Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Lost in the dark]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
IndexatioN, Lost In The Dark: 8,8,8,6 (30/40)

Another beautiful but hard EDM track. I'm in love with this kind of stuff but I'm really hounding people for sticking to their strengths instead of making a song that undeniably reflects the image. By explaining your creative process a little more you could have at least guilted me into believing that you were inspired by the art. This isn't necessarily a competition that rewards perfect fidelity and danceability. That "relevance to artwork" category that I've been asked to reference is incredibly subjective but there are ways you could have tied ideas back to that adorable illustration. A light bulb makes a very distinct sound as it fizzles out and dies. I'd have sampled the gentle percussion sound that a dead lightbulb makes when you shake it. The scenery and character implies a hypnotic gentle loneliness. She's not exactly standing in a club surrounded by hundreds of sweaty guys, she is alone. That ending was perfect, the piano somber and reflective. As much as I love DNB and Dubstep, those pounding drums make no sense in this setting. It was the wrong energy for the illustration. The moth isn't flying or running, she is standing still fixated on the light bulb. You made a very high energy dance song when you could have just muted the drums and had a much more powerful ambient track that focused more on your graceful auxiliary sounds and tonal instruments.

I actually did something similar recently with an old DNB track in where I removed the drums and the song became 100% better. Sometimes less is more. Many artists feel that they need to shoe-horn their strengths into a track to get the judge's attention but sometimes going outside your comfort zone is how you really impress us. Music isn't always some grand affair with laser shows, pyrotechnics, and burlesque dancers. Sometimes the perfect song is a simple lonely melody around a crackling campfire. That final 30 seconds is what I most anticipated to fit the image. Try to go full orchestral percussion next time, mix in some moody French horns. Some violin strings would have sounded nice anywhere presented legato or staccato (bow vs plucked.) I'm a huge DNB nerd but I also love those romantic classical sounds. Many EDM artists hone their orchestral skills with composed introductions, breakdown, or outros. You clearly have the right skills to do that but sometimes you have to toss contemporary drums out the window entirely in favor of focusing on atmosphere.

You unknowingly shot yourself in the foot in that I happen to produce a ton of DNB/dubstep. Not only did the drums not fit the image but I felt like the drums weren't mixed perfectly. The drum samples got repetitive and lacked a little energy. I've gotten so used to hearing DNB in the last 15 years that I'm not easily surprised by a crisp kick or a punchy snare sample. Relying on good drum samples is something many users need to learn about but then you also have to put your own spin on them afterwards. Panning data is something I harp on people for not taking advantage of, the drums in particular have a lot of space to be moved around. Though you want to keep the kick and snare in the middle of the field, the auxiliary percussion like hi hats, shakers, bells, and chimes can be pushed to the sides a little and balanced. You can have two to three hi-hats battling across that stereo space to make interestingly high energy rhythms. I knob twiddle my aux percussion until they all have happy little places in the mix. I'm only hearing one lonely little hi-hat. Compliment that hi-hat rhythm with a tambourine or shaker and use the hi-hat to add energetic 16th note accents. Add a ride bell to accent certain off beat grooves. Use a ghost snare to accent the off beats as well which gives off a much more "human" sound. None of the details I'm providing in this specific paragraph would have helped your "relevance to artwork" score but I wouldn't have taken points off of "production" because of your drums.

I don't want these reviews to come across as hurtful, there is so much great music being made yours included. I can hear potential and many Newgrounds composers have something special. This is still a great track, I'm just trying to be fair with everyone. Have a great day Index!

IndexatioN responds:

Welp, that's one of the most honest reviews I've ever had. Thanks. Some parts even made me laugh. And yes, i totally agree with all the points provided there, and i would not consider this work as my best either. Anyway, I'll try to take everything into consideration :)

[AIM - Trinitron]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
CorruptModule, Trinitron: 8,8,6,9 (31/40)

Well, you may have lucked out with a judge that spends a lot of time with breakcore and hardstyle genres but I'm good at checking my bias. I can give you massive credit for finding illustrations that suit your apparent strengths. There's an honor system we have to acknowledge that the musicians are truly finding works of art that inspired them. The image you found could suit any number of "club" genres and styles, honestly breakcore doesn't bring in the crowd the way two-step does in my experience. Totally unrelated to your music, I saw Evol Intent in NYC ages ago. They have a lot of breakcore, IDM, and glitch in their catalog but the DJ set that they played had a lot of "jump up" two-step DNB breaks. It was a funny surprise, the simplistic high energy drum breaks really got the audience grooving but I was hoping they'd play more of that "Era Of Diversion" and "Human Resource" material I grew up on. Two step drum patterns in the streets, breakcore and glitch in the sheets.

Actually, you consistently used that high energy "two step" DNB jump-up pattern I'm talking about. Nice switch up towards the two minute mark, I love that nasty break section. This track is like an agreement between jump-up and hardstyle breakcore: a handshake to coexist. I'm a huge fan of progressive ideas and genres, find what you love about music and make it your own. I'll bring up a minor issue of taste, those grimy synth lines are a little boring. Over 15 years ago, a critic of my music once told me "DNB synths just sound like fart noises." It's been my goal ever since to avoid that boring low energy sawtooth tone. The drums are high energy but you're kind of relying on those "farty" tones and textures from the synths. I love what I'm hearing but I'd have dropped a filter on top of the lead synths and automated freq/res knobs to create more interesting tones and textures to get "wetter" contemporary sounds. I can hear you playing with tones and textures, I love that but the tones and textures from that grating low reese synth overpowers things a fair bit. Using a filter and some automation lanes you can draw peaks and valleys to create rhythmic accents. Boost and cut frequencies over time to bring more life to those monster synths. I never let a reese "fart" unless it's only momentary. Sorry to use that word, fart. It's a trigger word for me and I'll always squirm a little when someone uses it to describe a synth.

The song is all energy. I like to hear DNB that can deliver that max energy but also tells a little story. You have great atmospheric tricks, you could of used more atmosphere and less drums at times. Noisia made the statement very early in their DNB career that they wanted to make music that could fit in with the dance floor or a DJ set but they also wanted their songs to sound good enough to be listened to casually on their own. This track really feels like it fits in with an hour long DJ set but it doesn't really make me want to come back and listen to it in my free time. I've been listening to DNB for a fairly long time, go give "Moonway Renegade" by Noisia a listen, it's a personal favorite of mine (low quality on youtube, try to find a high resolution versions of songs when looking up Noisia). Powerful synths for 2006 but the filter modulations they programmed contributed to a really unique groove. They built a synth in that which sounds very similar to yours but the modulations they programmed have remained interesting and powerful over 15 years later. "Monster" by Noisia also uses "farty" tones but they clearly have a filter on top giving a slight wobble to the texture. Those cats programmed some masterclass grooves.

I'm sorry if this comes across as overly critical but I love what I'm hearing and only wish for you to keep pounding out some solid work. Everyone needs a hard critique from time to time but I know you can do more and I know you can do a little better. One final footnote, thank you for posting so much data, I griped on people for not writing enough about their creative process. It's a tough contest to judge and you can influence things a little by showing that extra attention to detail. Music doesn't always speak for itself but you went ahead and said everything you could. I got to keep moving forwards but have a good day Currupt! Salud and salutations :D

(Final statement, I almost didn't catch that the illustration was animated. By putting the illustration on the same page as the music I almost missed that element. I've mentioned to a few other users that the animated images seem to lend the music some energy. A moving picture is almost essential for those DNB genres in that DNB is a style that should make you want to get up and move. I added an extra point to "relevance," because that motion is a really powerful tool. I'm curious if next year will feature only moving images after I've pointed this out so often...)

CorruptModule responds:

Thank you for the criticism! I was a little bit bummed that this one didn’t make it for the finale 20 songs but that’s alright. This is probably close to a second or thirdish time I messed with this genre. I am glad tho to get this criticism from someone who has really enjoy the genre for awhile now. I myself started around 2020 just listening to it. At first I was unsure a bit but I truly love this genre now. I think what I worry the most about when I try making music for a genre I’m not to familiar with or I haven’t been part of for 10 years is people criticizing me on that but you haven’t. It’s really nice to now that a new person in the genre can still flourish in it. I also produce many other genres I can’t satisfy my self with just one genre. So thank you for this criticism I don’t really get it to often ,especially one this detailed, but thank you for it I really do appreciate it.

I still have some other things to add. I get the idea of “fart” synths. I prefer “shitting my pants” synths as a term instead. ( that was a joke don’t take it that seriously) but fr I understand that “fart” synth moment. I try and stay away from those and I really like growl sounding or kinda “electronic screaming? Thingy” sounding stuff. For some reason tho I really liked the idea of the drop being like this. When I was working on the synth I just loved how aggressive it’s was. It was mean it was nasty it I feel wanted to be put into a song that was breakcore/ dubstep/ riddim/ tear out. I feel if I didn’t make that song with this synth it would have not been the same vibe.
And being this proud I will defend my synth as tho it were my own child. Yes it was farting but with style. Yeah I’ll try and keep away from those type synths unless the song demands it of course.

I couple more things:
- I was kinda annoyed that the gif file I put on the description didn’t work. I was I bit mad but I couldn’t really find a way to fix that so thx for pointing it out. I didn’t know how it showed up on others, I really thought it was just my internet tweaking.
- I really could talk about all my songs with as much or more detail here. I try to keep it simple for the other ones. The great part about aim is that I can blabber about the song for a whole as essay and someone will ( unfortunately) have to read it.
- I’m a go check out the songs you recommended to me thank you for that.
- mfr’s love fart synths

Also once again thank you for the criticism. Thank you for taking your time with my song and evaluating it as unbiased as possible. I do feel like it can be necessary to have people on the judging team either have a lot experience in specific genres. So I guess I am lucky that I got you to judge my song. Thanks lad.

[AIM - Charon]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
AlbeGian, Charon: 10,10,10,9 (39/40)

I was looking forward to getting around to this one. I decided to write a review for everyone in the competition and it's been a real pleasure to absorb everyone's tunes. It can feel that some users in this contest tried to shoehorn their strengths into song when the illustrations called for less, I just got off a review where my main criticism was a drum kit not fitting in with the peaceful bedtime scenery. Your decision to go with minimal orchestral percussion suited the scenery nicely. It's a very relaxing tune and manages to stay interesting the whole time, inventive sound design.

A missed opportunity I noticed would have been some train station ambience samples like some warning bells, a chugging smoke stack plowing away in the distance, some footsteps, maybe the cooing of pigeons. It's a celestial train station so maybe some chimes to echo twinkling stars? Atmospheric cues and samples like that suit the AIM competition nicely. I doubt any of the judges are going to get angry with atmospheric samples. Regardless, you have such a beautiful style that stands on it's own that the only thing a sample could bring to the table is "relevance to artwork" points and some noise. I took off a point for that one little thing because someone with such professional sound design and strong composing skills should have caught onto that element in the visual. We have a train station and no audible cue to signal that. HOW DO YOU EVER EXPECT TO GET A JOB MAKING MUSIC FOR DISNEY OR PIXAR IF YOU CAN'T SAMPLE A TRAIN ALBE? HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO GET THE SEX EYES FROM HANS ZIMMER??? j/k, it's such a minor crit.

I wish you had written more about the process and how you gained inspiration from the art. Just because I think the music suit the image nicely I'm operating on the honor system that the image inspired anything at all. The image is an otherworldly celestial train station with a wonderfully inventive soundscape but I'd have loved to know your inspirations a little more. Never be ashamed to write a manifesto, only an ass would get mad at it.

gg AlbeG, salutations and all that :3

[AIM 2022 - Night Rain]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
CattyxOwOriginals, Night Rain: 8,8,8,6 (30/40)

I'm not entirely sure I'm feeling the connection to the art but I can still respect the music. Some of that melodic work was inspired, that scratch plug-in was fun. I'm pretty sure I have the same scratch samples in a sample folder originally downloaded in 2008. They can be plugged into a sampler and scratched with the mod wheels. I used to love throwing down that scratch patch but I'm getting distracted by old-person nostalgia. I guess I should focus on why I'm not feeling the hip-hop bed time vibes...

The lights are out, the dog is asleep, and we got thug drum beats. As a drummer myself I almost never play my drums into the night, I'd wake up my fiance. Neighbors can also be a huge problem when playing drums into the wee hours of the morning. It's unfortunate that I happened to disagree with your drums because drums are my favorite instrument to play. The rhythms are well written and inspired but percussion instruments don't exactly scream "bedtime lullaby." You got chops with your writing skills but I've learned over the years that you don't always have to lean into what your good at if the competition is asking for something simpler or different. My favorite part was the very end when the track really calms down and the drums completely disappear, sorry about that.

Worth noting is that the human in this scene appears to be awake and out of bed, perhaps having a cup of water or just away sleep walking. Footstep samples might have helped build an atmosphere. The rainfall outside the window could have been brought into the song with stormy rainfall samples. I'm not going to encourage you to do anything illegal but you can always download a free program like Audacity, and just rip sounds straight from any old youtube video. Judges and mods would be none the wiser for it but you can always claim "fair use" in a pinch by simply pitch bending the sample a semitone up or down. I've never had a situation where a content creator was sampled then sent out cease-and-desist letters for atonal instruments like waterphones, vibraslaps, or chimes. There are many videos that are an hour or so long, uploaded for sleep or meditation. Worth knowing is that many courts have ruled short audio samples are "de minimus" or not worth the court's time to litigate. I'm not a lawyer, only a very interested party in regards to the history and legality of sampling. As long as you're not uploading someone else's music and claiming it to be your own, many of the judges can accept that a certain amount of sampling takes place and we will look the other way. Just don't go overboard and forget to engineer your own sounds, melodies, and rhythms. Fun toys if a little expensive, field recorders will allow you to slowly develop sample libraries via sounds you come across yourself.

I'd have given a better score for composition if there was less percussion and more calming ambiance. In regards to production, the track was a little quiet which is acceptable for the scenery but unfortunately it didn't impress me. This is going to sound paradoxical and crazy but you could have written a more relaxing tune with slightly bigger sounds, and deeper tones. That bass line might have better suit the night time atmosphere written legato, sparse, and powerful instead of staccato & constant funk. This is such a funky little ditty, I almost would have preferred you to have cut loose and gotten a lower relevancy-to-artwork score just to rock out with louder funk sounds but I can't ask you to shoot yourself in the foot like that. A different image might suit your strengths better.

Aside from raindrop samples you can also program fairly realistic water droplets with a sine wave synth, a quick pitch bend modulation, and a little reverb. That takes practice but it's a fun trick. Romantic era composers would often emulate nature when they wrote for piano, hands can flow about the piano like flowing water or rain. Chimes could emulate the spirit of rain. You have a strong composition for melody and rhythm but you can get so much out of your soundscape by learning how to take advantage of those ambient sounds. A favorite fluxist artist of mine has always been John Cage who was a man obsessed with soundscapes and abstract noises as music. He's worth looking into regardless of what kind of music you make because literally every genre can make use of musique concrète influences. Often a hip-hop album can feature atmosphere with tracks built off of conversations had outside busy city sidewalks or home life. A surf rock band could intro their album to the sound of waves crashing and people having fun. Country music can feature the sound of horses or car engines. Ambiance takes work but a scene like the one you choose says to me "minimal music, maximum ambiance."

I hope this review doesn't come across too harshly. We're all creative people on Newgrounds, you are surrounded by super talented peers! After high school, I spent four years at Alfred University earning a BFA and when you major in art, you get used to giving and receiving critiques. The process is meant to be helpful and I've watched so many users grow up over the years that I've been here. If you are honestly 15 (as your profile says) we are lucky to have you here. I'd love to hear you progress, develop, and carve out a unique sound or style that represents you. Take pride in your tune, despite my critical feedback it's a good one. Salud and salutations CattyxOwOriginals, excelsior!

[AIM - Fusion Energy]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Mikaiah, Fusion Energy: 10,8,9,10 (37/40)

A lot of artists that went chiptune didn't manage to amplify their tracks as well as yours, surprisingly big levels for a chiptune production but I think you could have pushed mids and lows a bit harder. At higher volumes those highs really overpower the surrounding tones and textures. A mixing pet peeve I've been sharing with other contestants is with static panning. Panning can create the illusion that a sound is louder than it actually is which will allow you to turn that element down a little and make room in the mix for other things. When you pan, you also create a little extra space on the other side or opposite field. There's a lot of space to play with panning on a tune like this. Your synth work was inspired, I loved how crazy everything was but you can emulate space and make the mix deeper by gently panning those high frequencies into interesting spaces. You can slap automation lanes on the panning knobs and get really nutty with where you put things, emphasizing glitchy aspects in your synth lines. You'd be surprised how much atmosphere you can unlock in a stereo field.

Panning can create the illusion of movement, slowly panning an element from left to right or vice versa which can trick the brain into following certain sounds. Eyes will move unconsciously with the direction people think a sound is coming from, directional data can really help bring music to life. There's no limit to how nutty you can get with panning data so experiment for a while. Skillful panning can takes years of toying and play but it's just another tool to be creative with.

I haven't yet addressed how the track relates to the image yet but I felt the tune was perfect for that videogame sci-fi scenery. Those crunchy drums takes me back to older Gameboy/SNES Games like Ninja Gaiden, Streets of Rage, and the likes. EDM genres tend to benefit when you put the drums up front. I'm not sure if sidechaining things using that drum kit would help make space for higher fidelity sounds but I tend to sidechain literally everything a little bit. These drums sounded fine without sidechaining stuff but it's a powerful technique and can always help you make extra space down the road. If you're not familiar with the technique, sidechaining lets you control the levels of an instrument using the signals from another instrument. It's worth learning about regardless of whatever genre you're writing for. I'm hearing some serious potential dubstep growls and glitch stylings in your song. Everything you learn can inform whatever you end up writing down the road and sidechaining is top tier regardless of how people feel about it. It's an overrated technique for a genre like chiptune but mandatory for genres like dubstep and drum & bass.

Your melodies are bona fide endearing, you're correct to feel pride with them on this track. As a musician that loves to play with live instruments, I can confirm that playing anything like this would require a lot of skill, practice, and experience. A benefit of MIDI is the ability to write the juiciest melodies and chord progressions without the need to be able to play them and you're taking full advantage of that fact. I wish I could be this neurotic in my own melody programming but I usually record a quick loop, then copy & paste it so I can focus on other aspects of music. The longer it takes me to write something the less likely I get it done, so I have respect for the artists that really take the time to write endearing melodies. I took a point off emotion because those minor mixing issues can diminish the power of whatever ideas you're trying to get across to the listeners. You had powerful ideas but with that extra bit of panning data I mentioned you could take this digital symphony and make it a virtual kill room.

I have many more artists to move onto and spent a fair amount of time on this review but I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors! Salud and salutations Mikaiah :D

Mikaiah responds:

Wow, this was a really helpful coment, thank you so much! And ye, i think i still got a lot of way, and practice ahead, yet thank you for telling me those tips, i'll try to have them in mind x3

But yet, i'm so grateful that you enjoyed this piece, and i'll try to get better, and maybe try to use those techniques as well.. Or try to figure out the best way to do so x3, still thank you so much i really appreciate it! <3

[AIM . Requiem for an Astronaut]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
LexRodent, Requiem for an Astronaut: 10,4,8,10 (32/40)

(Disclaimer: I didn't feel that the two versions you posted were vastly different from each other and my issues with the mix persist for both renditions. To save time for myself, I'm giving both tracks the same review/score.)

Feeling some Guns and Roses from the illustration, the music echoes a classic rock sound that vibes well. The voice modulations are creative. While I tend to nit pick the EDM artists a little harsher than I do with other genres I'll have the bravery to say that the mix here could have been much better. The melodies and arrangement are top class but everything sounds like it's being recorded through a tin can. That's not a terrible conceptual disservice to the limitations of communicating sound in outer space but better fidelity will always benefit a tune more than a comparatively squashed conceptual mix down. I'm taking off a big chunk of points off for that mix quality. As I just pointed out in my previous review to Jinz, a thin mix can effect the potency of the delivery. A perfect mix down can really help you deliver powerful emotions. A few metal artists I like listening to that have wonderful mix downs are David Maxim Micic, Chimp Spanner, Chon, or Animals As Leaders. I don't spend all my time listening to progressive metal but these are a few artists that I admire for their technicality AND the fidelity of their mixes. I've written a lot about fidelity issues in this competition. Something that I think might help you get more powerful sounds is more panning data.

Panned sounds give off the illusion that they are louder than they actually are so you can pan an instrument and follow it up by turning it down a little. This helps make room in the mix but also creates the illusion of space. When everything comes from one direction all the time, a mix can get very boring. The bass frequencies (and a lot of mids) are best suited towards the middle but all those thin highs can get pushed to the side creatively. With percussion you want to keep bass drums and snares towards the middle but all the aux percussion like hi-hats, tambs, shakers, cymbals, or chimes can be experimentally shifted to the sides until they all balance each other. Pads and chord progressions can bias a little to the sides as well. You can always lightly sidechain things like leads and pads using the bass drum and snare drum signals. Sidechaining is one of those techniques many artists put off learning because it seems really extra, but once you start sidechaining things you'll find all sorts of creative uses for it.

Panning professionally can be a nutty exercise in splitting hairs. Don't be afraid to listen to the pros to try and better understand fidelity. I've often compared my work to that of the pros to try and get that extra bit of fidelity quality. A perfect mix down can deliver your material in powerful high-definition. With such strong melodic elements, I wish the mix down matched the energy. That's all I got to say, aside from the fidelity issues the track is wonderful Lex. Salud, and have a wonderful day!

[AIM . Requiem for an Astronaut (Ft. Marie Ork)]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
LexRodent, Requiem for an Astronaut: 10,4,8,10 (32/40)

(Disclaimer: I didn't feel that the two versions you posted were vastly different from each other and my issues with the mix persist for both renditions. To save time for myself, I'm giving both tracks the same review/score.)

Feeling some Guns and Roses from the illustration, the music echoes a classic rock sound that vibes well. The voice modulations are creative. While I tend to nit pick the EDM artists a little harsher than I do with other genres I'll have the bravery to say that the mix here could have been much better. The melodies and arrangement are top class but everything sounds like it's being recorded through a tin can. That's not a terrible conceptual disservice to the limitations of communicating sound in outer space but better fidelity will always benefit a tune more than a comparatively squashed conceptual mix down. I'm taking off a big chunk of points off for that mix quality. As I just pointed out in my previous review to Jinz, a thin mix can effect the potency of the delivery. A perfect mix down can really help you deliver powerful emotions. A few metal artists I like listening to that have wonderful mix downs are David Maxim Micic, Chimp Spanner, Chon, or Animals As Leaders. I don't spend all my time listening to progressive metal but these are a few artists that I admire for their technicality AND the fidelity of their mixes. I've written a lot about fidelity issues in this competition. Something that I think might help you get more powerful sounds is more panning data.

Panned sounds give off the illusion that they are louder than they actually are so you can pan an instrument and follow it up by turning it down a little. This helps make room in the mix but also creates the illusion of space. When everything comes from one direction all the time, a mix can get very boring. The bass frequencies (and a lot of mids) are best suited towards the middle but all those thin highs can get pushed to the side creatively. With percussion you want to keep bass drums and snares towards the middle but all the aux percussion like hi-hats, tambs, shakers, cymbals, or chimes can be experimentally shifted to the sides until they all balance each other. Pads and chord progressions can bias a little to the sides as well. You can always lightly sidechain things like leads and pads using the bass drum and snare drum signals. Sidechaining is one of those techniques many artists put off learning because it seems really extra, but once you start sidechaining things you'll find all sorts of creative uses for it.

Panning professionally can be a nutty exercise in splitting hairs. Don't be afraid to listen to the pros to try and better understand fidelity. I've often compared my work to that of the pros to try and get that extra bit of fidelity quality. A perfect mix down can deliver your material in powerful high-definition. With such strong melodic elements, I wish the mix down matched the energy. That's all I got to say, aside from the fidelity issues the track is wonderful Lex. Salud, and have a wonderful day!

LexRodent responds:

Thanks a lot for the detailed review and improvement tips.
Production values have always been my weakest side , so all the things you pointed out make perfect sense. Still in the endless road of learning and not quitting any soon !

[AIM - I am but myself]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Jinz, I Am But Myself: 10,6,8,10 (34/40)

"You think I wanted this body," are you intentionally trying to trigger my dysphoria with this illustration? I legit feel like the monstrous figure in the drawing by FrosstyArt 99% of the time. Excuse me for a moment, I have tentacles that need moisturizing. Great stuff with those reverse lyrics :D

Great illustration to convey body horror. The industrial sounds and mechanical synths fit the mood well. It looks like you made use of the full sound spectrum via that visualization but things are sounding a little thin despite that subby bass. I know that if I switch headphones, the AudioTechnicas are going to make this mix sound like sand paper (at the time of uploading this review I honored that statement by giving the AudioTechnicas a listen and sure enough, ear-bleedingly harsh high frequencies). I gave you really good scores on Battle Of Ships but my gripes as a fellow EDM producer will continue along to this work as well. I think you could have given this more umpf by boosting mid frequencies, all I'm hearing are subby basses and painfully aggressive highs. I'm just not as impressed this time as I was with your other tune.

I think you can focus on improving some of your mixing and mastering skills to get a more powerful sound. That's always a painful critique to get or give out because I know how hard composers struggle to unlock the skills necessary to max out their fidelity tools, often learning via experimentation because they don't get professional feedback or criticism. You wrote very strong music but I try to inspire hardstyle producers to challenge themselves by comparing their work to the mix quality that the pros in that genre are putting out. I'm always comparing my songs to the mix downs that impress me the most. I spent years trying to emulate artists like Noisia, Evol Intent, and Excision. Never be afraid to listen to the pros and compare that stuff to your own. It can really help illuminate the finer fidelity details in the mix that people have trouble identifying in their own work. YouTube diminishes playback quality but apps like SoundCloud lets artists upload music at maximum fidelity. I'm taking points off emotion as well because that thin mix is taking some power out of the delivery of that climax. A perfectly mixed tune can deliver emotions in a way that a thinner sound cannot. I wish I could focus a little more time on this review to really pin-point mixing and mastering issues but I got to keep moving forwards today. If you want, feel free to bother me later and I'll give this tune another listen to relay mixing ideas via private messages. Good luck with the other judges Jinz. Despite my criticisms I love what I'm hearing :3

[AIM - 4fh6gji84]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
CorruptModule, 4fh6gji84: 9,8,10,9 (36/40)

At first I was mad at you for forcing me to copy/paste that nutty title but I'm sure you were only referencing the original art, GOOD JOB! I can't get upset over that, so many musicians are naming their tracks after the art out of respect to the illustrations and I love it. Naming your work 4fh6gji84 is a power move, as if you're looking the audience in the eye and saying "you can't pronounce this shit. Fuck you, try."

I've been pumped by all the hot hardstep genres this competition has been getting, Drum & Bass in particular. The only problem I have with the style is that I write a ton of it and will potentially come down harder on people for things like poor panning data, drum programming, or how the style reflects the art. You made good choices in regards to finding some nutty art that obviously plays into your strengths. The illustration is both a throwback to medieval European gothic Christianity and a look forwards to dystopian capitalistic cyberpunk. You really couldn't have done a better job in picking an interesting design to work alongside. I'll point out a missed opportunity, given the ancient time periods this biblical nightmare of an illustration reflects, you could have taken advantage of Baroque era influences. A choir plug-in could have padded the intro nicely, I personally enjoy phat-female choirs. Put a square gate on the choir's envelope and you can turn an organic choir sound into some techy glitch. It's actually really cool to get synthetic rhythms and envelopes out of human voices. I suck at incorporating harpsichord and won't recommend it but some romantic era piano could have fit this sound nicely. Hell, sparse but bright piano notes with heavy reverb could have easily fit on top of this. I'm very progressive when it comes to blending styles and genres and would have respected this a little more if you leaked in some classical influences.

You found the upper limits of the stereo field, many users fail to realize how much space they have to amplify things and as a result produce very quiet tunes that can only be amplified on a PA system. I love that you made a connection to the sidechaining and the illustration. This sounds more like a convenient side effect of your production technique than an intentional concept but I can still respect how much you wrote about the music. My biggest critique this year has been on users unwilling to express their inspirations and ideas. Some users wrote nothing at all. This competition is so impressively influenced by opinion and subjectivity that I just can't give top marks to those unwilling to get a little personal. I'd even respect language barriers if someone wrote a paragraph or two in a language I'd have to google translate. Thank you so much for that essay Corrupt. I only took off one point to "relevance" because I do feel you missed an opportunity to echo historically Christian music by going 100% grime and glitch. I'm not religious myself but I do have an art history background. Those Christian peeps wrote some serious bangers. You ever feel face melted by something like "Hallelujah" from Messiah by Handel? Woof, that song slaps.

I love the way producers these days use any random noise and say "this is a snare drum now." That snappy little thing for the first half of the track was inspired, truly wasn't expecting that hard dubstep snare for the second half. The track sounds a little too bright imo, I have a tendency to mix too bright as well. A fair warning, a lot of Newgrounds users use AudioTechnicas which I hate with a passion. Despite hating them, I have a pair of ATH-M50x's and put them on just to confirm a mastering issue. Often these headphones will take thin frequencies and make them painful, your track didn't give me pain but the track does still sound incredibly thin on them. When it comes to EDM producers I get really into switching up my headphones because EDM producers have a tendency to care about this kind of stuff. Mastering is something I talk about a lot because a cheap sound system can take your hardstyle bass frequencies and turn it into piss-style. Your track didn't translate well from my Sennheisers but since most people don't factor mastering into their work, it's something I only bring up to make you aware of. As you continue with your productions, try to get a diverse set of speakers and headphones so you can work towards making your sound as true to how you want it to sound on as many formats as possible! Car sound systems have unpredictable diaphragms, many people have lo-fi cheap headphones. I remember meeting a dubstep producer that showed me his work on a cell phone and it still sounded jaw-droppingly great. Mastering is obsessive compulsive but I have so much respect for people that attempt to understand the science of it. I have a lot of AIM tunes to listen to and just realized how much I wrote here. I love this track and hope the other judges can hear what I hear. This tune was exciting and fun to listen to but not without certain flaws. Have a wonderful day CorruptModule, keep glitching :3

CorruptModule responds:

you again! thanks for some more criticism lad. when I mix, I usually try and get an idea of whos listening to this. I have about 4 ways of testing it.

1 is the headphones that I use for daily use and Producing which are Skullcandy crushers with the subwoofer slider all the way down.

2 is a pair of Skullcandy indy fuel's which are just kinda airpod clones but they have somewhat a good balance to them.

3 is a dollar store headset. I use these to see how it sounds on the cheapest shit possible. also cus when I was a yee little lad I listened to music a bunch on headphones like those.

4 I listen in the car. I actually strive more for the song to sound good in the car cus that is one of my favorite places to listen to music.

those are usually the ways I listen to my songs before publishing them. mastering is an interesting topic. I believe it is the last hurdle to understanding music for me. I know if I can understand it my music will be top tier.

It really does make me happy to know that someone can study my tracks and tell me about them. I just don't receive feedback like this too often. thank you so much for this brilliant essay.
and to you as well have a wonderful day Qural.

[AIM - To Be Free]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
GlaceonDash, To Be Free: 10,10,10,8 (38/40)

Wonderfully inspired. When I saw the pixel art I was expecting some old-school NES chiptune in the style of Dragon Quest. The melodies could easily be exported to MIDI and slammed into some chiptune style synths to fit that niche nicely. You wrote wonderful melodies. I'm taking off a point because you could have slipped some basic synths into this to better suit the pixelated imagery while still adhering to your visionary orchestral sounds. This song could have managed the soft coo of a gentle arp in the background. Continuing with my minor gripe, using lazy envelopes synths could have padded the atmosphere. I respect the high-class romanticism you produced though, had a "Bitey of Brakenwood" echo. People are getting very inventive with how these illustrations are inspiring them. I feel like you could have wrote a little bit more to direct my attention but I'm grateful you wrote anything at all, too many users failed to understand how the authors comments are a chance to express intentions and inspirations. It's a tough contest to judge because people take their inspirations and go all over the place. I have a BFA degree and a background in art history so I over analyze how the music and the art is relative to one another. Even if you simply selected a work of art to try to compliment your strengths, I couldn't tell. The honor system is in full effect for this contest but I can't pick up on any dishonesty. The two points I'm taking off are entirely for my own disappointment in that you choose pixel art and didn't take advantage of that realm to any noteworthy degree. I'm a very progressive music maker and I love it when people bleed styles and techniques to make their own worlds and soundscapes. You made something wonderful but missed a small opportunity. Your music is high fidelity compared to the simplistic art you chose (please don't tell the artist I said that.)

I have to keep moving forwards today but please have an inspired day Glaceon, and keep pumping out amazing material :D

GlaceonDash responds:

100% Agree that I could have gone with a chiptune/synth sort of thing.

Most of my choice to not do that was because I had already done a lot of synth focused stuff earlier, and wanted to switch back into the less synth-y style.

Thank you for such a great review!