ForgottenDawn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Final Form]

It seems we exchange frontpage features lately, lol
Good job mate

zybor responds:

wot, another frontpage :O

thank you for the review bro! :)

[AIM - Faith in Freedom]

Classic.

Let's see... Mirror's Edge inspiration. Check.
Typical hybrid synth galore at 140 BPM. Check.
Haunting voice wailing in the foreground. Check.
Lengthy compositions with a cyberpunk edge. Check.
Something something freedom. Check.

Yup, OK. There's everything. Insta-fave'd. :D

zybor responds:

Thanks bro :D.

I LOVE mirror's edge.

I am very sure you will come with stuff ten times more awesome. Can't wait for it!

[Ambient Improv]

That's some fat, breathy ambiance you got there :) Classic vibes, very 80's.
Besides, the JP-8000 is a quite versatile instrument. I like the improv here, you might be onto something nice. The quieter parts remind me of Steve Roach, especially in Dreamtime Return, which is always a good thing. Keep up the ambient vibes!

Mich responds:

Thanks muchly!

I agree about the JP-8000; it's mostly known for its late 90s/early 00s trance supersaws, but it certainly has a bunch more under the hood than that. Thank you for the compliments. I'll have to have a listen to Roach's stuff some time; I see the name mentioned a lot but don't really know his music.

More ambient to come this year!

[Constellation]

Nice! Mellow and spacey. Surprisingly cool change of pace from your usual stuff ;)
Have you tried venturing deeper into ambient music? I think you got the right mindset for it.

5TanLey responds:

thanks, currently, I'm into dreamy over-reverbed stuff so something similar could appear sooner or later :)

[Sempiternal Rhapsody]

I've had the honor to hear the unfinished version of this track, which was already pretty good.
But this is a beast in its own right. What a way to end the year, eh? It feels somewhat nostalgic to me. It might be your style, as it reminds me of different video games and even anime, but even then, it does have a kind of quality that makes the experience more personal and relatable. I'd say it's a step in the right direction, composition-wise and musically. It's very melodic, but multiplexed, making it fairly unpredictable. Well, it is a rhapsody, after all. :)
May the new year bring more brilliant music like this one.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I'm glad to hear that the finished version is better than the almost finished one :D
I wanted to end the year with this composition. Partly, because I happened to finish it so close to the end of it anyway, but mostly, because it shows my effort to make sure I put out at least something good in terms of music, this year too (it's more dramatic if there's a turnaround just at the end, no?).
It's cool if it already sounds nostalgic!
Personally, I feel that this piece is a bit more classical than most of my compositions are, but there are definitely segments and portions where the anime and video game styles shine through, since those are pretty much the core of my piano playing (along with other OSTs, such as from movies).
I tend to have a thing for more melodic music, especially if it's a solo instrument. I also have a tendency to change around my compositions a lot, instead of repeating the same refrain two thousand times (sometimes, that really works though). I always try to return to the same themes though, so there is some repetition in here too. Most notable, is that the same melody and chords that are played in the beginning are returned to now and then, a fair amount of times (in different variations).
I hope the New Year will bring out a lot of gems in terms of your music as well! Thank you for your review :'3

[I Dream of the Future]

Aww, so sweet. It's bright and light-hearted, quite a refreshing change from what I usually listen to - generally somber and emotional tracks. Well done, mate.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I usually write darker or sadder songs, or in the very least songs that have somber undertones or something. But I wanted to write a bit of a hopeful one, even if it's not perfectly happy. I think it's reflected in the title too!

Thank youuu!

[Strike (The Time is Right)]

Nice sustains in the beginning, giving that sort of drama-scape. Though a well structured and dynamic track all-around, I find the choirs to be a bit lacking. They lack that kind of "oomph" that makes them feel more textural instead of contributing to the "wow" factor. They kinda flat-line a little.
But that's honestly a minor nitpick compared to the whole track which is, in my opinion, well arranged and mixed. :)

Enzer0 responds:

Thanks! It's the first time i've use the new choirs. I haven't mixed them too much; they are still quite basic. Thanks for the Review FD! :D

[Nocturnal breath]

Ascoltata ieri, mi piace parecchio :)

Solo un consiglio:
ENGLISH, PLEASE. <3

[12]

Huh, it's tolerable. Who'd a-thought.
I guess it almost sounds melodic to me compared to works like Schoenberg's.
I'm curious about your formula. I think it's fascinating sometimes how math can shape the way notes are arranged. I remember I once tried to apply fractal geometry to a track using a software.
It's cool stuff

LexRodent responds:

Thanks for listening man.
I kept notes at minimum on every line to avoid the inherent atonal mess dodecaphonic compositions tend to be. I did the matrix as some sort of "sudoku". I took a note as root and then assigned the grid random set of numbers from 1 to 11 (negative for horizontal, positive for vertical to get the inversions right) avoiding continuous values to calculate the amount of semitones on each interval. Math indeed can throw some interesting results on music. I'm not familiar with fractal math (just with the awesome figures it's graphic can show), I'm sure that sort of thing translated to music must be interesting.
I'm currently working on another math based track too. But this one is completely tonal, and it is based on ostinatos.

[IV]

This is quite lighthearted for being a Metroid tribute, surely wasn't expecting the bubbly vibes :)
01:35, oh I see you're also a fan of movie-like brass rises, I see. Honestly, what else can I say, after all these detailed reviews down below.
It sounds sharp, as expected, no complaints about the mastering. It's very melodic, I gotta say, I was expecting something more atmospheric and dark, but you ultimately went for a more "standard" I guess cinematic/electronic sort of style, which I guess is still fine within the context, but how about a little more oomph next time? Just a bit more punch, something that goes straight into your guts and catches you off guard. I've been listening to many tracks with a similar style, honestly, and my general impression is that authors sometimes sound like they're afraid to go full throttle, preferring to settle for a sound that is already well-established and known, but it's still too clean, a little too sterile. It's undoubtedly good, but I think it lacks that spark that makes you say "Oh yeah, it's that guy right? Oh man, I love that feeling!" as if it's too "politically correct", too polished. It sounds weird, right? How can an audio track be too polished?
At the end of the day, perhaps I'm rambling, but I guess my only real advice here is to follow your guts more. Strive for your own individual style and perfect it, bring the best out of your own imaginary because it's YOUR imagination. Experiment, expand, explore. Don't be afraid to leap in the dark sometimes, it's always good to try new things and bring new feelings, new emotions, sounds that you wouldn't probably dare imagine, let alone utilize. :)