MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[To the Light]

Brilliant vibe, deep thumping epic, great drums!

I like the intro, as I have come to expect from your majestic form it has a very deep, very overwhelming wave of energy from it. I see that you strengthen your ability to make these epic openings more and more with each beat.

Melodically, structurally there is nothing wrong with this piece. However what is lacking is now presentation. There are moments where the choir is muffled out, and the drums are too thick. The drums are absolutely essential in their work I know, without their thick deep thumps the piece would lose some of it's epic energies, however mastering them to take up less of the higher frequencies so that it would not interfere so much with the other instruments would in my opinion give it more weight overall.

Sustained harmonies like this are awesome. The constantly rising strings until the climax at the end are very well done though it makes me think this would make for an awesome introduction piece for the Remember my Name segment. Was this planned before or after that?

Also thanks a huge deal for recommending me those choirs, I found some other really excellent packages from the company who made them. Again thanks for sharing this piece with us!

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming! Let me know on future submissions!

madboss responds:

Hy Maestro!

Well that damn mastering - yeah I know that the drums are in way too in the background and the choir are not that clear in every moment... It's rather difficult to handel them. I've never tried to manipulate the mastering suite of Reason since it could blast the whole volume level settings into hell... but perhaps now is the time to try it.

This part was planned to be an outro after the lon-long battle scene - like the hero would make his last steps/slashes/movements/etc. before he passes away. Something like that.

I try to make somthing with the mastering but I start to get tired of making this huge stuff - I always have problems to hold on to the end in long projects :/

I'm glad you could use my info and found some usefull stuff. I'm awaiting the things you'll create with them!

Thanks for the usefull comment!

[Mega Man X2 - Flame Stag Stage]

Epic monstrosity! Extreme Impact!

ah my good fiend, I listen to this song nearly every day. But high time I actually write out a review eh?!

I'm mad impressed by how you play the guitars, and the percussions you programmed out. Seriously your playing reminds me of Dragon Force, with as much power, with as much impact as they!

Those bastards were unfortunate to have this song in the game, but of course we must tip our hats on the original artist for which without we would not have this epic monstrosity we call the Flame Stag!

The sound effects you threw in the middle are awesome! I can see the battle in my head, and it really brings back some memories. MegaMan, how I miss thee now :'(!!!!

And as for me "helping" you, thats nonsense my good sir. All I did was provide you with a simple sound, you turned it into the monster it is now.

Ending was spectacular, sudden, and with swiftness. Normally i'd say that's a negative, but in this instance, I felt it was the only way to do it.

Crisp production, well mastered, nothing more to say really, I'm afraid i've started ranting. The seventh 10 i've ever given anybody, well deserved!

DarKsidE555 responds:

We meet again! >; D

Holy hell, that was a sweet review there my mighty fine sir. I'll be sure to give you a lot of cookies for it. hehe. So you listen to it nearly every day? How come? I never knew you actually played MegaMan. I have to discuss this matter over msn. This is pretty interesting. >:D

Oh, I do tip my hat for most Mega Man songs man. I just love them. I have to say I'm a little suprised by your ten. This tune is very cool in my view as well, though...I'm a perfectionist...and you know how I do critique my own shit. ;)

Anyways my good man. I thank you very much for the cool review and I'm looking forward for more Rule 10'ing with you. ;)

[[TMM43]Come Sail Away]

Dynamic, well structured, one faulty transition.

I'm afraid I don't know the original source, so I won't be comparing this with anything else, but rather i'd like to give you my opinion and suggestions treating as an entirely original source.

At 0:35 you switch over to that vox rather abruptly. I would have liked to hear perhaps one last note to trail off at the beginning of that vox, kind of bleed it away rather then rip it away.

The re-introduction of the piano was well handled, nothing surprising, and without flaw.

The percussion is well programmed. Nothing super fancy, but effective, and constant. A tad repetitive but not to a bad point.

I really like what you did at 2:02, the song felt like it was just building up... and then it ended :'(

:'(

Lets talk about additions now.

I felt that an element that was lacking in this piece was some bass. Cello's, double bass, perhaps the deep end on the piano.

But teh why?! Oh wells.

The song has a fantastic loop quality to it, the slow ending with the fast piano at the piano, the melodies match up well, so a kudo's is in order in this regard. Especially that opening melody, just ace stuff.

I remember, a long long time ago, when you first started making tunes TMM43, you've come a ridiculous long way, and your style is beginning to develop strength *i'm talking about your other recent works as well of course*.

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

[[madboss] - Waltz of Blades]

Great melody, awesome structure, good perc!

Are you serious, nobody reviewed this!? Murderous bastards >:(

I love the atmosphere it sets, the deep raw brass with that deep thumping, is phenomenal. It without any assistance from anything else, sets up the deep and dark mood required of it!

That dancing melody thrown on top of it is brilliant! So epic, so powerful. I can see great and powerful men striking at each other, their brilliant shining armors, flapping capes. Roars of defiance and annihilation.

I've always found your songs inspirational, why don't you just give up what you're doing and do this full time ;). It would make me a whole lot happier :D!!!

320kbs seems a bit high. 128 being the standard and all.

That crescendo you have at 1:14-1:20, very well laid out. The only addition I can hear to this song is perhaps a deeply reverbed panflute. I could imagine one so well, personally I think it would add a whole new layer to the piece.

Overall, great stuff madboss, please continue letting me know when you have something new up!

madboss responds:

Thanks for dropping a rev! I'm glad you liked this track - I think I'll change my overall composing technique. From now on I'll compose shorter tracks and with not too much instruments (and I don't want to create too complex structures) - hopefully this will include that I'll have more time and more tracks on NG.

About the bitrate: Reason has a bad thing that the mastering suites are taking a lot of quality somehow and I tried to compensate it with this higher bitrate. Since this is just a 2 min long track I thougth 320Kbps won't make it too big and the flash artist could gain from the higher bitrate.

Well you know I'd ove to make you happier and spend all my time making music - but since I don't have a guarranteed job at hollywood as a filmscore composer I must attend my university to secure my future. (Gah... this speech was to big-headed:))

So thanks again and I try to keep up! I'll PM you if I got something new.
Have a nice day!

[Solus- Late Nights]

sexy vibe, great melodic work, trumpets = bad

my first concern for this song stems from the strings, and trumpets. They sound way too midi'ish. I mean the piano sounds freaking fantastic, the mood and atmosphere set is phenomenal, and the sax sounds much better here. The delay and reverb applied to the sax works out well especially when you cut the song suddenly.

As for story, I get the image of one of those detective black and white movies, where the attractive girl customer who asked his drug lord husband to be followed falls into the detective, and he's like "womans, get OFF MAI BACK >:(" but with words that are more romantic, and arrogant.

That change of mood from 3:06 and that trill you play with the strings later on, drastically changed the mood, followed by that bitter strings section, and then that semi angry remorseful piano, playing the same trill as the strings? Very well made connections here my good friend Solus. That part makes me think of a funeral, a requiem of sorts.

Again, brilliant piece, one I enjoyed a great deal, keep up the good fight man!

SolusLunes responds:

Since you told me exactly what was wrong with it and what needs to be fixed, expect the trumpet and strings to be more... full-ish? Whatever word I'm looking for. You know.

Anyways. GIVE ME A FEW DAYS. GOD I LOVE THE EDIT OPTION. IT'S MAH HERO.

[Solus- For Schala]

McAwesome, serene, calming.

First things first, I must let Khuskan know, PANPIPES ARE TEH GODS OF TEH NEW GENERATION >:(!!!!

I lie I know, but I love them too much to recommend swapping them for anything.

I personally think the amount of reverb you put on that piano is not only acceptable, but preferable! It gives it a very dreamy, very fantastic essence which compliments the panflute as well.

The saxophone was indeed a little abrupt, a small crescendo of sorts with the piano would have helped, maybe it's because I don't play the sax, but I personally liked the sax here.

The change at 1:10... why lordy why is it so sweet...

It is an incredibly calming piece, that constant piano riff is just fantastic to hear time and time again. I find you can find some pretty damn excellent progressions with that piano. Damn you I say and all that other jealous jazz I should put down here to attempt to put you down so you lose confidence, make worse music, and ultimately help me sleep at night?

I can never understand how some people think.

In any case, 5'vd, and faved. Sorry for the late review Solus, but this is worthy of a McAwesome my good sir, McAwesome with relish.

SolusLunes responds:

FUCK YEAH FOR PANPIPES.

I tested this song out with less reverb when I was making it, and in all honesty, that makes it sound like shit. WHY ARE YOU GUYS GIVING ME SUGGESTIONS THAT MAKE MY SONG SOUND LIKE SHIT >:(

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THAR.

The whole "abrupt sax" thing, while true, a crescendo on the piano wouldn't have been a bad idea. But I still think it sounds awesome the way it is.

And the reason the 1:10 is so awesome is because... um... Well, I have no fucking idea. But I like it. :D

No such thing as a review too late, my friend.

[Funky Chameleon]

Great vibe, a bit of lifeless energy, well played!

quite jazzy! I like Jazz in my morning, helps wake the mind, and put a bounce to your step!

The percussion, the guitar, and bass strings all perform very very well in this piece. My only qualm is the brass players arn't as lively as i'd like them to be. They hit all the right notes, and are fairly well co-ordinated, but i'm missing that energy, that spirit that flares up. The brass in my opinion are very important to a jazz piece as only they can add an essential quality to a jazz ensemble which makes the whole song come to life.

All in all though, it was a brilliant performance, and a congrats is in order to all involved. That percussion solo was pretty damn neat, though it was a little long without much variety. I was hoping the percussionist would go crazy for a short bit! Though nothing wrong with what happened, it would have been more driving to hear faster variations.

That ending could have used a crescendo of sorts, buildup, and then blast out those last few notes as a climax finisher! Just an opinion though.

Once again, great piece, well appreciatd, thanks for sharing!

Bukkarooo responds:

Thank you very much for your input, Maestro! I agree with everything you said. I would re-record it, not only to add your suggestions, but to improve my solo! But, alas, I have no way to contact some of the people (the brass players) for a redo.
Once again, thanks for the review. I love to have input from such a talented musician as yourself! I may be putting up another song by the same group soon, so keepa lookout haha.

[Without a Ticket]

Very expressive, great vibe!

I don't normally listen to Jazz, but this song was funky enough for me to love it <3.

I really like how it flows, very expressive! The saxaphonist really knows how to play that thing, and everybody played brilliantly! As the keyboardist you did your part too, congrats, I love what the keyboard did for the song.

I have no criticism, but I wanted to drop my support regardless, welcome to the portal! Keep up the good fight!

Marty256 responds:

Your words are much appreciated :) many thanks for the support!

[I Tried to Tell You]

Excellent vibe, very fluent!

This is a pretty brilliant mix you've got here! I really like the vibe of this piece, and those strings you had add so much to the piece despite it's simplicity it's amazing!

The percussion, though simple, carries out it's role well, and you add layers to it as needed. That quick reverse crash you had layered with the percussion, is an interesting idea. I've never even considered using it like that.

The last 30 seconds, were a very good way to wrap it all up!

A bit short, and repetitive, but overall, a very good track! Welcome to the portal, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

takeflight responds:

Wow thanks! Yeah i'll try to make a full song out of it for sure :}

[Bloodstained Sunrise]

Fairly good loop, appropriate theme, steady.

I know that oriental flute, yet I don't know it's name. It's not the Dizi flute, if you have a name for it, please let me know! That would be swell.

The steady percussion here works quite well, consistent, and driving. The song also loops fairly well. Not flawlessly well, but decently so.

The brass are my favorite part of this song for me. I don't get the feeling of a battle happening, but more a battle preparation for this song. Everybodies running about getting their awesome blades of awesomeness ready to awesomely cut people.

I think the melodic line that you formed itself is very appropriate for this title.

Good stuff Skragga, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

mechanoid-9 responds:

The flute is called Japan flute, it's in the Reason Factory soundbank >_>

I kinda messed up the percussion in A Clash of Destinies, it came out too chaotic, especially the ending drum solo. I've learned from that, and tried a more steady, less experimental drumline. Good to hear it works.

I have only one response for the third paragraph: OMFGROFLMAOXD

Actually, it's the other way round, the melody came first, so the title is appropiate for the melody :) I think one part of the melody comes from a Samurai Jack episode I watched before I made this song, or at least it's very similar to something I heard in there. That show gives good musical inspiration, I watched one episode today too, and something is in my head now which is likely to turn into a song^^

Thanks for the review, lots of stuff coming... whenever. I have a lot of work to do. What I really want to make nowadays is trance but everytime I start Reason I end up building the basics of a totally different style song... lots of unfinished projects in my Reason folder now... perhaps I'm losing my ability to make trance?? :O