Cyberdevil's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Rhonda]

This is dome dope piano playing. :)

Plenty of reverb, and nothing else but the keys... it sounds real. Feels like you're sitting in front of a stage; really following a performance...

The melody's beautiful too, the keys flutter, the pace slows, it's like you follow some kind of conclusion towards the end, something unfortunate, a death, an accident, an end... and then it does end. I did not read the description before I started writing this btw! The fact that it's for an actual funeral, and your mom's no less... damn... so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine what it'd be like to lose someone so close, yet it is a thing we all must go through eventually... good to hear you're better; hopefully this becomes a positive memory in time, a catharsis that becomes more so familiarity; a memento of the person she was...

I wish it'd go through somewhat more motions before the track gets to end, from a purely compositional standpoint; that it wouldn't follow the same base chords all the way, but it does feel pure the way it does. Like a theme song of sorts.

Beautiful work.

-cd-

[Silk Wrapped Mothberry]

What a descriptive title. :) The monotony of the tune... it's like you're just waiting for a cocoon to break too. Then instrumentation with Eastern influences, silky.

Unfortunately it does get a bit monotone though IMO! And the way the different instrumental layers play atop each others, though at a different pace... is pretty cool initially, but after a while starts to feel badly timed to me. Like you wait either for a break or for a build, something to bring everything together; something to align or expand everything, yet it never really does, it stays slightly out of tune, never going in unison... though it may be the layers are just a similar loudness, and so you focus on both, may be different if one was more in back; the other the central part of the mix.

I love the concept; the style, unfortunately the composition's just feels a little lackluster and simple to me. Feels like it needs... something more. Some more variation at least.

Keep up the good stuff! I do love the vibe.

-cd-

Tyhond responds:

Thanks :3 It's old soundtrack and I've gotten better now.

[Morning Jam]

Imagine waking up in the morning to this. :)

It started well even without the brass, a fun; jivey; lovely; vibey kind of compote, but when that part kicks in... and the synth after that, this was so wholesome.

The drum feels a little loud maybe compared to the rest of the instruments, and machine-like in timing. Compared to the other instrumentation I feel like that's maybe the weak link here. It's just a little too mechanic; a little too monotone, even if the occasional rolls are delicious there too.

Mix quality could probably be a bit more vibrant, but then again this saturated kind of recording sound, that vinyl-like buzz in back, does match the style well. Feels like an old recording, as I suppose it's meant to emulate too.

Dope jam. It's short but so good, food for the soul... been playing this on repeat a while now.

-cd-

[Obscurity]

What an ominous intro... feels like something straight out of a horror movie for a while there, then suddenly it gets upbeat, then chill... what a rollercoaster of vibes and emotions this one was!

The ominous tone comes back again, but fades quickly. We get a brief electric guitar section, an awesome rolling piano, some indecipherable vocal or synth hits in the back, that trail and transition in a cool way... all with an appreciative pace and energy, and breaks in the midst.

I particularly like the trip-hop kind of dnb session that comes in towards the end, but just at the end! That would've been a cool re-occurring element. :)

Overall a really cool tone, production quality's on point, sound's vibrant yet bassy, the progression's surprising and refreshing, with plenty of air time along the way... it's a vibe all the way. The chill parts are mesmerizing really.

If there's anything that feels left out maybe it's some kind of finale; something it builds towards, it bridges different sections in a nice way, but always falls back into a familiar beat; pattern.

Dope work. Love this sound.

-cd-

[Shane face]

Spacey... in a nostalgic kind of way.

It starts off like an exploration movie of the old days. Someone venturing out to the stars. Looking for new life. A futuristic vessel, a flagship of humankind, on a venture for aliens and adventure. Powerful.

I love the build initially, with the bops and beeps and atmosphere, and how intense everything stays thereafter. The synth is a welcome addition, in layers, sounds like there's maybe some guitar there too, the pace grows, the rockets or jets or whatever kind of boosters (?) that seem sampled throughout are a cool addition as well, though they do somewhat seem to disrupt the music a bit. It's like a relevant but re-occurring disturbance throughout, that comes in at sometimes frustratingly frequent intervals.

The first time it jets in caught me off guard too. A bit loud then, compared to the music overall.

The composition overall feels like maybe the one weakness with this song, with both that continual disruption, and how it never really breaks pace or rhythm, though the intensity and volume goes down occasionally; the instrumentation changes too, it never really breaks form, the structure's the same throughout.

The sound design overall is amazing, and I love the move from synth to strings towards the end of it too. It's like it moves through time somewhat, like it's a venture not just through space but trends and genres - an evolution of the audio odyssey in parallel with the planetary one.

Really enjoyed this one. Unique, spacey, atmospheric and energetic in an awesome kind of way. It's both hopeful and melancholy somehow, as space travel seems to be... I like the sound quality shift towards the end too, with the added clarity, though it ends a bit abruptly after that.

And the name hmm, what does it mean? Interesting name.

-cd-

[ADR3-N / 10 / A200]

Such a good podcast. :) Awesome you actually use pretty much the exact same recording setup! And there's so much good stuff in this, both life advice and experiences and pure unadulterated NG historia and nostalgia... thanks for them answers too; obscure NG trivia.

You've been exposed to some wild stuff through those early years here huh AD! I wonder if the Internet is getting better or worse though. Content-wise at least the content we had earlier was actual content, now with the gen alpha skibbidipi toilet and what-not shots though... where is this all going, is the Internet still progressing and growing or will it go the same way as NG General some day, just devolve into shitposts, memery and matterless mannerless madness... it may not be as violent or sexual yet I'm not sure this is better, what's the purpose now, edgy or deranged or mindless and strange. Which is most cognitively enhancing and useful...

...at least NG's still holding the fort huh! Plenty of sensible creativity of all sorts to go around here. And podcasts that last almost an exact 4:20. :P

Props on managing the red thread surprisingly well throughout too Adrean, despite the early warning this'd be all over the place it doesn't seem like it was! Subject detours albeit there may be they all seemed like natural detours.

Guess I'm a have to [I forget the word - some unusual one in audio context mentioned in an entertaining manner somewhere herein] some of your audio too some day @Aalasteir. :P

Good stuff y'all! And @TheShokBlok on the visuals as always! Starting to take the art for granted I think... it's always on point though. Profile perfect.

-cd-

ADR3-N responds:

I love me some internet historiography! It was sure a different place 10 years ago, miles more so than today where everything somehow feels cookie cutter, even if it isn't all AI generated yet!

I actually do like skibbidi toilet -- I think it's one of the finest memes of its era, to the point it's developed an entire story and community. Certified best shitpost. Brings back the good old G'mod days imo, and the creator does spectacular skits and stories to breathe life into it. I think this style is a hangover from the old internet, where we would sit around and read creepypastas while chatting IM and so on.

I'm most concerned the internet will turn into a bunch of AI advertisements and influencers, completely censored, with only private telegrams, discords, and their analogues as the places humans try to hide lol. It feels much smaller already than it did when I first discovered the internet, when StumbleUpon was a massive trove of intrigue, and now instead of going there and to all those strange sites for our amusement, we turn to YT, NG, snapchat, facebook, and so on. The internet is now... quaint. Boring.

It's thanks to Aalasteir's great editing that the interview didn't go completely off the rails. Some of these questions and answers were TOTALLY all over the place.

Thanks for tuning in!

EDIT: I removed like 4 occurrences of the word "actually," because I'm factually liable to say it every 3 sentences when I get excited LOL

[Koibs / 11 / A200]

Thanks for the answers. :) I wish I'd opted for a simpler name myself looking back, but once you choose one it's with you forever!!! Alas. You got a good one at least. Easy to remember. Easy to speak. And it makes you wonder... if there's something underneath. Something beaming. Some hidden secret or meaning... seems you have plenty of history with the site too, I thought you were relatively new here!

And hey I started with Apple as well. XD Though eventually succumbed to... the cheaper side! Or rather the side with a pricing that better balances the functionality you get with the price you pay for it IMHO. Though Apple's awesome. How you like them apples? Pretty well.

nigahiga! :D 'The Best Joke Ever' comes to mind...

Great interview y'all. This was fun to listen to. A fluent, always entertaining and occasionally also enlightening/thoughtful convo all the way through.

Props @TheShokBlok too on that FNF style and potentially somewhat babified but very smooth looking @Koibs cover art. :P

Good stuff all!

-cd-

BottleTopBillFanclub responds:

@Cyberdevil your name is great! I'm always happy to see you! As long as the Apples are not Pink Lady! I didn't know you started on an Apple computer. 'The Best Joke Ever' ! I remember when you introduced me to the video—thank you, it is really funny.

You Are Truly Awesome!

[Uzi and Joy]

I love the way this builds up... goes from eerie and anticipative to a real banger! Feels like the atmosphere's almost more akin to Madness than to say Pico's School, but maybe I just forget how intense those original soundtracks really are too. :)

And this REALLY amps up in a minute! And breaks down a bit and amps up again... it gets a lighter tone along the way; definitely goes from the more ominous to the more joyous.

This was cool man. Great builds; great energy all the way. Crisp quality too! And dem guitar solos! :D Kinda reminds me of Ronald Jenkees type of sound occasionally... just abundantly fun; smooth; creative and full of energy.

Happy Pico Day again man!

-cd-

[No Propeller ft. Nat James]

Getting real deja vu with the intro here, though not sure what it reminds me of... this was new! Experimental and difficult to predict, I like how there's no real discernible pattern, it's the kind of sound that seems to trigger new pathways in your brain somehow; incite interesting cognitive responses...

If I've any qualms with this it may be the vocal samples feel a little thin and high-frequency, yet still somehow far back, they're both sharp on the ears sometimes and not the easiest to hear other times; seem to fade into the mesh of music a bit much now and then.

Love the sound otherwise! Creative; smooth and vibrant... and nostalgic though I'm not sure why.

Pretty sure I haven't heard the original/samples before.

-cd-

[CarterSterling / 9 / A200]

Your passion and appreciation for the community's contagious @CarterSterling! Definitely appreciate your presence here too, and the effort you put into helping out! I've seen your name a lot around the site but probably never really connected, so this interview was great.

Interesting to know the in and out's of both the icon work and photography too. Icons in particular were way more elaborate a process than I assumed, figured it was more so old ones that needing upscaling, or new screenshots, but remaking individual ones as they originally were in high-res is a big job! And in the thousands potentially! Impressive. On going out of your way to find submissions with historic values too; preserving that grand NG legacy one thumb at a time.

Photography sounds like a fun profession too, a lot of time outside at least initially. Must be pretty cool to work at concerts in particular, seeing everything in a whole other way than you would as a regular visitor.

Can also relate to re-occurring annoyance factors re: Adobe. XD And after what they did to Flash... I'm really hoping other software developers manage to shatter their studio monopoly a bit. Apart from bugs their programs oftentimes just feel overly complex compared to their counterparts too IMO. Like Photoshop when compared to Fireworks, at the peak of Macromedia, when both seemed maybe just as viable alternatives for photo-related work, before Adobe bought the competition, kept improving Photoshop over the latter, and eventually dropped that one too... Adobe do seem to be in the lead though feature-wise right now, but maybe I just don't know the alternatives, hope some with a better balance between usability/functionality are on the rise somewhere, Macromedia really had that down initially...

Since you love Nine Inch Nails btw, I wonder what you think of Johnny Cash's version of Hurt? If you've heard it. Personally love both, but they're so different.

Impeccable musical tastes there, love all these bands/artists, Korn and Limp Bizkit in particular, that's my youth!

lol @ that Bigfoot podcast idea. XD

As for ironic jokes, unfortunately I think Gen Z are changing the comedic landscape a bit online, with an overload of memes and oftentimes pretty lazy animated material. Shorter content for shorter attention spans, thus bigger output, thus also less effort for each individual piece... but maybe it's just a momentary wave. There definitely are content creators out there going against the grain, and putting abnormal amounts of effort into the content they make too.

Anyhow great interview y'all; nice to get to know more about that iconic NGer with the impeccable haircut! ;) Solid questions; picture; all!

-cd-

BottleTopBillFanclub responds:

Great to see you, @Cyberdevil Your positivity, kindness, and care for the community are always a shining beacon of great inspiration. You have my admiration and deepest respect, and I aspire to embody the same values as you!

Thank you! I also enjoyed Carter's talk about his icon work. I learned a lot, and I'm very grateful for the information shared. Carter greatly helps the community! It's very impressive that Carter has made thousands of icons. You put it extremely well: preserving the grand NG legacy one thumb at a time. Photography is excellent! I'm excited to hear the stories that will come from the Pico Day NJ Meetup! I hope they all have fun!

You are right; it is bad what they did to Flash!

Thank you so much for teaching me a lot about Flash; I now know more about decompiling and audio for Flash now.

I personally think that Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt" is extremely awesome, and I also really like it. I fully agree that the Bigfoot podcasts are funny. It's interesting how humor and the comedic landscape change. You're right that shorter material has become more widespread, though I still see amazing long-form and soulful art that is full of life, such as the legendary animation "Jimmy and Baby" by @PaulRobertson