headphoamz's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

68 Audio Reviews w/ Response

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2014-09-07 16:57:32

To date, this is my absolute favorite piece out of any NGADM.
The piano starts off solitary, which captures and holds my attention. It’s very natural-sounding, organic, and emotional. There’s even a theme that you follow consistently and this is where you demonstrate your amazing musical prowess – the strings come in and blow me away. As analogy: We’re on the ground first, walking slowly, and these strings gently lift us and soar. I truly see a Miyazaki-type animation when I hear this, as you have a knack for painting colorful and fantastical landscapes with your sounds.
You never seem to stick in one place, either, but that’s an amazing thing here; you continue to rein in different chords, and weave this tapestry of introspection, love, hesitance, and gratification. The piano is ever-changing and the strings move right along with it, sort of like the extending fins of a fish swimming gracefully (lots of analogies, so sorry).
The production value is amazing. It sounds like you were playing all of this yourself at one point in a symphony hall, or at least were the conductor of several people. The piano is bright, but not overbearing. The strings are warm, but not shrill. You command everything effortlessly and I would not add or take away a single thing.
I think the only thing that bothered me was the ending, which is why I took off a little – I would have loved to hear more, and it seemed like you might have cut it short due to time constraints. It was a rather short piece, but even then, it was beautiful, evocative, and poignant. There’s an air of mystery that surrounds this song, as well – if you have time, I would love to hear your motivation/inspiration for this piece, as one could place it anywhere in a film and instantly make the scene meaningful. Thank you for this, Silver!

NGADM Round One Score: 9.8

SilverPoyozo responds:

It was especially hard to muster the inspiration to jumpstart the composition, so I worked on the frame for a small fantasy story about the quest of a girl and her young brother who live in an empty and stale world in which humanity is scattered, and every last human and animal relies on these trees to survive. The very last of the trees is withering, and after finding one single seed, brother and sister have to search for a way to make the elusive tree grow.

I'm surprised at your mention of Miyazaki since the colors and ambience of his works have influenced my storytelling ever since I first watched his movies, not to mention how much I admire Joe Hisaishi as a composer and orchestrator, so I can't thank you enough for noticing how the respect I have for both of them affected my work here.
I deeply appreciate the review, thank you Phoamz.

Okay

2014-09-07 15:21:45

Right off the bat, I enjoy the lyrics more than anything. I love happy songs like this, especially anything acoustic. It’s very catchy, and I even found myself humming it after listening.
You did great with the vocals in the background. It’s got a very indie feel to it; nothing it out-of-place, and the chorus is so well-done, harmony-wise. The guitar adds to the general sense of well-being in the piece, and even though the progression is simple, it’s very classically implemented and strummed appropriately.
I think we’ve all been where you’ve been in this song, so it makes your lyrics even more relatable and charming. Plus, you have a pretty nice singing voice, whereas some acoustic vocalists sing with awful affectation (i.e. Pomplamoose or Plain White T’s). It sounds like you’re telling it like it is, and you’re not about to let anybody BS you out of your way of thinking.
As much as I enjoyed the piece, I would have liked a little more complexity. The guitar continues its same chords throughout and doesn’t really change or add flair.
The song is also short, and you might have put in a break where you add an extra instrument instead of more vocals (a harmonica or piano break would have easily given the song more variety). I keep coming back to the harmonies, though, as you did an excellent job, and I would have loved to hear more of them. An extension of this song is in order, I demand it! :P
In conclusion you made a very positive, hummable piece that I’m happy to add to favorites, as it’s bouncy, catchy, and good-humored. And good humor is always a wonderful approach to life.

NGADM Round One Score: 8.7

SonicWombat responds:

Thank you for this really kind, thought-out review. :)

Sojourn