afliXion's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Maestoso Suite]

no....

This is certainly not a 'maestoso' suite. Maestoso means majestically, and 'suite' implies lots of movements. This sounded like... a skitzophrinic... and the bass in the beginning didn't mix well with the other voices, way to muddy.
In the fanfare section it was just the opposite, needed more of a bass, and I don't know why the drums suddenly stopped! They should have kept on going. Try to make your music more.... pleasing to the ear.

Scarlatti responds:

My God, how condescending can you be? I can only assume you practice, because you're very good at it.

I am very well aware of the meaning of the title. And I don't care one whit about its accuracy. Maestoso means majestically, yes. Clearly the beginning of the piece falls outside what you're willing to accept as 'majestic'. I don't care. Also, a suite can have as few as two movements.

I understand that you're trying to help, but a supercilious attitude mixed with mediocre knowledge, severe ratings, and vague jabs don't help. "Pleasing to the ear" is nothing.

I can see why Winterwind decided to quit this place. One person can come along, drop a vicious rating like this one, and drop one's music from the top ten into the morass of 4.00 and below. It would be a good system if votes were steady and thoughtful. But any piece not near the top is neglected.

My aesthetic is not soundtrack music, but self-expressive music. It is what I want it to be. That requires more attention than most Newgrounds users are willing to pay, I've learned.

As far as making my music more pleasant to inattentive listeners: no. I refuse.

[Old School Village Music]

kind of boring...

Alittle TOO old school. Needs some type of percussion, or beat, or something. Also some variation in the harmony (or meldoy even) would have been nice.

[Piano Concerto, I]

gah....

All modern piano concertos sound the same. Just abunch of arpeggios in an attempt to make it sound virtuostic. This came across as an ugly sound with no melody. I've always thought that the piano concertos are best left to the greats of classical music, cause no one else has been able to write a good one.

Scarlatti responds:

I am tempted to respond either with an attempt to communicate how awful this review made me feel, or angry declamations againt you. But that won't help anything. I remind myself that Newgrounds is not a bastion of thoughtful reviewers. I cannot believe anyone writing a review like this has thought about it, or considered the emotions of the composer. I hesitate to ascribe it to jealousy, but I know this piece is far better than you have made it out to be.

To begin with, classical music is the least melodic of the general genres. Melody is not a concern of mine. That aside, there is not just one, but several melodies in this piece.

"Just a bunch of arpeggios" was published in a review as a critique of one of Rachmaninoff's concertos, and I've always found those rather good. What do you make of the chordal section, the violin break, the string interlude, and the tutti chords, in light of your arpeggio-based view?

The statement "piano concertos are best left to the greats of classical music" is deeply offensive. It dismisses the bravery of artists in one ill-conceived phrase. I can ascribe it to one of three things: 1)a lack of knowledge; 2)a lack of thought; or 3)a lack of intelligence. However offensive your review is, it's written in intelligible sentences, so I'll wager it's a lack of thought. I do not think of myself as a great artist, but I do think of myself as an artist.

"All modern piano concertos sound the same". Here is the heart of the matter. Listening to classical music is not like listening to Skid Row. It's like the difference between glancing at graffiti as you walk by and carefully examining a van Gogh painting. There are deeper levels of understanding. Because you find no subtelties in my music does not mean they aren't there.

I have restrained my anger fairly well. It's all I can do not to end with some acid-tongued insult.

[Scotland the brave.]

Love it!

I love Scotish music, and I love bag pipes. This was a great piece, and had a dance feeling to it to. I wrote a Scotish song to, check it out! (wish I had your eqiupment though.)

[L of Z Overworld March!]

I don't know....

The whole time I was listening, I felt like there was something missing. THE BASS! This mix needs alot more bass. Sometimes the percussion was alittle over done, like the beginning. But usually it was good. I would have liked to hear more timpany too.

paradiddlesjosh responds:

There actually was no timpani, so probably just putting a little in would meet your above expectations.

And also, it's a march. I'm limited here by the number of bass instruments a bit.

[Dracula's Castle (SotN) String]

Great.

This is my favorite mix of yours. Good blend of the instruments, nice moving base and percussion.

paradiddlesjosh responds:

Did you check out Alucard's Castle yet? Or is this a review for it and you just put it on the wrong track?

[Space Warp]

Great!

It is perfect for a space game. I could almost see it being used in Star Fox. I say almost because, the song could have done more. Maybe a soft section, or a part with a faster beat that implies trouble or something. In the future, I think you could benefit from expanding on the main musical ideas in your piece.

Bad-Atom responds:

Thanks,

A funny story to go with this theme - I was at work when this theme popped into my head. I didn't have my voice recorder on me, and I didn't want to forget the melody, so I called my home number and hummed the melody into my answering machine. Then when I got home, it was there for me and I put the whole thing together in an hour.

I may think about expanding it in the future too.

[Sun Goes Down]

I like it.

Nice simple melody, blended with different instruments, making different colors,.. Very nice.
Bouncy base gave it a nice feel. The string synths made it sound like wind. Nice effect!

Bad-Atom responds:

Thanks,

The funny thing about this theme is the inspiration for it. Look up a flash video called "Big Bird's Hide and Speak" and listen to the song. That's where the inspiration came from, believe it or not.

[Super Mario Bros. - Remix]

Nothing new!

Nothing new... It sounds like you worked to hard.
It was hard to listen to, to much noise all at once.

Bad-Atom responds:

Thanks for the review,

Yeah, making video game music is sort of new to me. I'm sure a thousand other people have remixed this theme, but I just wanted to see what I could do.

And since this was my first one, I spent a few days working on it. Usually the less time I spend on something, the better it turns out. What's up with that? :)

[A Foothold Spirit]

Nice.

I like the swing of the music, reminds me of some fancy resturaunt in the 50's.
By the way, I sent you an e-mail regaurding Gethsemane. Did you get it?