LucidShadowDreamer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Prelude to Destruction]

Yes! I've been waiting for you to post this :D
I can't access the preview anymore, so I can't compare. But I'm pretty sure you made some pretty awesome additions to this, as I don't remember the track being this... Expressive?
Then again, my memory is one thing that I usually don't trust too much XD
Either way, I like it.

I've been thinking about the third track that comes out of this same idea, hehhe. I think I'll do a complete basic version of it (similar to last time), and then perhaps send it to you, as well as the MIDI file? In that case, you could apply your mixing and intruments, as they are superior to mine, as well as some of your own additions if you feel like it, and perhaps some percussion?

You can take several months to do this if you want, with all the competitions and all going on and all, or suggest other ways to collab, as I'm open to all ideas :3
That's just my idea of one way to go about it without millions of PM's sent back and forth :)

Either way, I like this version of the track a lot, and I think the mixing is splendid too. I'll now go and review the track that I haven't heard before :D

Phonometrologist responds:

Well I did email the early sample of this piece to you. What I sent you did sound less expressive I suppose because it was primarily just Midi inputted via Sibelius. If it is more expressive than what you remember, it would perhaps be contributed to more dynamic, automation, and me actually playing the sample libraries on my keyboard to give it a more human touch. The percussion part derived from me actually playing along rather than just trying to match the actual tempo such as the loud toms. The collab that you and I will partake in from the series of this will be considered a Postlude I think. Like exit music is what I imagine it to be. It will be a pleasure to do so. Maybe I'll email you the original piano piece that I have yet to arrange/orchestrate so you can get an idea of the story/feeling of the track that our collab will derive from.

[EML - Graveyard Shift]

This is awesome! A very tasty jam, this one ;)
It's cool that it's featured in a game :D

eatmeatleet responds:

Yes, thanks, Lucid :)

[T-Logic - Architeuthis]

A short review here, as johnfn and LunacyEcho have already said a lot of what I would've said.
Personally, I can really enjoy atonal music. This is probably even more atonal than most of your stuff, but nothing clashes in an irritating way, imo.
I like all of the sound design along with many of the melodies that many of the individual intruments play.

For some reason, this track really reminded me of this piece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lFwchGSkes

(Crash Bandicoot - Heavy Machinery, in case the link ever becomes invalid)

Probably because of the way the tracks were built. I think you'll enjoy it ;)

Yep. Actually, the only thing that bothers me about this track, is the suuuuuuuuuper repetitive drums. While I get why you would choose to use them as you do in this track, I would still have made some more changes to them now and then (your changes, in the end, were pretty small), even if you'd keep the same basic rhythm. But in my head, I can already hear several things you could've done to make them more interesting!

Other than that, I think the mixing is really good too. So this track comes very close to a 5 from me. But dem drums say no!

Either way, great job!
I would love to hear you try out something with a more... Melodic and tonal melody sometime too! Something that evokes a particular positive feeling, or a very sad feeling would be nice ;)

Good luck!

TaintedLogic responds:

Thanks so much for the review, LSD! :D I'm glad you didn't think the various clashing parts were particularly repulsive. :) I appreciate your compliments about the sound design, melodies, and mixing. I'm not really that familiar with Crash Bandicoot, but I enjoyed the track nonetheless. I can see how some of the effects and structuring elements of that piece connect with this one. :) I agree about the drums - I didn't put a whole lot of effort into them (although if you listen carefully, you can tell I added a layered snare sample at :52 and increased the reverb). :) Woahwoahwoah...did you just suggest that I try to make TONAL melodies? >:O I'm kidding...I'll see what I can come up with! Thanks again, LSD! ^^

[Arctic Wraiths]

Just in time, as the dealine is today :)
This is yet another one of those tracks where the percussion is beyond amazing, which reminds me of your older track, The Nightingale Order. I think your mixing has improved a bit since then, even though your mixing was good back then as well XD

This is a very interesting interpretation of the art piece! I would've gone for something much slower, and icy, with a silent death kind of feel. That said, I think this interpretation is pretty cool too! (See what I did there, hehhe?).

Yup. This track is great. Good luck in the contest!

LunyAlex responds:

Truthfully, a more intuitive interpretation would indeed be a "whistling wind" ambient type thing.

Personally what my mind leaned towards was like, a carriage-convoy passing through and being ambushed by snowy demon wraiths. Like something from the Witcher 3 I guess.

Very glad you think the mixing is getting better. It's been my main gripe and focus in this admittedly upload-depraved year.

Thanks a lot for the review and good luck to you as well!

[Solitude of the Valkyrie ~P~]

Ooh, this really speaks to me! The emotion in the intro had me favorite the track within 10 seconds :D
The piano is good, but the strings are amazing!!!
Apart from the intro, I love the whole track. The melodies, intruments, and the rhythm/percussiong, along with the mixing is simply splendid o.O!
I can definitely understand why you'd call this one of your best songs thus far :3
Finally, the loop is very smooth.

Brilliant job Phyrnna, and keep it up!

P.S. Love that choir/vox :)

Phyrnna responds:

Thank you very much for the review, especially from you~ <3

P.S. I haven't had time to render/upload it yet but I did do an hour+ improv recently. ;)

[FD - Cyberchase]

Awesome track dude! Very atmospheric intro. The percussion (in the first part only) almost feels a bit too dry, but that's probably just me and my wierd preferences :p
Other than that, all is great.

Good luck, and Happy Robot Day 2015!

ForgottenDawn responds:

Thank you, happy Robot Day to you too!

Yeah might be just personal tastes in the end, I wanted it to feel almost distorted to complement the dark vibes. :)

[Automaton]

Even though this is short, it's awesome!
Everything from rhythm, to mixing and melodic aspects are great :3

Happy Robot Day 2015!

steampianist responds:

happy robotday too you got an awesome track

[Oak - Funkerbot (RD2015)]

This is simply great!
The rhythm, the voice, the robot-ish-ness, the progression, everything.
Splendid mixing.
Funny how you used one of the most used progressions ever XD

Happy Robot Day 2015!

Oakwood responds:

Yehh the progression just came naturally to me, I know it's not the most original but it's still pretty easy to build a track with.
Thanks for the review!

[Re-Booting]

This is a super atmospheric piece, and I love that! The robotness in this is track is easy to hear.
The mixing over all is great! Only thing is that I think the really heavy bass drums feel a bit muddy, and occasionally drown out some of the more melodic/higher register intruments, but it's just a super small issue, and barely noticable :)

Great work on this! I will have a hard time beating it with my own track. Can't wait to hear Lich's track as well! I'm happy to see so many great tracks submitted this year :D

DESHIEL responds:

Your track is better than mine ;)

[\W/ Afterthought]

Wow, this is a brilliant piece. Especially for basically being someome's full piece o.O
As a pianist, I really enjoy the harmonies, patterns and tempo stuff (I'm very great at theoretical terms, I know). The mixing is great too, and does a lot for the overall sound.
Easy favorite, this one.
Coincidentally, I uploaded a track that was heavily inspired by johnfn today as well, although it's a pretty differet kind of track XD

Awesome job, both of you!!!

SkyeWint responds:

Sweet!

Glad you like it! :) Main thing I ended up doing for the mixing was getting rid of some cross-sample clicking that was going on with the loudest notes and maximizing it since piano alone is often too quiet to really be properly heard.

I'll have to listen to the track you uploaded!