ur so creative w ur titles, mang
Sounds nice, as usual. That high-pitched interlude in the middle is really nice (although there are some harsh notes); I'd love to see you incorporate that in your future works!
Notes cracking, a bit of tempo off, blah blah blah.
That ending came out of nowhere! That thing your left hand did at 1:47 was awesome. What was that?!
I'm sort of only reviewing these to keep up my record, to be honest. :P Good work! Why didn't you go home for the weekend? :(
Quick with your reviewing again ey? You're really awesome for keeping up with your record even if these are just old weird tracks XD (same goes for TheDoor6!)
My titles are the most creative ones you'll ever find in this world. I usually spend days upon days thinking about what I should name a piece, whereafter I find the perfect title within the depths of my very soul.
That interlude is definitely too high-pitched for this piano sound (although the reverb and delay improved it some), but I liked the idea, and have used similar stuff before and will do so again XD
The ending? It's left hand exercise :) I actually failed with hitting every note there too, but the reverb makes this track so muddy that it might be hard to notice :p I have no idea what I would call what I did though. It's those same rolling notes as usually, except I doubled the amount and the speed >:D
I think I could pull it off much better now, more than one year in the future, but I guess I did okay :3
I didn't get to go home, because the army sucks >:(
Every fifth weekend or so (sometimes more often), you have to stay here, because meh. We don't have much free time the weekends we go home either, but it's something :/ (Soon halfway there!)
If there's such a thing as prog johnfn, this is it.
I enjoyed the opening quite a lot. In fact, the first couple minutes worked really well. It didn't sound like a rushed job at all! When you get to 1:38, however, the transition just feels so rough. It's always difficult transitioning to different time signatures, but I just think this one threw me completely off my zen listening mode (pretty sure that's a thing).
It feels like you're going back to older johnfn music (older being a really relative term I guess) and using tons of really quick synth licks to solo-ize your songs. Aside from that one dissonant part at 2:47, they sound great! Really loving the way you use your glitchiness on the synths and drums from 3:38 to the ending (which was so much less satisfying than i believe's which i've sort of come to enjoy).
I actually think one of the biggest problems I have with this song is the title. :D A few people this round went for the 'horror' theme (Troisnyx, PeterSatera), but I don't really see how this is 'ghosty' at all. :/
Great work and good luck!
Hey I'm glad you liked it! Personally I don't even know what I think about it. I think the biggest irony is the 1:38 transition. I worked SO hard (you don't even know) on the other transitions because they were SO BAD. Then I totally forgot to fix 1:38... darp
Yeah I kinda messed up the ending heh. I shouldn't have repeated that section so many times woops. Oh well!
With the quick synths I was borrowing a lil from older stuff, but I also went different in that the melody style wasn't really johnfn-y, imo (I GO HARD ON PITCH BENDS BRUH). Also, 5/4 time for some reason.
Also how come ghosts have to be scary? That sounds discriminatory to ghosts to me. How come ghosts can't groove sometimes??
Thanks for the review!
I'm not sure whether this is what absoluteDETH was going for, but this really is very nicely done. It's probably my favorite loop from you thus far. :)
I actually like the percussion a lot! I enjoy tons of reverb (more and more lately, it seems), and those bouncy, jumpy sounds add a lot to the mood.
I'm actually pretty scared of eyes. :D I once screamed when a teacher showed an enlarged picture of an eye on a projector. Even so, the picture you used is pretty hypnotic, especially when turning visualizations off...
Thanks LunacyEcho! I always love reading your reviews; they're so full of spirit!
I think this is my favorite loop by myself so far as well (although "Unimailma" just might beat it).
I'm actually surprised you like the percussion (^O,O^)
I love tons of reverb. I almost always find myself saying... MOAR! MOAR REVBREV!
What can I say, I like bouncy sounds? I think that's why I chose that particular vst and threw something in quickly XD
I still don't really like the percussion myself though...
Eyes can be pretty creepy! My cat scares me sometimes at night...
That rolling eye is a bit hypnotic indeed. It bothers me that I didn't center the pupil better, since the hole in the "cd" cuts it off weirdly :P
This has so much awesomeness in it. It sounds absolutely amazing.
I love the flute intro. Since it’s supposed to be a demo for a flutes VST, it makes sense that they should be highlighted, but damn. That’s some high-quality stuff. I can’t think of any real-life flautist I know in person who could play that well! It’s such a shame that the only background for the intro for twenty seconds was a long sustained string chord. The whole song is really progressive, and twenty seconds of a single thing is a bit of an outlier. :P
After the song really starts twenty seconds in, it blows me away. It builds up with real high-quality sounds, but the mini-climax at 0:40 seems a bit anticlimactic, regarding what follows it. It just feels like such a well-written buildup would’ve let to a more exciting part of the song, but the Celtic music that follows is great and helps show off the flute you used in that section really well. The sound of people celebrating (at least, I think it is) at 0:59 and 1:32 really helps sell the idea of a festival day where people are excited to go outside and have fun!
I can see why you really enjoyed samulis’ trombone and voice at 1:13 - it really adds so much to the jumpiness of the track. You’d expect them to be buried in the mix, but you did a really good job with the mixing - everything is clear, so we can fully appreciate your instrumentation. Then, when you bring back the 0:40 motif at 1:32, it’s with a much more orchestrated background. I wish you’d focused on the flute more past 1:32! It sounds so real, and you replaced some of the melody with the plucked strings. I guess it’s for the best of the song, but I really want to hear more of the flute VST now. :D
The blown bottle sounds at 1:50 are really intriguing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that sort of thing featured prominently in a song before. Maybe you should do one! And then comes the ending. You know, with all the feedback you give people in the NGADM about having good endings, I think a non-fadeout ending should’ve been expected. :D Maybe this means you’ll come back and extend this someday! One can always hope, right?
Honestly, I prefer this one to your first song. Maybe it’s because of the picture you used? I like to listen to music on Newgrounds with visualizations off, so I guess I’m more exposed than people who don’t to the art musicians use to represent their work. I think all the colorful streamers represent the idea of a festival much better than just a simple green backdrop, so I really commend you on providing a full listening experience. :)
Thanks again on all the work you do in the NGADM! All the hard work you put in is sure making a ton of people really happy.
Oh wow, LunacyEcho! This is really something. Thanks a lot for such a huge review!
"I love the flute intro."
Flute (or in this case piccolo) and high strings for the intro is almost overused in a lot of music that's supposed to give off a majestic kind of feeling haha. I was worried it'd sound a bit cheesy, but in hindsight I'm pretty happy with it.
"The whole song is really progressive, and twenty seconds of a single thing is a bit of an outlier. :P"
Oh man you're right haha. I can't argue, totally a fault on my part.
"the mini-climax at 0:40 seems a bit anticlimactic, regarding what follows it."
That was actually intended. I wanted the first 20 seconds or so to signify the people waking up on the day of the festival, then up till 0:40 signifies them noisily gathering to the town centre, excited. Right at 0:40 they suddenly become silent as they notice the flutist begin his performance. That was kind of the idea I had in my head when I made that. However, I almost ALWAYS follow up a buildup with a suitable climax so I have like zero experience with anticlimaxes. Maybe I could've executed it better!
"The sound of people celebrating (at least, I think it is) at 0:59 and 1:32 really helps sell the idea of a festival day where people are excited to go outside and have fun!"
Oh man you noticed the 0:59 one. Nice! I thought that was almost too subtle for people to recognise it haha. 1:32 is a little more obvious, needless to say. I'm glad you liked the idea!
"I can see why you really enjoyed samulis’ trombone and voice at 1:13 - it really adds so much to the jumpiness of the track. You’d expect them to be buried in the mix, but you did a really good job with the mixing - everything is clear, so we can fully appreciate your instrumentation."
I am very fond of the work samulis did for this track. I totally agree with how it adds jumpiness. Before he added his stuff, it sounded almost like a pretty standard epic orchestral fare, but his trombone and voice gave it a more... I dunno... authentic kind of feeling, I guess? Not sure how to explain it but to me it did a great job of metaphorically transporting the song from being played in some concert or cinema to being played at an actual festival with musicians and singers.
The point about mixing really relieves me since I get in mini personal battles with myself on how to balance the levelling of recorded instruments and vocals. On the one hand, they sound great and add a super authentic flair to the track. On the other hand, they're not processed heavily in a professional studio like some East/West sample would be, so it's up to me to make sure they're mixed in well, something which I'm fairly insecure about. Samulis had to help me with the levelling of the trombone especially haha.
"I wish you’d focused on the flute more past 1:32!"
I definitely could have! I thought I gave the flutes enough love throughout the track so I decided to end the track on a guitar and harp duet. Like I said to Ceevro below you, my version of the VST didn't have many articulations implemented yet, but I think if they were I would've played around with them more especially in the ending.
"The blown bottle sounds at 1:50 are really intriguing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that sort of thing featured prominently in a song before."
Oh damn, that's a good ear you have there. I knew I put in blown bottle sounds somewhere but I wasn't sure where, but you found the precise section which they play in. Nice one!
"And then comes the ending."
LOL you make a good point about the whole NGADM thing. I actually have a pretty clear mentality about fade endings though. I think that in some situations where, as the composer, you want to end the track with a feeling of continuity, I think they can be tasteful. In this case, I didn't want it to sound like the festival just finishes abruptly (like I did in the first version) but I wanted to die it down and feel like the festival is still going. So I felt like the best approach would be a fade ending. Most of the time, fade endings just sound like lazy cop-outs to avoid writing a proper ending, so I often dislike them, but there are times when I agree with it as a stylistic choice, like in this track: http://goo.gl/iMx0pb
"Honestly, I prefer this one to your first song. Maybe it’s because of the picture you used?"
There is an explanation for that green backdrop. This track was originally intended to be a soundtrack for a grasslands/medieval theme in a game, so I chose some generic green backdrop. When I came to extend it, I decided to give it more festival-like qualities, what with the vocal chants, claps, trombone, etc, and therefore felt like I could've given it a more suitable icon. Still, not going to lie, in both cases it was just me lazily fishing around in Google images hahaha.
"Thanks again on all the work you do in the NGADM! All the hard work you put in is sure making a ton of people really happy."
That means a lot. It really is my pleasure!
Sorry for such a large response haha. I'm very happy you enjoyed this, and good luck with your own music.
So you've been great at improv for a while. :P You've probably fixed these issues by now, but upon first listen, it seems as though some of the chord transitions don't really fit. With hindsight, they sort of do, but places like 1:04 seem strange and abrupt.
That's not saying I don't like the song! I think this could really easily be a soundtrack to a game. I love the way your instruments even sound like icicles (especially that tinkle at the end). Good work!
Well, for this song I DID quickly come up with the chords on beforehand (which took 10 minutes or so, which is unusually fast). That is also why all the transitions don't fit I guess, as well as the reason behind why I got a bit stuck after 0:50 (I had a hard time remembering the next chord, but it seems I got it eventually).
Lol! 1:04 is one of my favorite parts XD
I think it gives sort of a mysterious vibe :p
As I already have mentioned several times, I'm very inspired by composers like Nobuo Uematsu, who've made tons of great game music, which I think shows in most of my work :D
That tinkle at the end wasn't planned in the chords, if I recall correctly; just an on the whim thing (I do kinda like it though).
Thanks a ton!
This sounds amazing, and is wonderfully hilarious. Loved it.
It starts off sort of confusingly, but quickly evolves into something awesome. You do a really good grating "high jazz musician" voice. The song never bores, since at any one point in the song, you've either got lyrics, a guitar solo, or are complimenting yourself on your singing. That 'Dust in the Wind' break? I can never hear that song the same way again. I may be a bit mistaken, but did you add a 'La Grange' vocal reference in there as well?
If I wanted to find something wrong with this song, I could probably nitpick really closely and say that the editing on the high-pitched vocals is still a bit distorted, especially during the guitar solo. Also, it bothers me a little that "dumb" and "Mom" don't rhyme. But seriously, this is like SkyeWint-level nitpicking. This is a really awesome song. I'm definitely looking forward to what you put out in the future!
Haha, I'm glad I got someone laughing! I think that with the 'Dust in the Wind' break, the two words that actually bring it all home are '...in tears...' And yeah, had to include on ZZ Top. Especially seeing as the subject of La Grange was a brothel, haha!
As for 'dumb' and 'mom' not rhyming...that's a matter of intonation/accent. I mean, I've heard 'pillow' and 'tractor' rhymed in a country song, once. As Frank Sinatra says, "Good enough fer jazz."
And yes, I have a lot to learn about the final stages of editing...I'm workin' on it!
Barring the tempo issue, this song is great! As usual with your songs, it's got unique chords, great ambience, a somewhat inappropriate name, and beautiful melodies. I actually think you could've made this a loop. :D
It appears as though this was before you "play arpeggiated notes separately" phase. :) There are a couple of notes that are played slightly cracked-ly, but that's okay! My favorite part is from 0:42 to 1:13. Well, there's two parts in there, but I liked both of them.
Good work! Four months left in the army. THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT?
Whoah; that was fast!
Thanks for the compliments XD I might've been able to make this into a loop, it could work :D
Nope, sorry; I have always played the "arpeggiated notes separately", just not always :)
It really depends on what kind of a song I'm making/playing :p
(My favorite parts are the same as yours! o.O)
Thanks for the extremely quick review!
Yup, 113 days left :3
I've had quite a rough week, and tomorrow will be even worse... I might be able to handle it though :)
(I hope D:)
Dude. Seriously good job. This is an amazing song (barring a slightly awkward intro), and when I heard it, I knew I was basically done for in the NGADM. :P
You go win, okay? Otherwise, JDawg, Dutton, and I will have lost for nothing. GO GET 'EM! :D
Thanks Lunacy!
I'LL DO MY BEST
This sounds amazing. I really think this is one of your better songs.
The way this song is structured, it really takes you on a journey. I feel like a story easily be written to accompany this song, probably because of the segments that all sound different but have such great transitions.
All the instruments are great. The piano that comes in at 4:10 is nice, but I think might need a little editing. Some of the notes feel a bit off-key and clash with the mix, although it's really melodic like everything else.
Here's something you can try: Write the structure of a song before you make the music. Figure out a main theme, a bridge, a verse, intros/outros/, etc. before actually creating them. It makes the song sound a lot more cohesive and you'll probably learn a lot from it. Approaching music-writing from different perspectives helps you learn a lot (at least, it does for me).
Good luck in the NGAUC and here's hoping you keep making music!
Thanks for the review!
About the piano, I really did have a difficult time trying to mix that so it didn't have too many piercing tones (the EQ was especially a pain due to the other tracks tending to overwhelm). I agree with your comments, though, and I'll try and remedy that if I do something like this in the future.
You're correct about needing to add structure as well. With my next WIP i've already started with the chorus, hopefully you'll be able to see some improvement in that aspect.
Good luck to you as well (if you've finished??) and thanks so much for the review.
As usual, amazing song, beautiful melodies, extremely skilled composition and instrumentation (although I agree with BlueOceans that the distortion was a bit too much on the opening/ending synth) and you're getting a lot better at mixing. And as usual, an ending that leaves all of us just a bit unsatisfied. :P Have we really come to expect anything different? Awesome work!
I actually really like my ending this time so it's disappointing that you didn't hah. I dunno I just love pitchbend sO MUCH ARGH
... thanks for the review! Glad you liked everything else. :p
Joined on 8/29/12
Nothing New 
ghosts 
Inside an Eye 
Festival Day 
Icicle Rain 
Swing For A Special Lady 
Orchestration 
Acidulus 8 
Cloudburst 
i believe 
