Glassedhouse's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sovereign Remedy]

Stunning. Likely my favourite song I've had listened to from judging NGADM '21 so far. I have no clue as to what extent you sampled, but the vocal embellishments really give this more life and feeling than any other 6-minute orchestral suite I've heard on here has done. Your vocals are idiosyncratic yet compelling in an odd way. Amazing work

Packtion responds:

Thank you so much!

[The Coast is Clear]

Odd. Usually, when going through these I see a couple of single sentence reviews with "good" or something like that on even the poorest submissions, but this one is vacant of that. Unfortunate, since this is probably my favourite piece I've heard while judging the first round of NGADM '21 so far. Touching and comforting. Great job 👍

[What Lies Ahead (NGADM)]

Gonna need that pair of shades to keep safe from the blindingly lit metric modulation

FateModified responds:

Haha thanks! :)

[Butterfly Earwings and Chasing Monsoons]

Definitely one of the more interesting, creative, and unhinged submissions I've judged so far in NGADM. Your attention to detail and sound design really sets this one apart. Fantastic job

[Our Future]

Not the most polished or well-mixed piece, but definitely among the most intriguing things I've judged this NGADM, especially with the watery "dubstep" noises.

AceTAD responds:

lol i made it in like 2 days

agree that the mix can be improved tbh i am not the best at this kinda stuff, just do basic effects lol

[Going Back - MR]

Definitely one of the more intriguing pieces I've judged in NGADM so far. I think the mixing is the nadir of this piece, but everything else (and even the somewhat poor mixing) is oddly interesting. It's not afraid to relish in its own simplicity. I really like the inclusion of the noise at the end. It's little things that most wouldn't do that adds character (even though it may very well have been simply a way to lengthen the song, which I still respect, since noise is noise). Regardless, nice piece!

[Exalt]

Definitely one of the best songs I've had to judge for the Audition Round of NGADM 21. Great work man

[Diriklet]

Really cool stuff man. Your eclectic sense of sampling and instrumentation really makes this piece its own. Definitely one of my favourites of judging NGADM 21 so far.

[Waltz]

What you have here sounds good (especially the cool synth bass), but I wish I could head the piano more! The drums (especially the kick) are so loud that it's almost hard to make out what's being played. I listened to all of these songs and I'm noticing that you rely heavily on LABS instruments. That's cool! I do that too sometimes, but the drum kit they have is obviously, free and therefore is really only locked in at one dynamic setting, which is somewhere between hard and hard as fuck, whereas the gentle atmosphere of the rest of the song sounds like it calls for something MUCH less (or even no drums at all). I would suggest looking into ways to add percussion without LABS drums (maybe electronically, maybe more experimental), since I think this issue spans across most of the tracks with them. I know the added realism is nice, but that's something that is extremely difficult to pull off with exclusively free instruments. I think without that glaring issue, this would be a really nice piece for background listening as you intended!

[Stellar Sight]

Pretty cool! It has all the energy I would expect from a song like this (especially with the tom fills), and your playing is pretty consistent! I think maybe sometimes the quiet sections go on a little long without enough happening, But when the song hits, it fuckin *hits*, with 3:47 being the best example I think. I love that explosive energy you bring, and how the song cuts into an implied swing beat.

I think the mixing is a little wack at some places. There seems to be a lot of weight in the right channel that feels a little unbalanced. Also probably just a personal thing, but I feel like whatever bass or low end you got going on could be brought up a lil.

I think my main gripe, however (which is a common one, don't worry) is how the song lacks a melody to let me remember it by. I know that without vocals, this can be extra challenging, but as is the piece kind of feels baseless. It feels like I'm moving through nondescript chord progressions.

That's all! Very good work

Hyenaedon responds:

Thanks for the great feedback! I agree the mixing could be better, this is the first time I really combined recording instruments with my usual electronic stuff so i’ll be improving that for sure. All the stuff you mentioned will be really helpful for the next one like this so thanks again!