LucidShadowDreamer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Kids]

Wow, a friend sent this to me too, and I'm loving every second of this! I hope you do well, since I want to hear more from you in the future :)
Great work!

McGorilla42 responds:

Hey! Thank you so much, Lucid. I've listened to your stuff before and it's fantastic, so your words mean a lot :) Whether or not I make it through, I'll keep posting music and I hope you listen and enjoy it!

[Willow Wasteland: Fantasia]

It seems you were concerned about being able to turn out something above standard in two weeks. Based on the results it seems there was no reason to worry; here we are with a brilliant 7 minute composition before us. Once again, you were writing from a very honest place, and it certainly works very much in your favor.

The blend of many different elements which you've all managed to make work together, is fantastic. I love the atmospheres conveyed here. The guitar lead especially is very captivating. As is the energetic part at the end.

You'd think the piece would feel long, but it's over in what feels like an instant. Even that sensation is emphasized through the way you decided to leave us with a just few piano chords as an outro, after a very enthralling section. Very fascinating.

You're up against a tough opponent this time; one who also produced a killer track. It'll be interesting to see how it all goes! And that includes all of the matchups. Best of luck to you!

P.S. I was a bit worried when the track suddenly disappeared, so I'm very glad it's back in full glory!

Phonometrologist responds:

>>It seems you were concerned about being able to turn out something above standard in two weeks.

One must when paired up against someone like garlagan, and I learned my lesson the last time when being knocked out in the first round by bassfiddlejones.

>> I was a bit worried when the track suddenly disappeared

When I read that the deadline was going to be extended, I wanted to take full advantage of what I originally envisioned for this piece, and I felt that leaving the original available would have been like opening a gift before it was given and pretending to be surprised by it.

Moreover, I can totally feel fine now being eliminated by garlagan knowing that I put my best foot forward possible within the 2 weeks allotted. It might be even a relief if I do get knocked out, because I don’t know how I would follow up with this. But if it so happens, one will just have to push on through as usual.

I appreciate the time you took to write a smart review as this. I don’t take it lightly. I still want to reply back to you about our conversation recently, but of course it was the music that has kept me busy from doing much of anything else.

[Great Commune Of Planet Earth]

Here you hit us with a completely new style again, and you seem to already have mastered it :O
You're able to make any sound good, more or less o.O
3:13 all the way to 4:01 is easily my favorite part... So soft with the bells, and so pleasing at the same time! The part right after it is sick too!

The main melody is so simple and effective too. You've got the structure and the theme laid down in a really solid manner here :D
The loop is also quite smooth ;)

I think this will do really, really well. Because it's really, really awesome. Best of luck, dude!

zybor responds:

Hey thank you very much for your thoughtful response.

I was amazed by Hidden Orchestra new album, like it blows me away. I have known about free improvisation style for a bit but now I want to try it out. Nu-jazz and IDM completely changed my way about music composition.

Thanks again for your review. :)

[Waves of Color]

I was thinking you probably used that one :D (the claire solo vocal nki, on your other track)! I probably have most good Kontakt freebies at this point, so I recognize a fair deal of them :D

Just thought I'd leave a short comment on this track too, since I enjoyed it in the competition at the time too :D
It certainly deserved the #1 spot in production, as everything is crisp and clear ;)

Spadezer responds:

Cool thanks :3

And please do, I think this song is a little too lonely lol.

[Call of the Warrior]

Oh neat, this is a really catchy piece! The mix is really neat, as are all the melodies :O
Who is your competitior? Whoever it is, they better watch out, haha...

What is that solo vocal you're using, if I may ask?

Best of luck!

P.S. Them drops are soooo good o.O

Spadezer responds:

Oh I forgot to put that in the description. I'm using Clare Solo. Free Kontakt download and it sounds great! Just which she sang a few notes higher.

Thanks for the kind words

[Slowing Down]

This was such a fun listen. Full of really, really cool elements. Not really sure what else to say! I love all the rhythmic cool aspects as well. Your voice is great ;)

2:53 => Sudden "Shelter" throwback! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzQ6gRAEoy0

Ofc, the rhythm is different and all; it just reminded me of it!

Seriously fantastic work, and good luck!

garlagan responds:

thank you lsd! oh shelter is amazing! and i see what you mean; that part's melody is very simple so it should be bound to be similar to many other songs in the same key

[Sunset Highwave]

This is so solid in terms or style and sound! The melodies are all great too.
Seriously though, SoundChris already said it... But I get suuuch an 80s movies feel from this o.O
I happen to be a bit of a movie fanatic, hehhe, so I would know :p

My one complaint is a couple of parts might feel ever so slightly teeny-weeny repetivite. BUT that also just adds to the clarity of the style; I feel going outside of that realm would've been a mistake in this instance. One that you didn't commit ;)
Did I mentioned the main melody is super catchy?

Really great work, and good luck in the competition!

[The Secret of Satera Prime]

Man, johnfn and midi really are harsh critics. But, they are also talented musicians. By any means not throwing any shade, but I think they are fairly unforgiving towards approaches that lie outside of their zone :)
That said, I also think their critiques were valid!

As you already know, I personally really enjoyed this track! I am not well known for my great skills in mixing, so I'll preserve comments relating to that. What I can say, is that the structure and arrangement feel super solid to me! The concept is very clear; I can tell what you were going for, and I feel you succeeded with it too. A lot of dubstep inspired tracks are emotionless, and generic. Don't get me wrong, I like the genre; too many people have just done it for the sake of doing it. This is not one of those tracks. It's insane that this is your first go at it!
The wobbles are super satisfying, and varied. The dynamic panning adds to that feel, imo.

Naturally, all the voices and sfx just add to the atmosphere; I don't at all feel they distract from the piece. I feel that atmosphere, and the story aspect are some of the most important things you can deliver with a composition, and that this piece does. High points for that!

Naturally, the melodic aspects are nice as well, including that awesome choir <3
Speaking of, which choir did you use :O?

Finally, that ending is a perfect fit for the piece, I feel. I've listened on loop probably 10 times already, and I haven't grown tired! That's saying something ^ ^

Either way, very good job, and good luck in the competition!

SoundChris responds:

Hey there man! Thanks you so much for your great and detailed review - highly appreciated. I am really glad you liked what i did here. I am a big fan of story telling and even any of my tracks do tell some kind of story i really love to underline this by using sfx and stuff. Some may find that unneccessary or childish. Well so be it. I LOVE IT :) I am really proud of the intro here! The wobble bass aswell as the vocoder voices come from NI´s Razor - just a great toy to play around with. I really tried to make the track a little less generic than the usual dubstep tracks out there and to give them a personal note, so i am really happy that you liked that approach. The voices are not from a choir - its the Celtica and the heroica patch from Eduardo Tarilonte´s Era II Medieval Legends - Vocal Codex :)

Thanks a lot for your support. I really need all luck possible this round - this will be a close one and peter did an awesome job with his 80ies synthwave track!

All the best and thanks for leaving your thoughts here :)

[Dust Sweeper]

Oh my, this is really, really cool! I appreciate that you went out of your comfort zone and did something quite unexpected :O
Luckily, it also sounds amazing :D

Best of luck, dude!

P.S. Have you ever made a track where johnfn likes the instrumentation? To be fair, maybe he meant better quality or something this time xD?

LunacyEcho responds:

=> comfort zone =>

Thanks for the kind words! I feel like, given the presence of judges who can give feedback as well, why not try something new? If anything, it'll hopefully be a great opportunity to learn more and diversify my repertoire.

=> instrumentation =>

Er.... oh! He's actually been teaching me how to do better sound design. Expect a chiptune song in the near future! :D

[Shadow Steps]

Really powerful!
Perhaps a tiny bit too repetitive in style for my taste. Just one listen is quite awesome and energetic though!
Fantastic production too :D
Great job, and best of luck in the competition!