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Onefin

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OOH a PSMD remix! I know this theme really well so I can comment with context

"PSMD has a constant upbeat feel to it with the exception of some parts here and there" OH how I disagree... PSMD's soundtrack is so vividly ambient in more ways than one. The soundtrack is absolutely brimming with emotions on every side of the spectrum - happy songs, yes, but also scary ones, defeated ones, determined ones. The Partner Theme in itself is meant to be atmospheric and longing in nature.

So you probably know this already, but a lot of this is incorrectly transcribed. Makes sense, you were probably trying to nail it by ear but just aren't quite super practiced with it yet. For this theme, though, you have an amazing reference in Bespinben: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUaAszRmBbQ He put up this near-verbatim arrangement of the theme the day the game released in Japan. I know back when I was remixing this song I used these sheets to nail the chords from the song.

I really like some of the creative liberties you pulled in this track - judging by the description you made some pretty daring moves and although they didn't all work out (which is to be expected for daring the first time - I didn't get it all right when I was starting out either), I have to admire the effort. I really like your interpretation of the intro for the track and some of the chords you used, although wrong, are nice nevertheless.

General as-if-the-song-was-in-a-vacuum criticism:
- The drums could be more pronounced, and there could be more percussion in general to really sell the beat in the climaxes
- The piano could be further humanized so it sounds more organic and less robotic
- I like what you were going for with the 2:54 transition but look for ways to make it more impactful, possibly by dropping the chords or really emphasizing the break in the middle.
- The strings in the intro don't really sell it, probably because you're using low quality strings: I usually end up using a light pad instead of strings just because I don't have access to any decent string libraries myself.

Also sorta wished to hear your interpretation on the back few sections of the song, where did those go? :( But what you have a nice start! I'm sorta honored you would take this endeavor because of me :pray: Best of luck in the future!

Likwify responds:

Wow! Thank you so much! I wasn't expecting a review from you, nonetheless all the feedback you sent me. So, here's my explanation of everything you mentioned:
About the description where I mentioned that it has an upbeat feel, I was referring to the "No frustration, no giving up" arrangement. I just forgot to mention that. However, I do agree that most of the soundtrack is more ambient.
I really appreciate your criticism, and I agree that I'm still just starting to learn how to make more PMD-styled music. I'm not great at mixing or effects, and that really shows in things like strings and piano.
The reason I wanted to just focus on certain sections of the song is that I'm still learning how to transition everything together. I did try a few times to remix the parts later on in the soundtrack, but nothing really turned out right except for what I have in the song now. Later on, when I'm better at the composition of ambient music, I might try to do another remix of another track but with the entire song in it. But that's still pretty far off in the future.
As for Bespinben's arrangements... well, I actually did find that. Unfortunately, I only found them earlier today, and by that time, the song was practically done and I probably would've left something wrong in there and accidentally publish the song with the wrong notes. I really regret not looking for an arrangement of it beforehand.

Yes yes yes! I was waiting for this one

I wasn't kidding about that title, it's ridiculously long, which gives it quirky uniqueness, and it super fits. Like, SUPER fits. I can TASTE the wanderlust in a peculiar glitchy place in this track.

This track is a progressive one, it takes its sweet time building up and releasing exactly once, which is fine - in fact, it's great and I think you did it pretty well! It could use a louder master in the back half I think but I'd take this :)

And yeah, I like what you did to that build. It's not jarring anymore like it was before, and the glitches help build the tension.

Biggest thing I would wish for is a proper outro :/ but besides that for the most part this is really solid! Best of luck to you man :)

stardew responds:

thanks for the review 1f1! curse you overtime, if you didn't exist i might've had time to add an outro!

i really appreciate the time you took out of your day to give me some advice while i was making this, this piece would be a lot worse if not for your help :^)

good luck to you as well

Is this a good time to start my NGADM '18 favorites playlist? I think it is!

Stellar entry dude. All that work on the drops paid off, because they're excellent. Such intensity, such lovely chords, such BASS (YES THAT BASS), such vibrato. Love it.

I also do want to reiterate that the builds are excellent. I know you think builds are hard and they are but these are definitely good. Also, god, 3:05 gets me every time.

The foley is great. I'm really glad you added that newspaper at the end, that's a really nice touch. The pouring is really gentle and nice. The cafe sounds, super good. The way it's incorporated into the percussion really sells the "root beer float" theme. It's so tasty.

After NGADM, promise me we'll collab on something :3

Miyolophone responds:

Ahhh thank you so much for the praise and your help along the way, 1f1n!

And yes, definitely, as soon as I have any semblance of free time

Hey man gonna drop some words for ya

Lemme start by saying that when I saw the list of people in my pod, I was pretty sure that my climaxes would be the least impactful of the three. The power you achieve in the drops is exactly what I expected and what I was unable to achieve myself. So that already puts you in front of me

This is such a variety, it's awesome. You switched up genres but kept the same general theme - it's a good way to create scatterbrained goodness without abandoning cohesion. And then in the end you stitched it all together just to shove it in our faces. Brilliant. My favorite is the DnB drop, the bass is super satisfying.

There's a chord in there that I don't like so much, like at 0:52 going into 0:54, it just sorta rubs me the wrong way for some reason :/ don't really know why

I'm going in expecting to lose to this, it's great and mixed really freaking well, holy crud, and it's solid all the way through and stuff like that. One of us has to lose, but I'm sure we'll both score decently enough to come back as a backup when it happens :) Best of luck to you man <3

KaixoMusic responds:

Thanks a lot! Good luck <3

Dude I'm so sorry your crud got stolen. I've never told you how much I love this track but man this is really good. I'm probably gonna press the favorite button out of sympathy for your situation <3

Like this sounds like standard electronic stuff but the way you explore a ton of unique ideas in this is unlike other songs I've heard of the same style. I love it. Like it's so satisfying to reach the end of the track and hear this sick chord progression you have going in a different key.

Hope we get the issues resolved soon! Cuz you're gonna go places man

hey man can you not make a remix of my song, like please do someone else's

4.5/5, faved

SplatterDash responds:

...

...no.

OMG DUDE WELCOME BACK <3

I'm gonna listen to all of these in sequence. I can tell from the first minute of this one that it's gonna be freaking amazing, though. :D Dude come say hi to us on discord! Do you have a discord?

AeronMusic responds:

THANKS <3

Yes, I do have a discord.

I wanted you to end on a Neopolitan so badly but you didn't ; ^ ; solid rendition nonetheless :D

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Wouldn't a Neapolitan chord here essentially just have been a Db major? Since the melody ends on a normal c, it would really just sound like a Db major 7, which would be a bit of a weird ending. Perhaps I misunderstood what you were going for :)
(Kinda sounds like it would lead to an F major)

Hey man :D thought as long as I'm on the credits bar over there I should come say hi

Where should I start? How about with the drum design - it's pretty solid. It's been a long time since I've made drums with a kick on every beat; perhaps I should consider coming back to that. Your drums provide a lot of satisfying punch while being mellow enough to let the melodic crud shine through.

I can tell this part at the beginning you were trying to create a bit of an atmosphere, right? What you have is solid as a foundation, but it does lack the sprinkles that would make for a really cool atmosphere. I don't know what other people do, but I would have placed more reverb on the little background drum things to give the sound a sense of space. Maybe also add some twinkling sounds? Idk

I wasn't too big of a fan of the vocal chops, but that's probably just my own personal taste and I wouldn't recommend you remove them. The melody at 2:19 is really cool! 2:34 has a xylophone like way in the background and if only it was louder ; ^ ;

Overall, this is a pretty solid track! Your drums are solid and melodies intriguing. You could take this to the next level by improving your sound design, especially in atmospheric sections.

Hey. R4R.

I'm going to fucus on mostly the criticism since your description seems to suggest that that's what you're mostly looking for

- The piece needs more dynamic variation. Nearly every section is loud, without any soft parts.
- At 0:37 you've given your drums so much reverb that it's making the whole thing muddy. You shouldn't really be giving kicks reverb that often anyway.
- It's good that you made your drop has some impact, but it could be improved with some more high end stuff, like maybe an arp.
- Near the end of your track you repeat a single drop twice and the track becomes incredibly repetitive. You should introduce more melodic variation in your track.
- Your transitions are literally just sweeps going up and that's it. There are more interesting and more effective ways to move between sections of track, including fills, pick ups, etc. Try utilizing a larger variety of transitioning techniques.

GGMiXsiMusic responds:

Thank you very much!

Hello! If you're looking to contact me, please get in touch somewhere off Newgrounds. You can private message me on Twitter or send me a Discord DM. Thanks!

Matthew @Onefin

Male

Digital Artist

Austin, TX

Joined on 7/9/14

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