Rottenbeard's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Freefall (Piano Improv)]

Great stuff! Lots of interesting dynamics!

This is a really nice improv piece, I like how the piece slowly flows between different styles of playing, and the extensive use of the damping/sostenuto adds a really nice, fresh sounding change of pace throughout. The soft, contemplative leadout was a great way to cap the whole thing off.
Once again you've managed to create solo piano music that somehow doesn't bore me. Not sure how you do it, man, but keep it up, your playing ability is killer.

Cheers,
Daniel

MrMusicalLion responds:

Thanks :D [shall reply more indepth soon, off on holiday for a week! Ciao ^_^ ]
Edit: Well I'm back from holiday and ready and eager to make more music :D Well more or less when I make music, it's like I'm quite literally dreaming, I go off into a little world of my own and I describe what I see, using the notes of the piano. I know exactly what you mean about solo piano music being boring.. it's because most of it really doesn't have much flair and is more or less just regurgitated...

The main theme for this piece is the way it casually flits about, like a feather blown about by the wind, at times it falls gracefully but then the breeze picks it up again and sends it on another whimsical journey

I certainly shall keep up with the music, many more planned to come ^_^ Thanks, as always.
-mmlion

[Pensive (Piano Improv)]

So much emotion in the playing..

I love the contemplative feel of this. It baffles me that highly skilled musicians like you aren't rated higher on NG.
While from a technical playing standpoint this song isn't as impressive as your other song I reviewed (Spirited Steed), it is nonetheless extremely well composed, with again a great use of dynamics and a great deal of emotion put into the playing, which is where this track really shines ultimately. Lots of people can play piano, but few are able to convey emotion without it sounding boring or contrived.

I just wish this was longer! 1:33 is way too short :(

Please keep making stuff like this, you are very, very talented!

Cheers,
Daniel

MrMusicalLion responds:

Ah yeah it is way too short, I totally agree, my keyboard actually broke whilst playing this xD Which sucks. I'll try and do another version sometime, when I fix my 'playing keyboard' [I have one for playing and one for composing.. the playing one broke..]

Thanks for the other review too, much appreciated :) When I play piano pieces like this, although it may not be technically skilled, it requires a lot of attention to precise pedalling and also, as you say, dynamics.

I promise I'll make a longer version of this sometime, as you can probably hear, the music was going somewhere at the end but cut short because my keyboard decided that it was time to die xD

As for being higher rated, well, I haven't been uploading stuff here for long, so let's see ;)

edit: Also, I totally agree with this statement: 'Lots of people can play piano, but few are able to convey emotion without it sounding boring or contrived.' I tend to listen to most other pianists and .. I find myself coming back feeling like I've eaten something that is half-cooked or burnt.

Thankyou again!
-MrMLion

[Spirited Steed (Piano Improv)]

Brilliant. I love this!

A really superbly played piece. Your command of playing dynamics is fantastic, and overall the whole piece just flows really, really smoothly. I'd say you captured the image of what your friend envisioned pretty damned well.

Your ability as a pianist is truly impressive. Bravo!

Cheers,
Daniel

MrMusicalLion responds:

Thanks Again :)
There are other improvs I have, that I would upload, but they are too long.. xD [I have some improvs that are 30 minutes long. Have done a 3 hour one before, but not recorded.] If you go to my YouTube channel [search MrMusicalLion] , you'll find a whole bundle of other stuff I've made :) Enjoy!

[Haru Song]

Brilliant.

I absolutely loved this. Superb use of layering, and the vocal style reminds me very much of some of Sigur Ros' stuff, where the lyrics are nothing but gibberish so that the listener concentrates on the sound of it instead of the meaning, the fact you chose to use what appears as a latin base for the words makes the language sound both familiar and alien at the same time, a nice touch.

The production was also excellent, and the use of vocal dynamics really gave this some nice impact near the end.

You never cease to impress, Hania, keep it up!

Regards,
Daniel

[Death's Migration]

Well done.

I love the progression and soft plodding atmospherics. A very nice calm, grooving song to listen to. I do think it would've been nice if the song actually progressed just a bit more though, having it open up a bit towards the end with a bit of distortion and some more layering would've really added some impact to this and kept it from getting stale towards the end.

Production was decent, though there is some audible clipping. I also don't much care for the drum samples you used, though the patterns were otherwise relatively well done.

Overall, I enjoyed this, and i'm glad to see others on Newgrounds making this sort of music with this particular vibe. Keep it up, good sir!

Regards,
Daniel

Kayoszx responds:

Thanks for the review :D
I agree about the progression thing. I've been wanting to remake this song with a heavier ending for quite some time now, and now that I have to rerecord everything (cause of a computer crash) I'm probably gonna add a heavier ending ;)
and Idk about the drums, I personally like Drumset from Hell, so I think I'ma keep em ;)

[-Lost But Not Forgotten-]

Superb.

I love the ebb and flow of this. The transitions were extremely well done. The whole piece was strongly emotive, stern and powerful, namely due to great use of the full dynamic range of the instruments.
I can't stress enough how much I love the dynamic flow of this piece, you really did well on it. The sharp, constant contrasting between the mellow and epic parts really gave this piece legs to stand on. And finally, the soft piano outro was a nice touch at the end to see the piece out.

My only criticism is that the piece seems to be mastered a little to hotly overall, to my ears. Especially for classical which usually tends to benefit from a little less crushing of the audio and more room for dynamic range.

At anyrate, i'm honestly surprised that this track didnt get scored higher in the NAC, this is by far my favorite piece so far.

Cheers,
Daniel

[DARIA pinkfloyd wallcover LIVE]

Very nice!

This is great cover, interesting to hear it sung by a female. You guys did a good job with this cover, the playing was tight and the vibe was "right". The guitar playing also did pretty good justice to the original.

As a huge floyd fan, I approve!

Cheers,
Daniel

[Tetris On The Toilet]

I'm pretty sure..

That this is the best song i've ever heard on newgrounds, hahahaha.

[Prince of Spades Cover]

Great progression and great voice..

I really like this. The guitar playing was good, the progression was really nice, and you have a great singing voice.

You really need to ditch the auto-tune though, it really ruins the otherwise great natural feel of this piece. Could've also done without the drums at the end, I think. Still, overall it was a good listen. Keep it up :)

Cheers,
Daniel

[Movie Intro]

Nice!

Great evolving ambiance, and nice quiet use of piano. I really enjoyed this, shame it's so short though, I think it could've been drawn out a bit longer!

Very nice, though. :)

Cheers,
Daniel

SuperGoodSound responds:

i do a lot of pretty short ones i find