Neon-Bard's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Partying On]

This is great! The song has a solid intro, and a steady melody that keeps things interesting. Speaking of the melody, it is very catchy! Well done!

JQiscool responds:

Thank you for reviewing!

[A Wonderful Life]

This is certainly different from your other stuff, which is not a bad thing at all! At first I thought the pacing was a little slow, but as you kept adding instruments (flutes, harp, the brass section, etc.) everything flowed really nicely. I would have liked to hear more of that harp and perhaps more piano (at the end) just so that it would have given the song a little more emotion. Other than that though, I think this is a great piece and it sums up what you sought out to do! :)

stunkel responds:

Yeah, I tried to go for a more steady sounding song and not as melodic as my other stuff. And for the harp, I just couldn't hear it anywhere else in the song DX I wanted to add more, but I don't know :/ And the piano actually could have fit in a lot of places... I think it was harder to hear in the music when all of the music came together. And I'm glad that you saw what I saw in the song :P Thanks for the review man!

[Boundless]

This is what I call excellent! I'm a sucker for flutes and piano work so you had my hopes high right from the start. The song progresses well, especially around 1:00 after that extra percussion kicks in, and then again when you add the light (celesta/xylophone?) pattern around 2:05, I loved that.

I hate to compare an artist's style to another because no one style is the same, but this song in particular reminds me of something Motoi Sakuraba would compose. Take that as the highest of compliments because he is easily one of my favorite video game composers ever. Keep it up man! :D

stunkel responds:

I'm so glad you liked it :D Yeah I love piano melodies in a song more than anything. And I'm glad you liked the percussion. And the instrument I use is called a glockenspiel, it's my favorite tuned percussion instrument :D

And I don't really get annoyed by that stuff, it's easy for songs to remind people of other songs. But I just looked him up because I have never heard of him, but he has quite an impressive number of games that he has done!! So I will take that as a huge compliment! But thanks for another awesome review! Appreciate it man!

[Glass Piano]

This is a really nice and relaxing song Stunkel. Definitely suits the RPG town/village sound. I would love to hear more stuff like this! :)

stunkel responds:

I'll do my best! I find it to be an easy style for me to make! So maybe I can do this stuff more often :P Like I said to you, I am going to try and theme my upcoming songs from now on! But thanks for the review!

[The Return]

Hey Stunkel, how goes it?

This is a great piece. I'm loving the string work you've got going (very Sims-like, or rather very similar to Steve Jablonsky's work). A very nice blend of classical and rock genres if you ask me. I would add some more reverb to those bells though, just to give them that extra effect. As for the flutes, you've placed them in all of the right parts of the song, which adds to the overall element of happiness that this song gives off. Well done on this one! Keep it up! :)

stunkel responds:

Hey Neon-Bard! or Bard? or neon? Not sure what sort of nickname to give you, we will see over time :P And yeah I have pretty much accepted that my music sounds like music from the sims games. I can't escape it. And I actually had trouble fitting a genre for this song, but for the most part, it really is orchestral. And yeah that's actually a good idea, they did sound a little stiff... But I'm glad that you thought the song was so happy! :D Thanks again for the review man! Appreciate it! Can't wait to see your next tracks!

[Stopping Time]

I can't help but think of the Sims when I listen to this...was that your inspiration for this song? Either way, I can definitely see this in a type of simulation game or even a puzzle game, likely due to it's really light and easygoing vibe. The drums came in at all the right places. It would be cool if you added a little more to the song, but try to cut off the synth/pad at the end a little more. Other than that, really well done! :D

stunkel responds:

LOL EVERYONE SAYS THIS BELONGS IN THE SIMS GAMES! I honestly have never played a sims games before though. But everyone tells me that DX. It's nice to hear that it could fit a puzzle game though :D This was actually my first song that I made with logic pro. I think it turned out pretty well :D Thanks for the review man!

[Stranded]

Great song! :)

Good composition, effective basslines, and overall it's a catchy melody. I absolutely loved the flutes and bells, I thought they were a perfect touch. There is one thing that I would like to point out though. The strings at the beginning of the song go on a tad too long, and I know what you were going for, but perhaps some more variation would work well. Some variation on your brass would be a good idea too!

I would have to say my favorite part of the song would be from 2:02 onwards. :)

I think if you threw in some more chords and a nice flute melody that retained a higher octave than your other instruments, you would have something quite special here! Though that's only a suggestion.

Have a good one and keep it up, I'll be looking out for your stuff, and I hope you'll do the same for me! :)

Neon-Bard

stunkel responds:

Thanks for reviewing so quickly after :P I love the flutes and bells in this song as well. And to the strings in the beginning, there was a soft piano melody, it's very hard to hear, but if you listen closely, it's there. But I do understand that it could be a little shorter.
Also thanks for the chords/flute melody suggestion, the flute thing never even crossed my mind. Partly because I was going for a totally different feel of the song, and I imagine the flute would be too high at that point DX

Thanks for the review though! And I will follow you as an author, let's review eachothers music and improve off of eachother to make us both better musicians!

5/5 stars for a great review :P

[C23 - Skyward Disaster]

Great song! The intro was really well done. If there was one thing that I could not get past though, was the celesta/bell-like sound you used throughout the body of the song along with the the more hard sounds and synths. In some parts, it fits extremely well, yet in others it was didn't fit quite as well. It would be really cool if you reserved one portion of the song for just that sound alone (perhaps with some back beat to accompany it) but as I said before, it often fits really well in certain parts such as 2:34 onward. I can see how you were inspired by NemesisTheory and ParagonX9, as it sounded similar to their styles! Ultimately though, solid song. :)

KrisKrosNL responds:

I know what you're talking about.

I was trying to avoid repetition, so I made each section have different patterns that are not similar. Some fit well while others...kinda failed. =P

Thanks for the review.

[Spin (Kassich)]

This is great! :D

I haven't heard a DnB that was so relaxing and catchy as this (though to me it sounds much more like the 'Game' genre). The song loops really well! The only thing I can say would make this better would be to add a few more notes between 0:33 and 0:53, just to give it that extra something. Keep this up man, I'll definitely check out some more of your stuff! Perhaps you could do the same for me as well? Like yourself, I'm always looking for tips and criticism to improve upon my current state. Have a good one! :)

On another note,

Kassich responds:

thanks for listening! ill be sure to listen to your stuff as well!

[Iqarus - Sky Above Us]

Hey Earstorm! This is a solid song man, very catchy. You should definitely consider making some other stuff like this. Keep it up! Have a good one! :)

Earstorm responds:

Thanks man! I have a few tracks lined up I'll put up when I have more time.