Troisnyx's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Drone Fight]

There's a part Touhou, part Final Fantasy feel to this. Your chord usage is *excellent*!
The theme itself could do with some dynamic downtime, like at about 1:10, before building back up to the chord progression that you hear in the beginning.

Also, quick question -- how come you haven't set it as a loop?

[AIM2020 - Rainy Night]

This is an Art-Inspired Music contest review.
Full disclosure: my rubrics include five factors, each out of 10, for a total of 50.

COMPOSITION: 7/10
Excellent use of rubato, dynamics, good use of purposeful dissonance. There are some recurring melodic fragments that I recall after having listened to the piece in its entirety. These help ground the progression.

I guess it feels quite weird and wacky in place. Ending's quite abrupt.

PRODUCTION: 10/10
No complaints as far as this piece is concerned.

EMOTIONAL RESPONSE: 7/10
I do get a slight eerie feeling from the piece.

ORIGINALITY: 9/10
I'm getting both a Stranger Things vibe and a retro video game vibe from this, though the influences find a happy medium together here.

RELEVANCE TO ARTWORK: 7/10
The sound effects and some parts of the piece fit the artwork well, though I'm not sure when it seems to take a bright, arcade-y feeling as opposed to the darkness and dim light and fear of the artwork. I do get a bit of a remote horror movie vibe that *could* possibly make those sections fit...

TOTAL: 40/50

[AIM2020 - Petrochemical]

This is an Art-Inspired Music contest review.
Full disclosure: my rubrics include five factors, each out of 10, for a total of 50.

COMPOSITION: 9/10
Loving the use of the grab in the main chord motif. I love the percussion in here. There are inklings of melody dipping in and out that I feel I can sing back with little effort. Nothing felt abrupt, and everything had its place. When you introduced some wilder variations to some already familiar melodic motifs it was really nice, and when you changed the key towards the end it was a very pleasant surprise.

I would have perhaps appreciated a little quieter part, and an ending whose features did get used a bit more in the rest of the piece.

PRODUCTION: 10/10
No complaints as far as this piece is concerned.

EMOTIONAL RESPONSE: 8/10
It felt decently industrial, about on-point.

ORIGINALITY: 9/10
It sounds reminiscent of the Mega Drive-era soundtracks, but you've varied it enough to really own this style.

RELEVANCE TO ARTWORK: 9/10
Atmospherically, this is a very nice fit. The music does suggest some more activity that I need to mentally stretch to see past what's being shown, but it is a nitpick at this juncture.

TOTAL: 45/50

[Spirits of Ancient Giants]

Intro reminds me of something out of Xenoblade Chronicles. Perhaps the title is also influencing me.

I love that melody that introduces itself early on: it's memorable, it's singable, and I could catch myself singing it. You've injected a lot of emotion into them that it feels as though the instruments themselves are being made to sing. I'm aware that this is your outlook with a lot of your instrumental music, and I'm glad to see it being put to use.

You've also introduced techniques in here that rarely get used in the vast majority of cinematic pieces I've heard, the trombone slide being the most notable one to me.

You've kept this piece varied enough to sound like it goes a fair way against the grain. Also, key changes are my weakness: that F# minor section was very, VERY good. The transition back to the original key was seamless and barely noticeable -- sometimes, simplicity speaks a lot louder, and you used it quite well.

All in all, solid effort. Well done.

[Buttercup ft. Kagamine Rin V4X English]

The melody is a quirky one -- some parts feel like they're meandering, but some parts feel memorable. That being said, I'm not quite sure what to think about this beginning section -- it doesn't quite hold my attention well.

THOSE CHORDS ON THE PIANO ARE JUST PERFECTION. THOSE 7THS. And leading up to "I wanna be with you every day", that satisfied me. From the instrumental breakdown onwards, you certainly got my head turning, and I'm glad that I didn't regret listening to this and stop it right away -- because I could get lost in this longer bit of the piece.

4:26 has the chords of "I wanna be with you every day" but the verse lyrics, and I like that switch-up of things.

I haven't got complaints regarding mixing preferences -- it feels like the drier kind of trance that has sounds popping up on my left and my right, and takes me back to some older Japanese V2 and V3 pieces.

littlemusicboy1628 responds:

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm really glad you enjoyed it. <3

[Week Four]

I like how it opens up -- it feels like bubbles, like an experiment at its beginnings. Or someone in stasis being monitored. It gives me that feel.

The drums are spot-on; the way they're done here remind me of a number of Sting songs. They feel quite natural and don't demarcate the 5/8 in stereotypical ways. I have no complaints about the mixing or the production.

You've experimented with quite a few textures and different ways of feeling, all the while using just two chords. There's a lot of variation and dynamism packed into the 1'50" of this piece. For what it is, it is well done -- I would, however, love to hear you expand on this a *lot* more as there are several different directions I could see this going into, and it does feel quite unfinished to me. The music feels like it's attempting to tell me a story, but it's been cut short -- and it's just the kind that I want to sit down and listen to intently from start to end.

I could see further diversion into other odd signatures as it expands (7/8, seamless 10/8 or others that I haven't mentioned), breaks and lifts in the tension that are only teased here.

vocaloutburst responds:

Hahaha hearing you say that it feels unfinished and it needs more means that my plan worked PERFECTLY!!! This track is apart of a series where I make an instrumental track for the purpose of others adding whatever they want on top of it! Also that 7/8 or 10/8 idea sounds wild...I must experiment XD

[The Life of an A.I.]

Lyrics are incredibly strong and simple; music is well mixed but I feel it could use a touch more gravitas to complement the severity of the lyrics.

Incidentally, I spent much of my early evening watching all of 2001: A Space Odyssey and I am reminded of HAL, and the starkness and eerie quality of what he says is complemented either by silence or by fitting ambience that sounds fairly eerie -- I guess I'd have loved to hear this here because the words themselves can send a shudder down the spine.

FairSquare responds:

Hmm, yeah, i haven't made music in such a long time so to get back into it i wanted to start simple. I get what you mean that the music could be a bit more complementary to the lyrics. Overall the lyrics are what i'm most proud of in this creation.
The HAL thing is quite a coincidence btw, haha.
Thank you for the feedback!

[(Breaks) i hope every one feels grate >:C]

So many bleeps and bloops 👀

I'm listening without headphones and I have no complaints about the production. Will probably edit review once I've heard it on headphones; also, apologies for my lacklustre reviewing.

The wobbling lead, that thing ascending and descending, that stays with me. It's not every day that I can say that I actually do remember an EDM song seemingly made for the clubs — most of these seem to be made for the moment. This one, though, I don't know why, stays with me a fair bit after the song is over.

[Art Talks - S0E1]

It's Ludum "Dare," as in the English word "dare." 😂

Very, very nice features indeed. Gives me lots of works and people to keep an eye out for. On the part of your commentary, I love that you keep it down to earth. No frills, just the emotion in your voice.

Thanks for the shout-out; I quite enjoyed our little collab.

Xinxinix responds:

Same here!! I had so much fun drawing it! ^^

[EPISODE 1]

Stellar lineup and commentary and voice acting on the part of all involved!

By the way, the track from Astgaban that got featured was *not* composed by me, but by Lystrialle, and it is not Astgaban either. It was Dawn - The Sophian Principle.

Xinxinix responds:

Right! It's the first song off of Astgaban, and I apologize. I was referencing the album the entire time and paid no attention to the song name.

Forgive me!