damifortune's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[omnipresent (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)

in love with the glitchy moments like before the interlude, and the volume gate stuff going on in the choir. i'm a big fan of that silentroom album that nhelv is from too btw; lots of wild stuff going on in it, and cool to know you were thinking about it. i think it maybe could have just ended at that point almost 2m in right when the new section's intro starts up, and all would've been well. i like the second section a lot too, separately, but they do feel like two distinct songs without a lot in common. the first part is a bit more well-developed and i think meshes better with the mood of this creepy biblical angel in your chosen artwork; heavy, glitchy, unsettling, atmospheric, and downright cinematic. the second part is considerably more chill and the harmony warmer and more hopeful - though it's definitely still got atmosphere in spades. the production is very solid. i'd love to hear more like that first part; super super cool.

[AIM 2023 - Armageddon (Old Mix)]

(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)

definitely feeling the sense of urgency over massive chaos from the synths and sirens! when it hits, it really hits. the processed bass is quite a bit louder than the rest of the song and before that i was honestly thinking some other parts could have a little more processing or effects work on them. though this isn't really a style that i make, my instincts would be to turn most everything down in volume collectively first and then raise up some of the things you want to showcase the most; like for example i think the drums could actually pack quite a bit more punch, especially the kick.

i loved the cinematic ambience of the intro in particular. sort of a calm before the storm... or maybe more like the patch of green grass depicted in the artwork you chose. imo the contrast between that and the hellfire of the rest of the art is really cool. but as the artwork's description reads, death is a busy man at a time like this, ha. cool interpretation, and definitely well-suited to an armageddon scenario

AceTAD responds:

true

[AIM - Spiral - A song about losing your mind]

(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)

woah, i love the soaring emotion that the strings bring to this, and all the guitar work sounds fantastic! it definitely seems like you've got a good handle on the style; the drum mixing feels really authentic too. the way the organ solo and reprise halfway through start building into the enormous last minute of the song is extremely satisfying. i love that last super rhythmic phrase. i didn't want it to end, haha!

this is a cool interpretation of your chosen artwork too; less about the despair of anxiety and the muted greys of depression, and more about really just losing one's grip while left in isolation. considering all the dark scribbled graffiti on the walls in the art that's probably pretty accurate. really enjoyed this; great writing.

[AIM - Soaring]

(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 is paced very nicely, with a few different sections that feature different instruments more prominently based on your core idea. i get the impression this fella in the artwork is racing along the clouds or something; the energy is really cute and peppy and infectious!

i think you could level up your harmony a bit by finding ways to not move each part up and down in tandem; that kind of parallel motion can be cool as an effect but spicing up the voicings, the intervals between harmonies, the directions everything moves, would sound a lot more dynamic and intriguing. it would also suit the jazzy flair of the tune. still, this is really cool, i enjoyed it a lot.

[(AIM 2023) Harvest Moon]

(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)

i think this one could benefit a bit from all the parts individually being turned down in volume because as it stands, everything is kinda fighting for space and pushing up against your limiter/compressor. with a little more careful leveling you can still get something that sounds just as full without the ducking or bits of distortion. collectively though the only thing that really stands out is the cool guitar line that comes in around 1m being quite loud compared to everything else, but the rest feels sensible.

there's a really cool developmental section there in the last 30sec or so, which i totally think is the right idea but i might've placed it in the middle of the song and then returned to the original stuff after some time chilling with the new. sort of an A-B-A type idea than [really long A]-B to keep things fresher. the benefit is twofold: avoiding excessive repetition of your core loops and ultimately doing something satisfying to the listener by coming back to the original thing after going elsewhere for a while. also those opening chiptuney arpeggios were really cool, i would've loved to hear those make a return beyond the intro!

overall this is really groovy, and there's a lot to be said for how much i wanna bop my head to this! your interpretation of the art is interesting and thoughtful in a particular way: when powerless to something seemingly so massive and ominous, appreciate what you have and where you're at while you still have it. not what i expected entirely but valid, and you've made a great soundtrack for the rest of this scene for sure.

[AIM - Pick it up - Corrupt Module]

(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)

some of the processing here, like the buildup into the section at 2m and the glitchy faded ambience after it, feels like the musical equivalent of dithering, which is a cool textural way to reference the artwork inspiration you chose. i really enjoy that sort of digital hazy mood and you've got a lot of different stuff going on in the track to enjoy. it does kind of jump from one idea to another and never really go back to any of them, which might affect the overall cohesion of the track a bit, but i definitely enjoyed all the ideas you laid down. each of these sections could probably be its own song if fleshed out individually and developed further in those styles. stay weird! get weirder!

CorruptModule responds:

I WILL NEVER CONFORM TO mUSICAL RULLLEESSS BWAHA HA HA HA HAW!!!!



thx for the reveiw :)

[The Mummy's Wrath (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)

wow, i think this fits the artwork extremely well! it would work really nicely to soundtrack some intense tomb raiding in a TV show featuring these characters, or perhaps in a video game cutscene (or as a couple different pieces of BGM). very cinematic. the harmony and instrumentation are excellent and perfect for the egyptian theme without seeming overly tropey... which is a good balance to strike for something cartoony i think. the writing is really clear and there's good development within the sections. the two major sections would work well on their own too, but in this case i like that we get a good taste of different atmospheres and tempos within the piece... perhaps that is what makes me think of this as particularly cutscene-ish or cinematic. anyway, this is really well done - bravo!

[AIM - Horizon]

(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)

ooh, a sunvox entry, that's cool to see. i really love the swelling ambient pad sounds in particular. they fill me with the sort of expansive, wide-eyed wonder that it's easy to imagine that little fellow in the art experiencing at such a vista. to be honest, i would have loved to hear like 300% more of that and save the drum beat for the climax of the song only, maybe like halfway to 2/3rds through. for sure the high energy, uplifting drum sections bring on an aura of "contemplative and hopeful", especially with the synth lead melody - this is a good interpretation of the art too, but considering how much of a focus there is on the sheer enormity of the landscape in the artwork, i would've preferred to hear more of the big cool chords, ideally with some additional progressions before returning back to your core one.

imo this would also be a good way to pace the development of the song; there's not a lot of development of the ideas within the individual sections, but the sections themselves are distinct... so rather than having two different big instances of the drum beat sections, combining them into one and shortening their lengths, using that as a climactic statement, would a) have a ton of impact after a bunch of spacey ambience and b) be a natural source of idea development, with the only other thing you'd really need to write being new ambient stuff inbetween (which could stay low energy or eventually start building towards the climax).

i hope that makes sense! this is just my opinion, and i think there's plenty of good ideas to latch onto and enjoy in this anyway. but thinking a bit more about the overall form could really take this to the next level i think!

OVERSCORE responds:

Thanks for leaving a review.
This is the second review complaining on the drums, and alerts me that I should have thought on the thematic elements and making the song a bit more cinematic. I’m also hearing again that I should have used those ambient elements more.
I’ll think about this for next AIM, maybe I’ll score a bit better :/ thanks for the advice.

[Optimus Primal [Art Inspired Music 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)

hot dang, that acid bass sounds SO good! it's the real star of the show for me, but everything else feels nicely mixed too, and there's a lot of cool filter work. pretty much right when i expect something new to happen, something new *does* happen, and i like how your sounds come together for new ideas after the piano interlude; the high melody there is such a nice touch. this is excellent and assembled well! it's well worth its nearly 6 minutes of runtime!

i dig the story you've assembled from out of your chosen artwork inspiration, too - you really gave some thought to interpreting the image in your own way. your song exudes the "primal beastly energy" being written about, and even if i were to totally ignore what you wrote and just look at the image, i could easily match the music to this sorta "king kong transformer" illustration thanks to your instrumentation and stylistic choices.

Trackers responds:

Thanks! 303 my favourite synth but always risky using in a comp as its not always appreciated like I do heh. Love the feedback, thanks for stepping up to Judge!

[AIM - INEVITABLE]

(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)

dark stuff! i generally feel the mood of the artwork coming through in the musical picture you're painting. the industrial-y kinda drums and heavy synths are a good fit here. this one seems kind of challenging in its abstractness to represent with music, but i think you made some good choices.

some aspects of your sequencing could be given more focus and detail to really bring out the ideas you've got going on and let them flourish - chief among them to me is paying attention to the note lengths. rather than letting all the notes run their full length until the next note happens, leaving some space inbetween them, especially the longer held notes, would add some room to breathe in the piece. the synth bass especially i think could stand to have some space between the notes, as it winds up playing over the top of some of the other stuff, like the low arpeggio and the drums. it only serves to muddy up that frequency range. also, especially with the arpeggios, some variations in the note velocities could help it feel a little less robotic, like not using the same ones all the time and lowering the values that aren't on strong beats.

you already mentioned in the description that this was a quick tune and called it repetitive, so i maybe don't need to bring up that some things could definitely use more variation, like the main eighth-note rhythm lick that grounds the song. it could be doing other stuff sometimes or just cut out in some parts i think, since we're already pretty familiar with it as the song goes by. if it's gone for a section and then comes back though, we can go "ah! that thing from before, it's back, cool!" that's much more satisfying! some more development in the form of a 'B section' to contrast with your main idea would also really help; but with all that said, i think you've already got some good ideas about pacing, as there are still ways you bring in variation or new lines to add on top or focus on.