Random-storykeeper's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - (Club) Around Infect Madness]

AIM 2023 Judge Review

What you've delivered here feels like a very bright and pumped up summer anthem. I enjoyed the use of the chopped up vocal as the hook that recurs throughout the piece, especially the filtered chords that rise at the end of its phrases. The pacing was also very good - you play out a lot of different ideas in the drops that seamlessly connect to that intermittent vocal line and I think that helped a lot with making these sections feel cohesive and developed. Although the track is very loud, I like the small waves of dynamics that come across from the filtering and the buildups.

The one huge issue that is prevalent in this entry is its relation to the art. I assume the title of your entry is a play on the abbreviation of AIM, which is amusing, but also, having some relevance to the art plays a significant role in the judging evaluation of this work. If I were to offer a generous assumption, the intro kind of feels like it could go with the idea of the sun rising, but what about the landscape or the title of it being on a different planet? I'm not saying dubstep wouldn't work with this painting - there are entries in this year's compo that manage to pull that off - but I think there was more opportunity to draw upon the art inspiration and have that be reflected in the music. Otherwise, why pick this art as the inspiration over any other sunrise or sunset piece?

Now aside from this, I think the music itself is solid - like I said at the start, I like how the sections flow and I never felt bored listening to this. I love the part at 2:59 where the vocals take on more rhythms and the melodic counterpoint with the synth adds an interesting sort of texture. This entry generally hits the spot of every section moving just right.

[AIM - Bellowers of Grief]

AIM 2023 Judge Review

I'm really impressed by your entry this year. What stands out to me most is your attention to detail in drawing inspiration from the art inside and out. For such a painted landscape, I feel like the most obvious portrayal would be to incorporate ambient sound effects like wind blowing or crunching footsteps in the snow. I'm not saying these wouldn't have worked in a piece inspired by this art, but I think it should be commended that you managed to reflect this image using a large ensemble of orchestral instruments.

Not only did you draw inspiration from the image for the composition and instruments, but I love that the mix was factored into honing in on the right atmosphere to depict the art. Everything has this muted, sort of hushed quality that reminds me of the silence heard when standing out during a heavy snowfall. It works so well to convey the snowy mountaintops and serve as an effective backdrop to the character's journey, which still feels like the main driving force of the melodic ideas being explored.

I also really love the way the sections progress. At 1:14, the clarinet lead-in seems hopeful - as if the journey ahead is rough but it's going to be fine - and I like how that eventually culminates into a louder more definitive idea that, to me, feels completely desolate. The mountain continues to loom tall; the character continues trudging forward. Then the clarinet comes back in again and it almost seems like again, there is hope, but the final part with the strings shuts that hopefulness down - at least, that's how it came across to me, and I think that does seem to tie in with the description provided in the art.

Overall, I believe you used your strengths in orchestral composing and mixing to be so in-tune with the art, from the visuals to the description and the journey beyond. Although the experience only lasts about 3-and-a-half minutes, it felt like every second was perfectly attuned to this mountainous landscape.

Everratic responds:

Thank you so much for this detailed review! And thanks for hosting again!

[AIM 2023 - World Code Destruction]

AIM 2023 Judge Review

This is the track I wish played during the final boss battle of the Flash game Serious Dave instead of the menu music they went with. The structure in this entry manages to capture the boss battle theme it's going for really well - including the intro, which feels like that calm before the fight actually begins. I love the drum beat that starts this track; it packs a punch while the other instruments make their way into the texture. The first 30 seconds are a huge stand-out to me with the way everything builds.

Most of the melodies also work well and I think composing upon some keywords based off the art was a great choice to focus on the emotion and the atmosphere. The track has a dark sort of droning undertone with hints of grit here and there that help to bring the image of the character in the art breaking the ground to life. My only challenge with this piece is that it feels like a lot of the melodies feel secondary when put up against one another. I like a lot of the melodic ideas being explored, but I didn't feel like they flowed that well into one another. If I were to rearrange various parts of this track around, I feel like I wouldn't have noticed the difference and I think that takes away from this boss battle concept having an arc and conveying these 5 keywords. It just didn't seem like there was a sense of why the melodies were arranged in this sequence. It makes the piece come across as losing focus which clashes against the very focused intro.

Overall, I love the atmosphere and the intro is super solid and I like what the track is going for as a whole. Generally, the sense of a boss battle is prevalent throughout and the production and sound design reflect the colours in the art strongly for me.

EldritchAutopsy responds:

Thanks so much! I'm glad to hear a lot of elements I experimented with turned out great, especially the atmosphere, I'm really motivated to try more stuff like this going forward!

For the flow of the melodies, I see what you mean. Some sections I actually tried to have them make sudden switches and kinda "glitch" into each other to match up to the Malfunctioning theme, like at 1:04, but think I got too caught up in making each section match the vibe of the different phases as I went and as a result, I ended up neglecting making each section actually flow properly.
Appreciate that catch, I'll remember that going forward for anything else I make, I'm not sure I would've noticed that myself, but It helps a ton, again, Thank you!

[AIM - Final Frontier]

AIM 2023 Judge Review

It's a risky move to pick an art inspiration that was used in a winning entry from last year. I'm not sure if this was intentional or an oversight, but that being said, I think your take on the art inspiration works while also feeling like a very different approach. What really works is that it goes for the movement and the adventure one could experience in this scene and it seems like you put a lot of thought into that when creating this track.

There's basically only hook in this entry and I have to admit, it's a real earworm. That whole descending chord progression and the part from 0:40 to 0:55 constantly get stuck in my head. It doesn't immediately strike me as catchy, but the melody is definitely sticky in a subtle way. I love how the composition feels loopy and every phrase is set up to be able to endlessly repeat itself. It creates a wandering feeling in the emptiness of space and I think you managed to evoke this successfully throughout.

This might be a hot take, but I believe there's a balance to how much a composer gives away in their description versus how much should be left for the listener to interpret. Personally I'm not a fan of time-stamp descriptions, but that's not really the issue here. Having all these lines about what the track is trying to convey and then having the time stamps after seems a little too excessive in handholding the listener through the music. And for the reviewer in me, I become a little more critical in my expectations of what these descriptions say against what I hear in the track. For example, the moment in 3:04 implies a heightened sense of urgency, yet the whole track has a relatively uniform flowy feeling to it that just doesn't match how I would have perceived this part. I think describing the intentions with the track are great, but I think over-describing can lead to a very narrow listening experience.

For me, I think this track works well when I only think about it as someone floating aimlessly throughout space, watching the strange and wondrous parts of the environment surround them. It's got a good sense of pulse that makes me want to sway back and forth while listening.

TebyTheCat responds:

I'm soo embarassed, it was a complete oversight, I had totally forget this art was used before (let alone by a winning entry last year) I'm truly flabbergasted by this

Other then that I'm also really happy that you enjoyed my melodies! When writing music the melodies are always my main focus and to hear other people appreciating them makes me really happy, thank you!

On your hot take, it never occured to me that a heavy time stamped storyline could be so detrimental to a song, but I did understand your annoyance of feeling "guided" rather than being able to enjoy the song on it's own... Yeah, actually in the end if it's more a problem of being unbalanced towards having way too much detail I get it

[AIM - Elegy to a Fallen Star]

AIM 2023 Judge Review

What I love most about this piece is that it feels like everything is handled with care. The piano is very light and even and it serves as a great throughline while everything else surrounds it. The composition lingers with such sadness with an undertone of etherealness that really encapsulates the feeling of being isolated in a vast expanse, focusing in on the image of the fallen star in a way that feels tragic. This was a great interpretation of the art and I think all the components work so well to effectively be moving.

It's so strange at the start, the melody almost feels like there's hope and I like that gradual shift towards the sense that "no, this is very sad and you should also feel sad". It's also interesting how the piano seems plunky, as if every note is almost hitting with the same amount of force. I don't know if that's actually the case, but I think the piano being presented like this works wonders for the piece - it allows the music to feel like it's stuck in time and the gentle pads and ambience come across as colours and shading being added to the image. I feel as though I'm hearing the image being formed in front of my eyes and yet I feel a strong emotion all the way through.

This entry is super well done and I even feel sad just listening to it while writing this review. It captures the scale and the isolation and the lamentation all in one, and it made for a very strong listening experience.

ForgottenDawn responds:

My warmest thanks for your diligence and for taking your time reviewing my piece~

[AIM - The Sun Hides Its Face]

AIM 2023 Judge Review

You've definitely put thought into the sound design in a way that really connects it with the art. The intro feels magical in a foreboding manner and I like the way the strings here feel like they're shifting into one another. The bells are a nice touch to the texture. I also like the way the track evolves through the sections, first introducing the electric guitar against the orchestral backdrop before eventually switching to the electronic elements at 2:07.

I really wish a lot of what's being described in the Author Comments came through in the music because unfortunately, the composition doesn't work for me at all. A lot of the melodies feel clueless and while not dissonant, there doesn't really seem to be much going for them. Everything feels like it just chugs along and the only sense I have of where the sections flow is when more instruments are being added or taken away or the rhythms slightly change. The melody and chords feel incidental to the piece and I feel like that's a huge loss to the emotional impact.

Overall, I think you are pointing in the right direction of how to convey elements in the art through the sound design. With a more purposeful composition, I think it would allow what these parts represent in your description to resonate more emotionally and atmospherically.

Joel-Phelps responds:

Thanks for the commentary! I definitely could work on the melodies, and I'll try being more intentional about the songs' direction in my other work. This will be very helpful!

[AIM - Hazmat Witch Adventures]

AIM 2023 Judge Review

I like that you went beyond the art inspiration and looked into the story behind the character and the arc she goes through in the comics. The composition has a very cutesy tone to it that works given the style of the art inspiration, but there's also a sense of wonder that feels otherworldly, especially in the pads at the beginning with that opening melody.

If I'm to be honest, I thought this piece sounded a lot like a space theme when I first heard it - the synths give off outer space vibes and those repeating three-note patterns sound like a tune one could march to, which also gives the sense of a looming battle that's about to occur. I wasn't really sure if I would have gotten the sense of a post-apocalyptic, foreboding world if I didn't read the description and look through the comics associated with the art. On the other hand, the idea of a hazmat witch does seem mysterious and a lot of what we perceive in outer space fantasies is very mystical in its own sense, so I can understand the decisions made behind the composition and structure of this entry.

Having a combination of electronic and orchestral sounds works in concept, but the orchestral elements feel underutilized for the most part - I think I only heard the xylophone throughout most of the track and a little harp at the very end. I would have loved to hear more or perhaps some other sections where these instruments are more prominent and mixing with the electronic instruments.

Overall, the entry is super cute and I think it captures that part of the art inspiration well. I do enjoy the arc of the whole piece and those repeating arps and 3-note patterns are quite memorable. I like how the ending feels definitive, like a comic or show closing out on its final frame with a happy conclusion.

[AIM - sweat]

AIM 2023 Judge Review

For music being inspired by people working out at a gym, this is chill and comforting, but it also still has a bit of a gym vibe to it (and not just because of the vocal samples). This feels like an early morning workout when almost no one is at the gym and you're just starting to get into your usual routine.

I love how forward the bass is and how it still manages to feel like it balances out with the rest of the sounds. The softer sine melodies help to add a warmth and height to the texture and the way it repeats the same pattern over the bass changing chord progressions makes for some pleasant and comforting tones. Even the "work" and "sweat" voices heard throughout a large portion of this track help add an even fading rhythm that seems to convey the idea of a workout in a gym being machine-like even though it also can be kind of relaxing at times.

For the most part, I think a lot of the sounds work well here, even though it feels like there's a bit of a stuffiness from all the reverb. It's interesting how the reverb gets amped up at the very end of the track, like it's culminating to the end of your routine and it's time to go back to normal life (or at least how I would interpret it). At first I thought the piece's hard cut at the end was because it was meant to be a loop, but the dynamics at the end don't really match up with the beginning, so I don't think that's the case. But this piece definitely could have faded out its tail rather than having it end so abruptly, resulting in a little "pop" once we reach the conclusion. When exporting, I'd go for the "leave tail" option rather than "cut tail" and if the tail is too long, either add a volume automation to fade out the master or do it in post in Audacity. Help the track feel like it ends more naturally to silence rather than abruptly.

Aside from that, I like this track a lot. Something about the way the art is focused and the colours reflects a lot in this entry for me, and I enjoy just casually replaying it for the mood. Everything generally hits just right in this piece in a satisfying and comfortable manner.

[(AIM) Ryzmik - "Aztec Reaper"]

AIM 2023 Judge Review

I am not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to production, but I feel like the production in this track might be the best I've heard in AIM this year. Something about the way the sounds are placed and mixed hits just right and I can see why this was a huge challenge given how many wildly different sounds coalesce. Every part sounds so clear and even the harsher sounds don't hurt my ears.

There's been a lot of great D&B tracks combined with other interesting sounds or genres in past AIMs, and I think this entry continues this trend perfectly. I love how the composition captures an intensity, but there's also some lightness in the upper winds that help to bring the character in the art to life. I can picture the character as being extremely menacing and swift and they can leap away in a moment's notice when approached.

Overall, I like the balance of simplicity in the melodic elements paired with the complexity of the texture and sound design and that comes through very clearly for me. This track is worth replaying a lot just to hear a lot of what goes on in those musical layers. It not only manages to reflect, but also elevate the art it's inspired by.

Ryzmik responds:

Thank you so much for taking your time to analyze the song!

I spent literally days trying to get the best out of the mix without sounding wobbly from all the shakers and percs playing at the chorus, so I'm surprised that I managed it well somehow :o

About the inspiration, my intention was to give a sneaky and tense feel at the start, then as it goes on I tried to imagine how Maya (the character) takes action, pursuing or fighting its enemies with her weapons or something, so I thought fast paced percussive rhythm mixing aztec instruments with synths was my best option to visualize all that and make it interesting.

I really appreciate judges who gives an explanation to the concursants instead of a score.

[Casporb - Dragonfire]

AIM 2023 Judge Review

The decision to use dubstep as the approach for this track works for the art given the sci-fi nature of the scene. When the drop hits, I can picture the wubs as the attacks from the dragons and the people fighting them from below. I think the sound design and the buildups serve their purpose for the inspiration. I like that some of the sounds kind of resemble the roar of a beast, but in an electronic sort of way.

My gripe with this entry is that I feel like I don't really get a lot out of the composition. I can hear (and read) the logic behind what the structure represents, but I felt like the music was just kind of hitting the beats that it needed to but there was nothing beyond the surface that gave it a lot of substance. The buildups happen so quickly and the track basically just repeats itself twice - same repeating melody with the same accompanying chords. I didn't really find the minor scale melody that interesting to begin with, so its constant repetition throughout wasn't very engaging for me. The drop was certainly the more interesting part - I just wish that melody didn't come up in between it or that this repeating melody were more interesting.

Overall, I think there was some thought that went into making the music resemble the art, and I like some of the sounds that were used to resemble the fighting in the art. For this to have scored higher with me, I would have liked to hear more inspiration drawn from more aspects of the art, particularly its atmosphere.

Casporb responds:

Thank you for the review.