GrapheneKid's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Carry on (Day 2)]

A beautiful piece. A lot of the progressions here remind me of the stuff you see in Japanese orchestral scores. Nice dissonant touches here and there that really sell the whole idea of encountering adversity and being determined to overcome it.

SilverPoyozo responds:

Thank you! Definitely heavily inspired by jrpg osts.

[JAMUARY 2023 (day 1) - Sting]

This is good! You kept things simple and sweet. I love the lower-fidelity feel of the whole composition. Definitely gives me a "sneaky" vibe!

Viraxor responds:

As people say: simplicity is the key to happiness. Thank you!

[Floating On A Beat]

Short, sweet and very jazzy, but I am so offended that I'm not allowed to smoke in the terminal building. 5 stars.

SageIsReal responds:

Thanks for the support!
And sorry bro, I don't make the rules...lol.

[Spooktober Forever! (JAMuary Day 2)]

Ooh, liking the unusual time signature here. Very spoopy overall. The pad melody that plays during that drop is my absolute favorite, you gave it this ghostly New Wave-type progression while still keeping that spoopy Halloween aura of despair.

I agree that there do seem to be some balancing issues. For me, the kick felt a little too loud, I'm not sure if maybe turning the high frequencies down on it would help or if there's a way you can pull it back a bit just overall, as it kind of blocks out a lot of the instruments leading up to that big drop.

MauveDash responds:

Aye, so I made the drums too loud and some of the bass! Will note for future Jamuary Things

[To The Death [Jamuary Day 2]]

The fusion of acoustic melodies and modern instruments/mixing techniques is extremely fascinating, it shouldn't work as well as it does (especially that WICKED drop) and yet it totally does. The whole thing just sounds so damn clean and punchy. As I've written this whole comment out I've probably replayed this about a dozen times because it just worms its way into your brain and commands your attention.

I think it's really easy to listen to works from other musicians in your sphere and get discouraged. My theory is, much like you've discovered, that it has a lot to do with specializing. Music, and the tools used to make it, have diversified a lot in just the past decade or two. It's easier than ever now to find new stimuli in places you didn't even know existed, and in those places you'll find people who have been practicing just like you have, getting amazingly good at their own thing and iterating off a completely different set of experiences and influences. You could have a person who knows EXACTLY as much about music composition and theory as you do, but if their specialty is, say, piano solos, then you would probably still feel inferior by comparison because it may not be a field you have much familiarity with. They would feel the exact same about you, for the exact same reason.

You hit the nail on the head though about why you wrote this song. You are an individual built of a completely unique mix of influences and experiences. We adapt and evolve as we take on new stimuli, but we are still wholly unique in how we express these facets of ourselves. Other people may do *their* styles of music better, but nobody does your style better than you do.

Quarl responds:

Wow, thank you so much. Very kind words and a thoughtful review. Glad you enjoyed the genre bending, I've always loved how progressive genres fuse influences. Metal in particular; you ever hear David Maxim Micic drop opera and polka in between some shredded guitar solos? Gush.

[JAMUARY 2023 - day 2]

I'm digging this one, it has an energetic depth to it that I don't really see a lot of in lofi hip-hop

arbelamram responds:

woahhhh thank you very much!!! i really like doing deep mixes! happy to hear its appricated!♥

[nature comes running]

This is a real foot-tapper! I like it. That core melody is pretty catchy.

flashmakeit responds:

Thank I love the support and score!

[JAMUARY 2023 (day 2) - The Sun Behind]

Was not expecting this level of funk from such a chill song. When that lead comes in it's just SO GOOD. A little on the quiet end imo but I guess you would actually want that out of a chill song, right?

Viraxor responds:

Most of my stuff is quieter compared to other songs. Thank you.

[Routine]

This is a cute song! I imagine driving a car down a busy freeway. If there's a connection in this song to routines then I'm probably missing it, but I enjoyed this nonetheless.

SkittleWaffle responds:

Don’t worry there isn’t a connection to routines. I just needed a song name haha. Glad you like it