MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Rucklo - Horror]

Sweet

Dude, I was on MSN and somebody asked me to write them an evil story online, and I wanted to find some dark music to get me into the mood.

Thanks to your music I got them to say this, and I quote

"(( that's creeepy! ;__; ))"

So yes, the story was a huge success! Thanks to your piece man, awesome stuff! Short but effective ass loop. Keep em coming Rucklo.

Rucklo responds:

Haha, nice to hear your story was a hit mate! Glad to be of service with inspiration ;)

I´ll definitley try to make more stuff like this in the future, I wanna start focusing making short loops, I´ll just have to find time between other IRL stuff... :)

[Secrets and Lies]

Neat

hmmm, you've got another good melody down. I see that through the practice of other songs you are able to create melodies rather comfortably, what is lacking however is presentation. Again i'm not going to hold the flow of the song against you, for crying out loud this is your FIRST full FL song! Heck of alot better then mine, so i'll give you that.

Anyways, the synths you are using are of course presets, later on when you feel you have understood some of the basics feel free to ask me or others how to install VST's and use them. Trust me they will become the bane of your existence, BUT IN TIME. Let yourself learn things out first.

Anyways the percussional works could use some work, I used to listen to the drumloops a lot to try and give me some ideas, try that.

You seem to have panning down, be careful with that though, I find panning alot of things at the same time is insanely distracting.

Nice brass solo :D.

Anyways, the song is pretty neat, I definately hear potential, lets see what monsters you can bring out with time eh!

Keep them coming stealth!

Stealth-Emergence responds:

Yet again thanks for coming to review for me MaestroRage

I'm in no way gonna run before I can walk, so for the time being I won't be using any VST's

I'll be making use of the instruments that have come with FL, just so I can get comfortable with it, as I'm still more into my Rock lol, but I love experimentation! regardless of genre

I will take a listen to the drum loops to get more of a feel for percussion

I had no control over the panning, it's yet another thing I have to learn in FL! lol

well as said in response to your previous review, expect a PM soon as I have a few question about FL which I hope and am sure you'll be able to help me with

Thanks again man

Much appreciated!

Peace Out!

Stealth

[Delusional Confusion]

Neat

Well stealth, lets begin our review.

I can see that you're trying out alot of things with this song in FL, synths, pads, bass kicks, scratches, this is like your canvas in which you randomly test out your skills, so this I can respect, the song does not infact flow smoothly but as stated previously I don't think you're really out to make a full song so much as learning the ropes.

The MELODY however of the song was pretty good. THIS flowed well.

Some ideas for next time. You had a pad at some parts, you should have a pad in the background at all times to provide a foundation for your other synths to stand upon.

I think you have discovered the effects box, as I think I hear some delay effects in there. Have you considered reverb? In techno/trance reverb isn't that important synth wise, but for your claps/ hi hats/snares, they are quite important to blending in with the rest of the song.

Try it out, I can assure you, that you will not be dissapointed.

Also don't be afraid to try and make two synths play the same melody and notes, fusing two or more synths can provide you with some interesting sounds.

Other then that, I felt this was a pretty good learning song for you, itself was also a pretty good song. Good work man, keep up the good fight and keep them coming!

Stealth-Emergence responds:

Thanks MaestroRage

I appreciate you're coming to review for me! I've got a lot to learn with FL so yep this is my testing phase for it at the moment

I'm not sure I've discovered the effects part in FL yet, or even how to incorporate them, though I think i know which part you're referring to with the effect in question.

I know it doesn't flow as smoothly as hoped! but that will improve as I progress with FL

2 synths together, now that hadn't occurred to me to try yet! guess what I'll be trying next? lol

Pad: I'm not sure which bit that was? I know I incorporated some random wavs for percussion and scratches, the beats/kicks were from FL

Like I say I'm still learning with FL so have a lot more experimenting/learning to do with it

Well Thanks for your review, expect a PM soon cos I have some questions, hope you may be able to help with!

Thanks again man, much appreciated

Peace Out!

Stealth

[DJ Sash - Those Times]

Sweet

The sfx WERE pretty loud, and the song underneat it all sounded so good T-T.

Oh well, our loss I guess.

Still if you lower the volume it does make for a great ambiant feel, and though I felt the first time the police sirens came around it was neat, the second layer you put of the police sirens was kinda overkill.

Still it was quite a good song, keep them coming Rave!

Rave4Yourself responds:

Thanks man, :D Ya, i'll try and remake it one day i guess... nahhhhhhh, :P

I dunno, its an okay song. Thanks for the review though, :D

Yay, my nickname is Rave!

[Jazzy Solo]

Sorry for double review :D

OOOH, Sorry I had to review again, a few ideas JUST struck me! Sorry :P.

I don't know if you use any programs like Fruity Loops or not but I'm going to suggest a few things anyways!

A violin! I could hear such a bittersweet violin playing to this guitar. Slowly followed in by some cello chords, perhaps a piano to play the chords, I don't know, the ideas are coming and going too quickly.

Wind AND Rain sound effect... oooh, now i've got goosebumps all over.

Some tamorines as the guitar melody does give off a faint spanish flavour to it.

A flute too, as a countermelody to the guitar! Maybe JUST maybe a vague choir? No... no choir, that wouldn't work.

heh, sorry again for the double review, just had to let that out :).

still 5/5, awesome stuff Soundshifter.

Soundshifter responds:

dude! i wanted to put strings!!! ahhh! but my midi wasn't working lmfao. look just for you man i will.. and your going to be first to know.

[Ode to Greif]

Neat

hmm, it's a shame, the most beuitiful things come from the darkest places no?

Regardless I felt the guitar melody was bitter sweet, well layered and despite it being electric, I felt it was quite subtly laid back. It's also a great ambiant song, as i've been listening to it for nearly an hour straight now.

I have nothing to suggest I like this the way it is, good stuff JesusSaves, keep them coming, there will be better days, this you can be sure of.

[World of Warcraft Song #4]

I giggle like school girls

XD

The vocals were INSANELY entertaining and funny. This gets 14 for originality.

The song is also very catchy, so simple, so entertaining. Awesome track Diabolo-ical, awesome.

[Welcome to the Field]

Drums of war!

ah, so you want a story is that it Bosa!? Well my good sir, prepare yourself for teh story of teh century!

0:00

The wind is blowing at his feet, he looks up slowly to see his commander climb a small rock, he holds his horn up and at 0:06, he lets it blare out. The other soldiers raise their blades and spears to the air, and scream their approval. The commander drops his horn and slashes his blade towards the enemy.

All the soldiers pick up their weapons and charge. Our hero, being quite young and inexperienced feels geniune fear, choking his eyes and throat. In the blur of movement he falls into a semi-coma state (at1:05) and remembers what he is fighting for.

His home, lush with grass, tall mountains, streams gurgling to feed the crops. He see's his wife holding his child and he remembers smiling at the sun...

and then.

"AAAAAGH!"

The blood filled gurgled scream fills the air as the first arrow finds its target! He snaps out of his mind and realizes there are many arrows in the sky. Many soldiers are cowering under their shields, while those without are charging forward relentlessly.

The moment becomes more chaotic as they hear cavalry from behind them. He looks behind him and see an impressive force riding towards them, the enemies banner held proudly on their saddles.

Closer...

and closer...

He runs, tries to find a way to survive, any way at all, he just wants to go back home to his crops and family.

He turns around to see his general's eyes, and sees one solemn tear escape his otherwise emotionless face. So then there really was no hope... Our hero picks any direction and begins running, he hears a whizzing sound, and suddenly silence.

he falls to the ground with an arrow in his chest. And that, was the end of that story.

Overall I feel you've done well with this piece. I could see this story perfectly in my head, and the moods of the song change so quickly, without any warning.

Are those drums real? Seriously, if they arn't, where did you find them?!

The dissonant screaming violins near the end did an exceptional job at creating the distressed feeling, panic above everything else.

The subtle french horn with the pounding drums, made for a great "approaching evil" kind of theme.

Another question is the vocals? Where did you get them?

Anyways, easily a 5/5 from me Bosa, once again you're really impressed me!

Bosa responds:

Good to hear from a creative thinker. I will answer your questions which hopefully, is in best understanding. First, the vocals. Bulgarian babes was at the store where I hang out. I, of course, spoke with them.. since they were rather beautiful. Well, I got to speak of my music and I needed some real choir. Well, after alot of talking and negotiation, we came to an agreement. Yet, I don't think I'll ever see them again. Now, on to the drums.. I don't like to give away my secrets, but I will give this very small one. You can buy Timpanis from any music store that sells them. Timpani drums have both high, and low tones, so you should be able to get a good battle drum sound. I'm still growing in the live band era. Since we've covered most of what you want, we shall move on to some more diffrent matters. The audio portal grows well.. and strongly. Yet, it does not meet the attention as the flash portal does. A very depressing matter towards me. But, if the rumors are true, then I will feel joy over it. These rumors are not ones to discuss in public. Don't want to give away future plans on The NG Geo Bat Cave Base. Actually, after reading this, you have been subject to a disease. You have 3 minutes to live.

Your Friend,
Bosa (With cherries on top.)

[Fall of Grace: Euphonium+Piano]

Inspiring...

This wasn't as sad as I thought it would be :'(

You've made me sad now :'(

I shed tears here.

Anyways, seriously, onto the song.

Another brilliantly composed work, I felt this piece had a lot of subtle tones of anger in it over sadness, this I credit to the french horn. It's blaring glory at key points made the song sound a tad angry, and the oppressive piano at the end, only compliments this idea.

The melody is one that makes me think of adventures, you know, shield in one hand, beer in the other... time to party >:)!

Some ideas to make a sadder sounding piece. Perhaps a nice oboe and flute combo? I think if you replaced that french horn with an oboe it would have a sadder feel to it, instead of that heroic defiance (where DID I put my shield anyways...).

But leaving the description behind I felt this was a pretty good piece. Deserving of a 5 easily.

Esn responds:

Well, I never meant "sad" as in "depressing"... there are different types of sadness. I've never been drawn to the "downright depressing" style myself (eg. some of Frédéric Chopin's nocturnes). ;)

The brass instrument was a Euphonium, not a French Horn (a French Horn would never be able to go that low), although I had to use the "Tuba" sound since GPO doesn't have the Euphonium... which is frustrating, since it's my instrument.

I couldn't add any other instruments to this one unfortunately (though you're right, it would've been nice) because it was an assignment for a certain York University class ("composer's world music ensemble")... which means that eventually it'll be played by me and a pianist. In retrospect perhaps I should've waited until I could actually record the performance to upload it, but I grew a little impatient I'm afraid. In any case, Finale 2007 + GPO certainly doesn't sound bad! The piece originally wanted to be longer but I had to put a line somewhere and say "this is it" because my assignment was only to write a minute of something, and it's already 1:40... and in any case, shorter submissions seem to get more love on Newgrounds. It sounds kinda complete as it is anyway - I can always upload a longer version later if I like (one of my problems is that my pieces just keep getting longer and longer - they escalate into these huge things!)

Thanks for the review. :)