Krichotomy's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Frozen River]

I like everything about this. My favorite part is the harp work from 0:27 to 0:52. The careful timing and variation in each pluck adds a strong "real" element to the piece.

[Heavenly Villain]

The music sounds hopeful and encouraging to me.

[Forgotten]

To me, this piece has an immersive "story" feel to it. It also has that signature "Blackhole12" style to it. I really enjoy listening to it.

[Cthulhu Surfaces]

Nice variety around a consistent theme; well-balanced full sound. Great work!

headphoamz responds:

Thanks very much! :)

[Under Milkwood]

I'm properly impressed. What plugin did you use for the dubstep sounds?

davidnimmersatt responds:

Thanks!
yeah most of the dubstep part was made with synth1. And the growling sound is a ZynAddSubFx. (Both free synthesizer ;D)

[Setting Out]

Now I think I'm in Felghana. :)

When I am generally listening to this piece and not carefully focusing on chord and note structures, the overall piece sounds like this:
ABABABABC
A = Calmer String Part
B = More Driving Part
This is because even with chord and note variations, the "layout" of instruments and the general feeling of the chord and note choices are the same. That is a gripe I have with some classical music. Even though the structure is changing, the new structure has so similar of a feeling (texture?) to the old structure that it just feels like it is simply repeating.

You put a lot of thought and work into the foreshadowing and stuff, but I feel like it does not properly come out in the piece because of what I mentioned. (This could also simply be my inability to properly hear the stuff. Grin.) You probably did this, but I'm going to mention it anyway: To me, the most important rule for music composition is to (at some point) stop thinking, and just listen and feel.

Now that I have described my complaint, I'll move on to the good news. :) This is a very good recreation of that RPG music style, and the "positioning" and volume of the instruments are great. The driving background is particularly well done. I rather like the reed/brass sounding thing in the background that goes up and back down a note.

(Psst, now it's your turn to leave me a review. Remember?)

BlazingDragon responds:

Haha, I like your honest observations!

It's interesting the you broke down the structure based on mood. My own distillation of the form, based on thematic ideas, is more like this:

Intro A B A C A B A D Outro

Part of the problem with this piece, admittedly, is that it IS simply repeating. Within my structure, the first two As are nearly identical repeats of one another, and the last two As are nearly identical to each other. The Bs are definitely exact repeats. Even within an individual section, I could have done much more variation with orchestral texture. This is because I procrastinated and rushed the piece, causing me to overlook obvious weaknesses.

Where the most change happens here is in the background. For example, the first two 'A's have the background strings playing in a (1 2 2 2 1) per measure in which one is the duration of an eighth note. During the second two 'A's, that pattern switches to accents being on (3 3 2). It is subtle but makes for a more driving, forward motion at the end.

I think I spent so much time focusing on the background details that I largely ignored the foreground. x_x

Therefore, you have made very valid and helpful observations! Kudos on your analytical ability. :) I shall try returning the favor with a review toward you. If it is not up by tomorrow, feel free to PM me a reminder. :p

[Transcend]

Sweet musics!

[Departure]

I wish I found this last night when I was having trouble sleeping. So peaceful, beautiful, and sad. I would never guess that this was an unfamiliar style for you to produce.

[Stormrider]

Drums at the beginning: Awesome.
Guitar at the end: Awesome.
Everything else: Awesome.

Now we need a music video that shows you getting down on that keyboard.

[Chant de l'Eveil]

I'll give you my full critical review. Especially because I love the Ballad of the Windfish so much, that I must be critical. :)

VOICE: Your voice is great. Get a better microphone. I don't know if it also has anything to do with the reverb used, but it sounds like you are singing in a box.

FIRST PART (calm): I feel like something should be adjusted about the high pitch "tubular bells" or whatever they are. I do not know what, though.

SECOND PART (fast): The rattlesnake tambourine thing sounds awkward because of the fast perfect unrealistic(?) rattle. The background sounds work well together. The staccato bowed string in the background is great.

ENDING: Everything about the ending is perfect! It gave me chills. The vocal harmony, the harp work, the string backing. I guess the ending "tah" sound of the last "t'attendent" seems maybe too loud?

OVERALL: Most of the tune is far more "happy" sounding than I personally prefer Ballad of the Windfish. But that's preference and has nothing to do with my rating of this track. You did good with it. I think most of the track sounded kinda "flat" and I /think/ I know why; In many places as the piece swelled and flowed the instrumental and vocal volumes didn't change much. Sometimes the vocals even got quieter as you sang the more "intense" notes. Notice how from 3:00 to 3:20 your voice is the same volume even though the piece goes from the intense final swell to the slow and calm ending. Anyway, great work, and once again, I love everything about the ending. :)

Troisnyx responds:

Yay, thanks for the review! ^_^ It's a joy to hear from you once again. If you can PM me pointers to these questions I'm about to ask, I'll be grateful.

Is it the mic's omission of the low frequencies that makes me sound like I'm singing in a box though? It could be the case. Step has the same mic as I do and he tells me that that Samson Go takes out some lower frequencies when it comes to voices. The reverb is set to 'The Venue', which is what I put for nearly all instruments to varying degrees. So fairly wet signal. D:

Tubular bells, I think I have the answer too: omission of low frequencies. The bells as they are sound very tinny, and yes, I agree. They need some bass to them. Any good bell samples to recommend?

The chimes: Nimble also told me the same thing XD It's been quantised so much that it sounds unrealistic. (We know what this means: time to get myself an actual tambourine!)

Voice swells: Thanks for pointing that out. I think some volume control in that last section is due.

Glad you enjoyed it, all things considered! Admittedly I was going with what the original Gameboy sound had in mind, and imagined all those eight Instruments of the Sirens were playing. I mean, they've got a drum in their mix! XD And broken chords! But hey, this is just one rendition out of many, and many others sound more solemn and have been successful. x