Troisnyx's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Scrap Brain Dance Remix?]

I gave it a three, because the notes were alright. But with dance pieces, especially Sonic remixes, you want to stand out. And this piece just didn't.

The dynamics need work, especially. The entire piece is almost at the same dynamic range, it feels monotonous. A good dance remix would wind things down at some point, build up the tension, and then come back in full force -- I trust you'll understand what I mean when you hear good dance pieces.

Then, samples. They were good. But I tend to be very, very iffy about the transition between the intro and the main theme. First, soft 8-bit samples, then a loud synth? Something doesn't click here. In the original Genesis version one was only slightly softer than the other -- it was noticeable, but it wasn't a drastic change.

Also, try a little bit of variation. I've noticed that the bass line is similar to the Genesis version -- pretty much everything is, except for the drums and samples. Adding variation will give this piece your own personal touch, and that's what listeners are here for.

[Road to Afterlife]

I'm a very plainchant-ish / praise and worship person, but you've brought me back to middle ground with this piece. I'm going to go listen to some more things like these at some point.

In all honesty, though. This thing is sublime. The voice especially, and I was quite surprised to hear this kind of quality coming out from a MIDI voice. I do wish this thing had an ending, though -- a definitive ending which could either signify personal judgement, or salvation, either way. I imagine that'll justify the piece far better.

It's lovely as is, and I've enjoyed listening to your pieces -- I enjoyed listening to this one!

sorohanro responds:

Thank you for the very nice review.
Kind of finish in a question sort of... feel... I guess we'll have to find out for ourselves if there is "personal judgement, or salvation" :)

[RAC Indonesian Entry]

Having grown up at that side of the world, I like how you practically turned the guitar into a gamelan ensemble.

That being said, I'd like to recommend one thing: practically every gamelan ensemble I've heard, live or recorded, has a pentatonic scale. If I were to play this in C, then the notes I would generally be using are C, D, E, G and A. This thing's in F, so that'll make F, G, A, C, D. Being a teacher, you might be more well-versed in this than I am, but that's what'll make the piece sound a lot more realistically gamelan-like.

I don't know why this was voted down. I mean granted, it can be improved, but I quite like it.

[Urbanikanius (reworked)]

I can handle trance and repetitive music once I know the genre, but really, nothing stands out. Really, I recognise these as the DirectWave Dreampads (I've actually used them for Whispers in the Rain and Arise Once More) with a beat slapped onto it. I'm fine with repetition (songs need some degree of it for certainty), but:

Songs need to build up, even though they are repetitive. Yes, the drums have some buildup, but that's it. There is no progression that lets you dive deeper into the piece. So because of that, this piece has no oomph. If you don't want to use so many chords, if you want to stick with just G, there are many ways of doing it while pulling the person deeper. I suggest you listen to one version of the Vocaloids counting Pi to one single G chord (the Aozorised version) -- that should give you an idea of buildup.

The whole point of Trance is to make the person feel lost in the music. That's what we see with at least some people when they're in, say, Ministry of Sound. This doesn't make me feel really lost in the music; it feels terribly disjointed.

However, I must commend you for your mixing -- in many ways I find you're better than me for it.

[Somewhere]

Pretty dreamy and whimsical. Your voice is lovely, and the buildup on the keys fits this piece a lot. :D I love this. You are especially expressive in this piece.

Again, I must reiterate that you have good chords, and as a keyboardist/pianist myself, I take notice.

Into my favourites list it goes! :D

bearkilgore responds:

Thank you very much! I really appreciate your observations and kind words! :)

[Bleep Bleep]

You were pretty right about the percussions being off. But those square waves are lovely. Also, you've got awesome chords!

Up to 1:50 it seems quite repetitive with the same themes being used over and over again without much variation (except for the high square wave). The percussion right after that diverts things a little, but then it's back to the original sequence. This would work well for a looped piece of video game music, but for a song, it needs its oomph -- something to draw in listeners as the song progresses.

[Drift Away (Test)]

There needs to be some buildup from verse to chorus, and I didn't hear much of it. I'm aware that you played this whole thing by yourself, and I salute you for this. But if the verse were softer than the chorus, we'd hear some expression going. Right now, we don't quite. That aside, you were in time, and there were no slips.

I'll be sure to listen to your other works and comment!

bearkilgore responds:

Yeah, this was just a test ... That was my first day at Newgrounds and I was still learning how it works. I wasn't really trying to perfect that one so it doesn't have much in the way of dynamics. Today it has been 17 days since I joined Newgrounds and I'm really likin' it :)

[MPC: Enlightened Soul]

Hello, fellow Mario Painter. :D
A few things to note:

1) Volume control. You've got the green bars below to regulate the volume; try making use of them. I understand that this is your first song, and like you, I did not make use of the volume control when I made my first Mario Paint piece. But you'd do well to remember that. ^_- It especially shows in percussions when the drums are all the same volume and don't sound natural...

2) Chord variation. The piece sounds a little bland when the same chords are repeated all the way through. Try a little more variation! This, if not anything else, is the aspect that gashes the listening experience for me.

3) Buildup. You built up the piece well with a bit more instrument layering in each section. Also, the intro was quite good.

Congrats on your first song -- build up on what's good, knock out the kinks and you'll be well on your way to making better pieces!

Kasperkain responds:

Many thanks! Hearing good advice from an expert always makes me happy. I'll do my best to improve :)

[The Legend Of Link Act:1]

I like the trance twist you've given this piece, and your voice is lovely! It's slightly off timing at the beginning, in places, but it doesn't gash the piece too much.

The rap section sounds terribly forced, though. The song's lyrics sound natural and are not hard on the ears when you're singing them. The narration is good too. As for the rap song, try making the lyrics more natural -- so that even when you're forcing them out, they don't sound like they've been written solely for the purpose of rhyming.

Good job; knock out the kinks and you're on your way.

GameBoyFireworks responds:

Good constructive criticism. Thanks!

[Clown survival]

This one is good -- it has some comic relief, it's disturbing (like something you'd see off a zombie clown video game), and it's in tune.

I would agree with the posters below me that it has to be louder. I was initially going to complain about the lack of buildup but then heard that the percussions are varied as this piece goes further. I would love to have seen the other parts actually buildup.

I love the introduction and the ending, very nice!

JoooRDz responds:

thankyou again! i just didnt record at a high enough volume -_-