Phonometrologist's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[MM3: Her Siren Call]

It's perhaps fitting to leave a comment on Mother's Day. Your sound design is superb and I can hear the influences all in this one track--not so easily handled to be dissected. Love the setting you put forth in the beginning. I really can't offer any criticisms when it comes to your work mostly because of how little experience I have with what it takes to create this. All I could mention is my interpretation behind the sounds that communicate some kind of meaning towards feeling. It sounds like reflecting upon a mind of one whose thoughts are constantly buzzing around in a dark apartment building amid a moving city. There's something uncertain while also being dislocated from what is there.

Anchorwind responds:

"...when it comes to your work mostly because of how little experience I have with what it takes to create this." -- Tell a story no one wants to listen to with sounds no one wants to hear.

I love hearing your interpretations. I am not a musician as much as a visionary whom tinkers with sounds.

I am almost always reflective, so when that comes across it will make me smile.

Thanks, as always.

[The King´s Daughter]

You gave me a chuckle from the beginning because it does sound a little sarcastic, but after .38 seconds, you actually did a great job of projecting some "happy" music. At this point, it becomes quite lighthearted and is enjoyable to listen to. makes me want to... umm
May I have this waltz?

Azhthar responds:

1-2-tip-1-2-tip :)

[Dramatic Funeral March]

Interesting to listen to for sure...though I would have liked to hear the next part that becomes a bit more inspirational with this effect.

RLS0812 responds:

I will see what I am able to do. Writing old fashion midi takes a lot of time.
Thank you for your response.

[Festival Dance]

This one is very interesting to me and you got the sound for that period down pretty spot on. The only weird thing to me is the mixing between the two styles of chant and festival (secular) type music in one piece. I haven't heard that before. You being the one to sing the choir part is impressive. Well done!

samulis responds:

It's a bit targeted more as a main menu track or something, so I wanted to cover multiple bases with one piece. I think it may have worked, although yeah, it is weird for sure!

Let's just say I had to take a lot of takes. Must be like 70 tracks in this thing all said and done. :D

[Sunrise Over Idyll]

Yup. Gorgeous stuff here, and your description along with its title is spot on. Besides the great composition, your production here is very realistic! No complaints

samulis responds:

Wahoo! Glad you like it, Phono! Those recorder lessons are finally paying off.

[La Valse D'Amelie (Cover)]

One of my favorite childhood movie soundtracks, and I'm glad you didn't upload the "Comptine" piece. oh boy, some nostalgia coming...
You play this with a steady rhythm, and you captured it with the right amount of energy.
I kinda of like this recording a tad more from the original for two reasons:
1.) the recording isn't as so clean (yes I prefer that on piano sometimes)
2.) Your phrasing is continual whereas the original has a stop and go feel in the middle section. This gives me a different angle hearing the piece because the harmony seems to draw my attention more, but also it just drives more here because of that. I just think its more fitting to describe the passion that comes with the theme of love.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I do like Comptine d`un autre ete as well! But I definitely prefer Kyle Landry's version better than the original. Check it out ;)

This is an amazing piece, in my opinion. I get what you mean with the "not so clean" thing. I really like when a piano is just a little bit out of tune and when you can hear some extra noise sometimes.
I kinda agree with the phrasing thing too.
It's interesting; when I started out playing the piano, I for some reason played pretty much everything way too fast! But for this track, it kind of fits! I think the speed really can add to this piece. I guess I just played the piece the way I felt it; I rarely pay much attention to the specific timings and amount of volume of the separate keys in the original: I pretty much play my own way, the way I interpret a piece. I'm sure you do that too :)

Thanks for the nice review! Waiting eagerly to hear more of your amazing uploads ;)

[Machine]

One of the few tracks of yours that does not get into your face and making its presence known, but rather sounding quite confident and lax by not caring for any other reason than it to just exist. Got my head bopping to this one.

ZLEAP responds:

Super late response. Life is a bastard.

Thanks. It doesn't always have to be bells and whistles. Nothing wrong with being straight and to the point.

[Bus Stop Fugue]

I don't know...maybe I'm the only one that enjoys this creative stuff that you put out--perhaps esoteric is the word to describe it. My eyes widened when I heard it. I can't tell you why either. The timbre, choice of notes...? who cares

Eagleon responds:

Thank you, that means a lot =3 You're not the only one, I have a few other people rooting for me here and there. I know I probably won't make much if anything from my music, but I can't really stop. I just wish I had more time for everything I want to do.

My angle is that I think electronic is over-obsessed with production, more should be done to adapt composition to a single choice of output, treating speakers as instruments - for me it's headphones - because that removes any nasty hidden limitations on the space that you can move through. It might not be a popular choice, in the literal sense, but it seems more permanent, like why people love vinyl for older music. People spend thousands of dollars to restore vintage audio equipment for listening because the medium was so limited that the music was designed around it. Now that we've lost all limitations with digital audio, it's become a lot harder to find that center even though the equipment that people listen to our work on is still so varied and harshly limited - I can't even hear the lower notes in this on my laptop speakers, but to me they make the entire second half make sense, instead of being abrupt and aimless.

[Gad]

Very relaxing to listen to, and nothing obtrusive which makes this ambient piece perfect for leaving this one on on loop. Can't tell if it is meant to be ominous or hopeful, and that is what I think makes this interesting to listen to such as the moment at 2:40. More enjoyable upon the second listen. Thank you.

[Inside an Alien Spaceship]

This one grabbed my attention because I love ambient/creepy music. I enjoyed the atmosphere along with the windy sweeps. The phone in the background was interesting... thought it took me out of the "alien spaceship" mind frame.

SilverFoxJams responds:

A phone sound, huh? I wasn't aware of anything that sounded like one, but hey that's what's neat about everyone having different ways of hearing things when it comes to producing various tunes. :)

I do hope to produce more like these sometime later on. Creepy sci-fi FX is fun to create and use.