ZipZipper's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[My First Kill]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

So, Mario and Luigi sounded exactly the same. There was really no writing here, I had no perception of what the story was. I mean, I guess this was all recorded in one take. And I lost track of what anyone was saying really quick. You said your entry is dung, so I guess that’s it.

Cockadoodledee responds:

Merry Christmas prety boi xox

[I'll Narrate!]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

This piece really really needed some background ambience or music. This sounded like you were recording in one take. Recording lines separately and fashioning them together helps create a sense of realness, especially when they overlap at certain spots. It helps push the flow of the piece as well as cuts down time. Other than that, your acting was okay. There could have been more vocal variation and some mixing work on the voices to differentiate who was who. Simply some slight reverb on the secret agent could make him sound like he’s on a different plain than the narrator and would differentiate those characters more. The story was okay, it was kind of dull but I think that might be because of the amount of silence and the general mood of the acting not really fluctuating; the secret agent could have sounded way more surprised by some of the narrator’s comments. Overall, this is a decent piece that needs more work to really make it stand out.

Plasmarift responds:

Thank you for the review. I would have added background noises, but as it turns out, the websites I found were going to make me pay for them and money is not something I can afford to waste right now (if you know of a place where I can get free sound effects then I would be very happy if you would tell me where). Also, would you really expect a lot of noise to be made around a top secret base where the agent is trying to be quiet? The only sounds that would come to mind is a grappling hook and the footsteps of the secret agent scaling the wall, and maybe some wind. (The lack of sound in some parts also leaves ambiguity as to who to believe, the agent or the narrator). And the silence between pieces is intensional to represent real time in conversation (Not everything is said within two seconds when someone stops talking, but it seems that people aren't appreciative of this so my next comedy audio submission will have less of this. I could have easily smashed all the audio together).

I recorded voices in multiple takes, but even I'll admit that I should have gone back to add more vocal diversity (I can do a lot of different voices, shown through my demos, but it would seem somewhat cheap to try and work these voices in, like trying to shove a square block through a round hole). I don't really know what you mean by "reverb", but I recorded my voices based on what I see and hear on television and real life and for the most part, the narrator's voice is usually the same as the people in the story, as if the narrator is in the room with them.

You are correct that the secret agent could have sounded more surprised at the narrator's comments, but should he? If he loses his temper that easily, he wouldn't be much of a secret agent. And flipping out in entertainment is often too overdone to be humorous. Why should a person getting angry be entertaining or how is it unique when every movie today uses this strategy at some point?

And lastly, you say the story was dull, but this might have been due to the lack of background noise or music? That's not very good judging from my perspective. You should be able to separate the story and production quality since these are two different things, which reflects and calls into question your judging skills. This is the only story that I've ever heard to follow this plot. I would, however, definitely agree with you that this is not grade A work, but it is definitely more unique than you give it credit for, despite its lack of polish.

I hope you enjoyed my review of your review and I'll be sure to enter your contest next year, whether or not I win and whether or not you hold a grudge for anything I wrote in this comment. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

[Like hunting deer]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Wow! What a complex meaning out of such a short piece! I really enjoyed that, but I’m a sucker for conciseness. The ambience and all the sound effects were perfect and mixed in nicely. I think the vocals could have used some reverb or something to make it sound like Lance and his grandpa were actually in the wilderness. I think grandpa actually could have used some more power to his voice; he sounded weak but seemed very strong-headed, I think he needed more acting to his character. The script could have been more clever, in my opinion, but that transition at the end to the final eponymous line really surprised me. And the distinction between characters was very good. I have to say again, I really enjoyed this piece. Great dramatic work!

Saminat responds:

Thank you so much! Heehee, it means a lot to me that you liked it so much, and I will agree that the grandpa could have used some more work on. but hey, I had fun with it, and I'm looking forward to the next contest!

[A World of Blue (Studio)]

The vocals were a little bit too dry for the mix of the instrumentals, in my opinion. Maybe it's just the mix in general...it sounds too real in the forefront! Hahahahaha. I guess I like hearing a slightly more cavernous club ambience. Anyways, nice groove and great assortment of brass. You're so lucky to get to work with live players so often. I thought the lyrics had awkward pacing, but they still worked. Welp...in the end it's a really nice song!

deadlyfishes responds:

The vox is still a WIP for now, I did them last minute at my apartment instead of at the studio because of some stupid scheduling issue. It was insane that we got it done quickly enough to show off the film the song was in the very next morning. Thanks for the feedback, I'll be working on these things more this week. Also I was going for more of a feel that the recording was from 1940-1950. On my website I made vinyl versions that make it sound pretty authentic--- http://www.matthewpablo.com/archives/new-jazz-film-score-11-17-13

:D

[Teaching My Students]

When the flute appeared, I immediately thought of Windwaker. I can see Toon Link roaming the halls of a prestigious academy to pick up and break all the fine pottery.

Bosa responds:

lolololol. That is what made those games great; you could act outlandish and nobody scolded you for it.

[Bei Mir Bist Du Scöhn]

Oh I like this song too. Although your voice is used in so many different ways and sounds in tune and perfect blended together, I thought it could be more creative! I don't know...it sounds empty to me. Maybe because it's so short or that the mixing was dry. Weeelp either way, a really cool rendition! It's short and to the point and has a great swing timbre. I think it would have been neat if the time was cut to make it different and not swingy...but that might ruin it idk my bff jill so yeah nice work!

Rampant responds:

Doing these a cappellas is quite fun, so you can expect more in the future :P I'll try to be a little more creative in my renditions, but this is such a great song, so I didn't want to mess with it too much haha

Thanks for the review :)

[Agnos]

I hear you're experimenting with your voice here, which I really enjoy. I hear ornamentation like an Islamic call to prayer or Bollywood singers. I'd love to hear you sing something along that line, you sound like you have the soul for it. There's a couple of interesting mix-ups in terms of chords and instrumentation that I also like, but essentially very you. And some well-coordinated ritardando and tempo changes. Nice work!

etherealwinds responds:

Thank you for your review Zip! The difficult part was performing meligmata that wouldn't be *too* much but still managed to suit the song. I'm not the best vocalist in the world, but I've always thought of the voicebox as just as much of an instrument as a flute, piano, violin etc.

That's definitely something I'd be interested in doing in the future! It'll be a tough challenge to take on though. I really appreciate your wonderfully kind comments! Thanks for listening! =]

[Dark Woods Circus (WIP Cover)]

I did a cover of this too!...a super long time ago so it's kind of bad ahahahaha. If you wouldn't mind, I would definitely sing for this when you're done, unless you really like the vocaloid sound. I personally prefer a real voice more than a vocaloid's. Though, my main problem right now is that I don't have a functioning microphone...but I'm hoping to change that soon. Whomp whomp...

steampianist responds:

really what a small world lolz that would be great PM as soon as you can. ill keep both vocaloid and your version

[A Long Way Home]

Well I definitely hear some improvement here! I was actually hoping that was your voice but just altered a little higher to sound like a girl's hahahaha. The beginning vocal arrangement is masterful, and perfectly enhanced with her voice. Are the lyrics Dutch? I'm just taking a guess. Then when the second part opens up with the piano, flute, and erhu combo...it actually reminded me of some of the sad music in Naruto hahahaha! Your instrument choice there was nice, but your instrumentation overall still seems very comfortable to me heeehhh. I'm waiting for that extremely sudden wrong turn with you, but you're here building up your character, so I can't blame you. Your melodies and harmonies overall are great, peaceful and emotional. There are some interesting turns in the key that are subtle but catch my attention musically. An overall fantastic mood setter, but still waiting for some madness to come hrehrehrehrehreh. Wonderful job!

etherealwinds responds:

Thank you so much Zip, that's such a lovely review! The problem with me is that I haven't much experimented in too many genres of music, at least with FL Studio. I'm not even sure how to create a drum loop bwahaha, so I guess for this competition I'm trying to stick to what I know but injecting creativity whilst doing so. It can be boring doing the same kinda thing over and over again so I try to avoid that! ^ ^ The lyrics are in Danish. I just love Scandinavian languages, something about them sounds so Earthly. Also, wow @ the round 1 results... 0.2 difference!! Really great submission, you're a winner as well as steampianist in my eyes. Keep it up :)

[Automation]

It is a ripoff of Mechanical Anima hahahahaha I think it's even in the same key signature or very close to it. But since there's a lack of this kind of music here I think it's still very welcome. Still professionally done. There is definitely a rich underline of percussive noise here, but the melodies also take over in a sense. I can't say I hear anything really counterpoint as each phrase sort of lets way for the others in an order with instruments working together in one melody at a time, but definitely good harmony work and complex instrumentation. I wish I could do the same. Especially with such perfect production construction where no crevice is left empty. Great work!

Step responds:

Yeah man, after three attempts at trying to make a cave/lab theme I said "screw this" and ripped off a Newgrounds track haha. Although joking aside, I did admittedly borrow a lot of ideas from that track! Mostly the whole "machine + orchestral instruments" idea and some percussive ideas (and a few notes off one of the melodies unintentionally!). His track blows mine out of the water though.

Aw man, I really tried to add a bit of counterpoint in this. It's one thing I have always been very bad at (my songs are usually structured as one melody in the foreground and then everything else supporting it). But maybe I just have the wrong idea of how to make counterpoint :P.

Thanks for your help in this track, and for this review!