LunacyEcho's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Farewell And Goodbye]

Not only is this a great game-ending soundtrack song, the plot that you’ve described as directing the flow this song is also super inspired, and sounds like a game I’d actually love to play! Many of the themes you’ve included here I feel like could’ve come straight out of a video game, too—the friend’s theme, for example, is one that has grown on me so much after a few listens of the track. I think you’ve definitely achieved your goal of creating something melancholic, yet hope-inspiring; the amount of detail you’ve put into the description makes it clear that you had a vision that you wanted to achieve, and I think that amount of thoroughness really shows in the final product.

A few highlights from the track: I loved 0:48, which is when I felt the track really started picking up because of the fuller texture. Your instrumentation is definitely unorthodox but interesting enough that it makes the listen enjoyable (the combination of organic elements like strings, piano, and choir mixed with the base of heavily electronic percussion and chords gives this track a really unique feeling to it). I also thought the whole 2:43 section was a highlight, with the strings and arps (make the arps louder!) providing some interesting rhythmic variety.

However, in speaking of variety, I think the biggest way to improve based on this track would be to keep thinking about variety a bit more during the songwriting process! Most of the song (except for the 2:43 section) appears to be a piano playing melodies with little rhythmic/dynamic variation on top of a texture with little background variation (for example, the drums are playing largely the same beat for the first four minutes of the song). Perhaps the reason that 2:43 really stood out to me was that it was a respite from the piano and introduced new elements to inspire attention; if you had more sections of the song with different and more humanized lead instruments or different drum patterns (as examples of variation), I do think that would really elevate the track. I had a few other nitpicks (e.g. I would’ve preferred for the cool buildup at 5:00 to lead to a climactic final section instead of just cutting to an outro), but on the whole, I think adding more variational interest would be the best way to make the track shine.

Still, great work! I’m impressed with this final product, and I just want to reiterate how cool your plot idea is and how well it translates to this condensed musical form. Thanks for participating in the Video Game Challenge!

TrandafirTeodora responds:

Thank you very much!
I appreciate your feedback and that you could see the story translated in this soundtrack.

[End Credits - Final Push Submission]

Wow, I love the story element that goes along with this! It really enhances the listen and convinces me that this was pulled straight from a super plot-filled video game. This song has a super cool structure, in that it’s an almost constant buildup; I love nonstandard structures like these because you really get to experiment with core elements of songwriting. The way the groove changes throughout the song is very interesting to me; it starts off with these ambient arps, then seems to go in a more orchestral-feeling direction with the snare rolls, but then transforms into this groovy electro track! I love how you were able to include so many different disparate musical elements and make them work in cohesion with each other. Also, shout out to the melody at 1:43 and 3:05 for being so incredibly catchy! And, last, but not least, that lil sound effect puts a smile on my face every time I hear it due to how unexpected and cute it is.

If there’s one thing I could suggest, I’d say the biggest way to improve the track would be to be thinking a bit more about sound design. A lot of compositional elements in this track are really cool, but perhaps they could be brought out even more with some more lively sound design; the kick and snare here are rather flat/muted and almost constantly masked by the basses and low mids, and the organ/elec piano thing actually doing those low mids is a tad anemic for something meant to ground the sound of a “final push” video game song. Also, from about 1:40 until the end of the song, you have the same slightly floppy synth playing all of the melodies, which can get a bit tiring—some variation (plus some effects on that synth) would be lovely and really elevate the interest level of the track!

All in all, great work. I definitely won’t stop thinking about how this song basically tops the chart of songs that are simultaneously ambient and groovy—well done overall and thanks for participating in the Video Game Challenge!

[Mad as a Flounder]

This song has such a distinctly video game-y vibe to it! I can totally hear that Bowser’s Castle influence, but this song also has a decent structure that makes it work well as a track with standalone. The composition here is pretty solid; you’ve pretty much nailed the technique of taking a simple theme and adding variations upon it as a way of making parts of a song progress. I also enjoyed details throughout the piece like the various temporary key changes that provided harmonic interest, and the interesting use of that D D G F# motif throughout different parts of the song. Well done on that front!

If I could make one suggestion, I’d say the biggest way to improve the song would be to keep an ear out for repetition. This song is a tad on the repetitive side, since much of the song has a similar vibe in terms of instrumentation, energy level, and structure (especially since, if I’m not mistaken, the second half is just the first half copied-and-pasted again). It would be cool to hear you add some variation, such as by introducing new instruments to carry the melodies, or by adding new sections that contrast the amount of energy at any given time. That’s a really quick way to elevate a track, since it means that you maintain the audience’s interest for a longer period of time! I might also make some other nitpicks, such as that the sound design is rather muted and the percussion is masked by the heavy low mids and basses, but the biggest thing to work on here, in my opinion, is to be thinking about how repetition affects the listener in a piece like this.

All in all, well done! Thanks so much for taking part in this Video Game Challenge; I hope this has been a good learning experience.

Anonymous-Frog responds:

The song is looped twice, yet it's still pretty repetitive. I'll keep that in mind.

[Rebirth, Revelation, Retribution]

If there’s one big takeaway I’m getting from this song, it’s this: more video games need to have themes in 7/4!!!! That theme in particular really stuck out to me, but there are so many different themes in this track to love as well. I really like how you’ve framed it as an end credits thing; I can totally see a game where this plays as animation and production credits are scrolling on screen while the characters whose themes are playing get their final bits of screentime, being animated doing something idly mundane in the aftermath of whatever the plot of this game is about. Thank you for labelling the different themes you had in mind, by the way; having your vision laid out makes the listening experience that much richer!

I mentioned this earlier, but I thought the first heroic theme was REALLY interesting. Other highlights I thought were the overall vibe of the scheming villain section (I prefer goofier, whimsical villains to more serious ones anyway), the melodic synth line in the 3:12 section (the way it evolves into a Pink Floyd-like vibe at 3:47 is something I don’t think I’ve ever heard the likes of before on this site!), and the rhythmic synth textures at 4:15 and 5:34 (we love elements that provide both harmonic and rhythmic interest). Also, shoutout to the super cool rhythmic transition at 3:41, and the way you reprised the 7/4 heroic theme in 4/4 at the end (which was maybe my favorite development of the song)! All in all, a lot to love here.

One thing I would suggest exploring more if you ever want to consider branching out into this kind of composition again would be the transitions in between starkly different sections. It’s clear from your lengthy description that this is definitely a factor you’ve considered already, but it still does feel to me like certain transitions such as 4:15 or 6:57 were written after the different sections had been written and were created as a way of sort of shoehorning the sections together. One way to make this smoother is through the use of interstitial sections, so instead of jumping right from section to another using a drum fill like at 6:57, stick a short new section in there that acts as a transition between the two (something like a quieter part that builds up, like at the 1:25 transition that I thought worked pretty well). Aside from that, I would only have a few production quibbles, such as that the kick sounds a little flat (is it from an acoustic set?) and the song is a bit lacking in the low mids on the whole, with sections like 3:41 and 5:45 being the most apparent. That said, this song still works super well on the whole, and these suggestions don’t detract from it at all!

It’s clear you’ve put in a ton of effort into this, and it really paid off. Super well done, and I hope this becomes an actual video game someday! Great work :)

[The Human Condition, Parts I-IV]

Whoa!! Well, I’ll tell you one thing—you’ve definitely got the most fleshed-out vision for a video game out of anyone who chose this prompt, so massive kudos to you! The fact that you’ve put so much thought into what each theme represents in terms of the game plot itself really elevate this track to the next level; you can really *feel* the effort that went into this. There’s a ton to unpack here, so let’s break this down!

There’s such an incredible amount of variety here. The mostly ambient first section transitions smoothly into a heavily polyrhythmic second section, then a distorted and atmospheric third section, and finally a wonderfully climactic last final section. A few highlights I wanted to mention were the organ-like arpeggiated melody at 1:36, the cool vocal chop melodies, the reversed bit at the end of the third section, the eighties vibes that emerged in the last section, and the really cool guitar playing throughout! (If that’s a synth, you GOTTA tell me how to get that guitarlike tone.) In fact, there are just so many cool ideas crammed into this one song (Gregorian chants samples?! so cool) that I honestly do feel like you could build a whole game soundtrack out of these—it would be incredible to build this into an actual game somehow!

If there’s one big thing that I think could improve this song the most, it’s a stronger showing in the drums/percussion area. In particular, I would’ve liked for sections like 4:30, 5:22, and (especially) 8:35 to have had stronger, less muted percussion sections! There’s so much that good drums can do to drive a vibe like yours, and bringing them out a bit more I think would make those sections so much more bitingly impactful, given the need for them to be cumulative and climactic. Never underestimate the power of good percussion! There are a couple other nitpicks I could make (e.g. the harp that accompanies the vocal chops seems a bit out of place, and the guitar is a little jarring when it first enters, perhaps due to the short silence before it appears), but none of that detracts from the fact that this is an incredibly well-thought-out, well-executed piece of work.

There is so much awesome stuff in this track that it’s hard to know how holistically to review it; if you want a more in-depth breakdown of a particular section, let me know. Anyways, so now the plot AND the musical themes for Project: TRIAD already exist, what are you waiting for? Go make this game a reality!! :D

[final push wip]

This has a really lovely vibe! I love how the instrumentation is simple enough to make the composition shine, but quirky enough to give this track its own unique character. That light orchestral sound screams out a classic video game vibe, and I would’ve loved to see how you would’ve developed some of these melodies like 0:27, which starts out wonderfully. The melody that the clip ends with is pretty great as well; I can totally see some video game characters ballroom dancing to this during an important plot point.

There were maybe a few notes in some of the melodies that felt a bit off; the second note in the descending line at 0:35 maybe should’ve been a semitone or two higher, and the high notes that the flute runs end on at 0:37 sounded a little dissonant on the first few listens. From a production perspective, there were maybe a few points where the velocity control was a little on the rough side (such as some unnaturally loud notes like the high note at 0:10, or the uniformity at 0:25). On the whole though, aside from a few notes here and there, this was pretty good on the big picture. What a shame we couldn’t hear them bigger and more fully orchestrated!

I really wish you’d had the chance to continue this; it felt like it really only just started to get going. Still, though, what you have is cool, and demonstrates proficiency with the Spitfire plugin too. Well done!

[Why Are We Here]

Gosh, this doesn’t sound rushed at all! It starts off so absolutely cute and home-y, but quickly grows into an incredibly-produced electro section. The theme in the next part is super memorable, and then we’re back into more insane dubstep! The clock chiming transition out of that section is absolutely dripping with story, and the somber, melancholy vibes that follow (plus the RAIN EFFECT) evoke such strong scenery. I can’t believe you hadn’t been scouted before this; there’s enough talent here that it’s more than deserved.

A few highlights here: I really like how you adapted the theme from the soft midi part into a melody for the big dubstep section directly following it; it’s like your hero is taking what they’ve learned and applying it in big climactic scenes. I also liked how you used the same chord progressions in different contexts to create such drastically different moods, such as in the last two sections of the song. I personally really love elegant compositions that sprinkle in motivic tidbits everywhere, and this one doesn’t disappoint!

In terms of things that could be improved, I do think the quieter midi sections do stick out a bit, especially during sudden transitions like 0:23 and 0:47, since the instrumentation is so shockingly different. Sudden change isn’t a bad thing (i.e. I think 1:45 works really well because of how drastically *everything* changes), but I do think smoother transitions between the simpler and more energetic sections would do a lot, especially on the first few listens. Aside from that, I could mention a few nitpicks, such as the kick missing a little bassiness in that last big electro section or the first chime being super dissonant compared to where the dubby section before it finished off, but nothing really detracted from my overall enjoyment of the track. (Oh, also it might be good to be careful with synths that go uuup and dooown like at 0:36, I hear the mods don’t like that)

In the end, I think the thing I’m most impressed with is your vision to combine sections with super simple midi instrumentation with incredible skillfully-produced electronic elements. It works super well, and provides a good sense of progression—I’m really feeling the journey here, from the humble outset to the energetic climax to the wistful finish. Incredible work!

SeanAlexi responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed it :)

[Time Machine Adventure]

whoa it WORKS!! i listened to this song and after i was done i had traveled 05:44 into the future

johnfn responds:

I have no idea sorry

[a strong sense of wanderlust felt in a peculiarly glitchy sort of world (NGADM Cut)]

~NGADM 2018 Official Review~

let's talk structure

tailspun responds:

hi luny! 🖕

[GM,BW OST - 03 - Chipville]

I FOUND IT