rtnario's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Mike Tyson's Punchout - Medley]

Damn, what is this?!

Seriously pro-sounding works on NG o_o; heck, you ARE a band but you let all of Newgrounds community listen to your great works! The guitars were in such beautiful harmony here. I think I'm gonna be looking up Stage 3-1...=)

5/5, 10/10.

~rtnario

Stage3-1 responds:

I tried to get it to sound as pro as possible. I actually sent the tracks out to be mastered. Yes, we technically are a band. We've played some shows but people moved away and what not. We started as a recording project and we are ending as a recording project, or so it seems. Thanks for the review.

[Ysii To Make The End Of Battle]

This...

...is what I wish I could do someday. =)

Awesome remix, clear production quality, very nice performance. Why would it not deserve a 5/5 & a 10/10? ^^

~rtnario

Stage3-1 responds:

Thanks man. You aren't far behind at all. Plus you're only 16. The more you do it the better you'll get, especially recording. It just takes time. By the way I love your boss battle cover.

[An Invulnerable Enemy]

So this one's new right XD

Okay, this one's better than the last one I reviewed, but not at the level of my two favorites; which I'm sure you know what they are =)

So here's my review on your "honing skills" track. While you've still got the crystal clear production quality you've always had, this one still needs more notable melodies. There were rarely any "hooks", unlike your epic "piano-smashing & then all of the sudden TRUMPETS" in SotS & addictive middle piano part of Fancy Duel. Heck I even noticed that starting at 2:24 you altered the strings to a point that it reminded me of one of your Sakuraba-style songs o_o' (Oh wait I was listening to it just now ^^ It reminded me of SEoE)

So, keep your setup, but continue looking for even more powerful/addictive melodies. When you've got a new one, I'll be around XD

~rtnario

UltimaTricksta responds:

Thanks. Here with this song I wanted to make a song you could nod your head to. Especially at parts: 0:49-1:04 and 2:04-2:22. I guess I'm getting slightly influenced by Persona 3's soundtrack. I've been playing a lot lately (actually I'm playing it as I type this ;D).

Also about 2:24....yes it's and orchestrated version of one of the melodies from SEoE. It's also in For Better or Worse, which I'll be posting up here shortly. It's different from the others I've posted so far.

[Battle For The Lost Memories]

Quality is top-notch, but...

While production quality has always been perfect with your releases (except the ones you intentionally lower) and concept is great, I'm gonna be honest here and say that all this song lacks is a lead melody. I'm not saying that the melodies you used are bad. I just feel that it doesn't have a strong enough driving force that songs like "The Fancy Duel" & "Siege Of The Spiritual" had. And lowering the volume of the instruments themselves don't help at all and make it more ambient.

I've heard all of your releases on NG Audio so far, and so in my opinion I can say that you've done far greater works. Don't get me wrong, this song is still a good song - but it's not as good as what you already had.

I hope you take note of my opinion in your future works,
~rtnario

(Also, please respond to reviews; when people say something about your work they want to know that the creator took note of it. AKA I've been feeling quite ignored here ._. XD)

UltimaTricksta responds:

Sorry I haven't replying to reviews. I'll try to do so more often in the future. I don't think I mentioned this but all the tracks I've uploaded so far are old ones. This one was made way before The Fancy Duel and Siege of the Spiritual Demons. I'm back in the music game now so I'm gonna start making more music and uploading fresh new ones. Thanks for your critique though. This was rushed in a way so no real thought on melody was considered.

[Gormet Race - Round 3 - 8bit]

Another 8-bit release; Another well done!

No wonder your username looked familiar...you were that guy with the Kraid theme! Hello again XD

Man, what I'd be saying here will sound like a copy-paste of my review on the Kraid theme. Except for one thing, and this is personal opinion; the other loop's more addictive ^^;

Anyhow, this is still a good 8-bit rendition of the original. My only complaint is that it's just 8-bit. That's true, but what is also true is that I can always expect quality 8-bit releases from you =)

Keep it up,
~rtnario

bbbzzz responds:

Honestly, I would love to do more than just 8-bit too, but untill ng pays me and I buy FL studio, I won't. That's because I can't make high quality songs (non-8-bit ones) using the programs I have. After I get FL though..... :D

PS: Hi again!

[Into Grasstown Demo]

More Cave Story remixes, yay!

As a person who remixed three Cave Story tracks (in MIDI) myself, Grasstown included, if you want a critical review, then here goes. =)

The Good:
I like your take on the original Cave Story track. Instead of following the exact same rhythm and melodies, you made your own and truly made it your remixed version. The new instruments supporting the main melody has also been given new lines themselves and it really makes it all sound so complete. And it has this techno feel thanks to all the instruments used. The constantly changing filtering of sorts on the main melody and the panning on the bass makes it sound very space-ey. And the variation of the last part wasn't too shabby either; in fact it sounded like a very interesting twist to the original! ^^

The Bad:
The rhythm of specific parts ruin the balance. I'm talking about the one that starts at the very end of 0:11. It was supposed to have one quarter rest before continuing, but that shouldn't have been a problem since it's a remix after all. The result of that cutting however led the main melody part to be off the 4/4 time signature that the bass is constantly providing. This results in a later part starting at 0:40 to have a really out-of-place bass note that just sounds for a quarter note and nothing more, whereas if the original melody rhythm was kept it'd probably be a half step.

I hope my review helps, it'd be nice to hear improvements of music that's already pretty cool.

~rtnario

(And if ever you want to check my remix out, it's called "Town Of Leaves". Scary red text doesn't allow me to post an outside website, so I guess you'll have to do some searching if you really want to hear my take on it ^^;)

Cisetam responds:

Hey thanks yeah i did have some problems with the melody being correctly placed but i got tired of it and really frustrated so i released the demo...i plan on taking all of the reviews into consideration and really remix this track into a great song. thanks again!

[Siege of the Spirtual Demons]

Start with a bang indeed.

That was simply amazing. I really love it when orchestral styles are combined with other styles such as techno. Especially when done this well. And heck, this is an original? Even more incredible, seriously. Perfect blend of instruments, unbelievable piano work, all combined with techno.

This is your first submission in NG. I visited your page and saw that it's not just what you have. I think Newgrounds is gonna be really thankful to have your expert and very professional sounding works posted here. I don't say that to just anyone; in fact this is the first time I'm even talking like this.

I will look forward to your next submissions. And I'm sure if people realize just how much talent you are (so much that I am jealous...damn man), they will too. =)

~rtnario

Also, what do you use for the orchestra sounds? I'd really like to know ^^;

UltimaTricksta responds:

Wow, you were really that impressed? I'm glad, thanks for that ;D

Just like you I use FL Studio 8 XXL to compose my music. In that past I've used Cubase, SONAR 7 and MIxcraft 4.

I used to use Garritan's Personal Orchestra VST, but it was like 1.5GB so I deleted. I use Edirol Orchestra VST. It's just as good, more simpler to use and it's only like 200MB.

[Kraid's Lair 8-bit]

Highly addictive...

All instruments blend in perfectly. All notes are melodically correct. All done in awesome 8-bit fashion. And it's a loop. A highly addictive loop @_@

bbbzzz responds:

Thanks! Even I was surprised at how well this came out. I'm glad you like it!

[_\|Pulsing Darkness|/_]

Erm...

While you've got the instruments and such correct, it was really hard to find a melody here besides the first one. When it gets to the middle it's almost as if they were completely random notes going a half-step higher with each beat.

So the things you did correct here were the beginning and the ending. You need to work on combining melodies together and making sure they're in harmony with each other. I'm thinking that you just need more examples and inspiration from fellow Trance/Techno artists around here.

Start from there, and keep working hard. You'll get there soon if you do. =)

Rawing responds:

Yeah I know what you mean... it's like: 1 pattern->2 patterns->4 patterns->hardly surprising there's no melody anymore :\

[Two ages [DJ, HVE1]]

Nice concept.

The first time around when I heard this piece, it sounded like a gangsters-at-party sort of thing because of the bass and the trumpets. That is, until I heard the second part, which utilized instruments more suited towards techno. Then I saw the title; oh now I get it XD

The concept is fine, but try to find better trumpets to use. And personally I think it'd be much better if the "climax" refrain-part, where the instruments all play was repeated twice for both "ages". Especially for the second part.

Keep it up ^^

~rtnario

Havegum responds:

Thank you!
I think i get what you mean, and i will try using this review when making new songs!
Thank you very much for your review!

-Havegum