MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Oath-FF VIII]

Damn fine

I loved this song a huge amount when I played the game too... I even remixed it, several times when I first started out. It is by far one of my favourites, along with The Landing from FF8 as well.

You've done the song justice, good for you. I like the bell idea you used for the main melody itself, the hi hats didn't add much in my opinion, I personally think it's one of those songs that don't need any percussional elements added to it.

The bass idea however, is very good, for sure a bass adds great points to the song.

Keep them coming Yumbo_Yak, I relived quite a few memories with this song. Good stuff.

Yumbo-Yak responds:

I am throughly surprised, and grateful that u gave me the review that u did, a good review, from a great artist.
thanx, and keep checkin' in on me, I'd love to hear what input you'll have for me in the future

[Red7 - Temptation]

Impressive!

Spontanious you say eh? Well i'm quite impressed, for a spontanious song is sure flows damn well. That "Temptation" vocal is used incredibly well. Sexy and effective, the melody is simple but very effective in capturing it's audience.

I think the song was a tad repetitive to be considered full blown techno, but non the less it had me bobbing my head ALL the way through. Great melody work. Sometimes I wonder how one comes up with the melodies for these types of songs.

Good synth work, the synths all flow together without any competition. Those giggles and sighs you had going on in there... well it sure worked it's magic on me ;). You dirty bastard you.

I suppose I don't have that much to say redSe7en, but this was incredible work. Be more spontanious from now on ;). 5/5 from me. I'd like you to listen to some of my pieces Redse7en, I have a whole new boat of new samples i'm quite proud of. Thank you for your time ^^.

Redse7en responds:

Hey nice to see you glad you could stop on by :) I wasnt sure if you would have gotten my message I sent you but Im glad you did. The temptation voice I used took a lot of work to get it just perfect. Before it sounded like crap heh. The main melodie was simple yes but the underlying melodies that went with the simple loud one were the tough part. Without those underlying melodies the song kinda lacked power. I didnt want the song to be too repetative but it still happened a little. I did come close to finding that happy median where its not too repetive and not too chaotic. All the rest after that was just alot of guess work. Guessing which snare would go best with another to make a more powerful sound. I try and keep all melodies and drum kits doubled up at half the volume so two samples play at the same time. This got rid of alot of beginners problems back in the day and now its useful (if you dont mind me saying) because now that I got all this experience under my belt I can finally find the perfect sound I want quite quickly now. Ill check out your stuff as soon as I can. Id rather be reviewing your work as well as other peoples than working at my job heh. Till we speak again lata! :D

~Red 7

[Eternity (HardBass)]

Impressive

damn fine!

My first thought was those claps. If you reverbed and delayed them, I think those claps would have been AMAZING for the song. Don't get me wrong, I still think it was pretty good, but with that reverb, it could REALLY do some damage!

Other then that, I really liked the song, that nice saw added a good effect. I hardly hear good saw use like this.

Keep them coming DJDeZ 5/5 from me ^^.

DJDeZ responds:

Thanks.

Appreciated.

DJ :: DeZ

[Slow Grinding]

Neat

hmm, I don't know man. I don't listen to alot of R&B, so forgive me if what i'm wrong in every aspect, but I think this is more ambiant/trance kind of track.

It's repetitive, but it's supposed to be like that, so i'm not saying nothing about that.

I like the strange instruments you picked. Those water drops are pretty neat.

I don't have much else to say, however it DID manage to calm me down a great deal. So for that thanks.

Good stuff Yumbo_Yak, keep them coming ^^. I'd like you to listen to some of my pieces, I think you may like them. Thanks.

Yumbo-Yak responds:

You know, i was stuck between picking it as an R&B or ambiant, and as for it being repetitive, your right, that is the way a beat is, i make beats that someone can sing on or something and real music is repetitive...

[OurLastDance]

Neat

see this is what i'm talking about!

You've expanded so damn much in just what, four songs?

You've used many different sytrus sounds, and the delay effect on that high chimes gave it a neat effect.

Your distortion levels are optimal, I hope you used the compresser, if not, that is pretty damn fine too.

I know this is just an experimentation song, so i'm not going to say anything about the drastic changes, I know you're just trying out things, which is always, ALWAYS a good thing to do, but of course normally, such drastic changes in the song is not a good idea ;).

Good choice of synth choice, they layer on top of each other comfortably, without clashing. There was a few sour keys here and there, but nothing major, I have sour keys ALL the time X_x.

Right after the "lets make this count" speech, you came in full power. Good work, that segment was quite enjoyable.

The song flows pretty good too.

Here's another few effects for you to play around with, these are the effects most trance/techno artists use, I suppose you should try to get used to them now.

Phaser effect - it's like a pan/volume modifier, try it out, make one long key with any synth, and just have it going.

Flanger effect - this one is wierd, and hard to control, but properly used, it gives great build up and surreal feels.

Keep them coming Exuropennae. With time, comes experience right ^^.

Exuropennae responds:

Wow, thanks. Yeah I'm definately working hard on these next few. The one I'm currently working on won't be out for awhile. I'm pretty much putting everything i've got right now into it. It's called "FireInTheBuilding" and its going to have an 'emergency' type feel to it with a very fast pase, a heart beat type kickbeat, and more, i dont want to ruin it. But i'm definately going to check out those effects. and what is the compressor? ^_^

[tetris drudge 1]

Neat - This one is my favourite

I like this one best, because the sounds are so much stranger, and ultimately more memorable. I also liked the fact that the melody had a soft layer below that harsh grinding one. The delay effect made it pretty neat too, and if i'm not mistaken you also had a reverb on there?

Neat.

So yes, this is my favourite amongst the two ^^.

I'd like to ask you to listen to my two newest tracks, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

STU-PIDASO responds:

well, first of all i jsut went and listened.
and i was very impressed.

now back to my stuff:
yeah i was trying to get a nice groove with smooth sounds then i accidentally added the worng instrument. i liked it, so processed it alittle more and got this.

i am glad you like this one better 'caue so do i.

[tetris drudge 2]

Neat

The Tetris melody was very subtle. I would have liked to have the melody louder, and the soundeffects softer, because these bleeps would make AWESOME support, and the percussional works were just fine.

Thats my only thing, the Tetris melody was so soft it took a while for me to realize it was going on. Still great stuff.

STU-PIDASO responds:

yeah i was trying for a more subtle melody, i guess i got a little too subtle.
and maybe the bleeps were alittle loud.
well, a tiny bit of reengineering and it should be good then.

thanks

[Redemption At Hand]

Damn fine

hey Xerxes!

This song is pretty damn brutal. I love how you grind that axe man, seriously tight!

I have absolutely no ideas on how to make this song better, I need to listen to more songs like this to provide useful criticism, I just wanted to drop a note of my support. Though I do wonder if perhaps the guitar is a tad too quiet? I feel like it should be louder to drive it's message clearer.

Keep them coming!

Also if you're using a program like Fruity Loops, I think an organ sound would be the epiphamy of awesomeness to this song, as organs are all about the darkness, and the redemption!

Good stuff indeed...

Xerxes-Sangco responds:

Yay somebody actually downloaded it so they can listen to it, thank you! Yea I kinda half assed this song but oh well, I'll take my time with my next song. Thanks for the review!

[Gravitron]

Neat

Pretty dirty mix of sounds, I liked them all a great deal.

I've heard that FL Studio blast off sound far too many times to be moved by it, but good move regardless ;).

I like the kick you picked, deep, and powerful. The way kicks are meant to be.

The melody is infact flows quite smoothly, I wonder if you had to handle distortion, with such low frequency synths, it couldn't have been easy.

Regardless, good stuff. I would have liked to hear a pad in the background as well, but still, good stuff Syntrus. Keep them coming ^^.

I'd like you to listen to a few of my tracks, i'm sure you will not be disappointed. Thanks for your time.

Syntrus responds:

with the distortion the way it was it would have been nearly impossible to pop in a pad but thx a lot this is a good review i'm hittin u back man.

[Twisted Memory]

Neat

The melody in this song flows rather strangely, i'm not saying it didn't work, but i'm saying you should be careful. Remember to use the notes that pertain to that key. I know it doesn't really matter much in Techno/Trance songs, but you should still watch out for odd sounding keys.

Try addig reverb to the snares, and kicks. Preset 4 (cathedral) in the mixer window (press f9 to bring it up if you don't know already). Trust me, the effect on that kick and snares, you'll enjoy a good deal ;).

Other then that, I think the song has potential, just keep trying, you'll get there eventually.

Listen to my song _-={The Tanks Thunder}=-_, I used a LOT of reverb in that song, hear for yourself how drastically it changes the song's feel.

Keep them coming -Robox-, I know you'll get there soon ^^.

RoboX responds:

Thanks man ^_^ ... I put a lot more time into this and i'm glad that I got a bit more attention from it.

Though in FL the notes seemed to ring out a bit more :S ...

Guess something happened when I exported.