FatKidWitAJetPak's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

["The Last Ship"]

Needs Proper Mastering

You've got the whole playing thing down, perfect and amazing. You can play the tune wonderfully and design it well. However, you should learn a bit of simple mastering techniques such as volume and panning. These techniques can make this song a hell of a lot better.

I am assuming you are using either one or two layers of strings, but of the same string type. Try to create three different layers of different string instruments, each at a different location on the panning bar. One string could be at %25 on the left, another %15 on the right, and another %50 on the right. These are just random example %'s, so don't actually use those specefic ones. What im trying to say is that you need to use multiple layers with different volume and panning levels so that the track doesn't seem as flat.

Simply experiment with panning and volume. See where it gets you :)

BrokenDeck responds:

Kewl.

["Gearing Up"]

Very Smooth But Needs Depth

I notice your work is very inspired from movie themed and live orchestral music theory and studies. You seem to have had a large history of studying all the technical sides of ochestral composition including instrument placement and proper mixing. It's very epic.

One thing I noticed is that there appears to not be as much DEPTH in this composition. It seems very flat. In order to improve on this, try making each layer in different panning positions. For example, experiment with your strings setup and set them at %25 in the left speaker. Then get your percussion and set them at %10 on the right one. See which setups work best together.

Once you got that down, you can truly make your own original compositions! You have really good skills at this sort of thing. Im sure people would love to have you on the NG album!

BrokenDeck responds:

Thanx man! :D

[IC&RS Holiday Special]

6th Voice Acting Contest Final Results!

IC&RS Holiday Special Final Score: 81

FatKidWitAJetPak's Final Judgment:

Acting: 33/35
Fit: 25/25
Originality: 15/15
Range: 15/15
Mixing: 8/10
Final: 96/100

Improbably comics and radio shows? Lmao, love it. Your mixing was fantastic in this. You acted extremely well with them and added wonderful spice to your characters with great fit and range! Your evil directors voice was very well done, and I enjoyed your British accent. I am not sure if the British accent was purposely done or not. I can't remember if you actually are British.

My favorite part of this skit was the originality. The big chin, the winter zombie love story, the freeze frame, and the whole concept was just great. Dr. Movie is a great character. This is one of my favorite skits ever made, especially since you added a wide range of depth with your amazingly done mixing, acting, and range. Every character sounded different. It is almost like your in a heavy metal band, because you can bend your voice in many ways. I also enjoyed the side plot, which was actually a love story all in its own. Where did you get these ideas? I would love to see this made into a flash!

This was a perfect example of how you can grab SFX from free sound websites such as Flash Kit in order to add LOTS of spice and jingles to your demo reel. I think you would make a great role model for beginning voice actors. You develop your characters individually and work on them with much strength and range. Because of this, you can almost instantly produce a well acted line. I could tell you were having a lot of fun with your characters. Great job!

The only errors that I can think of is that the skit was loud many times. I can understand how loudness is a good thing, but you should turn it down a tad! The entire skit was relatively loud. Also, I notched that you held back yourself at times, as if you were to nervous to put all your heart into a few of the lines. Other than that, no errors! Great submission.

JaShinYa's Final Judgment:

Acting: 30/35
Fit: 23/25
Originality: 15/15
Range: 11/15
Mixing: 5/10
Final: 84/100

Not sure if it was your mic or if you were just too close, but throughout most of the recording, the audio was kind of "vibrating" a bit. Main mixing conceern is that you need to lower the background music and SFX. The music especially, was on the verge of overtaking your vocals. Cutting from one music bed to another was a bit off as well. The range wasn't that great. While most of your voices were discernable, they weren't far apart in spectrum. One complaint about the acting is when crap is going down in the skit, the characters should be yelling, not doing that "quiet yell". Also, Crimson Chin much? lol. Overall I enjoyed the skit. Good idea. With better mixing, this could be very very good.

SimCorder's Judgment:

Acting - 24/35
Fit - 18/25
Originality - 8/15 points
Range - 05/15 points
Mixing - 10/10
Total: 65

I can tell a lot of effort was into this, but the short range of unique voices as well as a possible lack of rehearsing keeps this submission from being perfect. Epic Mixing though.

ArtellTheWanderer responds:

FatKid: Thanks for the review! I stewed for a good long while trying to decide on voices for each character, and while I think they fit well, I'm getting mixed thoughts about my range and mixing. I'm not sure if I'm working to my potential--people are telling me very different things for these categories, so I'm not sure what to believe. I'm glad you liked my British accent, though--I think I pulled it off fairly well. I know everyone has room to improve, and I will continue to work on every aspect of my craft in the future. I'm honored you think that I could inspire others to try their hand at voice acting.
As for the source of my ideas, a lot of it comes from inside jokes and turning ideas on their heads. I noticed that a lot of typical superheroes have huge chins, so I decided to make my superhero have his chin as the source of his power. Dr. Movie comes from misreading the credits in an anime movie I watched. For the radio show idea, I thought about how best to adapt for audio what would normally be a televised show, and the radio show idea came to mind.
Thanks for the review and this opportunity, and I look forward to the next competition!

JaShinYa: I appreciate the review. Concise, fair, and honest. I realize now after the fact that the Crimson Chin from the Fairly Oddparents probably did factor into the design for Chisel-Jaw; originally I just wanted to create a superhero whose massive chin gave him his crime-fighting strength. Either that show'd producers and I both think alike, or I just forgot where the idea came from.
I'm having trouble developing a good and distinguishable range. I think I need more voice acting practice, trying to change up my pitch and add more to my repertoire. I'm curious, however, as to why a few points were removed for the Acting and Fit categories.
I also realize that my mixing wasn't that good--I'm still new to Audacity and half of the time I don't know what I'm doing. The reason for the "quiet yell" is probably because whenever I DID yell into the microphone, the audio spiked and gave some crackles. I guess I need some practice or tutoring in regards to proper audio mixing as well.
Again, thanks for the review, and I wish you luck in your bid for audiobook reading!

SimCorder: I'm glad you can see that I busted my ass on this submission. I appreciate the review, and I can accept that my range wasn't as good as it should've been because I'm new to this, but your claim that I didn't rehearse much just doesn't fly with me. I worked for a month and a half on this and recorded each take several times, using what I thought worked well. Though you give me a perfect score for mixing, I believe that my lack of experience with mixing is probably factoring into what you perceive as half-assery. I also wish you would go into more depth as to why you took off points in the other categories.

[The Christmas Visitor]

6th Voice Acting Contest Final Results!

The Christmas Visitor Final Score: 75

FatKidWitAJetPak's Final Judgment:

Acting: 28/35
Fit: 15/25
Originality: 12/15
Range: 9/15
Mixing: 4/10
Final: 68/100

I really loved your first deep voice, although it sounded JUST like your Santa character... but with a poorly done Australian accent. I actually thought he was British at first lol. The "mom" also sounded like the kid. I couldn't tell it was a girl. All in all, I think your fit and range were your weak points here. Your acting was pretty well done, but sounded forced at times and not really rehearsed. For example, when you first voiced the husband, you should have acted like you were tired, annoyed, and wanted to go back to sleep. Instead, you seemed confused on how to actually act out the character.

In order to make sure your characters all sound good, MAKE SURE YOU CAN DO THEM! If you don't think you can do an australian accent, then don't attempt to because it can really distract from the flow of the skit. Your obviously really good at deep voices, so work on ranging that out into a few characters. Work on your higher voice, it doesn't sound like a woman and it is very hard for a male voice actor to sound like a woman anyway. You could use it for a number of other things, however, such as an animal, a nerd, or a kid.

I laughed at this skit a lot because I really thought the dad character was great. He seemed so confused yet accepting, as if that kind of thing happens to him everyday. "Just scoop him up and put him in the jar" was a great line. This would make a fun animation. Lol, this is going into my faves simply because it is a good story.

JaShinYa's Final Judgment:

Acting: 29/35
Fit: 18/25
Originality: 14/15
Range: 10/15
Mixing: 6/10
Final: 77/100

Mixing in a nutshell... Pops, Dead Air, and LOUD gun blasts. The range also wasn't very wide or varied. Try to hone in on farther ends of the spectrum and some more outlandish characters with your voice. Some of the script seemed a bit disjointed. Improv is good sometimes (Talking about the um's ah's uh's, etc...), but other times it breaks up the skit. Lastly, I really didn't like the aussie. The acting wasn't there for him. Overall, the recording made me chuckle a bit 9The dad after shooting his kid again.haha) Good job and keep working!

SimCorder's Judgment:

Acting - 30/35
Fit - 22/25
Originality- 12/15
Range - 10/15
Mixing - 06/10
Final: 80

Comments
OH THE HUMANITY!!!! Epic story telling, too bad I can't give points for that.

[Dear Santa]

6th Voice Acting Contest Final Results!

A Winter Voice Ensamble Final Score: 77

FatKidWitAJetPak's Final Judgment:

Acting: 29/35
Fit: 20/25
Originality: 8/15
Range: 14/15
Mixing: 4/10
Final: 75/100

Remember to properly mix each layer of voices at specific volume levels. The background singing, for example, should have been turned down just a little itsy bitsy bit, and the lead voices of the letters to Santa should have been turned up at least 20% more. It was hard to make out everything said because all the volume levels were flat. Mixing is an extremely important aspect of voice acting, since it gives flavor, depth, and excitement to the skit. That was your main fault in this skit. Everything was really quiet. You did mix the layers pretty well together... but didn't adjust them properly.

The acting was pretty good! In fact, I thought it was one of your strong points. I was amazed at your oval range and think you should certainly make a voice acting demo reel thats properly mixed using all your voices to the best of your abilities. I hope to hear more from you soon. The skit was kind of dull at times, in my opinion, but your voices still brought life to it. IT was kind of hard to understand your words at times, even though I knew that was the style of your characters. Never make a character that is impossible to understand, unless of course it is a minor character and not a main character. Every kid here was considered a "main" character since they all were the main focus on the skit. Most of them were hard to understand, and therefore made this skit less enjoyable. Pronounce, pronounce, pronounce your voices!

Also, I can't tell if your a girl or not. LMAO. I can't even tell your age. xD

JaShinYa's Final Judgment:

Acting: 29/35
Fit: 21/25
Originality: 13/15
Range: 10/15
Mixing: 6/10
Final: 79/100

First off, I'm very happy to hear a female joining in for once! With that said, on to business. First thing I noticed was the volume. When you edit, crank up the volume. If it's not hurting your ears, you need to adjust the gain. The other thing with your mixing was the puffs and pops. Either make a pop screen or back up. While I could tell the difference between the kids, it didn't show off your range. I'd like to see a wider variety. Your acting was a bit robotic at times... add some spice! Enthusiasm and letting go are key. However, you should also wtch your diction. Take your time while acting your lines. Overall this was pretty good. I hope to see what you have in store for the future. Keep improving! (I Hope you get a pox? lol)

SimCorder's Judgment:

Acting - 29/35
Fit - 19/25
Originality- 13/15
Range - 12/15
Mixing - 05/10
Final: 78/100

Nice concept, good variation of voices, my only major compliant is that the submission was hard to hear unless you maximized your volume.

FreyasDaughter responds:

FatKid, you did it!

Thanks for the compliments! Can't tell my age or my gender, that's great! (I think.) Anyway, YES I am a girl and I'm 20 (was 19 when I recorded this). That you couldn't tell that was awesome. Anyway, I will definitely be practicing mixing sounds and raising and lowering the volume where necessary. I can only do some much with my equipment, but I will try my hardest to do better. Diction, range, acting, and a better storyline will be what I will concentrate on.

Thanks for the review, the compliments, and the constructive criticism!

[A Winter Voice Ensemble]

6th Voice Acting Contest Final Results!

A Winter Voice Ensamble Final Score: 59

FatKidWitAJetPak's Final Judgment:

Acting: 25/35
Fit: 15/25
Originality: 9/15
Range: 9/15
Mixing: 8/10
Final: 66/100

I enjoy your style and see some cool things coming from you in the future. If I were you, I would keep practicing. You remind me a lot of Stalagmite and his hip-hopish style of mixing. I liked your ideas, but you didn't properly carry them out. First, make sure to work on your acting. You should develop more so on your characters. Give the voices more depth. Currently it sounds like your just turning your normal voice into a series of beats and hops. Try to think deeper of the characters you are wanting to imitate, voice their lines as seriously as you can, and then after acting each voice mix them together into the beat you want to mix them in. Voice one character at a time, then voice another character to respond to that character, then finally mix their conversations together.

Editing each voice together in harmony can really lead to an awesome recording. I think if you did that, this would be a lot better. Sure, it takes a lot of practice to learn what kind of voices your best at, but once you do you can REALLY improv those characters into cool little skits like this, add a beat, and make it chilled. After adding all the well acted voices, mixed together with music, add sound effects like sirens, gun shots, record scratches, e.t.c. Proper mixing of these elements requires individual focus on THE ACTING... THE VOICES... THE BEAT... and finally THE SFX. Put them all together in layers. Do them one at a time, don't rush yourself. It seemed like you wanted to rush this skit into a nice flow, but ended up making it more chaotic than you wanted it to sound.

Also, remember that your characters sound like they are suppose to. None of the voices really fit. If its a kid, make the voice kind of high pitched and whiny. If its an old man, make the voice sound raspy. Remember, develop the voices your best at THEN voice them. All these voices sounded... not developed! Also, get a pop filter to avoid those fuzzy annoying noises.

JaShinYa's Final Judgment:

Acting: 27/35
Fit: 23/25
Originality: 15/15
Range: 10/15
Mixing: 5/10
Final: 80/100

The biggest issue with this was the mixing. It started alright, just some dead air; I could tell where you started and stopped recording. But then once the kids started screaming and snowmen coming to life, you were wayyy too close to the mic. There were a lot of puffs and pops. Props for mixing it well in time to the music though. A few other issues... A bunch of the voices were very close to your comfort zone. Try and step out of the box for more range. You were also holding back on the acting a lot. Let loose my man. All that with some awkward start/stops kept me from being abosrbed into your recording. Overall, I really liked the idea. This is one of the most unique ones in the contest. With better acting and mixing and maybe a bit more orginization, this would have been very awesome.

SimCorder's Judgment:

Acting - 7/35
Fit - 6/25
Originality- 8/15
Range - 6/15
Mixing - 5/10
Final: 32/100

Comments
Very poor acting, story was hard to make out through most of the mumbling. My advise, add some more emotion and put more effort into your voice.

[An Evil Winter Story]

6th Voice Acting Contest Final Results!

An Evil Winter Story Final Score: 88

FatKidWitAJetPak's Final Judgment:

Acting: 30/35
Fit: 22/25
Originality: 14/15
Range: 13/15
Mixing: 7/10
Final: 86/100

"Unfirled" lol hey that's not a word. I also enjoyed the originality of this skit. I found myself laughing at your corny jokes and how I never got to figure out what the plan really was due to your lulzy writing. Your evil scientist voice was really well done and personally I found it quite hilarious.

One thing you should work on when producing future demo reels is your mixing with sound effects and music. Voice actors find it much, much easier to find sound effects and music online so that they don't have to make it themselves. Let's face it, most of us are voice actors not sound effect producers.

Next time, go to google and search for key words that describe your sound effect such as "gun" and "gun fire" and "footsteps". Then you can work on voicing over these sound effects, acting like the character is carrying them out. This requires getting out of your comfort zone, which in turn will improve your acting. Your acting was pretty well done! There were a few errors, such as the death of the snowman. It didn't sound very painful, it was simply sarcastic. I couldn't tell if you were trying to be purposely dull or not for that, but in the future make sure to act out expressions.

Your narration voice was well done! The rhymes were catchy and the story itself was original. I would love to see this be made into an animation actually.

JaShinYa's Final Judgment:

Acting: 33/35
Fit: 23/25
Originality: 15/15
Range: 13/15
Mixing: 7/10
Final: 91/100

Comments: Just a few critiques here. Backup from the mic or invest in a pop filter... or a better one if you have one already. Some puffs interfered with the recordng. Also, the hero's voice was a little off. Pretty close to the narrator's and I couldn't tell if he was trying to be cool or Keanu Reeves. Overall the acting was very good and the skit was amusing! This is definitely one of the most original pieces in the contest. Also, this is a great example of VA made SFX. Great job!

SimCorder's Judgment:

NONE (?)

[Little Timmy's Christmas Story]

6th Voice Acting Contest Final Results!

Little Rimmy's Christmas Story Final Score: 84

FatKidWitAJetPak's Final Judgment:

Acting: 35/35
Fit: 25/25
Originality: 10/15
Range: 15/15
Mixing: 8/10
Final: 93/100

This is a perfect example of great acting in a comedic environment. You have a great narration voice. you should try out for a commercial, because this is one of the most professional quality skits that I have ever heard. The story wasn't all that original, but still was hilarious and would make a great Newgrounds animation. I'm surprised that it wasn't actually... maybe next year! Remember to get yourself out there, because if I were an animator I would choose you for sure.

I noticed some popping in your mixing, you can get rid of that by decreasing the volume down to 0% at the very end of your recordings. Most editors have a very easy to use interface that allows you to drag a slider, which gradually decreases or increases volume levels for proper mixing. That popping can easily go away with proper volume adjustments. Other than that, I didn't notice any errors in this skit. It was short, clean, to the point, well acted, and all in all showed that you a good voice actor! Send this to animators when trying out for games and animations, it will for sure get you a position.

I could make this review longer by talking about your errors... but there were so little, I have already covered them! You mixed in very well done sounds and music. They matched perfectly.

JaShinYa's Final Judgment:

"Little Timmy's Christmas Story" By: Seymour 89/100
Acting: 32/35
Fit: 23/25
Originality: 14/15
Range: 13/15
Mixing: 7/10
TOTAL: 89/100

A couple of complaints in the recording. One, work on diction a bit. Some of the words drop or are mumbled. Also, there were audible clicks when you stopped recording and started again. The only other major complaint is the news part at the end- The background music wasn't needed, and the anchor's voice wasn't much different from the narrator's. Overall, I liked the skit. I would have liked to hear more. This was less than 3:00. Good acting, clear for the most part, and a pretty original idea. Thumbs up!

SimCorder's Final Judgment:

Acting - 27/35
Fit - 18/25
Originality- 9/15
Range - 07/15
Mixing - 08/10
Final: 69

Comments: None

Comments from FatKid on Sim Corder's Judgment: I am not sure why SimCorder gave you such a low score... and apologize that he didn't provide you with any comments. You can send him a PM if you wish to know why and I am sure he will tell you!

PM-Seymour responds:

Judging on the other scores on entries, I think I fell short from the ranks, but still, nice to know I got some good marks on your end, thanks a bunch :)

[The Snowman's Lament]

6th Voice Acting Contest Final Results!

The Snowman's Lament Final Score: 82

FatKidWitAJetPak's Final Judgment:

Acting: 27/35
Fit: 22/25
Originality: 15/15
Range: 10/15
Mixing: 9/10
Final: 83/100

I found the whole concept of a snowman not realizing he will melt hilarious. "Go ask Mr. Owl" Oh my god. LOL. I can't tell if you realized I made a large, over exaggerated skit completely revolving around the tootsie roll pop commercial or not. Related or not, it made me laugh. You managed to mix the background music with the voices very well. It made your low quality microphone practically unnoticeable. You should invest in a better microphone, however, since white noise makes it difficult to get your part into an animation. Animators usually want a good quality microphone, so the audio is easier to work with. I recommend the AT2020 microphone. It is cheap, durable, and easy to work with. *$70*. Your choice of music was great. It was a great way to make things serious, and then lulzy at almost an instant. The same song being played over and over again, surprisingly never got annoying. In fact it got funnier every time. The ending was hilarious. I loved how you broke the fourth wall by having the snowman talk to the narrator, go crazy, and then made it winter forever. This is where you acted the best I feel.

Your acting was a bit off at points, but I think that was because you got very consumed by the whole lulzy comedy idea. Always remember, just because the skit is a comedy, doesn't mean you cant have good acting. Always, always, always get into your character! Getting into character also makes it much easier to act, and you can improv like no tomorrow. I started out just like this actually, going crazy with my voices without thinking about it needing to be serious because it was a comedy. Sometimes it is alright to act like this, but in the future when you try out for animations and games, try to be YOUR BEST in acting, even if its a large exaggerated scream for some game called, "There's No Time To Explain".

The characters all had fairly similar voices, but you can work on that by improving your range. I find that the voices matched the characters pretty well, but you can easily create more voices by working on the "old and young" sounds of your voice. If you wanted the dad to sound different, you ghouls have made him sound like an "old" redneck by making your voice more raspy. Without that raspyness, it seems like the dad is only a more angry version of the kid. Try practicing on different pitches, work with the ones you are most comfortable with, and then develop a character based around it

The ending was hilarious.

JaShinYa's Final Judgment:

Acting: 33/35
Fit: 19/25
Originality: 15/15
Range: 9/15
Mixing: 6/10
Final: 82/100

Major issue was the range of voices. They were all pretty much the same, just slight changes in the texture of voice. Also, the mic picked up a lot of dead air and the background music/sounds were a bit loud. The voices themselves didn't fit that well, such as the mouse's voice and it seemed that they changed at points even though it was still the same character. Lastly there were a few parts where the acting slipped, but it mostly very good. This skit was very original and probably one of the funniest in the contest. Nice job!

SimCorder's Final Judgment:

Acting - 31/35
Fit - 21/25
Originality- 13/15
Range - 7/15
Mixing - 10/10
Final: 82

The only major flaw I can find here is the similarities in the voices.

[Va Contest 6 Shockdingo W]

6th Voice Acting Contest Results!

VA CONTEST 6 SHOCKDINGO WINTER FINAL SCORE: 93

FatKidWitAJetPak's Judgment:

Acting: 30/35
Fit: 24/25
Originality: 15/15
Range: 15/15
Mixing: 8/10
Final: 92/100

I always enjoy your narration voices. It really brings the listener to attention. I also notice that you have a very wide range, each voice with obvious experience behind it. You can come up with a character at random and stereotype it to the extreme, with an added flare of character and a boost of good acting. You also back up everything with loads of sounds and music mixing.

One thing I noticed immediately, however, was that your choices of music at points were distracting and/or didn't fit. Although, keep in mind that is my opinion and not nescasarilly a fact. I just sometimes didn't like the choice in music. I know the other judges loved your acting, but at points I noticed lack of heart in the voices, mainly with minor characters such as the little girl, which was a guy apparently lol. Even though minor characters have the word "minor" in them, they still are a big part of the skit. Minor characters help bring the story along, since the same main characters voices can start to grow dull. Minor characters spicen up things a bit, and sometimes can be the favorite characters of the story since you can really stretch their personalities out. You can make them a lot stranger than the main characters for comic relief in serious skits. In comedy skits, such as this one, you can give them hilarious one liners. You did that pretty well in the mall scene, just remember to still get into character properly even though they have one line! *yes I realize the acting in the mall scene was purposely bad lol*

The story itself was great with action, drama, and comedy. The fighting scene was my favorite part. You really like to act with noises, such as a rock hitting the characters hit, or a fist punching the character into the stomach. You have errors every now and then, but those errors add to the corniness of it all. When acting in a serious animation, remember to be REALLY FUCKING SERIOUS when the character is hurt. I find this the most difficult part of acting, and therefore find it a lot easier to do it in comedy, since it is suppose to sound bad at times such as the line, "WHAT THE FU- OOoooo" The one thing that confused me was the constant flashbacking. I had to listen to this skit at least three times before finally putting everything together. This, however, is an error in "audio" script writing. If this were an animation it would be easy to follow. Hopefully someone turns it into one! When writing audio skits, remember to make them easy to follow for someone who just puts on a pair of headphones and presses play. You should be able to achieve this with your experience.

Overall, fantastic skit! I have always enjoyed your voice acting, Seriously, that fighting scene was awesome. Keep it up!

JanShinYa's Judgment:

Acting: 35/35
Fit: 23/25
Originality: 15/15
Range: 13/15
Mixing: 8/10
Final: 94/100

Here are the few weak points in my opinion- The scene changes were a bit hard to follow. This is partly due to mixing and partly due to some voices sounding similar. The recording clipped a couple of times as well. I'd really love to hear you stretch your range more. You have a great talent for making the most of your mid-ranged voice, but I would really like to hear you try some higher and especially deeper voices. Overall, I really enjoyed the acting. Very believable and fun to listen to. A very original idea and the SFX/Music were excellent choices without taking over the recording. I really hope I can find another good animator for "Critical Point" so i can work with you further. Good job!

SimCorders Judgment:

Acting - 35/35
Fit - 25/25
Originality- 13/15
Range - 12/15
Mixing - 10/10
final: 95/100

You have no idea how #$%*ing hard it was not to give this submission a perfect score.