DavidOrr's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Defcon Zero ZENON MIX]

Very nice

This doesn't have exactly the same punch-in-the-face intensity as Paragon's original, but this is much more deep. It progresses better, and has a more mature sound to it.

That's always one thing I didn't like about Paragon's music. It has great melodies and always hits hard, but it never seems to do much to develop. This remix fixes that, no doubt.

It's hard to compare the two pieces, because they are so different, but I would definately say this is one of the better Paragon remixes. You get my 5 :)

[_-=[The Rise of Dark Lords]=-_]

Very nice

Great piece, had lots of drive to it. Choir sounds at the end (I believe that's what they were) were great touches. I will skip all the compliments because you get enough of those and I dont have much time :).

- In general, add more low end in your piece (for instance have a contrabass constantly droning out deep harmonies, it would do wonders for the feel you are trying to portray).

- My biggest complaint is that you sometimes have dissonant harmonies right after eachother. Having dissonant chords should almost ALWAYS resolve to a consonant voicing. Like I have said before to you, your compositions would beneift greatly if you studied species and counterpoint. It's kind of boring, but it can work wonders.

At any rate, this piece is certaintly a contender for Faction 1 :). See you around!

[Chasing the Mexican Spirit]

Nice!

Loved the chordal progression, very laid back bossa feel. I think having more frequent shakers would really benefit the piece (have the shaker eigth notes, accented on the 2 and 4 of the beat similar to what you have going already). The trumpet could stand to be a tad louder, but still well done.

5/5 from me :)

P.S if you get a chance check out my music!

[Beautiful Day]

Holy...

I just happened to stuble across your music... you have serious serious potential! I was amazed by the beauty of this piece. Wow. I garruntee you if you keep this up you will get some recognization. I'm speechless.

You have skill. The signs of true talent show through when you can take such a simple melody and simple music and turn it into somthing as beautiful as this.

easily 5/5 from me.

What software do you use?

yosmil responds:

Thank you for these encouraging words!

At the moment, I use Garritan Personal Orchestra Software. It's perfect for working out concepts.

Your music has great potential, by the way ... Keep up the good work!

[My Little Fugue]

Haha

I like the themes. It looks like you definately took a stab at fugal form, which I am very happy to see. This is close, but not quite in true fugue form. Care to post an analysis of this so I can see how your mind was working? I am curious to hear more stuff :).

LoneInstrumentalist responds:

weeellllll
sing in showers, remember, sing it n hyme it X]

i aint jokin as well lo, i just seem to....compose it literally in my mind......but my hand refuse to write it down properly when i try :x

i basically take wat i like, alter it or make it from scratch, and then filter it through a dose of my "style"...improvisation sums it up X]

ty for reviewing, keep urs up!

cheerios~

[_=[Soul of Viano]=_]

..Wow

Beautifully done :). I love the nature sounds. The piano part is very well done, but watch out for incorrect notes, they creep in here and there. It can be hard to get a perfect take of a piece (I do a lot of studio recording now, so believe me I know :|). But it really is critical for a piece.

Now the only really complaint I have is the voice in the middle of the piece. It adds awsome atmosphere, but I can' tell if it is supposed to be a womanly sounding man, or a manly sounding woman. Maybe bring it up or down an octave (I would suggest up an octave). This really deserves to go to the top, another great piece by you two guys!

MaestroSorrow responds:

in the middle? Heh, there was only one voice, and that was at the beginning, and was MINE XD!

I assure you my testestorone levels are far above normal.

As for bringing it up or down an octave, if I bring it down, it sounds like a whooly mammoth, in low baritones, and if I bring it up one, it sounds like a Squirral on caffeine.

Many thanks for the review ^^.

[_-=[Insanity Inside]=-_]

Very very nice

At the beginning I was like "What, how is this platinum?" It did not really appeal to me. But once the drums come in, you had me. It was very passionate. There were some dissonances which you certaintly want to watch out for, because they can get distracting. Also, the chimes part is not possible unless you get some deep hand bells (which would sound completely different). I think if you studied Theory, especially counterpoint and species your music would get exponentially better!

Nonetheless, a nice piece. You could use some better sounds though :)

MaestroSorrow responds:

heh, I thank you for your wisdom. This song, is rather strange really. I worked backwards from this piece, starting from the hyper beat at the end, and then making the beginning more and more simple, until I had this ^^.

True, those damn chimes, but heh, the glory of making music on the computer, is you can sometimes break the rules in order to make something work.

many thanks for the review ^^.

[Fur Elise Complete Version]

I dunno

This really sounds like you ripped a midi. It would be one thing if you were actually playing this, but it's clear you are not. Of all pieces to have a computer play straight from a midi file this is probably one of the worst because of its expressive nature. I won't vote you down rate wise, I'll let other people give their opinions becaues I may be the minority.

Next time you upload a piece like this at least play it personally. There are many places where someone can find a midi version of this, so there is no point in putting a computer generated copy of this on newgrounds. (not to metion there were several mistakes in the score).

Sorry if this sounded a bit harsh, but I'm just giving my honest opinion.

bob700 responds:

First off, this was not a ripped midi. This was made with some music composing programs I have. Also this in fact the only song I have not played personally. Thank you for the honest review. Its better then getting "ThAT S0NG WERE Da 1337!!!11!!1111!" Lol

[Of Knights and Magic]

Nice

Nice music. Get better samples. Your music would come to life if you had really good sounds to play the music on. I dunno if you realize it or not... but wow, this stuff has some potential. Get Garritan Personal Orchestra for a cheap 200$ and your music will go from good to amazing. Well done nonetheless :)

MilkMan-Dan responds:

I guess you missed the part where this entire piece was made using only my keyboard. Which evidently... as I've said a thousand times... is how all my work is made. So this means that I cannot just download new samples... or even buy them. I'm stuck with what I have. I must "play" it all myself note for note. This includes every intstrument including percussion. hehe what I wouldn't give for the ability to get new samples... if I could... I really would. But alas... for now I am limited. Thankyou for your advice though and for enjoying what it is I have created. :)

[I see the Light]

Not bad at all

I like it, ambient sounding. Yea, repetitious, but still great background music at any rate. I really liked the bassline and drums. I think it would have been best if the bass was introduced with the drums, giving it much more of a pickup. Nonetheless, nicely done!

5/5

LoneEagle responds:

Yea, i just try as you mentionned, to introduce the bass at the same time as the drums. It sure does give it alot of "punch", but it also makes the intro longer. What i'm saying is that i have almost 1 minute of just strings and piano and it bugs me a bit and i feel it is less repetitive the way i did it now. There's a slight change in the bassline when the beat starts afterwards to try and remedy to the repetitiveness as well. There i go again with my senseless jabbering...

Thanks for the review MrMaestro.