Troisnyx's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Reflections]

With there being quite a lot of emphasis on the cello and harp, I'd have expected a LOT more humanisation from this.

Your chords are excellent, but they don't bring out this piece well enough. The first two minutes focus on the harp and cello, with the occasional electronic beat. So let me bullet point what's wrong.

1) The harp and cello have notes that are the exact same loudness. There is no variation in note velocity. I can assure you on my honour as a harpist that this is not how a harp is meant to sound. Ask me or etherealwinds to play the harp part for you, and you'll find that certain notes are accented, and certain notes aren't. That is what makes the song flow.

2) No rubato, or natural tempo fluctuations at all starting from 0:58. When an instrumentalist improvises or does a performance, you'll hear slight tempo variations, a bit like our speech. That is part of what makes it human.

3) That cello sample... It needs a better one. 2:57 was cringeworthy because of how fake that cello sounded.

4) Greater impact could be made by heavier reverb on the electronic click that comes in every now and then. This song is called 'Reflections.' Might as well go for the double meaning behind it -- the apparition in the water, and a throwback to days past or a meditation on things currently going on, or yet to be.

I'm tempted to remake this piece just to tell you what sort of impact you've been missing from your pieces, most especially this one. It really breaks my heart that this piece hasn't hit its full potential.

[Playfighters 3 Preview]

Definitely sounds fuller than the last version, and catchier. There's still work to be done on making it sound 'wow', but we'll get to that in due course.

C - Bb - Dm - C is not bad of a progression, good going. Only, try to avoid too much repetition. You did build up the instruments, but if an outside listener were listening in, he'd want a bit more in the way of variety. Peaks and valleys, highs and lows. There's quite a lot to cover, but for what you've managed to cover, you're doing well. : )

Squeegee4554 responds:

Thanks! What do you mean with the C - Bb - Dm - C?

[Percussive Interlude]

First thing I find in my NG feed on my birthday is this. <3 I can't begin to tell you just how wonderful this is. Well done.

samulis responds:

Happy birthday, Trois! Uh yeah, this was TOTALLY intentional, haha. :D
-Sam

[Playfighters]

Ugh, where do I begin with this one...

You have the same problem that a lot of us have had when starting out music. You have the tune and the final results in your head, but not the mixing quality nor the ability to choose the correct sounds. And I feel the pain too, because the melody (just taken at face value) is sorta kinda catchy but sorely needs something to back it up.

If you had this idea in mind when you were three, imagine what children's songs would be like. Full of punch. Heavy on the instrument layering (unless this was Teletubbies or Sesame Street). Really good chords and a feel-good atmosphere. I mean, you're feeling my description now, aren't you? -- Trouble with this particular song is that the synths are tinny, the drums are flat, and there's nothing to give it excitement. And it's so empty.

I wouldn't want to give too many tips at once, but at least start with this one: Build up some chords. Make progressions. See how they sound. Experiment again. Keep doing it until you wow yourself, and then do it some more.

If you insist on this being drums and voice, make it sound real -- like, you know, those rap songs, or those medieval rounds which only have drums and voice. If you're not sure where to find voices, there are a number of us on NG who wouldn't mind helping you on this, if you should only ask.

Squeegee4554 responds:

Thanks dude for the advice! How do i ask people to help?
Thanks so much!

[Battle of the Brasses | 2016]

I loved the rhythm and bassline. But when the melody kicked in, I felt that there was just too much reverberation (0:20). 0:31 actually sounded a lot better with the rest of the mix.

:46 had a welcome change with the change of chords / change of key, and it really was beautiful. Gave me not only a sense of urgency, but also a bit of an uplift.

The entire thing feels like a cross between something industrial and something that sounds like it came out of James Bond, with a bit of an oriental twist. Quirky, and while I do question a bit of the song, I enjoy it quite a bit.

Bertn1991 responds:

Thank you, Troisnyx. That was an excellent and thoughtful review. I appreciate the honest feedback, and I'm happy you enjoyed my song. Have a nice day :^)

[Forgiven Blade]

I didn't know what to make of that intro, but once the main melody comes in, it feels a bit more industrial. I guess. ^_^'

I don't know if I'm a fan of all the instruments taking the same melody line. I guess it has its uses -- but without Phyerh's game, I can't really tell the context. I guess I sorta kinda picture a mass of drones, all uniformly programmed, and the scale of production increasing dramatically with each instrument being added into the mix.

1:32 invites a change from the ostinato melody.

The drums at 2:05, just before the ending, remind me of Mylene Farmer's 'C'est dans l'air'. It had that sort of pulse that I heard at the beginning of that song, too.

Not quite sure what to make of it -- I think this is one of these tracks that really needs context for me, and without context, I just don't know what to make of it.

MysteriousPresence responds:

Thanks a lot for the review ! :3
Yes I think I'm a context musician, I'm mostly a cinematic composer (and director) after all ! ^^
You're totally right anymay, that would maybe make more sense in Phyerh's game !
This is funny though because the intro and the outro are my personal favorite parts of the music ! I guess this is a matter of taste ! :3
So I listened to C'Est Dans L'Air and that was... Hum... Weird ! X)
Thanks again for the review ! =D

[LASER]

You have amazing chords, and nice breakdowns that make me feel like I'm in a club despite otherwise sitting in front of my PC in a relatively quiet room. 2:10, for instance, has these really nice pads and this warm atmosphere to it, which is the meat of what I love in this piece. And they complement the harsher (leads?) so well, too. There is a really nice sense of buildup, from the relatively calm intro to the main theme to the breakdown. And speaking of breakdown, it was a nice breakdown, which justified the 'hard' in hard trance.

3:52 sounds like a cross between a nice light show and a speed stage in a video game, something which I thoroughly enjoy.

It was fun listening to this piece. I don't often listen to hard trance but you have a solid grasp on tonality and you know how to hook listeners in. I had to turn the volume down, but otherwise, wonderful work.

[FD - Miserere Mei]

The dissonance you create with these voices remind me not of a traditional chant per se, but what I would imagine could be heard in Dante's iteration of Purgatory. It's haunting, and it evokes to me the many souls still waiting for sweet release into Heaven. And then when the pads come in, it reminds me of those cold, freezing atmospheres that I'd heard in Tekken 4 and stuff. I used to love these ambiences; you brought them back to me once more.

No complaints about mixing; as far as music is concerned, you have given me a piece which strikes me as unforgettable. And not only that; I can come up with imagery so profound. (As a personal side note, you have also inspired me to pray for the release of souls in Purgatory. Thank you.)

Insta-favourite.

ForgottenDawn responds:

YES. Tekken 4, one of my childhood games, thanks for bringing it back. :D
Huge influence on my music too. I remember the Prologue music being particularly haunting, with those screeches getting under my skin and that dirty, distorted atmosphere. It really sounded like I was fighting for my life. That kind of atmosphere wouldn't come back in later installments, unfortunately.

When I've shared this piece to some friends of mine, they've had this similar vision of somebody seeking atonement. The various interpretations I'm gathering from all of you is really interesting and precious. Gets my gears running in my head.

Thanks for your review! :)

[Yoshi's Island: Athletic (flute remix)]

I get what you're trying to do here, an SNES flute. It doesn't change the original... unless you had switched up the arrangement, used natural flutes, and made this a jazz quartet-sort of piece (which, let's be honest, you know it can!), which would have made this cover shine. It's really, REALLY lacking its oomph.

As a note for tracking flutes, I don't know if video game composers would drag flutes anymore. Starting out, this is how we do it, but now we've learnt that there have to be breaks to account for the breaths that wind instrument players take. It's almost vocal, in a way, knowing where to put the cigarette paper thin rest before continuing on with the melody. A bit more practice with that would make it sound natural. You can do it.

4/10.

[Super Mario Kart: Rainbow Road]

The self-aggrandisement shown by you in the forums and here in the description have led me to give you a review. Just be forewarned, it's scathingly honest.

There's nothing new that you added to this theme. All you did was an 8-bit version of this theme, which I'm more than certain has been attempted before, and better, on OCRemix. A cover that blows my mind would make it truly new, give it a spin that only you could do. 8-bit stuff has been attempted by so many people, and yet... 8-bit and voices, or merely a capella? Now that hasn't been done yet. Everything is exactly like the original, too, in terms of chord structure and how the piece is laid out. Which makes me wonder if you transcribed this by ear, looked at sheet music, or replaced the instruments in a MIDI of this thing with your 8-bit sounds. Option number 3 (the MIDI one) is not allowed by Newgrounds rules, anyway.

Good covers would switch the chords and slides up. They would perhaps change the genre, give us something unexpected. They would take people by surprise. This one doesn't.

4/10.