ChronoNomad's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Singularity]

Very cool, cosmic vibes here, Teck. I think it fits the imagery very nicely, and I can totally envision traveling across the limitless expanse of space. When the beat hits hard and the tension kicks up, I envisioned epic dogfights among the stars.

Honestly, about the only thing I'm not in love with is that abrupt bass cutoff at the end. A smoother fade, even a really short one right at the end, could have made that feel a bit less jarring.

I really hope that they'll allow your tracks in the contest. They were only a few minutes past the deadline, so I'm thinking you'll be good. Best of luck in the AIM!

Teckmo-X responds:

I'm actually really happy with the way this turned out. The whole Notaker and Au5 vibe I was looking for actually became the reality. I really want to try and continue to make music similar to their style. This is by far one of my proudest moments of beat making. I really want to improve and I've come a long way but it's not enough. I must try and replicate similar work like this. Singularity is no doubt one of my favorites too. Thank you!

[The Fall that Broke Me]

Honestly, Lucid. This is absolutely stunning, which comes as no surprise whenever you sit at a piano and let your mind dance along its keys. I have no trouble imagining you as a professional concert pianist with chops like this.

In my opinion, you really brought the emotional feeling out of the imagery and honed it to a razor's edge. I salute your talent!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thanks, dude!
It had actually been several months since I properly composed on the piano, which is very rare. I think I would have to practice at least thrice as much as I do now to become a concert pianist though, I fear!

I'm glad you think that the composition suits the artwork well enough! This year, I decided to take a bit of a different approach, in that it is based more of the story of the artwork, rather than its immediate appearance. Thanks again!

[AIM - Children of the Sea]

So very pretty, straight out of the gate! Your orchestral sound always gets me right in my heart-box, tugging at my own strings even as yours play on.

It ramps up a little, then calms back down...rising and falling, like some kind of underwater carnival. There's a childlike innocence to the softer melodies, but a very intriguing tension that lies just on the edge of the deeper strings. A beautiful sense of unpredictability that resolves itself so very sweetly, if that makes sense.

As I always say with such excellent music, it seems to be over in mere moments despite being over three minutes in length! You have most certainly brought the scenery to life through music, and I always find myself wishing that the artist would leave a review, just so that we could know their impressions. A rare treat, to be sure.

Your instrument choices actually remind me just a bit of my own 2015 submission for the Deserted Island Contest, despite the fact that those were just simple samples for the contest guidelines. Your instruments and suites have a much richer sound of course, but the similarity in itself makes me smile. Such is the nature of water music, I suppose.

A wonderful undersea journey! Quite serene and mysterious.

Everratic responds:

I have a soft spot for childlike innocent melodies. To tell a story through the music, I knew I needed to include some tension and mysterious elements as well. I'm glad the music shifts between these different moods in a pleasant manner.

I'll be thrilled if Moonshen leaves a review. I agree that hearing the artists' thoughts on any AIM submission would be very interesting.

I listened to "Called to the Sea" again. I reviewed and favorited it in 2017 - I assume LSD showed it to me then. I get what you mean; mallet percussion + harp seems to be a highly effective combo for a sea theme.

Thank you for the review!

[Äventyraren]

You've crafted a very energetic and fun dance theme here, and while I don't really have anything negative to say about it, and it ultimately sounds very organic, I'm here to offer up constructive feedback regardless. The Adventurer demands it.

First off, I applaud the source of your inspiration, and have personally spent far too many hours listening to the hauntingly beautiful songs of Skyrim. I suppose it's a testament to the game's legacy that I still very much enjoy exploring, battling, shouting, and generally meandering across land and sea whenever the mood arises. You have done that experience great justice with this rousing folk song, and all that's really missing - to my mind - is a competent bard to sing of The Adventurer's praises!

The main melodies are lovingly crafted, and sound like they could be spilling from one of Skyrim's many alehouses. The violin strings sound a little extra slippery at times (too much rosin, perhaps), but I can certainly appreciate all those jaunty grace notes all the same. Your instrument choices are highly appropriate for the genre, and the overall mixing and mastering feel highly polished.

Key changes. Who doesn't love key changes? Once you hit the midpoint, they happen with relative frequency, and they seem to go up, up, up! However, I feel that the sheer number of key changes could have been supported even better by additional changes in tempo. As the notes rise in the scale, so too could the frenzied speed of the dance! Just a thought, mind you...but it seems like that sort of Riverdance-esque increase could really benefit the mood by ramping up towards the song's climax.

As much variety as there is here, I must admit that I hoped for a slightly more varied tale as the motif progressed. I sort of guessed where you would go with the notes, and you went there. But sometimes I hoped you'd go in a slightly different direction and change the narrative a bit. An alternate minor key here, or switching up to the major key there. Nonetheless, this isn't my tale to tell, it is yours. Chalk it up to artistic differences, I suppose!

On a final note, in regards to your ritardando before the applause, I personally found it too brief. In my mind, I heard a more pronounced slow-down in the tempo, over a greater portion of the end of the song, even before it arrived. In reality, it was quite a bit more abrupt than expected, and the tempo never quite felt as though it eased up enough before the applause. I feel like a more subtle ritardando could have begun in the previous section, becoming just a bit more pronounced before that final note.

All that said, I truly enjoyed the journey from its humble soundscape beginning, right straight through to the applause! No complaints, just ideas—respectfully, from one artist to another. Thank you very much for sharing this with us.

Everratic responds:

Hey Chrono, it's nice to see you again. I'm waiting for a new song from you :)

Your feedback is very appreciated!

I too have been enthralled by the world of Skyrim. I think I played over 200 hours in my first few months, and I'm still actively listening to the soundtrack a year later. It would indeed be nice to have lyrics. I hope to be able to compose such music one day.

I'm glad to hear the melodies sounds skyrim-worthy. Lately I've been playing Skyrim songs on the piano (just melody and block chords), and it seems to have helped me subliminally understand how they were crafted. It also helps that I recently learned about authentic and imperfect cadences, which helped me separate the melody into two parts.

MIxing this song was a nightmare. but I'm glad it sounds polished now. I had to use a lot of multiband compression on the flutes and violin, make multiple surgical EQ cuts on the percussion, and meticulously cut out unnecessary frequencies across the board. I guess it was a good learning experience. Here's a tip I got from a professional mixer that helped me get the flute and violin to coexist comfortably:

" I think you should choose which instrument is going to be the "thickest" around 500-1k and then from 2-3k up, that's where the complementary instrument could live more. Of course I don't mean removing all the 1k from the violin or the flute, but making it a bit more thin around the first few harmonics. That way they should coexist better. "

I like your idea for the tempo changes! I should have experimented with that more. There actually is a subtle tempo change after the final key change. Regarding the key changes, the first one is deceptive. The change is -1 semitone, but it sounds as if it goes up because the melodic line goes up.

I tried to write a B section with different melodic material, but I couldn't come up with anything good. I later found that simply repeating the melodies with varying instrumentation and keys sounded pretty good, so I left it there. I intend to create more songs of this style in the near future, so I'm sure I'll get better at it with practice.

I agree, a more pronounced slow down would be nice. In hindsight, I didn't spend enough time on that tempo automation clip.

Thank you for the review!

Btw, the main flute is a free vst. It's "Ivory Wind" by Embertone. The other flute, Jubal Flute, is also cheap.

[Lucid]

Ah, Step! Always a pleasure to hear something fresh from your imagination. You really know how to take your listener on a journey. As usual, your music creates poignant mental images.

There are a number of really dramatic themes and ideas herein, and I also heard the strains reminiscent of Gröne Lunden that Jordi has previously mentioned. Early on, and here and there in the mix, it actually reminded me of music from a series called Mushishi. Then you've got some really nice Fantasy/medieval themes and instruments, as well as that beautiful yet subtle piano that slips in and out of the mix.

There's so much to love here, and the way that you weave these motifs together is really inspirational. Layers upon layers of dynamic music to please the senses. The changes in emotion feel so organic and transition so smoothly, you make it seem almost effortless. Of course, I know well enough that a *lot* of effort actually goes into such well-tempered production, but the average listener need not be privy to such truths. (;

Beautifully written and rendered. I take my proverbial hat off to you.

Step responds:

Chrono! You have no idea how great it is to hear from you again, genuinely. It's reviews like yours, Jordi's, FD's, Andrew's and everyone else here whom I've known for so long that make me extremely happy I'm still posting music here on Newgrounds and still welcomed by all you talented people. Comparatively, I posted my song on SoundCloud and it got 4 unique listens and 3 one-liner comments, two of which are from bots. Great.

You're absolutely on the ball that the transitions took a lot of effort! The 1:09 one went through two iterations, the 2:39 and 2:59 ones went through a lot of adjustments, the 3:34 one had to be remade at one point, and don't get me started on the 3:54 one! It's great to hear that it was worth the effort. I also tried hard to weave motifs together and make the song feel very cohesive, as if there's no single motif that doesn't belong and everything is part of a comprehensible whole.

Overall, as always, you've very observantly picked up on everything I put effort into and the feeling of validation that all that work didn't get lost into nuance is amazing. Thanks a million for dropping by!!

[I love Newgrounds]

I get lost in music, too. I also find myself there.

Man, this is incredibly trippy, to say the least! The overall level of quirkiness is reminiscent of the Mother series, with certain parts giving me vibes from the EarthBound soundtrack. That said, as bizarre as this is, I can picture it in an equally trippy video game or TV series. Preferably ones based on iconic Newgrounds characters.

Interestingly enough, it's those bongos that really stand out! The riffs are super fun, and they sound fantastic within the mix. Can't say that I'm typically a fan of so many detuned instruments going head-to-head, but I have to admit that it kind of works here. You must think Newgrounds a pretty insane kinda place! xD You're not wrong.

Keep at it, man! ̶E̶v̶e̶n̶ No... Especially when it's super off-the-wall and totally weird.

RealMrSnuggles responds:

I really appreciate it, thank you! If you go back to my old songs you will find that Earthbound (the mother series) has had a big impact on my style.

[Playful Kitty]

This is just so upbeat and cute, I can't help but smile as I listen. It's busy and bouncy, but in a charming and not overly-complex way. Funnily enough, I was just thinking that this track seriously needed something on the low end when you introduced the first bass progression, so...good call! I also love those twinkly little call-and-response notes you sprinkle in at various intervals. It's quite easy to imagine the antics of a feisty feline while listening to this. Very nicely done!

RealMrSnuggles responds:

Wow, thank you for noticing all the details!

[Tu Cours Après Le Temps Perdu]

The arpeggios, especially at the beginning, give me serious Aerodynamic vibes, a la Daft Punk; though the tempo is quite a bit faster, and the actual key progression does differ somewhat. This is a fun listen, and I like what you've done with the sound. You introduce all of your instruments once things kick off at the :11 mark, but you've done a good job changing things up periodically despite the fact that nothing new enters the fray.

I do feel like this suffers a bit without any kind of slow down to help ease the constant tension, however. This track definitely could have benefited from a slightly more downtempo section, and without that the music never really has an opportunity to rise into a dramatic climax. The ending is also very abrupt, and while I appreciate that you didn't use a fade-out out like so many of your fellow Pixel Day enthusiasts, that sudden stop is still rather underwhelming.

Overall, good stuff! The Daft Punk nostalgia is cool, and I have to wonder if you weren't - at least subconsciously - channeling them, if only just a little. The music fits the story, I think. As does the tempo. I know it's hard to envision someone slowing down as they attempt to chase their runaway time, but anyone would need a break...if only to catch their breath so they start running all over again!

Earel responds:

Thank you for your feedback !

Some people told me the beginning sounds like this Daft Punk track but I didn't knew it before, so it's just a coincidence !
About slowing down the tempo, I wanted to give this feel by making the drums two time slower like at 0:35 and 1:30, while other instruments keep the same speed feel because the Time doesn't wait anyone.

Thanks a lot