octopus58's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Decapitated]

Very interesting and actiony song, I really enjoyed it! It starts of ethereal and mysterious, but quickly ramps up the action and dancey feeling. However around 1:40 it gets this uneasy and slightly spooky feel that contributes to the uniqueness of the song. It just gets more chaotic past that part while still maintaining melody and a nice sounding harmony. Great work, keep it up!

VdalOfficial responds:

Thank you so much

[citadel]

I like when the beat kicks in! It already sounded kind of dark, grim, and mysterious, but the beat also added a cool action element to it. When it gets layered on with more percussion half way, it starts to sound more full as well. Would work very well as a loop probably for a spooky place in a game. Keep up the great work as always :D

wineplume responds:

yeah that's a really nice idea, thanks!

[better sleep or not]

Sounds really nice! It feels like it fits in some kind of either menu music, or animal crossing night music, but obviously it doesn't have to be either and just sounds cool. I like the calm atmosphere while repeating the same base motif and building off of it more and more. I like the instruments you chose too, together with the modern instruments they create an interesting nostalgic feeling, but the song also feels explorative and mysterious at the same time. Great work once again, keep it up!

wineplume responds:

cheers octo
yes, i used some "old home computer" instruments and added modern ones as well. the hats (and these really quiet reverberating claps) were sampled from some random drum breaks.

[Cherry Blossoms]

Very pretty! I like the progression, and how realistic the instruments sound. They are articulated very well and feel like they're actually played by a human, and also come in during just the right time. Keep up the great work!

Possibly responds:

Thanks so much. Yeah, i try to keep the human element as much as I can - by playing things badly :D

[[11.12.23] i die]

Супер, как обычно :)
Мне нравится атмосфера, очень расслабляющая и красивая. Инкорпорация звука удара в стекляшку тоже класс. Так держать!

G2961 responds:

Спасибо большое!

[Departure]

Very relaxed, atmospheric and pretty. I love it! It sounds uplifting but also very emotional, like not sad but just hopeful I think would be the right word. The build ups and drops are all awesome, and the energy/bass is popping. The mixing is also great! Awesome stuff, keep it up :D

Krony responds:

Thanks for the comment, I'm glad you like my song :3

[Build Me an Orchard]

This would definitely fit for some game/movie, I agree! Especially something like waking up or walking out into a beautiful green town just after the sun has started rising. The intro is beautiful and just leads into more instruments swelling over time, bringing in a lot of emotion (especially happiness and just generally being uplifting). All the performers did an amazing job with not just playing the instruments, but bringing so much articulation and soul into the play style. Just generally amazing song from start to finish, great job everyone!!

pyzow responds:

thanks, octopus58!! I'll tell them!

[[11.03.23] you still know]

Как обычно, очень красиво звучит :)
Мелодия красивая и задумчивая, и все инструменты очень подходят друг другу. Ощущение как будь то потерялся в тумане или в лабиринте. Как всегда, продолжай издавать замечательную музыку!!

G2961 responds:

Спасибо большое за твой отзыв! Я его ценю!

[The Fleebis]

Funky and sweet :D
I can definitely hear the sonic inspo in this but it sounds very original I think! The melody is nice, and the groove/beat is pretty happy and chirpy too. It just feels uplifting to listen to this in general and makes me feel good. Great work, keep it up!

gembis responds:

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your comment :> Im glad to hear you liked it!

[Parasite Butterfly]

So impactful, sounds like it came straight out of some kind of final boss thing! Reminds me a lot of Elden Ring fsr but for a much more impactful and scarier boss. I love all the classical elements, especially the articulation of the strings in combination with the powerful brass and buildup percussion. What I find cool is that while it sounds modern with the HD instruments you used, it sounds like it could've easily been a classical song written hundreds of years ago! The emotions you create with this song are also so well done, it sounds scary and menacing, and has a feeling of impending doom. It's all perfect from beginning to end, keep up the amazing work!!

LD-W responds:

Ayy thanks for listening, glad you like it!

This is pretty soulsborne-inspired in style (albeit with my own flare when it comes to aleatoric section inclusions!), your Elden Ring comparison is pretty close to the mark in terms of influences! When I compose these kind of projects, I do like to imagine a rough visual of how the 'boss' could appear, move, attack etc, alongside the arena settings. Both the big and small things to then help me direct over how I should approach the entire project(s) in question

Yeah it's pretty difficult to get a large orchestral stack like this to sound clean/semi-clean in a modern sense, defnitely been alot of trail-and-error over the last couple of years in that area for me (alongside a fair few upgrades along the way). I tend to go in abit of a different direction and go abit of a 50/50 approach between colouring/dirtying up signals abit via console-harmonics before reverb is introduced (AMEK_9099 being a primary choice for me) + certain other analog-modelled solutions such as MAAG EQ4 and THE OVEN, while also utilising purely digital EQ's and compressors afterwards to get the surgical results I'm after. A tad expensive to get into that kind of workflow + a steep learning curve, but the results recently have been paying off when it comes to blending orchestral products from different vendors together! Plus additional processing power being dedicated to binaurally repositioning the solo instruments through dearVR's offerings etc.