MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[)rZ-The Horizon]

Impressive

It reminds me of Dan's Ode to Angels. Isn't that a great piece? I love Dan's music, it inspires me too only too often, he is truly skilled in touching, soft pieces. I've given up on trying to compete with him in that field, i'm going all the way to epic fighting sorrow ;).

Anyways, onto YOUR piece.

That timpini and strings that come in later in the song, were very overpowering, I would very carefully look over that segment. I realize you want to give the piece some insane power, but volume isn't the way to do it, perhaps focus more on the chords in the background, and highlight the melody with that.

Love the bells though, gotta love that :D!

Again near the end, you have alot of overpowering going on, even moreso then the first time.

That strange clavo? melody you have going on after that segment was totally unexpected. I wonder if perhaps it was done in the best of tastes. I thought it was pretty well done, but be careful of those transitions, you did that once in the middle as well, and though it was a good segment, throwing something that has a different core then the rest of the song is like cutting an apple and orange in half, then putting half apple and half orange together, and pass it off as a whole fruit.

The piano progression, though constant, was what I think made this song. It was the constant variable, the foundation to the piece.

Anyways, another great piece DrZonka, I would just watch out for overpowerment from now on, imma drop the 5/5 bomb on your face this time, but next time I won't be as forgiving ;). I know you can do better and so I will be harsher to try and give you as many ideas as possible. Keep them coming!

DrZonka responds:

I do admit this is a very high intensity song and I overdid it a little at the end but I used electric strings that I thought would lead in well with the electric piano used in the intermission between the theme and the finale and at the end of the finale. However volume wasn't a thought for me. I recorded on a low volume which might affect how other speaker on other computers may have made it louder, idk. To be honest on my computer it sounds balanced, but meh, this is what reviews are for buddy, I'll keep volume in mind from now on! Thanks- [)rZ- ps for listeners, listen to it on a lower volume than you normally would, I might try and put out a fixed version in a few days.

[Dragonic Fury]

100th review!!!

Hey RaustBlackDragon.

I'm using my 100th review for you, better appreciate >:D!

Anyways, ONTO THE SONG!

The beginning is the same as the other song, however I think there is some quality changes from the first. As well i'm not really hearing these reverbed snares Zen is talking about, but Zen is usually right about what he says, so I don't know.

There is a good deal of noble power to the piece, I forgot about this piece, i'm glad I came back to listen to it, it's quite neat. I've been listening to it while I played some neat strategy game, and it really suits the mood, especially those pizz strings.

Good level of dynamics as well.

The timpini does a good job driving the epic home! This is a good piece, i'm sorry i'm a tad tired so no suggestions come to mind, it's just great like this.

Check out some of my new stuff sometime Raust, I think you may enjoy them ^^. Dropping the 5 bomb on your face.

RaustBlackDragon responds:

M-M-M-MAESTRO! YOU'RE BACK! REJOICE! ONE OF THE THREE CLASSICAL GENERALS HAS RETURNED TO US!!!

(Exaggeration)

Great to have you back maestro. I just realized it was you. I'm going to check out your new songs in a little while. have you seen strategem yet? It's one of my latest songs. i also have one that's stuck on my ipod that I made at summer camp that i'm going to try to put onto my computer. until then, welcome back, Maestro S... er... MaestroRage

[mawkeetus-- Syimphoni]

Neat

neat timpini work! Timpini works excellently for a nice epic drive, i'm sure you agree ;).

Anyways lets talk abit about the song.

The melody flows nicely, you have a lot of neat segments, there were some parts where notes clashed, but you remind me alot of me when I first started so I'm not going to hold that against you.

The strings are pretty neat.

My only qaulm with the piece is the crashes, they sound pretty lousy with the song, because I feel you have them too frequently, and they sound fake enough to confuse them with hi hat.

The song is also fairly washed out sounding, I would suggest some equalizing, bring up the higher frequencies for a sharper sound, especially for those strings. If this doesn't make sense to you, don't worry about it, equalizing is a major pain, and takes many many hours to perfect, I only recently started, so for now, just focus on honing your skill with melodies and structures over technical stuff like that.

Is that a cello I hear in the background chords? You did well with those chords, they provide a good foundation for the song, but on another note they overpower the strings. I think this may be because you have the strings and cello playing in the same octave. Try to lower the cellos an octave, see what happens.

Thats all I can think of for now, really good work ChiRoN. Check out some of my work sometime, i'd appreciate your feedback.

BMC-Audio responds:

wow! that was a lot of advice. all i have to say to this is thanks. thanks for the critisism and time. most peeopple just listen to it and dont bother to critique it. ill be sure to review yours too.

[Seizmic Trance (Dance Version)]

Neat

Hey XDragonslayerX.

This is a pretty neat song, but I felt that it didn't have enough energy to it. I think you should have some other synths playing the lead melody as well to mix up the sounds. I feel as it stands, your bass and percussional aspects are overpowering the main melody lead.

I think a nice ripping saw synth with some high pitched gated synth (like what you have now, but one octave higher), and then one octave lower, to really get some power infused in there.

On top of all that, I also feel a pad would come in handy, to fill up the "empty" feel i'm getting.

I also think your kick could be a little more banging, perhaps reverb?

Anyways, all in all, it IS a pretty damn fine song, I hear an insane level of potential in it, so i'll drop the 5 bomb on your face. Keep them coming, you can get there if you keep trying.

I'd like you to check out some of my stuff sometime ^^.

XDragonslayerX responds:

Thanks, once I get the full version of fruity I'll try to fix this if I can remake it correctly. =)

[Fantasy Aux]

Getting better

hmmm, pretty neat. I see you've let the claps simmer down.

Is that a reverbed boom I hear? It does sound pretty intimidating.

The percussional aspects are pretty neat, laid down, solid, and does the job effectively. That bass synth and later on that saw like synth begin to form a neat sound.

Some ideas.

Pads. I think you should use a pad under those synths, right now the song feels a tad empty, you know like theres a man in a giant room, all by himself.

Other then that, I hear improvement, so keep them coming!

PHOENIXtrunks responds:

thank you for the great review! I TOTALLY get what you're saying...I knew something was missing...a pad is just what I need...hmmm...thanks! I'll use one for my remix (or at least try and see if it works)!

[Pseudo Silk Kimono Orchestral]

Damn fine!

Some very very interesting samples your using here WuSchell! Quickly! Tell me what you're using, and where I can find me some of this good stuff >:(!

But that aside.

I felt the melody was very very sweet. Bitter, aggrivated, yet defiant. Like watching your home burn, and holding the torth that set it off during the whole thing... Oboe + cello chords = yes!

That constant oboe melody... that was what really nailed the atmosphere for me. Despite it being so repetitive I found that it was infact this repetition that accumulated in power as the song went by. This tells me that repetition is not always a bad thing, and I learned something valuable today, so thank you.

I don't think I know where any of these sounds come from. Are they all from one source? That brass is really something else, and i'd definately like to try using them myself.

That triangle ping, was pretty damn good. Really surreal feeling in just that one instance.

That guitar/plucking harp like instrument, that seemed like such an interesting addition. I don't think I would have considered using that, yet it does get the job done no?

All in all, I really enjoyed it. Top notch stuff, 5/5 from me WuSchell. Keep them coming!

WuSchell responds:

I'm just using the normal Reason Orchestral patches with a healthy amount of effects (hall!)

The Harp is absolutely Vollenweider Style ^^

[Above All]

Impressive

This has a very very menacing ambiant feel to it.

At the beginning you had a slam and hi hat sound. I think if you echoed and reverbed that slam, and took out the hi hat, that would proof to make it a very dark addition to the song. A door slamming to a face of a maniacs victim? Who knows.

Your mix of sounds and dynamics was pretty damn good, I would think perhaps making that cello sound in the background a tad deeper would serve to make it a bit more powerful.

I thought I heard some kind of voice in the back, if I heard what I think I heard, that was incredibly well done, really gave me a scare.

Some ideas.

Perhaps an organ? I know the song would lose it's menacing ambiance, but it would take on a darker feel, a more vile, corrupted, ruthless feel.

To go with that organ, I would also think a nice deep bell, echoed and reverbed as well of course.

Nothing more to suggest or criticize, I really liked it. I would like you to check out some of my stuff sometime ^^. 5/5 from me, keep them coming!

boomsquad responds:

First of all, thanks for the review. I see what you mean with the Slam and splash, I too now think that would have been a better idea.

When done any lower the Cello decided it wanted to disappear in the mix and i didnt want to boost it's gain from so low down because the sound it made started to distort on the slightly higher bits.

I wanted to keep this as ambient as background as I could. I have tried peices with organs but other than have it as a Drone Note I suck at it.

Later Boss, i'll give your stuff a check sometime ;)

[Forge Ahead (demo)]

Interesting

It really did have a pretty intense video game feeling.

I liked the feel, it was pushing, but it wasn't very alertive.

Some things to consider that could have made it more driving.

Orchestral hits. You know, horns blaring after those quick buildups by the brass. You already have them, but they're not loud enough in my opinion. The percussional aspect was pretty damn fine, I thought they served well, though again I felt they were a tad quiet, especially once the brass come in.

Perhaps some fast stabs of strings? I always find those serve to make a good push feeling, though not so much for video game for music, so i'm not entirely sure. Still it might be worth experimenting with.

Other then that, I really enjoyed it. I would like you to check out some of my music sometime. I am a big fan of game music, and I try to make most of my pieces with a gamey feeling to them. 4/5 from me F1uk3, for what you have here, it's damn fine.

F1uk3 responds:

Thanks a lot for the kind words, but especially for the advice. I'll definitely experiment around with string attacks, louder brass, and such.

[Derailed]

Neat

Hello DarthFett.

Lets begin with the feel of this song. I didn't really think this was a industrial song. When I think Industrial I think brutal, heavy percussion, and you really just have some claps. I would this was general rock moreso then industrial, but thats beside the point.

The guitars melody is quite nice, I didn't quite like it when it hit that really high note, maybe if you add some distortion to it, some raw eneregetic crushing action you know >:O!!!

Anyways, it was a pretty good second song, I'd like you to check out some of my stuff sometime.

Darthfett responds:

It's an honor to recieve a review from someone like you! I'm a big fan. :D

I was a bit new to the genres, and since this is one of my first few submissions, I though general rock was mostly recorded rock music, not anything made on a computer. :P

The high note could definitely use some work, but being new to the editor and all, I didn't know how to get the effect. Now that i've been working about a year now, I might be able to get that sound we're all looking for ;)

Thanks very much for the review, it's greatly appreciated!
~Darthfett