MaestroSorrow's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Greyish Sky]

Good stuff

Some god came to my door, and smit my face with Thor's hammer, and reconstructed my facial features, cuz this song rocked his world too much.

Good stuff.

5/5 from me..

[Ending Theme]

Great!

as a classical composer myself, I place a huge load of emphasis on orchestration, you wanted comments on it, good sir you will get it ;).

I really like the sound of this song, it's core eminates nostalgia, and I can SO see reunited friends and warriors.

And then you have a stab of sadness after the piano, one of them didn't come back? Blasphamy! Fear not, their death was not in vain T-T.

Still, amazing story.

Now onto the review.

I am quite taken by how you mixed the electric guitar for this. The electric guitar is not a very nostalgic instrument, but in this case it works well, and I credit this due to the melody.

I really like the strings you have in the background, near the end, they build up rather nicely, and the ending was pretty good too.

The oboe was a pretty good choice to use, but I don't know why you just cut it out when the electric guitar came in. It left without warning, and left a little emptyness. I would have definatly kept it going.

My FAVORITE part of this song, was with the quick harp notes, the "sad" part I was referring to. That harp is well played, and used. I can hear some bells in this song, I think that would have added quite a bit of power.

Nice choirs. A bit too quiet, but still quite nice.

Overal, DAMN fine piece afliXion. 5/5 from me. Keep them coming ;).

afliXion responds:

I can tell you must have some classical training, this is a very in-depth and well articulated review.
I don't quite understand that 2nd paragraph, but it sounded cool. :p
The electric guitar isn't really a traditional instrument in the classical orchestra, but I think it works well and adds good texture, which is why I add it to most of my orchestrations. Thanks for noticing.
For the string section I was imitating Rimsky-Korsakov's technique, that is, having each section somplete. (root, 3rd and 5th, like at the end.)
The oboe and flute sometimes sounded like a cut off I agree, but its due to my bad equipment. I can't control dynamics of individual instrumens on Finale with out it messing up the recording. (That or I couldn't think of an oboe line to write at that part ;)
Originally, I had used much more harp notes your talking about. But on this Finale equipment it drowned out the melody to much, so I could only use it at a few places. I had the same problem with choirs.
I'm really glad you liked, and thanks for my best review. :)

[FX Storm]

Awesome.

Nice reverbed clap, really sounds neat.

This whole song has a very neat core to it. I'm more of a classical composer, so I don't really know much about techno/trance, but I do know plenty about melody.

This is a rather simple melody, but it works wonderfully, nice synths in the background. I especially enjoyed it after you introduced that high synth halfway through the song.

Great stuff man. 5/5 from me.

DJ-Frost responds:

I appreciate the review. I Think the distortion on the drums was a pretty crafty part of the song, too. And that high synth actually came in at the techno kick, but the cutoff filter was timed so perfectly it was crazy. FL Forever!

["M"]

Nice

I honestly don't see why people vote so low on these pieces >:(!

This was pretty damn fine, and I really enjoyed it. I don't really listen to "The Cure", but this was still awesome, so five from me.

Keep them coming Zombie, fight the power!

[maximum elevation]

Intense!

I really liked your build up, and how you jumped into those DAMN fine synths. It gave an intense feeling, and this is what kept me listening.

But PLEASE, change those kicks, and reverb/delay those claps to give a neater feeling.

I would HIGHLY advise you to find some better samples for your percussional instruments, they would make this piece so much stronger.

I did however like what you did with that reverse cymbol. Never thought i'd hear something like that, very very original.

When you made the song quieter like that, you should have made the claps quiter as well. It kinda felt off with them loud, while the song itself was quiet.

It gets louder, into a grand song again!

The bells near the end, was truly inspiring. I am a classical composer myself, so I love orchestral instruments ^^.

Nice tempo slowdown, it actually works, though i'd watch my bad with tempo slow downs like that. It is difficult to use them properly, and if misused, they can potentially kill the whole song.

I will give you 5/5, for this song truly made me dance, and I don't dance to many tunes. Keep them coming manaonfire, very pleasent.

[Industrialization]

Neat

heh, I think this would have been more suited in "Industry" genre.

I quite like the feel, quite interesting. I don't do much music like this, so I have little advice to give you. Keep it up ^^.

MastaBrad responds:

lol, thanks. I didn't know about the Industry Genre, I'll check it out.

Thank you for the review!

[Kingdom Fire]

This one is really good.

Yay for battle music!

The first thing that came to mind for me, was make that begining part faster, I'm going to go as far as pretty much double the tempo there. I am however assuming too much, so please, if that is not the kind of battle you want going on (like Zroi Mai Grawd, just kill KILL KILLL!), then I wouldn't do what I just said.

This battle music you give us, is one filled with a strugglers journey, that constant timpini gives the air of continuation, and when it speeds up, it adds a neat level of excitement.

I would add another octave on those brass instruments, down one, from what you have now. Perhaps even make the original go down one, because that would give a much darker mood... again, I am assuming however, as it stands, this is a more final fantasy normal battle theme, and if this is what you wanted, you have completely perfected it.

I just like to throw suggestions ^^.

5/5 from me again Atomic. Keep them coming.

Nemo responds:

Thanks for the review Maestro! Your suggestion with the octaves is actually a good one and I think it would add to the score quite well. I would do this, but I do not have the file on me (I just use a Sibelius demo and record it, so there is no saving of compositions... *sigh*). I'm really glad you like my songs and I've got quite a few more coming. In fact, once 11:00 hits I am going to add my second battle song, which I think is my best one yet. I also am going to compose some more mellow "Journey" music and others. I appreciate your support! Thanks again!

[Coldspire Legacy]

Quite intense!

very neat, as a classical composer myself, I place a ton of emphasis on a songs "essence" and how full they feel, and melody. I feel you have done very well in all of those fields. It has a very royal, kingdom kind of sound, yet at the very beginning, there are hints of sadness, of depression, which gave me the image of a kingdom, not so happy.

I would like to try out this game, if you ever finish, do give me a holler, I would definatly like to try it out ^^.

Nemo responds:

I'm glad you liked it! You really hit the nail on the head with what I was trying to portray in the song. I wanted a somewhat upbeat, but an undertone of sadness which will fit my game well. I'll definitely make sure to give you a link to my game when it is finished! Expect it in about a week!

[Whammy Freak]

Good stuff

You've got good rythim (Did I spell that right?), and you've got a very imaginative mind, however I would consider adding more synths, preferrably of higher nature, so that the song sounds more full, and more inviting to listen to. As a classical composer myself, I tend to put too much emphasis on feel and "fullness", so this could just be me ;).

Regardless, this was pretty damn fine.

4/5 from me FallenMoogla, keep them coming.

[Megaman X3 - Stage Intro]

Very useful!

Very useful for several flashes I am certain. giving this a four. Not much to say about it, simple, sweet, and useful is all I can think for it ^^.

Grumbleduke responds:

Some people will probably have need for an intro, so I made one. Makes it look like I'm doing something too :).