LucidShadowDreamer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[the world passes you by]

Well, I don't feel like writing a massive review right now, even if this song certainly deserves one :D
I love the melodies, and most of the dynamics, along with everything else.

Those footsteps in the beginning were important for this piece, I'd say, even if TheDoor6 seems to think they were superfluous. However, at the end I would have wanted them to be slightly different; I think it would be cool if it sounded like they were walking away, and if you faded them out, instead of just letting them walk like nothing had happened. Still, I understand that symbolically, it might be best if they remained consistent.

This is one of my favourites from you, for sure! I personally like the fact that you occasionally didn't use that many instruments, this song definitely reaches the emotional plane better than many other pieces do! And oh do I love those transitions at 3:21 =>, 5,17 and , 6:02 =>

And Boom! We have that long section after 6:20 :D

You know, after this I was only waiting for the piano to be introduced as a solo instrument once more, before the inevitable footsteps at the end (hey, you've got a song with the shortened name "Footsteps" too, I just remembered XD). Well, the piano didn't turn out to play entirely by it self at the end, but I still think you pulled off the ending well :')

I love the calm beginning of the song too; this track has so much developement! Rawwrr! But seriously, I love it. Its a shame that people don't always have attention spans that are longer than a couple of minutes (I'm often guilty of this too).

Aaaaannnnddd, I'm off rambling again :p

There were a few (very) minor "issues" with this track, but they are so insignificant that I don't feel any need to point (some of) them out :')

As usually, great job ;)

johnfn responds:

> Well, I don't feel like writing a massive review right now

[[ INSERT MASSIVE REVIEW ]]

You are crazy haha.

> footsteps

Yeah you're right I shoulda faded those out!

I'm glad this is one of your favorites. It's actually one of my favorite songs I've written also. I can't even really say why, other than that the progression just speaks to me.

> I was only waiting for the piano to be introduced as a solo instrument once more

Lol yeah. I was tempted to drag out the ending even more, but honestly I felt like I had already used up everyone's attention span in the previous 8:30 minutes so I just ended it. :p

> long attention spans

Yeah I feel like every minute I go past 4 I'm making more and more people give up on the song rather than powering through it you know? But idk... it's all about artistic expression... or something. What I'm trying to say is I DO WHAT I WANT AND IGNORE EVERYONE! But you can keep leaving reviews because I read them and try to use them guide me to some degree.

I'm rambling way more than you.

Regardless, I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[Dark Night]

Well, good thing you're good at making dance music then :D

I agree that dance music is often a bit generic though. Still, I enjoy this track, and it doesn't feel like just "any dance song" :)

Hmm, I don't really have any complaints. The beat is fine, the melodies are good, the mixing seems fine, and everything else (transitions, instruments, stuff) seems to be good too.
My favorite thing about this track is that part where you introduced the piano and another melody at 1:02. The dynamic between the instruments surprised me a bit at first, but I definitely like it! You seem to have enough variation in this, just like Johnfn sometimes tells people to do; you introduce something new or different at least every eight measures ;)

Oh! And good job at 2:25-2:30! I love how you use the same melody as at 1:02, but even more, I like the way you transitioned from the piano sound into another instrument!
I think the end of this song is a bit sudden, but it is a dance song, so it's not that strange.

Once again, awesome work ;)

Everratic responds:

Thankyou for the review and complement.

" just like Johnfn sometimes tells people to do; you introduce something new or different at least every eight measures ;)"
I learned that from Johnfn too! I was thinking about it while making this song, lol.

"Oh! And good job at 2:25-2:30! I love how you use the same melody as at 1:02, but even more, I like the way you transitioned from the piano sound into another instrument!"
I intended for that melody to be the chorus of the song, the first chorus would not have a drum beat and the second chorus would. I ended up changing the song's structure from what was originally planned.

I literally copied and pasted the main melody into in the piano roll under the piano sample. I didn't use a new piano instrument. I thought it helped the song sound more full.

[Whacky Wombat]

Well, I'm guessing this is also a Crash-type song :) (Although it's slightly different, imo).
Not only based on the similar instrument use, but Crash Bandicoot was originally about to be named Willie the Wombat (as well as some other names...) :D

This is a nice little loop you've got here. Only minor "issue", is that it seems to me like the loop starts a couple of milliseconds too early; it sounds like the first beat is premature :p

neBSounds responds:

cheers for the review man! yeah I know it's really annoying! it only does it on newgrounds for some reason!

[Desolate Aftermath]

Why don't you name it "The Analytic Adaptability of an Anticipating Aerilate" ? :D

Well, I am one of the worst people at choosing genre, so I'll leave that to someone else :)

This has a quick beginning and a quick ending, imo :p That didn't bother me at all though o.O
I think you did a good job with this one. I'm just not good at reviewing rock songs, for some weird reason. I really like the genre though! I'm impressed by how different this is from what I've heard from you earlier. I also like how you're not one of those few people who try a rock genres out, but end up making something that makes your ears bleed. This track has structure, and although the instruments are rough, they are not annoying!

Also, good job on mixing so many different elements in here! My favorite is when you blend in that synth and the choir at 0:48! (I also like the part after 1:11, which follows directly afterwards).
That guitar solo is good, but it's not the cathiest I've heard :) (Good job on 1:55 => though, it's definitely different than the earlier part :D).

Nope, just kidding, my real favourite part is that after 2:10, even if it's extremely similar to my first favourite part. Makes sense.

Anyway, this is some really good stuff you've got here! Again! My only complain it that some elements seem a little too much *puts on sunglasses* 'on beat' (HA! Ha. ha...)
No but really, I have difficulties imagining a band that would actually manage to play this accurately the whole way through, especially regarding rythm and tempo :p It's probably just me though...

You'll never give anyone a cookie, will you? Good job once again ;)

LunacyEcho responds:

"Aftermath" is enough for the single-word Pokémon abilities starting with A. Once again, my tags were an inside joke! Sometimes, I think they're my favorite parts.

You know, I actually tried making the beginning subtle, building up to the part at 0:48, which was basically the chorus. The ending was easily very sudden, because this is sort of a WIP and I might extend it later.

Rock, synth, choir, definitely some elements that I've heard together and easily go very well together. On my first full rock song, I wouldn't want to go crazy and try to put polka and ragtime and dissonance and traditional Chinese instruments in here, would I?

Aha... I suppose I tried making the solo more melodically focused than catchy. The first part, at least. The second part, I went absolutely mental on.

2:10 is basically the same as 0:48. No questions asked. There's a few changes, but they're hardly noticeable.

Oh, LSD. You know how I hate my non-tempofied music! I've actually heard some metal bands that are amazingly good at keeping tempo throughout the whole song. Dream Theater is a prog band that amazes me day after day on how on-tempo their music is. When making criticisms, I'm surprised you didn't dislike the jarring whatever-it-is at 1:44. It was originally supposed to be a glitch effect, with a small crescendo and not being that loud at all, but I guess something messed up. Whatever. I'm too lazy to re-export it. :P

Cookies! They're all mine! Fine, I'll tell you. Unbelievably, it was Step and his song 'Alluring Darkness'. After listening to it, I created the synth/choir melody you hear at 0:48, and I made a song based around that.

Thanks for the review!

[Mating Dance]

Well, this is some good stuff you've got here. I listened to a couple of your other submissions as well, and I liked them too.

You're obviously way better than me at using DAWs, and I don't really have anything negative to say about this track. The background electronic sound might be a tad too repetitive for my taste, and there isn't too much of a catchy melody. There are a couple of exceptions, like that part between 0:46 and 1:04, among with others. My point is that a large part of this song feels the same, at least rythmically, and there isn't necessarily a climax (at least not one that's easy to distinguish). However, I know that many people like that. It's matter of taste I guess.
The bass sounds I do however like quite a lot, along with the percussion.

I also like the fact that more stuff is beginning to happen after 2:30 :D

That ending though, is just not an ending. Well there is and end, but not an ending. It just cuts off in the middle of everything, which feels a bit unsatisfying imo :p

Otherwise, this is a really cool track! I noticed that you're not a scouted musician, so I'll scout you. If you want you can wait for someone more well known and more talented to scout you, but I figured you might want the opportunity to get your music heard by more people!

[Vapor]

Well, you ceratinly seem to be both a legit, and a talented musician. I've decided to scout you for the audio portal. Of course, you can always wait for someone more well known to scout you :p

Anyway, about this song. I do like it quite a bit. However, I have to point out that it doesn't necessarily sound that realistic. It might not be meant to sound realistic either, but imo this sounds slightly too much like a robot playing. It sounds a bit a FL Studio preset piano, with every tone manually clicked in the piano roll :)

You've got quite a bit of reverb, but I think that it sounds quite good in this case. Also, the composition itself seems solid to me, both in arrangement and in melody. Even if the volume of most notes seems to be the same, as well as the tempo being the same during the entirety of the track, there is an obvious progression in this composition. I do think that the ending is a bit sudden though.

Anyway... I liked this song none the less, and I checked out some of your other stuff and liked it as well. Good job, and I hope you keep it up ;)

InDeeperDreams responds:

Thank you very much for doing that! I don't necessarily consider myself a musician, so I don't try very hard when I work music. I tend to keep myself occupied with writing or graphix design, but next time I make a song, I will keep those things in mind! Thanks again!

[still breathing]

umm, tis wuy uf writng new trnd r smthing? I luv nw sng f yurs, 's buetiful!

No but seriously though, I think LunacyEcho said pretty much all that matters already.

I actually think the reverb is quite fine, but sometimes you can hear when you might have let go of the pedal too early or other small stuff :p (or maybe 0:19 was intentional?). Anyway, that doesn't really matter. In reality, many pianos don't have more reverb than this, so I think you could have more, but that it's not necessarily needed.

You really do improvise a lot better than me as well, so I won't complain about minor mistakes, as they are extremely difficult to avoid (and there aren't even many to begin with, so good job!).

In spite of what LunacyEcho said, I think there is a small climax here, but you could have a more obvious one (improv, I know). I think that 1:10 - 1:28 stands out a bit, because of a slightly higher volume and slightly different tempo (and the melody and more 'heavy' feel), but that's not a very captivating climax, imo (not saying it's bad in any way) :D

I don't know what it is, but I think I like Snowy Night a little more than this one, but I don't really find any reason to knock off any stars here. You're definitely getting better at improvising though! In a couple of years you'll be the new improv master ;)

Oh well, I'll stop rambling.

Gud jb!

johnfn responds:

> umm, tis wuy uf writng new trnd r smthing? I luv nw sng f yurs, 's buetiful!

derpderpderpderpderp

> LunacyEcho

I'm amazed you could even read it honestly... :D

> 0:19

This is a really good catch actually. This piece was not actually 100% improv (I LIED!!!). At :19 I trimmed out the earlier section of piano (because it had some crazy tempo variations) and replayed it, hence the little glitch in damper pedal. I actually didn't even notice it myself!

> small climax

Yeah good catch, that was indeed intended to be the climax :) I kinda executed it a little sloppily though, which is why it's easy to miss.

> snowy night

Yeah that song was pretty good. I dunno how I even did it.

tanks 4 da review bro

[Nebula]

Wow, this is some amazing work!

I love the somewhat dark atmosphere that you have created. This theme reminds me a bit of something, but I'm not sure what :p In terms of mood this could also be featured in "The Last of Us". Also, having my mind set on atmosphere, I get the same feeling from listening to this that I get from a soundtrack featured in a flash game called "Fixation" (I'm pretty sure you've never heard of it).

You're right in that this would be perfect music for a game menu.

Anyway, good job ;)

[Pipe Dream]

Maybe I'm too fast, but it seems like I'm the first to review this song as well (unless someone writes one at the same time but finishes before me). Oh well, that will change since you're bound to get lot's of fans. I checked out some of your stuff on SoundCloud and Bandcamp as well, and I'm now sure that you will indeed keep the good stuff coming ;)

Once again, it feels a bit dumb reviewing this, since I'm finding it difficult to come up with constructive criticism. I'm sure there are people that won't like this, since tastes differ, but I simply LOVE your quite unique, yet awesome, composing style. Again, I find no flaws with mixing nor with instrument choices. You have a great understanding of which sounds fit well together, and when to remove or add things to/from the song. You also know how to handle the different elements of the production in general. Speaking of which, which DAW are you using :O?

I liked every different part of this composition. To begin with we have that catchy synth-bass like thing, and then there are those drums; I love those Santa Claus like bells! After this there's some electronic stuff that seems to build up to that (dubstep-ish, what ever it's called) instrument at 0:47. And after this I'm like: "WOW! Did you just perfectly manage to blend in bongo drums into this" (seriosly though, are those bongo drums, or something else? [0.55]). Then there are of course those super athmosphere building sound effects!

You also seem to make the most melodical of melodies indeed ;)

I guess I could go on pointing out all the different parts (like that awesome transition at 1:16 :D), but since you already know they exist I don't really see how I'm helping.

One can definitely dance to this, since, the beat is perfect and evident through the entire song. I don't really know what to picture in my head while listening to this. There's just so much going on! Which imo is a good thing. At some points I kind of imagine just floating through space, while I at other times feel like I'm in some kind of weird jungle or something (like when those drums enter at 1:29)! At other parts I just see a lot of robots dancing to the beat inside of my head! Even my (funky) cat is baffled by your music!

The only "negative" thing I have to say is that you could've avoided such a generic ending. That is of course, just my opinion, but I'm sure some people would agree. Right now, it's just a bit too sudden, an slightly unsatisfying :)

Well this review didn't turn out to be so helpful. Just know that you're great at what you're doing, and please, keep it up!
I'm Not trying to force you to do awesome music that I can listen to bu.... Aww, who am I kidding. MAEK MOAR AEWSMOE MSUIC FOR MEEEH!!!! (And your future billions of potential fans).

GhostLawyer responds:

Wow! Thank you for taking the time to listen to my music and let me know what you think. You're one cool cat and I commend you.

I use FL Studio for pretty much all my music. The main synths I use here are 3xosc and Z3ta.

I actually considered naming this song "Yuletide Apocalypse" for a while just because of those sleigh bells. I love the way they sound haha this isn't the first time I've used them either.

Those are indeed bongo drums ^__^ I'm quite glad you like them.

I wasn't really sure how to end this song at the time I was making it so I agree with you there--it is a little abrupt. A better ending is definitely in order.

Thank you again! It's alright if you can't think of anything "helpful" to say. TBH I enjoy well-thought out compliments just as much as constructive criticism--it lets me know when I'm doing something right!

[Beatles-Blackbird (cover)]

Is that you singing :p ?

I really like this cover! The only thing that bothered me a little was that sound (excuse my bad knowledge of terms: scratch?) that emerges from switching chords on the guitar (especially between 0:52 and 1:00).
I'm guessing that you played a real guitar though, so there might not be much you can do about it :/ The sound does sound cool on certain occasions, but I'd say it might have been slightly too loud at other parts :) At least the 'scratch' creates a sense of realism ;)

Otherwise, I loved this. Everything from the piano and the bass, to the percussion and the strings :D (Don't forget the singit it self! :'D).

Once again, amazing work, and props for making such a good cover of a song that's already good!

GhostLawyer responds:

Yup, that's me. I'm just now getting into singing so I'm trying to work on my vocals. I thought this turned out pretty decent!

Yeah that sound is my fingers sliding on the strings on my acoustic guitar. This song in particular requires me to slide pretty much all the way across the neck at points so it gets a little noisy. I might be able to minimize the noise with better mic'ing or EQ'ing but unfortunately there's only so much one can do :P

Anyhow, thank you good sir! I appreciate it.