MJTTOMB's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Symph #1 in Dm - 2nd mvnt]

Heh, finally got around to this.

Finally got around to reviewing something for you.

Very nice. This really was a bit simple for my liking, but it worked well for its purpose, it fits as a second movement. The second section, however, was a little too upbeat. The two or three noticeable key changes worked well. The instrumentation was a little off, a large, powerful crescendo would've helped alot.

Kudos to you for writing a symphony, I hope to do the same at some point.

Might I say, you've improved a LOT since your first songs. Way to stick with it.

Regards,
MJTTOMB

MusicalRocky responds:

Hello : D

Yeah, the theme is quite simple, I could've expanded it a bit, but I thought it served its purpose, didn't want to go overboard. I did all I wanted to do in the piece : )

Second section might seem a little upbeat, but really it's the same tempo throughout (except ritards and accelerandos of course). Okay, okay it's not REALLY the same. It's twice as fast, but written the same, I didn't want to go through the trouble of 32nds lol.

Ah, yes, the key changes. I think I went to...F minor at some point, B minor later on, ended in D. Quite fun those were, glad you thought they worked well : )

Now do you mean the instrumentation during the modulations were off? If so, you may be right, actually I quite agree, didn't really think to do crescendi there.

Yep, writing a symphony...'twas great fun, and lots of work, I assure you. Hope you write one someday too, it's very rewarding : D

Improved a lot since my earlier songs? Indeed, I have a LOT. In fact, I rarely ever go near those songs : /

Thanks for the review.

Rocky

[Death of a Ranger]

lol.

Power rangers. XD.

Great fingerwork you've got there.

5 and a cheers,
MJTTOMB

TheCrazyPianist responds:

It's supposed to make you sad, stop laughing you jerk.

[WIP- The Marquis's Waltz]

Great.

I fived it, my man.

Great piece. Just maybe a few suggestions.

The Tremolo on the strings was somewhat unnecessary, and the crash cymbals were a little obnoxious. The glock/bells were great. Nice melody, great smooth progression of ideas, you've mad a fan out of me, my friend.

Beacon515L responds:

Thanks! The piece was kinda rushed, and, I say again, is not finished. I suppose I could have done without the tremolo, and that may be the way the piece turns out. The cymbals- well, perhaps. The last bit was kinda poor, in my opinion. Still, it's a WIP. What can I say?
Thanks for stopping by!

[Rage of the Champions]

Heh, shweet. ("h" intended)

The percussion solo rocked. Very nice melody, good accompaniment by the brass, possibly add some fills with the brass (XD, wrote "bras" the first time), like having them play not just once every measure. I heard only one point where they did so. I liked the staccato strings in the background. Melody was nice, the tubular bells could have been a little more variant during the percussion solo, the one note got a little boring. Overall, great song.

MaestroRage responds:

This song is by far my most percussion heavy, I don't think i've ever done something that uses as much percussion as this!

As for the staccato brass playing only once per measure, it is conceivable to have them play more then that yes, but it also gets messy. I didn't actually try it to be honest... I suppose I should have!

The more I listen to this piece, the more I am convinced a version 2 is necessary...

As for the tubuler bells, I intentionally made them boring to try and emulate some church bells of the sorts, to bring about some more intimidating imagery.

Thank you for the review MJTTOMB! I'm glad you liked it!

[Marche au Château in G minor 2]

Hmph.

Damnit.

You and your music have been causing me much grief. this song was in my sleep last night, which is the prime time for my musical ideas to come out. :(

Very good man.

Not quite what I saw coming. the theme was presented first with woodwinds. not bad, but after the twirling strings, I think it would have let the built-up energy out faster if you'd gone to a brass mini-crescendo thingy.

I can't tell what the little chimes things are. is that a glockenspiel? Seems a little high, idk. Cute nonetheless.

A masterwork.

But I can't listen to it anymore. it's getting stuck again.

Loops perfectly too.

Regards,
MJTTOMB

Winterwind-NS responds:

haha i just realized u gave me a 0/10
so we're both even now lol

-winter

[_-={Vengeful Mind Break}=-_]

Voted 5.

Voted 5, wrote a massive review, lost it. To hell with this.

Good work.

Meh, not having a good day, my friend. Not a good day at all.

MaestroRage responds:

Hey MJTTOMB!

Thats perfectly fine. I know how it is to lose a large review... hurts you real deep. I appreciate you leaving something though, lets me know you were here to listen to it :). I'm glad you liked the piece, thank you for the review!

Better days will come your way, hold out. Misery may like company, but rarely does it like to commit.

[i2 - Sweet Agony]

Woops.

I suppose the promised review is in order.

To start, a dissection.

Violin- A good little simple-yet-pleasing line that adds the kind of edge-of-the-seat flavor. Well written.
Violoncello- Worked with the violin quite nicely.
Viola- Almost unheard. it was one of the less obvious instruments to my ear.
Piano- A good accompaniment.
Timpani- Thinly placed, and not quite pleasing when used. Not bad, but the tremendous timpani roll followed by a minuscule cymbal crash lacks flavor.
Cymbals- bigger. Bigger. BIGGER. Make it loud, it should cut through the rest of the song like a steak knife through butter, not a like bread stick through rock.
Muted Trumpet (I can't tell for sure what it is, sounds a little like a clarinet too, but the nature of the line is that of a horn, so I'll stick with the assumption that it's a trumpet.)- Should be in the foreground, as it's a lone brass instrument, it's presumably carrying the melody.
Other Drums- Sufficient.

Good job with that. I'd advise French Horns and Trombones as well.

The mix was pretty good. Keep up the good work.

i2abbitz responds:

Taking notes as I'm reading. Louder cymbals, louder horns. After I had gotten home, the whole piece seemed too quiet to me also.

I need louder lows, and heightened highs.

Thank you for your review mjttomb.

[Evil-Dog - The Journey]

Great.

I'll have to listen to some of your earlier stuff to see how you've progressed.

Anyway, this here is a great song. Don't be modest, I'm being quite serious. I'm modest about my songs, but you really shouldn't be about yours. you've got a gift here, and you've done what great musicians do. They make great music. XD.

Great music is not about "hey, this song has hot lyrics" or "ohmigod their lead singer is so hot". It's truly about making you think. Making you feel. This song really connected with me, or I with it, I'm still unsure which, but somehow I find myself in love with this thing. Keep up the good work, and the good fight.

Evil-Dog responds:

I like your perspective on music :) thanks for the review :)

[-(WB)-Symphony of Tears]

A pat on the back.

Not really classical. Not even a symphony.

BUT

Musically speaking, fthis has to be one of the best pieces I';ve heard in a while that's composed almost completely out of changing ostinatios.

I believe this piece fits well under the genre of minimalism. Following the example of my favorite minimalistic piece, could you remix this with 2 vibraphones, a flute, a piano, and maybe a few strings and other woodwinds? I think that would sound fantastic.

4/5.

WritersBlock responds:

I started out with a piano and a cello, they sounded horrible so I ditched them, it was going to be classical, but it changed...

Wow, thanks for the compliment! I could try to remake this, although I doubt I have samples that would fit what you're looking for. One time I tried writing a concerto, the notation was alright, just the samples were terrible.
If I manage to get a decent sound from it I'll probably take afliXion's advice and add a keychange somewhere.

Cheers for the review.

[Rig - Introduction]

Okay.

Not really that original. I'm not aware if this was intentional or not, but the piano line was almost the same as the melody of one of my pieces, so I can't really give you much for originality. Anyway,

Suggestions:
1. Instrumentation-
Like stated before, the piano thing with the solo in the beginning was a little bland.

Instruments you used:
Piano- A pianist could play that in their grave. In fact, they'd probably be dying from boredom playing that. Try making it a little more interesting.
Violin- The violin could have used a little more action, something like sixteenth note arpeggios that make a really fast kind of "running from the bad guy" sound.
Viola- No complaints. It had a good texture.
Cello- Too light. I'd love to hear it, but it just gets hidden in between the rest of the viol family.
Voices- A pretty good effect. I'd love to know how you did that.
Reversed piano- Sweet effect.

Instruments that would work well-
Tubular bells- Amazing at creepy stuff like this.
French Horn- My personal favorite instrument. Great for Crescendos.
Staccato Contrabass- Great for sending chills up your spine.

2. Structure:

Couldn't help but feel disappointeds with this song. It needs a crescendo or some form of closure.

Review:

Originality- 6
Diversity- 7, the piano line's too repetitive and easily playable.
Clarity- Turn the cello up a little bit.
Effort- 10

Keep it up.

Rig responds:

Thanks for the thoughtful review!
Yeah, the piano's really simple. But that's the one they wanted. Customer's always right. And the levels ARE kinda iffy, but I mixed this with my headphones.
Considering I whipped this up in 45 minutes while they were recording in the studio, I think it came out pretty well. Thanks again!