LucidShadowDreamer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Falling Snow]

This is great! It might be a bit short, but I occasionally make even shorter loops so I won't hold it against this. Good job! :D

Satyre responds:

Thanks. Creating a short loop can also be challenging. I like short loops too, even after I get annoyed after a couple of hours hearing the same sound over and over again xD.

[impossible battle]

Seeing as SkyeWintrest and LunacyEcho were already here giving their thoughts, I don't have much to say. I've played a lot of games, and while this could definitely be figthing music, I'd say I've heard music that more immediately makes me think of a nearly impossible boss fight. It really depends on what kind of game you're thinking of (and what the general mood of the game is). The beginning especially is really good for portraying a boss battle though! The more I listen to this though, the more I can imagine a boss, so ignore what I said. This is actually pretty good fighting music. I'm on a slalom skiing vacation, so my mind might be a bit off music :p
I can hear the two halves too.

I enjoyed the song :3

"Johnfn's not dead, he's surely alive!"
(I genuinely hope you DON'T get the reference...)

johnfn responds:

haha I like how you started out thinking it didn't fit at all but then you changed your mind in the end. I'm glad you liked the song. and I'M NOT DEAD (and I have no idea what that reference is to hahaha)

[Lili's Song]

Happy birthday, Lili!

It's good to see you back with yet another great piece of music, Michael. I like that you're singing for us once again in this piece. One of the filters you used made it sound like you sang into a muted megaphone or from a very odd space :3

The lyrics are nice too. But gadd duurrrn you're good at mixing and composing in DAWs. Everything from structure to transitions to production seems great. Even if you used electronic sounds and percussion here, I think my favorites were the guitar and the piano :p

Great job!

Ps. You wrote "Lili, you're so neat..." and then sweet in the description, but at 1:19 => 1:28 & 4:08 => 4:17 "sweet" and "neat" seem to be reversed (in the description, that is) XD

GhostLawyer responds:

Thank you very much! I did do a bit o' experimenting with vocal filtering and what-not in this song. Getting it all to sound just the way I wanted was a doozy.

I dedicate a good deal of time to mixing and song structure and this song is definitely no exception. I really appreciate you noticing 'cause I'm pretty meticulous about it! I've spent many hours on this song just listening through, tweaking small things and trying to squeeze out every bit of clarity as possible.

The guitar and piano are definitely my favorite elements too. They make the song IMO!

And whoops! Imma fix that description right now...

Thanks again!

[After Us (updated)]

Well damn. This is just great. Have you seriously been composing for no more than a couple of months? In that case, your skill level must be extremely high! I havn't heard the first version, but what I know is that this one is stunning. And not only that, it captures the theme of the picture SO well. Do you know what this reminds me of? Have you ever heard about Gustavo Santaolalla? He made music to the movie "Amores Perros" and to the game "The Last of Us". I'd say that this style is similar to his, in a very good way.

I think the panning might me a little odd, but I don't really see it as a problem. I like all of your instruments too, as well as the nature sfx. Immediately when I heard the guitar in the beginning, I knew this was going to be a great track. Especially 1:04 is a highlight, since the drums enter. What free sample library did you use for this, I'm interested to know?
All the strings are amazing as well, not to speak of the melodies and the atmosphere. I know you said you wanted brutally honest reviews, but honestly, I have nothing I really feel like complaining about at all. Even the structure and most of the mixing seem just fine to me.

Once again, the artpiece that inspired you is simply great. And since you were searching for a post apocalyptic theme, which musicwise was extremely well done in "The Last of Us", I'd say you managed just great, as the style in this piece is similar to Gustavo's!

I'll look forward to future stuff from you, and I'll probably check out some of your older stuff as well :D

Good luck in the contest!!!

Thonz responds:

I loved the soundtrack Gustavo Santaolalla made for The Last of Us and it definitely influenced me with this, especially with the beginning of the piece. It's really nice that you think it's great, but I think my inexperience can be easily heard, especially with the panning and the use of EQ and reverb. I really don't have that great of an idea what I'm supposed to do with them. I'm just trying to trust my ears while turning the different knobs. :D

The strings and brass are from Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra and the Kontakt Elements Selection R2, which I thought was free because I got it with my MIDI keyboard but now that I checked, it actually costs $50. Also the toms are actually from the Epic Room Percussion from 8dio which I payed only 10 euros for. They are sfz files so you don't even need Kontakt for that.

Thank you for the taking the time to review my piece!

[Our Legend Falls]

Incredible.

[The Place of a Skull]

This is not really a review. I just wanted to tell you that this is quite astounding. I love it!

Good job ;)

Phonometrologist responds:

I'm grateful that you decided to tell me this. I'm very surprised by the amount of feedback I've gotten on it to be honest. It's all new to me :)

[Waves of the Alchemist]

Wow. This is beautiful. The beginning instantly reminded me of Erik Satie's "Gymnopédie No.1" (Same thing 2:17. Perfect lenght on the break before that too). I love that change at 0:57 =>, same thing with 1:17!
In fact, this whole piece is amazing!
Well done, and good luck int the contest! :'D

MetroPiano responds:

Thanks for your review! Yes the beginning does sound similar to Gymnopédie No. 1, which was actually a song I used to play when I was little! (Though if you try and play the melody of Gymnoédie using my chords it doesn't work heh, I know, I tried when I noticed). That's because I'm playing in the hypolydian mode (or aeolian) so it actually sounds major but it's actually slightly minor (I did this to make the transitions into the new keys more subtle and it worked quite well!).

[The Nightingale Order]

The percussion is amazing. I personally think I would have enjoyed if there were some lower tones to accompany the strings in the introduction (at least I feel something was missing), but everything after 0:35 and onwards was great. I can't comprehend how many good pieces of music have been done for this competition. This suits the artwork well too.

My favorite parts were the intro, the ominous change at 1:02 =>, and the part between 1:23 and 1:43.
I would've enjoyed if the song would have been slightly longer too, but I realize that there's not that much time :D
Extremely well done!

LunyAlex responds:

Thank you very much. In retrospect I agree with about everything you said and I'll definitely work on improving the track.

[O Frabjous Day]

I'm quicker than lightning >:)

Hahha, you "stole my idea"!
This probably still sounds better than my version :3

You already uploaded something more worthwhile!

HAPPY BYRDHAU!!!

LunacyEcho responds:

Ten minutes. Hot damn.

Are you kidding me? I wasn't even listening to my version when I made it! How can mine possibly be better?!

Thanks for the Byrdhau wishes!