damifortune's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cityelectrojam (AIM 2023)]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

this one takes some interesting turns and developments, but as a whole track i really enjoy it! it's maybe bordering on not being cohesive, but there's enough underpinning it (like the bass groove later on) that it kind of relates back to the earlier stuff. i would've loved to hear those two sections intertwine with one another a little more though; like that progression at 0:50 is immensely catchy and fun and you could've leaned into that even harder as a chorus type situation. i love all these parts individually a lot - the goofy synths have a ton of character, it's such a fun and carefree song.

with respect to the artwork you chose, i am 100% picking up the "big bustling city" vibe, no doubt. i sense that's what you focused on with your track and that's great as a first line of attack. i'd sort of expect the poppy upbeat mood from a more cheerful, people-centric picture though - blue skies, friends running around, people eating snacks, families smiling, etc etc. what i see in this image beyond 'city' is... an awful lot of industry, machinery, hazy polluted skies, and some interestingly diverse architecture. while i don't think you missed the mark entirely or anything, i do feel like there's a lot of depth there that could've been plundered. maybe the energetic and goofy moods would fit better if i thought about this city as the setting for a story centered around some rambunctious kids or something like that. with all that said though - i enjoyed the song very much : )

[Lunar Deity (AIM 2023)]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

the core bass and percussion groove here is simply addictive; sounds great, irresistible to nod one's head along to, and really well-balanced. the ambience of the intro was also really cool! the opening sfx sounded sort of like being in a menu in a game?

good choices in the harmonic progression too; that plus the woozy synths that portamento around gives off the necessary "spacey" vibe to match with the artwork you chose. and it's funky enough to pair with the bright, psychedelic, colorful style of the art too. this one in particular is fairly abstract and not the easiest to interpret in music imo; lots of room to explore, but also not simple to convey. i think you landed in a nice spot with it though!

i think there might be just a little room to explore some more variation in the phrases and harmony from time to time, like a "related but contrasting" B-section with a new idea; and depending on where it's deployed, it might help the pacing of the track ease into and out of the enormity of its main section. nothing wrong with how you've done it, but it feels like there's two modes, big and small, and they hit or go away immediately. even just a hair more finesse on those transitions would elevate this track even higher, imo!

Jatmoz responds:

Thank you for the in-depth review!!

[AIM - Elegy to a Fallen Star]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

the atmosphere of this piece is absolutely spot-on; the mood, the ambience, the textures, the pacing. all of it pretty strongly conveys this feeling of being isolated in the middle of an enormous sea. there's so many slow, undulating swell sounds, which is a nice touch that mimics the motion of waves/tides (even aside from the actual wave recordings), and they provide a really nice support to the simple melancholy piano harmonies. the way this song builds naturally to a crescendo almost without you even noticing is some sick finesse on your part! six minutes go by incredibly fast here honestly.

i think this music portrays the artwork you chose very well and clearly; though there is also potential for a slightly brighter take overall when considering the bright midday lighting and the presence of a boat, i think this is an excellent take on the subject and it is thoughtfully arranged and paced. great work!

ForgottenDawn responds:

Thanks for your review!

[AIM - Snow Angels]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

wow, brief aside here, i wasn't expecting to see anything written in Finale PrintMusic in the compo... that's where i got my start in 2003-04 with Finale PrintMusic 2002. even just seeing your score screenshot takes me back lol - cool!

anyway - very pretty, emotional piece you've got here. the harp/piano and especially the strings are really nice; sometimes i wish the arpeggiated parts deviated a little more, but i would find this very suitable background music for a game or cutscene. the mood is dark and wintry! it actually feels considerably less lighthearted than the artwork you chose for inspiration, where i maybe would've imagined some cute pizz plucks and glockenspiel for these cute fellas having a good time in the snow. but, with that said, i can still see what you had in mind, and it sorta feels like what i'd be feeling by zooming out to see the whole landscape, neighborhood, town around them on a snowy winter's day.

although the EWSO sample libraries help out, i know from experience it's pretty hard to get humanistic sound out of Finale without *a lot* of finagling - un-score-like finagling at that, where you're dropping dynamic and articulation markings all over the place and it looks unreadable or silly. but that's one aspect where i think this piece could really benefit; the arpeggios and other repeated rhythmic figures would feel less like a computer was playing them back if their volumes varied more, offbeats were de-emphasized, etc. basically what i'm saying here is the playback isn't doing your score justice lol, i see some good clean detail in the page you provided, so it'd be lovely to hear a real recording; real players would handle so much of that stuff themselves :')

NativeNiles responds:

Thx for the review!

[AIM - N0T A G4M3]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

these heavy electronic sounds definitely convey a strong 'cyber' vibe that's something i pick up from the artwork you chose for sure. i would've liked to hear some glitchy effects or weird effect modulations to really dial in the glitched-out feeling from the pixelations and background of the image. still, the sound choices and the overall kinda mischievous, confident mood of the song seem quite fitting. and the core gritty synth + big drums combo drives the song well.

i think there could stand to be a little more variation in the tune overall - too much leans away from the style a little bit but a contrasting section that's a bit more than "cutting out some of the parts to feature a new one with the same cadence" would be a welcome way to kinda complete this song. making the individual synth lines have a bit more of an intentional direction or arc would also help it out a bit i think! but what's here is certainly a solid base and quite enjoyable to jam out to.

[AIM - The Sun Hides Its Face]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

it's cool to hear such a mix of acoustic and digital sounds, and there's something a bit unnerving and melancholy about the piece which i think matches with the artwork you chose... those lit-up windmills, those gnarled branches, sure are menacing. it's conceptually interesting the way you tried to bridge all those disparate elements; and not an easy task either.

the instrumentation could perhaps be used more effectively; the orchestral parts are all written in fairly close range of one another when it might feel more expansive and open (doubly suiting the wide landscape of the artwork) to be spacing out the chords towards the bass register and creating some motion down there too. the whole first half of the song feels really wanting for some lower-pitched sounds. also the writing doesn't "go places", parts do a lot of looping, which isn't inherently bad but not what i would expect out of orchestral writing; it might be useful to think about where the lines are going, to pay attention to their overall shapes and directions, and write with more intentionality, like heading towards particular high points and low points, or reusing (in new ways) familiar shapes/rhythms/patterns that came from earlier parts of your melodies and supporting lines. this would go a long way towards making everything feel cohesive!

the last section with the drums feels particularly cool to me, even though its tone is a bit disparate from the rest. i like all the rhythmic elements at play there. there's a lot of cool ideas in this tune, and with some more careful handling of all its parts it could really succeed.

Joel-Phelps responds:

Thanks for the review!

I will definitely try for more intentionality in my next artwork. This has helped a lot!

[A Land Home to Dreams - AIM]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

cool IDM type tune - a lot of interesting, busy percussion that tickles the ears and the brain. i would've guessed this were an oldschool tracker module had you not specified. the blippy staccatoness of most of the parts, as well as some of the strange modulating, undulating textures, helps match with the pixelations and weird effects of the blocks in the art you chose for inspiration. this does not seem like the easiest artwork to represent in music, but your take feels suitably vivid for such a curious, colorful, abstract, patterned world.

the song also seems to be pretty appropriately paced; parts change up and new sections roll in where i would expect them to, and i like how it returns to the original idea. there's a great amount of detail work in the drum tracking which i appreciate and also feels essential to this genre. really solid tune! cool choices and well-executed, especially on a time crunch!

[Rock On Gustafa [AIM 2023]]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

the accompaniments that unfold as the piece goes by are all really lovely... bringing out a lot of emotion and peaceful feeling. love the various field recording incorporations too, i'm a big sucker for that. :D this is spot-on for an atmosphere of "farm sim where nothing can go wrong and all is right with the world", and of course in the artwork you chose, this cheerful hippie bard with a joint embodies that exact feeling. in that respect you nailed it imo!

the only thing that kinda stands out to me about this arrangement is the guitar - being front and center and all, a bit more detail in the writing would go a long way. de-emphasizing the notes that aren't on strong beats by lowering their volumes would help make it feel humanistic, as would slightly varying their levels across the board. a few more changes in the chords would also be nice; or even just variations in how the arpeggios move/start/end/etc. regardless there's a lot of love in the rest of the piece and it is quite enjoyable and fitting!

Quarl responds:

I quickly fake dynamics with an automation lane on a volume knob, good to know I can go harder on those peaks and valleys next time I use a dulcimer patch to fake a guitar :p

[batzona - aim2023]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

holy crap, i love this - there's so much raw emotion in your vocal delivery and the accompanying production feels appropriately minimal. i like what's going on there too with the hazy chord pad and the plucky FM-ish synths (especially the one that sounds almost like striking a metal pan). it's gritty and angular which in an abstract way i feel kinda touches upon the strange angles of the blood at the focus of the artwork you chose to represent. the art is kind of unsettling because of that surrealness amidst soft beauty, and your song hones in on that. it's maybe darker overall than what i would've expected, but i think it's such a cool take and it aims straight at the center of the art... i only wish the song went on for a little longer before it ended! i really enjoyed this one, great work.

[AIM - Boombox]

(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

cool careful attention to the style of the artwork here in terms of the sounds and genre you chose. it's super groovy, and i could easily imagine this fine fellows jamming out to this out on the street. it paints a nice picture!

the biggest thing i would expect to hear more of here is additional sampling besides the vox - especially something in the way of chord samples or small clips being played around with DJ-style, stuff that sounds like it's from a jazz or pop record or something. although the groove is already nicely funky it does feel a bit wanting for some harmonic content to fully flesh out the sound. i know you said you were kinda out of your element here, so i definitely respect the attempt here, it's solid. but i think that, plus a little less reliance on phrase-long loops coming in and out, would give this song a nice boost. regardless, great depiction of the artwork!