LucidShadowDreamer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Analog Rush]

You must explain to me, why don't you have MOAR FANS!? HMM?? You better tell me! D:

No but seriously, this is some awesome work you've got here!
Even though I'm using my good headphones, I can't find anything to complain about. Hence, this will be more of a praising review than a critical one ;)

My initial thought upon listening to this was, why isn't this longer? I need more :()
Then I realized that this song is almost three minutes long... Which means you did an amazing job on keeping this interesting. This is definitely my favourite track from you thus far.

All the parts fit perfectly together, and the transitions between them are just perfect!
I even like (LOVE) all the instrments this time, not only the choises but the quality of them too!
And oh God the melodies! Everything from the bass to the background stuff to the main melodies are captivating, and complement eachother so well. If someone complains about the songs coherency I will personally... Well... Tell them politely that they need to rethink their thoughts! (Also, the percussion is cool. Everything here is cool).

And the instrument choises between 1:46 and 2:45 = YES!!!
I've heard all kinds of music, but theres definitely something different about this, at least slightly. If nothing else, there's the way you used whatever instrument you used after 1:46. I have heard similar things before, but not necessarily in the same way. This track absolutely is full of a special kind of memorability, so I think you succeeded in making you own genre, to a certain extent. At least a small subgenre, or something :p.

Oh well, I'm rambling again :/

You should really get yourself a good reviewer over here, who can give you productive criticism.

Anywho, how long did this take for you to make? And how proud are you of this creation?
Last time I was this impressed by how someone can mix different elements together so well, was when I heard <a href="http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/565975">Interstellar Gondola</a> by <a href="http://ghostlawyer.newgrounds.com/">GhostLawyer</a>!

I hope you are happy, since I can sense that you're going to go far ;)

(Btw, I don't think I'll get a cookie D: The closest I can get, is to realize that all the tags are Rush songs, and that there also is one called "The Analog Kid") :'D

LunacyEcho responds:

Whoa, there! Thanks a ton!

=> MOAR FANS =>

I'm grateful for what I have. Who needs fans when I've got people like you reviewing everything I create? :D I'd rather have less fans and more faithful reviewers than more fans and no faithful reviewers.

=> All the parts =>

I tried making my transitions smoother this time, since all the genres mashes I made in the past didn't really let me test my transitioning skills. I guess the reason the instruments sound better is because I didn't use any orchestral ones. For people without good VSTs, synth-based songs tend to sound better.

=> coherency =>

YOU TELL THEM POLITELY! YOU INFORM THEM LIKE A BOSS!

=> 1:46 and 2:45 =>

I loved making that part. I was originally intending just to bump up the glide on the synth I used there and make it sound really slidey, but then I realized how cool it started sounding, so I messed around with it a bit and I got that really fast part from 2:21 and onwards. Incidentally, that's also my favorite part of the song.

=> special kind of memorability =>

johnfn gave me a little lecture on what constitutes 'memorability' in a song the other day, and it made sense. You can find it on '80s Getaway', if you'd like to see it. Anyways, I probably didn't make my own genre, since the music here is so diverse, there's bound to be something else like this here. However, since you haven't heard one and I haven't heard one, it's memorable! Yay! I'll settle with a subgenre for now. :P

=> good reviewer =>

I'm contemplating sending this to the Review Request Club, since I'm actually quite proud of this song and think it's one of my best songs to date.

=> how long? =>

My software doesn't show the time spent on a project, but I'd estimate around 2-3 hours total. I'm VERY proud of this. I think it's one of my most unique songs to date.

=> links =>

Thanks for those. I'll definitely check 'em out.

=> cookie =>

You're right, the tags are all Rush songs. However, that wasn't the reasoning behind the title. I normally write tags as small puns based on the title or a factor of the song, and I named the song before I wrote the tags. I've never heard 'The Analog Kid' before; I'll take a listen later.

Thanks for the awesome review, LucidShadowDreamer!

[The Door - Platform]

Well, Since LunacyEcho already made such a thorough review, I'll try to focus on some other things, in order to be more helpful.

To begin with, I do agree with LunacyEcho about the reverb that could have been added. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the fact that this song was so spacious. The previous song I listened to (not from you) had too much reverb in my opinion, so this is a nice change from that :p

While the melodies are good, I personally think that there still is room for improvement. I'm sorry I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but it feels like there could be something more. Also, I think you could've had slightly more breaks within the melodies themselves. What I mean is that it at some points seems like one melody continues directly upon the previous one, so you don't get time to think about the first of the melodies, but are distracted by the new one. That is probably only a personal thing that only affects me, so don't take my critique on this too serioulsy. In some songs it works well not to leave any breaks between the melodies, and you did have some breaks (1:18 for instance).

You said you didn't aim for depth, but for coherency. I think that you in many regards, succeeded with this. This song is the same genre all the way through, and the melodies complement eachother to the extent that this definitely feels like just one song, and not many. You're probably better than me when it comes to being coherent ;)

While I realize that you have several different instruments, and that you tried to keep to the chiptune genre, I think you could've used more instruments that don't seem so similar to eachother. I know you already did this to an extent, but for a casual listener they might not even notice that you're using many instruments for the stuff that's going on. However, since I know your goal was to keep this coherent, I understand why you mostly used 3xOsc :)

I have to say that I like many of the cool effects produced by DrumPad. They add a little extra to the song, at many fitting places, so I think you did a good job there.

I also liked the ending.

I will definitely be looking forward to new stuff from you as well :D

TaintedLogic responds:

Thank you so much LucidShadowDreamer! :D I agree that I could've done more with reverb and all, but, like you said, I really wanted to keep this one simple and coherent. I totally understand what you mean about the lack of "breaks" between the melodies - I have a bad habit of making my tracks progress too quickly. Those melodies are actually just variations of each other (for the most part), but I didn't do a great job of highlighting that imo. I'm not sure I'm better than you at being coherent: this was a rare exception for me in this track! XD I agree I could've diversified my instruments beyond 3xOsc. I appreciate that you like the effects from DrumPad, and I'm a bit surprised that you liked the ending: it sounds lazy to me! :) However, thank you so much for all the positive feedback and constructive criticism! This will help me so much! Thanks! ;D

[Assorted Blues]

I never know how to categorize my songs, so I can't help you out with that either :p

Ahh, the old "mash tons of stuff into a single song."
Depending on how well you do it, adding a plethera of stuff might actually work out. In this song for example, you have no time to get bored at all!

But take a brake from that if you feel like it; focusing on structured and more oriented music with a certain aim can be extremely good practise as well, especially if it forces you to step out of your comfort zone. I don't know what I'm rambling about; this song is still more structured than most of my compositions!

You're right to be proud, this was a really cool listen! I like the instruments, and although the bassline mightn't have been the most original one, it fits just perfectly :D
Some people here on Newgrounds have a lot of good intruments (not saying yours are bad) and very good mixing skills, but as you said, the arrangement in this song is very well pulled off (I actually think that the instruments you used work perfectly for this song). I at least didn't have any difficulty hearing the progression, or with noticing the different genres. And still, this makes a nice whole! It doesn't sound at all like several separate songs!
I especially like the way you introduced the choir at 2:00, as well as the 8-bit:ish style that follows.

I can't really find any major issues here, so I don't think I really have anything to complain about :p

Since this is a mix of several different styles, I could go on reviewing this for a very long time, but I'll leave that to a more professional reviewer :)

Once again, splendid job ;)

LunacyEcho responds:

I think I'm different from most people in the aspect that my comfort zone encompasses this type of stuff and going out of my comfort zone requires me to focus on one thing for a long period of time. I don't have ADHD per se, but I often find it difficult to concentrate and can't really sit still. I guess that really shines through in my music. :D

The bassline was definitely unoriginal. It's the most clichéd twelve-bar blues bassline there is, but if it fits, it fits. I'm just glad it worked out. And I definitely don't have the best instruments or VSTs on Newgrounds, but I'll make do with what I have. Since this is a combination of orchestral stuff and electronica, it sort of fits that the orchestral stuff isn't as realistic as some others, no? (excuses)

Just because you're not a professional reviewer doesn't mean you can't leave helpful reviews. In my opinion, the longer the better. Then again, that can get quite tedious and annoying, I guess. To each his own. :D

Thanks for commenting!

[leaving]

Yet again, a strikingly good improvisation, although I don't know what it sounds like without the damper pedal :P

Thats right, one shouldn't be afraid of submitting things of slightly lower standard simply because of fear of critique.
I don't know what's wrong with me, but I pretty much always play in minor scales :/
I do modulate to major ones occasionally however.

As usually, the melodies in this improv are great, although the main one does indeed seem similar to something else. Got to love that part at 0:57!
(Also descending baselines are amazing. I myself suck extra much at those, of course :D).

I've noticed you don't really have tags in your compositions, any reason?

Anyway, good job!

johnfn responds:

> although I don't know what it sounds like without the damper pedal

TERRIBLE lol. It covers up all my mistakes. :D :D

> minor scales

Also known as the better scales. Nah I like all scales equally. I think people gravitate towards minor because they have tension built into them inherently. Major scales usually aren't as tense, you have to work harder for it.

> I've noticed you don't really have tags in your compositions, any reason?

I dunno I'm just lazy haha. I guess I should but... blah :p

Thanks for the review yo!

[snowfall in an empty land]

This is not a review, this is admiration.

johnfn responds:

ahhh you are going to make me blush!!

[Interstellar Gondola]

Wow, this surprised me.
I really enjoyed listening to this!

The intro was already very captivating, and the rest kept me from leaving.
I don't really have anything to complain about, this is just so big and full of cool stuff!! How don't you have any fans yet? Let's change that shall we :p

I usually try to point out what's good and what's bad in a song in my opinion, but I'm liking this so much that I'm finding it difficult. I know some might argue that this song lacks coherency, but I like the randomness and all the different parts. Even if some of the transitions are pretty sudden I don't think they have a negative effect, but rahter that they captivate the listener. The production/mixing is just excellent as well!

The dynamic between the instruments is also ridiculaously well pulled off; oh do I envy your talent :p

I also like the way you brought back some of the stuff that happened earlier in the composition at later parts (examplewise what you did after 1:30 and 4:54).

And that guitar bridge indeed!

You deserve many more listeners on this site, and I'll sure you'll get some too, if you keep this quality of work up!

GhostLawyer responds:

Thank you very much! I honesty really appreciate it.

I definitely tried to keep it interesting here with all the changes--it was initially composed in a kind of stream-of-conciousness manner and I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

There's more to come, I assure you. Thanks for listening!

[Galactic Visions]

I was about to review this when I first saw it, but I didn't have my good headphones on, and it was 3 am. And it was (is) a weekday; four hours of sleep ftw...

Ahh, Weird Al Yankovic. I also know him as "White and Nery", "Fat" and "Amish Paradise" guy. Mimicing others is a very good way to learn I think too. Even straight up copying can be helpful from a learning perspective. Basically what I'm saying is, you're right in your description. Over to the song itself.

I think you managed quite well in trying out Ocular's style. I do find many of his tracks to be more enjoyable than this one, but I think the problem is just that he's so good :p But as I said, I think you managed to capture the overall build of many of Ocular Nebulas songs, and stylistically they do indeed seem similar (I still didn't get bored of his tracks. Magic).

If I refrain from comparing this to Ocular Nebula, this is just great! (It's good even if I compare).
I especially like those "instant transitions" at 0:19, 0:38, 048, 1:25 and 1:44. They make you go: "Oh, what happened now!?"

Nice bass, and although I think you could have used slightly more captivating melodies, this is a nice song to listen to (and it doesn't get boring that fast).

Personally, I don't think there was necessarily a reason to use the previous section once more at 1:06, although you switched up the percussion. Still, I could've done with a new exciting lead or melody.

Over all: Very well done. Can't wait to hear more new stuff from you ;)

Oh, I'm off to perform now... Wich me luck :'D

Ps. I liked the ending too :)

LunacyEcho responds:

SLEEP? SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!

I think the reason that this track isn't as enjoyable is probably because of the lack of auxiliary FX that ON uses that I didn't. I don't really think I was going for a high-quality song, I was going for stylistic similarity to ON (not saying his stuff is bad, just saying I'm not that good :D ).

Whenever you hear an 'instant transition', the entire song changes key! Key modulation also features in my favorite song by ON, Circumnavigating the Glob, and I thought it would be an interesting element to implement here, since the song would be extremely boring otherwise.

There was only one notable melody in the song, the one at 0:48, which is sorta how ON does his stuff. However, the background synth is normally more melodic than I had, so I sorta failed on that part. I've never been good at melodies. :P

Thanks for commenting! Good luck on your performance! (On what? Piano? Guitar? Tabla? No one knows...)

PS. I liked the ending of your review too :)

[snowy night]

Well, to begin with, that name is really fitting imo.

I'm also really impressed that this is an improvisation, although, I would say it shows. The melodies are amazing, but every now and then you can hear a brake that is slightly too long. Of course, those brakes can help with portraying the emotion, but sometimes I'd say they are a bit out of place. Nothing you can do about it since it's an improv. (Well, except run the midi file through a program and edit a bit, but maybe you did that already. Too much editing would take away part of the beauty of an improvisation though!).
That climax was just perfect! And that you managed to play it with such emotion is just astounding.
I don't dare complain any more than that; my own improvisations are rarely this good, and the very few that are are not recorded -.-

Thank you for recommending this, I really did enjoy it!

5/5, 9/10!

P.s. Was that pause after the climax (1:42-1:47) intentional or not? Anyhow, it really suits the mood :D

johnfn responds:

Wow derp I forgot to respond to this entirely...

Anyway thanks for the review! Yeah it is a little messy... good job being the first one to catch some of my more subtle mistakes ;-) I *could* have fixed all the issues... but I feel like that would have taken away something of the rawness of the improv. (Also... I guess I'm just lazy.)

I think the pause was intentional. I actually can't remember, but listening to it now it fits pretty well, so gonna just say I did it on purpose :)

Thanks for the review!