LunacyEcho's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Settle it IN SMASH]

(wrote a review as an apology for failing to understand basic linking)

Loving the intro! It starts off with a really strong "SETTLE IT IN SMASH" (ssb ftw), immediately establishing a sense of fervent energy in the listener. It quickly transitions into an awesome, fast beat, which was pretty well mixed (as the guys said below), even with all the reverb in the percussion. Still, it felt like it was missing some high mids. The bells were really treble, but the only high mids you really had were a really transient trance-y synth and some strings. With the sweet beat and the high bells, it felt like there was a giant gap where a cool high mid sound could've gone.

The trumpet melody at 0:44 was great! It was adventurous and exciting. Did you come up with it yourself? Because it sounds kind of familiar. It’s reminiscent of every heroic game ever, which means that if you made it yourself, you have a pretty awesome sense of melody. :) In fact, all of your melodies here are really energetic and feel like they could’ve come straight out of a video game.

While your composition was really good (emphasis on the beat and the melodies), there were certain aspects that bothered me a bit. That filter effect you had at 5:07 can be a pretty effective way to transition to different parts, but here, it felt a bit deliberate. I don’t really think you needed to have a filter, and the way you implemented it was pretty sudden. Also, you had a fadeout ending. Now, if you continue doing music-related stuff (especially on Newgrounds), you’ll find that people are in two minds about fadeout endings, and arguments can get pretty heated. Personally, I find fadeouts acceptable in only two scenarios: OSTs and songs with stories. But hey, if you enjoy them, go ahead. I just think they don’t push musicians to their creative potential.

Your production was pretty nice! The mixing was excellent, except for a few parts when the bass-y synth was really drowned out by all the bass-y strings and everything else going on (noticed especially at 1:24 and 3:49). What I like about your mixing is that in parts, you portray a sense of emptiness, and in other parts, a sense of energetic density. The fact that your mix goes through so many different emotions says that it’s pretty good.

Your stereo imaging, on the other hand, was a bit off. It felt like nearly all the orchestral instruments were in my right ear, while there wasn’t anything very prominent in the left. It probably wouldn’t be a problem when played over speakers or by a console, but while listening to it with earphones, the panning is a bit disconcerting. :(

TL;DR:

Overall, I really liked your song! It was adventurous, heroic, and definitely fits the vibe of a Super Smash Bros game. Your instruments, while low in quality (which I know people can’t help if they don’t want to empty their wallets for good VSTs), went great together, and I especially loved your mixing, beat, and melodies. There were a few issues, but I hope you continue to make awesome music like this. Great work!

CeeeX responds:

Yea the composition was mostly made by me. The trumpet section is the only part where I've took a small part of the iconic super smash series' main theme and have arranged it at some parts here and there.

I most definitely have to agree on the filter I've put in randomly, but it was intended to give it a whole variety in this track, resulting into giving it as if its just randomly placed, so I'll take that advice for the next track haha!

Great review, it was very enjoyable to read!

[In the Hall of the Trap King]

Hall of the Mountain King is such a steampianist melody. I've been hoping you'd cover it, and now you have! It sounds amazing.

The only things I can say that would improve the track are that some of the instruments (like the organ) feel too quiet. Also, the ending felt somewhat sudden and was a bit unsatisfying. Other than that, though, everything was great.

My favorite part of the track was definitely the drum beat. Normally, I really dislike trap drums, especially because of the thin snare, but you managed to make it sound nice. I'm glad that when you decided to do trap, you added tons of melodies instead of keeping it really empty like normal trap songs do.

Great work! Good luck in the contest!

steampianist responds:

thanks dude

[Suddenly all alone]

Probably should’ve expected it from your tags and description, but the amazing apocalyptic vibe you created was by far the most impressive thing about your song. The intro felt a bit sudden and jarring, but it soon made sense as the other instruments came in and the amazing mood emerged. Deep, booming basses, super-distorted guitar, dissonant, alarming synths… I think the only thing that could’ve made it better was that the drums could’ve been tighter and louder. Other than that, the mood was pretty much perfect. :)

That giant explosion you had at 0:39 was also amazing. The instruments that were playing faded out extremely nicely during the explosion. Sometimes, when you transition with a huge sound like that, the instruments playing before it don’t transition out very well, but your sounds weren’t sudden at all. You know, I actually wish the sound of the bomb was louder. :D Based on your story, this should be an Earth-shattering explosion! Nearly everyone dies! Don’t be afraid to go all out with your effects.

After the bomb, the music box made me a bit confused. To be honest, I hadn’t read your description until a few bars after the music box came in (sorry!), and it sounded a bit out of place. Once I read your story, however, I could see how the music box was an interesting element of it. It’s always interesting to see how people choose instruments when trying to reflect a story with their songs, and I think your music box, while initially a bit strange, was an interesting addition.

The ambience in the second half was great as well. I think your first half was still better, but the contemplative strings and strange, unintelligible voices make for a very nice mood as well. I think the first half’s mood feels a bit better is because of the volume of the second half’s instruments. I felt that the music box was mixed in a bit too loudly. Inversely, I thought the drums were mixed in too quietly! To me, it’d probably sound a lot better if you tweaked the volumes just a little. Also, one more thing I wish you’d added was a fadeout ending. Normally, fadeouts are taboo in musical composition, but I really like the image of a lone soul, desperate and alone, slowly walking away and losing hope for the future. But maybe that’s just me.

Overall, the thing I’d have to congratulate you on most is your creation of a chaotic and apocalyptic then desolate and lonely atmosphere. There were a few kinks to be ironed out, but I really enjoyed it. Good luck in the Halloween contest!

Azhthar responds:

Wow thanks a lot for that detailed review! I also had the feeling that the drums might be mixed a to quietly. I guess I´ll change that soon (actually they were much louder when I was starting to mix ut then they felt too loud and probably I reduced them to harsh). I´ll have a look for the explosion but maybe if I increase the volume too much it will wash out the rest of the track... Let´s see. Actually I didn´t fade out the track (or at least I did not realize...). I just used a ritardando and actually also cadenced the end. I´ll have a look on that, too ;) Thx again for the input!

[Jazzimprov]

Your titles just keep getting better and better.

*disclaimer: you're a better pianist than i*

I love this song! Disregarding the keys you sometimes accidentally press, the melodic content here was just fantastic. I think you had bluesy parts in the first part, a bit after the middle part, and towards the end, but you went to natural majors and minors for the rest of it. Not a critique - just an observation.

I also love how you naturally go to breakdowns or adjust your dynamics. Do you do that consciously? Your sense of rhythm also seems to be improving. :) Sure, there were a few moments when the swing turned to normal time, but you kept a steady tempo throughout.

When you improvise, it feels like your right hand has so much more piano skill than your left. :D It plays so many awesome melodies (e.g. 3:18, 4:43), but your left hand (like you said) is just simple at best. Maybe, when you improvise, you can try focusing on doing cool stuff with your left hand while only doing simply comps with your right? Just a suggestion. :P

I really liked it and it has so much nice melodic and emotional content! Great work.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I am the title master.

Hahha, people keep telling me I'm a better pianist them then. It's really weird actually :p
Not that I'm better, but the fact that people always mention it for some reason :D
(It does heighten my self-esteem though, so I'm not complaining XD)

The keys I sometimes accidentally press. I'd say I press them a lot more than sometimes, as I was playing with such a clumsy style. You know, since I don't have that good a pitch, I'm mostly pressing random keys with sloppy fingers, so sometimes I feel like all the keys are pressed accidentally :)

I used the most common blues scale for almost the entire song, but you're right in that I tried to swtich it up a bit somewhere in the middle :)

About the breakdowns. I guess I do them mostly unconsciously, actually. I'm not always thinking a lot while I'm playing, especially not while I'm improvising. Sometimes I even think about completely different things. This was at many points somewhat challenging to play though, and I'm not that great at jazz, so I think most of my energy went into pressing random keys in the blues scale while maintaining the rhythm to some extent. While improvising I always have breakdowns here and there. Sometimes I think I need a break from all the heavy playing, and they give you some time to think of what to do next. The biggest reason though is that I automatically try to use the entire piano, from low to high, and in a few different styles as well.
I don't really know -__-

Hahha, yeah, you're right about my left hand. FYI though, 4:43 is mostly the left hand working :p
I don't know if it's fair saying my right hand has more piano skill. It's more that my hands are good at playing different kinds of stuff. They are not entirely separate entities either. In many of the things one might think I'm only playing with my right hand, the left hand is actually helping a lot.
There are also many kinds of patterns and such that I'm not able to play with my right hand, but my left hand can easily handle.
You're still right though. Melodies (except for some bass stuff) isn't really what my left hand is good at. I'll make sure to practice this once I get time for it. If I ever learn to read sheet music properly, I'm sure I'll get better at using both hands as well ;)

I think my own favorite part might be close to the beginning, somewhere betwen 1:10 and 1:30, especially 1:13-1:21 :3

Thanks for yet another long and uplifting review!!! :D
It's great to get to think about something else than the army every now and then. Now I'll get to look forward to about 4 or so sleepless nights in the sandy and cold woods...

[Away with You]

I can't believe you said that you weren't focusing as much on the melody! That melody at 1:20 is definitely one of the most beautiful I've heard in a while. Was it by any chance inspired by The Police (namely Every Breath You Take's outro)? Your other melodies are great as well.

The drums were nice, although they were mixed in a bit too loudly. Your hi-hats sound great, but your snare is a bit thin. The bass was great, though! I especially loved the bass work and effects in the ending. Normally, I dislike electric piano, but you made it sound so calming. Basically, great instrumentation, although your mixing could use a bit of work!

This has great atmosphere, instrumentation, and melodies. I loved it. Great job!

ScottJacob responds:

Thanks very much for the feedback! I would say i was thinking more Radiohead than the Police when playing around with the melody lol but i can hear some "Every breath" now that you mention it haha. Yeah i can use some more work with my mixing skills but practice makes perfect i guess, thanks again man. I'm glad you enjoyed the music.

[Brewing Storms]

The final product is awesome! I enjoyed listening to it very much.

Personally, I love it when a song goes through tons of different timings, like most prog music. It's not for everyone, but it's definitely for me, and I enjoyed lots of the rhythmic work, like that 1:40 drum buildup and your drum work at 3:34 (which you mentioned). I just wish your drums were louder! They were mixed in great until 1:47, when they sort of became buried in the mix and stayed that way until the end of the song. :(

I'm really glad you incorporated people's advice! For example, the synth at 1:20 no longer feels that cliché, and the choruses (1:47, etc.) feel a lot fuller because of the added frequencies. The composition is still great (aside from a bit of a rough transition at 2:17, but that's just me nitpicking), and the production level was brought up quite a bit. Great work!

Spadezer responds:

Yay! I can see what you're saying about the drums. I did put a bit of effort into the drums, but my focus wasn't on the drumming so much as the 'plot' if that makes sense. The synth at 1:20 is still the same synth, but it shows the power of what tweaking a few things can do.

I'm glad you enjoyed.
-Spadezer-

[Prey]

Ooh, I love the vibe the song starts off with! It's such a mood-setting bit of music. :) I just wish the repeated pluck was featured more prominently; it seemed to fade a bit as the pad set in.

The first section feels pretty repetitive (0:27-1:07). There's only one chord change in twelve bars, and then you repeat the section again with some faint arps and a couple more chord changes, which leads to some pretty boring listening. The instruments sound great and the mood is still set really well, but if I were you, I'd change up some stuff - either the chord progression, melody, background FX, or any combination of them. :)

Basically, the whole song sort of follows that pattern. Just different beats, but they're all pretty repetitive and could use more chord progression and a more variant melody. Some parts sound really nice, though. My favorite part was definitely 2:41.

Even though you said your mixing isn't very good, I didn't think there were too many problems with it. The snare might have been a bit loud and there was that bit at the beginning, but the rest of the drums and most of the synthesizers were mixed pretty well.

Honestly, I wouldn't be able to tell that this was your second electronic song just by listening to it. The composition may be repetitive, but the mixing, instrumentation, and mood-setting were all really nice. Great job, and I hope you improve!

JDawg00100 responds:

Yup it is extremely repetitive, it's good to hear about everything else though! I spent most of the time trying to get the right mood for the song, I find it hard to get the type of sound I have in my head.

Thanks for the feedback and the listen!

[-Galaxy Park-]

Another awesome song! Whoever that special person is, they must be very happy. :)

Say, how come you didn't do the NGADM this year? I'm sure we'd all appreciate your elite compositions. :D

Waterflame responds:

Thank you! Oh I didnt dare to enter due to moving locations and a lot of music jobs / other work. I want to do it when i know i have time and it will not feel like stress. So probably next year!

[Pokémon - Pirate's Road]

This is amazing. The Victory Road song was one of my favorites, and this is such an awesome rendition of it. :D

Are you sure you meant to type "Pokmon" in the title of the song though?

PirateCrab responds:

Ah it has an e with an accent, quite odd that it hasn't shown up, I'll change it for normal :)

But thanks bro! It was one of my favourite songs as well, so gonna be doing more!

*Edit: I won't be changing the title, because I can't edit the title. WAAAAAH :(

[404]

This does sound like it must've been a ton of fun to write and hell in production. Kudos to SkyeWint for amazingly quick work!

Even though this has the vibe of being a really progressive song, the part at 1:21 does make the main riff feel a bit overdone after a while. It's a good thing your drummer is so talented; it felt like the song was relying heavily on him from 1:59 to 2:38. The ending also came somewhat unexpectedly. Still, minor flaws aside, this is seriously impressive stuff, especially from your amazing live musicians.

Here's hoping you two collab outside of the NGADM for more awesome music!

camoshark responds:

Hey Lune, thanks for the review! :)

You are on the ball for the bit around 2:00, we ended up relying pretty much entirely on the drummer in that bit because the solo that was supposed to be there had to be cut because of time constraints.

That ending DID indeed end up coming much sooner than we had planned, sorry about that. :(

I'm glad that you managed to very much enjoy the track even with these flaws!

Cheers