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Rampant

109 Audio Reviews

49 w/ Responses

Snakes on a... Elevator

This reminds me of that one time when I was in an elevator, and then -- well, actually, nothing happened.

Oh this is a nice---OHMYGOD IS THAT A SAXOPHONE!?

The main melody is quite nice, it definitely sounds uneasy and uncertain, living up to the title quite nicely. There's also a nice bit of dissonance, which adds to the feeling of things not being quite right.

It's like... a game or something, where the world is normal, but feels out-of-place. Or, actually, I envision this being used in the Reincarny games.

And there's a saxophone. Cool. :D

Good luck in the contest!

Wii Party on LSD

The middle section, from 1:02 to about 1:50, sounds like Nintendo Wii if a gaming console could use hallucinogenic drugs. I'm not even sure what that would sound like in reality, but I think this track comes pretty close.

It's upbeat, it's D'n'B, it's orchestral, and most of all, it's just FUN. I'm not a huge fan of dubstep et al, but I was actually quite sad when this one ended...

Keep up the excellent work, and best of luck in the competition!

Atundra responds:

Thanks buddy! I have a feeling this one isnt orchestral enough to do well in the comp but meh its always worth a try haha!

Thanks for the review !

It needs more anvil!

...I see you really like StormDrum 2 ;P

There's really not much that I can say that hasn't already been said in Steph's mega-review XD

Well, so this isn't a waste of space, I will add that I love the percussion, and the strings and the... well, everything. And I love how you build up all the tension, and then release it at the end.

One final thing: I hate bugs. Time to load up on Raid ;)

Wheee, I'm Flying!

This is a beautiful cinematic track, it's sweeping, it's orchestral, and most importantly, you're working from an incredibly effective but simple theme, which makes it easy to remember. (I'm still humming the main theme.)

This, I think, rivals Michael Giacchino in terms of awesomeness. You've captured the essence of flying over a country in an orchestral composition. Your use of the marimba (or is it a xylophone?) at the beginning of the piece is really effective, and I love the way you bring it back throughout the track.

Now, there's really only a couple of... well, they're not even complaints, they're just suggestions:

1. Perhaps more ethnic instrumentation? I know this is an orchestral competition but, if you revisit this piece, I'd love to hear what it would sound like if, at some point later in the piece, you switched the theme over to some bagpipes and/or duduk (or any other ethnic Middle Eastern instruments). That sort of instrumental development would really make you feel like you're flying around the whole world.

2. It ends too abruptly! Now this is a good and bad thing: I feel like the track is the perfect length, and it does what it needs to do. But, you have the violins holding a single note for the last few seconds -- it sounds like the piece wants to go on, but in a different direction. Think of "Star Wars" -- you have the main overture, then the music settles down and tenses up as the Star Destroyer comes into view, chasing Leia's ship. That's sort of what I envision here -- you have this flying main theme, then the track sounds like it wants to continue on to score the scene after the title credits.

reel2 responds:

I must thank you for your kind words! And I agree 100%

Most of the time I get suggestions to do like more flute and stuff, and frankly I just let em pass, but your ideas made so much more sense in the way of telling a story through an musical composition that I feel I must thank you again! :D

Stay tuned for more! I would love to hear more words from you in the future

He's Hiding Behind the Fridge!

No, don't open the fridge door, don't open the fridge-----!!

This is a great throwback to horror soundtracks of previous decades, and your main theme (on cellos, I think) sounds like it belongs in some sort of Fugue from Hell -- how to describe it better?

How about: "Johann Sebastian Bach, if he scored 90's horror films."

Your orchestration is quite good -- to the point at which I would never have guessed that you primarily listened to metal -- and your violins are all over the place, which fits perfectly.

You have this massive build-up to 3:06, creating all this tension. Then it gets really quiet, relieving the tension: that's fine. But at the end, I feel like the track should continue to build up even more tension than the first time. That's my $.02, anyway.

Well that, and I think it needs more cowbell-- I mean, timpani :D

Ambient Orch

When I started listening to this, I was really wondering where it would go. With a title like "Majesty," I was expecting the composition to be really grand, possibly even classical.

But, it doesn't do that. At all. It goes in the opposite direction. The synth strings are ambient, almost mesmerizing. It's like a musically-induced trance, but that's not really a good description.

The parts where the trumpet enters are very nice, and it sounds good even though it's not the most realistic sounding trumpet. The clarinet and flutes sound thick and, well, again, ambient. Usually I'd say that's not a good thing, contrary to their nature (especially for the flutes), but in the context of this composition it really works well.

So yes, the title for this track works well in a weird, convoluted, roundabout way. But not royalty as in Kings and Queens. When I hear this, I think "majesty" in terms of "giant spaceship" or "the endless expanse of space."

8/10 & 4/5 (but only because NewGrounds won't let me vote 4.5)

----
RampantMusik

Xyresic responds:

You're taking the name too seriously... it isn't an indication of the mood of the song at all. If . I'm no good at names, so I called it a name I thought was appropriate for the genre, and in my opinion the song is quite majestic. I don't believe you should review a song based on your preconceptions due to the name of the song, but thanks anyway.

John Williams Meets Sins?

This is a fantastic composition, it sounds like it would fit in perfectly with the game, "Sins of a Solar Empire." It doesn't make me think so much 'escape the black hole,' to me it sounds more like a 'diplomacy-gone-wrong' scenario where the entire universe is at war.

So to me, it sounds like John Williams met 'Star Trek' inside 'Sins of a Solar Empire' :D

10/10 & 5/5

RampantMusik

XayberOptix responds:

To be compared to John Williams is totally an honor! Thanks for a great review!

Solemn & Soft

I love your orchestration -- very nice use of the EWQL samples, and a lovely composition.

Good luck in the NAC Orchestra competition!

9/10 & 5/5 (sorry that didn't help your score much -- my voting power isn't all that high).

callitsleep89 responds:

Thanks for the review! I hope it does OK in the competition. It's a shame I couldn't use the track I'm working on, but it was no where near done.

Non-commercial, royalty-free music. Need a custom soundtrack or to license music for commercial use? Feel free to contact me :)

James Graham @Rampant

Age 31, Male

Composer

Pennsylvania

Joined on 1/22/11

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