MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Scheming Demons]

Interesting!

I felt that this version was better then the other Beegeezee. The percussional beats in this one are a bit more diverse, the electric guitar a little lower, more laid back.

To be honest I didn't get the "Demon's Scheming" vibe. I felt it was more of a triumphant, noble struggle kind of thing. You know, running through the corridors of the evil maniacs dungeons, bloody blade in one hand, hot babe in the other...

time to party >:)

That twangy instrument, I thought that was a really neat addition, it was quite interesting.

Some ideas to make it more "demony" I guess is a good word.

A wicked organ man. I think you need a powerful organ, with some nice high pitched strings (which you already have).

Some nice deep brass would be a welcome addition too. I thought the vox you used was plenty fine the way it was, I was going to suggest choir, but just something about what you already have was good enough.

Overal, it IS a good song, no doubt, I think it deserves more attention then it is getting, so i'm going to 5 bomb both of these songs. Keep them coming Beegeezee!

[Tragic Part 2]

Impressive

It is indeed more classical then the first, but I still feel that it is more ambiant then classical. This again I contribute to that cello.

The melody IS more emphasized, there IS more power behind it, but still I don't feel it is enough yet. Those long string notes towards the end screams ambiant to the core.

The percussional beats here were pretty fine, and I didn't really hear any off keys with the piano, who knows, maybe i'm just not paying attention to the right places.

The build up with the piano at the beginning was a good way to usher in the rest of the song, but once more, I must point out that the way it builds up, with a constant face, a similar arpeggiated chord says it is ambiant.

I wouldn't recommend the triangle ping thing with this song, I think this song is plenty full with it ^^.

That deep, oppressive piano notes i'm hearing, I felt really added a nice feel, a somewhat darker feel, but it was an enjoyable aspect.

Overall, I liked this one better then the first, because it is somewhat less ambiant, and has more to sink my teeth into. Awesome work, keep them coming!

[Tragic]

Neat

Well it definately has an ambiant quality. I've been listening to this song for nearly an hour while doing some work, and truly it doesn't act too rough, doesn't distract me from my task. It's clean, flows well, and doesn't digress too much from its course.

Several would call that repetitive, but really ambiant music is not meant to be awe strickingly diverse.

The mix of instruments was what I really felt made it ambiant. It all just melts together, and this I contribute mostly to that mello cello (it rhymes, therefore it MUST BE TRUE!) which actively slightly overpowers the other instruments, which in turn creates a melted feel. Perfect for ambiance.

There is a melody in there of course, and the constant arpeggiation and progressive chords is again a contributer to the whole ambiant scene.

A suggestion, I think this song could use a nice triangle "ting" from time to time. I think you need a nice clean crisp sound as a form of contrast here and there.

Overall though, great work. 5/5 from me BlackSunWithin00. I would like to invite you to listen to some of my pieces sometime. Keep them coming!

[Strategem]

Neat

There is a neat constant beat to this song. As before mentioned it would make for a really good menu music, it's ambiant enough to serve the purpose, but interesting enough to continue listening to it for a good while.

That harpischord, now there's an interesting mix. I've always had trouble finding a place for the harpischord, but I feel you've done pretty well here.

An idea that comes to mind is a deep cello playing chords in the background, because there is an "empty" feel to the song, especially before the harpischord comes in. But on the other side of that coin, that too serves a kind of purpose. I personally think in order to make it a full song, you would need them, however for the menu and ambiant effect, it is perfect this way.

Some bells. I keep thinking some nice tubuler bells would really add a nice mix to the piece, make it more epic.

Timpini. I think timpini would have been a neat addition to the bongo/congo drums (which are really nice btw).

Other then that, I think this is a pretty damn fine song. Keep them coming Raust.

[_Yumbo-Yak_Hymn of Hip Hop 2]

Neat

I didn't quite like the piano selected for this one. And instead of the note resonating, it cuts off pretty drastically, especially clear in the beginning. I would really advice using the reverb effect for future classical/hip hop fusion songs.

However once the strings and synths start going at it, it really starts to pick up. The hi hat issue has been resolved so that indeed make me quite happy.

That choir man... it would sound so damn good... if only you had found a better choir for it. Goggle Papalmedia choir, it's an excellent free soundfont for choir.

Reverb the choirs like crazy, choirs are only good if you reverb them so hard that their mothers start speaking reverbed!

Otherwise a very interesting mix, it's just the samples you chose this time around that kinda perked of me ears.

Still, good work Yumbo, keep going, you will get as far as you want to.

Yumbo-Yak responds:

Thanx and coming and checking it out maestro
I may let this piece, rest in peace
i'll google that choir,
If i make another piece, that i think u may be interested in i'll pm u, until then adieu, and keep searching for good pieces

[Call of The Wind]

Neat

hey speedmetal!

I never thought i'd see a classical from you. It's quite strange to see really! Anyways onto the song.

Deflektor (I believe) mentioned something about the samples, I agree with him. Their quality diminishes the power of the piece.

Some ideas.

The buildup to the brass is nice, but I felt the brass came in too abruptly.

Also when the brass does jump in, perhaps some deep cellos in the background to fill in the lower spectrum?

To end the piece, I would suggest a trailing note, fading out you know, the ending was a tad abrupt as well.

Anyways, for your first classical piece, I must say i'm damn impressed. You have inspired me to try my hand at metal now ;). I hope you will be there to hear it when it's out.

Keep up the good work speed, keep them coming!

speedmetalmessiah responds:

Wow man thanks for the awesome review. I'll work on getting the smaples to sound better for my next classical piece. I'll also try and ease into everything a bit smoother next time. I should have mixed the bass end of things better but at least now I won't make that mistake again.

Thanks a lot for the tips I'll definately take them into my next orchestral.

I'll be looking forward to your metal tune and if you ever need a guitarist just let me know I'd be more than happy to help you out.

[Stepping Stone]

Neat

Hey boomsquad.

The song you present here is interesting, but at the same time I feel that it is a tad bland sounding. It's missing... diversity? No that isn't the right word, it needs more instruments. You have the cello, strings and the snares. The snares are a little awkward sounding, a bit off. But thats not really important right now.

Some suggestions.

A flute. I keep thinking this song would do really good with a nice high flute, you know, really push the high octaves here, so far this song has some very deep layers.

Solo violin comes to mind as well, but this again is probably just my mind trying to find some high pitched instruments to throw on top.

Some bells? I suggest bells and choirs to everybody, cuz it seems like they is my fetish.

The song loops well, it flows pretty good, I would really hope you do resubmit as a better version. If you're using Fruity Studio's, I would love to help you with some good samples.

Anyways, good effort on this anyways, keep them coming man! Not every song you make is going to be a great success, if you make a song you personally don't like, don't fret it, learn from it, and move on.

["Welcome"]

Impressive

Hey Roy00.

I didn't get a very "welcome" feeling to this song. More like a "welcome to hell!" kind of thing. There were many overtones of a dark and sorrowed feeling, yet there were traces of happiness, especially in the middle with the quick strings and brass. More noble, more almighty kind of feeling.

One of my first suggestions above anything else, is finding better samples. This song's melody flows very well, it's structure pretty good, however the quality of the samples bleeds the life it would have otherwise out of it.

The song also loops pretty well.

That piano ending, I did not find in the greatest of taste. I felt that it let the song just kinda die out. I would suggest perhaps a fade out?

have you considered timpini? I think this song is a very noble oriented one, and though you do have some timpini going on at some points, I feel having them around more would be a welcome addition.

I also believe you should use the reverb effect, give it a more realitistic feel, especially on those choirs. I find reverbing choirs to hell and back gives a very neat effect.

Anyways, thats all I can think up of for now, i'd like to invite you to listen to some of my pieces, and tell me what you think of them. Thank you. Here is my 5 bomb for you! Keep them coming!

Roy00 responds:

Oh yeah thanks for the comment by the way! yeah sorry about all the "flaws" in this song.... LOL! its just that im using finale 2003 and playing everything through a demo version of 2007. so im not used to the crappy sounds '03 has. but im getting better! thank you by the way. i'll continue listening to your music. Bye!

[_Yumbo-Yak_Hymn of Hip-hop]

Neat

Hey man, I really think you're onto something here! When I heard that opening I thought (man that sounds famaliar!), then i read your description and it said that you used the ffx song, and it struck home.

I think a hip hop version is definately a welcome break from the original, however I also think you should mix it up some more. That constant hi hat throughout the whole song lost its power after a while you know. Those soundeffects you had going on there was also a pretty neat idea.

I also think that kick should have been louder, also reverbed up the ying yang, for that surreal feeling the ffx song has.

Anyways, great stuff, the ending was redone, so good work with that. I think the song has potential but still more diversity would have been a great addition.

Keep them coming Yumbo-Yak, good stuff.

Yumbo-Yak responds:

This song has alot of room for improvement.
I'll revamp it later and make a worthy version to be displayed on newgrounds,
thanx for the review.

[Sunset Forest]

Neat

Hey Ocelot.

I liked the melody of the song, it flows well, it has a relatively good story to tell, but like mentioned before hand you have whole notes playing in the background all the time and that can become a little tiresome to listen to.

I didn't like the ending at all with that hi-hat segment. Letting it trail and fade out would have been a better move.

Some ideas.

First off, I think you should get better samples. If you had great samples this songs power would increase nearly three fold. I'd like to invite you to listen to some of my own pieces, you will notice that melody wise they may not be better then this piece, but merely because of the quality of the samples they take on a whole life. Of course i'm not telling you that great samples is the bane to all good music. You could have a real orchestra and still suck if the song just doesn't have structure or melody.

To make your instruments sound more real, I would recommend you apply a reverb effect on them. Reverb is an effect that makes it sound like the instrument is being played in a large hall (or small room depending on the parameters you set).

What program are you using? If I were to guess i'd say Finale?

Anyways, you do have talent, so keep them coming! You'll get there if you keep pushing.

Ocelot3000 responds:

Firstly, let me just say thank you for writing such a detailed review, It is deeply appreciated. I am aware that the sound quality for the piece is below my usual standards so I was expecting this comment to appear sooner-or-later. When I first wrote this piece over a year ago, I didn't have access to high-quality samples.
I can in all honestly say that I don't use Finale, instead I use software with a built in multi-effects processor, reverb controls and a realistic sound simulator, the reverb was just not set to a very high level.
I would like to point out that I was rushed to finish this piece (Hence the ending) and I DO plan to redo the entire piece again when I have the time so your comments will be taken into account.
P.S. I also hade the same comment made by 'Ventoche' about the long background notes, don't worry the will be changed.
Thanks a great deal
*Ocelot3000*