zybor's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Lost in Pixels]

you are the only person that can use dm-307 like it's intended for. brilliant piece.

Mattashi responds:

Aw thanks man, but I'm sure there's lots of people who can do a far better job with the dm-307 then me :)

[Rathunas - Ocean´s Song (Instrumental)]

I always love the ultra realistic and humanization of your pieces. Not to mention the amount of details and attention, to the depth of emotion. Beautiful and unique melodies, as usual. The harmony of each instrument in here created the fantastic world of fantasy. Flutes, recorders and choirs, plus the frame drums, well-blended together.

The choirs are the most heart-tugging in here. I swear the amount of attentions to the vocal is so humanly done. But probably the most intriguing details are the mixing and mastering. Firstly, the mastering is clear and even with all the instruments, they are not crowded or claustrophobic like a lot of attempts on orchestra music. Secondly, the mixing is superb. Almost feel like it was being played on a stage. Lastly, I noticed at the end, there were chatters. Proving that you have the heart to pay attention to its detail so deeply.

Well done and amazingly made. Just absolutely beautiful. There are so many composition techniques and methods could be learned from this piece. Same for all other pieces of your. I wish you would submit more work on NG. I'm sure many of us petty musicians could be greatly open-eyed about such composition. And we are very grateful for this.

SoundChris responds:

Thank you very much SnowTeddy for your detailed and friendly review! Just as i have wrotten in my reply to LSD - all these sample libraries have been created to surrogate a real thing and giving the composer the ability to produce believable content wile being independent from the need of real performers. Thats why i always try to get as close to the real thing as possible. I hope to be able to work with a real orchestra, solists and choir someday. But until that happens i try to make the best of the given situation.

To the choirs: The choir sound that accompanies the intro is Eduardo Tarilonte´s Mystica. Then the first solo voice was Tarilonte´s Shevannai which later is accompanied by the ethereal voice from Tarilontes Forest Kingdom II, the Celtica voice from ERA II - Vocal Codex and the low voice from Embertone´s Arcane instrument. The medieval instruments were these from ERA II Limited. The only non-tarilonte instruments in here were the low strings base (Spitfire Albion One - Low Strings DBVC patch) and at the beginning the Jubal Flute from Embertone (which is an ultra effective and affordable tool that perfectly works for the task it was designed fore - i just can recommend it).

Concerning the mixing - i have to admit that i am not that good in production (at least if i compare my production skills with that of some of my friends, which are very awesome using effect plugins to get a full and transparent sound). All i try to do is to add a realistic sounding verb (several instances for the sections and one or 2 to glue the whole track together. I made the experience that adding 2 different reverbs to one instrument section really creates a more realistic sound and i also read that top mixdown engineers also use that trick to take 2 reverbs that have a little difference in the reverb time. Its worth a try :D ). The other thing that i always try to do is to have some panning while i avoiced a strong panning in this medieval track here. I thought that in a tavern you just dont have the space to do that. So i placed them from +12 to - 12 or something, which is really decent IMO. Besides that i did no mastering. Probably i should have added the Sonnox Inflator to polish the sound a little bit. But ehrm ... to be honest: I just forgot about it :D

I am glad that you enjoyed the track. There will be a version with a life singer singing polyphone in the end. We already got the lyrics. But it could take some time until she will finally be able to go into the studio to record it. Thats why i chose a virtual solution here.

Hm well in the past i have submitted far more stuff on NG - thats true. But - dont know why - in the meantime the situation is just this: While my stuff got weekly featured or frontpaged almost every single time i noticed that the new mods dont seem to appreciate what i do (maybe i am wrong and its just that the genres that i am writing are not that much liked here). Meanwhile i often only get 200-500 views. In former times a few thousand were quite normal for every track. Also no matter how much i upload and no matter how good it is: It seems i almost dont get any new fans (btw - thanks for the follow - much apperciated). I am stuck at about 250 for almost a year now, almost get no more reviews and that gave me the impression that noone really cares anymore. Its the same situation for many of the other orchestral composers that i know who were active 2-3 years ago :/

I hope this site will become more active again - the audio portal deserves it. And thats the reason why i am stil here even i dont have any use of it but try to offer my experiences to help and motivate other musicians in the forums (if i have the time. I am a lawyer working fulltime - intellectual property law - which means, that - next to my second job as a composer - my time is quite limited.

Thanks a lot for leaving your thoughts here and all the best for you. Have a great new year!
Chris

[FD - The Reveal]

Hey do you like to do codin... I'm kidding.

Nicely done track. Great work. This is what most cinematic shits should sound like, not those generic loud tracks you heard on trailer. I think I spotted an off chord note somewhere at the beginning, but it's okay cos the rest compensated for this epic piece. Epic is not meant to blow it until your ears bleed. This is epic music.

Great job with the Tina Guo Cello and CineStrings. Great choices of melodies and chord progression. The climax was the best actually. Beautifully done.

ForgottenDawn responds:

:P I actually managed to solve that bug, hehe...

Thank you. Yeah, there's a note in the beginning that is a bit off, but that's the legato engine's fault. Not sure what happened there. The strings are actually from 8Dio, all legato instruments. :D They've been pretty much my standard since 2013.

Yeah, I share your sentiment about what constitutes the majority of "epic" tracks these days. I do some sad shit, but at least it's from the heart and I wouldn't trade it for anything on this world. Thanks for your review, see you soon and happy New Year. :)

[Sempiternal Rhapsody]

Wait until Phono listen to this one. I like this version better. Much better played and full of emotions. The piano sound is truly ear-candy. Excellent piece.

Happy New Year. Wish the best to you.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I hope he will listen to this one! I'd love to hear his comments :)
I'm glad that you've had yourself a listen though! Thank you for the lovely words, and for the best wishes!

I'm a bit late, but Happy New Year to you as well :D

[FD - Hope From Destruction]

Having both Sateras approving this track is an honor. You're probably somebody who could use Aeon without overusing them. Never get tired of listening to this one. The brass is dope. No such thing as bad for reviewing twice.

ForgottenDawn responds:

It is an honor, indeed, and a pleasant surprise. Thank you ;)

[I Dream of the Future]

There is a best track of this year from you, but I firmly believe this could be one too. The talent of this piece came from the ability to turn cheesy Disney music, into a heart moving work of art. And I'm not being sarcastic. The middle part is most beautiful of all. Well played piece, like usual. You got the thing for playing softly but still clear and well followed.

This made my morning a lot brighter. No matter how far from home, or when time will end, the future is still flowing by. Thank you for it.

Feeling strange that reviewing twice should make up for my previous shitty review. But everybody deserves a second chance.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Well, I spent a part of a day composing this (well, I had the main idea the night before), whereas my best track which I will soon be releasing, I spent on and off, two months on :D
But my ideas where really clear and easy to actualize in this composition, so things went smoothly!

I'm glad if this made your morning a bit better :)
I am baking Christmas candy myself, atm!
I'm impressed by your ability to look into the future, no matter what!!

I was happy to receive your first review, and I am grateful you wrote this second one too :'D