Onefin's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Roads (In the works)]

rhodes

it's been a while how've you been :)

liking this groove thing at 0:10

trunotfals responds:

YOU GET A CANDY BAR. Go but one :P Ive been good! It really has been a long time

[raccoon joins band practice for the first time]

"I cannot jump high like you, but I am enthusiastic.
Enthusiasm makes everything an adventure."

- A Moki from Ori, who was probably doing drugs or something

johnfn responds:

but he wasn't high so HMMMMMMM the mystery deepens!!!1

[Sunday]

You picked the right genre

Miyolophone responds:

i was seriously this close to picking "Hip Hop, Rap, R&B - Nerdcore" instead

[Ashes to Ash OST - 02 - Lake Rasa]

You should pull a Gareth Coker and just write 50 songs with this melody in it

Miyolophone responds:

i should BUT since i had to write this very fast i kind of just copied (and arguably improved) a melody i had already written for a different secret song so stay tuned!

[Winterlude]

Honestly even if you don't get a chance in this round, I'm so glad you graced us all with this

This is so exceptional and every single piece of it is a journey and it arcs so well and I love it

And yes you should definitely do *the thing* at 02:17 ;)

stardew responds:

tysm! i will be sure to do The Thing

[Sunlit Ruins]

this is incredible, by the way.

heck, 0:55 and 1:06 are so good

and the guitar shreddage in the last climax!

this deserves more ears

3YEOfficial responds:

Thanks so much man!!!

[Sky Party]

Hey, nice track :)

You've done a really good job getting everything to sound really full. The drums and the bass sit right where they need to. The sidechain is just right, especially in the intro where you've sidechained stuff a lot more than in other parts

I really like this section from 1:17 to 1:42 - the lead is really well done and has the vibrato I like.

I thought the first drop felt bigger than the second drop, which for a better sense of progression should be reversed. In general the drops felt a bit repetitive for my taste and I wish they were more varied.

The piece could also use some more dynamic variation, as it's very loud all the way through. The section starting at 1:43 and 2:46 appear to be a good candidate for a softer section. The volume is especially odd at 1:43 because without the other context, it makes the lead sound grating.

Also the lead melody doesn't really work harmonically with the buildup at 1:48.

Overall though really solid work. Hopefully that helped give you some direction about where the piece could have gone - but it's definitely got a lot going for it already!

Spline-1337 responds:

Thank you, Infinity!

[Discord - @someone (Splatterhead Remix)]

wElcOmE tO tHe mArkEtIng viDeO

SplatterDash responds:

👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

[~Fore~ Tremors (Intro)]

Hey long time no see! Where you've been man <3

We should like connect again, do you have discord?

aliaspharow responds:

Haven't made music in a year and half, it's nice to see that I can still pick it up even after that long though lol. I don't have discord but You can email me at [e-mail] <<< notice the "ca". and we can get something going. I remember you and I'll try hitting up some of your tracks. Sorry I havent been on here in ages.

Updated the track if you want to check it out again ^^

[PSMD - Partner Theme (Likwify Remix)]

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.