Ferstofus's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Hill]

IMO the audio and the tone of voice sounded detached and devoid of sentiment for a poem about love and longing in content. Perhaps the intent was to idealize the sentiment/relationship and convey it was transcendent or ineffable? But to me the sentiment itself was missing, maybe it was too idealized, imo.

The use of vocabulary was eloquent, though, and the consonances and assonances helped create a pleasing effect. I also thought the vocabulary helped create an alienating effect alongside the audio, but again, not alongside the content.

I'd suggest changing the content to create an abstract experience or changing the audio/tone to convey more emotion. You could possibly add rhyme and/or meter if you'd lean to the romantic side, but I'd advise against if you'd go for the esoteric, I think lacking them (the way it is) helps with that.

Anyway, these are my thoughts.

[The Illusion of Choice - Chapter 1, Episode 1: "Did You Know?"]

Really liked the choice and placement of the sound effects, think they both established moods and built tension well while maintaining clarity. I also loved the intonations on the voice acting, really made the characters feel alive and displayed well their attitudes, imo; also everyone was well articulated.

There was a lot of focus on the radio show at one point instead of Sam, who I see as a richer character and the intended focus (if I interpret correctly); perhaps more comments from him was a good deal? Or maybe more frequently, or maybe he reacts mid-show to something in the traffic jam, anything to keep focus on him could be good, possibly, imo.

Also, loved the "D-d-d-d-d-did you know?", hehe.

Cool stuff, a lot was left unexplained but I imagine it'll come in future episodes, naturally. I don't know the rest of the plot but I hope to listen more to the characters around Sam, like Celine or Gabe, etc, 'cause I think they can add more color without detracting the story from the character. Anyway, good job!

[Who Dun It? A Murder Mystery Audio Drama]

I liked the construction of the narrative and the bluntness/concision of many characters, though I felt Brooks had an overly repetitive tone at times, sadly, I've perceived him more emotionally invested than the performance let out. And I think the ending could've had a smoother flow of tension (a slower buildup to the climax and/or a slower/longer denouement), considering how much information was laid out before. But I was thrilled by the dynamics of the characters and enjoyed the little jokes between Brooks and the Narrator. Good job! :)

[Mario 64 Menu Screen Remix]

The music peaks so hard in volume and pitch sometimes, would have appreciated some moderation there.

[Trumpet Guys becomes an anime villain]

A bit repetitive on the pitch (of voice), would have enjoyed some variety through the speech.

Nerostratos responds:

Thank you for the constructive criticism I will try to improve! :)

["Lágrimas De La Luna (Tears of the Moon)"]

I felt the tension went kinda in a stable level through the whole thing, I'd probably suggest a rise or fall somewhere, but it was still nice to listen to! I could feel the strain in the voice of the VAs, pretty dramatic. The music and sound effects also worked well with the whole, IMO, even if a bit stereotypical for something that felt different than a parody or homage to me (I guess, to change it, you'd need to stray a bit from telenovelas tropes though, so maybe it's fine as is). I also think the plot developed slightly too fast, would've appreciated a longer build up before the big revelations or some sort of nods to "previous episodes" (which would have done the build up, let's say). But whatever the case, pretty nice, pretty fun to listen to! Hehehe, enjoyed it a lot.

Tommytomtom619 responds:

It was more of a spoof piece and making fun of the telenovela tropes, which is why it just goes by so quickly. It wasn't intended to be a full on production but we all had fun with it.

The VAs in this, not including myself, are some of the loveliest and talented individuals I've ever met and I'm so happy they agreed to assist me with this. And I'm so glad you enjoyed it as well!

[SLAM POETRY NITE!]

IMO the atmosphere was intense and dramatic (think it was due to the echo effect on the voice and the solo violin with streched out notes), the voice was clear in diction and emphatic in tone, adequate volume (pending more to the loud but without reaching a scream), all of which I think help well to make an annoucement sort of thing for the event, if that was the goal (I interpret so).

The drum beats during the name listing I believe worked well for showcasing a noticeable rhythm that one could tie to the rhythm of many kinds of poetry.

The last part with the lines that felt very fluent, genuine and improv-like to me also I believe falls perfectly in line with the idea of the event, even if improv on it is not necessary for participants (though we did see some of that then, heh). I also think the short, rhymed verses at the end helped with fluidity (and also to make us think of poetry).

I'm docking points for I felt the name listing was a bit repetitive with the beats (even though I still commend the rhythm like I said), I think I captured slight differences in intonation through the names' pronunciations so I don't see why not the idea of on-point notes from different instruments or something else just for variety.

And speaking of variety, I believe a higher degree of it for the melody, different sections, changes in the pace/speed/rhythm/idk or something like that would also be nice, maybe around 1:05 at least? Even for an announcement.

My opinion here. Still, rock solid stuff, awesome work!

Aalasteir responds:

Thank you so much, Ferstofus.

I'm always happy to receive feedback, and I deeply appreciate you sharing your opinions. You are awesome. Yes, your interpretation is right. My goal was to make an announcement for the event, and I'm really appreciative and thankful that you participate and share your poem about world peace. It's very beautiful and kind of you. I deeply admire your ability to put into words your experience with the audio.

I wish I can do the same, though I struggle immensely with sharing my opinions, and I admire your ability to thoughtfully communicate your experience. Yes, I agree with you. I wish there was also more variation, though I find it difficult and challenging to do so because it doesn't come naturally to me.

I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my perspective with you.

There is great power in listening to music and interacting with art, understanding the elements of communication of emotions and ideas. We are all artists; everybody is a creator.

Communication is an art form, and being able to interact with media, witness media, and understand ideas and perspectives from art is also an art.

Communicating with people is an art, and listening is an art.

Art is communication.

WE ARE ALL ART.

You are awesome, Ferstofus!

[Mrs. Bumbridge's Brassiere is a Time Machine]

Well, the single voice hurts my score here a bit, didn't find that much difference between the characters. The pacing of everything was on point to me, with key moments well placed for intensity and stablishing moods, classic movie trailer stuff. Also the story hits all the right notes for those family friendly movies here, hehe. I don't know if I'd recommend a higher pitch for Mrs. Bumbridge's voice, I was thinking it was some random man at first (then I got the joke of it through context). I'd also perhaps suggest adding some points of higher or lower tension, just to shake the relatively stable mood a bit, but maybe that could stray it a bit from cliché movie trailers and hurt the parody side of things... I don't know, would depend on your creative vision I guess. Anyway, great job!

[Harmony High - Part 1: Our Little Secret]

Aw man, such a cool story, the dialogues were great, on the choice of words, syntax, manners of speech, on the VAing you guys nailed the pacing, pauses, pitch, some inflections but the tones were always so flat! It's like you guys are reading lines from a script instead of voice acting, I could barely capture any emotion there, or the characters often sound calm and collected with that not fitting with their words. The sound effects and ambience setting were to my liking, realistic without disturbing the dialogues, subtle yet meaningful, although I'd appreciate some music or background sounds on moments of lengthier silence. The tone thing pulls things down for me on other fronts too like the tension and suspense, but overall, yeah, a lot of quality here, just please try to convey more feelings 'cause I find that was the main lack. Well anyway, my opinion for this work.

Bosa responds:

thank you for the insight!

[Slumberland Collab Album]

Loved how you all managed to maintain a cohesive theme while keeping originality and identity in each song (the last one is golden btw). I'd enjoy perhaps one with more aggresive beats to tap into the idea of nightmares, but that could be conflicting with the calmness of sleep, right? So I don't know. As for the individual songs, loved the vivacity of both Hypnagogia and Slumbering Sloth, the peace of Dream in Memory and Vision Of An Aqueduct, the surrealism of Codec Frequency and stormchurch and just a lot of stuff I'd probably review for each song on standalone submissions. Also you guys are gods of melody and beat. I think that's it, 5 stars, thank you all for making this

Shai-P responds:

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed. :)