Troisnyx's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[X3ll3n - Believe (NGRMC 2018)]

Previous comments have echoed my thoughts exactly on this song, the melody is waaaay too fast for this song. WIth it taking pride of place all the time, there's very little chance for it to dip back in and out, and it feels very repetitive as a result. Also off-key around 0:35?

I did love the triplets in the drums though, in the intro and certain sections. Also, you seem to create some really nice ambiences, especially around 1:00, 1:10. There is an ethereal quality about those sections; certainly use those to your advantage. I have no complaints about the mixing, it's on point. All the best!

[Quasar (NGRMC Remix)]

There's... not much Indian about the track, especially given a title like that. If there are any sounds from trad Indian instruments, it's all melded into the song and to me, feels flat. And to someone like myself who is from the Indian diaspora, it feels.... uh..... like a missed opportunity to say the least.

The ancient Indian chanting and singing style and drums would have seen pride of place in something like this. Also 'Kshastriya' is a class of soldiers, warlords -- there could have been an opportunity for something martial-sounding, which wouldn't be out of place in dubstep. Really not feeling this one, I'm afraid.

Uxvellda responds:

My gosh! Wrong song selected! Holy crap! BTW, I've changed the title and the decription... Cant believe this!

[Zophar's Domain (NGRMC Remix)]

It sounds like something out of a fighting game select screen, especially the kind where you've got a new challenger (2P) involved and it's their select screen.

GFThePlayer responds:

Thank you!

[Joyride to Space (NGRMC Remix)]

The pads feel positively euphoric! I think the biggest draw was the buildup with the spacey pads in the beginning. Not sure I felt the lead. Like the walking bass. I think I echo the others' concerns about the song being repetitive, and that alone would cause me to dock one point. Still though: this piece did put a smile on my face.

1:38 was climactic and a nice change to this song. The dynamics after that were quite varied, soft, and then medium loud again. I loved that, well all the way into the 3-minute mark. We're missing some pew-pews and things that could be spacey, wet piano... -- I guess, some missed opportunities, but a decent sound, what you've got going here!

[Neon Runner]

For what this is, I am really enjoying it. There's a 70s, 80s vibe about this -- part of it does bring back Queen (you know, with the synthesisers bringing back vibes of "I Want To Break Free"). But it also feels like the dance music of the time, too, which you seem to have reproduced well.

I guess when it is time to put lyrics down, you'd doubtless go for something layered, much like a lot of 80s music -- but you've set some really good foundations. Everything seems to have its proper place for me; I have no complaints with regards to mixing.

AceMantra responds:

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I really wanted to give off an 80s nostalgic feel.

I'm a little hesitant to put in lyrics because I've never mixed vocals before. I'm definitely going with your layering suggestion though. Maybe I'll give it an early "Duran Duran" sound.

[Creo - Outlaw]

Not sure I'm feeling this one -- there's something about rock / blues / westerns that has a magic of its own -- the music born of the wilderness has a charm of its own. I think the electronic kinda killed it for me... One could say that's a matter of taste, perhaps, but I just found it way too jarring for my ears.

[NGRMC 2018: Jazz Reharm]

So many sound ideas in this track, I love your progression, your piano lines, the drums. There's the slight delay in the instruments in part and it can be a bit disconcerting but otherwise, I love what you're going for. I really do! 💓

Docking a point for both the abrupt ending and the mixing. With regards to the ending, I'd feel eased out of this if this were left to decay, or perhaps if it were slowed down or sustained. Mixing, that is an entire kettle of fish to be handled another time -- but to begin, I am sensing things being panned to extremes on my headphones, and sound normally doesn't come out that way. It feels a bit warped.

All the best with your submission! Outside of the things I mentioned, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Poosac responds:

Hey! Thanks for putting out a review. I gotta say, you really have good drummer ears since I wasn't able to hear that slight delay. I went into fl to find the problem and yes there was a small gap between some notes and the beat line thingy https://imgur.com/a/rZLxool.

And about the weird panning. I just noticed until now. It wasn't my intention to pan the drums like that (I had no idea how they were rendered that way). So I (cheated) a little bit and changed the panning of the drums :** but next to that I didn't change a thing since yea, this is my submission to the competition. And the ending part I totally agree, I had a hard time finding a good ending for this piece, I thought this would be (good) enough, but yeah I totally agree.

All in all, thank you for this amazing review. I'm glad you enjoyed it! And I also wish you good luck with your submission!

[Energical morning (NGRMC-2018) [Remastered]]

To begin, I'm glad you found the feedback helpful. It's a lot easier on the ears now, every credit to you ^_^

It does feel a tad experimental, like the person below me said. The (kalimba? marimba? synth?) at the top that's playing the remixed melody gives it a feel that makes me think of Crash Bandicoot, at least the early Crash Bandicoot games. No seriously, it really does :D

It still feels a bit spartan, bare. It feels more punk, because a lot of punk hated what most general rock songs did and the musicality was not as important as the anger, emptiness, rebellion conveyed through it. But even for punk, it lacks a certain... oomph. There's a thing about a lot of rock songs where the guitar, bass, drums, kinda make your chest thump with the sheer sound of it. It's not to do with loudness -- it's to do with mixing, preamps, and a whole host of things about the sounds of the instruments that needs to be understood. Don't fret about not knowing it yet -- these things do take time, and I myself am still trying to grapple my way around it.

But I think, these things will come over time. You certainly have done a lot better than the last time -- onward and upward from here!

A suggestion for next time: see if you can't make that guitar chug. Like, chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a, mimicking the sound of someone strumming it. That could come in useful.

[Energical morning (NGRMC Remix)]

I know many will complain and say "well why did you leave me 1 star!? At least leave a review or something," and so I will.

To begin with, it's jarring, to the point that it hurts my ears. I've heard it said before, and I want to aspire to that -- but good music, they say, is the kind that you want to turn the volume up for, not down. The instrumentation is actually very painful and piercing.

When I listened to the track I began to wonder if you weren't simply coming from an EDM background and then substituting all your instruments for stereotypical rock ones. I was wrong on that front, this was a legit attempt at rock. Rock songs tend to have a grounding, bass + drums, guitar that complements it, then everything else. Your lead guitar is way too loud, and the drums are often inaudible compared to whatever else is playing.

I take it you've listened to many rock pieces before this. Please, take the time to listen to your favourite rock pieces, how they sound like, and why they sound good to you. Then, try to implement it, little by little. It could be instrumentation. It could be a nice grounding groove. Whatever it is, listening to things in the genre could certainly help you along.

And please -- don't give up. Knowing where you're at is half the battle, but you'll only get better from here if you keep trying.

[Purity 1]

The melody, chords and feel actually feel like Mylene Farmer's songs when it begins. Not so much when the piano does its trills later on, or later when the piece advances -- it gets that feel again in the end. It changes feels a lot, but the intro was what grabbed me the most.

The piano is mixed the best out of all of them -- I'm not sure about the strings; they sound a bit too synthesised for my taste. The instrumentation is otherwise effective, and it's one of those tracks where 'less is more.'

Erso responds:

Thank you for your criticism, I'll improve these things. I don't exactly understand what were you trying to say about Mylene Farmer's songs. Is it good, is it bad, I don't know.
Piano... «mixed». Don't be kidding me, the only thing I made with it is channel volume changing and maybe some velocity changes.
Synthesised strings... Well I imported them from DirectWave, as much as two other soundfonts. I tried searching different things but didn't find anything that would fit better than this one soundfont.