BlazingDragon's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Crystal Maze]

As I said in another review, I'm very pleased with your harmonic palette. Some really lush stuff going on here. I also like how hummable your melodies are. :)

Your style continually reminds me of Yasonuri Mitsuda of Chrono Trigger fame. Your use of fourths around :42 also gives this piece a certain far east vibe.

I just wish that was a bit more reverb on certain instruments to make the soundscape sound more cavernous. I think that would contribute to the crystal filled mine feel.

Excellent job. I'm really enjoying your music.

[Hayao the Swordman]

Why you aren't more popular I have no idea. You've got a really beautiful harmonic language in all of your pieces, and your sound is more sophisticated than most artists I hear on the portal. This piece in particular is gorgeous and reminds me of certain tracks from Final Fantasy XII.

My main complaint is that the mix is a little rough in some spots, mostly in terms of balance. Sometimes it feels like certain sounds should be more in the foreground.

Compositionally though, I love this soooooo much. It's really awesome how you seamlessly switch between 4/4, 6/8, 3/4, and so on. I especially love the pattern of 3+3+2+2 starting at about :27. Harmonically, I really dig all of the suspensions and resolutions you use. The cadence at :47 is so juicy. :)

The section starting at 1:13 has a distinctly Chrono Trigger sound for some reason. Perhaps it is the instrumentation?

Oh, and I adore the chord progression starting at 2:01! I use a similar one frequently when improvising. Really beautiful.

The end didn't sound very fitting, but I understand what it is like being rushed for contests. I hope you write more music like this.

5/5 and added you to my favorite artists.

SilverPoyozo responds:

I don't even know how to respond, hahah...this made my day, thanks a lot!

I started working on this just two days before uploading it for the contest, so it really did have some problems with mixing, a few irregular rhythms by the end and a lack of a real ending.But still, I'm so glad you liked it!

Yep, Chrono Trigger is my all time favorite game, and it kinda shows on my compositions. (it's soundtrack blew me away when I was just a little kid)

Anyways, thanks again.

[Lovable Pester]

Hey, thank you for leaving a review on my piece!

I like the mood that this evokes. It's chill and yet pushes forward. A few thoughts:

-Structure. This piece is pretty much the same all the way throughout and is not nearly as interesting as it could be. Adding a little contrast in the middle or creating more development would make this a more colorful piece.
-Mixing. It seems to me like some elements are bathed in too much reverb, making everything sound distant. Reverb is great to use, but try having at least one element such as the melody in the foreground with less reverb than everything else. It will help add depth to the piece. Also, I think some instruments could be brought up in volume. There is a low reverberated piano sounding instrument in particular.
-The percussion. I'd recommend adding a snare in there for just a little more punch. Maybe try changing the hi-hat pattern during certain sections (maybe to eighth notes). Play around with syncopation a little more. Try using cymbal rolls for transitions. Venture outside of the standard kick drum only on 1 and 3 pattern.

This piece is a good start but could be much more interesting with a little tweaking. Keep it up!

TankyTeemo responds:

Hmm, yeah the beat is pretty stellar :S, my bad. Thanks for oyur advice I'll look into all of them for my next composition :D!

[Onda Do Mar(Wave) Preview]

I love the chord progression, melodic playing, and style of this piece, but PLEASE, change that panning! Unless something is wrong with my headphones, the guitar melody is panned entirely to the left. This sounds terribly off balance. I'd recommend putting your main melodic instrument or voice panned dead center. That panning ruined this for me, and I love it otherwise. Please reupload... :(

I'll definitely check out more of your stuff.

Lageira responds:

Sorry for the late response..

I had some crappy hadphones at the time i noticed later my left headphone was fading out.. I'll try to reupload the full one replacing this one.
Still Thanks for checking it out man :)

[Nocturne no. 3]

Beautiful nocturne! Your harmonic progressions are lovely and sound fresh among other pieces in the audio portal. The various instances of augmented sixth chords made me smile really big, as few people in the classical section here take advantage of them. In terms of the right hand, nice use scales and trills. :)

My main critique is that this piece does not sound melodically driven for a Chopin-inspired nocturne. The nocturne form, at least viewed through the lens of Chopin and John Field, tends to be characterized by a song-like melody over the top of a steady, rhythmic accompaniment. While this piece has pleasant harmonies and ornaments, I can't recall a main melodic idea after listening. The structure seems much more free than that of a Chopin nocturne, meandering from one progression to the next without repetition to build a solid framework or clear melodic material to be developed throughout the piece.

I would have liked a slight transition to the section starting at 2:11. It was a nice change of pace, but the silent transition didn't do much for me. And perhaps this is nit-picking, but I thought the trills were slightly overused and lost their effectiveness by the end of the work.

Listening to this piece was enjoyable, but it sounded more like an improvisation in the nocturne style than a fleshed out and developed composition. I'll have to check out more of your work, but this piece makes me think that more consideration to melodic material and structure would help propel your music to the next level.

Can't wait to hear more of your work. Happy Thanksgiving! :D

descara responds:

Thanks for the feedback! It's a pretty old piece of mine (more than one and a half years at least!) - if you want to check out something a little more structurally and melodically refined, I can recommend the more recent Dark Enigma.

What you say about the melodic framework is certainly true (most of it was indeed improvised), though I'd argue that the larger structure as a whole, with a rough A-B-A', is pretty in line with many of Chopin's nocturnes (no. 20, C# minor, for example). The silent transition was actually changed to be just that, though I'm not sure how I would've handled that place today.

[Rosewood (WIP)]

A few thoughts.

Mix: It is important to balance the volume of instruments. To make a great sounding track, you've got to consider depth. What elements are most important and should therefore be louder to be more clearly heard? Louder sounds will come to the front of the mix. What elements play a supporting role and can hang in the background? If everything is the same volume, the track will often sound crowded. In this piece, you've got the synth so loud that it really pushes everything else. I'd turn that sucker down some. I also think the kick (bass) drum could come down at some points.

Variety and Shape: Aside from the introduction of the vocal line, the piece is pretty much a whole lot of the same material. The chords pattern you use in the guitar line just keeps doing the same thing for three minutes. Nothing new or fresh really happens. When you have so little variety, a piece of music becomes boring and grating on the ears of the listener. It comes across as bland and people will begin to tune out. This isn't to say that you need to be loud or upbeat but that variety would make this song exponentially better. This brings me to the subject of shape. Most songs have an arch to them. They ebb and flow, going from loud to soft, rising and falling in intensity. They build up to a climax maybe 2/3 of the way through and then come down in energy a bit. It's much like a story. A song needs some conflict and resolution to be interesting. The main point is that music needs to have a sense of forward motion and direction in order to take listeners on any kind of interesting journey.

You have some potential material to work with here. The guitar part sounds good and I like the chords you use. Learn about mixing and think about shape in the composition. Master those and you'll become a formidable songwriter.

DigitalDoom responds:

Exactly what I wanted! Thank you!

[Her Wish]

Bosa, this is beautiful...The swelling strings and haunting oboe paint such a smooth, lovely picture. The piece is very simple but manages to fulfill with colorful orchestration and fantastic chord voicings.

It is a bit hard for me to swallow the chord change at 1:20 due to its jarring nature. After listening to this a few times it will seem normal, but it jumped out at me on first hearing. I was a bit sad about the ending. I know this is not finished, but a temporary ending would have been nice. That's what I ended up doing for my submission.

I must add that despite the jarring chord change at 1:20, I love the rising line the follows. It sets up a lovely climax from which the remainder of the piece descends.

What orchestral samples are you using?

Love this. Can't wait to hear it finished.

Bosa responds:

Yes, I was very disappointed with the ending as well. But I was literally racing against time and had about twenty minutes to submit this song for the contest. I wish I had been in better circumstances. I may move on, but more than likely I'll come back and finish this song if I am motivated appropriately.

I didn't notice the instability you mentioned at 1:20. I know you are more experienced than I am, so it doesn't surprise me that your expertise found the flaw at that point. I really do thank you, and I hope that you will come again and check out my future releases!

[Flashbacks]

I like the atmosphere of this piece. It's chill, meditative, and relaxing. The mix is clean and your samples sound good.

My main concern, as noted by others, is that the piece meanders without a sense of direction. There is no melodic material to create a line, only improvised sounding guitar tones. I understand that ambient often evolves slowly and does not necessarily focus on melodic material, but this piece is still really stagnant. The chord progression is the same throughout and the sonic texture remains basically the same for nearly four minutes.

I think that if you took some steps to create more tension/release and development, this could be a much more interesting track. Shifting the harmonies, developing a melodic idea, working with motifs, morphing the underlying pad, changing registers more...Basically adding more variety and sense of building to a climax. Also, the ending seemed out of place.

Production is great, but the piece doesn't seem to reach its potential. I loved Shaolin, but you probably also spent more time working on that. I hope to hear more of your music in the future! :)