Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM-Death Dance]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
DigitalProdigy, Death Dance: 10,9,8,2 (29/40)

I'm going to preface this by saying that I love the song but I don't feel like you managed to convey the vibe of the illustration at all. The image you choose emulates a Daguerreotype which if you were not aware was the first publicly available photographic process widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. Honestly, it's a very cool piece of art. My 2011 Alfred University BFA degree and history of photography credit thanks you for putting this illustration in front of me. I also appreciate that you took the time to write some information as to why you felt the image and the music was relative, I've been harping on people to gush more about their creative process. You noted that you "went outside your comfort zone" of "traditional classical" but you might have been best suited to stay inside of that genre for this image. The time period of the Daguerreotype lends itself to romantic era composers like Debussy, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Shubert, or Beethoven. You could have written a somber classical nocturne but in the triple tempo of a waltz to reflect the dance element present. The waltz with it's triple count was considered dance music back in the day, don't ask why, everything "dance" is duple now a days. I'd have respected classical a little more than dubstep which lends itself to more colorful contemporary styles of design and illustration. I bet you weren't expecting an art major to be a judge for this contest, so I'll respect what you've written on the submission page and give you some "relevance to artwork" points entirely for that artist's commentary. Thank you for writing that up, it shows awareness. I'm still giving a you low score for relevance because I feel my critique is valid.

The production is great but there's still room in your field to compress forwards a little more for additional volume. Professional dubstep manages to find the limits to how much sound you can stuff into a PA system while still sounding crisp and perfectly mixed. You got a little more room in the mix but you still managed to convey amazing ideas wonderfully. I really do love this song, that intro was inspired. Musique concrète meets contemporary grime. Honestly, keep pumping out inspired music despite my gripes. You have serious talent and vision.

Always upwards DigitalProdigy.

DigitalProdigy responds:

Again Thank you so much for that professional review. An art major judge ouch!!! I didn't know what type of art piece it was or the time it was representing, I guess a little more research about the art work will be much needed going forward.
I am trying to work on the volume of my music, it seems to be on the low side, every time I try to push the volume up a notch it get distorted. That's probably because I am a musician after all and not a mixing engineer, even though I been mixing my own music since forever. Mastering is another art in its self, so as I might think I have the mixing down to a science, mastering is an art i am still tying to learn.
Again thank you so much for taking the time to review everyone's music and enjoy the rest of your day.

[AIM - Vacuum]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
arbelamram, 10,10,0,0 (20/40)

As mentioned in my review of Lost Fundamentals, I'm getting on the case of everyone that doesn't write enough about the creative process or their inspiration. It's a little unfair that I'm making myself write up essays for every contestant, genuinely listening to everything, and even throwing my own money into the prize pool. For a competition like this, the more you're willing to say about your work the better. By not saying anything about your work you've left it entirely up the the judges in how they interpret something. It's worth noting that music doesn't always speak for itself despite how "good" it is. I'm actually a little angry that your work is so beautiful and crisp but that you didn't have the awareness to realize that this contest is about "inspiration" in the artwork of others. Had you of just spent a minute more detailing the illustrations you selected I might have been convinced that you gained inspiration from it but I'm not even convinced you've looked at the illustrations. I have to accept the possibility that such an incredibly talented producer might have chosen art at random to try and nab a prize or internet traffic. Take a little more time to engage with the community via your author's comments.

You have a wonderful day arbelamram, salutations.

arbelamram responds:

yet again as i said before, i was hoping my music will speak for itself, not matter if its good or not.
i express my thought in sound and not words.

just for giving u the idea of what inspiration it made me, u can see the my main and signed work is lofi beats and chilllhop,
the relevance for to this piece was the vacuum air sound the rolling in your ears while driving super fast, taking the whole grimmie approch to dubstep riddim delivery to epxress "going to war" kind of vibe.

and again thank u for the perfect score on the production, mucho appricated♥

*Edit* rereading this comment, im still kinda shocked tbh...
"nab a prize or internet traffic","even throwing my own money into the prize".
i dont want your traffic or your money fam,
as u can see in my profile i take part in this competition for alot of years and enjoying this competition and creative space like anybody else here

seeing how materialistic all of this got(over 200$???).. ill be fine staying in my underdog spot♥

[AIM - Lost Fundamentals]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
arbelamram, Lost Fundamentals: 10,10,5,0 (25/40)

What's going on with all this top tier DNB in the AIM contest, so many users are getting creative with one of my favorite genres. I'm a little upset you didn't say anything about your work though. You're surrounded by peers on Newgrounds and we love to know more about each other. You could include inspirations, aspirations, feelings, ideas, anything that can help guide us into understanding your intentions because in regards to the theme of the contest music doesn't always speak for itself.

You choose Zelda fan art, and gave us high-class DNB. Having said nothing about your work, it comes across like you weren't inspired by the art much at all but instead wrote to your strengths. Since I'm being asked to judge "emotion" I'm taking into consideration that you didn't really prove you felt anything relative to the illustration. This painting was the perfect excuse to slip in that overused Navi "hey" or some Link grunts from Smash brothers (massive Nintendo sample libraries are easy to find via google. I use them all the time, other contests will punish you for copywritten sounds but we're a little more laid back with AIM.) It kind of sounds like some sword swipes @ 1:14 but those are so uncreatively sprinkled on top of the track, it feels like an after-thought. As a drum and bass artist you could have taken some token LOZ sfx and pitch bent them, reverbed them into the atmosphere, or just made melodies with the classic NES sounds. I'm so surprised because this is intensely good DNB but it just feels like it misses the point of the contest. Hopefully this doesn't come across too harshly, I do wish you the best. Have a nice day arbelamram, and salud!

(Edit: Check Moonway Renegade by Noisia for a good example of how to sprinkle samples like those I mentioned into a DNB track. It's an old favorite of mine...)

arbelamram responds:

ive just reread all the rules and didnt saw it was a requirement to add a description for your work, ive hoped my music will speak for i self.
throughout my year here on newgrounds no one ever referred any comment to my descreptions
i usally answer just when asked :)

as for the relativity for the Art piece,
the piece was originally based on the OST from breath of the wild on the song called "riding" which is played when u ride a horse.
after working on it i wanted to recompose the melody to fit the color tones of art piece.
yet my general direction of only to compliment the idea of the art
and not focusing on the fact its game.

and i really happy you enjoyed the production level itself♥
thank for your time to write this feedback ♥

[AIM - The Silence of Winter]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Curuff, The Silence Of Winter: 10,10,10,10

Oh wow, a very different approach than the majority of the other contestants. Less-is-more, smart. The intentional fizzle and pops fit the pixel animation well with old-school feelings, high-class atmosphere. Many users are finding those animated illustrations and using it to their benefit, motion is attention grabbing. There really aren't many music competitions that reward the function of visuals. It's actually hypnotizing to watch the gentle snowfall on the illustration page along side this song. It's such a whirlwind of simple emotions, sadness, happiness, knowingly somber self-reflections. Great job Curuff, this is inspiring. I will mention that the fuzz got a little grating after a while. Noticed that the fuzz kind of evolved into a whirlwind towards the end but you might have benefit from managing that switch-up a little quicker or more frequently? Maybe some kind of rest from it during the melody? It's a very small issue. This is wonderfully minimal but expertly executed. You totally stood out with that poem too. Many users have different styles and ideas but I've been harping on others to write more about their own work or their inspirations. You're clearly very inspired and need not take that bit of advice. This is one of the shortest reviews I've written for the competition because the work really managed to speak for itself. This is a stark favorite of mine amongst a sea of amazing songs and artists. Bravo Curuff.

[AIM - Megablock City]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
ChordsInMotion, Megablock City: 8,7,7,8 (30/40)

Woof, you picked a very ambitious work of art to convey your ideas. Kamikaye makes work that's incredibly detailed and high fidelity. You might have better served your style with some super detailed pixel art but I can respect the ambitiously photo realistic sci-fi imagery. Unfortunately, I feel like the image has a lot more depth than the music. The melodies are all very alive & inventive but the drums are static, lacking, and low fidelity. The rhythms are explorative and fun but try out some of the following techniques to get more life and depth out of your drums:

Velocity data: as I've mentioned to many of the other contestants drums are most emotive when you play with the levels. Volume is one of the few tools a drummer can use to express emotion. The patterns you wrote are wild and unpredictable, which is not a bad thing. Personally, I love a crazy drum pattern. Crescendos and decrescendos could help deliver that wild energy a little better. Slapping an automation lane onto a drum's volume knob allows you to make gradual shifts overtime. Taking the time to change individual note velocity quantities (0-127) is also an option, there's a lot you can do with volume to breath more life into the rhythms.

Panning data: (At time of uploading this review I think I hear more panning data but let's pretend I was tired when I wrote this and I think I was focusing mostly on the drums at the time) I suppose the entire track feels a little static. More directional data can help engage listeners. Bass is typically mixed center field but all those thin pads and high frequency drum elements can be panned harder to create more depth and illusion of space. Mid to high range textures really pop when you play with that pan data. Automation lanes can be used to teleport a sound from one location to another. Though we only have two channels, those shifts in focus from left to right are engagingly magical when employed expertly. When things get too static, a track runs the risk of becoming boring. Panning data powerfully creates the illusion of movement that even a drum kit benefits from. Exciting!

Layering: Takes practice but additional drum layers can give serious umpf to your drums. Face-melting genres of EDM have such colorful and diverse snare drums, kicks can thud and fizzle. The kit samples you're using are very old-school techno but I keep directing my attention back to the image while thinking that the resolution of the illustration should be echoed in the music somehow. A clap snare or crisp 909 would fit the genre and mood nicely. More auxiliary percussion could have helped: shakers, tambs, cymbals, auxiliary hi-hats panned in combative directions, vibraslaps, cowbells... there's a lot of percussive diversity that could be explored. EDM genres benefit from creative drum sampling. Most DAWs let you record from the hard drive these days but even a free program like Audacity can take sounds from YouTube videos straight off of the hard drive, then you can select and export the best samples. Or maybe what I'm suggesting is unethical sampling and illegal, don't report yourself, this conversation never took place.

Away from the drums I wanted to point to the strange envelope of the song. It's a pet peeve of mine when a track starts or stops immediately. With such strong synth work I'm surprised you didn't opt to crescendo into and out of things. Some reverb can help an outro, literally any instrument can decrescendo a track respectfully with a little reverb. I'm a little confused by how immediate the attack and release of the track happens to be. It feels like you shot yourself in the foot a with that.

Something that I wanted to mention off the cuff, it feels good to recognize one of the contestants from Jamuary, hello Chords. Sorry if this review is at all disappointing but I see you, and you are loved. I hope you have a wonderful day and salud!

[AIM - Skypunks]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
LordAndiso, Skypunks: 9,7,9,10 (35/40)

This comp has been getting some top quality DNB. It's unfortunately a genre I have to identify a bias for. I was waiting for a more potent snare drum to take over the hard hitting sections but the snare you gave us was comparably weak against the rest of the track. A lot of other DNB producers at the moment make use of a punchy pitched-up snare drum. I'll post a low-fidelity YouTube video you could sample for snare layers, most mods would be none the wiser:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUUx3GeZa_g

Pitch-bent up and with a quicker cutoff, these might slap nicely in your tune. Building a layered, punchy snare drum can take a lot of practice but you have so many good elements in this song that I had to zone in on what I felt was the weakest element. When making drum and bass, you want to make sure the drums are perfect. The melodies are beautiful, the instruments are lush and colorful but that snare drum is uncooked kale. Fatten it up a little, it needs to slap >:]

Despite my massive issues with the snare drum the track still manages to compliment the art nicely. The art is bubbly and alive, the chibi characters are well echoed by those colorful melodies and "minion" background gibberish. Those fun chipmunk voices at 1:05 could have been reused within the track and pitch bent a little now and again for diversity. It was a really cute motif and you could have tied the structure together a little better with some more of it sprinkled about different parts of the track. All in all you wrote such a perfect little bop...

...but that snare drum. Most the points you lost in production will be focused on the simple fact that the snare drum is failing to tie the whole thing together. It's not a bad snare drum during the lighter sections but it lacks the drive and power I anticipate from a DNB kit. Even gentler subgenres like liquid benefit from a solid snare drum. I need to move along and judge a ton of other tunes but realize that you almost wrote a perfect song. I'd have come back to this tune several times more with the right snare drum because of how much life you put into everything else but the one issue stands out so much that I'm not certain I'll come back and listen to this later. That's a huge issue, disappointment is a bad reason to remember a tune for. Good luck with the other judges Andiso, I do wish you well!

LordAndiso responds:

Woah! thats really cool. I've got alot of stuff to learn.. thanks for pointing it out.. helps me a ton. :)

[AIM - Psalm Palms]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
BusanBlack, Psalm Palms: 9,7,9,7 (32/40)

Before having listened to the track, I'll make sure to point out that you can always gush a little more about your music when you're writing about it. The people on this website are your peers and we love to share ideas and inspire each other. We have a lot of global artists so sometimes conveying ideas in English is impossible but I also understand when a user sticks to their native language and I can manage Google translate. Never be afraid to express yourself, our work can give us a sense of existence, accomplishment, and meaning. I like to know more about the people I bump into here. Other users also helped connect the illustrations to their music by writing small stories, which is a little overboard but it only helped them defend the idea that the illustration and the music were somehow related to each other. Everyone has a different style or approach but I'm left to interpret what yours was. Guilt the judges into recognizing your intentions with a small manifesto.

The song itself is very chill and written with love. I noticed that you played with panning data,
a lot of other users failed to make use of that stereo element. Panning has all sorts of advantages, disadvantages, and functions but typically the bass gets mixed into the center to give structure to the sound field. Thinner frequencies and textures are better served with a panning bias. Another artist uploaded chiptune and I was very forgiving with production issues on them because that genre lent itself to being a little thin. You have a progressive mix of styles and sounds so it's a little hard to pinpoint my production criticism. On one hand, I can respect your creative integrity in sticking to that hip-hop drum kit and funky bass line but maybe the entire track could have benefit from the same level of energy? It's like the track wanted to be half chiptune and half RNB but even chiptune sounds can convey high fidelity.

The image is nice to look at and the music is comfortable to listen to but you definitely could have taken advantage of the authors bio to better direct us with some more words or ideas. I'm not 100% convinced that the image and the music belong together. There are birds in the image and you could have used chiptune blips and bleeps to convey bird song, or literal bird song samples. Sinewaves in particular are very flexible for that kind of thing. Some digital distortion on the drum kit might have better tied the jazz kit into the pixel setting of the image. The melodies are very peaceful but the drum kit comes across a little amateurish and stylistically at odds with the rest of the track, and 8-bit drum kit would have played into this track nicely. Given that the drum samples have a live drum vibe I'm torn in how robotically they were presented. A drum kit benefits from dynamic changes to volume, as a drummer myself I can point out how a drummer conveys control with volume. Velocity is one of the few tools a drum kit can use to convey emotions. Again, by making the drum kit digital you might have better fit the chiptune vibe while needing to think less about things like dynamics. It's a great song but it sounds a little at odds with itself and the illustration.

I'm going to point out that there were some great artists and musicians in this competition, worth giving your peers some listens if you haven't yet. You have a wonderful day Busan, keep writing great stuff :]

BusanBlack responds:

Thank you for the insight. I honestly feel foolish for not putting in a description of how the music and art were related. That's completely my bad. I was going for the hip hop chiptune type sound but it still needs work. I originally never listened to chip tune music until recently and so only just got into the mix of chemistry. There is always room for improvement and I'm glad you were able to provide me with such detailed input. I honestly only know a small amount of what you are saying as I am still learning about music production but will nonetheless look it up and continue improving. Again, thank you for taking the time to write me an amazing critique!

[AIM - 8-Bit Hero]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Arginnon, 8-Bit Hero: 10,9,10,10 (39/40)

Rock and roll, I'm noticing a lot of users are taking advantage of those animated pixel artists, especially aleha84. I think I'm biasing into these animated images a little but for different reasons each time. The art you choose gives off SNES JRPG vibes and you wrote the genre perfectly. The song so wonderfully matches the energy of the illustration that it makes me want to play whatever game this is. I will probably download some roms later to scratch the itch you're giving me. I remember playing the first few Dragon Quest games in the 90s on my Gameboy growing up (having missed them when they released on consoles a few years before I was born.) It's such a compelling work of art, top scores for relevance.

This is a little short compared to what some of the other contestants produced but you kept my attention the whole time with constantly changing elements and that was impressive. The motif rang wonderfully. I'm not certain old-school videogames had the memory space to include something as complex as this around every corner of a game but we live in a time when retro ideas get remixed and remastered constantly. This would go super well paired with an Indy Steam game release.

I'm giving you a perfect structural score because that echo to the motif at the end jived with my sense that the track was very well thought out. From a well paced introduction into segments that took a professional amount of time to introduce and play with the motif, you managed to write a very well thought out work of music. Chiptune can be difficult to convey ideas with in how limiting the genre and technology was but when done well the effort really stands out. This is one of the better scores I've come up with so far. It looks like the track has more space to be compressed (make louder) but the genre you wrote is not known for maxing out that contemporary PA system sound spectrum that genres like dubstep can hit. Other contestants might feel it unfair but I'm tempted to give this a perfect score despite the fact that chiptune can always be mixed better. At the time I'm writing this, I'm taking off one point via production. Good luck with the other judges Arginnon <3

Arginnon responds:

Thank you so much!! Your words mean a lot, Quarl. I'm so happy that you liked my music! I've been wanting to try something like this, reminiscent of the old video games I used to play as a kid and AIM gave me the perfect opportunity. But I never thought my music would be eligible to such praise. I don't even know what to say, I'm just rambling here... So just thank you <3

[AIM - Dusk (2022)]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
CryNN, Dusk: 8,8,7,5 (28/40)

You're not the only user to zone in on a highway illustration as being an interpretive space to convey music with. Art & music can get very subjective. I find all sorts of sounds and genres relaxing to listen to in my car when I drive across the country. Only problem with face melting EDM genres is that the slog of a highway robs the car's sound system of those low frequencies. I almost never listen to a face-melter in my car unless I'm doing a commute with slow speeds or traffic jams. Another user that grabbed a highway pixel illustration produced some relaxing house music. That's not a genre I listen to often but driving across the country at night with some gentle house can really give me some good headspace to think. The illustration seems somewhat peaceful, sun set colors and a possible storm brewing but you went 110% action and excitement. I'm not entirely convinced that the music has the relevance to the illustration that I'm looking for, so forgive me for being a little critical of it.

Another user produced liquid DNB and used an animated pixel drawing which was a very smart choice. Drum and Bass is a genre that should make you want to move. You missed a small opportunity by choosing static artwork. It's something I noticed someone else do and the choice helped make their music more memorable by being paired with something that had motion. It's not important but worth thinking about in the future.

The mix was a little too stuffy, that was a massive kick drum. It helps to use a kick like that on the first count of a measure but it helps to use less power on subsequent hits. When you evolve the velocity of the notes you can add serious depth to your drum rhythms and make a little extra room in the mix for other elements. The kick is so big that subsequent hits in the same measures are a little distracting. Percussion instruments often only have volume to convey emotion, think of how a drummer juggles their rhythm, confidently grooving to the pulse while still sprinkling taps and hits about the off beats sheepishly to convey control. You can do the same with hi-hats, snare drums, tambs, shakers. Drums being such an essential element of the genre, I love when producers show off their control over the drums with sensitivity to all elements. The bass drum is massive in your mix, it's likable but sometimes less-is-more.

I have a lot of love for DNB producers but I have to check that bias by treating every DNB track with the sensitivity of someone that might not agree with the choices. I think you could have picked a work of art that more closely inspired the genres and tones that you love. One composer found a literal rave illustration for their hardstyle. The fact that I'm aware of your general body of work, I feel like you could have challenged yourself with something a little gentler. There will always be time tomorrow for a club banging nuerofunk. For the sake of the contest I might have gifted you with higher scores if you had gone a little outside of your comfort zone and wrote something gentle or peaceful. I know what it's like to have 100% integrity when producing a specific genre or sound but I also love hearing people explore new places and this contest was a good opportunity to really push your ideas out of the angry/industrial nureofunk box.

I can't argue that you didn't put blood, sweat, and tears into the song but the emotions you powerfully choose to convey came across as the wrong ones. These moody synth lines are oppressive and edgy, I love your synth work in this. It just would have made more sense to use an illustration of spaceship combat, sci-fi battles, or dank industrial monsters to suit your strengths. I wish you the best with all your future endeavors and hopefully this review comes across constructively. Have a wonderful day CryNN, you're a beast, a lion <3

CryNN responds:

Im very happy with your review. It describes point to point what exactly people mean with the track relevance in comparison with the artwork. I must say that I really meant it to sound this way and just maybe, im the one black sheep that felt it natural hahaha. I totally agree on the fact that I might have gone too hard especially in the second section.

Thank you Quaarl!<3

[AIM - The Storm]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Accel-yo, The Storm: 10,9,10,10: (39)

Smart to include that timeline in the description. I have been hounding people for not writing enough about their work. It's a little embarrassing when I can gush more about a track than the artist can. Writing a timeline directs the attention of a judge. There's always a chance judges will ignore it but I will always take notice when someone writes an essay. Your making a statement that the music is undeniably connected the artwork. I'm giving you a good score on emotion for taking the time to just think about how you could relate the song to the image.

I'm loving that people are choosing to use these animated pixel drawings. I feel like DNB is a genre that should make you want to move somehow. Old-school jungle vibes very nicely with these hi-class pixel animations. I'm a little older than others and remember what 90's jungle sounded like. The retro videogame pixel style is almost romantically attached to that via memories and feelings. Watching cartoons growing up, old school breaks would assault us from time to time. Commodore breaks, James Brown funk, Winston Brother loops... the genre is somber and nostalgic for me. A storm can be beautiful when viewed from inside a quite space while looking out a window. The structure of a shelter keeps you safe from a storm and allows you to ponder less important dangers like what you'll eat for dinner or when you need to accomplish a task.

I'll admit to taking off a point for production in that I'm not very impressed with straight-up old-school jungle breaks. I love to hear EDM artists engineer their own kits and sounds which is a skill that can take a very long time to learn and accomplish. It's probably unfair of me to ask you to produce music to a virtuous degree and I really love what I'm listening to. Drum & Bass is one of my favorite genres and has a deeply personal connection to my childhood. You got so many elements perfect, learning to get a little nuttier with your drum programming is the mark of a Junglist that has pushed their boundaries. The technology we have to write music with these days can do so much. A snare drum with three layered samples has the potential to be wired into fidelity units and effect units to really get the crispest tones out of things. Each drum layer can work together to make a full & powerful sound or individually at times to create dynamic structural changes. It's not necessarily something that comes easily but once you start engineering your own drum kits it becomes a huge badge of pride and style. That's really all I have to be critical about. Great work Accel :']

Accel-yo responds:

Sup Quarl? I really appreciate this review and your advice! First off, im glad you got those mellow / nostalgic vibes from this track. 90s DnB has quickly become my favorite genre to produce just cuz of the unique feelings that can stem from each track. I'm glad it resonated with you!

Next, i just wanted to say thanks for your production advice :) As a live musician turned producer, its been fun to really get a hang of mixing, mastering, sound / kit design, etc. While it does take awhile to master these skills, im in this shit for the long run haha, so imma use ur advice and always keep pushing my boundaries and producing the highest quality tracks i can!