MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[arabian dungeon]

Slick!

Quite interesting work you've got here mhb! I really like the oboe lead you've got going on here. Not often you hear the oboe leading a piece let alone for an Arabian theme.

The brass you used, and how you used it, along with those drums did not really say "Arabian" to me. But it did say Danger, which suits the Dungeon aspect very well.

Is this Edirol Orchestral you're using here? The song also loops incredibly well, though there was nothing less to expect from a game loop ;). Well done.

I would have liked to hear some high end flutes here, I feel they would have more emphasized the notion of "wind", which is a common element to have in an Arabian piece. Desert winds, you know the story.

All in all, work well done mhb! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

mhb responds:

thanx!!!and yes i did use the edirol orchestral. it's a great thing! and i understand exactly what you're sayin' with the wind element. i just figured i'd leave the wind out since it's for a dungeon. nice that you caught it though! thanks for the review!!!

[†Faltering Sentiment†]

Keep at it! :D

hey Magi!

An interesting song you've got going here. The pads you used in the back definitely adds more substance to the song. I debated with myself wether having that pad cut out at the start of every not was useful, and I decided that it would have been better to fade it out rather then cut it off like that.

Maybe it was the pad itself that cuts off at the end of the notes? If so maybe giving it a delay effect would be interesting.

There were some abrupt cut off in the piece. Mostly background instruments in the first half.

The second half with the more military battle feel, was in my opinion far more interesting to listen to! I felt the emotion was better portrayed there, more powerful in its voice!

Neat shore sound effect at the end, worked out quite well in my opinion.

All in all, i'm glad to see you progressing along! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming! Let me know when new songs are up!

TheWisestMagi responds:

Yeah...to be honest I didn't even like this song when I first finished (except for slight mixing) it. But it grew on me in a funny way..

And yeah, about halfway through the song, I was like pffft I'm getting bored of this classical-ambient tick-tock feeling to the song! So I made it fade away and came back with a completely different song. A more booming one, then halfway through that I decided I did not just want a bomming sound, but a battle feel to it.

After this I decided that since the song already changed so much I would finish it by making it look like I had planned to do that, and decided to go for an abstract feel, which is that flute superimposed on the original melody.

That last sound took me too long to find the right sound to I swear..(The last low note).

And yeah, the pads automatically cut out and I messed around a bit to make it sound more fluent, but thats the best I could think of.

Also, I was very happy with that wind effect to = P, I got all excited when I used it..Although, the first time it came in, wind and that boom sound, I so wish I put in a cymbal crash..but not for the second boom = P.

Thanks for the reveiw and support Maestro!

[Entwined tragedies]

:'D

ah, a nice oppressive piano. How I love thee.

There is some happiness with these sorrow chords. An interesting blend for sure. It makes me think of a bittersweet tragedy. The ultimate sacrafice, which involves destroying your most cherished friend.

"In order to save you, I must destroy you" kind of thing. I love those types of imagery, just gets my mind reeling with all sorts of backstory. Why are these people doing this, what are they feeling etc.

There were several dissonant parts of this song, but they were ALL further enhancing to the image. That discomfort, unease, just drove the brittle story further. At some parts I felt it was a bit too dissonant, a few parts where I felt the piano notes clashed too much, but nothing major.

I myself am not really sure what Satie's "Gymnopedie" is, but it sounds like a revenge story. Is it a revenge story?

The ending was nicely handled.

Good work Grumble, another enjoyable lil sucker by you. Easily gets my 5. Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

And tutelly pm me when you do put new stuff.

Grumbleduke responds:

Listen to this again, and try to count the key changes. Don't give up too quickly now :). PMing will have to be done in the future. Nice to know there are people who still look for my stuff as well.

Eric Satie is a French composer from the early 20th Century: the opening to this piece is reminiscent of his work, Gymnopedie.

[Tearful Reunion]

Slick!

you bastard >:(!

You said you'd tell me when new songs were up! I had to find you out like this. Now I must devour your unborn children, and backhand your future best friend into oblivion.

Such are the times we live in now.

To the piece itself. A really calm, sorrow filled piece. Makes for a great game over, of "you failed" scene. I kinda wish it was longer, but as it stands, it's a damn fine loop.

Work well done Grumble, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Grumbleduke responds:

I had literally uploaded the piece above to find this review, didn't even had time to put something in the audio ads thread, so CHILL!

I will keep stuff coming as and when I can: inactivity is a bitch :).

[Late Baroque Loop]

Slick

ah, hello sorohanro! I am glad to see some new submissions. Sad to see some bastards didn't like the fur elise song. I'll have to listen to that after this.

This piece gives me a neat village sensation, defiant, triumphant, and full of a spirit.

It also loops FLAWLESSLY, full marks on that my good sir.

My only qualm would be that triangle. Though it's constant presence makes the or song more uniform, it in my opinion DOES get abbrasive to the ear after about 20 minutes of listening. 20 minutes isn't a short time for a game, this is a given, but still.

All in all, a damn good loop. Keep up the good fight! I'll see YOU on the battle field >:}

sorohanro responds:

HEY !!!
i missed you...no, wayt ... i missed myself ...
right now i'm in Lithuania and everything i do, i do with mouse :(

Thanx for review,advices and (as always from you) nice words and marks.
THANX!!!

[Domhail]

:'D

ah Bosa!

My good sir, I think this is one of your BEST work! I personally ADORED the atmosphere, and the overall quality of the track itself!

What IS that choir up top. Irina? I do not know much about this Quest of Eva, but this song is of the quality in the game Lineage 2, and damn it I loved those tracks.

The flute that joins in later, adds a great deal.

The only concern I would have is the sudden jump and drop of those strings. I like that you jumped them like that, I don't think they should have ended so quickly. I was expecting for it to last longer.

Thank you for sharing this with us! *also why the strange name?*

Keep up the good fight! See you around.

Bosa responds:

I tried to add a symbol at both the beginning and the end. However, the system didn't recognize it I guess, so it added the address instead. So, ignore the name..

The choir was Jude again, like the one I used in Bosa Revolution. I really like the overall sound of her voice and it is very mystic and calming, perfect for what I had in mind for this piece.

Yeah, I would have made it longer but I wanted to not make it too long. I wanted to keep the file size at a minimum so flash authors might get some ideas to use it.

Thanks for the review, Hope to see you around!

-Bosa

[Catch The Deerz!!]

Not bad

This song in my opinion sounds very very raw. I suppose that it could be used for a chase scene, but it lacks any real driving melodic force. As it stands it seems like a really big mix of sound effects thrown over a what seems like some random melodic line.

Not a bad file, but I am having difficult seeing where it could be used in the game. It does however loop flawlessly, so props off to you for that.

Keep up the good fight zackyboy! I'll see you on the battle field >:}

Fautzo responds:

Thank you sir! It's supposed to sound kinda raw, but you are right, it is a little too raw, and it probobly won't fit into the game, since it is hack 'n slash, but i just got the idea from seeing the deer screenshot. And it IS just a random melodic line, bingo!! XD And thanks for the loop props. This one will probobly get marked down, which is why i made another song, just in case, in fact, I'm about to submit a third one! Oh, and by the way, i froze for a few seconds when i noticed the reveiw was made by you. I've been a big fan of yours for a fe months now, therefore, i shouldn't be that surprised, since your in MAC7 also. Who knows...maybe it could be used for a scene when your in a basement with no enemies, but oh well, thanks for the reveiw!

P.S. Don't get your hopes too high yet! HAARGH! This isn't over! RAWRZ!!! ILLZ BEH SEEINGZ JOO ONZ TEH BATTOL FELD TOOZ!!!

[Castle Warfare--_--(1:26)]

Neat!

This song should definitely have found a home in the classical section Zenon. I mean as misc it would barely get listened to anyways, and we would have loved it >:}

*or made love TO it, really whichever comes first*

In any case the track doesn't really move much, and the ambient qualities will serve you will as the game should not in my opinion have music that is MAD distracting during play.

There is no real awesome distinctive melody in my opinion. There is of course, yes a melody, but it's all blended together. No driving instrument, or sweet arse melodic line. Again I understand that that would make the song tiring to listen to *nobody wants to hear a climax 90 times*, but this song as is, lacks a certain, for lack of better term, luster if you know what I mean.

it loops rather well too!

Good stuff Zenon, I wish you the best on the contest, i'll see you on the battle field >:} Keep em coming and keep up the good fight!

PERVOK responds:

Well... you already answered yourself the reason for not having a melody :/ Trust me, if this was up to me, I'd have a huge climax and it'd be 100 million minutes long.

But it's for a game. So blah.

And I'll see you on the battlefield as well; you'd better be well armed >:)

[Chanson de l'espace 2]

Slick

the song IS a tad compressed, seems a little unclear, that beginning sample really does kill it for CC. I would have to say without that sample, it actually makes for an interesting feel. The percussion beat, steady, driving, but not powering.

The song is ambient, and thats perfect for a game. I am reminded of a icy, harsh map by this for reason. That flute you introduce near the end with the hi hats definitely reinforces that image.

I would say the strongest part of this song is the percussion at the end. Builds up very well, but at the same time, when it's about to loop, it does so quite well.

Overall, good stuff loogie, good stuff indeed. Could have used some tweaking, but as is, it's fairly decent track.

loogiesquared responds:

it was made in a hurry,
[thanks to JTGamer.....]
thanks for your review and good luck!

[A Medieval Town-Loopable Theme]

Gets my yes!

these are some EXCELLENT guitar samples! Where did you get them?! I've been searching for ever so long :'(

In fact, everything you use in this song is so damn crisp and clear. But thats not important, onto TEH SONG!

The song flows really well, the diverse mix of sounds really adds that schweet flavor. Especially after that build up break and you brass with those strings!

I don't know about that transition back to it though, that part seemed just a tad... strange.

The ending was pretty abrupt too, but acceptably so.

I would have to say definitely my favorite part of this song is the intro. That guitar, and the gradual build, was simply pure awesome. The oboe that came on later though, did not seem to suit the other instruments so well. Maybe dissonance reasons, or because the rest of the song seemed to say "peppy, upbeat!" and that oboe seemed to want to slow things down.

All in all though, brilliant song! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

SuperTonic64 responds:

That instrument is a piano-esqe instrument known as the harpsichord. It orginated around the 15th, and was also known as the "virginal" in England. :D

But enough about music history; I found that soundfont on www.hammersounds.net. If you want a really Medieval sounding guitar, go with the lute or the mandolin for that authentic flavor. (I sound like I am advertising a food joint. :P)

Yeah...I've never really been great with outgoing transitions: I'm reworking this song (this is the 3rd version, actually) and I will fix both the middle transition (not the french horn fanfare though...I like it waaaay too much) and the ending. I want this song to loop perfectly, and it sounds too much like an ending to me than a loop. :P

Thanks for pointing the oboe out to me Maestro...that instrument does make it sound like it slows down the "peppiness" of the song. I'll change it back to a flute or a high piccolo. :D

Thanks for your review Maestro! ^_^ It really has helped. :)

~Smartpoetic