yunqatsi's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

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Iter in Saecula Saeculorum (An Adventure Medley)

2020-09-02 12:10:27

I wasn't familiar with your work but I'm must say, I'm impressed. I know the word is corny to use nowadays; but it is really EPIC. Technically, the clarity and gravity of the mix are immaculate

Right off the start there the impacts piano melody's and string arpeggios set the mood, the string motifs serves as a good section melody. Good progression atmosphere building, I wish those impacts sound effects weren't as loud and present in the track, it gets a bit tiring after a while. The drop sounds very good at first but gets a bit dull after some time, I wish there were some melody or motifs and not just the chord progression with supersaws and gating variation ( personal taste) .
I dig the switch up at 3:31, keeping the same sonorities but with higher tempo and different composition makes the transition coherent and fresh, I love how sounds that filtered bass, really heavy and clear.

Good drop: again, a matter of personal taste I wish there some melodic and rythmic development, Otherwise, everything sounds good, you're really good for building these very charged yet clear sounding wall of sound. There are so many elements and I can hear all of them distinctly.

At 4:50, there's that low tempo part, really digging that part, the slow down, makes you imagine the hero has been harmed very bad and is rebuilding himself to attack. I like how cinematic/synthwave at this moment the atmosphere is, with its rubbery bass and faint arpeggios.
very good build-up the synth introduced at 5:36 fits perfectly.

Drop at 5:50:
Same complaint as before, although a sort of melody appears at 6:05, but its more of a arpeggio harmonic backing.

Good ending, slow down and there's that kind of vocal synth that sounds like someone dying,
really reminiscent of a cinematic synthwave aesthetic.

In conclusion, I like the track, very impressed by the technical aspects, arrangements and atmosphere building. Nice and bright, good blend of orchestral instruments and trance synths. However, I have trouble to be truly impacted by it, because the drops sound in my opinion musically dull( my only complaint really), I may not be really used to hear that kind of music. This lack of distinctive hook would make the music more suitable as a movie score or video game score IMO.

Kysertron responds:

Thank you so much for the review! :)

Most of my drops are very basic, so yeah I can see the reason for your complaint. Since I don't use Serum or Massive most of the time, I use whatever LMMS has (which is usually ZynAddSubFX) plus ToneZ (which is the only VST I normally use). Most of the time results in basic drops, I try to layer a lot of synths for fullness (most of the time it is just to fill absent yet necessary frequencies).
The low-tempo part took a lot of work, and the initial mix of it is actually a lot different than the final mix (i.e. the rising synth in the background was lot included, along with the crescendo short strings). The synthwave synths were originally going to be just for the uptempo section, but I saw it fit for the low-tempo section as well.
I also noticed you said it lacked something to be suitable for movie score or video game score. Although, the theme was to mimic an adventure from a movie or video game, I wasn't really trying to aim for the song to be suitable for a score (although that would be nice). If I try to make a score-related song, it usually is significantly short than this medley. For example: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/863178

I have done orchestral-electronic combos a lot before. This is just one of the first times I've ever done it in the form of a story. I've done it before, but it wasn't quite as successful:
https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/880232
My past attempt at an orchestral-electronic combo with drops was also not quite as successful either: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/918959

Pandas Cross Here

2017-08-31 05:06:04

This is really good ! You are getting scouted. I like the intro, i like the progression and the process on the 8 bit kick and snare. That pluky synth, percussive lines and saw chords stack really gives that tension. The melody is really catchy. My only concern with that pre chorus is how simple is it, using different synths for the theme or adding a riser instead of just putting a low-pass filter could have created more contrast and an impactful drop. The chorus is really catchy and energetic, I'm digging it ! That PWM lead sound really does its job. the break is efficient the chiptune synths are simple but flow together very well. That melodic bridge after the second chorus sounds epic. I like how you varied the main theme and the melody on the last section ! The only issue I could tell is the lack of white noise or cymbals, but using just a kick and snare might just be a matter of aesthetic in this type of music. I'm not hearing any issue with the mix, it sounds bright and clear. To sum up, a very catchy and energetic track, simple without being generic and efficient in its arrangement and melodies. Could work very well for a video game !

Aesaire responds:

This is a fakebit track so I disregarded the old school polyphony rules, but I didn't want to go crazy with effects like some fakebits do to create a dense wall of sound. Because of this some parts feel slightly underproduced. It sounds somewhere in between a traditional chiptune and an overproduced fakebit.

I think the lack of white noise or cymbals was mainly due to me being inexperienced, I kept most of the percussions quite simple. I'll look to improve on it in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and scout, it was very helpful :)

Aerial Space

2017-08-29 16:19:28

This is really simple but yet catchy, could work well for a video game stage loop !

ganon95 responds:

thanks, I believe when i first made this i had some plans for it but never got to finish

very first time (rap)

2016-06-11 19:25:35

nice lyrics

ZabuJard responds:

thanks lol. NO MORE MAKING MUSIC FOR THIS GUY. its too hard! and im awful at it >:) your beats are really good though, ill leave it to the pros ;p

Shi And Silence

2016-05-16 12:02:34

Waw this is very impressive and hypnotizing, the atmosphere is very immersive, i had chills to this Really nice vocals used in a original way the high pitch vibrato notes remind me gandalf's death soundtrack. nice synths also and the percussions are so good, it makes everything so intense ! I can meditate to this and it could perfectly fit for a movie or something like a space documentary

JeremyKingVA responds:

Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.

Cartoonish Outro Theme