Troisnyx's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Kirby-Butter Building]

The mix throughout almost entirely borrows sounds/note patterns from the original, which doesn't sit too well with most of us. While it is a faithful recreation of Butter Building, we want to hear *you*, what makes this remix or cover *yours*.

The first half of the remix has those fast drums (quickstep), and honestly..... quickstep with an already busy-ish melody doesn't sit right... Perhaps it does make Kirby look like he's walking like a tubby ol' bear across the level, which is great, until you realise that there's a lot going on that you don't want to stifle the melody or the synths at the back.

The second half of the remix, the part that begins with the A chord, sounds simply beautiful, but again, as I said, it's a faithful recreation of the remix -- and I insist upon hearing a personal touch to video game remixes, simply because there are a lot of them out there and some must stand out above others.

No complaints about mixing, as I heard all the instruments in their proper place.

3.5/5.

cmperry1984 responds:

wll you know what, i could care less what you insist on because, in my own opinion if you are going to make a remix you should be faithful to the source material.

[Portal Anarchy!]

Nice piano intro, and I like the buildup after at, especially when the kick drum comes in. I love the sound of that kick drum <3 And here, I notice you've gone into a new melody after the first one. It transitions back to the main melody very well, and there's also a bit of instrument layering when that happens.

One thing I notice right off the bat is that there's no volume variation between the notes. Now, I've made this mistake too, with my older submissions. Whatever software you use, there should be some volume control thing (lines below the piano roll) which you can left-click manually or hold the left-click button and pass your mouse through.

The main melody repeats itself quite a lot, so why not add a bit of variation to the main melody? Keeping the chords as they are, but variation makes a change in how much a piece hooks a listener.

Also, I notice that the separate parts (basses, drums etc.) come in without any sort of buildup: they come in abruptly, but really, that's due to volume control. Learning to make a volume envelope for when they come in and when they go out (so that they may fade in / fade out) will be very, very useful here.

Solid effort; build up where the piece is found wanting and you'll have yourself a good piece in no time.

3.5/5.

[Happy Times]

Right off the bat, I notice an improvement from the last section, with more varied chords (and inversions), with STILL a more memorable melody...

Again, however, I notice that this is a few-second loop which could've been wrapped around itself during exporting: to have it as long as 4mn 16s would mean, we listeners expect buildup, instrument layering, dynamics changes, a bridge... before going back to the main theme.

3.5/5.

[Going Home (End Theme 1)]

Props for getting the chords, metrics etc. musically correct.

Granted, I'm aware this is a chiptune, but... here we find a few composition no-nos:

1) A loop that lasts for a few seconds, which DOES NOT BUILD UP with any layers of instrumentation, differing chords or sections, or even differing melody lines or dynamics,
2) And all that, coupled with a I - V - vi - IV chord sequence, which a lot of mainstream pieces are guilty of.

Even if this were an end theme with cutscenes or credits, part of what makes the piece memorable is not only the melody, it's the buildup: what goes into the substance of the piece. Let me give you a good example: Ashes of Dreams from Nier. Or even, the credits theme for Kingdom Hearts 1 (Capriccio I forget what the rest of the title is). Both of them have a recognisable melody, like yours. But what makes them stand out is that they tell a story. Every piece that tells a story must ACT like a story: it must build up, have a climax and a resolution -- and this piece has neither.

2/5.

[{Rose} Remastered]

The speed, the trance feel of this piece, and just the fast counter-melodies of this piece -- it all reminds me of something out of Touhou. Beautiful.

[Circus To My Vanity]

This is the first of the submissions that stood out to me for this contest. <3 All the best.
And yes, it is disturbing... but I guess that's what the song is trying to convey? I get the image of a circus with all those flashy lights going on and there's this atmosphere of people crowding round wanting to see what's going on, and in the background, somewhere in a hidden corner outside the venue, is this creepy clown who wasn't invited to the proverbial party, rubbing his hands together as he conspires to ruin the night for everyone.

Beautiful rendition of a beautiful song. ^_^

ZipZipper responds:

Aahhh yay thank you! <3 All the best to you too.

[Spooky Game Tune]

Someone needed to remake Dark Castle with much better music than that Mega Drive version of Toccata and Fugue in D minor...

But that having been said: beautiful instrumentation, beautifully frightening. Turning this into a loop would be great, but I would also recommend throwing in a counter-melody or two so as to build up on the tension. Not to say that there isn't buildup already -- but we can only do so much with short pieces.

4.5/5.

ChineseBoar1995 responds:

Thanks for the review! And also thanks for the nice recommendation, too! I'll consider on that whenever I make the loop. :D

[Yuna's Theme - Cover]

Last I remembered, Yuna's Theme was a tad slower than this... but the airy feel of the higher notes makes up for it. I can sense expression in the playing, but this one seemed as if it was rushed through, rather than savoured.

I did notice a few parts where you made an attempt to make the piece your own. That's great; remember however that Yuna in Final Fantasy X is more subdued and fragile -- don't rush that theme when it's trying to convey these emotions.

3.5/5.

Aikata responds:

I really appreciate your critique. I tend to get a bit enthusiastic and rush through this piece a bit. Maybe I'll give it another shot with a bit softer tone?

Thanks again for the review!

[The Dragon's Honor]

It's a short track, but I enjoyed it. As a bodhran player and Celtic music afficionado, I heartily approve of this. <3

SilverPoyozo responds:

I love Celtic music as well, but only recently I've got the VSTs to actually pull it off.

Well, I'm glad you liked it!

[Lascia ch'io Minimal]

The song itself featured some very solid ideas, but I agree with xToxicReaper below me; at 1:00 there was a very abrupt tempo change and an even more abrupt change of feel.

What would've been nice is this: Keep the entire piece at the same tempo throughout (if it's 120 BPM, keep it at 120 BPM). For that transition in the middle, I can tell the melody and chords could be built up on far better. So, picture it this way:

Section A: Buildup from drums to the minimal sounds/breakdown
Section B (1-minute mark): Still maintaining the same tempo, but introducing that melody which we all heard there.
Section C: With more buildup and a little bit more instrumentation, continue the melody from Section B, and then RESOLVE IT.
Section D: Breakdown from there. Start by taking off the piano, then the synths, until what we have is similar to the ending of this piece.

That way, the piece won't sound like there's a break in the continuity somewhere.

The sounds themselves are alright, and I haven't any complaints about the mixing -- partly because it sounds balanced on my headphones and partly because I have much more to learn on mixing myself.

3/5.

Airprogressive responds:

thank you 4 your review & tips!