MusicalRocky's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Diurnal Lackluster]

Very cool dude

Don't take my 9 srsly. Nowadays I just give 10's to those which blow my socks off.

Anyways. You know I'm not that good at electronica. But I know you well enough to tell when you've put a lot of effort into a track. And in this one, it shows. Also, I definitely see tons of imagery. It's very kaleidoscopic, as I've said, yet in a more mundane way. Which is where the title came from lol.

I don't know what the guy below me was talking about. Imagery is not all blatantly. In fact, often imagery in literature and music is abstract, obscure, and ambiguous, and often defined more by emotions than visions. There is tons of imagery in here. Trust me.

Good jarb dude.

-Rocky

[Percestra!]

Hmm

When I saw the title, I expected to hear something as complex and intricately composed as an orchestra, using only percussion. In fact, I was excited at the prospect.

However, this sounds like nothing more than someone hilariously messing around on a keyboard drumset. There's no rhyme or reason or emotion concerned. (It reminds me of the first time I attempted to utilize percussion in a composition, which was about 7 staves or percussion and one violin lol).

Hmm... Rimsky-Korsakov himself once said that strings are the most expressive of the instruments, followed by winds, then brass, and lastly percussion, which should be used rarely and provide only color. Percussion like this especially (untuned percussion) is not going to get a very good response from the listener, apart from a rhythmic appreciation, which, as I said, this song lacks because of its randomness.

If you want to try to use only percussion (from your comments I assume this is a work in progress), try using tuned percussion (marimbas, xylophones, mallets, glockenspiels, tubular bells) as the main melody carriers. That will give the piece some emotional weight.

Best regards,

Rocky

(I hope you don't take my score too harshly)

GoldbloodedDragon responds:

Ok, I'll try to incorperate some mallets, xylophones, tc into the next song of this esque.
And, don't worry if the score its too harsh. I get low scores all the time. :C

[Violin solo - Lonely Poem]

Awesome job

I always love the idea of a musical voice being akin to a voice in conversation, expressing what is on the performer's (or composer's) mind. You did a very good job in portraying the emotion that you were attempting to through the tone of the composition, rather than a mood (as most music does).

I have to say, when I saw this title (not knowing who you were, of course), I was didn't have very high expectations of the piee. Nor did I know it was a human performance, of which I was surprised. Anyway, as a fellow violinist, I can tell that your tone is very well-developed and mature to suit the composition. Very emotional in your performance, which, again, aided in bringing out the effect you were intending to portray.

As a violinist, I always love to utilize the effectiveness of violins, sometimes in solo form, but I don't know if I've achieved this sheer power of a single violin's voice. I applaud you for that.

Keep making great music.

Rocky

[Hopeless Yearning]

Great

The buildup of intensity at the beginning is just great. The thing about it is it could go anyway. It builds up the tension, and the piece needs the melody and the key to define what that tense emotion is. With the entrance of the melody, that definition arrives, as a wistful and sad longing.

I hate to keep talking about one part, but I think that buildup of the string at the start does more than that; it adds a sense of fragility to the piece and to the emotion portrayed that really adds to the overall feeling.

You used the different instruments effectively, noting their timbres. One thing I like is when you introduct that slight happier melody (you know what I'm talking about). And it had that triplet in there that adds an effect on the theme that is trademark Winterwind lol. I love it when you do stuff like that.

What really brings this piece out, as I've said, is the fragility and poignancy of the melody and the emotion. The instrumentation is strong in that it further strengthens both these.

You did a great jarbs. Do some more lol.

-Rocky

[Largo for Full Orchestra]

So amazing

I'm not really sure how to start this lol.
Are you aware how grandly awesome this is?
As I said on AIM, the way the moods are various and flow seamlessly, yet with unity, just like dreams, is quite awesome.
The instrumentation is so EPIC LOL jk. It's so grand, and with the whole reverb, great production, plus panning (plus probably my sound system lol), it really sounds like i'm at a concert with a symphonic orchestra on stage playing this for me.
This theme is truly unique, especially for you. Equally dark, mysterious, childlike, innocent, magical, grand, versatile, and beautiful. I'm tryin not to sound like a noob here, but this theme is really one that can speak to everyone on the inside, make them recall their childlike dreams. Seriously.
The orchestration is truly brilliant. The celesta sounds so magical, just like looking down into a bed/crib, like you said.
Balance is good as well, especially important in this piece too, because overwhelming instruments would create an odd sense of one section being more prevalent than the others.
I really can't think of anything to change lol.
You set out to make something huge in scale, and succeeded, with more than you expected probably. Great job dude.

-Rocky

Also MJ-Bot, you're conclusions are idiotic. Winterwind here is far too popular to stoop to something as stupid as giving himself a review, much less making an account just to do it. He has fans galore, who would only be to happy to give him reviews. If you couldn't tell, this piece was amazing enough to garner such. Thanks, that's all.

Winterwind-NS responds:

Thank you so much Rocky
You pretty much understand this piece as much as I do
I hope people read your review because I couldn't have put it any better.
Take care dude, thanks again.

-Winter

MJ-Bot is a funny kid. He enjoys hentai and dressup games. He also makes jokes. He just felt the need to share one through a song review.

[Later Mosaic]

Very nice!

This has a nice, upbeat, kind of joyful feel to it that could energize you, or brighten your day even. It's uplifting and has a somewhat inspirational feel.

Mosaic is a good word to describe this. It's a bunch of imagery flowing together, and I like that. I would've liked it to have a uniform theme though, a melody to hold it all together, that is present throughout to provide familiarity and a comfortable sense of resolution. That's just me though.

The instrumentation sounds large but I think it's actually simple. There's quite a percussion line to drive the piece rhythmically, but the melody lies in what sounds like it could be a synth violin solo (if so, I wonder what VST you used for it...). There are other synthetic harmonies in the background which provide nice mood for the piece. Also the synth choirs were a nice touch.

Overall this does have a very video game feel, as it should! Techno? Definitely. Neo-romantic? A bit, yeah. Epic sountrack? Aided by that choir stuff. New-age rock--the chord progressions lend to that.

It's a nice blending of styles that turned out well. :] Maybe you should have more hangovers. :P

Haha,
best of luck with the next piece,

Rocky

P.S. 8 is a good score from me. ;]

[Requiem for the Great Citizen]

DUDE

This is amazing.

I love how strong the melody comes in after a calm, ambiguous opening that's reminiscent of Howard Shore lol. I also love how nonmodern all your themes tend to be. This melody is so beautiful, and I love how it doesn't do that like. Half cadence -> Full cadence like most melodies. (That's what they're called right?) Your instrumentation is good as you weave the theme through out the orchestra, creating different emotions.

I can't get over this song man. You were seriously inspired. I can definitely hear Shosty in this.

I don't really want to talk about sound production, cause that's annoying to hear. As I said before, the strings could've sounded more emotive lol. You are awesome with Edirol though, way better than I ever was.

I don't think you made a score to this, but I think you could've written the string harmony a little better, when it has the melody I mean. Like you could've written some nice harmonies underneath with the lower strings. It just sounds like the entire string family is playing the theme lol. You know what I mean >:[

For some reason my favorite part is 1:50ish lol, after that oboe note fades, and the strings play the theme more calmly, and sadly, with some nice harmony that is barely audible, but that's a good thing. I like that part haha.

The ending owns! With that high strings, then the lower instruments play the tonic lol. Classic. And I'm glad you didn't go for like one of those endings where the strings hold out that strong note, then the orchestra joins in for a long tonic, which suddenly cuts off sforzando in an attempt to sound powerful. That's not what this piece called for.

Awesome dude. Write more pieces like this lol. I love it.

10'd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Rocky

[Respite in Eb major]

Your best song in a while

I'm first lols

The intro is nice and sets the appropriate serene mood. It almost gives a sense of calm repetitivity, like an ocean's tide. Then the piano comes and adds the real emotion of course.

The melody is really nice, reminds me of your older piano days lol. The use of big chords was cool. At some point just before 1:40 the strings seem to swell too loudly over the piano lol. :( They don't have the melody yo.

Yeah the main theme makes a reprise there, which might've been deeper felt if we could hear what it had just been doing underneath the strings lol.

The ending is cool (and long lol, like half a minute). Word on it. It has a lot of emotion and gives a real feeling of letting go of burdens there. Especially with the piano fading, then higher strings, then lower strings. That was good.

Overall a really good song like I said above. I don't see many faults dude. Nice jarb, more ppl better like this >:[

-Rocky

[Tundra]

My friend

Looks like ur busy pampering all the other trance artists on NG lol.

I just now listened to the whole thing of this for the first time. Before, I'd only heard about the first twenty seconds lol. To like five it or whatever. But yeah.

This is definitely the best trance song I've heard on NG.

The first beat is definitely catchy and stuff. And dancy. I like that first synth in the song. You know the one I'm talking about, the one just before the main beat starts. I like how you built up layers in this beginning, slowly mounting density in the song. It's not just adding percussion, you're adding other motifs and harmonies, which is kewl.

I like 1:29 yo, it's almost Classical. Until 1:56 of course lolol. But yeah it's not like it gets bad there or something. I wish the stringssynth things didn't get completely obliterated there though. They like were dying under the synths.
I'm gonna call this the B theme lol. You do a nice job developing it.

Btw, as someone else said, your transitions from A to B and back get a little repetitive, you could've done something else in other places. Wasn't bad though. It was a really good choice to bring back A, the main beat. Sense of continuity yo. I also like how this beat isn't heard like playing over everything. It's so quiet here that it's a hint of the main beat almost. But you've established it so nicely already that it's easily recognizable.

Word! The reentrance of B theme is great. Um...This last B is really repetitive lawl. Why did u do that? I know you're more creative than that. You could've varied it up yo. It's the ending for goodness' sakesseses. So the song kinda goes ABAB. I'm gonna make up a word and call it quarnary lol. It would've been way awesomer to have another A at the end and make it arc-form. That would've been a way better ending actually. You could've even had a really long bridge after the second B, of like...something really calm sounding...not a theme, just a bridge. You know what I mean? Maybe almost just like a calm pulsing type feeling for a minute. Build up a tiny bit of tension. And then like HIT 'em with the A theme. Hahah.

Your ending was kinda lame lol. It's almost like the song died; someone pulled the plug. After such a powerful close to 7mins, it just doesn't have a punch at teh ending. idk you could've done better lol.

Anyways it's a good song, and you know how I don't rly like trance lol. So good job.

Review #103 lols.

-Rocky

[Prelude no. 2 in Db Major]

It is I

This is a wub song yo.

The melody is beautiful. I think of it every time I hear/play an octave on the piano (if slowly enough lol). It easily gets in your head, which is always a good thing for a melody to do. Is this the only time you've used Db major? lol (as a primary key; your impromptu doesn't count haha.) I like it when the theme goes into octaves: more emotion fosho. And it's almost like, you can play that theme over and over even without much variation and it still sounds nice.

Dude I freaking LOVE the left hand in this. Srsly. You're so good with piano harmonies, arpeggios and stuff. I'm not haha. You know just when to use, like, a slightly dissonant chord, or have an intentional resolution for beauty and wholeness. Just before the melody starts again near 1:13, I love the simple, unfinished-like chord that's held in a fermata. I also love the left hand just before 2:13. And your use of really low notes sometimes in the left hand contrasts nicely with the melodic octaves in the recap.

The emotion in this piece is really apparent and shines through. I don't know how anyone cannot like this. Db major is a great key. Piano is the sex.

The ending is good too. Simple just like the piece. It would've sucked if you tried to put something really fancy lol. Would've like ruined the piece's effect.

Anyways, well done, my friend.

Have a glass of vengeance, and maybe a splash of salvation, why don't you?

-Rocky

Winterwind-NS responds:

rawkie

yeah seriously dude, last year in Music theory class
when we were practicing interval identification, i always hummed this song when
she would play an octave regardless of the root note lol
CMON rocky this isn't my first DbM piece
my 5th nocturne moderato semplice was in Db

yeah the left hand does a lot of graceful jumping
but it sounds really nice when u get it right.
thanks for the review dood
suhweenie tawd quoted for justice

-Winter