OcularNebula's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Steampunk004]

Very well done! I don't think I need to tell you, but the percussion, the 3/4 time, the transition to the faster 4/4 section and back, the instrument choice, the chord progression - everything was just spot on for that circus feel. Nice production!

steampianist responds:

thanks dude

[-Carefree-]

The chord progression is still too generic. But, keep it up!

Waterflame responds:

still to generic relative to what? :) thanks!

[Piano for a warrior woman]

Nice variety! After so much loop based music, this is rather refreshing. Maybe a bit empty at times, but that's not really problematic as you can just pass that off as style. You've mentioned the tempo inconsistencies up front, so that's that. The composition itself is good.

Btw, I assume this is you playing the piano? For how long have you been playing, just curious?

WolfySnackrib responds:

Well I haven't had an active learning curve. Just completely self taught, played whenever I felt like it, played pretty much everything by ear. Most of the themes I learn to play on piano is parts of movie soundtracks whose melody I adore. Hmm so how long have I sort of actively been playing the piano? Maybe around 6 or 7 years. I haven't given it a lot of time or energy though.

[Rainwave - Dream of Eternity]

Pretty cool, fast paced. It does sound a lot like Dimrain's "Surface" - from the heavy industrial sounding intro to the main melody to the half-step-up-modulation toward the end. The fast arps are quite nice.

The 4-measure chord progression is perhaps a bit too short and generic, which usually isn't a big problem in dance music, but I'm mentioning it anyway.

Cutting tempo in half at the end was a great choice, but just a bit abrupt. I'm sort of a fan of the fade out at the end, but that's perhaps just because I use it myself... nevertheless, I think that's a good way to end a song, especially one of the dance genre.

Overall, pretty good composition!

Indigorain responds:

Whoah, another review! Sweet!

First thing, yes, it was heavily inspired by the song, as you probably have read.
Secondly, I also agree, the progression is extremely generic, and it's indeed a bit too short, but of course the fact I used this was that it's so cheesy and catchey! :D
But I think we pretty much agree on that point :P
And about the end, it's quite abrupt indeed, now you mention, but I still think that that outro gave a final accent on that last melody, so I do really like the outro :D
So thanks a lot for another awesome review!

[Rainwave - Scream into Nowhere]

Great song! I liked the main melody quite a bit. Also, really liked the beat at 0:26, very crisp percussion. Kinda wished you would re-introduce that pattern some time later in the song, but of course 4-on-the-floor is more dancey, strictly speaking.

The section at 1:28 reminded me a bit of Dimrain's style, pretty cool melodic elaboration on the chord progression you had going.

Great buildup at 3:22, particularly liked the pitch-rise thing. Mixed feelings about the fact that it then immediately drops down to a piano interlude. The interlude itself is good. I might have considered structuring the order of the sections differently, but it's a matter of taste, really.

What I really liked was the counterpoint melody that you introduced on top of the main melody. Different synth, similar enough rhythmically to blend well together with the main melody, and different enough rhythmically to be an interesting addition to the overall composition. The intervals between the two melodies harmonize really well, and it's just really nice to hear a level of melodic complexity in today's electronic music. Well done.

Indigorain responds:

Wow, pretty old song your reviewed here! :D

I liked the breakbeat intro as well, but, as you said, 4-to-the-floor makes things extremely dancey!
I kinda feel you on the buildup towards the piano breakdown, but I really use the structure 'Intro-(Prechorus part)-Chorus-Midsection-Breakdown-Build-Chorus-Outro' a lot. It's often used in my songs, I quite like it :P

And now that you've reviewed this song and complimented me on the melodies, I kinda want to redo this one, since I like the melody, but I hate the mix :P
So thanks for that and the review! I like your reviews! :D

[Pirates of the Night]

I'm always a bit reluctant to review the really popular pieces such as this one just because so much praise has already been given where it's due, I feel like I can't add much, but this piece is just so much fun I have to say something!

The triplet meter is obviously the key to the piratey feel and the swing created is really conducive to dancing. Really gives it that "Irishness", if ya kno wat i mean. It's really nice how you kept the main theme fairly simple, but very harmonically characteristic of pirate themes. That's what makes it so catchy, I feel. Grace notes and occasional runs are a nice touch.

The crowd and hype noise at the beginning (and 2:15) was really cool, got me excited

So, great combination of styles! This is super danceable and it's likely your best song, though I haven't heard ALL of your songs yet...

Indigorain responds:

Wow, thanks for another epic review! :D:D
yeah, the crowd noise is an ingredient I hadn't used for a while, so it was fun to try it out in smaller proportions, without spamming it throughout the whole song :P
Big thanks again for the awesome reviews! Much love! <3 :D

[Rainwave - STFU]

LOVE the cheesy saw melody!!! Especially when it zips up high with that porta/vibrato! And then bits of it reappear as part of the complextro chops, which are great. I have a soft spot for this "genre", it always sounds so cool and like it'd be really hard to put together successfully. Liked the offbeat whatevers at 2:18. I'm also a sucker for samples and anything egoraptor.

That said, I suppose you could say it eventually got a tad repetitive?

Indigorain responds:

Thanks for the kind words bro!
It might sound a little hard, it kinda is, but It's extremely fun to experiment with, and the effort really pays off! :D
But yes, it does get a little repetitive, I have to agree with you on that one! Especially the outro, which could do a little less longer.
Thanks for the awesome review man! Much appreciated!

[RW - Killer on the Loose]

I personally really like sampling, and I thought the samples in this really added to the song and the concept. Some really well executed dubsteppy/electro sounds! I don't know how people here feel about skrillex, but yeah - reminded me of skrillex a bit

Indigorain responds:

Woah, thanks for the awesome review! :D
I really like skrillex, unlike all of those haters out there, just disliking him for being popular. He's still a sick ass producer!
But I really accept your comparison as a compliment! Thanks a whole lot!

[Star Child]

magnificent piece of music!

30 seconds in, I knew this was going to be unique. very nice atmospheric trance sounds. sidechaining and panning is done so well for this kind of song. love the vocal samples. very good mix. ah, such a good composition! congrats!

codbarley responds:

Thank you very much!