Random-storykeeper's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[A Tarnished Sky]

I like this. It's very minimal, and I love the repeated note sequence the piano does at 0:28. This, combined with the strings, creates an evocative composition that isn't quite stable musically, and that's what makes it really interesting.

The addition of the electric guitar sounds was a good idea to help "open up" the piece as it progresses while still maintaining the continuum in the background. I just wish the sound design was better - not that strings, piano and electric guitar make for a bad combination in this, but I think a minimal piece like this relying more on atmosphere and emotion needs sounds that are a little more "human", more akin to how they would sound in real life. This is especially apparent in ambient/atmospheric music, where a good portion of evoking the atmosphere does rely on the timbres to create said atmosphere. As noted below, you should consider doing things like varying the velocity, especially in the acoustic instruments so it sounds less "robotic".

I'm reminded a bit of storybased RPGs, especially at the beginning, but I can see this piece working in a game of that sort. Overall, nice job.

[Relax - JasLand]

A drop with a xylophone as the lead? I don't think I've heard that before, but then again, I guess I don't really listen to a lot of House. Still, it definitely stood out to me, and I liked that particular island feeling in the drop.

The piece is pretty straightforward, building up as expected upon a simple repetition. Overall the structure is good. I guess my main issue is that everything kind of just happens too quickly. Each section can be expanded for sure, perhaps throw in additional hooks or heck, even a melody or additional sounds, change around what chords accompany this repetition. There are other possibilities; these are just a few suggestions.

This was such a fast listen that the piece was able to stand on its own without the need for themes to be developed sufficiently. I guess it's good enough for what it is; I'm not really sure how old this is or how much you've exactly changed since you last posted this (or when you made this), but I hope, since then, that you have worked on expanding your music so it doesn't feel so "in one ear, out the other". But I think making longer music comes naturally with time if you keep composing. :P

[Hypersonic Speed]

For a track about hypersonic speed, it feels really chill and actually more on the slower side. The repetition, however, adds a sense of "slow motion", like this is what "fast" would sound like if it were considerably going at a lower speed.

It seems like the track picks up more after the halfway point, but I do like how it kind of drives in those super laidback vibes in the first half. Those off-beat accents in the continuum keep me engaged, and I like how, at the very end, you have the more higher synths harmonizing with the accented notes in that motif.

Overall, I wasn't crazy about this track when I first heard it, but it grows on me with repeated listens. Like, this definitely goes for atmosphere, and I feel that without a doubt. There's a very dark, futuristic feel, and I love the extended repetition and minimal changes that really add to this idea of "slow motion". I don't think that's really what you were going for, but I think it makes sense for a track with a title like "Hypersonic Speed". :P

I do agree that the lower ends are a bit muddy, but aside from that...I ultimately quite like this for the vibes.

Aelkamal responds:

It's not a track about the concept of "Hypersonic Speed". It is however making a wink to Woody Norris, the inventor of LongRangeAcousticDevice & the overall study on hypersonic sound.
Also you nailed it on the progression of the track.

[Aloof]

I really enjoy the composition. It's got a very jazzy feel, and I love the weird chords and the rhythmic placement. I especially love what the piano does in this track.

The only thing really holding this track back for me is the way it sounds production wise. The main "meat" of the track is overly maxed out, and as a result, is very grating to listen to. It's a shame, because I genuinely love the compositional aspects of the music a lot, and the instruments you've chosen (for the most part) sound good. There's just some buzzy sound, I think around the lower ends, that clips the track as evident in the waveform viewer. And because this happens so frequently, it's hard to imagine me replaying this with its current production.

Perhaps you just have do more normalization, remove whatever super buzzy instruments are hanging around in the bass. I could barely hear the drums because everything just sounded so loud.

That aside, I do think the composition sounds quite cute, I love the melody, and the buildup to the overly compressed parts does sound fine - the piano really shines around parts like at 1:47.

[Sodium]

You chose a good continuum to loop for the entire piece; it didn't wear out immediately, even when I played through the entire piece several times. Personally, I like the second half of the piece more than the first. It felt like there was more content to it that supported the continuum better.

Overall, I wasn't really crazy about the first drop, particularly because where it seemed like the piece was about to deliver the drop, it ended up just going back to basically repeating the previous section that was used to build up to that drop. I'm all for going against the expectations of how a piece should build up, but simply taking the repetition down an octave didn't really make for the "best" kind of rattling of the expectations. At least there could have been a different instrument playing that, perhaps, or some sidechained synths? The piece as a whole could use more sidechaining (if it was already present, it wasn't obvious), especially once it hits the drops.

I can certainly imagine this composition working as an electronic dance piece, what with the catchy repetition. I love the part at 2:03; the smoother, eighth notes loop works satisfyingly against the punchy continuum from the very beginning and the way the drums kind of intensify at that specific timestamp ties it all together. Consider adding a bit more melodic content in some parts of the piece; I think the loop you have playing throughout really allows the potential for leading in to some crazy solo. Not bad!

Walpang responds:

Thank you! Very helpful!

[[ Thunderstruck ]]

This is pretty cool, especially for your first FL track. There's way more content here than what I put into my first FL Studio song, that's for sure. :P As for the track itself, I really get a lot of Classical vibes from it, particularly with the strings when they do that little minor scale dip while repeating each alternating note. I love this combination of strings with more electronic, gritty sounds.

Overall, you pay good enough attention to the structure and have a pretty good buildup from the calmer sections to the more gritty, intense ones. I personally enjoy the intense part at 4:34, though I prefer the transition to the first intense section at 1:42. The second "intense" part's transition felt like the guitar came too early. But overall, it does get a little jumbled and hard to make out the individual parts when EVERYTHING comes in. I like the sound overall, but I would have liked it more if it were cleaner, maybe with less reverb.

Going back to the whole "Classical" vibes point I was talking about earlier, I think it would be interesting to try and borrow more elements from Classical forms, particularly with the idea of modulation and changing keys. It's more of a technical, music theory related thing, and I'm not really sure how much you know about musical theory, but I feel like it's an approach worth exploring here. The piece basically stays in the same minor key for its six minutes, and the melodies themselves aren't particularly engaging enough to remain with that same key throughout. It's a common way to put the listener on a "musical journey" and add a bit more of an arc to a piece.

The beginning of this piece starts out really noisy, and I take it that's supposed to be thunder? It feels superfluous and is distracting from what was, on its own, a fine string solo. I am glad that the thunderous noise does fade out after a while.

As a whole, this was a fine listen. Keep working in FL, and I hope you will complete that EP! :D

[Come On Baby, Let's Go Out Tonight]

I love the laid-back feeling, especially from the melody and the bass. It makes me...want to hang out by a boardwalk at night. :P Sometimes, I feel like there's layers missing between the melody and bass, but the overall composition is great. I've listened to this an embarrassing amount of times on CHIPS; I might as well do it here too, since Newgrounds actually has a looping function as of now.

Anyways, great job. :)

[The 100 Layers of the Underground]

Ah you used only default PxTone sounds for this? It sounds way better than what I could have done with the default sounds alone. :P

Generally, I like the music; it's simple, but there's some nice ideas going around here. The continuum is very pleasant, and I like the power from those toms. There seems to be a strange sounding note before the continuum repeats at 0:29; the note feels as though it should be moved up to the leading tone, fluctuating between a minor second rather than a major second. It seems as though that note is clashing with the chords as well.

That being said, I really like the minor shift that happens around 0:45. It really grabs my attention in a good way.

TangoStar responds:

Thanks! This song was really my first one in PxTone. I didn't knew this one would have a positive rate, mainly from you (I really appreciate your songs!).

From the time I made this until now I improved a lot in PxTone. Most of my pxtone songs are uploaded in my Soundcloud, if you wanna check it out.

Thank you again for the review!