Jacob's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Meet Frances]

You had me from the start. Beautiful, inspired ambiance all the way through. I'd have loved a little more melody, some more involved percussion, some tension and release... But the atmosphere makes up for it.

I'd love to collaborate sometime! I'll be checking out your other submissions now. You have a fan.

Semaphore responds:

Thank you very much Jacob. If you want to to a collab some day pm me =)

[GaMetal - Ocarina of Time]

Wow. Just, astounding.
The production is crystal clear, the playing is immaculate, and every single piece has its own charm despite being perfectly strung together.

Kakariko Village and Lon Lon Ranch legitimately sound like a Queen ballad, and that is a nearly impossible feat.

You have a new fan!

[Lord Raptor voice demo]

The audio quality leaves much to be desired, but I'm really enjoying the acting! Just have to get yourself a better mic, an insulated environment, a little editing, etc.
Keep it up!

[Limbo #6 Shoegaze]

Sick!
This could legitimately be made into a full-length song with airtime on the radio. The only complaint I have is that... Open high-hat sound? It really cuts into my ears, and detracts from the overall composition.

I've always loved your work. Something about it just really clicks with me.

[D-Mac 2010 Commercial Voice]

Man, can I just like, wear your skin for a day? Just a little?
You're the level of talent that I aspire to be.
There are character voice actors, and then there are commercial voice artists. You're both. That is surprisingly rare, and immensely appreciable.

Hopefully I can get on your level one of these days. But, I've got a little growing room in the mean time. ;)
Keep doing what you do, DMD! You are truly my hero.

Muah.

-Jacob

[A night to remember]

First thing I noticed: Too quiet!
Assuming you're using Audacity, use the Normalizer effect to set the dB level to -3.00. It'll make everything even, and at a standard volume.
Second, insulate the area around your microphone to avoid background reverb. It will give you that warm, present effect.
Third, use the noise profiler on a clip of nothing but your background noise to allow you to eliminate that buzz in the background.

The overall quality here is pretty nice. It's hard to tell, being so quiet, but I like the voices.
I know you're not a native English speaker. But you can use that to your advantage! Your accent and inflections can be used for certain characters, especially being Mexican.
Work on your Americanized accent in the mean time, of course, but always play to your strengths.

desierto responds:

Wow, that's a lot of tips, thank you! i actually used audacity for the first time whilst recording this, and i will surely implement your suggestions and learn to use it better in the future.

I would've liked to add some noise effects, music and some voices mumbling here and there and what not, but had no more time, i totally agree, it also sounds too quiet to me too!

Thanks for dropping by man, i really appreciate it!

[Stuff Happened One Night]

Nice work!
The story was nice for sure, but the voices were what got me.
The main character and his friend were both very natural, while also contrasting. It's hard to make more than one or two distinct natural voices, so I appreciate the quality of that.

I'd recommend adding a vocal exciter to really bring out the vocals.
Oh, and get a pop filter. Your P's sometimes pop pretty hard.

Overall, lots of distinct voices, and that kind of range is appreciable.

Good work!

Rehab-Reject responds:

Hey thanks bro! Yeah the hardest part was making the two main characters sound different and natural. What's a vocal exciter? I'm pretty noobish when it comes to recording, but I did have a pop filter, I probably was too close to the mic when recording some parts. Thanks for the review and tips.

[Night to Remember - Voice Act]

Is that Jesse from Breaking Bad? Haha
I REALLY like that character. The voice, the inflections, everything. He's very well done.
Teddy... Good, but could use some work. So here goes that:

First off, despite how different the voices might feel, it's important that you go all out in contrasting your voices. Use different pitches. Make his voice quite a bit higher, so he really stands out against Steve.

The same goes for your other characters. Make sure their voices are in different registers! Otherwise, it's obvious that it's all one guy.

Next, recording and mixing:

First off, it sounds like you used a good mic. But regardless of the quality of a mic, you NEED to insulate the area around it. Otherwise, an unpleasant reverb makes its way into the recording. It sounds distant, as opposed to the presence you're looking for.
Second, noise removal is crucial.
Simply take a two or three second recording without anything but the ambiance of the room, and go to Noise Removal in the Effects bar of Audacity, and you just have to Get Noise Profile. From then on, you can use the Noise Removal to remove the background buzz.

Ultimately though, I really liked this. The characters were likable and interesting, working as a perfectly contrasting duo. The story was easy to listen to, and consistently charming. The ending was funny and satisfying (though a little predictable), and this stands to be one of the only two entries I have been able to listen to from start to finish.

Good work!
-Jacob

PS I'm scouting you for the Audio Portal

doctorrapture responds:

Hey man! Thanks a lot for all the feedback and advice. I will buying my own equipment by the end of this month - so far I have limited knowledge of a friend's studio which I use on occasion (and for this).

Much appreciated, sir!

[I'm A Dot]

These lyrics truly are a work of genius, though.

Actually, this is really catchy. It's short, low quality, and you obviously weren't doing something for the sake of exerting effort - but hot diggety damn do I like it.

DL'd and, despite the review rating (my official rating), 5'd.

ForNoReason responds:

Why thank you!