Esn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Rain in the Night]

Simplicity itself, and very nice.

I can't help but visualize a film in my head as I listen to this. I know that it's meant to symbolize the calm feeling of raindrops falling against a windowsill, and the harsher sound in the middle represents the occasional gusts of the storm. And yet somehow, I think it would suit a Christmas-themed flash very well. I even have a scenario in mind. It's too bad I don't know how to use the program. :)

Perhaps I shall learn, some day...

MJTTOMB responds:

Awww, man! You got my hopes up! Oh well.

Heh, thanks for reviewing!

[The Darkness Suite]

Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!

I just love this piece. Can you believe that it almost brought tears to my eyes?

You have incredibly effective harmonic progressions, wonderful melodies, and a great sense of purpose. You're definitely on my list of "best composers on Newgrounds" now.

Also, if I may ask a question... I've never heard that "soft piano" sound before. How did you make it sound like that?

MJTTOMB responds:

Thanks for the compliment man. Means a lot to hear praise like that.

I use GarageBand, a program for macs. The Orchestra Steinway Piano comes in the rather steeply priced orchestral Jam Pack. I got the effect be lowering the note velocity to about 30 and then i drowned it in reverb.

Seriously, thanks for reviewing. Also, thanks for faving!

[-=)The Dawn(=-]

Excellent!

This is a very compelling piece! I love the harmonies and the soft dynamics in it. Interesting middle section, too.

Overall, this is simple a great thing to listen to. I'll have to check out your previous movements!

MJTTOMB responds:

Thanks for reviewing, man. Glad to hear you liked it!

[Yasu et Liam]

Not bad

A very nice, slow piece. Pretty good progression. Simple harmonically and rhythmically. Quite pleasant overall, although the sheer amount of instruments playing chords got to be a little too much at times (particularly toward the end).

Beacon515L responds:

Thanks! The progression was inspired, I think, by the theme to You Only Live Twice, then I fiddled with it. Too many instruments is a hallmark of my work, I prefer to think of it as "growing elegance." XD
Thanks for the review!

[the sound of war #1]

Excellent debut!

Really nice progression with a minimum of frills there. Of course, it's not exactly front-line-of-battle music, but it's not any worse for that. I think that you're really good at just sticking to the basics and crafting a simple, but very effective piece.

I won't make any suggestions for percussion or other "more exciting" instruments that some other people will undoubtedly make - I really don't think that this piece needs anything more than what it has.

I look forward to your future submissions!

michiel89 responds:

thanks man

[Piano Etudes: Das Unterseeboot]

That was really good

I don't really know what to say, except I liked it. A very effective piece. Good use of chromaticism.

Is it played on the computer, though? I'm not sure how possible it would be to play it in real life... some of those repeated notes are quite fast.

Beacon515L responds:

Yes, this was played in my sequencer... XD I'm cheap!
Thanks for reviewing!

[VC#1 - Allegro con tuono]

Yes, this is quite classical.

It reminds me vaguely of Mozart, for some reason; both the harmonies and the abundance of notes in the melody line are reminiscent of the era.

It's nice to see a real "classical era" piece in the classical section.

MusicalRocky responds:

Hey!

Sorry I haven't been on this page in a while. Yeah it's similar to mozart definitely--mostly his Symphony no.25.

Yeah there's not enough classical pieces on here lol.

Thanks for the review!

[The Clock of Inevitability]

Shows promise

The good bits - I like your long progressions (an ability to think in phrases is always a good thing), and some of your melodies. Unfortunately, it's obvious that you're just beginning to do this, since the piece is rather simple. This isn't a bad thing, though; everyone starts somewhere.

One thing I'd definitely suggest is using better instrumental sounds. I'm not sure what you use now, but the piece sounds very harsh, and that makes it somewhat difficult to listen to or use in a flash.

Grimzag responds:

Yeah, I've just been using the human playback function from Finale's Print Music. It has a bit of a mechanical sound. I've been trying to adapt my writing style to it.

[NN - Orion's Symphony]

Honestly, it's fairly good.

I'm a bit surprised at the low score that it has - it's a minimalist piece to be sure, but it sounds pleasant enough and I can imagine it being usefull to someone in some flash. It's very simplicity makes it kinda nice to listen to.

Later on there are some dissonances - maybe a bit too many of them. I can tell that this isn't your usual category, but it's pretty nice, overall.

Nynety-Nyne responds:

Cheers, yeah It was pary of another song but then i thought it'd be pretty good on its own.

I wanted to add another level to it so put a choir on it, and that was abit crap, and some notes didn't really fit.

Thanks for your review.

[A New King]

Fantastic imagery

This is one of the most pictorial things I've ever heard on Newgrounds. The imagery I get from this is fantastic, though it's more like what the second reviewer described than what you intended.

This piece has great variety and it would be a great one for someone to "put to film" - the images already come to your head.

Damn zero voters got this one too, I see... odd that they aren't such a huge problem on the flash portal, isn't it? You'd think someone would take notice and find out why...

Anyway, this gets a solid 10/10 from me, in all categories. It's simply a fantastic piece.

Bosa responds:

Death to the zero voters. DEATH I SAY!!!