00:00
00:00
Newgrounds Background Image Theme

LOCKdev just joined the crew!

We need you on the team, too.

Support Newgrounds and get tons of perks for just $2.99!

Create a Free Account and then..

Become a Supporter!

Reviews for "Tir Na Nog"

This is an NGADM Round 2 review.

--

This song hits many of my soft spots. I have a soft spot for celtic music, a soft spot for sus4 chords (which you make really nice use of, especially in the intro) and a soft spot for etherealwinds' vocals. Well-played! Your atmosphere is exactly what you described it to be - mysterious. Something people know little about, but at the same time something exciting and heart-pumping. You highlight this well by throwing in so many different elements, and unlike in your Round 1 track, you've brought the production quality up a notch, so despite so many instruments playing together, it's not a game of Eeny, meeny, miny, moe to decide which to focus on!

Your transitions are almost all excellent. 1:16 was a bit abrupt during the initial listen, and perhaps you could've made 2:16 a bit more subtle, but otherwise, everything's smooth and well-made. 2:44 is just mind-blowingly well made, by the way. What an excellent way to heighten the melody and switch everything to overdrive, so to speak. Your progression and structure are also masterful. On the instrumentation section, I can tell you made an effort to give your instruments dynamics and realism, and your instruments are well-chosen, but they're still soundfonts, and some of them (0:07's instrument especially) sound very thin and MIDI-like. Again, I'm not reducing your score for it because you seem to have done everything in your power to give this good production value, but you're one of the people who I think really deserves some better sounds. It's an investment to consider. If you ever do consider it and would like some tips, feel free to hit me up.

Now, first impression; this track is very generic, even moreso than your first track (sorry for using that word again haha). When I think "celtic", this kind of track is exactly what I'd think of. This might be a good thing because it means you kept to your vision of making a celtic track, but it's also a bad thing because it feels like I've heard all these melodies a handful of times before. They're very typical for this genre, and I feel that it's important to make your work stand out. This is a more uphill struggle in EDM, since there are so many tracks in that genre that it becomes hard to give your music an edge over other EDM music, but you have no excuse! There's plenty of celtic music out there but there's still a lot of room to make your celtic track sound unique. Tiny mixing issue; at 2:49 the lower frequencies of etherealwinds' voice are too prominent.

Anyhow, good job improving on your Round 1 submission; the more I listen to this, the more I enjoy it. You need to work on making your music stand out from the crowd, because couple that with your compositional talent (and some better samples of course) and you've got a winning formula. P.S.: May I remind you how good 2:44's transition is. I keep going back to that transition because it is SO DAMN WELL-MADE. Bravo!

Score: 8.6/10

ChronoNomad responds:

Huzzah! I pinpointed all your weaknesses systematically and violently zapped them with high-powered sound waves...without even knowing what they were! This pleases me greatly. I'm also glad to hear that the mysterious quality of the music is quantifiable. It's also a pleasure to hear that my production quality has improved despite the continued use of SoundFonts. :D

On to transitions! As for 1:16, that was intended to be strategically jarring in the hopes that it would feel nice and dramatic. A false ending as it were, and then...BAM! I was never (and still am not) quite happy with the cymbal crash at 2:16, but ditching them entirely felt too underwhelming, and nothing else I tried really seemed to work as well. I would have gone back at the end and continued experimenting, but it ended up just being forgotten in the general shuffle. Oh, but 2:44--YES! It would seem that you love that particular transition as much as I do. I really wanted the title of the land/song to appear vocally at least once, and Jordi proceeded to deliver beyond my fondest expectations. I would indeed love to acquire some robust EW suites one of these days, but as a person with bills and college tuition payments it's just not in the cards at current. Believe me, I'll be saving any birthday and Christmas money for precisely that! Until then, I can but do the best with what I have.

Generic!? Gah! Argh! It burns! It bites! It freezes! My Preciousssss~!

But seriously, I do know what you mean, and I accept my fate. It's not like Enya generic (not that Enya is generic; I just mean it's not like her style), but it does have that old time Celtic tavern sort of generic quality...a little. I can admit it. That doesn't mean that I love my marvelous little Irish rose any less, of course! Hopefully my Round 3 submission will blow your socks clean to Timbuktu.

Yay! Thanks a lot for everything, Step. I feel very honoured by such praise, and I hope to maintain this level of badassitude going forward. Hooray for the un-freaking-believably sweet transition that is 2:44! That will always be my favorite part, too. ^__^

Quite nice intro with a good choice of celtic instruments which gives a real authentic flair. Sometimes the tin whistle (?) / flute sounds a little bit to artificient for me and i think noone could play it this way - but sounds good anyway :D Another thing i would have loved was a stronger climax to epicness within the last third of the piece with big drums and much reverb - but i think thats something you didnt want to - what i also understand. The singing is very touching and the accompaniment of the arpeggio harp and the uillean pipes works really wonderful.

Good job!

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks for the great review, Chris! I'd be curious to know which ocarina sections you found to be particularly artificial sounding. Was it the pitch bending? Because I personally love those pitch-bent flourishes, even if they do sound rather...unlikely. :D

I did appropriately ramp up the frenetic quality of the drum beats for the third and final act, but - you're absolutely right - I did not want to make the drums the centerpiece of the song at any point. I'm always happy to hear that the arpeggiated harp and vocals by etherealwinds go together so harmoniously, and I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the music!

Aah, lovely. Reminds me of a bard's song in Skyrim, upon first listen. Absolutely love Celtic mythology, and this is definitely a mystical piece to accompany a story. Plus, having etherealwinds sing for you was a great choice, as he's an excellent singer!
Great work, Chrono. This might be my favorite work from you.

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks a ton, headphoamz! It's really nice to find that so many people appreciate Celtic music and lore here on Newgrounds, and having this compared to one of Jeremy Soule's songs from Skyrim is decidedly awesome. I couldn't agree more when it comes to etherealwinds and his singing talent; I feel very fortunate in that regard. I'm really glad that you enjoyed the music, and I feel as though I'm growing more and more as a musician thanks to this competition and all the wonderful feedback I've been receiving! <333

Excellent work Chrono! As I mentioned elsewhere the Celtic genre is my favorite musically.

Even without your mentioning of it all being sound fonts, it's occasionally noticeable. However, the sections where it's truly noticeable seems to enhance the piece and not detract from what is happening elsewhere in the piece.

Like most of the others, I love the addition of the vocals. They are subtle and add to the mystique without being overpowering. Great job and best of luck with this round of the NGADM

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks so much for the excellent review! As a fellow fan of the Celtic genre, I was really hoping that you would like it. I'm relieved and quite pleased to hear that the SoundFonts don't detract from the quality piece, but to hear that they actually enhance it makes my day. :D

Oh my goodness, those vocals! I really wanted some vocals to round out this piece, but nothing that would overshadow the instrumental. Jordi and I were just talking about it in passing, then I made a mention of how I really wanted the title of the song to be in there somewhere, and the next thing I knew he was volunteering his talents to the cause. His background vocals are exceptional, and every time he sings "Tír na nÓg!" I get chills. <3

etherealwinds voice is wonderful as always! magnificent work and great production

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks for reviewing my submission, steampianist! Jordi's ethereal vocals truly complement the Celtic atmosphere. I'm really glad that you like it.