Troisnyx's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Adventure Time Lullaby]

This sounds like the beginning of an Adventure Time storybook... imagine, a children's book with Adventure Time pictures, on a table, and as this song progresses, the pages turn (think the intro of The Sword in the Stone! :D).

The raw voice and the celesta really work wonders. The lyrics make the piece sound very homely, and I like that a lot. The ending just makes me a little misty-eyed -- in a really good way.

My only pickle with this is that the same melody is used on loop. So our song structure is essentially A-A-A-A-A. You could actually introduce a little B section, keeping the raw voice and celesta. Like, a different melody and different chords, but still keeping the feel. So, slightly varied, you'd have an A-B-A-B-A structure. A bit of variation is what will drive the last nail in the winner's plaque for this piece.

I really enjoyed this, and thank you so much for sharing!

4.5/5.

[.For All Which Lost.]

The intro is very reminiscent of Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II (especially Castle Oblivion and The World that Never Was). These are dark areas, and the music has hints of subtlety. What would be beautiful here is if you had a little bit more in the way of dynamics.

Then, come to 1:00... oh man, once again, I love those drums <3 There are chords that don't click together with the melody, so a rewriting of these chords is due. Remember, it's your first song, but it can stand to be better -- so don't be afraid to show it in all its full glory! Rewrite those chords -- inversions, what have you -- and trust me, you'll have a winner.

That syncopated violin melody around 3:00 was beautiful, but it could stand with a bit more of a counter-melody. A melody from, say, a solo cello, backing it, with solid chords.

Unlike the last two I reviewed, this one... I could already sense the good in it from the minute I started listening to it. Again, knock out the kinks, and you will have a winner.

Because this piece is about the old battlefield, where his friends, and finally, the hero, die... allow me to ask you to look up a clip on YouTube. "Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix Secret Ending". This illustrates the point rather well. Watch the scene, listen to the music, absorb the atmosphere... and remember which points in the piece you want the tension to rise and fall.

3/5.

[.Dance Of The Shadow.]

Thoughts.

The main problem here is the vocal sample. The vocals here need to be crisp, with short delay and *on the beat*. This piece talks about a very grave situation, something like a piece of music about a dictatorship or an oppressive leadership. Failing to nail the vocals has really gashed my experience of this piece. Because it happens in TWO main sections, we are left beginning the piece on a bad note and ending the piece on a bad note.... Please, if you can, PLEASE rectify that.

That piano after the first vocal section is beautiful, but once again, I maintain that it needs more reverb... There also doesn't seem to be much volume change between some of the piano notes... so a bit more humanising is due. It's a small tweak, but it's readily doable. : )

That specato violin around 2:24 is really, really spot-on and does a lot to heighten the tension of the piece. Well done for using it. Also, I love those drums that kick in around 3:00. I'm a stickler for rhythm. <3

The premise behind this piece is sobering, and if you can knock out those kinks, let me assure you, you'll have a winner in hand. But because we began *and* ended on a bad note with those off-beat, delayed, echoey vocals... I can't say this is something that'll give me chills down my spine, at least not yet. Not until you rectify those kinks.

2/5.

[.Single Step.]

Right off the bat, I must say that this piece has a good sense of chords and melody. You've at least nailed these two foundations.

But this is where it all ends, unfortunately. I have a number of issues with this piece.

1) You uploaded this piece as a loop, when it sounded like either a finished piece or a work in progress. There was no seamless loop. And for 1'18", it's really, really short and could stand for a LOT MORE expansion.

2) The piano could do with some extra reverb. It needs body, especially for those sections where the piano comes in on its own.

3) The strings sound ethereal, but they sound more like backing to a more pulsing buildup. There's very slow attack, which really doesn't help the piece's atmosphere too much.

4) And finally, my BIGGEST point of contention: BUILDUP. All the points I have mentioned just now have led to this. This song is about a single step, a new beginning. A single step should lead to more, shouldn't it? That piano did suggest a single step, but there wasn't much buildup to suggest running, leaping steps from that point onwards, which is what every human heart yearns for.

Pulsing specato strings (and I mean all orchestral strings) can start to kick in when you're illustrating the next step. And then, full orchestra. But more importantly, a climax and a proper ending. This ending sounded like, "kthxbai". Not a very good first step now is it? You could keep the solo piano in the ending once the climax is over, to resolve the piece, but you don't want to leave the music hanging like you did here.

Pieces like these are meant to uplift listeners, and I think you and I know that too well. And in terms of uplifting, this piece could've done *so much more*, it really hurts.

2/5.

gridcrawler responds:

Constructive criticisms like this are extremely rare, at least for me. Thank you for taking your times to write them. All the things you said are right and I have no objection, at all.

Took note, this will be my priority of fixing this month. Thanks again.

[Skyfall]

A vast improvement from the last time -- the vocals are cleaner than the last two songs I reviewed. In most cases, the melody stands out, which is great! There are one or two off notes, but it really didn't detract from my enjoyment of the songs. The chords in the back are very well executed, and you've also got a soulful manner of singing which is fleshed out a lot more than the two pieces I've last heard.

Might I say, everytime the chorus (that part that begins with "Let the sky fall") kicks in, I feel a tug at my heartstrings. This piece started with a rather typical James Bond-ish feel, but then took a rather emotional turn, which I enjoyed very, very much.

5/5.

[RicePirate! (JakkMAU5)]

Right off the bat, I see an improvement in the instrument buildup and the parts. You're not relying on counterpoint too much at least in the beginning.

The drums are at the same volume throughout, as is the synth making the bass part, which makes it monotonous. However, the drop with the vocals before everything kicks back in is quite good.

What would be appreciated is if you could use volume envelopes to introduce the parts.... many sections of this piece sound like they need to come in gradually. Also, 2:54 had about the same intensity as a little before 1:00 -- the end needs a climactic sort of finish and then resolve well.

The voice clips, though they come in at good points, they sound rather disjointed and don't blend well with the rest of the music -- filters? Possibly incorporating them into the music itself? The one that really left a bad taste in my mouth was the use of the RicePirate jingle towards the end. Because I insist on voices blending in with the music, the voice alone "RicePirate!" could've been used. When you included the whole jingle, it felt like an awkward key change and feel change.

tl;dr:
1) VOLUME AUTOMATION, PLEASE. Without it, the piece sounds rather monotonous.
2) Please consider incorporating the voices into the music rather than as their separate elements, because if this is meant to be a remix, blending it in will give harmony and continuity.
3) Consider filtering (and adding automation on these filters for) some of these voices. You can make a lot of effects with those, and in a remix, you're aiming to take those elements from RicePirate's movies and make them your own.

3/5.