Ackee39's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Hyperborean Wanderer]

I love this one! I really like the pacing and progression of this one; how its divided into 3 "parts", and how the melody evolves over time, sometimes being more fast paced but not being all gas no brakes. The melody itself is also very good, as it works perfectly into the pixel-theme, and helps enhance the nostalgia the song gives off. I can't really describe it; the melody and the pixely theme just overload me with nostalgia. Good work on this one, I'll definitely be coming back to it :)

ChronoNomad responds:

Thank you for the very complimentary review, Ackee! I'm really happy to hear that you like the pixelated jam and that it checks so many nostalgic boxes. The track itself is more on the downtempo side, but the pace seems to pick up and slow down based on the speed of different variables, such as the fullness of the percussion and timing of the arpeggios.

I'm just glad that folks seem to like it! I've listened to a ton of other Pixel Day tracks, and they tend to be quite a bit different from my chosen style. But hey, maybe being different is what makes it popular. Variety is the spice of life, after all!

C'mon back and give it a listen as often as you like! And thanks again. ^__^

[Still Quarantined]

Catchy af. Love the vocal-ish stuff, and the melody works really well! The drops especially are headbangers. Predrops are a little dry but honestly who cares, its so damn catchy it'd be unfair for me to give it anything but a 5/5.

Demonicity responds:

i live for headbangers.
i also tried adding a vocoder and some OTT to give it more wetness and a clear sound but the problem is probably the mastering

[Reflections]

Wow. How have i not left a review on this by now? It's amazing, most notably the progression of the melody. I love how it starts off so simple and keeps evolving with some really nice moments in between, like at 0:36 (I'm an absoloute sucker for melody changes like that), and it keeps naturally progressing until the very end. All of the other elements are really nice too; the drums are quiet, but give it a very good beat, and the bass is very nice aswell! The only real complaint is that, while the melody progresses, i wish the synth did as well. The synth is good for the beginning but feels kind of too quiet and choppy near the ending, but that's being nitpicky; this is overall an amazing song that I'll definately come back to. Nice work!

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks a bunch for the feedback, Ackee39! Your patronage is very much appreciated. Since this was made for a remix competition, trying to somehow expand a few seconds of someone else's idea into a full-length track is admittedly rather challenging. But hey, I do love a good challenge!

I'm really happy to hear that you enjoy most of the elements and find that they combine well, and I certainly don't mind a nitpick or two. In my experience, whenever a deadline is looming and there's only so much time to work on a track, it rarely ends up being what I would consider as good as it could be. Case in point, I agree with your assessment of the synth in the latter portion of the track; it ends up being too thin and gets kind of washed out by the other instruments. That said, I'm still pretty happy with how this turned out, but it also didn't take any of the coveted top spots in the contest, which wasn't particularly shocking. lol

Thanks again for dropping by, man! Your reviews are always a welcome sight.

[Get Up]

Wow. Didn't expect to slap this hard! the melodies are very nice, and the progression is equally neat! The mixing is solid, the best part being the drums; I cannot stress enough how nice it is to hear drums that aren't loudness wars, but arent too soft either (however this on treads the line). the sound design is cool, however, I think the reverb on the lead is a bit too much, especially given how loud the lead actually is. But apart from that, this is a very solid piece!

ChronoNomad responds:

Hey, hey! It's my boy, Ackee39, once again bringing the sweet feedback vibes! *airhorn bursts*

Silliness aside, I'm stoked to see another awesome review from you, man. Sometimes you just make a track that has that certain je no sais quoi, and you wish you could bottle it up to use over and over again. Somehow this ended up being one of those.

When I listen, it makes me feel pumped, so the title came pretty easily..and that's always a nice surprise. And while I try not to have my individual sections compete in the loudness wars, I do enjoy pushing the envelope from time to time. Treading the line feels like a pretty good place to land, honestly.

Thanks again for dropping by, my friend. Cheers!

[Get smooshed!]

This slaps so hard!

[The Road Less Traveled]

Wow. I'm normally a person who isn't really a fan when a song is pretty empty and has few instruments. Which is the reason this song hit me by surprise. The piano melody itself is beautiful; its melodic, progressive, diverse, unique, and something I could listen to all day. It's also really impressive how progressive this is; normally solo instrument songs are very repetitive but this is just some great progression right here! I don't really have much else to say; it's just a beautiful chill song that I'll certainly come back to :)

ChronoNomad responds:

Thank you so much, Ackee39! You truly humble me with your words, and they are greatly appreciated. Since I've mostly had to use free samples and libraries, the stress has always been to try and do a lot with a little.

In this instance, I went back to my piano roots and wanted to make something really different and unique. It seems to be a little bit divisive, but I guess that's the nature of music--either you like it, or you don't. There never seems to be much in the way of middle ground, and that seems to apply to many things in life. Not unlike the title of the track itself. :D

[A love crush and a friend at once]

So wholesome :D

[Technocosm - Unkindness]

Best of the EP, and that's saying a lot. melody is great, the drop is brutal but isn't a noise war, and is just overall really good.

Technocosm responds:

Oh, that's actually pretty relieving to hear. This track started with just the drop, and I was really happy with it. Then I made the 2nd drop and I liked that. After that though, making everything else I felt like the entire track was going downhill. I did my best here, but honestly I was still very paranoid this may be considered mcuh worse than the others. I even could have sworn the drop I had already made and liked that I hadn't touched was somehow starting to sound worse the further i got through making this. I guess I was getting in my own head...

[The View From Here]

This is so great! The melodies are greatly mastered, and flow smoothly from one to the other, the chord progression is great, and the sound design is like nothing i've seen; It's got this cool lyric-like design to it that I barely ever see, with all the curves and slides that change every note. And finally, a song that gets soft drums right. I'm normally very nitpicky on soft drums, but this song does it right; by making it stand out, despite being quietly mastered. I'm pretty mixed on the compression of the song, but I think that it adds to the synthwave-like vibe to the song so i'm cool with it. overall a great song that I'll definitely come back to

ChronoNomad responds:

Hey, it's awesome to see another review from you so soon, Ackee39! Really glad to hear that you enjoy the ride, man. I love being able to put my own personal spin on some cool Synthwave vibes. In fact, I often incorporate note slides and grace notes in my music, which - now that you mention it - I don't really hear all that often. I guess that's just me doing my thing.

I'm happy to hear that you dig the softer drums, especially since that seems to be a pretty rare opinion. While I'm not against hard-thumping beats (far from it), I try not to overdo it. Not everything needs heavy percussion to be impactful, and in this case I really wanted the musical elements to shine through without being overcome by drums.

It's not the first time compression was mentioned, and while I didn't really add compression to the final mix, I did use a lot of EQ effects and such on the instruments themselves, so I guess that's what makes it sound compressed. It's meant to have kind of dystopian sound, so it seems to work out well enough.

Thanks once again for a very detailed review! It's very much appreciated, and I hope you'll keep spinning my tracks. May you always enjoy the ride.