Neon-Bard's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[War Snails Menu]

Solid introduction! Loved the snares, though I felt the woodwind section was just a tad strange from 0:07 to 0:17, but then when you backed it with another flute it sounded just right. When the strings come in, everything really comes together! The looping is perfect. Great job man, I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for War Snails when it is released. :)

stunkel responds:

Thanks dude! Yeah it probably won't be released for some time, but it will be by the end of summer hopefully. Thanks for listening! :D

[Wilting Away]

Beautiful piece Mattashi. Fantastic arrangement with a nice, gentle conclusion! I would definitely like to hear more stuff similar to this. :)

[The Final Hour]

Very atmospheric! I love the use of the choirs and percussion in this piece, it gives the song a great deal of tension. Keep up the fantastic work man! :)

[Exodus]

It's amazing to listen to your pieces as you grow as an artist.

Everything about this piece is so highly imaginative and inspiring. I think you've managed to create a very well-balanced song that incorporates all of the 'Stunkel' trademarks (namely the beautiful woodwind arrangements along with strong string and percussive elements). I closed my eyes at one point during the song and could vividly imagine a vast story unfold. I love it when I'm able to do that with a song. Great stuff!

The only thing that I felt was just slightly lacking was the conclusion of the song, mostly just in the last few seconds. It would be nice to hear some light instruments such as a harp, gently end the song. It would have given the soft impression that the families have finally found a peaceful end to their journey. However, since you approached this song from a cinematic perspective, the conclusion makes complete sense.

As always, you did a great job man. I know you put your all into your music, and it certainly shows. :)

stunkel responds:

Some fine reviewing there Mr. Brandon :P

Thanks for the feedback man. Glad you could see the story i was portraying. And yeah I had some trouble writing an ending (It was actually MUCH worse than it is now, so what I have now is a big improvement) And I see what you mean by how ending the journey nice and safe with some calm harps. But I was going for big end of movie sort of feel with the ending. I feel like if I went a little softer it wouldn't have been as great. But I appreciate the thoughts, I will try to make it a little more fitting in the future.

Thanks for the review man!

[Buttery Epic Popcorn]

First off....you found a keyboard in a dumpster?! That's pretty cool, but also kind of gross haha! This song loops well and it has a really nice melody to it. Very game-like, it reminds me of Perfect Dark for some reason. One thing I would suggest is to modify the support synth a touch. It sounds incredibly familiar, which is not a bad thing, but it sounds too familiar (might just be me). The introductory speech along with the music is great!

Just out of curiosity, why did you name the song 'Buttery Epic Popcorn'?

mistarogerz responds:

Buttery Epic Popcorn came from the "popcorn" sound of the keyboard. I think... Wait, it might have been that Buttery popcorn I smelled when mixing this song.

[Tetris: A Sountrack]

Great use of instruments to compliment the 'chip' sound in the introduction! It would be more interesting to hear more variation with that synth though. My favorite instrument in this piece would have to be the flute. I like how you gently use it as both support and a melody throughout the song. Overall, this is a great piece and it has a very cinematic feel to it. Well done!

Koxyx responds:

Thank you kindly! Synths are far from my strong suit and I'm never quite sure how they ought fit into the orchestra to be honest. I compliment your keen ear with the upper woodwinds. :)

[Uncontrollable Power]

Definitely inspired by Naruto. Reminded me of the Akatsuki...but I'll shut up about that before I sound like a super nerd.

This is fantastic! Isn't EWQL just awesome? You really made use of everything it has to offer. I love how you pull the japanese intstruments, such as the shamisen, in and out of the song to create a sense of urgency almost. Very nice. Excellent use of strings and percussion. They compliment the electric guitar you've implemented into the song.

I do have one suggestion though. Since this is a loop, you might want to try and make the transition from conclusion to introduction more seamless. Other than that though, this is great. Keep it up Mattashi! :)

Mattashi responds:

Thanks man! Your right I should make it sound more like a loop, the final hit of the Taikos sound more like an ending.

[-The Journey Home-]

Beautiful entry, very captivating. Great theme too if I might add. When I think about traveling home after being away for months, this is what I imagine myself listening to.

I love how you gently build the song with the piano and the soft hats until the rest of the instruments come in. Speaking of which, at 1:54 the song really picks up and it gives me this really uplifting sensation. Just enough to put a smile on my face! Awesome. :)

I just wish you had used that synth that picks up around 2:20 a little more. It was a fantastic addition to the piece overall, and it dies off much too quickly..and when it does, it leaves a strange resonance, perhaps due to reverb? I'm not sure. I thought it interrupted the song just for a split second though. But hey, that might have just been me! Either way, perhaps your intention was to carefully end the synth when you did. If that is the case, then I'm guessing you meant for it to capture the moment of arriving 'home' after a long tiresome journey. That's just my take on it at least.

Great job on this piece, it really struck a chord with me. I think that's because you were able to capture the essence and the importance of having a place to call home. Good luck in the contest! :)

Back-From-Purgatory responds:

Good to know it put a smile on your face. It's funny, cause most of my music is spawned from despair (Not necessarily this one), but most people interpret it as uplifting, but hey, I won't complain, people are free to interpret as they wish.

Although I will admit this is one of my more uplifting sounding songs.

As for the "strange resonance", I'm assuming you mean the quiet scratching as the synth starts to fade out? That's actually part of the reason I chose to use that sound, you can't hear it very well, but the entire time it's playing during the "uplifting section", it's putting out that scratching sound. Why did I use it? It added a fair bit of texture to the song... even if you can't immediately hear it... believe me, it made a difference.

Glad you liked it, thanks for the review!

[Imagination]

I agree with Mattashi, this is very catchy. Very fun to listen to as well! My only criticism lies with the length of the song, I feel like you could have done a lot more with it, perhaps add a whole new melody that rests an octave above the current one and just go from there. Just a thought of course!

Keep it up! :)

djahmusic responds:

Thats why I've already made an uplifting house version of this track, check it out on my channel ^_^
Thank you for the comment :)

[Something Underneath]

Absolutely beautiful piece This song has a great deal of emotion incorporated into it. Every instrument is carefully placed in accordance with what you must have been feeling at the time, which creates a uniqueness that is impossible to replicate. The harp and piano work are perfect for the atmosphere you were trying to create, very water-like, very deep, and of course very emotional. It's like when you are under such pressure or sadness that your emotions overtake you, much like how water can overtake anything with subtle, almost invisible pressure.

If there is one thing that felt slightly off about the song, it had to be the high synth effect you used to emulate a water-based sound, for example at 0:49 and onwards. It's not that it is a bad sound or effect, or that it doesn't help immerse the listener, because I think it was a wise choice to use it! It just needs a little bit of equalization. That's just my opinion though...well really it's more of a preference, so it's probably just me!

I honestly don't understand how this has a 'lower' score. Deserving of much higher!
I love your style, keep it up! :D

Deemo-R responds:

I definitely agree with you, Neon, the synth can be a bit overbearing at times, and it does rather pull the listener out of it, even if only by a little bit. A bit of mixing will hopefully let that rest gracefully with the rest of the instruments :3

It's amazing how you can inject yourself and your emotions into every piece, and obtain something so different than what you'd expect. I really revel in that feeling. :)