rtnario's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Never Back Down]

5/4 isn't new when it comes to you xD

More Sakuraba-style I see; sounds great. The drums are clear, piano is very catchy...everything blends in just right. I just thought that the bass synth was a little too powerful and it caused the overall sound to be a bit unclear. Of course, that's only when the loud bass synth comes in. And the guitar sounds odd, but fuIfills its purpose. I love the intentionally-off violin, (and all the other violin parts) because I think that it's one of the most defining features of the song.

I'm not gonna ask about why it ended abruptly since you answered that in one of my reviews...in...one of your songs...xD

5/5, 8/10

Keep it up,

~rtnario

P.S. You get to compose things like this in your music class?! I'm damn jealous. But then again, I wonder how the ordinary school teacher would react to a playthrough of Trump Card Alteisen on full volume...=)

UltimaTricksta responds:

You're right about the bass synth. When looking at the waveform of the audio I saw the that the bass synth almost caused the audio to peak. But it didn't sound really bothersome, so I left it. As for the guitar...I'm still playing about with Amplitube ;D Everyone says that the violin was off in timing. I painted the violin in accurate time...O.o Perhaps it's the attack on the sound, maybe... Anyway, I don't neccessarily get to compose this kinda music in my class, only in free time. ;D

[{LAi} Cave Of Darkness]

Good but could be better.

I'm not sure if it was the right decision to get a person like me to review your work (if you notice I am not one to create anything techno or dance...), but if you say so, here goes. =)

Of course, I noticed at the start, with the instrument choice and the way the whole thing began that this was gonna be techno. I think the song really lacks a bass synth, and that there's this consistent synth that doesn't change at all and makes the entire song kinda linear. I also suggest on getting a better piano VST; something Edirol Orchestral-ey or similar. On the better side of things, there's no doubt that this is still a good dance remix of "Last Battle", with the upbeat sounds, always-there bass drum, phase-ey instruments and such. I just think, like the summary says, this could be better if you took note of my suggestions and added more instruments and melodic variation ^^

4/5, 8/10.

Keep it up,

~rtnario

Laikros responds:

I notice this now. Alternate genre favorites. ^^;
Do note that this was created more than half a year ago, skills could improve over the months, you understand! I get what you're saying though, and I'll take it into mind.

Thank you!

[|The Staring Sun|]

Sounds too much like Cryosleep, but w/e. XD

Listening to the synth at the start instantly made me think Cryosleep. Listening to the guitar riffs made me think Cryosleep. Listening to the middle part with the clean-sounding guitar made me think Cryosleep. No wonder, this song was inspired by Cryosleep. XDD

That's meant to be a good and bad thing though. While this song does clearly show its influence to MaSu fans, and while sound quality, instrument choice, panning, & melody are all awesome, I think it lacks a "hook" of some sort. To make sure of what I'm saying, I listened to Cryosleep while making this review ^^

I noticed that the main "refrain-ey" part had the synth and the rhythm, but also had other lead guitars and string-ish synths playing as well. Maybe if you added your own version of that, it'd be better, but that's just my opinion since this alone already sounds like a great tribute of sorts already to Cryosleep! I especially love the way you ended the song; that was just perfect. =)

5/5, 8/10.

But if you ask me, nothing is topping your original version of Mirrorworld. You know me enough to know that I'd say that. XD
~rtnario

MashedByMachines responds:

Thanks a lot for your great reviews :)

Yeah I know that the song turned out pretyy similiar to cryosleep in many ways, but that was part of the plan. I didn´t really "copy" anything, just made some parts(like the guitar and drums) very similiar. It´s no secret that I am influenced alot by MaSu, they are after all my biggest source of inspiration.

Thanks again for your great review! I am not too fluent in english so its kinda hard for me to express myself as thorough as you can :) I hope you dont take offense in that my response isnt as long as your review ^^

[J-Up Castle (Level Up!)]

Castle indeed.

I listened to this since because...you're Stage 3-1, and that you mentioned it was an original. Well, it's awesome, but it's not like I was expecting otherwise. =)

Although I don't get what that "J-Up" is for, the melodies really make it very castle-ey. The intro's blending in with the clean guitars was well done too. The choirs fit great with the entire song and exists to make the song much more "spooky". And I especially love that harp at the end; what the heck was that, it was f**king awesome @_@ The riffs, as expected, have much melodic metal influence that you probably know I love. By this I mean every riff that has two guitars playing in unbelievable harmony =)

To top it all of, everything was made with beautiful recording quality. That's the kind of sound people like me are looking for in recordings. How I'd love to be able to record like that in the future ^^

...I now want to make an original. XD

5/5, 10/10.
~rtnario

Stage3-1 responds:

The origins of J-UP. It's a long story, and it doesn't really make sense unless you were in Stage 3-1, so I won't bother, haha. Yes, it is a harp at the end, courtesy of Fruity Loops. I can't play keys well enough to do it, but I can program it. As far as recoridng quality, you'll get there soon. Listen to my old recordings, they aren't near as good as yours. Thanks.

[For Better or Worse ~Poetic~]

I'm not one to say this, but...

...that poem really expresses what it should. I can't really describe it as well, since I'm one who reviews audio more than works of literature. And to be honest, I'm not sure if this was the best place to submit something like this. Anyhow, I hope someone who can give you a better review on the poem itself will come around, since I can only but point out things about the music that I can be sure of that will help.

You cut the original version perfectly as the poem ended, which was great. The only problem was that constant hiss from the microphone that becomes very obvious when you end the recording from playing.

I guess you're simply showing what you can do, and delivering a message to us all; that's never a bad thing. ^^

~rtnario

[For Better or Worse?]

Forgive you?

NEVAR

j/k XD That's something you don't need to ask you know! That's like me uploading a Classical song! Which I have!

Listening to this makes me feel that it has a really fitting title. You say you made it when you were depressed, but does this song really express that emotion, or something else? The way the strings are used in this song really just make me ask that question. Talk about perfect harmony, although still we don't know what for. And yeah, I heard the SEoE piano again! Starting at 2:00 XD You know it's hard NOT to like that =)

The only things I found off were the choirs at the end; they just didn't seem to fit in with the overall feel of the song IMO. And also the fact that it ended like a loop...if it were me it should've ended with a variation of the intro or something.

Either way, ? song is ?! (that's meant to be a good thing ^^)

~rtnario

UltimaTricksta responds:

Thanks. For this song I wanted to find some good chords before-hand so I got on my piano to make some. It's just a shame I don't have a keyboard plugged in. Everything I do is painted through the piano roll. Whilst this was composed during my depression I did intend to make it fit with the game I'm creating. A scene where the main character is lying on a hospital better with question of whether or not he'll die. "Better?" = Staying alive. "Worse?" - Dying in hospital.

As for the SEoE piano, this is the 2nd time I used it (with An Invunerable Enemy being the third). I sometimes like to recycle old melodies and create motifs. Similar to how in most of Nobuo Uematsu's Final Fantasy battle themes that start of with: "duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-dun-dun..." I currently have 3 motifs. A 3 note low piano bassline, the SEoE piano and set of chords from With Haste We Decide.

To be honest I also felt the choirs felt a tad out of place, but I thought it would help make the piece stronger towards the end making some sort of crescendo. It ended like a loop for purposes for my game, and even still FL Studio tends to do that anyway =/

[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.

[Mirrorworld]

This sounds veeeeeeery familiar!

Yeah, Mirrorworld. Where have I heard that before? Where have I heard this beautiful blend of instruments and awesome melodies? I swear I've heard it SOMEWHERE before...except the version I know had great vocals XD

-in-jokes aside-

I always loved Mirrorworld ever since the first version, and you should already know that Mr. Hentschel :D I'm sure you remember my "happy" comments on the original and this updated one. Still I cannot believe that you liked my MIDI remix enough to use it in a new version, and still I am honored! As you can see, I've been becoming more active around Newgrounds thanks to the Audio Portal, which I knew only a bit since a long time ago, but was re-introduced to me after hearing your works here.

Heck, ever since "Unbroken Dream", I've done a lot of work on my style and now have lots of submissions up that are of noticeably better quality since my first ones ^^ You should check them out if you're, well, bored =)

And for what it's worth,

5/5, 10/10. Fav'd.

~rtnario

[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.