MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Solus- Fifth Nocturne]

Impressive

hey Solus! The stream doesn't work, for all parties interested, download it. It really is worth it.

Such a sweet and gentle melody. A little too muffled, sounds like somebody was playing outside on a summers day on the other side of a hill. At a good distance.

The song gives me a great deal of imagery, I really like how it progresses. It also sounds incredibly realistic. This was made in Reason you say?

Damn reason, they do know what they're doing those bastards.

Due to the muffled nature it's very heard to really take anything from this piece. It makes for great ambiance as you simply sit and dwell on it's sounds, but it's hard to pick up any definite melody, and grab onto it.

Still, work well done! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming Solus!

SolusLunes responds:

It's intended to be that muffled, because, to be honest, "sounds like somebody was playing outside on a summers day on the other side of a hill. At a good distance." is pretty much what it's going to be used for. All it is is a great piece o' ambience, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[arabian dungeon]

Slick!

Quite interesting work you've got here mhb! I really like the oboe lead you've got going on here. Not often you hear the oboe leading a piece let alone for an Arabian theme.

The brass you used, and how you used it, along with those drums did not really say "Arabian" to me. But it did say Danger, which suits the Dungeon aspect very well.

Is this Edirol Orchestral you're using here? The song also loops incredibly well, though there was nothing less to expect from a game loop ;). Well done.

I would have liked to hear some high end flutes here, I feel they would have more emphasized the notion of "wind", which is a common element to have in an Arabian piece. Desert winds, you know the story.

All in all, work well done mhb! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

mhb responds:

thanx!!!and yes i did use the edirol orchestral. it's a great thing! and i understand exactly what you're sayin' with the wind element. i just figured i'd leave the wind out since it's for a dungeon. nice that you caught it though! thanks for the review!!!

[†Faltering Sentiment†]

Keep at it! :D

hey Magi!

An interesting song you've got going here. The pads you used in the back definitely adds more substance to the song. I debated with myself wether having that pad cut out at the start of every not was useful, and I decided that it would have been better to fade it out rather then cut it off like that.

Maybe it was the pad itself that cuts off at the end of the notes? If so maybe giving it a delay effect would be interesting.

There were some abrupt cut off in the piece. Mostly background instruments in the first half.

The second half with the more military battle feel, was in my opinion far more interesting to listen to! I felt the emotion was better portrayed there, more powerful in its voice!

Neat shore sound effect at the end, worked out quite well in my opinion.

All in all, i'm glad to see you progressing along! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming! Let me know when new songs are up!

TheWisestMagi responds:

Yeah...to be honest I didn't even like this song when I first finished (except for slight mixing) it. But it grew on me in a funny way..

And yeah, about halfway through the song, I was like pffft I'm getting bored of this classical-ambient tick-tock feeling to the song! So I made it fade away and came back with a completely different song. A more booming one, then halfway through that I decided I did not just want a bomming sound, but a battle feel to it.

After this I decided that since the song already changed so much I would finish it by making it look like I had planned to do that, and decided to go for an abstract feel, which is that flute superimposed on the original melody.

That last sound took me too long to find the right sound to I swear..(The last low note).

And yeah, the pads automatically cut out and I messed around a bit to make it sound more fluent, but thats the best I could think of.

Also, I was very happy with that wind effect to = P, I got all excited when I used it..Although, the first time it came in, wind and that boom sound, I so wish I put in a cymbal crash..but not for the second boom = P.

Thanks for the reveiw and support Maestro!

[|_-=[ TM ]=-_|==-[ With You ]|]

Slick :D

Hey Trancemind!

I really like this piece. It's got a very laid back, happy feel to it. The synths in general have a somewhat happy quality to them.

I would attribute this to the fact most of the synths are playing on the high end, and though that synth sounds happy now, I assume if you brought it down a few octaves it would sound much more menacing... not that would help you much, but hey, idears!

Is that a phaser effect you used here? It's a good thing you didn't use it too much, would have damaged the songs enjoyability.

All in all, a well made track, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

[Entwined tragedies]

:'D

ah, a nice oppressive piano. How I love thee.

There is some happiness with these sorrow chords. An interesting blend for sure. It makes me think of a bittersweet tragedy. The ultimate sacrafice, which involves destroying your most cherished friend.

"In order to save you, I must destroy you" kind of thing. I love those types of imagery, just gets my mind reeling with all sorts of backstory. Why are these people doing this, what are they feeling etc.

There were several dissonant parts of this song, but they were ALL further enhancing to the image. That discomfort, unease, just drove the brittle story further. At some parts I felt it was a bit too dissonant, a few parts where I felt the piano notes clashed too much, but nothing major.

I myself am not really sure what Satie's "Gymnopedie" is, but it sounds like a revenge story. Is it a revenge story?

The ending was nicely handled.

Good work Grumble, another enjoyable lil sucker by you. Easily gets my 5. Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

And tutelly pm me when you do put new stuff.

Grumbleduke responds:

Listen to this again, and try to count the key changes. Don't give up too quickly now :). PMing will have to be done in the future. Nice to know there are people who still look for my stuff as well.

Eric Satie is a French composer from the early 20th Century: the opening to this piece is reminiscent of his work, Gymnopedie.

[The Tower Ruins]

Nice

there is definitely some mastering issues going on here. The oboe, strings, and brass are too loud. Drown out that piano, and that piano I felt was a very important part of this song.

Hmmm...

There is however a great deal of nostalgic sorrow in this piece. That brass and piano intro set up the mood right away. That woodwind that came in later, though loud, complimented the mood as well. I'd say the song began to slightly fall apart after the initial introduction of the strings.

When they were by themselves the strings did justice, don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad. After they picked up an octave, it further enhanced the song, but then the other instruments joined it, that woodwind, and then the song started slipping.

All in all, it was still a damn fine track, and the image it portrays is one I enjoyed. Keep up the good fight Grumble, and keep em coming!

[Tearful Reunion]

Slick!

you bastard >:(!

You said you'd tell me when new songs were up! I had to find you out like this. Now I must devour your unborn children, and backhand your future best friend into oblivion.

Such are the times we live in now.

To the piece itself. A really calm, sorrow filled piece. Makes for a great game over, of "you failed" scene. I kinda wish it was longer, but as it stands, it's a damn fine loop.

Work well done Grumble, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Grumbleduke responds:

I had literally uploaded the piece above to find this review, didn't even had time to put something in the audio ads thread, so CHILL!

I will keep stuff coming as and when I can: inactivity is a bitch :).

[Pink Panther vs Fur Elise]

:D!

how the HELL do people not love this?! This is friggen AWESOME!

I absolutely loved the interwoven pink panther and fur elise.

I definitely think this should have either been in classical, or blues man, this song was brilliant, and quite original. I don't even know where to start critiquing it. Well done!

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming soro!

[Late Baroque Loop]

Slick

ah, hello sorohanro! I am glad to see some new submissions. Sad to see some bastards didn't like the fur elise song. I'll have to listen to that after this.

This piece gives me a neat village sensation, defiant, triumphant, and full of a spirit.

It also loops FLAWLESSLY, full marks on that my good sir.

My only qualm would be that triangle. Though it's constant presence makes the or song more uniform, it in my opinion DOES get abbrasive to the ear after about 20 minutes of listening. 20 minutes isn't a short time for a game, this is a given, but still.

All in all, a damn good loop. Keep up the good fight! I'll see YOU on the battle field >:}

sorohanro responds:

HEY !!!
i missed you...no, wayt ... i missed myself ...
right now i'm in Lithuania and everything i do, i do with mouse :(

Thanx for review,advices and (as always from you) nice words and marks.
THANX!!!

[Domhail]

:'D

ah Bosa!

My good sir, I think this is one of your BEST work! I personally ADORED the atmosphere, and the overall quality of the track itself!

What IS that choir up top. Irina? I do not know much about this Quest of Eva, but this song is of the quality in the game Lineage 2, and damn it I loved those tracks.

The flute that joins in later, adds a great deal.

The only concern I would have is the sudden jump and drop of those strings. I like that you jumped them like that, I don't think they should have ended so quickly. I was expecting for it to last longer.

Thank you for sharing this with us! *also why the strange name?*

Keep up the good fight! See you around.

Bosa responds:

I tried to add a symbol at both the beginning and the end. However, the system didn't recognize it I guess, so it added the address instead. So, ignore the name..

The choir was Jude again, like the one I used in Bosa Revolution. I really like the overall sound of her voice and it is very mystic and calming, perfect for what I had in mind for this piece.

Yeah, I would have made it longer but I wanted to not make it too long. I wanted to keep the file size at a minimum so flash authors might get some ideas to use it.

Thanks for the review, Hope to see you around!

-Bosa