Miyolophone's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Undertale - Spear of Justice [Electro Swing]]

I did not think this would work at ALL as electro swing... you sure proved me wrong.

I really liked the rhythms of this one, and the transitions to G# at 1:42 and to 3/4 at 2:50 was quite cool. That said, I have a couple tips on what to work on, in my opinion at least:

-The thing that irked me the most was the dissonance in either the 2nd or 3rd measure (not sure how you set it up)— the second chord that's played, at any rate. The original is modal to some degree, I think... or maybe just melodic minor, or something... anyway, that measure or two (the IV chord) in the original is major, which you kept in the melody (diatonic with G major) but didn't keep in the chord, which was G minor. Wow, I just spent a lot of space trying to describe that, sorry... hopefully that made sense. Anyway, it repeated a bunch of times, and nothing else was dissonant... I thought I should point it out.
-In general, it felt kind of sparse... I don't think you ever had more than 3 types of instrument, or like 5 different individual instruments playing at once. Some more layering would add a lot in my opinion. Also there are a lot of other ways the piano can play besides that ragtime-y, choppy sound... just sayin'.

(Also pretty sure the piece is originally in 6/8, FYI... it's a subtle difference)

But anyway, I did really enjoy it, just to be clear... I just don't usually find it very helpful to find a bunch of lists on things I don't need to work on for my own music, so I try to avoid it in my reviews.

Keep up the good work, man! Seriously!

TheMusicalGhost responds:

Ahhh thank you so much for the lengthy review, I'm glad you liked it~

I did not understand all of them (I'm a noob, okay?), but yeah I get you. I knew I should've changed the chords, but eh... I'm not that good at writing songs. I also don't know what any other instruments will the song if I layered them. And sorry if I didn't know the difference between 3/4 and 6/8 songs >.<

Thanks again. I did find these tips very helpful. I'll consider these the next time I make an electro swing song.

[-Oasis-]

So this is where I put my constructive criticism, right?
Cons:
-...
-...
-...
-I give up, there aren't any
I really have no problems with this track, it's peaceful and uplifting and I really enjoyed it! Now, that's not to say that there's other things you couldn't try, but I'm not taking off any stars because it's not "bad" that they're not there:
-I'd really love to see you deviate from that four-chord pattern a bit. Hearing the same chords over and over again can get a little tiring. You can often replace the progression or parts of a progression with a totally different chord and still have it sound basically normal.
-Along those same lines, it would be great to have something interesting melodically happen at some point, like a significantly different theme, or a key change... I'm a sucker for key changes but no one ever listens to me :( Even a tempo change would throw the listener off in a good way.
Just ideas if you want some more, though it doesn't seem you're lacking. Great job Kyron!

Kyron20 responds:

Thanks! I agree, I probably could do something other than the same chord progressions. I'll probably try something in my next electronic one. I tried a key change in a track I never released, but I've never really remembered to do one. With this one, doing a different theme was a bit hard, especially with the marimbas. The samples I was working with couldn't pitch bend like I wanted them to, so I blended them in with a Harmor patch that could pitch bend. It was kind of difficult to get it so it didn't sound like two clashing notes, but I probably could have experimented with a different pattern. I'll be sure to try and mix things up a bit in my next song :)

[-Second Chance-]

This is great! I agree, the mastering and mixing were extremely good, and I also agree that this could be even better with some vocals. I also really like the automation and sound design... what VST do you use for the synths?

Keep up the awesome work! Might steal this for a GD level. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Kyron20 responds:

I use Sylenth1 and a little bit of Massive. Both are great synths. I find that Sylenth has more flexibility in a shorter amount of time, and is easier to use, and massive has a cleaner sound and can make more complex sounds with some experimentation. Shoot me a message if you want more information, and I'll be happy to provide!

[Undertale - Asgore [Electro Swing Remix]]

You just got scouted... recently??? Newgrounds is broken, you should have been scouted long ago.

This sounds surprisingly good remixed as a swing piece. It does get repetitive at times, but I suppose that's a result of remixing a loopable song, and it's rare that I find an artist who puts as much thought as you do into the piano parts in general. I would recommend, though, that you change up the chord progression even just a little at some point... or a key change might be nice... but still, awesome job.

Keep it up :D

TheMusicalGhost responds:

Thank you!

Yeah, I thought so. I should've made variations to the chord, and as well as the piano. Thank you for your recommendation. ♥

[A Piano BG Loop I made]

So you decided to join me on a trip out of our comfort zones, huh? ;D
This is good! The chord progression was interesting-- not the generic dance progression that I see a lot nowadays-- and the rhythm was well-syncopated and fun. (Though the rhythm you used-- dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter-- is a common dance rhythm, so I think you could make this into a really interesting dance song if you felt like it.)
If you want to go even farther out if your comfort zone, try using another theme as well! It can even be the same chord progression, but then you have more material to cycle through and change.
I still wouldn't exactly call this a background loop, because it was so rhythmic and had clear energy, but this is still a really nice piece you have here... keep up the musical musicness, I like where this is going.
Oh, and the chord change was fabulous. Respect.

Cheers c:

MollusK-Music responds:

Thanks! I really appreciate the critique. I'm glad you liked it, and I completely agree it's not a great BG song, I really just had no other way to label it. Though, it being up-beat and all, might actually make a reasonable boss tune, idk.

Anyway, I'm really interested in improving my musical musicness. So if there was anything you wanted to share about any sort of musical techniques, I would greatly appreciate it as always.

As you said, and as far as this goes, I may make something of it. Or send it to mah boi, Karaplex/Windlux, since I kind of owe him something of the sort to collaborate on.

Anyway, thanks again. Cheers c:

[Pheidippides]

Damn, that is quite a feat! I barely even know where to start.

Well, first off, a general overview of the song: you were able to make an 8 minute piece not very repetitive amazingly well. There were some parts that I personally felt went on a little long, but honestly I've heard 3 minute pieces with more repetition— including my own— and I would probably chalk that up to my own personal pace for rapidly shifting music anyway. It did remind me of EnV, as you said, but only stylistically. The melody seemed original, unless I'm not thinking of the song. And I like EnV, so... good job...

For the record, I loved the retro part— I felt it was just what the song needed to keep me interested, because I had (after all) already sat through 3 and a half minutes of the same melody. All the synths and other sounds were great... not much I can say about that, as you know.

I'm gonna put in some suggestions here, but I'm not taking off stars for them because their just to try to elevate your music to a new level of awesomeness: first of all, I'm impressed that you used that same melody and chord progression for 7 minutes and 56 seconds, but I don't think it would've hurt to have a key change, or even a new theme somewhere, just to mix things up and give it a certain flavor that I think it could use. (I know I'm one of the few people who cares about that sort of thing judging from other Newgrounds reviews, but whatever.) Another thing you could try is harmonizing with the melody (having the melody overlaid above the original at intervals), which might or might not mean anything to you, but if you're curious on how I'd be happy to explain.

Wow, this ended up being a really long review. My point was, you've come a long way from Kraken, that's for sure. I'll be outraged if you don't get as famous as EnV someday, at this rate. Keep it up.

Cheers c:

MollusK-Music responds:

Haha, thanks! I'm really glad I was able to keep you interested and that this was pleasant to listen to. I've been looking into trying to add key changes to songs for a while, but I've never been good at transitioning from one key to the next. Now, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by harmonizing the melody. I mean, I think I have an idea, but I would be really interested to hear about it, for future projects. So, if you want to share your knowledge on that, I'd love to hear it. I'm glad you liked the retro part as well, that was a total 'pioneer's voyage' for me, musically and sound design wise as well. Luckily all retro music is square based, so that made it real easy to design the sounds. The drums are just made with white noise, anyhow.

I'm happy to hear that I'm improving and I plan to keep doing that. Maybe some dubstep or more future bass next.

Cheers c:

[Sad Machine Remix WIP]

I really like how it's turning out! You should definitely bring back the piano part at the beginning, because it was really nice :D

I liked the sounds you used, especially the percussion (probably because I can never handle percussion for some reason), but my issue with them was that the non-melody instrument starting at 0:11 felt too loud compared to the other pluck sound that you have, but that might just be me. Anyway, I like how it sounds so far, keep it up man!

Cheers c:

MollusK-Music responds:

That's certainly fair, seeing as I was intending to make it the driving force. I will definitely work with it a little bit to see if I can't get a more balanced result. The percussion originally felt completely wrong with the rest of the song, but all it took was to move the sequences a little bit and it seemed to fit perfectly after that. I also took into account the advice to use more complex percussion.

Thanks for the feedback, dude. Cheers c:

[An Astronaut's Daydream]

Okay, we're going to skip the pleasantries: this was fricking amazing. I'm a fan of future bass, especially Jumper, who's style is similar to this (and that's one of the highest compliments I can give you, trust me). It isn't particularly "catchy" or melodic in the traditional sense, but that's okay, it's not required. The sidechaining is epic, and all of the sounds were really amazing and fit the mood really well. If you don't mind me paparazzi-ing you with a few questions, 1) where did you get the drums from? 2) are all the synths from Serum? If not, what else did you use? and 3) what was that awesome Time Lapse-like water drop sound you had from?

Anyway, my only criticism was that the outro was, like, 3 times longer than it needed to be, and in general the piece was somewhat repetitive (there weren't really distinct melodic sections that you might find in really excellent future bass. I refer you again to Jumper; "To World's End" is a great example of the distinct sections thing). But I can overlook that because this is so fabulous.

Cheers man c:

MollusK-Music responds:

I really appreciate the compliments and comparison to Jumper! Before I get too much Into anything, I want to let you know that I am in the process of remastering this and changing the parts that sounded a little odd. Also the repetition is being worked on, and almost done. I am planning to do a whole lot more future bass and I hope to get better each time, so if this was good then I am clearly improving, so thanks again. That really motivates me.

Now to answer your questions:

1. They are all a little bit changed by myself to sound better in general. The kick came from a pack I have as well as the clap. The little rim-shot I used to replace the snare is stock in FL and I also used it in "Inner Machinations" The hats are also stock and given some effects.

2. Yes, every sound in here was made from scratch in Serum; Bass, Chords, Pads, Plucks. It is my absolute favourite synthesizer, without question.

3. It was from an FX loop I've had on my computer for a while. It has a bunch of vocal chops, and other sounds, but the droplet sound stood out, so I simply chopped it out of the other stuff.

I don't ever mind answering questions, so it's not trouble at all.

Cheers to you as well c:

[Work in Progress]

This is good!
The beginning is really cool— I really liked the VR growl, actually— and the instrument you have with the melody is great-sounding. I agree with sYrge w/r/t the sidechaining, though, and also related to the chords, some of them sounded a little dissonant. That's not inherently a bad thing, but if you want it to be very harmonically smooth, you might want to change some of the chord tones so they don't aurally "rub" so much. Other than that, no criticisms that aren't just personal taste. Good start, man.
Cheers c:

MollusK-Music responds:

Much obliged, always happy to hear from you three. I do plan to address those points as much as possible in the finished product. I've actually changed the chords dramatically, so they are far less... rough, I want to say. They are more stabby and smoothly automated so they fade slightly from their initial hit. I'm tinkering with the plucks as well to make them a lot more smooth, and one of the layers traipses from side to side (left to right) over a 2 bar span, which gives what I think to be a nice subtle effect. I'm still thinking for names, so if you have any ideas feel free to pm me. Also, the sidechaining will be fixed at some point. I've been looking into it, doing my normal routine, but something unknown isn't working. It's a little frustrating, but if it's not tough it's not worth doing. Thanks so much for the feedback!

Cheers, man c: