Troisnyx's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - A delicate cycle]

I left a review on the artwork and what I understood it to be, and with that, I'll review this one.

The mood of this one is a hard one to strike. It is an abrasive subject matter, drawn with soft shading, about booze and its effects. You do illustrate it to a point, the higher synths you use sound like what we'd imagine bubbles to be. The music in the background -- I can't really decide.

Because on the one hand, the parts that sound lusher sound beautiful and glamorous, and in keeping with that confidence she gains, but the softer parts feel a bit abrasive to my ears, something that the original artist didn't do. The low chords, I'm not sure about them. The same with the pad when it comes in; I imagined it could be eased in just like the image eases us into what is actually pretty abrasive. It's quite abrupt and jarring when it enters.

The percussion is quite alright. It gives the feeling of a pop song. There's not much bass to back it up though, in the softer parts.

I'm not sure what to feel about this. Mostly positive I guess? I'd love to hear this sung to, completely sung to, with a soft, sultry voice and RNB timing, because it really gives off that vibe.

The ending was quite abrupt. I wondered if the synth lead should just stay playing on its own along with the bubbling sound FX, to show what happens when the girl gets plastered. It felt as though this thing dealt with the other two phases of the image, the glamour and confidence, and a bit of the behavioural change.

Mixing is on point.

[Nyctophilia ~ Irrational]

Right off the bat, the melody is catchy -- but would benefit from a little bit more reverb and a lot more expression; right now, it seems as though they're round about the same volume level, each note on that melody. The drums are spot-on, I guess.

The song has the feel of a pop song, but only if that lead is sung -- it gets annoying by the 1:18 mark when one realises it's been repeated a lot. It doesn't give me chance to appreciate the nice buildup going on in the instrumental, and I really mean it -- the instrumental gently eases in.

1:58 was a nice change of pace. That pad that comes in for added rhythm sounds quite nice in the whole mix.

I'm at 3:31 and I find the song itself quite repetitive; without singing or variations in the melody it feels that way to me. I found myself wondering if it was going to be the case for 6 minutes. The pad at 4:12 could've been added earlier, to build up the song, or to merely give it a gentle ending.

You seem to have gotten the mix down well. The only thing I'd recommend is to perhaps revisit your sections, see what arrangement of sections makes songs enjoyable to listen to by most people -- and perhaps see where it takes you.

3.5/5. Voted 4.

Nyctophilia responds:

This has helped me a lot and I know how to improve... Thanks! I can't really add lyrics as I'm not great at singing and can't find vocal artists (well it's more that I haven't really tried but never mind XD), but yeah this has really helped me, thanks!

[Wind of Prairie]

There are things I could nitpick about this one; the lower hand drums being so heavily reverbed is one, the jarring shift from high reverb to low reverb is another, but I'm not going to do that here. Probably the only thing I'd suggest is about the same reverb on the flutes and other winds when the rest of the music dips out, but other than that:

I think this music needs a jarring shift. A lot of music of the prairies that we know and love comes from idealised western films, which of course don't paint an accurate picture of what happened here -- many of the settlers fled persecution in their own lands, only to persecute others. The strings(?) have chords that sound like fraying nerves, which is precisely what happened here.

If anything, if I try to picture a scene to this music, it'd be that of the mistrust (and perhaps distrust) that comes about when the natives and the settlers met on the prairie, with air distorting in front of one's eyes due to intense heat if you go further south -- that even if either side says they mean no harm, both sides are extremely apprehensive of each other and they know that one side is basically going to proverbially skewer the other in the rear. I can see it now: I can see faces twitching in disgust, just as the natives and settlers meet.

eluukkanen responds:

Thank you for the broad review of the track Troisnyx! Idea was originally to show the distrust between native and settler folk, so I am glad you got that out of that. Thank you Troisnyx

[The Groblins]

The instrumental reminds me of Simon the Sorcerer, or the old PC game series by that name. Until those pads come in when the pace slows down, it doesn't quite fit.

I do get the general feel of people making mischief, but at the same, musically, it's all over the place. The rhythm of the notes certainly does give a playful, mischievous feel, but chord/melody wise, they clash too much for it to be entirely palatable to my ears.

Also, the ending is quite abrupt. It'd have been nice to turn this into a loop, I'd have liked to hear it as a piece of background music.

I have no complaints with the mixing at this point.

TL;DR: Rhythmic feel is there. Really not sure what to say about the melody and chords. There is a part of me that likes this a lot, and a part of me that doesn't.

4/5?

Trash-Man-1 responds:

I agree with everything you said. I wondered myself about about the pad section. I'll try to be more careful on future songs. I have a nasty habit of going all over the place. I'll also try to extend my outros as well. As for the clashing, it was a risky choice I took, so in the future this shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the review. Nice to get the information.

[Easter is Coming]

I have no complaints with the mixing, only the feel. ;_; It feels a bit.... underwhelming for an Easter track. The only thing I can really associate this is with green blades rising. The piano and harp sound mysterious, and that's nice, but it just doesn't really go anywhere.

Springtime evokes the feelings you've put into this piece; Easter is quite different. When I talk about Easter, I talk about a burst of joy, I talk about new life, I talk about resurrection, about hope that comes rushing into you when it had been previously lost through the bleakness of winter (and the bleakness of life). All that was missing from the piece, and so it's kinda meh to me. Easter is my favourite holiday of the year because of what it signifies, and I especially hate that it's given such underwhelming treatment compared to Christmas, even in music.

eluukkanen responds:

Thank you for the feedback Troisnyx! Nice to see your view and take on it. Easter means many things to different people, nice to hear your thoughts on it.

[The Sleepy Port City Of Nautilene]

Sounds like visual novel material, or JRPG material (like the kind that would feature in Ni no Kuni or Ar tonelico or something). You know, the whimsical kind. And considering I've been bombarded with that stuff lately, I feel right at home.

I think the ambience is quite spot-on, and I'd imagine playing while lost in a town or something. But the whimsical feel of the piece is achieved by the melody and chords jumping here and there, which doesn't make it stick out as a piece I would sing in my head after I've played it.

I have no complaints with regards to production / mixing.

[The Awakening]

The beginning had a mighty ancient feel to it, but when the rest of the music kicked in with the electronic things, it gave me a Xenoblade Chronicles feel. I think the violin is actually identical, too, in terms of the sound patch used. Xenoblade Chronicles has one of my favourite OSTs so I am glad that you captured something of that feel, if only to my ears.

EliteFerrex responds:

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm not familiar with the XenoChron OST, so I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the review!

[Sharing a Drink with the Midnight Sun]

There is something very lounge-y about it. A satisfying kind; you know I am a sucker for good chord progressions and you've done exactly that. It is singable too; I found myself actually almost singing the melody line that has appeared at least twice in this piece. I would happily listen to this toasting the summer goodbye -- it feels like a piece for the twilight in spite of its title.

Well done, Lucid. And just a final note on the sound quality, it didn't sound too choppy to me, or particularly harsh. It felt like a mellow-ish, beautiful thing that you'd play in the living room, which is probably one of my favourite sort of ambiences. So, no worries there. ^_-

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I can kinda see what you mean with lounge-y, since it's a pretty rhythmic piece, with many "number" chords :)
Since the challenge revolved around chords, I figured it was right for me xD
I love playing around with unconventional progressions, while I try to make them sound nice. It's cool to hear that the composition is singable too!!

I'm glad it doesn't sound choppy. While I added a VST to the MIDI, I tried to soften the worst parts. Thanks for listening, as well as for your input! :D

[Crossroads]

The intro provided a slightly Metroid-like feel, but I couldn't make out the phone call too well.

When the rhythm kicks in, it does sound quite tight.

Not sure what to make of the piano or the chords; they're fine as a sequence of four bars and do provide a sense of melancholy. I think, it works well with everything else in the background, but just felt a bit too spartan when repeated by itself.

2:20, I am glad you brought a bit of the intro.

2:30, you transitioned well, but maybe my taste is that there ought to be a halfway point, however short in time, between that absolute nothing and then everything coming in.

I have no complaints about the production; everything I pointed out was musicality, I guess.

The title does fit the mood of this piece quite well. It brings to mind someone who has either been snubbed, or fired from an important job, or abused, or in distress and calling the police, arriving at a crossroads, and that phone call bit was probably left ambiguous because you wanted to leave it to us...? It's a good mood piece, but a tad bit repetitive for me.

5TanLey responds:

fair points, definitely still have things to learn

thanks for your words :)