sleepFacingWest's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Carol of the Drum ~ Troisnyx ver. ft. Spadezer]

This is awesome! Love the spacey production.

Troisnyx responds:

Aaa, that's kind of you. Thank you so much! ☺️

[My Formless Companion]

This is great! Any friend would be lucky to have a piece like this dedicated to them.

Slintas responds:

Thank you so much!

[modern endex]

Love the more chill synth wave stuff! Nice sound design on the synths

wilidacious responds:

thank you!

[Credits Roll]

awesome! Love that dirty bass drone.

larrynachos responds:

Thanks so much! Good to hear from you sFW!

[Near DEADline Main theme (DEMO)]

Nice work! Is there a way to preview the final version before purchasing?

Carmet responds:

Thanks! And well, the song plays during the story campaign, and since it's a free game the best way is to play it for a bit.

[a plaintive cry from space]

This is really pretty. My only complaint is that I wish it was fleshed out into a full track. There are a lot of jewels to mine from those melodies you've introduced. You could do a lot with this! Nice work.

Troisnyx responds:

Thanks for the kind words. It is my hope that one day, I may extend these short fragments. 💖

21 Days of VGM emphasised writing a few bars a day based on different prompts, hence why most of my tracks during that period barely scratched a minute, often lasting under a minute. I only remember two of the tracks from that marathon that I've posted here so far that go over it: Dies Irae I and mantle of blue.

[:running low:]

Love it! This reminds me a lot of Amiina's album Kurr (specifically the Seoul track). It seems like something you can get heady about, but remains really approachable with an underlying sense of naiveté and wry knowing smile.

frootza responds:

Thanks dude! I've been digging your insta too bro! This is like, so old too. I really like your articulation (textually) youre bubbling over with the verbiage of your own verbocity sFW! hahaha

[The Simulation Failed]

Awesome! I was a little nervous when I saw that brick wall limiting, but worked well. I love the sound design in the last bit. It's like being rolled around by the ocean during a storm. Keep up the good work!

larrynachos responds:

Thank you sFW! This one is a bit more out there, I'm very glad it has some appeal lol. The little ambient section is so good, I think the one in "You Are So Beautiful" fits your ocean description so much better though :D Thanks again for the review :)

[TL - Welch's Joint]

Cool tune! Really nice hook and you develop the motifs well. I know this jazz stuff takes FOR-EV-ER to produce, so well done! That melody is really evocative. It has elements of heroism, but it also feels a bit cheeky at times, and definitely kind of sneaky. Something dramatic is happening, but it's not overly dark.
I'll try to give some critiques half as good as the ones you usually leave. Most of the things I can suggest relate to large ensemble jazz orchestration.
When the bass line is prewritten like it is in the head, I'd double the rhythm in the bass drum. Jazz drum charts don't typically have a lot telling them specifically what to do, but they will give the drummer stylistic indications and a road map of what else is going on in the chart. The bass line would either be written for them or a good drummer would pick up on that pretty quickly and and punctuate the bass line to help give it more oomph.
At 00:20, I'd think about having the ride cymbal keep time. There's a lot going on rhythmically in this section and it can feel a little stagnant without something driving it forward. If you want it to remain laid back, maybe just hammer the 2 + 4 down on with the pedal on the high hat. This will give the piece some fenceposts to wrap around. I'd also accent some of the staccato chordal hits in the horns with a smack on the snare drum (or crash cymbal if it's more of an arrival point).
At sections like 00:40 where the clarinet has a moment and then the horn counterpoint comes in, I'd consider letting the bass simply walk through the changes (mostly on quarter notes with a few syncopations here and there). There's a lot of really cool stuff happening rhythmically in the other sections and the piece will groove harder with something holding down time.
In general, whenever the entire ensemble is playing syncopated rhythms, it creates a ton of tension. This is super effective, but when you want to let off a little of that steam, I'd simplify the rhythms in at least on section so the other more complex stuff has something to bounce off of. You can accomplish this pretty easily by simplifying the rhythm section quite a bit. You could get away with having the bass walk through changes on quarter notes and have the drums keep time playing a swing feel on the ride and stomping 2 + 4 on the high hat with occasional accents in the bass drum, snare, and cymbals. It'll help the piece push forward, and really highlight the lovely rhythms you have going on in the horns. Otherwise, it sort of gets lost in the shuffle.
The mix feels a bit lacking in the highs. The drums sound like they're using brushes for most of this piece, but typically you'd expect to hear more stick work with full big band since the drums would need to cut through the dense horns. There are exceptions to this rule, but most examples I can think of with brushes in large ensembles are in sections where the horns are laying down pads or are otherwise playing very sparsely.
The Horns could use a little sparkle. As a general rule, I almost always add a little saturation or a touch of overdrive distortion to brass instruments. I feel like most libraries benefit from reinforcing the upper partials of the frequency spectrum.
The individual notes in the horns also feel a bit stagnant. One of the biggest pains about producing jazz stuff is that every note needs to be shaped. Even when horns are holding long tones, it's very difficult to make them play on/off. The note has trajectory and the volume swells over the course of a phrase. Playing with that aspect a bit more on a horn by horn basis (or at least section by section) will really help with the realism.
It's always nice to hear real jazz on NG. I know how much work this takes, and applaud your dedication to seeing something this difficult through to the end. Always good hearing another release of yours! Keep it up!

TaintedLogic responds:

Wow! Thanks so much for all the detailed feedback, SFW. This has got to be the most thorough review I've gotten in years. As someone who wasn't formally trained as a jazz musician, I really appreciate the orchestration/sound design tips. The doubling of the bass with the kick drum is especially interesting - I'll be sure to try it next time.

You're right about the mix being a little bottom-heavy. I agree that the articulations and entrances/note changes could sound more authentic, too. I'll spend some more time on both of those things in the future. Thanks again, though! I always highly value your comments, but even more so for a piece like this. Cheers! ^_^

[bottled raccoon]

I had no idea you made music! Sounds awesome

aap responds:

Thanks! I like doing music whenever I can find the time. I got myself a bunch of analog synths and I really love the sounds these things make!