MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[In the Land of Seven Sounds]

Impressive!

Hello sorohanro, it's been a while since I visited your page, so I thought i'd drop by and see what was up on your corner of the world.

Such an interesting mix! It sounds so professional! Are the vocals recorded exclusively for this track or are they samples you used for your piece?

I don't listen to Funk in that much detail, so forgive me if I say anything stupid.

I liked the filter effects you have at the beginning, it gradually cleans out for the vocals.

I found the instruments in this piece to be very expressive, especially those saxaphones, and the flutes in the background.

I would wonder, if perhaps a piano may have done this piece done some justice. I believe you may know the jazz scale, I play that scale for fun loads of times, I think something with that may have been interesting.

Does the land of seven sounds have any special significance soro? I wonder what it may mean.

I liked the bass guitar work throughout the song, simple, effective, and powerful.

I'm not going to suggest adding any european instruments, as that wouldn't suit the genre, however I do wonder, how a funk song would sound like with a cello and other instruments like the such...

oh well, great stuff sorohanro, I loved it, a 5 and download for you!

sorohanro responds:

well... a nice review again,like i'm used to receive from you ...
The voice is Silvia,the one i'v dedicated"Ice Princess".she wrote the text also.Land of Seven Sounds would be land of Music(major or minor scale,well,not chromatic but...)
as for classical instruments in funk... there are some things,like basson and oboe and english horn.you just look for "Rabinowitz in Utopia" ,Soft Machine "Land of Cocaine" or Bela Fleck and Flecktones (i don't know yhe name of album,is Live...something,somewhere... with basson and english horn,cool

[Stand off (horror)]

So rare, 10's all across!

now THIS was an interesting listen! Because of all the epic work I do, I don't do nearly enough dissonant pieces, but this one DRIVES the story home.

As if the killer is dashing in and out of corridors, or slowly walking across the hallway, making sure his victim sees his shadow, and chokes himself with fear.

So much anger and power in this piece. I didn't really think it was a very stand offish tune, I got a more "cat and mouse" type of feel you know.

Man now i'm so tempted to try and make myself a tune like this!

At first I thought that constant clicking wooden block noise was irratating, but this was not the case at all. Really it adds to the piece. The fact it loops so well is only a plus in my eyes.

I have nothing against this piece, I think it is one of my favourites amongst what you have.

Setu-Firestorm responds:

I was actually trying EXACTLY to create the "cat-mouse" mood with this piece.

I was originally going to take the woodblock out, but when I had tried that, the piece felt like it "lost" something from that, so I put it back in.

[Hoshima - Opening Narration]

Impressive!

I must have listened to this piece at least 10 times in a row, it's a very gentle piece. Just flows so smoothly, perfect.

The sounds are mixed very well, it all blends perfectly, and progresses equally well.

The strings, the layer after layer of strings. I love the strings, and so this was a pretty big treat for me.

The oboe segment was so short, it was only around for that one go about, I wonder if perhaps layering a flute on top of that oboe may have given it some additional impact, perhaps a different feel.

Otherwise, I can see this perfectly as an intro piece, really this is pro work. Good stuff Setu, keep them coming! This too gets my 5 bomb.

[I Feel So Alone]

Inspiring

Hello again Setu.

This piece is quite interesting, very powerful, very moving, and thats what I like to hear.

One of the more interesting aspects of this song was that singing, or humming. I myself dabbled in some self recording but my mic is something that is labaled as crap in my eyes, so those pieces are yet to see the light of day.

In any case, if this was a self recorded humming, you have a very moving voice, and the filters you applied to it really made it special. Can you tell me how you set up the effects on it?

Here is this VST that will turn your voice into a choir.

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Multimedia_and_Graphics/
Misc__Sound_Tools/Clone_Ensemble.html

I havn't used it yet, but in the demo's that I saw it was really something useful, and it's free, as far as I know.

The ending was abrupt, perhaps useful for looping purposes should that silence at the end be cut off.

The flow of the melody is immaculate, that harp was something that was also interesting, I wonder how it would sound like if you lowered it an octave.

Some suggestions.

I can imagine the tubelar bell 2 in chromatic section would serve this song well, I would seriously consider going back and trying it out for your own experience, I can promise you it will not be disappointing, ESPECIALLY when the voice comes in, truly I feel that moment is the focus point of the song, the strongest, the most effective segment.

All in all, impressive as usual, good work Setu, keep them coming!

PS. To answer your previous question.

I went to East West Symphonic Orchestra Gold, however the midi volume levels are not adjustable through FL so the pieces lose alot of tonal power, and I made the mistake of rushing to bigger samples, thinking it would do me better. But this is not the case, be wary, don't make the same mistake, i'm gradually returning to the small samples.

[Khuskan - Nocturne in D Minor]

Truly sweet

For your information I DO care.

I didn't get Schindler... oh wait THERE it is. I see what that comment was all about.

Hmm, Khuskan one of these days I really must eat your brains and leave you to die, whilst playing this sad chopin like nocturne, and you'd be like "BUT THATS MY SKILLZ DAT KILLZ!" and you'll be dead which is ironic because you said killz...

in any case, back on topic.

Such a short song, though I guess thats why it's a mini romantic piece yes? I loved the simple progressive chord, so effective in it's work.

In any case, truly I found this quite entertaining! A definate keeper, my 5 bomb are belong to you! Keep them coming.

[The Nightmare is Over]

Impressive

Solo Viola in Edirol Orchestral VST am I correct?

Heh, I used that VST A LOT during my early stages, really that VST was my stepping stone.

It seems you really like to make these ambiant works, you have some excellent skill with the reverb capability, over reverbing songs will generally make then very difficult to listen to, as you can't really hear the notes, they seem washed out. The melodies you produce however, seem to work just perfect.

You also seem to pull off layering rather well, but do watch your back with that, near the end I felt you had too many things going on at the same time... man hearing that solo viola really brings about a sense of nostalgia...

Some suggestions.

hmm... this is much more difficult. All I can think of is perhaps have a contrabass section playing the same notes as that solo viola to add some nice deepness to it.

Excellent song, this one is a keeper Setu! You get my 5 bomb once again. I'd like to invite you to check out some of my works sometime. I'm off to go use Edirol again, man I miss it now!

Setu-Firestorm responds:

I absolutely am using Edirol Orchestral. I've been searching to see what VSTi's might be better, although I am content with Edirol at this point.

I appreciate the suggestions, since I know my music's not perfect and need a second opinion on how to work at it. I guess especially since I was in a hurry scoring this game (I go to college full-time and work part-time). I didn't pay as much attention to this piece as I normally do.

Just out of curiousity, what VSTi are you using now that you seem to have let go of Edirol?

[Above the Clouds (easy listng)]

Sweet

From listening to some of your pieces, and reading some of your descriptions, it seems like you, like I, enjoy telling stories. This piece especially, spoke to me.

The vox... the vox chords were very powerful. They were simple, basic, but very powerful. The insane level of reverb used, did this song a huge huge service.

The guitar, I really didn't see coming, and truth be told it was an instrument I didn't find that suitable. It gave the song a form of energy that I didn't think worked with the piano melody, it seemed kinda like it wanted to belong, but simply did not.

This is especially true when you bring in that guitar with the piano, during this point I am rather confident the guitar does not suit it at all. It's so relaxing, so laid back, this guitar does it no justice. It robbed it from it's power.

I'm back to the beginning... god I can't get over those piano and vox duet.

Now for some suggestions, from a more instrumental point of view.

I am thinking of some nice deep cello chords, perhaps a harpischord. Strange suggestion yes, but I feel it would fit in maybe.

I don't have much more to say Setu, this is a very moving piece, I just feel that guitar did it no justice, other then that, divine! Keep them coming, I hear alot of potential in you Setu, I will keep my eye on you.

Setu-Firestorm responds:

It's funny you should mention the guitar, because my laptop crashed shortly after I completed that piece and posted it up on my old MySpace account, so I didn't have the project anymore to take the guitar out. It was indeed veeeery out of place.

And what can I say: I'm a true reverb whore.

*shrugs

[-Joyful Glory-]

Neat

Hmm, you really did put a good deal of effort into this piece. The percussional work was quite diverse and this adds alot of power to the piece. Normally when I hear a percussional segment it just loops again and again, not so much this piece. So good work on that.

That nice bass sound, slick, really. It worked very good with the saw layered on top.

That piano, I didn't see coming, and though I didn't see it coming, it was a pleasent add on, the bassline is simple, but effective.

The strings, now we're talking my language :D. The strings were indeed quite useful, though I felt they were a tad quiet.

As for kick, I thought the kick was perfect, not really sure what everybody else meant when they said make it louder. Perhaps they were listening to it in the mindset of it being a dance song, where really I listened to this as a kind of energetic ambiance.

All in all, good work FOD, really, this was work well done. You get my 5 bomb.

Father-of-Death responds:

Wow what a pleasant review!

It's the master of classical music!!!

I love your stuff dude!!!

It's a huge honor to get a review from you =D

[Stop Motion Symphony]

Sweetness

Man, if they did a stop motion movie to this, you'd need like 10 small windows, each having their own little guy doing their thing.

But other then that, it's unbelievably sexy. For anybody who is considering if they should download to hear it, DO IT! You will NOT regret it! This I can promise you (plus there are cookies involved!)

The melody is something so sweet, and by imagining the stop motion technique being used on this song, it makes it even more powerful, because it IS doable, but it would take some serious work. If they did do it however, it would really be so sexy it would hurt old people from across countries.

Though how would they do the electronic gated synth in stop motion? Have some ADHD child mass press the mouse button to the synth?

In any case the song loops well, and I got this sucker on my mp3 player before the song finished. Great work Dan, truly you surprise me with every submission.

MilkMan-Dan responds:

Oh maestro... always flattering me.

lol... I wonder if anyone would make a movie to this... somehow I doubt it.

Maybe I'll take a crack at it.

Thansk again Maestro.

[WuSchell - Switched on Bach 1]

Sweet

oh god i'm going to tell you about my distate for the piano sounds XO!!!

Or I can just obey your first review and not.

But jokes aside, what a neat surprise!

I never suspected Bach to sound like this, it sounds like evil incarnate BUT... it's a cultured evil, with a monocle and good manners.

I don't really have anything to add or remove, I mean this is Bach, i'm PRETTY sure he's already up there amongst the edumicated and knowing sector, so giving you advice on how to improve the song is like telling Bach to improve and I don't think thats possible.

So in any case, awesome points for you. Fully apprecated and fivened.