason is probably because I'm much more into melodic music and this felt like a draft.

But after listening to it a couple more times, my opinion changed a lot !

I think you really nailed the industrial vibe, especially with this harsh choice of sounds.

The ambience very dark, almost sinister. Pure Chaos.

I'm not sure if you'll understand this, but the sounds feel raw and unprocessed, which work amazingly well in context.

So yeah, a pretty solid entry.

deepfriedfiend responds:

Thank you! I've been layering+distorting sounds and keeping them otherwise very dry recently. I think I'll keep doing that for most things.

[Shattering In The Rain]

Ayyyy I like this !

AeriuIka responds:

Cheers man glad u like this :)