Troisnyx's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Oppression]

I'm getting a very old-style feel, like stuff I hear in tokusatsu series and films e.g. Ultraman, Kamen Rider... you have good melodies, and good chords, but there is no change in loudness that it sounds like an 80s MIDI. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Perhaps it is bad, in the way that there's no climactic finish -- every section has the same amount of tension. It sounds almost stereotypical for a piece of this genre, too -- oppression can take many forms, but this song gives me an idea of a fight, or danger, or some sort of emergency, withoutmit necessarily reflecting oppresion.

You build up and resolve quite well, coming back to the theme you introduced this piece with. I can sing it in my head and remember it. Props to you for this.

I'd have appreciated a bit more volume control for each individual instrument -- it all sounds like it's blaring through the headphones throughout... it otherwise sounds bland.

5/10.

EagleGuard responds:

Hey, thanks for the review. You are right: at the time I was aiming for a constant volume throughout, but I've come to realize that that isn't the best approach.

I couldn't really find any other negative points in your review, so it'd be great if you could provide some more feedback on the somewhat low score you've given this piece :)

[Empty]

You have an amazing sense of progression, and your chords are wonderful. I feel like I could learn a thing or two from you. Your guitar and piano are well played, and the drums are tasteful and minimalist. I already get the sense of staring out to a window.

I have no complaints about mixing.

A few pickles:

1) For words involving ripping one's flesh etc., more expression is due. A guitar riff? A crescendo in general? Emptiness can be expressed, but those lyrics sound edgy, angry, and need the anger to couple it.

2) I have to agree with alternativesolution on your enunciation. It sounds muddled and dragged through. Clarity could heighten the feelings this piece is trying to convey. If in doubt, try overpronouncing your syllables. Don't do so too close to the mic, but try regardless -- with changes in volume where needed. And perhaps, you'll find a world of difference.

3) The lyrics are generally well-written, but could use tweaking in places.

All in all, pretty solid, even with its kinks.

6.9/10.

DivoFST responds:

First of all you couldn't learn anything from me...sadly xD
Thanks for the kind words and i agree with the critics, unfortunately i still haven't found a good singing technique+Mixing that elevates the song instead of drowning it without power but i love to do vocal songs and maybe ill get it better next time :)
Thanks for the review Trois! :D

[Snowflake]

Right off the bat, I feel the speakers/headphones are blasting. Peaking. I hear crackles where I ought not to. In fact, just like Sequenced said, your drums have been drowned out.

You have a mix of the carefree and idyllic, and the energetic within this piece. Good balance. It's short, but I will not dock points for this.

However, I find that there's no sense of buildup. You're soft, then suddenly loud, suddenly soft again, then suddenly loud. The loud sections have equal volume to each other, and there's no climax for me to anticipate.

You have a good sense of chord progression, but I felt the piece was a tad repetitive. Vary it, switch it up perhaps?

Consideing you made this when you were bored (and probably directionless), props to you. But the piece itself feels like it needs to progress slowly, gradually, till it bursts of awesomeness.

5/10.

DFerociousbeast responds:

I put some of your points in the in thedoor6's review. I dont know what you mean by crackling btw, i dont hear any crackling at all. Maybe it's just when I slide up the clean which is natural and I cant really control that variable. Thank you so very much for the honest review!

[Save the Nebula]

I get sci-fi vibes, I suppose, but right off the bat, I find the piano a little too bright and dry for something which is meant to invoke awe as this. A little slowdown would have heightened the eerie quality of the intro.

The basses bring the piece to a nitty-gritty sort of life, almost post-apocalyptic. The synths are a bit hit-and-miss, sometimes they feel too high and dry, and sometimes, they fit just right.

Your strings in general are poignant, and make me thirsting for more. I can sort of sing the melody to this too, which is a plus.

I find that there's too little in the way of dynamics. Your loud-soft is heavily reliant on instrument layering, and when each part plays, there's no change in loudness. So for a large part it feels expressionless... dynamics could have really made it soar. I sense deep mysticism within this piece, because your chords and melodies evoke it. Your instruments evoke it. But it sounds unfortunately and sadly bland -- when I know in its heart of hearts it's not meant to be that way.

You've created a picture in my mind and credit where it's due; you are a world- builder. Points do have to be lost, however, for what is missing.

6.5/10.

DESHIEL responds:

Well it seems that I might have an ear for assembling some nice melodies, but Overally I don't know what I'm doing, that's not a joke thats how I see myself.

[Sunshine(Remaster)]

The intro sounds like the dewfall, rather serene, then builds up to this busyness -- but as a part trance song, I expect to be lost in the music, some wet samples (there's a lot of dry, and staying on the same bass note) -- 2:00 onwards really seizes me and brings trance to my mind. But that feeling quickly fades.

Would I have a feeling of wanting to lose myself in the music with this piece? Yes and no. It seems to be hit-and-miss. When those mid-range synths come in, and the voice comes in, yes, I feel like it. Otherwise, no... I'm left waiting almost emotionlessly. The melody sung by the voice is nice, I guess, but is so easily forgotten.

I have no issues with mixing. Something, however, is missing, that wow factor for this piece.....

5/10.

D-Chain responds:

Honest review and i respect it! 2:00 and onward is called Dance ;) so i dont know what i should trust.. your words or my knowledge? im not asking people to lose their mind in trance with this music piece. this is Bigroom. its made for the big scene not for the small home-listener scene. altho you might think its the other way around.. but today its different. Trance is dying, and a new style is quickly growing behind your back. the music scene is different from the past is what im saying.

[A sacrifice]

The piano is good, serene, beautiful, and perhaps adds a little bit of difference to the stock i - VI - III - VII chord progression you have here. However, it felt forced, unvaried, a build on the same four chords. The melodies felt unnatural, in the sense that they were almost *expected* considering the chords and style of your piece. It felt very repetitive...

It didn't quite feel 'sacrificial'. I would have expected a piece bearing the title to be a bit more poignant, varied on chords, with a sound effect or two used subtly, thrown in for good measure. For instance, an axe. Or a flame. Or something along those lines.

Mixing, I have no complaints about, but this piece just strikes me as bland, I'm afraid...

4/10.

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the review! You are right about the melodies, that is my biggest weakness. I am very impatient while making melodies and just leave it when I find something that sounds good. I am not a fan of those types of sound effects, I prefer sound effects that feel like they naturally belong in the song.

[Asylum]

The beginning had me surrounded in what seemed like walls of water, it was very, very atmospheric. I felt like I was diving, finding Atlantis. The strings and woodwinds that come in after are hasty, surreal, frightening.

When the percussion comes in, I still get this sense of haste, and it starts off like a stock piece of cinematic music, and builds up -- then you have this BAM! kind of feeling. A whole new world is created, one which I did not expect. A sanctuary in the midst of woe, that's sort of what this feels like -- and considering the purpose of your piece, you set out to do so well. That flute at the end (is it a flute?) is hauntingly beautiful.

While I find that some sections grab me more than others -- for instance, the beginning and the end touch me more than the middle -- I have to commend you for your outstanding ability to create the picture you desire in people's minds. At least in mine. When I listened to this, I did not have the description on screen. Towards the end I read it, and it was spot-on with what I felt. And such skill is worthy of admiration.

9/10; this is one of the more outstanding of the NGAU in my ears, thus far.

bassfiddlejones responds:

Thank you Trois, I always hold your feedback in high esteem. It sounds like I managed to communicate what I wanted, and I can't ask for more than that! Pax Christi, friend.

[Slow]

Right off the bat, I'm getting the vibe of being in some shady back alley, trying to punch my enemy and send him flying into the nearest manhole... so props to you for creating something that can evoke visual pictures.

There's a bit of variation on everything else but bass and chords -- and while I'm aware this is a short loop, it can kinda do my head in when I listen to it for long periods. There's a lot of lows and highs, but hardly any mids, which contributes to that gangsta feel, but splits my ears a little bit. I think that's something associated with music of this genre, rather than your skill, so I will not dock points for that.

Overall well done, but I feel it could do with a bit of variation.

4/5.

Jayk-O responds:

Thank you! :) I will keep this in mind,

[PartyDrums]

No buildup, no climax, nothing. Just a loop. And this sounds like stereotypical EDM to me, rather than anything which suggests world music. As the reviewer below me said, it's... boring. And I genuinely don't know what to suggest here, apart from extend the darn thing, put in a drop or two, vary those synths, turn it into a full piece that DJs can spin.

2/5.

BoRKman responds:

Thanks for the review!

[Over the River]

The first impression that I get is partly medieval, partly electronic céilidh -- but the styles sound too mixed up for me to be lost in the dynamism of this piece. Instead of a mishmash of everything and anything, it would have sounded perfect with only one EDM style of preference (house? trance?) and medieval style. Some parts sound like classic Sonic, which just doesn't fit. I love céilidhs, and when I hear something along the lines of a céilidh dance track, I want to dance out. I want to be merry. 4:38 is one example of sections I enjoy in this piece, and for what you did here, it was the climax -- but I could've sworn I was yearning for an even bigger climax...

I also notice a lack of humanisation in some instrumental parts -- they all sound like each note is being played at the same volume..... I've been notorious for that same error in past years.

Your melody hook is catchy, and your chords are amazing. Good chords are part of what makes a song special in my ears. Even in the sections which I find meh (e.g. 0:47 onwards), you show good skill with thenotation, your bass moves about playfully. Some parts of the melody don't catch me because they seem to be darting all over the place.

This song needs to be remade along the lines of a Celtic dance anthem -- full of expression, full of passion, all within the same context and genre, with a memorable melody extending beyond just the proverbial chorus -- but with the same good bass and chord work.

3.5/5.

larrylarrybb responds:

This song does have multiple genres, but I thought they merged together pretty fluidly. And a Celtic Dance based on this song's chorus would be pretty cool! I might do that one day if I get the time.