carboluka's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Final Breath]

Heyo, here to judge. Aight let's get right to it. This is my favourite song.

I'm always kinda iffy about soundfonts, since they tend to rely on their nostalgia factor at the cost of sounding MIDIesque and objectively worse than organic ensembles, but your entry makes me forget about my wariness because of how good literally everything else is.

A lil epic intro, which leads to a memorable theme; the random halftime was quite endearing and I love the little glockenspiel at 0:40 chiming in the call and response, which you abuse in a masterful way (also at 0:50). The callbacks are also thoughtful in the way they are used: at 2:00, the first fake-out (used as a transition) is used as a ramp to launch a second fakeout, that throws your timing off just enough to cram a 5/4 switch in there. This is great writing.
Good bass lick at 2:45 to get back to the main theme, and fair ending.

I don't have much to write home about in terms of "mistakes" but here are little nitpicks:
- 1:13 would benefit from a layer of ambiance, like a pad or a choir, it feels pretty hollow otherwise
- as I stated earlier, the first fake-out is cool, but the kick is way too dry and in-your-face to justify it being alone, and when the rest of the ensemble comes back I wish it wasn't so sudden, but was either foreshadowed or faded in for maximum punch when 2:07 hits; your approach just kinda jumpscared me lol

That's pretty much it. Good energy, big epic orchestration, I could see this fit any 8bit inspired indie game.

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Restlessness check: 15/15

ThePhreshPhrog responds:

Thank you for the feedback! I agree that soundfonts can sometimes be detrimental to tracks, but I think when done correctly, they can sound great at their full potential and can be a solid stylistic choice. This is something I'm still trying to learn, but a lot of VGM composers I'm inspired by blow me away with what they can get out of some intentionally dated samples and synths, which is the type of music I hope to make one day. I think it all comes down to knowing how to properly arrange and mix (two things I am not the best at currently.) Anyways, tangent over but I appreciate you taking time to judge this competition. :)

[Pirate's Anchor]

Heyo, here to judge. RIP them boogers, but I like how you based this one off your pirate-sona lol

Gonna start off with my main gripe: you called it Pirate's Anchor, but sounds 0% related to the title or the octopus cosplay; it's a regular boss track with no pirate references/motifs/instruments, so I don't think it fits what you were going for lore-wise.
Now to the actual technical review.

I first heard the entry when it was first published and I wrote down a lot of stuff: now, I don't know if you updated it or I was just deaf, but on a late second listen, pretty much all the major problems have disappeared; it was mainly melodies landing on really weak intervals (which, granted, they sometimes still do, but less often), so now that that's been dealt with, I can compliment it let's gooo

The energy is palpable (the fluctuating minor second interval at the start is tense n tight), the guitar (great timbre btw) melody is pretty memorable, the chiptune-y "sprouts" are well-placed, and the mix hits like a freight train. Sometimes it fills pretty empty in terms of ambiance, but it's something you notice when you really pay close attention.
The major highlight for me is 1:20-1:50 zone: nice satisfying wet bass over a 3-3-2 break, little toned-down piano melody section, and callback to the strobe effect from 20ish seconds earlier (aka good writing).

The last section starts off with a wailing guitar glissando, which I find cool since it follows a key change we have no clear tonal reference for right away, and the undefined ascending slide doesn't let you detect the key just yet. In my opinion, whether intentional or not, that is quite cool. (the second siren-ish guitar is ... ehhhh kinda pathetic on its own tho lol)

Textbook ending which I'm fine with, but definitely add some more tail to the guitar to second the FX below it.

Overall, pretty nice job, but I gotta express my disappointment for the un-har-har-ed track :(

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Restlessness check: 12/15

DumbOctopus responds:

umm... Sorry, lol.

[Decadance]

What a scrumptious melody, bluesy af. The beat coming in took me by surprise but I think it works, though I definitely prefer the drumless sections, which were orchestrated really well. I like this, good job!

SorrowMusic responds:

thanks, really glad to hear that, especially about orchestration.

[Anno Draconis]

10-month-late frontpage jumpscare

AED4 responds:

You know what they say, better late than never ;p

[Power of Connection]

Your whole catalog is amazing btw. I'm puzzled at how you have so little followers when this is the average quality lol

TheChuckie responds:

lol, i appreciate the compliment

i really don't know why I end up not getting an audience but perhaps another 100 frontpages will get me there :3 :3 :3

currently I'm working on my next album cycle mainly why I haven't really gotten anything posted recently

[A Cat's Little Adventure]

This is insanely high quality, wow... I'm following ya lol

Manvineo responds:

Hehe, Thanks!~ Glad you liked it!
╱|、
(˚ˎ 。7
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じしˍ,)ノ

[You're Nicer Than I Thought]

IMO, this is such a difficult type of song to write; it's like a background mat for any type of content: interesting in its own right, but vague and morally neutral enough to just slip in through the cracks of what the visuals are about. Only thing is that the break at 1:11 is way too abrupt and it breaks the flow too much, maybe make it a little less sharp through a fade-out or a reverb tail. Other than that, I love the biguous chord and the lo-fi sounds, keep it up

MrDumbDuck responds:

I've acknowledged the cut at 1:11, I didn't know what to add until it was already uploaded. Big ol thanks for the feedback!

[The Chromagraph]

If I tell you I dropped it, are u you gonna be mad...? It was a whoopsie 👉👈

PixxlMan responds:

Uhhh oh.. you better apologize to the fabric of reality before it's too la--

[A World]

absolutely stellar production, goddamn

supermelon-creations responds:

Thanks!! Put a lot of work into it