Random-storykeeper's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM 2021 - Atmospheric research city]

This piece is absolutely ham and I'm here for it. The thing that really ties it all together is the robotized vocal. I thought it was really cool how it starts the piece and pops up during different parts of the drop. Speaking of the drops, that was also another component that is executed solidly. For an entry with multiple drops, I felt the energy building up and coming off of each one of them. You nailed just the right balance of intensity and high-energy with more pleasant and quieter sections.

One thing I thought could have used a bit more work on is the mixing of the instruments. Particularly during the intensive stuff, some of the higher end stuff gets buried behind the louder instruments, like the bell-like high-pitched sounds at 1:36. I think they were a great addition, adding more substance to the in-your-face beat; I just wish I could have heard them cut through the mix more.

Overall, this is a rather unexpected take on the art. I enjoy how it leads off with being pleasant and serene, but also adds a bunch of hard-hitting drums and basslines, etc. to give this sense of industrialism or maybe aliens honing in on the isolated, elevated city? 🤔 Side note: are the vocals supposed to say something, lyric-wise? They work great as instruments, just curious if they also had some meaning behind the words too, lol.

SazzyBoi responds:

The words of the robotic voice are very dark but censored xdd

[Green Sun]

I don't think I've ever heard a song in these compos that perfectly encapsulates a mood like this so perfectly and thoroughly. The accompaniment alone already evoked the summer heat, the laziness, the melancholy and the vocals and lyrics were the cherry on top. Great representation of the art inspiration for sure.

The vocals were exceptional. I love the echo effect, and even the way the vocals don't *quite* hit the notes properly adds character rather than detracting from the song. It feels organic and gives me a sense of longing - the "summertime sadness", if I could call it that, haha. One small issue I do have with the vocals is that it's quite easy to hear the pop in the diction - that and some parts sound like you're smacking your lips as you sing. It could have done with a cleaner recording, but that's my only big complaint there.

Overall, this entry was excellent in all aspects, and I definitely consider it to be a top contender, even on that first listen.

[AIM - Branches of Life]

I like the idea of using unconventional combinations of instruments as a way of representing branching paths. There's a lot of cool ideas the piece goes through, and I love that combination of electric guitar and pizzicato strings towards the end.

One thing I find interesting about the track is its take on branching in a figurative sense. Branches, despite being different, are still connected to one source, and the idea of having these instruments "connecting" to each other by accompanying each other's parts was quite neat. A lot of the composition does, however, feel a bit like a bunch of different jam sessions put together, and they were mostly short-lived.

Overall, this piece has a lot of intriguing ideas and a strange sound design to boot, but I think it generally works in the piece's favour, especially when it comes to illustrating its own musical concept. I enjoyed the unique interpretation of the art and how the end seems as though it's bringing the piece back to its candle-like form, thus connecting with the picture.

[AIM - Bus Stop]

As far as the orchestration goes, I love the contrast in sound between the piano and the bassline. Making a groovy piece was a good choice for connecting with the art, and I enjoyed watching the animation and seeing if the drum beats were matching up with the person's leg kicking out. The bass is pretty interesting, generally holding out its notes until the end of a measure before slipping to the higher notes, which could also be related back to the person in the artwork kicking out.

While this piece has all the components for making a good groove, ultimately I had trouble hearing this piece as actually being groovy. The arrangement, composition and sound design are a good setup, but for me, the execution misses the mark.

After listening through this several times, I think there are two things that stand out to me why I feel this way. One has to do with the production, perhaps even the texture. There are parts where the instruments are supposed to pull out and the drums roll back in, like at 1:08 (slightly), but most significantly, back at 0:23. It feels like there's a ton of reverb that is still tailing out as the instruments pull back, and that ends up muddling the drum rolls and making the roll not as effective.

The other drawback, I believe, has to do with the composition and structure. Part of what makes a piece groovy is knowing when to develop off the groove versus when to change it up and go for different ideas. The changes this piece goes through, at least for me, often felt too abrupt and because nothing really lingers, I don't get to familiarize myself with the grooves and it feels as though the ideas are just zooming past. Perhaps that was the intention, to make it seem like there are vehicles moving past the character in the art as they are waiting for the bus to arrive, but it also doesn't make for a memorable piece.

Overall, I think this entry had a lot of interesting and nice components to it, from the combination of instruments (piano + synths = satisfying). I love the way the piano gets heavily volume oscillated at 1:10 - it's hard to apply effects to piano without coming across as tacky, but this piece pulls it off effortlessly. With more attention to the balancing (when to repeat, when to move on/when to stop, when to go faster, etc.), it would make for an excellently catchy track.

[AIM - THE ILLUMINATED PATH]

This piece almost feels straight out of a Pokémon game soundtrack - I was thinking of Black & White in particular for some reason, but the similarities aside from the introduction and the sound design mostly cause it to diverge and become its own thing.

The journey this piece takes on, composition-wise, feels like a bumpy ride. In some cases, the main melody is presented as something familiar to grasp onto, but other times, the piece is going wild and crazy with its improvisational-like runs. The higher-end parts were particularly appealing, and I was always interested in where the road (musically) was taking me. It was quite unpredictable, a lot of the time.

The main issue I have with this piece mostly lies in the production. It's quite evident in the waveform, but a lot of the louder parts are too loud. Maybe it's not so much the loudness, but just that *everything* is overwhelmingly in-your-face and I feel like that can make these parts a bit sore for the ears. I would have liked to hear more space given to the instruments in the mix, whether that be like rounding off frequencies, lowering certain volumes, panning, etc. To me, a lot of the sound is very "squished", and the path being conveyed becomes too overexposed.

Nonetheless, I think this entry does manage to generally capture the journey along a path and the sudden tempo changes and flourishes add that splash of unpredictability that seems just right. Overall, nice work!

[AIM - Master of the Forest]

I never thought I'd describe a piece about a snake as majestic, but I think this entry definitely captured a different perspective, true to the tone of the art. That continuum playing throughout the entire piece encapsulates everything that makes me love this entry. The choice of instrument and the composition working together, against the long-held droning strings, paint this warm, mysterious creature taking a bask in the sun within a forest. Really great job composing something that says a lot with simplicity.

What I think would have taken this piece to the next level is more attention to detail in the counterpoint. The running notes starting at 0:33 feel like an appropriate time to add to the piece's minimal soundscape, but their timbre sounds so similar to the main repeating idea that it doesn't really add much to the current texture, and the up-and-down contour makes the counterpoint feel a bit lost.

Overall, I love listening to this entry to feel at peace, and I love how minimally and effectively it evokes the art in both its style and subject matter. The best addition to the continuum, imo, occurs when the tempo picks up and there is less waiting time between the notes. The way that percussion enters is so satisfying and hearing more types of percussion, perhaps even various ranges and rhythms could have also elevated the main idea in a compelling way even more.

[AIM 2021- wadle chill]

When I first listened to this piece, the question that kept coming up in my mind was whether or not the repetition worked in this piece's favour or not. Having listened to it multiple times, I found that this piece actually grew on me in spite of its cyclic form.

I think the composition and sound design are just pleasant enough that it creates an atmosphere that works with those same beats. It felt kind of like something I would hear in An Untitled Story, especially with the little organ that pops up in the last two beats of that eight-bar phrase. The melody is also pretty good, and there's enough moving parts that the repetition allows for focusing on the different parts of the composition as it moves at its steady pace.

Overall, I think the composition and sound design do go along with the style of the art, though I think I may have to be in a very specific mood to listen to this, and it's definitely not an easy form of music to pull off repeatedly.

[Last Welcome In The Universe]

The arrangement of this piece is quite compelling. For a piece inspired by an overhead, outer space view of a planet, the sounds seem to be narrow and closely compacted. This contributes to an overwhelming concentration of sound that feels otherworldly, like aliens beckoning to the planet from outer space. It's terrifying, but also kind of beautiful.

I really like those high pitched bells playing notes from the whole tone scale. It gives the piece that touch of beauty and urgency simultaneously. If anything, I would have loved to hear more of a sense of space within the mix, allowing the individual parts to be more clear as a whole. The obviously higher instruments can be heard prominently, though I think that has more in part due to their range. The introduction to this piece also suggests a sense of progression and sequence of events, but the composition that follows feels more caught in the moment that just ends abruptly after three minutes. It would have been neat to hear some form of conclusion. Do the aliens take over? Do they leave? The way this piece ended felt underwhelming.

Overall, I think this entry stands out in its atmosphere and its interpretation of the art felt understandable, even if short-lived.

[AIM - Sunset]

This piece is really good at capturing those chill, warm sunset vibes, especially with its chord progression and those synths (in particular, the one with the notes that quickly slide downwards like at around 2:38). It's just that right sort of sound that feels both atmospheric and interesting to listen to.

I'm also a fan of the piano melody doing that little call-and-response with the lower synths. I don't know why, but the way the piano is arranged reminded me a lot of how piano is handled in Danganronpa music.

Although I love the way the piano takes those higher notes, I do think that the drums put a huge damper on the piece as a whole. They are quite overwhelming in a way that detracts from the instruments - which is kind of a weird thing to say I guess given that this is DnB. I think that there still could be a way to shape those drums and integrate them better into the mix so that they help elevate it rather than take over it. The transition from the peaceful section to the drums at 0:55 seems like it could work, progression-wise, perhaps with more tweaks to the balance and mixing.

Overall, I think the composition and sound design (save for the percussion) do work in favour of connecting to the title. I'm not sure if I quite feel that connection between the music and the art fully, just in regards to how this entry connects with a monochrome ink drawing of a sunset in particular. It's definitely pointed in the right direction, just not sure if it completely gets to its mark.

[AIM - Fox Dreams]

The instruments, for the most part, work in connection to the artwork. My particular favourite was the choice of acoustic guitar - it's a good choice for creating a sense of comfort and homeliness.

My biggest issues with the track come from its composition and the way the instruments are executed. I think a lot of the pieces are there - you have a good approach in terms of which instruments would work with this sound design, but they feel so uniform that it breaks the flow of the music. Additionally, the composition's chord progression does feel like it can work to create a sense of atmosphere that works with the art, but the accompaniment surrounding the guitar melody is so even that it comes across as clockwork and, as a result, makes the piece a tedious listen.

Having more sense of phrasing, I think, could have helped with the sound design. Little adjustments to the velocity, not so large to be extremely drastic, would have helped create a more dynamic arrangement. I also think that the guitar chords, particularly for the melody, could have had more release to them. Just hearing them play so "perfectly" feels unnatural and takes away from the atmosphere the piece is trying to convey.

I also believe that the composition, particularly the accompaniment, could have benefitted from more rhythmic movement in the bassline. It's not necessarily that there needed to be more notes, but rather consideration as to how the notes are played - when they are held for a bit longer versus played slightly faster, maybe there's some play between syncopation and even notes that hit the strong beats rather than ALL the notes hitting the quarter notes of the metre.

Overall, I think this entry has the right idea of where it's headed, and I think with more detail to the momentum of the composition and phrasing, it could be quite a lovely piece. I do want to mention that I love the section at 3:32, where the bells come in. Their slightly off-pitch sound gives off a wintery charm and I think that was a good way to bring the piece to a close.

Petrol4brains responds:

Thanks, you’ve surely given me a lot to think about and focus on!