Nice job Troisnyx! I have to say, I can't remember you every attempting to do something like this, and yet you pulled it off really well! Good job!
My only real complaints are that it's a little too long/repetitive and the sidechaining at times was way too strong and it messed with my perception of the song.
I really liked the main melody and its subsequent modulation(s). Kinda wish I heard it more, actually.
Good job!
Awesome!
Pretty darn good handling of chiptune I think. I guess sometimes (during the solo) I was imagining you doing slightly more intricate/jazzier takes on the theme (rather than just reiterating it usually). Maybe in difference voices. This may be just because I listen to a ton of jazz chiptune, but I think it's usually a good idea because it sounds awesome! :D (listen to this sometime http://fearofdark.bandcamp.com/album/motorway, you'll love it)
I was pretty impressed by the mixing of the dry chip with the rather wet orchestra in the first half. No clue how you did that, whenever I try it never really works out...
The track is filled with highlights but the best part by far is at 2:20. IT GIVES ME FEELS. Even when I'm lying in bed sick with the flu. Such a good part!
My one criticism is with the Step MonsterCymbalCrashes (TM). To me, whether it's true or not, they sound to me like you're a little insecure about your song - using one feels like saying "here comes the good part -> -> -> " but honestly I think the good parts would stand out just as well with simpler, stripped down transitions. I also have this suspicion that big transitions like that make a listener tire of a song quicker, but I don't really have any evidence to back it up. (yea, I might be a *bit* of a hypocrite here...)
P.S. <troll> Also it doesn't make sense to include chiptune in this medley since SMG didn't have any chiptune in it ya dunce </troll>
"Awesome!"
Johnfn! Was just reminded how much I enjoy your reviews. Thanks a million for dropping by! I'm really happy you enjoyed the track (and gave it one of your hard-to-earn 10/10s). This and my other arrangement (In a Dream) are two tracks I worked super hard on, and I'm proud of both, so it's great getting reassuring feedback!
"Pretty darn good handling of chiptune I think."
Glad you think so! Got to be honest, once again I totally ripped off your style of lead synths with vibrato and grace notes and stuff for that Gusty Gardens solo. Hope you don't mind :3.
"I guess sometimes (during the solo) I was imagining you doing slightly more intricate/jazzier takes on the theme (rather than just reiterating it usually)"
Aghhhh, you are very much correct, and it kills me because I really wish I thought of it while making the track. You are also not the first to mention this. Echo mentioned that there should be some kind of contrapuntal thing played by another voice during the solo, especially during 3:22~. Maybe I would've thought of it if I had more time, but I basically went through a music-making marathon to finish this on time, sometimes up till 3 - 4 AM in the morning, so I unfortunately had to rush a lot of it.
But yeah, I agree 100%.
"(listen to this sometime http://fearofdark.bandcamp.com/album/motorway, you'll love it)"
Thanks for the recommendation! Heard a good part of it already and I absolutely adore it. I think I'm going to buy it, in fact. It's amazing, seriously.
"I was pretty impressed by the mixing of the dry chip with the rather wet orchestra in the first half. No clue how you did that, whenever I try it never really works out..."
Have you tried adding delay? I don't have too much reverb on my chiptune synths but I do have a hefty amount of delay. The chiptune percussion is also full of "muted" white noise "hits" (dunno what else to call them) and other little intricacies and effects, which kind of fill up the gap of depth that the reverb would've otherwise filled, if that makes any sense.
"The track is filled with highlights but the best part by far is at 2:20. IT GIVES ME FEELS."
The Good Egg Galaxy theme is beautiful isn't it? I remember getting really excited to get to 2:20 so I can just throw all I've got at a huge uplifting climax, and I'm glad it worked out!
"Even when I'm lying in bed sick with the flu."
Still sick? Aw man. Get well soon!
"My one criticism is with the Step MonsterCymbalCrashes (TM)."
LOL I love how they're a trademark now. But yes, once more I agree entirely with you. I didn't really think about it while composing the track, but the other day I was listening back to it and just thought "man, so many cymbal rolls... what was I thinking". The thing about them is that the more you use them, the less effective they become when you actually NEED to use them for a huge climax. I should've used them more sparingly.
"P.S. <troll> Also it doesn't make sense to include chiptune in this medley since SMG didn't have any chiptune in it ya dunce </troll>"
Hahaha well, Super Mario Galaxy didn't have any particularly CHIPTUNE influences, but it had plenty of orchestral with electronic elements, a lot of which were kinda reminiscent of chiptune I think, such as:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVFnc9QQOvg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eue6Zvv3GlI
Plus, chiptune is pretty much always linked to video game music, especially to Mario, so I thought why not!
Anyway, thanks so much again for the detailed review. You da best.
:O :O :O
Either you've been holding out on us this whole time or over the last 2 weeks you learned how to sing as good as the Muse guy?!?
This song is epic! I like the chord before the chorus the most. That's a pretty nice chord. The rest of the chords are pretty good, too.
thank you John <3
Initially this was going to be my Round 1 submission actually. I thought it had potential so I left it until i could work more on it
Whoa suddenly you remind me a lot of Sigur Ros? Do you know of Sigur Ros? I think you would really like them...
Anyway Schala's Theme is awesome and so is this cover.
Real nice. I appreciate all the sound choice/design you did, and I think it's all pretty solid honestly, feels pro and would definitely be at home in a visual novel like atmosphere... with the exception of the drums. I think the drums could be a bit better maybe, they feel a bit muffled. Better samples perhaps. I never know what to say about drums. Also the big heavy hitting crashes e.g. 2:27 are great but maybe a little out of place in an otherwise chillaxing piece.
Also the little section at 1:12 is SO Step. (so are those crashes I just mentioned :D)
Mixing is fine. I like how the strings swell in, that feels very pro to me. Definitely has an eerie feel, like I'm exploring a haunted house, but the house isn't VERY haunted, it's haunted by like the ghost of a dog or something. Despite you saying the song is very melodic, I don't really think that it is - it feels more atmosphere driven to me. I don't say that as a criticism though, it still works well.
JOHNFN. Man, I missed your reviews. Thanks a million for leaving a review!
"Real nice. I appreciate all the sound choice/design you did, and I think it's all pretty solid honestly, feels pro and would definitely be at home in a visual novel like atmosphere..."
That's great to hear. This is my first time making an OST this size, so I'm having HUGE amounts of trouble trying to follow the requirements for each piece. Ergo, (I feel like such a snob using that word) every bit of positive feedback is a huge breath of relief for me haha.
"with the exception of the drums. I think the drums could be a bit better maybe, they feel a bit muffled. Better samples perhaps. I never know what to say about drums."
I'm not huge on the drums here either! I wasn't quite sure what kinds of samples to use. 0:23's drums are supposed to be muffled as they're mostly an atmospheric element, but when the actual drums come in I agree that the samples aren't quite fitting.
"Also the big heavy hitting crashes e.g. 2:27 are great but maybe a little out of place in an otherwise chillaxing piece."
I COULDN'T HELP IT, MAN. I feel like my music is almost DEFINED by those huge cymbal roll transitions into the climactic sections. I'm a one-trick pony, it's all I can do well :c. I think I did go a little overboard with it, but still, since this is the first track to appear in the OST, I also think that it won't be entirely out of place to have a more eventful piece of music in the background.
"Also the little section at 1:12 is SO Step. (so are those crashes I just mentioned :D)"
Hahaha. I need to vary my style more. You know what, one of these days I should make a track involving a smooth synth lead with subtle portamento and a bunch of reverb playing uplifting melodies with grace notes, and I'll give it a lowercase song title.
"Mixing is fine. I like how the strings swell in, that feels very pro to me."
The wonders of volume automation! Nowadays I actually don't write any string patterns without having an automation clip on their volume, in fact.
"Definitely has an eerie feel, like I'm exploring a haunted house, but the house isn't VERY haunted, it's haunted by like the ghost of a dog or something."
Yeah it should have a somewhat eerie and slightly tense vibe, as if you're expecting something to happen, but shouldn't verge on being too tense or too eerie. The haunted dog thing certainly wasn't what I had in mind but it's definitely interesting haha. Woof.
"Despite you saying the song is very melodic, I don't really think that it is - it feels more atmosphere driven to me. I don't say that as a criticism though, it still works well."
I think it's pretty melodic for atmospheric BGM but what do I know :3. Thanks a lot for the great review!
So epic... so much variation... even if I wouldn't have dropped out I think you still would have won ;-)
I would like to hear you take a slightly new direction next time though, that would be pretty neat.
I started working on the quiet section of the track at first. It was going to be all around that idea. But walking about I had that melody playing loud with drums and stuff and I couldn't stop myself from taking it into that direction.
And I've already started something kinda similar to this track for the next round haha. I promise after NGADM you'll hear something more interesting from me.
Also, you know both of us had the same chances. Don't be silly and go make music right now John! <3
I guess I have some small nitpicks. The drums are mostly underwhelming, like they could be more interesting. They mostly loop the same patterns, and are generally kind of quiet too. I almost feel like the song would be better without them.
I also felt like the song was very sparse. If you just would have had piano, that would have been fine (assuming you made the dynamics work to your advantage). But once you introduce rock drums, I start wanting other elements - particularly, I REALLY want a nice pad to fill out the song.
As a minor complaint, I felt like the call and response in the first half of the song e.g. :59 doesn't work, because the high piano is too quiet.
Alright, all complaints are now out of the way. I thought you did really good! Sorry as usual for grousing, but I really did enjoy this cover. The combination of the different themes was well done, and the transitions were nice. I almost didn't even notice them, heh. :)
Good job!
Yeah, I do know what you mean in most cases here, but I ultimately set out to make a less-is-more track with just piano, bass, and percussion. Why did I do that? At this point, I'm not even really sure anymore, but that's what I did. I quite like the drums myself, so that's the only real area where I'll vehemently disagree, though a few more instruments could have served to make the track a bit more...robust.
The bit about the transitions is pretty awesome, though! And hey, I know by now that your constructive criticism often comes with a modicum of grousing. The fact is, you take the time to listen and leave a review of real substance, and that means a lot to me. I can put up with nitpicks and such all in the name of feedback. Heck, it's kind of a prerequisite.
Thanks again for sharing your time and insight; both are thoroughly appreciated! ^__^
GARLAGAN STRIKS AGAIN
Maybe not as catchy as your first track, but makes up for it by being insane.
insanity is one of the best garnishes
just listened to your track btw, it's immense. Expect one of my short and boring reviews soon!
i always forget to respond to PMs. its not because i hate you, just because i forgot!!!
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Ini:flipsphere/. 
To the Stars 
Skyless ![Schala's Theme [Vocal Cover]](https://aicon.ngfiles.com/591/591115_small.png?f1414539171){kind=small}
Schala's Theme [Vocal Cover] 
Imminence 
Impulse 
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