MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fly my Angel, fly]

Quite soothing...

hello madboss.

I'm glad you made a nice soft piece this time, truth be told I needed to hear something like this. It's been a rather lousy week, it's good to find peace for a minute.

The chime bells were a great addition, they really added a lot of flavor, a lot of wonderment to the piece, the gentle strings that would swell to such great strengths and diminish to such a timid core.

Brilliant.

I was a little disappointed to hear the piano go, I felt that piano had so much to give, that it didn't give it's all before going silent. I'm not saying the song was worse because of that, i'm simply stating it could have added more.

Now those xylophone/vibes/glocken later on in the song, i was JUST thinking "I wish he put some bell melody in here!" and you did ^^.

I can see imagery to this song, about the nighttime. The stars, in a field of long grass, only my head above the grass, peeking out into what I could never explore.

Now i'm depressed again :'(

Overall the melody was great, it flowed, the structure was solid. I thought there was a tad too much treble, and could have used some more bass.

I'd say the beginning was actually the most powerful in my eyes, it was the most intimate start, the most shy, approachable melody. You know, like it gently walked up to you and started to tell you it's story.

Easily another 5/5 from me madboss. Keep me up to date on future released :D!

madboss responds:

I knew you'd drop a rev! I'm glad you liked it - even I wanted to make some different songs than epic or action themes. I thought this tune is really beautifull for a soft little piece like this.

The piano was missing from the "big" parts I know - It would have been a difficult task to fit it's volume to the overall orchestra and I wanted to create a grand sound (a bit epic after all but not as war) - I wanted to create a feeling of joy and excitement like you'd fly over a landscape or something like that. So that's why the tremble sound. Maybe some more brass would be better but I also thought that the french horns are gentle enough to give my image trough.

For me the favouite part is the one after the first grand part with the piano, oboe, glocken variation. I think it has the best melody.

Thnaks the 5's and you'll get those pm's for sure!

[Kickin A Beat]

Neat

Hey now this was pretty kicken! I would have definitely put this in techno. That high synth plays an awesomely catchy melody! It just dragged me right in.

You have quite a few synths going on, and a few effects and I must say you've molded them all well together!

The string intro was for me a very interesting twist, i've never heard a song being introduced like that, and though the strings itself are quite repetitive, in its repetitive core lies it's use, to constantly just keep pushing forward while that high pitch synth took over.

Interesting.

You seem to have a good sense for that bass, simple, solid, effective.

I would have liked to hear a pad or something in the background, I felt the song sounded a little empty at times, but I know this was just a song for fun! Still good stuff!

Keep up the good fight Languid... I don't know which jerk 0'ed all your stuff ahead of time, but in vain hopes of helping, here's my 5.

languid-phenomenon responds:

thanks a lot for your support!! I have no idea who it would be either...i mean, i just GOT here lol.

Hm, a pad sure would have been nice in this piece, im not sure why i didnt think of that at the time :\

With the bass, i had tried to do more with it than just than one riff i kept playing, but since i had just about built everything around the preussion before i got to the bass, i was in no mood to rewrite the synths to fit around a fluctuating bass *something i still cant get quite right anyway lol* so i just kept it simple but strong.

Lol when i finished the song and played the mp3 to myself, the first thing i though was "Dear God, the intro sounds Vanilla Ice" and i almost died from laughter XD.

Thanks again for your reviews and supprt! It means a lot to me :)

More is sure to come, so keepz a lookzout XD

LP

[Languid Determination]

Neat

uh oh, the hip hop genre is rarely nice. I see more 0 votes fly in from there then... well some rather large thing that throws a lot of other things.

The beats are stable, fluent, but there is something about this song that doesn't quite say "Hip Hop to me"

I begin to think that maybe the piece is too full? Then again don't look at me, I have little experience in this field. In fact the last time I tried to make a hip hop track it ended up being an evil santa song... good times!

You've got the lead synth fluctuating well, do you have a flanger effect on it also? It seems to slide a bit as it plays I wonder if it's the instrument or an effect.

The melody is pretty catchy though no doubt.

The percussional side to the song is also fairly solid, the bass I liked. It really did its stuff and did it well, I wonder if reverbing those claps and clicks would make it sound better. It may, it may not, not sure, but i'd recommend you try it, it may surprise you.

In any case, Keep up the good fight Languid, I hear some potential in you!

languid-phenomenon responds:

D'OH! i never thought to rever the clap/snaps lol. As for it being to "full" for hip-hop i can see your point, most hip-hop songs are pretty redundant and without the lyrics, gets kinda dull to listen too. I am not a big fan of redundantness, so even in my trance i like to keep it chaning even by just a bit. The same pattern over and over doesnt really speak much towards somones ability to compose a song in my opinion. As for the synth, there was no filter effects on it other than what Z3ta had put on it. I believe it is the "cutting lead" preset. Im not sure if it came arpeggiated, but if it did, i took it off to get the solid notes. The reason it seemed to slide was because i discovered that when i placed a small note on top or below a longer one in the piano roll, it would slide down to that note, and if the note ended before the longer one, would slide back. A very usefull discovery XD So after that accidental discovery I then used my newfound knowledge and extended the ends of certain notes to have it slide down or up to the next one, and then break and have solid notes and stuff. XD very fun, very fun. So it might be the instrument, but then again, most of the samples on z3ta+ have effects already added to them XD
Thanks again for the review XDD

LP

[Home-Grown Sunset]

Impressive!

How strange, I had thought I had already left you 2 reviews, but it seems I must have confused you with somebody else X(!

Time to fix yes?

Are you using East West as well?! That violin sounded familiar... then again a violin is going to sound like a violin no matter where you go, just sample sound wise.

In any case, it is not so much a sunset I envision but walking through a jungle, vibrant of life, speckled with rich colors.

Then the harp plays what seems like a minor progressive chord and i'm looking at a large dead tree. Splendid, strong, wonderful, even by death.

I also see rivers, the harp gives me that image as well. The fluent, flowing, sometimes randomly overlapping layers of strings really adds on an interesting twist, an ambient theme.

In any case, i'm rather disappointed to see this song get so little attention, so here's my 5, keep up the great work languid!

languid-phenomenon responds:

Wo0t a 5! Yes, this is all done with Eastwest, and a hint of FL standard samples *the background pad lol*
The image you got was a very good one!! i never thought of it like that, but now i can see where you are coming from XD
Thank you so much for the review!! I think you are a great artist, and cant wait to hear more songs from you XD
*you should keep me up to date with your songs :P*

LP

[i2 - Stages of Breakup]

Impressive

Hello i2. I promised you a review back in the day for this song, so DAMN IT, I dragged my face over here after remembering and i'm going to give you your review!

To the song.

A great and sad mix in the beginning, i'm getting a feeling of loss, but it's a loss with a more... rage in it. Anger but not hostile anger, maybe self disappointment?

I didn't get happy flashbacks really, the timpini seemed to keep saying "why!?" and I guess thats a question we all ask, and are often times not answered in such situations.

When the flute came in I heard a wave of relief, perhaps having looked back into the past, there was something there.

In any case, keep your chin up i2. You are a wonderful person, you will survive this, and you will live strong. Keep up the good fight!

[\Dark Streets/]

Impressive

An interesting mix.

You've used those flangered percussional beats again, again they seem to have worked for you.

The low and deep synths seem to give the atmosphere you were looking for. Like a murderous monster stalking alley ways.

The high bells gave it that extra punch to induce more fear.

Then you slowed it down at the end, a definitely interesting effect.

In any case, good stuff, making strides and experimenting, thats what it's all about! keep up the good fight!

[\Fast Movement/]

Neat!

Hey Blizzard. Found this song through the NGAP radio :D. I'm glad I did, it's a pretty slick beat! That thick bass synth really does the song some good justice.

Is the percussionals flangered? I think so, it gives it a neat feeling, I would normally find that effect irratating, but here it seems to have served a purpose.

I had to end so quickly :'(

It loops flawlessly though so mad props.

Not much to say on the piece, but I wanted to show you my support, so here it is! Keep up the good fight Blizzard (formerly Technoman7 if i'm not mistaken ;)

[Brother]

Neat!

Another sweet song, I felt it was nice, steady, fluent, and effective in it's means.

I don't know if that background synth belonged there, the guitar work in my opinion was a great enough part of the song in itself to work without it, and that high synth that came later, gave the piece more power.

On a side note on the first review I gave you, these songs belong more in Indie, and not classical, there is some great smooth easy guitar playing in there.

How long have you been playing the guitar, this song demonstrates you know what you're doing with that!

Good stuff flourish, good stuff indeed. I just wish that background synth wasn't there. Anyways i'd like to invite you to check out my work sometime!

[sundayosunday]

So soothing...

Such a gentle piece. It's simplistic, but really I felt it had it's own charm.

The song moves so smoothly despite what others may argue is a somewhat random guitar. I can see this piece playing on a summer day.

I don't have much else to say flourish,but you have you really good work here and I wanted to drop you my support. So here it is.

keep up the good fight! You should also try not to put songs in Misc they very rarely get listened to. Something like this should go into classical.

Anyways, i'm going to close my eyes and just... exist in this piece for a while.

[I_E - Defraction Unbound]

Impressive

This is probably the wrong track to listen to especially when you're using bass deaf headphones like me XD.

The song is still so damn enjoyable, it's shaking my earphones like a massage to my ears, but lyk tutally herdcore!

The melody work here is sweet, fluent and enjoyable like always.

I am tempted to say there is too much going on, and things are being overpowered, but I can't judge that with these earphones, so i'll leave that be.

When that high pitched synth went away and you brought in this ripping synth, that was an unexpected and enjoyable transition. The buildup that went with that too was a pretty nice addition! It is equal yes!

Liked the sudden breakdown of that synth to return to the high synth. Yay!

In any case, awesome work Ivan, keep up the good fight eh! You're really starting to get a knack for this!