MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[!_-Peace at Mind-_! (demo)]

Impressive

I wondered what you had meant when you said listen to all parts... I guess I should have known there would be more soon.

In any case

The beginning of the track is laid back, ambiant in nature, with those toms in the background, good effect. It kinda reminded me of the ambiant music they have in Diablo, ESPECIALLY with that guitar. What guitar synth is that btw, it sounds very neat.

The melody played by that guitar and strings was quite relaxing, I suppose the toms reinforces that ambiant feeling. Especially with that wind sfx going on.

The track didn't seem to move much though, for a very long time. In this sense I think this song should have been put into ambiant.

Then that violin melody kicks in, making it sound much more medieval, like a great hall.

Have you considered applying more reverb to that solo violin, I think the effect may be quite neat.

The song loops very well too. I swear I listened to this for nearly an hour going "man this is getting very repatitive" and then realized it looped like 5 times.

So awesome stuff.

I'd like to invite you to check out some of my works sometime DeadEndRoad, I would like your opinion on them. Keep them coming!

DeadEndRoad responds:

Thanks for the review man. I checked out some of your stuff and it sounds pretty cool.

Good luck trying to get the guitar sound, unless you don't mind spending a couple thousand dollars on an electric piano.

I have this thing called a Clavinova. It has like thousands of sounds and you can change them around too.

So again, thanks for the review MasterRage. And just wait, I got more ideas coming!

P.S. (sorry about bragging) but I'm only 13 years old!

[i2 - I Am Who I Am]

Damn impressive...

You have some very powerful melodies here i2abbitz, but you also have some pretty overpowering french horns, this song also loops incredibly well, as I noticed most of your songs do.

+1 lvl to you

In any case, the flute and oboe combination + piano was also = win, the countermelodies were all screaming the same story, all complimenting another, I personally found it very moving, and would definately ask that you extend it.

My only suggestion would be to master the instruments a tad more, lower the volume of the french horn, bring that flute out a tad more, lower the strings, perhaps use low end cello notes for some deep strings?

In any case, t'was super! 5/5 for you. I'd like you to check out my latest work i2abbitz, it's one I spent a great deal of time on, technicality wise.

i2abbitz responds:

thank you maestro! a lot of emotion was put into the uhh.... clicking of the notes.. in here.. lol
i was pretty depressed at first, so i put in the oboe with the piano and the flute. then i was angry, so i wanted the horns!
but by the time i thought of a melody, i had already calmed down from the fight. and i couldn't think of anything more to put it..

about the mastering, i'm still a noob.. -_-
i wouldn't know what instruments were supposed to be louder or not. i only dab around in orchestral stuff.

lengthening it... =\
i wouldn't know what to do.. maybe the next time i get in a fight with my girl.. haha!

["Welcome" Revised]

Sweet

hello again Roy00!

Hey, this time it was slightly more welcoming, yet there was still a few segments of a darker, more sad melody, which I suppose can come from feelings of great relief, having seen somebody after many years, safe and well, must really be a feeling to relish!

I think this version was done much better then the other one, this one is much warmer, more inviting, but those darker tones sometimes makes me wonder, is this person really... happy to see this person again O_o. Is he all like "I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU!" while in his mind he's thinking "I'm so angry my assassins failed >:("

In any case the instruments flowed very well, and they blended rather well as well.

I could imagine some trill flutes to this, not absolutely necessary, but it would be a neat addition. I get a royal kind of welcome from this melody work, so I wonder if some bells might have done something for the piece as well.

I would also have liked to hear more variation for the melody, it seemed a tad repetitive, as if following a certain pattern. Happy - sad - darker - Happy - sad - darker, the dissonant strings near the end were pretty neat way to end the piece. Good jorb I say!

I heard a crash somewhere in the beginning, I think that if some more reverb was put on it, to give it that echoey sound, it would have sounded better for the piece.

In any case, this is all I can think off, good stuff Roy00, keep them coming!

Roy00 responds:

Thank you so much Maestro! yeah in the first place i think the title is wrong for the reoccuring theme i have developed here but i needed a title for my first song on Newgrounds!!! LOL! but yeah. your right i guess. most of my life i have bought soundtracks from films and i seem to follow some kinda pattern. like a suite to cover all feelings of the film. sorta... so my music kinda plays out like that. and ... yeah! thank you Rage! hopefully i'll talk to you soon again! (i write too much i know, LOL!)

[Empty Space]

Neat

Hey man.

Interesting beat you have here, it sounds like one of my first pieces, which were pretty much learning pieces, I think you have the same here, pay attention to everything you learn in these beginner songs, truth be told I learn something new every song as well.

Enough with the story, lets get onto the song.

it has an interesting melody, definately overused though, do try to mix it up every once in a while, remember that layering layer after layer isn't going to make the song better, but it is great practice what you are doing. You added a few bass beats that were a tad overpowering, especially near the end, remember that the low end of a song is filled up rather quickly, and because they are so deep having multiple bass beats makes it all the harder to differentiate which one is doing what.

The progression of the song IS pretty interesting. For some early work this is excellent stuff Hellavon, keep them coming, everybody started off like this, only persistance landed them where they are now.

Keep them coming!!!

Hellavon responds:

I'm actually rlly happy the remixes didn'nt turn out so well, shows me that I don't need to rip off someone's already made rifts to sound good. Thanks for appreciating my style guys. :) I'm talking about the remizes up above, u'll see.

[Roses (Hyper Speed Mix)]

Sweeet

hell of a lot better then my first track... or my second... and my third... and fourth... all together... :(... now I feel bad.

In any case, it really was a nice energetic beat. I really liked listening to it, there is a lot of chaotic segments but I suppose this is because this was your first song so you weren't paying attention to any of that, just SPIRIT!

Hazzah!

Great stuff, really. Now I feel so nostalgic, i'm going to go listen to my first track... and cry a little bit. :')

The ending was abrupt, but who cares, here's your 5. I'd like to invite you to check out some of my works sometime Aphelion.

AphelionX responds:

lol thanx for your review, and your right i wasnet really paying attention to any of the aspects, i just was havin fun doing random things to this peice, and....it turned out very well

[SS - Dying Away]

So laid back...

Such a spaced out, alone feeling... as if somebody was looking at a volcano in the nighttime, listening to the ocean, waiting for the thing to explode... waiting for it to consume and burn everything into fine ashes...

waiting for fear...

The bongo drums were a neat effect, I personally liked them.

I also like the reverbed kick and congo drum, and the delayed hi hat, all made for an excellent spaced out feeling.

This song COULD be more diverse, but i've been listening to this track for hours, it truly is a great ambiant piece.

DJ-Moth responds:

Thanks. I Make these songs like this so that people can sit back and imagine things. thanks again! 11/11

[The Side Path]

Sweet

I havn't been around your page in ages Bosa... it's time to change that!

The introduction was quite interesting, I see a man lost in the bustle of a bazaar, bumping into people, being pushed around, this man is so old, so frail.

There must be a way out...

Then the drums come in, and the image changes nearly instantanously!

Now it's a warrior, bruised, cut, wounded, dying. Another wave of enemies are approaching, and he knows he can't fight anymore, yet to leave now would be a betrayel to his comrades. To die here, or to cower?

He is torn between his choices, the drums and dissonant strings screaming chaos.

Then the image changes again, with those... forgive me, I don't really know what those stick like percussionals are called. What are they?

What I really like about this song, is though the images are all insanely different, the theme, the melody and instruments hover around the same core, an alteration, a morphing change here, but essentially they are the same!

Then it softens, as if both that old man, and that warrior found a way out, the old man sitting in his home, sipping a hot beverage. When the drums come in again I see the warrior resting in a tent, happy to be alive.

The bells at the end, neatly wrap up the images, closing the threads, and wrapping up the story in general.

At the very end... what is that plucking instrument called? Where do you get all these ethnical instruments Bosa? I am very interested in using instruments outside the norm, and you seem to have a great range of them.

In any case, it was a great experience. Well done! Keep them coming, I look forward to whatever else you bring.

Bosa responds:

Answering a few questions is in order here, and I might even help you out a bit. Soon, I will share with you the instruments of diversity, yet not now. I'm working on another song and I will make sure it is diffrent. Try looking for some castanets and perhaps a shamisen or dulcimer. I would also reccomend an arsenal of middle eastern and celtic instruments. I have done all I can for now.

-ßosa

[Chutzpah - Daytime W (& P)]

Neat

oh man... what is that man saying!? He sounds so sad, he's crying... man, it made the song wierd... I made a song like this where people are just crying XD. I'd like you to listen to it, not review (not that i'm stopping you if you want to ;), but because the two songs basic ideas are so much the same, it's kinda scary. In my account MaestroSegments, go to the song A Deep suffering, you will see what I mean.

In any case, this song flows rather well, though I couldn't make out the sayings out too much save the "oh fuck!" XD.

It was still quite an enjoyable song, so props to you. The claps are reverbed nicely, good to hear.

chutzpah responds:

I'm glad someone finally reviewed this song been wondering what people would think. And hell, I respect your opinion above all. Just to satisfy your curiosity the audio clips in this song were from Maury. Its maury saying "you are not the (father)" A woman saying "I cheated on my husband with an african american man" and [her husband] crying in tears later in the show also saying "get away from me." Various clips included are from Jerry Springer of two women fighting saying "wanna fuck me up." In the interlude is the same crying found earlier in the song, only extremely altered.

I feel theres a lack of emotion in my music, as most techno, and the way the guy cried to me sounded like a good way to fill that gap. I'm glad you at least didn't hate it, let alone gave it an 8.

The other random sound effects are from Counterstrike.

Thanks for the review, I'll check out more of you're music sometime.

[Chutzpah - Chorus]

Pretty neat!

Hey chutzpah, you've been a good sport and visiting quite a few songs on my page, so I thought i'd return the favour, thank you btw.

Lets begin, with that melody. The melody is quite neat, truly it flows quite nicely. That piano kicks in, and i'm bobbing my head.

I love that piano <3.

However I felt the transition to synth and piano were a tad too sudden, I would suggest perhaps a buildup and then a crash before you jump into the piano, or have the synth AND the piano going off at the same time... now there's an idea... I wonder what that would sound like...

In any case.

After the second boat with the piano, you get that wavey synth going on, with that neat bass beat afterwards. I really liked that bass beat, it was definately an entertaining listen!

I would suggest some reverb on those percussional aspects, I felt the percussional was a tad weak, it could be made more powerful, more demanding if you know what I mean.

You even have this arabian like synth melody going on at one point! Now THAT was unexpected, but definately a pleasure!

That piano melody, you seem to like it alot, so do I, really I find that melody quite exceptional, but I would ask you mix it up from time to time.

Regardless, this was a pretty neat song, good stuff! I'll drop my 5 bomb here as well. Keep them coming chutzpah!

chutzpah responds:

At the very end the piano and the synths all play, I thought it sounded pretty good. Maybe you didn't catch it but its at the very end.

My weakest element tends to be drum work. I get lazy with it and don't think its very important. On my more recent work I put reverb on almost everything and it sounds a lot better. Right now I'm downloading 1 gig of samples and in the future i will work a lot more on the drums.

I'm glad you noticed the arabian synth solo, thats my favorite part. I've also never been very good at transitions, this piece is the best example of that.
I'm glad you liked it cause your music is awesome and i could learn a lot from you, so keep the reviews coming 8). I'll check out your stuff some more too.

[Kim - Blood Field *DEMO*]

Sweet!

well then... I must say i'm quite impressed. Really the recording is very crisp, very clean, and SOOOPER effective >:(!

So much energy, so much power in this piece! I mean when I read Roflmasters review saying it rivalled paragon's stuff, I was a tad skeptical, on the grounds that firstly, his is DnB mostly, and this is Video game... but then I clicked teh play, and truly I now feel the same way!

You play very well, and I absolutely love the melody of this piece. When you say video game, do you mean the song is built around a video game feel, or the inspiration came from a video game, if so could you tell me from which videogame, this really sounds awesome.

I got nothing to say, 5/5 for you! Keep them coming KimKen!

Kimken responds:

Hello MaestroRage!
You asked where i got the idea for the melody of this song. I don't know where i got it from! :D
Just wanted to compose some metal for a change.. but it accidently sounds like gamemusic hehe :D

If you like gamemusic you should try listening to some of castlevania's OST's. I would recommend "symphony of the night" OST in that case! (this song may sound inspired from there. or maybe a little malmsteen, without the uberfast solos) :D

Thanks for doing the review!
Always a pleasure hearing from you!

-Kim