mutty99's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[HEART.VOID]

NG VGM Challenge II - Void Heart: Review

I've always had a thing for those kinds of song titles, which seem almost "decorative" to me.

Technical-wise, this piece is outstanding! Very good use of sidechain, bass and drums don't overlap each other, it's good! If there is something I wanna point out, it's about the transitions and the way they are related to the challenge prompt.

In the story, a lot of dramatic and very bad things happen to the main character, making it get a dark turn for most part: in comparison, while this piece is balanced and composed well, I find it a tad bit too "happy" at times, and with not enough spaces for the dark parts in the second half of the track. It could have helped if you made the bridge section darker, with more suspense involved and less sudden.

Despite that, you're the only one who attempted to represent the entire story in his submission rather than just a part of it, kudos.
Overall, good interpretation, great mixing and juicy sidechain =))

Thanks for participating!

chiptami responds:

hehe thank you so much too for giving me the extra time to do this and also for making this great prompt; will be glad to do another mutty99 prompt in the next installment of the vgm challenge

til' then be seeing you! :DD

[A+B - Shitzophrenia]

NG VGM Challenge II - Void Heart: Review

Strange submission we got here.

The style is pretty unique, not something I come across often; it reminds me a lot of Earthbound for some reason, maybe it's the instrumentation that sounds like it's from a SNES soundfont or something.

Some instruments cover each other and viceversa pretty often, making the piece dull and unbalanced at first impact; after listening to the whole thing though, I think it was an intentional choice, taking into consideration the style of the track.

The distorted ambience reminds me of a mental breakdown, re-connecting therefore to the betrayal moment, and everything comes together because of this.
Overall, extravagant compositional choice, but still stands out well among the other pieces.

Thanks for participating!

Anonymous-Frog responds:

Your prompt definitely had 'JRPG' written all over it.

A few weeks ago, version 4.0 of BeepBox was released, adding more realistic sounding synthesisers, advanced filters, and more audio channels. If you click on the link in the description that says ‘Source Link’ (I link the original BeepBox URLs), you can see that I used the detune effect heavily.

Also keep in mind that I rushed this submission on the final day and struggled to come up with something good.
Expect me to come back if the VGMC returns in the following years.

[Void Heart]

NG VGM Challenge II - Void Heart: Review

Despite the track being quite short and flat at some points, without too much emotional impact, the piece can still fit in a very specific part of the story: its climax.

You can hear the dread among the melody, matching perfectly with the section when Shizo realizes he's been betrayed; I would have thought this would better fit in a Spooky/Mystery kind of context though, if it wasn't for the challenge prompt.

Even if the piece seems like it's still in the middle of production, the concept is very nice, and managed to remind me the story and the emotions it transmits. Overall, short but fine job.

Thanks for participating!

PenncilkDerpnz responds:

Thank you so much! ^^

[Ahurac - NGUAC 2021 Knock-out Round Entry]

Bonkers! Reminds me a lot of MadHouseDude's Flock.

Ahurac responds:

Thanks a lot! Indeed it sounds like Flock yup

[The Blues for Beginning Experts]

The Ultimate Friendzone Song.

LuckyDee responds:

Shit that's the title I should have run with XD

[Glimmering Balcony]

Not bad!

Akromaly responds:

Thanks :)

[morfeel]

It's something you could hear in Ace Attorney

wilidacious responds:

haha, now that you mention it, i can definitely hear a similar sound palette

[AIM - Twin Cities Under Blue Sky]

The track is very good, but imo a bit too deep and aggressive for the piece of art you chose. I'd have associated a more uplifting and melodic piece, just a personal point however.

CryNN responds:

Hahaha. This is the mildest i could work with :D thanks for your opinion!

[Abyss Walk]

Both mesmerizing and uplifting. Not bad!

Cubenssi responds:

Thanks

[longing (or, wedding song to a broken soul)]

Newgrounds VGM Challenge - Virtual Bond: Review

500TH Audio Review!

I was looking forward to the take you'd take on this prompt, and golly, the wait paid off!
First of all, I'm a big fan of ambient beginnings; wind at the beginning, instruments starting to play in the background, feels everywhere. That kind of setting, practically; nice start.

The piano pattern you chose in the first minute is a bit strange on its own without the lower notes that come later on to back it up, but it's still a well-concepted "structural" melody which captures the listener's attention in a good way.

I love 1:48 - 2:14. Outstanding build-up, for me the section that has the strongest connection to what I was looking for when I wrote the script for the challenge: the feelings are all there, and the section passed by leaving a smile on me :)

Lyrics are built carefully as well, since they resonate with the piece pretty well; did you take some inspirational drive by Dearly Beloved? Because I can sense some emotional resemblance here and there. Either way, very solid structure.
The context behind them, as well... Only respect for your man, nothing else to say.

If someone is concerned about the lack of "battling" and action in this track: Virtual Bond can be interpreted in more ways than one. Not all bonds are built equal; there may have been a struggle not described by this piece, or there may have not. Only the composer can tell, me and you listeners can only build our own image of this experience.

This is by far the track that has come the closest to my original challenge idea: being treated as a credits theme helps to better understand the concept of this submission, too.
Spot on!

Thanks for participating!

Troisnyx responds:

Thank you so much for that outpouring! 😮💖 That is so kind of you.

In response to your question regarding the lyrics, I didn't think about Dearly Beloved to be honest. When I came up with the melody nearly half my life ago I came up with the first line of the chorus back then, and so my thoughts uniquely focused on how to make a memorable song that stays in the heart and gets people singing.

The second set of lyrics was the full chorus, and I think I was driven by the sight of a relationship depicted in an indie game in development.

The final set was directly influenced by any emotional, mental and humanitarian turmoil we're currently undergoing. I feel that any influence taken from Dearly Beloved may have been subconscious, if at all there — after all, it's one of those soundtracks that shaped my understanding of VGM in general, as I heard it plenty during my formative years.