MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-(WB)-8-Bit Warlords]

perc unstable, synths work well, a bit repetetive.

Nice selection of synths, right away I noticed what you used worked well together. I also noticed that the percussion section was again on the unstable side this time. Those rapid firing snares didn't really do much for me, if you're going to have them fire off that quickly, one idea you can try is to have their volume increase with each note, if you are using fruity, right click on the mouse, starting from the first note, click about halfway, and then without lifting your finger, drag the cursor to the top of the volume window at the last snare hit. This should automatically set the volume for each snare note so that it increases gradualy.

If you're not using Fruity Studio's, I don't know what to tell you :/

In any case, the synths all worked well together, albeit still repetetive, it does present some diversity.

Another thing to consider now is pads. Pads give songs a very satisfying thickness to them, try some out, I assure you, you will love them!

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

WritersBlock responds:

Lol, thanks MR, I said I was going to go back and respond to your reviews, and I slacked off a bit there. These reviews of yours were probably some of the first genuine critical reviews I recieved on NG.
Cheers.

[-(WB)-Destiny]

solid synths, good flow, perc decent

This song is really an improvement from your others! The sounds are all mastered properly, and for the first time you are using the reverse cymbol without excessive cymbols for transitions. It lends itself well to the song.

Still a little cymbol crazy you are, but it's getting better ;).

The synths you use this time around work much better. They have more texture, more flavor to them.

The transitions again though they work well, you are shifting the song a little too much. Keep in mind as I said in a previous review, that sudden shifts of energy and instruments makes the song more tiring to listen to in the long run. Sure it sounds slick for the first couple of times, but give it 10 minutes, the user will find one part of the song they don't like, and then start focusing on it.

But thats besides the point.

The percussion aspect of this song is good, solid, though still a little unstable, keep at it though you're getting good at it. That bass kick for example, sounds excellent!

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

WritersBlock responds:

Thanks for the reviews. I did a lot of submissions for that competition, in a short space of time, and I thought each one I made was a surefire winner, but I had no idea what I was up against, I didn't really listen to the other stuff, lol. I think I got a lot out of that particular competition, your reviews, for one, definitely taught me a lot.
Thanks.

[-WritersBlock-Gipetto's March]

decent perc, transitions awkward, good vibe

The percussion for this song is definitely a lot better. Much more solid, much more powerful! However this song does not loop, cuts off abruptly.

The synths you have, though not properly mastered, present an excellent theme. I love that shrill synth you have up there, very slick! When that raw saw comes in, the percussion loses a bit of stability with the crashes, but still manages to assist, not damage the song.

A rather quick change and cut off at 0:55. It's like two short loops put together in one, and another sudden change again at 1:13 ish. Be carefuly how you transition moments like that, especially in loops where the player might be listening to it over and over, they easily become tiring to listen to.

I enjoy listening to your progress, you're definitely moving along nicely! Lets see how your other submissions are. Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

WritersBlock responds:

Hey, thanks so much for your reviews. Now that they're working, I'll respond to them all.
I really appreciate the amount of detail you put in your reviews, it's very honest and I'm glad you picked up things I wasn't aware of, I'm sure I can make a giant leap in progress with quality from this.
Thanks a million.

[-WritersBlock-River Voyager]

solid theme, flow, weak perc, good imagery.

Again I am hearing those crash cymbols. You seem to like them a lot. Be careful how you use them :D!

The progressive piano really does make me think of a river scene, and the synths you have layered over the piano does a good deal as well imagery wise.

I like how you had a little piano solo near the end, and then how you decided to take the piano at the end.

It also loops well.

I find myself repeating a lot, this songs weakest part is the percussion. The volume levels this time for all the instruments are actually quite pleasent! It's good to hear you grasp a better handle on that!

I can hear your improvement with each song! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

WritersBlock responds:

Hey, thanks for the reviews. It was a while ago I said I'd respond to all of these, but I was too lazy, I guess. Anyways, I might as well say that I'm planning to give this song a makeover, add more melodies and harmonies into it, extend it, turn it into a more well rounded piece, although I won't get around to that until some time next year.

Cheers, MaestroRage.

[-WritersBlock-Forgotten Hymn]

good vibe, solid flow, weak percussion.

I like the mix of synths in this song a lot more then your others. They seem to work well together, and the flow of the song is steady and constant throughout!

The melodic line is again quite interesting, a little repetetive, but nothing major. I would say the weakest part of this song is the percussion, be sure to spend more time with them, it seems the weakest part of most of your songs is the percussion. In this one it isn't so bad, but it's still not all together enough to carry the song, if nothing else works, try first by creating the standard 4 kick per measure deal, and then go nuts from there.

good effort, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

WritersBlock responds:

A few months into '08, and I'm a bit better with my percussion. Thanks for the reviews, I'm pondering on weather or not I should remake some of these songs from the CC comp, as I think I could make them A LOT better now, but the issue is motivation... =/

Thanks, maestro.

[-WritersBlock-Four Swordsmen]

good vibe, overused crash cymbol

You seem to really like that cut up crash! You must use percussion like that very sparingly, use it once, it's effective, use it twice, it's been around, use it every measure, and suddenly people will be after your head!

Once again you have a rather neat melodic idea, however there quite a little bit of flow song wise, when that guitar came in and cut off the lead synth it was too sudden. Felt awkward.

The song loops perfectly, so props there.

Watch your volume levels, again that low bass synth that gets cut off when the guitar comes in is way too loud.

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

WritersBlock responds:

*crash*
Lol, it was terrible, as is the guitar, levels, percussion. At least I can say that the composition of my CC entries were okay, even if they were poorly executed, due to lack of experience/knowledge.
Thanks for the reviews.

[-WritersBlock-MinionsAtTheGate]

good melodic lines and ideas, poor presentation

This song has a lot of interesting melodic ideas in it! I really like the flow of the song, however what I find lacking is in mastering. For example I felt the percussion could have lended a bigger hand to this song! Some diversity in that department would have been effective.

The low bass saw was a tad too loud, drowned out the other instruments.

And the other percussion you have on gets tiring fast, the crash, the claps, that skittering thing that comes in now and again.

You have a lot of good ideas, but presentation wise, that is where you are lacking.

My favorite part of this song is 0:30 where you have those low strings, and bells. The lead synth at this part is too loud.

All in all, a good effort, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

WritersBlock responds:

Thanks. Yeah, there's a lot of things in this song that could do with a fix up, it's all very messy, all over the place.
Cheers.

[=[Dying Warfare]=]

Good energy, diverse sounds, repetetive melody.

I disagree with the first review stating that you should have an intro/outro. I felt that a loop like this can't have an intro or obvious ending point in order to give the loop maximum effectiveness in streaming energy.

A loop should not distract the user, should never let them notice things which their minds will pick up again and again and ultimately start to bore them. In this criteria I believe you have done well!

The ending and beginning do not match up energy wise. It is clearly distinguishable where it ends and begins, though not the point it makes the loop pointless.

The song doesn't move around much, and though you have a lot of neat sounds mixed in there, this repetetive saw got really tiring to hear after the 5-6th loop. I know you threw in that guitar like synth on top, but it wasn't enough, I would have liked more diversity in that department.

Overall though, a pretty slick track! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Momo-the-Monkey responds:

Thanks! You are right though. I'm not sure about the saw, I guess I could have taken it out completely and added something else, or changed the saw around in the part. I do see your point though.

Thanks again for the awesome review!!!

<3 Momo

[=[A Wave of the Future]=]

Good vibe, diverse, alters a bit too much

I really like this beat!

The steady and constant percussion base, though standard serves it's purpose well. I like the overall feel though I often find myself asking how to best use this in Castle Crashers.

It would make for a neat in game level theme perhaps. I love the beginning, the punishing air you have, despite the electronic aspects of the song lets me think of a fight scene.

The way you cut off shortly after that however did not click well with me. It disrupted the flow of the song, and without the percussion the image started becoming too sci-fi to serve CC's needs.

I like what you did with that bass. Again it's quite standard, doesn't move around much, but it helps hold it all together.

There's a great mix of sounds in this song, a large variety of synths, and this constant shifting of energies can be seen as a bad thing, though in this case, I felt it was quite neat.

The song also loops, not flawlessly, but acceptably so.

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Momo-the-Monkey responds:

I don't understand too well of what part you meant I cut off the percussion. Could you PM me with a time?

Also, thanks for the review. I really appreciate it. When I wrote this, I really didn't have the mind of CC, but decided it fitted well for the game.

The loop flaw wasn't me, it was the transfer over to NG. The original .mp3 and .wav files loop flawlessly.

Thanks, I'll definitely work on some more stuff.
Always trying to improve,
- Momo

[[Tribal Dance Call] <.V]

Pounding, lacks some diversity, pand synths tiring

A pretty powerful loop! There were some synth sounds you had panned which I felt were a bit distracting, but they weren't anything major.

The drums and percussion are pounding, and thats the way it should be!

The loop however does get tiring to listen to, the panning sounds begin to wear at my ears, and the percussion does not alter enough during the loop to continue entertaining. All in all though, it's a great mix, and very powerful!

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Momo-the-Monkey responds:

I was debating about that :\
Either way, when NG lets you edit your submissions, I'm definitely uploading a newer, better version of this song.

Thanks for the review!
- Momo