ChronoNomad's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Till ett träd]

This piece kept me enthralled from start to finish. So many rare and wonderful chord variations, it was like being in a hall of mirrors that shows something different depending on where you look, but it was instead crafted for the sense of hearing rather than sight.

As always, your fingers dance with seeming effortlessness across the keys. So graceful, yet commanding, as you coax the music into being. I am reminded why the piano is, was, and will forever be my favorite instrument, as I get lost within the shifting chords and melodies. What else is there to say, but "thank you."

I am sorry to hear about your computer issues, and I can certainly relate. May they be resolved for you in short order, and I wish you all the best. It truly does nothing to mar your masterful performance.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thank you for the listen, the love, and the review!
I'm glad that you can't really tell about the computer issues. I hope I get them sorted out quickly too. Basically, I'm changing some hardware in my laptop, and I basically had to reset everything. I'm lucky I am able to compose on my piano, so that I only had to do minimal work in (my newly reinstalled) Cubase. I literally only had one piano library available for this project, and one reverb (+ EQ and such in Cubase; the production).

Even so, I spent quite some time on this piece, since I wanted it to be pretty, intricate and unique. For my live performance, however, just in case... I think I'll simplify the part around 2:30, as it's a bit risky (fun, but very disorienting to play). We shall see!

Thanks again for the support ^____^

[~SW~ Synaptic Surge]

There's a really nice, super slow build straight out of the gate here, and you introduce a lot of your elements gently over that first minute. I'm loving the pinched square lead that comes in after the drop, and all of those lovely grace notes really add spice to the mix. Excellent use of pitch bends throughout.

I can definitely hear the neuro influence at the heart of it all. Your percussion adds drive to the music very nicely, is often totally frenetic, and it just plain fits. There really isn't anything that I find the least bit detracting in your mix, so I don't have any qualms about dropping a hearty 5 on you for this baby. Beautifully done!

[endK - Resonance]

Everything about this is dead sexy, endK. Your mix is so crisp, I want to eat it with salsa. So glad that you decided to dip your toe in the Synthwave pool, man. I felt the same kind of weird ambivalence before finally making "Pulse of the Mind's Eye," but I'm ultimately really glad that I did. Now there's an itch to do it again sometime.

That key change at 3:47 is so simple, but it gives me goosebumps every time. Dropping everything else and focusing on your Toms right beforehand is highly effective. Your instrumentation is vividly appropriate and totally on point throughout the track, and that's half the battle right there. But man, you've crafted some truly fantastic melodic content over the course of four and a half minutes. Huzzah!

endKmusic responds:

Yeah, this was kinda new for me. Genre as well as 'sudden-back-to-chorus-half-step-key-change', no matter how cliche the concept is.
The goosebumps and are what matters. (planting the itch also) ;p
Damn those salsa compliments. I can't even. <3
Thanks for your kind words, always appreciate your insight Chrono!
Now I'm off to listen to Pulse.
Cheers!

[RPG Boss Battle]

Hey, McG! This sounds really good to me, man. Tons of tension, which certainly fits the Boss Battle theme. A bit more on the creepy side of things, which brings to mind such titles as Parasite Eve and Resident Evil. I'm not sure if you've already adjusted the distortion on that bass or not, but the amount of fuzziness sounds good to me.

Lots of subtle stuff going on within the mix, and your percussive elements are quite effective at creating the right kind of atmosphere. While there may not be a ton of melodic variance, you've broken things up every so often with different sorts of transitions, which helps to both ramp up and maintain the overall level of tension.

I'd be curious to know just what kind of boss is actually being battled here, but since it's an ongoing VG project you probably can't say. The music brings to mind something dangerous and dire; a true threat that needs to be vanquished. The previous suggestion of a Lich doesn't seem too far off the mark, especially since I was personally thinking it would work well for some kind of powerful undead fiend, too. That said, it could be for just about anything or anyone who's gone full dark, no stars.

It's always great to hear new music from you, Dan! May the RPG music gig be kind to you, and I look forward to hearing more. Cheers!

McGorilla42 responds:

Hey, Chrono! :) :)

Thank you as always for your long and detailed responses and feedback - I really appreciate it hugely!

As for the boss: I'm not entirely sure which boss it is for specifically (he wanted generic tracks for the time being), but I played his game and the first boss I encountered and was thinking of when writing this was a big, disgusting undead monster, so I'm glad that came across!

I haven't gone back to adjust the mix yet, but I'm working on a whole lot of tracks which I'll mix later (I like to write while in a writing mood, then return to mix them fully later when I've had some time away).

Thank you <3 I will have more to upload before too long! Excited to share the rest of the tracks because they're totally different to what you might expect from me :)

[Fallen Gods]

This is a pretty nice remix of the two Godcat themes! It's really cool to see you jumping into this contest, and I hope that you'll keep making more music in the future.

The panning that starts around 1:48 is a little too extreme for my tastes, at least while wearing my headphones. Since that's the only thing going on at the time it feels a little disorienting.

Although none of the instruments are really high quality, you've done a solid job putting this track together. The cymbal really doesn't do the track justice, but I like how you've applied the organ and choir.

TheFirel responds:

Thank you! I put together most of the instruments myself from scratch, and it was my first time trying, so I'm glad they at least came together well.

[Nolegs' Ringtone]

Really cool medley you've constructed here, man! It does indeed have that classic ringtone feel, and the overall vibe reminds me - oddly enough - of early Castlevania games.

I feel like some of the instruments have a bit too much presence within the mix (like that marimba or xylophone the song kicks off with); and that booming ending feels oddly timed and rather out of place to me, like it was just kind of tossed on there to wrap things up.

Manderby responds:

Thanks! Fair points about the mixing. I find the booming ending actually to be very fitting, but maybe it is just my personal taste. Or maybe it sounds unpleasant on certain speakers.

[Jenny of Oldstones ~ Podrick's Song (GoT)]

As a long-time fan of Florence and the Machine, I of course loved this song the first time I heard its soulful strains. You have done great justice to the original, while the ambient and instrumental differences really make your version stand out.

Suffice to say, you have truly made this beautiful, emotive song your own. Your talents never cease to amaze and delight the senses. Bravo.

etherealwinds responds:

Thanks you very much CN! That's really kind of you and I truly appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. Lots of love to you! <3

[DJ Ses - No Emotion (Produced By Kenshi Muzik)]

Okay, so here's my breakdown. Ipso facto, you've got good flow, but I'm pretty underwhelmed by all those vocal effects that are way overdone. You do have an interesting sound, vocally. Quite unique, I'd say. But with too many effects layered over your voice, things just end up getting muddy. Also, you need to research how to properly pronounce the things you say, like "flanger," which is actually not said like "hanger" and is instead pronounced /ˈflanjər/. Just look up the pronunciation since sites like RhymeZone will totally let you down sometimes.

Once again, your beats are pretty much on point, and that seems to be where you really shine. Hearing the same old tired "Testing one, two" and "mic check" in the intro almost literally made me cringe. I feel the same way when I listen to a Rock track that starts with the '1... 2... 3... 4...' count-off with drumsticks. It's boring, clichéd, and has been done to death. But sometimes you want to add it to your track, or even want to hear it as a listener, just because it's in the comfort zone. Dare to be different. Always.

So yeah, this is a solid track, and it has more to keep the listener interested than "Grustler." That said, the message feels - as it often does - very mixed. Bitches, niggas, and f-bombs on the one hand; God on the other. I'm just not thrilled by those kinds of lyrical ideas on a personal level, though they don't actually *sound* bad. Except that your lyrics really do need to be more crisp and have more actual presence within the track. Enunciate as much as you can, in order to make your words sound nice and sharp in the mix, and dial back those vocal effects.

[T.E.O.M. - Grustler (Produced By TheEyeOFMusiK)]

This ultimately really feels like a background track. While the percussion really stands out, everything else - while sounding nice enough - is extraordinarily repetitive. I do feel as though those first 9 seconds of empty beat are superfluous, and you should probably have started out with more going on. In any track, especially one that repeats the same motif over and over again as this one does, too much lead-in is generally a bad thing. That said, many artists are guilty of taking too long to "get to the point," so to speak, and end up with lengthy intro sequences that seem to go nowhere.

The ending of the track isn't really one at all. Is this supposed to loop? Is there supposed to be more, or is it just moving straight into the next track on the album? Either way, the lack of a proper ending left me feeling like things were unresolved, and that's not so good. Even if this track is just a link in a much larger chain, it deserves to have its own conclusion.

In the end, while I do like what I hear, especially on the drum beats side of things, there's a whole lot of missed opportunity to take this from generic to epic. There's just not a lot going on in the grand scheme of sound, and with little change from start to finish, especially melodically, it gets pretty old by the fourth minute.

Like I said, what's here is good, and those beats are legit, but I believe you have the potential to do much more with this. I've read your Author Comments, and you've mentioned that this is merely an "appetizer," but it leaves me wanting. Even as appetizers go.

I'll be checking out some more of your tracks, so hang tight. I feel like you've been PMing lots of folks to check out your music, which seems evident by the bloated number of reviews, but you've at least gone about it respectfully. Keep that attitude, even in the lean times, and I believe you could go far.