LunyAlex's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cave of Mysteries]

I see this working amazingly well in an underwater level track involving dim light, florescent beings, adventure and exploration.

It's quirky, but also sort of majestic in its fairly unique way. Loops awesomely too. Think I'm at the 10th repeat without actually noticing when it starts over.

Great work!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Yes! I can see the underwater level too. Afterall, I put quite a lot of bubbliness into the track XD
It's good that I'm not the only one who can imagine this music being played in a game scenario :3

This is actually one of my most successful loops. As long as I keep a track fairly simple, I have learned to hide the loop quite well. Although, I did instert an effect into the beginning of the track, which makes it much easier to notice :D

Thanks a lot!

[Aquatic Ambiance [Acoustic]]

Really digging the airy, spacious atmosphere. Really deep and complements the melody well.
The howling leads in the background give it a very distinct vibe. Very haunting, and very beautiful.

The leads towards the end feel optimistic and hopeful in contrast. A fresh balance.

Can't find anything to criticize. I very much enjoyed this.

5/5 - Would daydream to.

NyxTheShield responds:

I am glad you enjoyed it ^-^

[Kempoop]

Fantastic song!

Heavy, hard hitting riffs, crazy-good leads, splendid production. Overall badassery.

Reminds me ever-so-slightly of Protest The Hero. In the best way possible.

[Hostile]

Oh wow. This is phenomenal! The production is superb and the composition is strong, exotic, menacing. Percussion takes the cake.

Really, really awesome work!

Mattashi responds:

Thanks man!

[Improv/Prelude in E minor]

Profound concept and strikingly beautiful execution. And, as per usual, graceful playing. The two sections contrast each other very well and create an extremely poignant tone. A very meaningful, dense hollowness.

Really, really good and evocative track.

Phonometrologist responds:

I wasn't so sure how the contrasting parts would go together since the low frequencies drop off quite significantly. It was an interesting project for sure. I appreciate your review. Now looking forward to what LunyAlex does next. Your last piece is cool

[In a Dream]

The production and arrangement are overwhelmingly pleasant.
And I know that "pleasant" sounds like a mild compliment, but I mean it very strongly.

The mix is extremely balanced and clean and literally a joy to listen to. This is something I'd test out new audiophile equipment on.

And it's beyond me how you got that brass to sound so natural and vivid and life-like. Bloody wizardry. Black magic is what it is.

5/5 - Haven't played the MGS games, but I've been meaning to, and this provides further incentive to get on with it.

Step responds:

Oh wow, this review made my day! Thanks for dropping by, man.

"The mix is extremely balanced and clean and literally a joy to listen to. This is something I'd test out new audiophile equipment on."

That line right there; you have no idea how happy it makes me haha. Mixing this track was simply hell on earth; by far the hardest track I've ever had to mix. So much tweaking and messing around with volume knobs and EQ settings. Vocals have to be the main reason I had such a hard time. I suck at working with vocals and finding that balance between coherence of the vocals and loudness of the backing track.

"And it's beyond me how you got that brass to sound so natural and vivid and life-like. Bloody wizardry. Black magic is what it is."

Hahaha thanks. I'm really happy with the brass sound I've managed to achieve for my recent tracks. I have to attribute most of it to Hollywood Brass for being such an awesome-sounding library, but if I had to give any guidelines on how my extremely amateur I-have-no-idea-what-I'm-doing sorcery works, they'd be:
1.) Use the mod wheel if your brass plugin supports it. Mod wheel controls the dynamic of the brass (how hard the player blows into the brass, I guess), and it's useful for creating swells (e.g. 0:40 - 0:44 and 2:23 to 2:25) and different dynamic levels.
2.) Have both legato brass and staccato/marcato brass handy. Use the legato brass mainly, but whenever you need short notes (e.g. 0:39), don't simply play a short note with the legato brass - use the proper staccato/marcato articulation to get that proper detached sound. Brass staccato are also useful to accentuate orchestral hits like 0:36.
3.) A little trick I use with staccato brass is to create glissandi out of them. A staccato note is basically devoid of attack time and plays instantly, so it works great for quick glissandi. Examples of glissandi in this track are 0:38 (upward glissando between two legato notes) and 2:54 (downward glissando after the loud brass hit). May not be a very authentic way of getting glissandi, but AS LONG AS IT SOUNDS GOOD.
4.) Layer layer layer. In this track I have multiple French horns, trumpets, and trombones, all playing single notes in various octaves and, in the case of trumpets, whole chords. Really helps to add depth and largeness to the brass. I even layer some strings over all the brass, because I can.
5.) Ornaments like trills (of which Hollywood Brass has plenty) do tons of good to the realism.

Hope that helped in some vague manner!

"5/5 - Haven't played the MGS games, but I've been meaning to, and this provides further incentive to get on with it."

MGS is an amazing series! Definitely give the games a shot.

Trust me to write responses larger than the reviews themselves. c: Thanks a million for the review, glad you enjoyed it!

[3spooky5u]

I find this quite enjoyable. Rhythm is lively and doesn't lose momentum; melody is slightly quirky and interesting and progresses nicely.

[Synthetic Undead Arising]

Oh wow.

Splendid atmosphere and soundscape. Very engaging. Fantastic use of reverb. And the vocal samples are delightfully minimalist yet impactful.

Lich responds:

Glad you like it!

[True Silence]

2:!6 - Chills.

Fantastic composition. Very reminiscent of the movie's vibe.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thanks a lot LunyAlex! For listening to so much of my stuff, and for leaving reviews :D

I'm glad you think that I managed to capture some of the vibe from the movie :')

(About 2:16 - I really like combining a D major with an A minor chord in the high register parts of the piano; it sets a really mysterious [and... Explorative/Exploratory?] mood).