MaestroRage's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-WritersBlock-MinionsAtTheGate]

good melodic lines and ideas, poor presentation

This song has a lot of interesting melodic ideas in it! I really like the flow of the song, however what I find lacking is in mastering. For example I felt the percussion could have lended a bigger hand to this song! Some diversity in that department would have been effective.

The low bass saw was a tad too loud, drowned out the other instruments.

And the other percussion you have on gets tiring fast, the crash, the claps, that skittering thing that comes in now and again.

You have a lot of good ideas, but presentation wise, that is where you are lacking.

My favorite part of this song is 0:30 where you have those low strings, and bells. The lead synth at this part is too loud.

All in all, a good effort, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

WritersBlock responds:

Thanks. Yeah, there's a lot of things in this song that could do with a fix up, it's all very messy, all over the place.
Cheers.

[=[Dying Warfare]=]

Good energy, diverse sounds, repetetive melody.

I disagree with the first review stating that you should have an intro/outro. I felt that a loop like this can't have an intro or obvious ending point in order to give the loop maximum effectiveness in streaming energy.

A loop should not distract the user, should never let them notice things which their minds will pick up again and again and ultimately start to bore them. In this criteria I believe you have done well!

The ending and beginning do not match up energy wise. It is clearly distinguishable where it ends and begins, though not the point it makes the loop pointless.

The song doesn't move around much, and though you have a lot of neat sounds mixed in there, this repetetive saw got really tiring to hear after the 5-6th loop. I know you threw in that guitar like synth on top, but it wasn't enough, I would have liked more diversity in that department.

Overall though, a pretty slick track! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Momo-the-Monkey responds:

Thanks! You are right though. I'm not sure about the saw, I guess I could have taken it out completely and added something else, or changed the saw around in the part. I do see your point though.

Thanks again for the awesome review!!!

<3 Momo

[=[A Wave of the Future]=]

Good vibe, diverse, alters a bit too much

I really like this beat!

The steady and constant percussion base, though standard serves it's purpose well. I like the overall feel though I often find myself asking how to best use this in Castle Crashers.

It would make for a neat in game level theme perhaps. I love the beginning, the punishing air you have, despite the electronic aspects of the song lets me think of a fight scene.

The way you cut off shortly after that however did not click well with me. It disrupted the flow of the song, and without the percussion the image started becoming too sci-fi to serve CC's needs.

I like what you did with that bass. Again it's quite standard, doesn't move around much, but it helps hold it all together.

There's a great mix of sounds in this song, a large variety of synths, and this constant shifting of energies can be seen as a bad thing, though in this case, I felt it was quite neat.

The song also loops, not flawlessly, but acceptably so.

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Momo-the-Monkey responds:

I don't understand too well of what part you meant I cut off the percussion. Could you PM me with a time?

Also, thanks for the review. I really appreciate it. When I wrote this, I really didn't have the mind of CC, but decided it fitted well for the game.

The loop flaw wasn't me, it was the transfer over to NG. The original .mp3 and .wav files loop flawlessly.

Thanks, I'll definitely work on some more stuff.
Always trying to improve,
- Momo

[[Tribal Dance Call] <.V]

Pounding, lacks some diversity, pand synths tiring

A pretty powerful loop! There were some synth sounds you had panned which I felt were a bit distracting, but they weren't anything major.

The drums and percussion are pounding, and thats the way it should be!

The loop however does get tiring to listen to, the panning sounds begin to wear at my ears, and the percussion does not alter enough during the loop to continue entertaining. All in all though, it's a great mix, and very powerful!

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Momo-the-Monkey responds:

I was debating about that :\
Either way, when NG lets you edit your submissions, I'm definitely uploading a newer, better version of this song.

Thanks for the review!
- Momo

[Industial Battletheme]

O_o... random, lacking direction, loops well!

I don't rightly know what you were thinking about when you made this. It doesn't have any flow, doesn't exactly say anything, and isn't relevant to the CC theme.

I don't really have anything else to say. Good effort I guess?

Fautzo responds:

I was actually thinking I would try, and fail. lol. I'm not very good at themes. Top that, I'm not very good at music.

[(FW) Hero's Journey]

Some dissonance, good mix, loops well, repetetive

It is official. You have great ability to mix sounds well, however you do also present quite a few problems. There is a lot of dissonance, especially at the beginning, too many clashing notes. However you do manage to bring up some sweet feelings through those strings, those quick brass bursts manage to lift the song up on higher levels.

Keep in mind that epic tracks are meant to have minimum dissonance. Technically they're not supposed to have ANY, but I don't like that rule, so I disregard it myself.

I like what you did with those choirs. I wish you had taken a more reverbed approach to them!

The brass melody gets very repetetive, it is the same thing again and again, and hearing it just loop once was enough for me, some more diversity in that department would have helped.

The song does loop very well however, so props to you in that department.

Overall it's a good track, it is however repetetive, and dissonant, which makes it sound a little displeasing. Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

wolf-tech responds:

Thank you. i always appreciate your reviews, you give alot of good advice. I think i neglected alot of the technical areas of the song because i was so focused on the length and the loopable ability of the song. Thank you for bringing them to my attention, i will start fixing them as soon as possible. ttyl

[Chanson de l'Espace 4]

gets tiring after a bit, that voice gets tiring.

hmm, an interesting undertaking for sure, though I must state that the voice you used at was a rather detrimental idea for the song. Especially that synth that accompanied it. By itself this loops speaks of being useful for a light ice level, sparkling waters is what I get from the first 6 seconds, and then morphs as it moves.

That voice gets irratating after the 4-5th listen. This loop would not do well for 10-15 minutes of gameplay.

I see you've brought that flute back in 0:08-0:15. As it did in the last song, it provided an excellent boost to the song here. Though be wary of how and where you use that flute, it does not work for all occasions.

The loop ends a tad abruptly, though again it is acceptable in looping means.

In any case, good luck with the contest! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

loogiesquared responds:

Yay, thanks and...
yes, the voice is annoying, but so is the "TechnoQuest" series

[Chanson de L'Espace 3]

Holds potential, truly sparks imagination.

I loved that intro! It reminded me of Terminator though for some reason. But the songs power does not stem from that alone!

Then you have that progressive flute going up and down, a great and powerful mix of instruments! I felt however that the loop shifts energies too much for a 49 second loop.

I mean the intro and starting from 0:13 you have these wicked reverbed deep kick, that adds so much to the piece, and then at 0:23 you kinda let everything die, and then the kick disappears entirely after that. I wish you had kept that kick :(

The song loops in an acceptable manner, though not perfect. It is still however fine, so kudo's on that.

At 0:27 that flute going up and down reminded me of the intro song for FF12 *used previously in another FF game, I forget which one*, but i'm sure this is only because of the progression you picked, otherwise the flute in all the other parts help a great deal in provoking a sinister feel.

All in all it's a good loop loogiesquared, and it holds power, but I feel it also holds a lot of unfulfilled potential. Good luck with the contest, I wish you well!

Keep up the good fight and keep em coming, i'll see you on the battle field >:}!

loogiesquared responds:

indeed
*review you*

[Creature at the Mill]

Very well done!

what an interesting interpretation of that scene! I for one could have never thought of anything but a dissonant fear filled song, daunting choir in the background! *In fact my very last submission is probably going to be for this creature!*

An admirable piece as usual, the dynamics, the orchestration in general is high end. There are two parts of this song that I felt were not to my liking.

First at 0:31-0:36, that short 5 seconds where you get all quiet. It sounds like the chase scene stopped, and disrupted the flow of the loop. When I listen to it loop again and again it seems that this short area is what tires out the listening experience.

The ending ends off on a strange feel. With due respect of course the song DOES loop, I cannot deny it this, but I did feel the loop end could have tied with the beginning better.

But this song DOES make me laugh :). It's a very lively, very light song. It's perfect, as i'm sure they'll want to use something light. It's also a significantly short loop, which will increase it's value. Well played there Winter!

I am glad you produced this, it is a good track and I do not doubt it's ability to entertain, keep up the good fight and keep em coming!

Winterwind-NS responds:

hey thanks for taking the time
That short segment where i had the flute/oboe/clarinet do that silly part was intended to refrain from being too serious in the piece, which i feel is the mistake a few ppl are making in composing a song for castle crashers.
This wasnt necissarily intended for a chase scene but more for the monster himself. but i guess it could kinda be a chase theme of some sort.
thanks maestro

[The Wind Warrior]

Smooth, gentle, yet aggressive. Nicely done.

Hello Fuoco.

Right away as Rocky already pointed out before 0:32-0:47 click for me right away. It had such a gentle, fragile sound to it, which is a rather nice contrast from the military feel you have going on throughout the rest of the song.

As for not knowing how to make loops, my good sir, you are mistaken! This song loops rather well!

What library are you using for this song? And where did you get that guitar sound!? It sounds very much like a guitar I once heard in a game once... and i've been looking for it ever since. You must tell me :'(!

Overall the song is suitable for the game I felt. It sets a rather military feel but maintains that fantasy feel that is necessary for the game in my opinon. Overall, it was a great track! Keep up the good fight and keep em coming! I see you are a new submitter to Newgrounds! Welcome!

Fuoco responds:

Hey Maestro! :D
I've been smiling since the very moment I noticed there was a review from you. I'm so glad!

So, you think it loops well? That's a relief, I was trying and trying many variations for the ending, but none could fit. In the end I just left it the way it was, and turned out good :D

For this song I am using Garritan Personal Orchestra, a very good orchestral sounds you find there. Oh, for the guitar sounds I used Finale 2005, it's the program I use for writing scores and it usually have bad sound quality. But the guitar was very nice!
I'm happy that you liked this song! Coming from you means a lot!
Thanks for reviewing Maestro!