Karco's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Unnatural Instinct]

So... what's a Zombie mod? XD

I'm not that good at reviewing ambient, but I'll try. After all, you copied and pasted "GO" so many times in chat... XD (I tried to count but I lost count somewhere in the middle and decided it wasn't worth it. XD)

All right, starting over the song. Where do you get all of this? It's good. >:)

What's special about this song is that everything comes together to contribute to the same atmosphere, which is something that, from what I've seen, is either really easy or really hard to do in ambience. And those weird distorted kick things... they don't disrupt the atmosphere as much as I'd think they would, but they change it instead. I like that. :P

Hmm. What else can I say? Well, it loops really well like you said, which I like. It's definitely looped by now, I'm sure, but I haven't noticed. o_O Songs that can do that definitely earn something.

I have no idea what it's really for, and I have only two clues: this song, and the words "Zombie mod." Still, I have no idea, and I'm too lazy to ask in chat, so I'll just assume that being the great ambient song it is it also fits somehow into that purpose. :P Really, though, it's great. :D Here's my 5, and 10.

Now... I'm going to open that chat window and tell you I'm finished. :P Hooray.

Mataro responds:

Happy to hear it turned out well! To answer what the feel is all about.. It's for a Zombie based modification for a game called Cortex Command. The guys there needed a song, so I decided to give it a try, I don't know whether it will get used yet or not though :P

As for where I got all this fancy stuff.. Well, the only actual sample used in this entire song is the kick. Everything else is rendered through a single generator plugin.. It's called FM8. Awesome stuff. It does the pad in the background, to the distorted pings and the hats, drums, everything :D

Thanks for the review!

[Pulstate - Oxygen (Original)]

Two weeks late, but it's been hard these days...

... to get to reviewing songs. But here I am. :) I've been listening to this one for a while now and only now I've had the chance to review it. I'll reivew your other songs next if I have time. I should.

Interesting opening... I thought that was some kind of heavy filter on percussion but you introduced a new set altogether.

Not much to say about this, though it's all pretty cool... ooh, like those slipping/sliding/whatever effects. :P The airy sounds are cool, too... and I bet are why you called the song Oxygen. :) Nice, heavy kicks for the buildup, I like it.

Your melody is good. It's simple, and fitting, and the synth that plays it, while a little quiet, was a good choice as well. Not much to say here. The harmonies are similar except the synths are even better-chosen in my opinion, and just the right volume. It's fairly melodic in places, which is nice.

Your percussion... well, you are creative and those are, as always, some GREAT samples. However it is a bit loud at times and you could have turned it down just a bit, I think.

... and there's the nice ending. :) It's overall a great song, Pulstate... one I should have gotten to reviewing earlier. Keep up the great work. I've listened to One Wish - it's GREAT and I can't wait to review it. :) Looking forward to it.

Pulstate responds:

Thanks alot my friend, you were right about the naming part! I named it Oxygen BEFORE i made it though. :)

[Unstoppable -Preview-]

GASP! Mataro submits! :O

How was I supposed to know you submitted, when I hardly ever bother to check your audio page since you hadn't submitted since January? XD Glad to see you still have NG in mind, anyway.

This is the thing from the other day, huh? I already went all "review mode" on it but I can try to find some new things to say... and emphasize old things by saying them again. :P

Hmm. Not much new to add, but that lead is GREAT (what is it, Vanguard or something?) as is the arp. The piano is the misfit among them as I've told you already. It could use a filter of some kind or another, and that would make it fit a bit more but it just doesn't work. =\ It's the only one that doesn't fully contribute to the great atmosphere of the song.

You didn't change the percussion? So it's flattering to see people use the percussion I used for Nova and my trance song Launch, (I need to submit a cut version of that one sometime) but it doesn't sound FX'ed in any way and then it's not really that original of you to use those drums to begin with. Come on, Mataro, you're better than that. >:(

Not much else to say I didn't say in chat... I repeated most of what I said that time, anyway. :P This is mostly for emphasis and support. Hah! Can't wait to hear the full version.

Mataro responds:

Haha, yeah.. I got kinda lazy with the drums.. I plan to really mix the drums up by the time it's done though.

These one's were just temporary :D

Anyhow, I'm submitting new soon.. Keep your ears open! :D

Thanks again for the review ^^

[_-={Wrath of a Broken Soul}=-_]

Woah. Overpowering image alert.

When the song started I got a hugely overpowering image of a ship at a stormy sea... but I'll go into that later. Technicalities first... ;)

Very well-used instruments, I think, and well-chosen, too. Very movie-like, I think. Those effects playing every other beat are nice, too, and fitting.

Blaring horns now. And very-well used, it's great composition and great harmony. :D Once again, very movie-like. This time, the steady half notes give a feeling of insignificance compared to the great sea around you, an overpowering, ominous one. Great atmosphere here, some of the strongest I've heard from you, I think.

The strings are great, too, with creative rhythms symbolizing unpredictability every which way you look.

Softer now. Light choirs alone... and then a great transition into that powerful theme again! This time a bit uplifting, as if now the sailors are conquering the sea. The song slows down, tension... boom. Ending. Really creative, and there's more effort here than in Arise Sleeper, I think! :D Some of your best work.

Storytime - and for topping Arise Sleeper, I'll make a sequel to that cliffhanger I left you on for that song. :P

Sailors wake up to find their ship tossing and turning, and stumble to the deck. The movements of the ship toss them into the walls on their way.

On deck, the captain gives out orders but nobody hears him over the roars of the ocean. Being professionals, they know simply to improvise as the conditions change. And so, powerful waves hitting more than often, they do battle against the great ocean.

Is that light on the horizon? A sailor on the crow's nest shouts and everyone's head turns as they see it.

The sailors, now motivated to at least make it to daylight, fight harder but the waves increase in strength, until they find themselves nearly vertical on a great tsunami, getting steeper, steeper, steeper... the wave begins to break and the view blacks out.

Hah! Left you on another cliffhanger because I want to hear more songs like this! :D Will this story ever end? I'll let you guess.

Great work, Maestro! Truly epic. Those people working on Esca are pretty lucky. :D Is there any chance you could stop by my audio page to listen to (possibly review if you have time? :P ) another classical I've made? I want to know what you think. You won't be disappointed... I promise. >:)

Voted 5, reviewed 10, and downloaded... again, it's one of your best. :D Looking forward to more, keep up the great work.

MaestroRage responds:

>:(

ANOTHER cliffhanger Karco?! Well I should have seen it coming, I mean I did leave a cliffhanger feeling at the end myself.

But you know, 2 wrongs don't make a right >:(!!!!

Oh well, I suppose I will have to hear the ending of these sturdy men of the sea through another piece.

One particular phrase caught my interest though. The fact that despite the captain's orders being muted out by the ocean, they were still able to function. It makes me wonder what exactly the captain is doing then. I mean, of course he is the captain, and he provides guidance throughout their journey, but to see his guidance be silenced by the storm, and still the crew functioning must be a scene that makes any captain proud.

Those effects of which you speak is actually the tuba and bass drum slamming it! I loved the feel, and it brought up a ton of ideas.

The imagery for this song that i used was quite different then yours Karco, but I assure you the feeling of conviction and dedication are both the same.

My image was that of a noble and pure fighter, who through a series of events finds everything around him to betray him and his goals. The people he risked his life for countless times refute him, his very gods take away from him the strength and power he needs to continue fighting the darkness that infects this earth.

Blind by his own commitment to fighting the darkness he turns to the saying "Fight fire with fire!" and resorts to the dark arts to destroy the very same. However he takes that saying, and makes it his new motto, altered as follows.

"Fight fire with fire, and build it so your fire is so large it builds into an infernal storm, and by absorbing the other fire, it will destroy everything, and in it's wake, it will destroy itself."

The beginning is his strides towards corrupting everything around him so that he can begin crumbling it.

The choir segment is him standing in the middle of his empire. Built on ruin and hatred. Everything stops, the winds, the clouds part slowly, and lets streams of light shine on the corrupted earth. He raises his arms slowly, showing his work to the gods who refused him.

"Though you'd dare take from me, I continue to give back to you the only way I can..."

he lets his arms drops and the excited theme begins again. The world begins to explode into fire, pure, cleansing, angry fire. Veins of darkness find their way into everything before exploding likewise. Slowly, things begin to die. Smiling the corrupted paladin closes his eyes and dies with his creation.

I had another ending for the story, one that ends with some heroes fighting the confused paladin better, but I like this one better!

Thank you for the review Karco, I hope I didn't write too much :P. I'm glad you liked this piece. It did take a lot of effort, but it was worth it.

[_-={Victorious Day}=-_]

I recognize this...

I played Septenary's game, and it's pretty good! :D I hadn't yet listened to this song when I played the game so I was thinking, "Is this Maestro?" Because this song really sounds like you...

What I really like about this song are all the staccato notes... and... a shaker?! XD It fits, though, and it all works towards a rushed atmosphere. You almost go overboard with the octaves but your adding and removing of them fits perfectly, and the song flows.

And here's the "smooth" part! For me, the ideal battle theme has two parts: a climax and the build to it, with all the staccato notes and crazy octaves, for all the actiony parts... and then the smooth part in between climaxes with legatos and similar. It seems you find them similarly, too...

Here's a thought, for your work on music for games in the future. You know how the music from most famous games or series has a central theme or melody? Try to make one of those for the next game you begin working on... and then when you're developing music for the climax of the same game, have that theme come back. I'm sure you know how cool that sounds. :D

Now, it's fairly difficult for me to come up with a creative story for the battle themes, as most orchestrated battle themes bring up images of medieval wars... don't you think? But I'll come up with something yet!

The armies have decided to try something new. Far enough from the battlefield to see but not be seen, a scribe sits down on a stone, asked to write down everything he sees about the battle for future military strategy. The warriors then leave, and take their places for an ambush, hiding behind plants, trees, bushes, and the like.

The scribe sees another army arrive over the horizon and begins to jot down notes. It passes through where the former army had hidden - all the way through, undisturbed. The scribe, confused, begins to erase notes and rewrite some when he hears a shout, followed by many others. Looking up he sees the first army ambushing the second from behind. He hears the sound of metal against metal and sees that the second army is becoming badly overpowered. He looks closer... and sees the shields of both armies carry the same insignia! Horrified, he watches the one-sided battle quickly end. Among the dead he sees citizens he knew.

After the fight the scribe overhears news of their king, gone senile, pitting factions of his army against each other. He hears that his own role was part of the king's plan. And betrayed as he is, he has little power to do anything about it. He sits and writes, hoping that among the single victorious days for each faction there will be one for the entire army, against the king.

Great work, as always... I tried to incorporate that title into the end as well. Though I'm not really sure about your logic behind its name... I wouldn't call a battle theme Victorious Day. :\ Care to explain?

Expect a review for your latest submission as well! Hah, you're submitting so often I can hardly keep up! :D Voted 5, keep up the great work.

MaestroRage responds:

Well Victorious Day was my way of trying to dictate a feeling of confidence. You know how generals are, they wake up, smell the air, shake their heads with energy and go "Today, will be a victorious day!" and then they go about their duties ready for the fight ahead. This was the reason behind the name.

As for your story, It seems to follow the plot of the game? Or at least at the beginning, where they slay the people running away?

In any case, the scribe idea was a good one. I suppose the king should be happy to have troops so dedicated to his words that they would throw their lives at each other despite them carrying the same coat of arms.

As for future games, I know EXACTLY what you mean. However to be honest I didn't have the time to create an entire score of pieces for the project, and there were quite a few loops that Septenary wanted to use so it would have been impossible to create a central theme. I hope if he decides to do another project, I can work with him again, and this time around, it will be entirely new and original works *unless he wants otherwise!*

Thank you for the review Karco, I truly appreciated it. I'm also glad you liked the piece ^^.

[_-={Defiance}=-_]

Garr. I'm blown away. >:(

I'm working on an epic orchestral of my own and this blows mine away... dunno. Like idle air by a hurricane. XD Ironic how that relates to parts of my story. That aside: This is really, really epic.

You're definitely trying to be creative with your instruments, though the flute in the beginning doesn't quite fit - it fits just a second later but for a moment it sounds wrong. :\ I think it's measures 5 through 8. Sounds like a different instrument would fill that position at that point better... just a thought. That aside your efforts for originality aren't wasted as it makes the song that much better. :D

Just a thought... your melody, in places, is all quarter notes. And while the notes themselves, pitchwise, are great, the rhythms I think could have been a bit more creative than that. ;) It's the easy path to go with simple rhythms but knowing you, you should be able to put in that extra bit of effort to make it... that much better. ;)

Defiance is a VERY appropriate title for this song. You'll see in my story...

The view starts high in the sky, level with the sun and the moon, but rapidly descending through the clouds. Of many shapes and sizes, the clouds are everywhere and get lighter as the view descends farther. The sun is bright. Fast, visible currents of wind can be seen tearing up the air, moving in ribbonlike patterns, leaving trails behind them of the clouds they burst through.

The view shifts out of the range of the clouds and a great mountain takes up the full picture. Cone-shaped, green at the foothills and white at the summit, the view then expands and the clouds from before are shown in a different view than before : encircling the mountain. The sky is clear above the peak, however, and the camera rapidly shifts to that peak.

A man is climbing the mountain. He struggles - he has been at it for days. He is muscular, and gruff, and while not quite shady he holds a distinctly "wrong" feeling about him. Not evil, but not a normal person either. The mountain steepens as he approaches the summit but he refuses to allow the mountain to conquer him. Rather, he pushes onward.

Through one last mighty heave he reaches the summit. He stands at the top and beholds the panorama. He looks up at the sun, glaring angrily and menacingly down upon him, as if ready, but waiting, to strike him off the summit. He views the moon next. Its unusual paleness, despite its closeness to the sun, almost personifies fear within its rocky surface. Lastly, he views the clouds. He is the only one they do not offer shade from the harsh light and heat of the sun.

The man looks up at the hole between the ring in the clouds. He looks at the sun and moon again. He shouts. "Begone!" He casts his hands up. As the moon, slowly moving the entire time, envelops the sun, it (the sun) explodes in brightness. Long involved in a cruel struggle, these deities of nature have reached the trial of their lives. Did the moon provide safety for the man? Did the clouds keep out the incredible light for the rest of the world? Or has the sun finally overwhelmed the earth and all relating to it?

The answer is known by those who lived... if any.

Notice I tried to make this one match the theme this was made for... I think I did a pretty good job. :P What do you think? Does it match the epic-ness of the piece itself? Hope you enjoy the review, as always... great job with the song. Voted 5, looking forward to more... :)

MaestroRage responds:

The story was quite excellent! This person, though he may carry an essence of "wrong" he still commands such power? One would hope that the world does not anger such fierce forces... then again the sun did seem deem mankind appropriate for destruction :(

the bastard.

Again, it was an excellent story Karco, I really enjoyed reading it. Thank you for that.

Concerning your feedback.

You are right, the rhythim in several places are simplistic, often quarter notes, and this was purely to make the song blend in with the cinematic better. I mean if the song was too distracting, or moved around too much, it would actually hinder the power of the cinematic. For this purpose, nice long, or steady quarter notes.

I know what you mean with the flutes, where I have failed this time, I will succeed in the next!

Another awesome review Karco... where DO you get the energy!?

Thank you greatly for the review, i'm glad you liked it!

[_-={These games we play}=]

This is the song I found interesting...

And that's because it stars the piano. :D I've seen songs of yours with the piano playing a front role but none so much as this one... and the piano being a favorite of mine, I HAD to review it. ;)

Simple, quiet intro. It builds... I get the image of some huge building or mountain from far away, towering over you even at a distance, giving the feeling of insignificance.

Piano gains complexity, nice. I especially like the composing in the higher range... when it goes down in some kind of arpeggio is my favorite part. :D

It seems to get a bit TOO complex in places - there seems to be a slight excess of instruments. And even if it feels like they're all necessary, which it often does, you could at least have EQed/mastered it a bit better... it's a little fuzzy at times.

Lastly - while your style is vibrant in this song, it's different - everything's different and it's almost a transformed version of your style, making it feel especially fresh, new, etc. compared to your other songs.

I don't have much else to say about the song technically, great as it is... so I'll move to the story.

A man enters a company building and applies for a job there. He gets it, and as the bottom-rung employee, begins to work.

Coming home one day early on in his career he tells his family he's begun a big project. It'll be the project of his career that he will be constantly be working on throughout. They wish him luck.

Months pass, followed by years. As his project progresses he climbs the ladder and slowly gains in position at his job - and in popularity, among his peers. He's finally getting somewhere.

This project often gets held back, hindered, or damaged. Many trials are faced, and sometimes it seems it will be ruined. But he doesn't give up, he keeps on going and the project becomes bigger and bigger, looking to be a success.

And then, one day, this man comes back from home, broken. He has been, unfortunately, fired from his job. His project, conveniently, was destroyed on the same day. His family asked him what his project was. The man answered. "That project," he said, "was my reputation."

So what do you think? It's something I thought up and it fit this song, in my opinion, remarkably well. It's also one of my favorites that I've given so far... :) Great work overall, Maestro, it's a 5 and a download for you.

MaestroRage responds:

Hey Karco! Thanks again for the review, also thanks for giving the heads up... sometimes I wish so hard that they would just put in the review alert system...

Anyways, lets get onto your points.

You know, the inspiration behind this piece was a rather strange one. I was listening to this song, made for an anime series (I love anime soundtracks, even though the series itself may suck, the composers for the tracks are generally very good)

In any case, in this song, the composer created a melody, the dominant melody, and then in the background, was an entirely different melody. It didn't make any sense with the other melody, and because it was made into half ambient, it didn't clash TOO much, but the experience was very very interesting. Two melodies playing at once... a mess, but workable.

Which is why this piece may have that attribute. There are parts, where there are 7 separate melodies going off at once. Sadly due to the delay and other effects melody lines are lost, but trust me, there are enough melodies going off at once here.

As for this story. Reputation is a project we all seem to take on, even if it's not with a conscious mind. But that the man would aim towards just this goal, seems both shallow, yet at the same time shows qualities of dedication.

This story will have me thinking for a while I can assure you.

In any case, I am very grateful for the review, thank you for it, i'm glad you liked the piece!

[[TCM] Insert Title Here]

Is this the one you showed me a while ago?

Yeah, this is the one. I pretty much gave the review to you in chat but I can still say a few thins that I did and didn't like here.

Technically, there are no clashing notes, but there are still some awkward notes played by the lead. Let's chat sometime, I can help you redo that melody.

The transition in the beginning of the song - where the percussion temporarily goes away - that's nice. :D Put a little more effort into that and it's good.

You try to put effort into making your melody diverse, but keeping one synth diverse won't hold the entire song from being boring. And then your lead is slightly underpowered, I think. Make it just a little louder and, again, chat with me and I can work with you on that.

Melody aside, your harmonies are great. I like your synth choice with the arp and bass synth. Again, though, you might want to work on diversity...

Percussion... well, they're original samples but I don't like them. It sounds like you used them raw, without FX or anything. Come on, is that as original as you are? >:(

Not much else to say. It needs work but could potentially be pretty good. :) Next time we chat I'll help you with it, if that's what you want. Looking forward to it...

MtMTheCandyMan responds:

Yeah, I could have used some effects on the percussion, but I couldn't find anything that went well with it. LoL.

Thanks as usual for the great review.

[_-={Sunset Requiem}=-_]

What's with all these games? :O

It seems like half of your music on this page is for some production or another. Nook, Escalation, Tribal War... But then again, you're often just that good. :P This song's giving me that impression already.

Having composed my first orchestral (thanks again for reviewing it :D) now I see how it can be difficult to incorporate more instruments than simply strings in certain situations when the song is fine as it is. So I'm not criticising you for it... and I have to say it definitely IS pretty good as is. :D Epic.

Little or no repetition, but one song, marching forward. The tribe members now wander on their own, each with their own unique slopes and turns in their way. Remember Passionate Freedoms? Imagine that, except our character's walking into the sunset. Instead of a "walking along a path" feeling, wandering is the word to describe travel. But that's not what my feature story is this time... ;)

This song being as it is, I have nearly no criticism for it. Great variation, it's always new and yet the notes don't sound random. Something I think I should bring up, though - I don't quite know what to call them, but those foreboding-sounding, reeverbed drums in the background... instead of having them play something like every measure, why don't you try sometime holding them off at parts as the song quiets down... and then bringing them back in as the song shifts into motion again for extra effect? Just a thought.

Hmm. As you thought my song's file size was a bit big, I'm curious as to why this one's is so small. I'm guessing it's, what, two? Three minutes long? You must have exported it at one small bitrate to have that size.

A view of sunset is my first image. The sky at the ground is bright red and as one, standing on the ground, looks up, the colors shift through the rainbow spectrum until, on the other side of the horizon, they attain an eerie violet. The ground on the horizon near the sun shimmers and waves, due to heat, and through the ripples, distant figures phase in and out of visibility.

The image extends down here, and a tree comes into view. Despite its crooked stature and knobbly texture, it is healthy. It leans over, like an aged man bent from the trials of life. The camera continues to pan down. Slash marks are seen on the tree.

What really happened here is anyone's guess. As the sun continues to set, the figures disappear over the horizon for the last time. The sky fades, and the birds stop chirping. Life slows to a stop until the morning.

Quite some imagery inspired by another great song. :) Voted 5, and downloaded... great job on this one. And... expect a review for one of your less recent songs in the near future, as well. I gave it a listen and I decided I would HAVE to review it sooner or later. :) Keep up the good work.

MaestroRage responds:

First point i'd like to make. This was exported in 80kb/s I've been trying to find the perfect spot to have songs. All this time i've exported them at exactly 128kb/s regardless of how much action is going on, and this isn't right. I mean why put a plant by itself in a greenhouse? It makes it more sense to put it in a corner. So I try to reduce the quality as much as possible without jeopardizing the overall quality.

Secondly, it's true. All my recent works are always for somebody else. I appreciate the work, and it gives me loads of experience working for the needs of others, which was really what I was doing at the very beginning. Making tracks for friends *and they politely telling me they were pure crap XD*

The drums are indeed supposed to symbolize their unending legacy. The story to be told from mouth to mouth for as long as time would allow it. I realize that pleasing the ear wise, it's not a good idea, but I go stupid with the metaphors from time to time, and though I don't expect anybody to get it, I put them in there anyways.

I really liked your story Karco. The image I had was that of a tombstone beneath the tree, the setting sunlight filtering through the leaves and casting long shadows onto the earth...

I greatly appreciate the review, thank you Karco. I'm glad you liked it!

[Hyperdestructive]

Wow... that a real word, or what?

Don't see titles like those every day. I assume this is going to be some high-energy song... heh. Love those.

Good opening... and here's the sliding synth and buildup! Aah, here's great composing but this time it's lacking something... which is fading in. :D That synth fading in playing a four note riff is great...

Your melody is great, and catchy, and everything I'd expect from you... the synth isn't anything special, but it's a good choice. Now, when you have a synth go freestyle as you do at some point or another in all of your songs, THAT'S a good synth.

Harmonies are good, though a bit lacking - I'd suggest having a bit more diversity in synth choice, as nearly all of them sound the same.

Freestyle again? It's the third time, now. I wouldn't reccomend it, awesome as it sounds. Only once, if at all, is what I'd go with.

Always after the freestyle it comes back to the same melody... maybe you could have a bit more to add each time it does. Just a thought...

Percussion, though solid this time, is poor samplewise. We should chat, if not to collab then for me to show you how to make some good percussion. >:)

Woah! Great ending! :O I seriously wasn't expecting that but it fit pretty well. That was my favorite part of the song... wonderful. :D

Overall great - work on synth diversity, drums, and you'll be cranking out masterpieces in no time. :D Keep up the good work.

NightHawk22 responds:

thanks for the review, As I said, summer would be best time to collab on a song. School is keeping me busy. I'm literally scrounging a few minutes here and there in the mornings and evenings to work on a song for a few minutes. Summer has a much more flexible work schedule. But as to Drum beats, It would be nice to talk a few minutes here and there about those. If you have AIM, pm me and I will tell you my screenname,
and yes, Hyperdestructive apparently is a real word!
NightHawk22