MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[DJTylo: Prison of Snow]

So well equalized!

Such an excellent beginning, such a sweet choir progression. You must tell me from where you got those choirs! The bass the synths all seem incredibly well balanced, there was something about this track that sounded so professional.

After the choir ends, you bring in this piano melody layer, and again it sounds so pristine, with such tonal control. You're really surprised me with this. I felt the snare build ups could be handled better, start them off nearly mute, and build up. Or so I believe that would have made them better, I could be wrong.

The song takes many turns and twists, laid back yet energetic. I don't have much more to say about this track Realmguys, really this is just something I ca totally just sit back to and listen.

5/5 from me. I'd like to invite you to check out my work sometime. Keep up the good fight!

Realmguys responds:

The choirs are Yamaha choir samples. They are part of the Motif sound set. Thank you for your comments and ideas. I will definitely take it to the table next time. Everyone and myself agrees, my drums and percussion need some serious work. I might have a decent song if I could work out my beats.
Thank you for the props on my mixing/tonal control. I'll check your stuff out Maestro.
-Tyler

[Dj~SlingSh0t-Cooper instrument]

Neat

hey zakk! It's been a really long time since I saw your page man. How is that album coming along? In any case I'm glad to see you submitting again.

I felt the bass here was so damn smooth, it was so effective, especially with that gated and panned saw on top of it.

I felt there was a lot of empty space here, I think some pads underneath, some counter melodies would have made the song more full sounding.

Then you had this gentle, angelic kind of pad, and then you KILLED it with what sounded like a gun >:(

why would you kill it T-T?

In any case, it really was an entertaining listen! I'd like to invite you to check out some of my stuff sometime zakk, keep up the good fight!

zakk123 responds:

I didnt think it would kill it lol. But hey man how you been its really been a long tiem. Ill check your stuff out right away.

[CJO:06 Dec. Contest]

Interesting

Awesomeness, the first half completely makes me think of Mario going off his crazy star consuming craze blowing stuff up because he rolls like that!

What an interesting mix, the transitions were a tad shakey, the percussional fields could use a tad more work, but I love the insane level of reverb you used on the snare and claps!

All in all, it was quite enjoyable, good stuff.

[DC - Hand of God]

Interesting

an interesting piece DC.

The immediate and sudden changes to the piece could be viewed negatively and truth be told such drastic transitions are usually looked down on. However I find if you just let the song play in the background without paying attention to it, the strange transitions actually create an interesting feel!

The detuned choir sounds a tad freaky, which is good, because the song itself is pretty strange, so strange choir + strange song = strangely good!

The blips, added an interesting feeling to it.

All in all the song is such a strange mix, I'm not really sure how to critique it to be honest, all I know is i'm walking away from it with a grin on my face... so you must have brainwashed me :O!!!

In any case, keep up the good fight!

Duglus-Cruentus responds:

Wow! A Maestro Review! I feel special now. xD

Thanks!

[Make it Rain]

Impressive!

In so short a time you've uploaded many new pieces Setu. I'm quite interested to seeing what kind of melodies and ideas you'll throw at us next.

Now this song in particular, was one that held great interest to me. I could see the perfect dialogue to this that gave me chills. I was even considering doing a remix of it, sadly though I have so many other projects, I don't know when i'd have to time for it... but I shall one day you wait and see. One of these days I will make the song "Make the Rain Stop", in tribute to how many ideas this piece has given me.

I am getting a forceful, bitter sadness from this piece. From the description I felt that perhaps it would be more laid back, sadder, the feeling i'm getting from this is a more confused, angered loss. Not a "WHY!?" kind of anger, but an accepted, yet bitter anger.

I felt the low end of the piece was a tad too quiet, I felt a nice deep cello may have really pushed the song, gave it a larger bass a more driving core.

Church bell sfx would have helped nailed the whole loss of somebody home. Nothing says "death" like some nice church bells, or so I find. I'm pretty obsessed with bells!

In any case, this was excellent track. Fully worthy of a 5. Keep them coming!

Setu-Firestorm responds:

Well, this piece actually is in a fantasy setting. I wish I could tell you more, but I may just try doing the movie attached to this piece as a flash (I've been wanting to make the movie for a long time now).

Ironically, you hit the nail on the head. In the scene this piece is in, the man had spent 5 years waiting for his lost son at the pond they always fished at years ago, never knowing that the boy was dead for the 5 years. The boy was killed in a struggle against the tyrannical leader of their society, and the main character, who was friends with the boy's father, found out about what had happened. This piece takes place when the main character reveals the news to him.

[Yogosun: Beutiful Sunset]

Impressive

wow in so short a time you've really started making some serious serious progress. Are you still using Sytrus? If not have you moved onto Vangaurd and/or Z3ta+?

You really seem have grasped the ability to make the song flow quite well. The high synth works well with that deep bass, I am not sure if i'm hearing a pad or not, but what I can say is I think for the first time i'll say you don't really need one, this is of course assuming you're not already using one, what you have going seems to work pretty damn well.

The ending was abrupt but I felt this actually helped the song's core, helped it loop. I know this probably wasn't the intention, but it did anyways.

In any case, it was a pretty slick piece :D. Good stuff, keep them coming! You get my 5.

Jiao-Zhang responds:

Wow! Im glad you like it =p And yes, I have Vanguard, im using it right now! Yes, I learn very fast as you see now =p anyways, thanks!

-Yogosun

[My Angel in Black]

Interesting

The harpischord fits the description perfectly, I can see a black winged angel perched on a fence looking up at the snowing sky.

I would think that the harpischord would suffice for this image, I did not quite like the string sounds and the melody for that part, it did not seem to complement the song's image well, and the transition was a tad shakey.

However... I just can't get over that harpischord melody, it's so simple, yet so effective.

In any case it IS an enjoyable track, it was simply the strings section that did not strike well with me. I'd like to invite you to listen to some of my tracks sometime! Keep them coming Shallowblue.

[*)dedication to the dead(*]

Sweet

the beginning was a tad weak to be honest. The trumpet notes seemed a little random, and it didn't seem to mix in that well with the song. However when the synths picked up, and the drums and everything kicked in, the piece really pulled itself together. It had a powerful and united core, things didn't seem to want to compete but work together.

The bass guitar seemed to play a pretty sweet melody, not very diverse but it helped keep it in line. The phasered/flangered (one of those I forget which effect did that thing) strings were rather interesting, and it made me thing the song was going to much more sadder then what it eventually became.

It was impressive in it's own light. Good job quickshot, I enjoyed this track. I would like to invite you to check out some of my tracks sometime. Keep them coming, I hear some good potential in you!

quickshot-x responds:

wow, thanks so much sir, i live in iran and i learn cultures of america and english from my english teachers. i use an iranian system to make my music, though i'm interested in fl studio's. i agree that the beggining didn't really start of strong. i'm not good with intro's usually endings and mid-parts of the song. thankyou for reviewing me.

[Yogosun: Utopia]

Impressive@!

This song... man you've truly impressed me with this. It seems you are well on your way to becoming a regular and recognized artist here, and I must give you props, to be so young, and quite talented, and only one year of producing to boot.

This piece is nothing ground breaking, nothing revolutionairy, but it is definately something i'd expect to hear on an actual movie, possibly an intro to some sci-fi show, and it feels like it has real substance. Are you using presets of Sytrus and modifying them from there? If not, what VST's are you using?

I have nothing to add to this piece, I just wanted to drop my support. Keep them coming Yogosun, another 5/5 from me!

Jiao-Zhang responds:

Cool, a great review from a great artist! Yes, I did use Sytrus, but now im making my own synths! =D If you listen to my song "Kick the bass", I made my own synth that comes in with a free filter. Anyways, thanks!

-Yogosun

[Yogosun: Fire Blaze |Demo|]

Sweet

It's true I recognized the samples, but hey everybody uses those samples when they start off. I myself couldn't stop using the lil buggers at first :D.

You can find loads of kicks hi hats, claps or whatever you want simply by googling it, I wish I could give you what I use, but most of them are well over 4 gigs, and thats alot of transference :P.

In any case, the song feels full, well structured, and I see you have learned how to use the reverb on the claps and percussionals, this is a very important thing, many beginning artists do not realize this but you seem to have caught on right away. Good for you.

It does get a tad repetitive, but still a very enjoyable track. I also look forward to your bands recording, drop me a pm when you have those up eh ;). Keep them coming Yogosun, I hear great potential in you.

Jiao-Zhang responds:

haha! Well, if you listen to my track "Kick the bass", Like I said before, I didn't use presets!

However, I am not a n00b, I've been composing for 1 year, so I knew how to do this stuff.

Im glad your looking forward to my band recordings! Sure, I'll PM you when they are uploaded =p Thanks for the review!

-Yogosun