LucidShadowDreamer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Monochrome]

Well, I listened to all the tracks you posted today, and I enjoyed all of them!

In my previous review, I complained about the percussion, but this time, I think you did really well, as I'm guessing these tracks were much newer as well :)

This was my favourite out of the four tracks, so I figured I'd leave a small review for this one.

I think you've done pretty well with the mixing, did you use Garage Band?

I like pretty much everything in this track too. At first, the percussion seemed a bit rough when it suddenly entered, I think you could've introduced it slower, or faded in the volume. Hovewer, after I got used to it, the percussion sounded just fine! I've heard tracks where the drums are even better mixed, but they were pretty good in this track too; far better than I can do at the moment :3

I really like the structure of the song though! All the melodies and chords, not to speak of the good instrument choices! Most of the transitions were nice as well :D
I think you did a really good job with the bass, as it added much to the song. All the synths are really enjoyable and pleasing to the ears! The guitar too, for that matter. So basically, everything is good!

Also, the simplistic ending was interesting, but not in a bad way!

Finally, I like the atmosphere of this track. I don't really have that much to complain about, I just wanted to let you know you did a good job ;)

adieuwinter responds:

Thanks for having a listen! I worked relatively long on this one compared to some other tracks (the others I posted today were all between a few months and a few years old). I made this using Apple's Logic - I used Garageband for many of my earlier pieces. I'll try fiddling with volume / velocity in the future for percussion, with a few more listens I see what you mean.

Thanks again, the comments are much appreciated!

[Children of Saturn]

This is a very good submission for the contest! I'm not going to take part in it myself, but it will be interesting to see how it turns out :3
I also like the artwork that inspired you (good job there, DreamForecast)!

While everything works very well in this track, I think my favourite part is those drums between 2:28 and 2:42 :'D They are so atmospherical, and are perfectly mixed imo! It's interesting to see such a part in a dance track :) (Same thing in the intro of course).
The mixing is splendid in general as well, I'd say. I love that transition that starts around 3:17! (The similar one at 1:07 => too ;p)

Really, I think you've done a splendid job with pretty much everything here! The choice of intruments too, not to speak of the chords and melodies XD
I would also say you succeeded quite well in portraying the unexplored in this track :'D

Good job, and good luck in the contest!!! (You're up against some though comptetition though; have you heard Johnfn's track?).

JoshuaHughes responds:

Appreciate the love again, LSD! The competition is certainly fierce. I've been doing my best to keep up with all the submissions, and all I can say is yes, it is very scary. But I'm having such a blast listening to it all and following all the artists in the process. I've been following Johnfn and I think he made a great track for the contest. I'm secretly hoping it will make it to RealFaction's top whatever results.

[From The Rain Captain]

This is pretty cool :p

For starters, I like the slow intro, but even more than that, I like the percussion!
I'm not wearing my good headphones right now, so I'm just going to assume that the mixing is fine :3

I also enjoyed all the voices in the background, and that synth that is pretty constant.

What I like the most though, is your style ;)

[Shucks!]

OMFG hilarious!

I didn't even notice this genre existed before you made this song!
And really, you did an amazing job! Your ability to jump from genre to genre is most impressive!

I think the production value is as good as it needs to be for this genre :p

I like how the song began on full scale, pretty much immediately after the intro. Also, I've got a difficult time to comprehend how you managed to use the instruments so well! The choice of them is mostly obvious, but they sound incredibly good togehter!

I love the percussion, that bouncy bass (at first I thought it was the lower keys of a piano, but I think it must be a bass, when I listen more closely [which is quite obvious at 1:12]).

That middle section is pretty cool too. Really... All the transitions and different parts are stunning... I could never create anything like this... Wow.

The ending is funny too. I can't help but feel happy! This sounds like it could be the new chocobo team for the coming Final Fantasy games; you should get a contract :')

And thanks for that advertisement! I really appreciate it. When I think about it, this should be the new main theme for the game. It really suits the overall athmosphere, imo!

LunacyEcho responds:

Hi, LSD!

=> didn't even notice it existed =>

Bluegrass is the hidden genre, sitting silently in the night, covertly stalking its prey, waiting patiently, until BOOM! THE TIME IS RIGHT TO POUNCE!

=> song began on full scale =>

Whew! Glad you felt that. I've been feeling that lately, my intros have been really long and drawn out.

=> choice of instruments =>

Well, bluegrass is a relatively popular genre in some parts of the world. If the instruments didn't sound good together, it wouldn't be a popular genre, would it?

=> bouncy bass =>

It would've been a piano if they had pianos in the midwest. :P Nah. In seriousness, I had a hard time choosing the bass. This bouncy bass sounds more fun and jumpy, but much less realistic than if I used something more subdued. Then I realized that no one really knows what bluegrass sounds like without sufficient analysis, so I chose the one that sounded good. (No offense if you really do make a living or something taking apart and deconstructing bluegrass music, but if you do, get a life. Seriously.)

=> stunning =>

Really? I mean, it sounded fun, but I didn't think it was THAT good. You probably could create something better if you had the same software I have. :)

=> Final Fantasy =>

This might sound crazy, but I've never actually played Final Fantasy before. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME

=> suits the overall atmosphere =>

It'd probably suit the atmosphere even more if we added some high-pitched synths and a gankokwe.

Thanks for the review!

[through a dark wood]

I immediately fell in love with the intro! It definitely sounds like something that might as well have been composed by someone from Japan.

Hmm... I'm sorry, but as much as I love the rest of the song, I think that when the guitar makes its entrance, something is a bit off (1:04). Also, when it stopped playing at 1:26, the difference is perhaps a bit too noticable. Almost like when people sometimes turn their microphones off every now and then in podcasts/interviews/whatever, and thus, also a backgound noise that suddenly appears. I feel a little bit of the same thing at 2:40. I was about to drop half a star for this, but the rest of the song was just so awesome I couldn't bring myself to it :p

And btw, what kind of brass is that? Some kind of trumpet/horn pad, or whatever you're using? Or is it a brass sound at all? Maybe my ears are fooled by a synth of some kind :/
(Examplewise 1:27. Whatever it is, I love how you used it!)

Really, all the melodies are great, and this is a very athmospherical piece that hits all the right spots. My only isssue is, like I mentioned, that some off the transitions seem a bit off to me.

Nice ending too! From start to finish, this is a very coherent song.

Ps. After guitar month, why don't you do bagpipe month? I'm sure that would be appreciated by everyone!!! :'D

johnfn responds:

> the guitar entrance

My best guess is that it's either what Elitistinen said (too dry) or it's because I suddenly went from a bunch of non panned instruments to a bunch of hard panned instruments and that sounds jarring. Because I've been listening to the song too much I unfortunately can't tell what it is - it sounds fine to me :/ I will come back in a week or two and see if I can figure out what it is.

> And btw, what kind of brass is that?

*evil laughter* it's a synth! I modulated the vibrato, attack and cutoff all by hand to give it that extra organic feel. Totally validates my work that you couldn't tell it was a synth =D

> Ps. After guitar month, why don't you do bagpipe month? I'm sure that would be appreciated by everyone!!! :'D

GENIUS!

Thanks for the super fast review! I'll have to figure out exactly what's up with that guitar part so I don't make that mistake in the future.

[Yakuza Rising Theme]

This is a pretty cool piece! Since it's chiptune, it suits you game perfectly :)
Did you make this song yourself?

If you did, just tell me in your reply, and I'll scout you for the audio protal, for sure!

DEDPIXL responds:

Yeah I did. I usually use other peoples music but I was having trouble finding something with the right vibe that I wanted for the game...so I made this track on the last day of the jam.