EmperorCharlemagne's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cossack Citadel (Mega Man IV)]

Good playing

I always loved the Cossack songs from MMIV, which is also one of my favorites in the Mega Man series.

If I can critique, it sometimes it feels that the melody/lead guitar gets drowned out by the other instruments around. Maybe you can beef up the lead a bit, volume-wise, or tone down the rhythm guitars, which is probably the wiser course.

I personally think it would help out this track a lot to have a very clearly-defined melody.

Other than that, this is well--made and enjoyable.
Great job!

TheJonnyDeath responds:

I noticed this too, mainly in the first half. Thanks for pointing it out!

[-( Wut )-]

Pretty rad stuff

Seeing this in the Advertisement thread, I decided "hey, this looks interesting enough to listen to!"

And I certainly wasn't disappointed.

I know plenty of folks around here don't like experimental songs- they'd rather keep things safe. But I like it when a piece of music takes risks or operates outside of the standard conventions- the latter of of which this song seems to do an awful lot.

Love the effects, the swirling soundscapes, and the synth sounds- it sounds interesting, fun, and most importantly, it sounds like it's a living, breathing thing.

So in short, I liked this a lot. The only thing I can say against it is that the way it loops is very artificial and jarring, and if it wasn't meant to loop, I kinda could have stood to see a more effective ending (maybe something with a fade-out?).

Still, I enjoyed this very much.

Tykwa responds:

:D.

[[39]Revolution[39]]

Well made and fun to listen to

Saw this in the Advertisement thread, so I thought I'd give it a go:
A lack of main theme (if this is such a case) never really bothered me.

However, I will say that this song shows lots of polish and professional talent, which is something that the trance/dance community on Newgrounds has a high deficiency of. I might listen to more of it around here if were as half-bad as this song.

The only critique I can really come up with is that when the piano part comes in the first time, the reverb and volume could be turned down a bit- It's a bit too muddy and remember, the higher notes are, the less help they'll need from the volume nob.

Still, this was really good and I have to hand it to you for doing a fantastic job, at least to my ears (I'm sure you can hear every mistake you made, but that's what it's like to be a music-maker, right?).

flight39 responds:

Thanks for the review! Yeah, I do notice that muddiness now. I'll try not to do that in future songs.
I can hear all the mistakes in most of my songs. It's maddening. Another thing that was more common a while ago is that I would make a song, think it was the most brilliant thing I'd ever made, and spend inordinate amounts of time promoting it on various websites; then come back three months later and realize that it actually really sucked.

[One Metroid]

A few things to keep in mind:

While this is generally solid, I would have liked to see some variation in which synths you used.

The stuff you opened with, you used for the entire song, which to some can seem a little bit boring. Maybe you could've shaken things up by adding a few more voices (while at the same time subtracting the existing voices), giving a different flow at times. Experiment, you know?

Anyhoo, this is not all that bad, and fairly enjoyable, but keep on improving!
PS, Super is one of my favorite games too. I'mma a huge Metroid fan, so I can't fault you for having bad taste!

Cadarot responds:

Thanks for the feedback. I know what you mean about using the same thing constant. Not a whole lot of variety in the Super Metroid Theme though. I'm still tweaking the song little by little, I just uploaded it because I'm happy with what I have now.
Again, hanks for your feedback. I'll experiment a bit more and maybe I'll find something new I can add to this.

[HungerForMore-Metaljonus]

Well-made, and appropriately enjoyable

Sounds great, feels great, has a nice melody going for it...

This is just all around fun and cool, which is characteristic of your work. Gotta love the dark energy going around this piece.

Awesome job!

Metaljonus responds:

Thanks man!

[Don't Look Back]

Very good!

Before the 30-second mark, some of the harmonies really don't jive well- it seems needlessly dissonant at points. Dissonance is fine, but if there's no real reason for dissonance, then it feels out of place.

However, after that, the song got better.
The intro of the strings felt a little artificial, but I can forgive that, since once the fingers point back at me, they see how bad my sounds are!

This gets better as it goes along. I would recommend some panning though, because it feels like everything is clustered along the middle, which makes it hard to distinguish which instrument is doing what.

Keep up the good work, though- this is very good and I hope you continue to improve!

[-- [Kos] Rise Of The Argonauts]

go go argonauts

I like the sound of your instruments, on how they have that SNES/Genesis vibe about them in their metalized tone.

I think the comp. is fairly standard, and alright by most means.

Here's some things that bothered me though:
-while i didn't mind the arpeggio repeated so often, I think it could have stood to be a bit softer, because after a while playing it at the volume kinda was grating.

-the horn bass towards the middle could use a little muffling, i think. couple that with a softened arpeggio and I think you're golden.

Here's hoping you keep on getting better!

Kosmiker responds:

The instruments on this one are from Korg wavestation if I'm not mistaken.

Those are very good advices. I'll take them!

Thank you :)

[Nobody but Clouds]

this ain't too bad at all

I would've added some reverb and softened that click-click-clicking drum thing you got going on... It sounds out of place to me in its current form.

However, halfway through the song got better.

Not bad; keep up the good work and keep an ear out for things that stick out like a sore thumb.

Shiroah responds:

I'll do my best, thank you!
Should I submit a reworked version of this track?

[PG & Rucklo - Chant Remixxx Yo]

this doesn't fake the funk on a nasty dunk

This is both hilarious and addicting at the same time.

Great audio sampling!
Is the triple X for sex????

Rucklo responds:

the XXX is what you want it to be, baby ;X

[The rise of -]

Well done!

Part John Williams, part Gustav Holst is how i see this.

Very cinematic and very film-score-esque (though I guess that was the express intent), and it does everything very well within those parameters whilst at the same time having a distinctive flair and style to it. This is not easy to do, but in this song it is MADE to look easy.

I have no real complaints here; everything is executed with above-average skill and dedication.

Continue with the great work!

Tomppaah responds:

Thank you very much :) Haha, makes me happy to hear that you think this was made to look easy :D

John Williams <3 My hero