Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Monks of Cherub Liang]

Nice track, but...

Awesome mix. Just one problem. Too much sub. I'm wearing headphones and it's too much, I can only imagine what this sounds like on my speakers... oh wait, I CAN listen to this with my speakers... and it sounds a lot better here. Still, you should try to do a better job mastering your tracks so that no one gets left out. If you're making a track to get signed, make sure you've mastered a track so that it sounds good on ALL speaker formats and not just yours. Potential buyers won't be interested in listening to a track if it leaves them out of the loop.

Great track, just a tad too much bass. Also, layer that amen. I love using that kit, but I try to hide it under another kit through layering. I get a lot of shit from people when I use the amen break in my compositions. Great kit, but we know that already :3

Good luck sir!

SREvol responds:

Wow, I didn't use an amen break. Also it's not being signed for re-sale, just for spinning in the clubs. I think I already said this in the description.

Again, no amen break. Drums are original. Alot of drumming for dnb and jungle uses the same format as the amen break, you're most likely hearing the tune and recognising the same junglist / olskool sounds but no to the amen break itself being sampled!

[EDIT] Oh at the beggining, i thought you meant in my main break. haha i'm quite the fool. yeah amen sample used there. But its not a straight cut of the amen. its only the hats which i cut off in cubase and ableton. note the kick is not the amen kick and the snare is 20 hz lower. snare was taken from a previous song of mine called give to god. haha sorry about the mix up people!

[Rig - Furniture Monster]

Fucking beautiful.

I just had 8 orgasms, and that's on the first listen.

Drums ROCKED, track really fucked with the mind. The atmosphere was sassier than anything else I've heard in the comp... opinion, but it's mine so HA!

Really though, I'm in love. The only thing that I don't like is how short it is. Add on and have it ready for your future set at alfred. The audience here is really awesome, and I'd love to see how they interpret this... you'd have to warn them that it's off tempo though. Trust me. Seeing them move is amazingly fun to watch. Giving them a heads up about the time sig will save them the guess work.

Rig responds:

<3<3

[Ghosts [Preview]]

rawwwwwr!

I'm liking what you got going here. I really want to leave a review that tells you where to improve but I've decided I can't really do that anymore.

http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/9 58599

Besides, I love your work. I know that when your done, this will sound amazing anyways.

Also, when your done, keep this in mind: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/9 55265

Seriously, there are a lot of subs in there that are rocking the experimental dnb. This sounds like it would fit right in if you could this done by the 14th.

Rawrthaas responds:

that was an interesting read..deep :\

but yeahI might try to push the full out before the 14th. TBH I haven't worked on it since. I have school again so yeah :\

[Inside the mind of Madness]

Meow.

Interpretation of song's "story."

0:00-1:00
Hank kills poorly drawn but well animated sprites.

1:00-1:40
Hank kills poorly drawn but well animated sprites.

1:40-2:20
Hank kills poorly drawn but well animated sprites.

2:20- End
Hank kills poorly drawn but well animated sprites.

Seriously, the madness series is pretty straight forward... I feel no need to add a story to this song in order to enjoy it more, there fore I move on with my review.

First question I ask everyone is "what program are you using?" I'm gonna guess fruity loops, but in all honesty this could have easily been done in garage band. Not like that's a bad thing. My first program was garage band and I learned a lot from it. Really, garage band has a nice preset synth that sounds a lot like the lead synth later on in this track. It sounds like you automated some stuff, so I'm just guessing you're using fruity loops. That is, if fruity loops even lets you automate things. I don't see why it wouldn't.

The song is all right. It has some good elements in it, but it sounds really amateur. PLEASE, don't take that the wrong way. I don't want you to be offended, but I just want you to know, there's a big gap between your productions and a professionals. I still consider myself an amateur and I've been at this for a few years, so please don't take offense when I say that.

Now, you might want to know what makes me say that. Well, I could tell you all the reasons why I think that, but I honestly would have a really hard time telling you how to improve in these aspects. I felt as if this was your best, so the only thing I can really tell you is to just keep going. I just gave a few of your other tracks a listen and I feel like I can hear you gradually improving. Keep trying harder and harder and eventually you'll fucking rock man.

Now, I guess it would only be fair to let me tell you what I felt were weak spots in this mix so you can try cleaning up a little.

1. Vocals leave very little to the imagination, and they're kind of silly. This mix could probably do with out them.

2. Drum kit sounded kind of dull. A lot of times, just getting a good drum kit will really fix the entire song. Really, there wasn't even a snare in this mix. Take my advice, from a drummer to some one who obviously isn't... don't ever try to be unique, original or experimental with your drums until you understand what makes a basic drum beat sound good. I know that may sound like horrible advice, but the best way to get good at something is to stick to the rudaments. Granted, this track is primarily four to the floor, just giving a few of your other tracks a listen made me wonder "how does this kid go about writing drum rhythms? It doesn't sound like he understands anything but a solid kick."

Ok, please don't take that the wrong way either. Like I said, my goal isn't to offend you, so please hear me out.

If you want to learn the fundamentals of rhythm, go search some tabs online and copy them, YES, I SAID COPY THEM. We stand on the shoulders of giants, and before you can be good at something, you have to be bad at it. The reason why any one is good at anything is because we have other people to look up to.

Besides, I can guarantee that any rhythm you find in tab form is gonna be basic and unoriginal any ways :P

3. There was a cheering sound halfway through the mix. It adds a bit of depth to the mix, but it sounds really muddy. You could have replaced it with a synth of some sort and it probably would have been fine.

4. You might have benifitted from a few extra pads. A pad works like a chord in that it adds depth and atmosphere to a song. I feel like you really only had one pad in this track, or at least one instrument that acted like one. It was the wind sweep.

I really need to end this review because I'm about to run our of characters, but I really hope some one else leaves from where I left off. I guess all I have left to say is keep producing and you're guaranteed to get better. Just keep your head high and work work work! Trust me, it only gets more fun ;)

Sanryd responds:

No offense taken. This is the very reason I submitted the work.

I think your assesment of my work is exactly how I feel about it. - As well as pointing out things I haven't thought of.

1) Interpretation... you have a good point, I'm cutting the voices... way too cheesy and doesn't stick with the Madness program.

2) I use Fruity Loops.

3) I am an amateur with drums, and percussion... got a long way to go on that, I think your idea about going to go look at some tabs with drums is a great idea, I had never thought of that. Also maybe purchasing or finding some free decent VST's online to make a nice rythm.

4) Being better at mixing could have fixed that muddy cheer... working progress

5) Something I didn't even think about for this piece or in most of my pieces is background pads..... I usually use strings or something, but pads... sometimes the obvious isn't seen until someone else points it out.

I appreciate the honest review... I like the constructive critism.

I'm re-working the piece tomorrow for sure.

[(NUB)TheseMistakesAreForever]

hmmmm.

I've seen you around the forums and what not but I've never bothered to check out your music. I'm gonna have to check all of it after this. Really smart dmb... intelligent actually. Really spectacular drum programming. Curious, what program are you running to make this? I ask almost everyone that question :P

I'm giving you a 9/10 because the songs tone gets a bit repetitive. The track might have needed a lead of some sort, or some different elements later in the track. Repetition in electronica isn't a bad thing. Hell, it's a key element to it. It's just, a new pad or synth later in the track might have helped a little.

Dunno. Maybe I'm just dumb :P

nubbinownz responds:

Hehehe no worries. Thank you very much for the wonderful review either way :D

and just to point out hehe at 3:50 not only do 2 new synths and a new pad come in but an entirely different drum beat :P

[Rig - I Love Clock Day]

lol.

I keep listening to this one, then the old one. They sound identical, but this one just seems to rock so much harder. I can't quite put my finger on it... I'm guessing you raised the awesome sliders on your synths? Or was it the radical knob? I can never really tell. My ear just isn't as fine tuned as yours.

Rig responds:

I tweaked the EQ a bit. ;D

[Nav - Deathwish [Full Ver.]]

lol.

So this is what happened to our collab? jerk. Sounds awesome :P

Nav responds:

Thanks! :D

[Nav - Lightwalk]

sass

oh yeah. Rockin 7/8, heavy drum kit. Sass muffins. Sassy sassy sass muffins. Really... sassy.

Bass sounds great, pads rock... if there's anything you could have done to make this track better, it was vary up the rhythm. It was cool to take it out of the norm, but a break down with some more variations would really take this awesome track and make it godly. Is it possible to change time sigs within a track in fruity loops? Have it jump from 7/8 to 8/8 then into a 6/8? Even keeping it in 7/8 and switching up the rhythm would have rocked.

Other than that this track is perfect man. Awesome awesome aweoms! sass taffy!

Nav responds:

Nah FL can't change Time Signatures, I wish it could. I can see what you mean there, though! That would be fucking amazing, but I made this in the course of one morning, so I wasn't thinking that way :P

Thanks a lot for the review! :D

[-=LJC=- Amygdalic Atrophy]

yar!

I always loved the simple line visualizer because I feel like it really gives a great interpretation to how deep a mix is. A good mix can really make that thing dance and this track is no exception. It hits close to the edges, but it never clips and if it does, it's completely inaudible.

I swear this track reminds me so damn much of a padman track. I don't know if you remember him at all back when he was submitting, but I loved his work. Idm/ experimental tracks like this define what it means to be a producer. Exploration beyond that which the masses could immediately understand. Pioneering for self exploration.

By no means am I making the claim that your better than artists like bounc3 or paragon, but I just think it's really noble for an artist to go out of their way to learn something new. I look up to you three for good reason. You guys have the experience needed to inspire motivation.

Keep rocking out!

LJCoffee responds:

Thanks Quarl,

Honestly, just knowing that there are people that can appreciate or understand something - even if it's "not thier style" makes me feel a little better about the world.

I never knew padman but I'll take your word for it.

For the mix, I generally just "cheat" :)

In the slightly newer stuff (within a year or two), there's almost always an instance of Reaktor 5's 'FlatBlaster' at the end of whatever effects chain might be on the main bus. I use a slightly modified version of a preset - do I feel bad about it? Not one bit. That's what it's there for.

IMO, it's one of the best software compressors available. It generally smooths out any wrinkles that would otherwise cause a clip or two and it offers a lot of control over how heavy each definable band should be handled.

As for the Paragon, B0unc3 comments...
The best part about it, is that I'm, in no way, in competition with them. There are a lot of people who try (and fail) to create tracks like PX9 and B - so even though some peeps want to emulate those artists, I think there may be a few sour grapes and a bit of animosity here and there.
I'm not threatened in any way by those guys so I don't have to worry about being "better than" and it's really quite liberating. If I were trying to be "better than", then I would only be causing myself undue stress (like some people on NG do).
I find that once you develop a healthy bit of apathy, it really frees you up from the constraints and pressures of conforming to the expectations of others.

In this way, I feel especially bad for Paragon. Imagine the pressure of feeling like you always had to top your last track - every time - without fail... God forbid you submit a track that's anything other than whatever the masses have decided your style should be. Honestly, I don't know him and have only exchanged a very few words so I could be absolutely wrong - but I imagine that it sucks a little to be Paragon. His hands have been tied and his style has been defined by everyone else. Experimentation would probably not be met well by adoring fans and they'd turn on him in a minute. Fickle little bastards...

That's the beauty of experimental crap - nobody ever really knows what you'll try next so everyone's expectations are usually kept quite low. :)

Suddenly, I have no idea where I'm going with all of the above, so I'll end this rant abruptly with a simple:

Thanks for the review!

[DJYvs300(techstep)]

fun mix!

rawr! That's some hard hitting dnb. Now I don't know a lot about tech step, but I'm an avid fan of darkstep... I'm guessing the two genres are extremely similar? Actually, can you tell me the difference right now, just to save me the time of having to google search tech step?

Fun sample from 300, but the sound quality of the recording was shit. Did you put an effect on it, or was it just a really shitty mic? Mra, the song is a lot of fun. Sounds like it came right off of substance d, though with a little added distortion to everything. Maybe a little too much distortion.

The breaks are good fun, the reeses are dark and muddy, really interesting track. Hmmmm... what are you using to make your tracks? I'm curious :)

Yoshii responds:

explanation? that's what wikipedia's for lol

I know the sound quality of the clip from 300 is shit. it's the only sample I could find floating around our lovely interweb unfortunately ans seeing how my dvd's are back home, I'm not able record a far better one.

I use FL Studio 4, and 9 years of experience.