etherealwinds's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Angora Adagio]

Ughhh this is just gorgeous.

[Purple Floyd]

naaaoa naaooo naooooooooo

naaaaaaw naw anaaoaoaooo

neeee nee naaaaaaaw

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Nao nyu nyaaaah
Ni hao yaaah :D
Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamh!!!

[Mystical Flight]

I'll sort of write my view as a live commentary as I listen, so excuse me for the disjointed thoughts.

Hitting play... now!

Love the strings in the intro, piano perhaps sounds a bit choppy. Same with the choir. Oooh orchestra! I think it builds quite early on. This almost sounds like a climax. The mix is a bit muddy - check those frequencies - especially at 0:33. The piano stands out quite loud in the mix too. Gorgeous melodies though and really nice arrangement. I love this part at 1 minute. So nice! And at 1:15 especially. 1:40 - another gorgeous part but that piano is very dry and loud in the mix again. 1:50 - these strings are composed very nicely. You're clearly a very talented composer. Oh. It ended. That was abrupt!

Okay so, my main thoughts through listening to this was how lovely your melodies and chord progressions were. Your orchestral arrangement skills really show that you have a lot of incredible ideas and amazing talent. I feel like there is still a lot you have to learn when it comes to mixing though, in order to really heighten the quality of this track. Mostly EQ work - making sure that the track doesn't get muddy. I think that's particularly important in orchestral music, because each family in the orchestra deserves to really shine. I wanna hear that every element of this amazing track come through crisp and clear. The piano at 1:38 - the notes all sound as if they're the same velocity which takes away from the realism of the performance, which is a shame, because there are aspects of this that do sound very realistic. The strings I am particularly impressed with! It's the same for the choir, too. You can hear that it's not a real choir, and despite whatever library you might be using, it's important to pay attention to detail. Solo that choir as you're writing your music, listen to it on loop and ask yourself, does this sound like real people are singing these phrases? If not, why not? From what I can hear, I'd suggest focusing on the transitions between one note to the other, for the choir. When people sing in that way, they don't just go from one note to the next with no rise or fall. Perhaps putting in a slight slide between the notes will improve that!

You've got yourself a new fan. I think whatever reviews you get from the judges on this, take the feedback and apply it to this track again, because this could really be a masterpiece and deserves to shine. Beautiful work.

CloakedSoup responds:

Thank you for the detailed review! I think a lot of the things you mentioned I wish I could have fixed before I submitted it, but I was too worried about getting it in on time. Looking back on it, I probably should have submitted my other track that I wrote a few days prior as my entry, because I think that one was better overall and I spent more time making sure everything sounded good. I think the volume on the piano was probably raised too much on a couple different parts, like you said. The choir could be two things: I could try making it come in and out more like you said, but it could also be because it's a reeeallly cheap choir library. I bought Soundiron's Olympus Micro choir for like $30 and it's not the most realistic choir sound in the world (Especially by itself, it sounds sooo synthetic). Either way, critiques are always an invaluable asset to help getting my music to sound better, so thank you! 8D

[f o v e a - 3]

Writing as I listen. The beginning kind of reminds me of The Knife's style of music. Love that beat that just picked up at 0:33. The mixing is really nice, wide and clear. Satisfying to listen to so far! I'm at 1:12 now and really enjoying the pace of this. Build up around 1:27 is really nice. This new part at 1:32 is nice too, but perhaps it could be a bit more dynamic. 2:06 - yeah like that, that's better! Needs some cool arabian vocals though because why not. 2:35 - this is a pretty nice part too! The track's perhaps getting a bit repetitive at this point because there doesn't seem to be too much alternation. Although the structure led me to expect the ending, for me, that last beat was still a little abrupt and underwhelming.

All in all, really enjoy the mixing on this and the attention to detail. The sound design is great and I love the elements you added, and the general pace of the track. Maybe it would sound even better with some vocal elements too. Great submission for this round! You have a lot of talent.

[Facing the Foe]

I've been listening to this over and over and it took me ages to even realise it was a loop. That's how good this is. You should totally remake this with the skills that you've developed over the past two years because this is genius.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

It means the world to me to hear that from you, knowing your love for the games and the music that inspired this. I've actually been planning on remaking this, along with a few other of my older orchestral pieces. Thank you <333

[Osman - "The Mountain And The Sky"]

This has some really great elements. Like, really great. The melody started off pretty strong especially at 0:38 and I like the additions at 1:10. The strings and violin stand out a bit and they sound a bit flat. Perhaps it's just the sample library. I like the dynamics; the part at 2:56 onwards was nice - quite brave to go so empty but I think it works here in this case.

The part at 3:20-3:28 was a bit weird, timing-wise. I feel like perhaps you were trying to make sure the track wasn't repetitive by mixing it up a little here, but it didn't totally fit and sounded a bit out of the blue. By 4:21, going back to the beginning is nice, but it sorta feels like you're milking that part a bit and it gets very repetitive. Almost sounds like you copied and pasted the parts a few times to make the track longer. I feel like perhaps a keychange, or a change in the arrangement, or addition of new instruments, or all of those things would solve that issue as a listener! That's just my opinion though, of course :)

I haven't really listened to too much of your work in the past, but you've got yourself a new fan. Lots of potential in this! I feel like it started off stronger than it ended, which is basically my main qualm with the track. Rather than overusing a great idea, try to create a few more great ideas that work in your track. I really enjoyed listening to your track though. I wish you the best of luck for this round!

[Sunrise Adventure]

It's so refreshing to hear you do something like this! I was surprised to hear this sort of genre from you. Do more of this.

Overall, it's a really nice composition. Something feels a bit disjointed in the mixing though, which is a shame. Your tracks are usually mixed so perfectly. The piano sounds overcompressed and it makes it sound a little bit too far to the front of the mix. I remember you saying to me that you and Ethan have very different mixing styles, and perhaps that's a little responsible.

All in all, this is a very strong track though! That part at 2:16 is especially nice. The high piano sounds a bit out of place - perhaps there's room on this part for more elements to be added. Same with the part at 2:55.

Really liked the direction of this piece. The melodies and the chord progression up until 50 seconds sounds like something I'd definitely feel comfortable composing which is obviously why they're my favourite. Nice bass m8s.

Keep up the good work <3

johnfn responds:

ty for the review with words in it bb ilu

[Going in Style]

i'd hate to listen to this song while tripping on acid

i really enjoyed this!! there are lots of interesting and unique influences that i've not heard from you guys before (i think this deviates even more from your usual styles LSD than snowteddy). kudos for that! reminds me of james bond/metal gear solid.

it can get a little repetitive at times and could be a bit more dynamic, but i really like what you're going for here. keep up the great work! 5 stars boiz <3

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Do you mean you'd hate to listen to an LSD track when on LSD ;)?

We're glad you enjoyed it! We certainly tried to go for a unique and experimental style. It is indeed a deviation from what I normally compose. We're honoured that the piece reminds you of those franchises ^___^

I would agree that the actual drive and atmosphere of the piece are slightly repetitive. Then again, we also wanted it to work as a seemless loop. I suppose that is one of the reasons we felt that 3 minutes was enough this time :)
Thank you for listening, and for taking the time to leave your thoughts! <3

[The Blind Forest]

I love the atmosphere of the composition. This is beautiful work. I'm sorry to hear about the depression. I was feeling it a lot too, and I woke up after a dream and my track inspired me in a similar way. I was all ready to pull out of this round, so it's so nice to hear the fruits of your work.

I've got a few bits here and there that I noticed. From 36 seconds onwards, I can hear what sounds like distortion from the main synth, perhaps.

That really dry drum that comes in at 1:01 in the left ear, then the right ear, and carries on sounds a bit out of place, just because the rest of the track is so wet. They stick out like a sore thumb. I get what you were trying to do with the effect of it though! Perhaps a bit of EQ on the higher end of it and maybe even a rhythmic delay on it might improve it. I think that would be quite nice personally.

At 1:28, the flute and the lead synth sound like they're both on the same frequency and it becomes a little hard to hear each instrument without them merging into one. Once again, this can be solved by cutting out the muddy frequencies in the EQ and perhaps giving them their own space in the stereo field. That way, the synth will come through nice and clearly and the flute will add to that fantasy sound that you've created otherwise beautifully, as a really lovely counter-melody.

Know that my critiques come from a complete place of love for this track though. I think you're talented and a beautiful composer. PLEASE, keep making more beautiful music and good luck for this round!! <3

Teckmo-X responds:

I couldn't agree more. I was honestly ready to quit too. I kept my cool and ended up trying harder. I can see what you mean. I did want to reverb it and maybe bring a bit of a filter on it but at the same time I felt like I could have found a better sound for it. The high clap was a bit of a last option into it since I thought the snare entrance wasn't enough. The flute part along with the synthetic is of something of my old 8-bit work like Pixel Knights. I tried to make the flute a bit more realistic and maybe add a bit of a delay to prolong the sound. If anything if the judges decide to give extra time I'll do a quick adjust to it but I think perhaps I'll stick to it . I've already got plans for my next track in advance if I should make it but thank you for the review. It gives more insight to things.

[Lavender Air Balloon]

That guitar is mixed and played so nicely starting at around 2:20. I love how the vocals join it at 3:00 too! The melody of this song is really enjoyable too. Sounds a bit familiar! Really amazing track to be honest. I'd just say, tighten up some of the really small details. Really tiny parts like 3:49, you can hear the breath hit the microphone on the 'f' of 'feel', and at 3:52, the 'and' warbles a bit for some reason. Just, really tighten up on those tiny little details to make sure your work is the best that it can be! Honestly, that's such a lame critique though because this is one of the tracks that I've enjoyed the most from this round. Such talented people and amazing quality. It's a pleasure to listen to your work.

FinnMK responds:

Thanks very much! Glad to hear I'm at the production point where it's just little details that need fixing. Always something to improve on...