Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Rig - Mind over Metal theme 1]

Great buuutttt...

Sorry it took a while to get back to you. Midterms. Also, I wrote up an essay for you but my browser quit on me and I lost the essay. Not to fear. I'll just paraphrase it into one sentence.

I HATE THAT FUCKING DRUM LOOP.

Now I'll do a rewrite. I don't mind it hiding behind syncopations and slight variations. Hell, even simplifying that core rhythm even further and making up some cool aux percussion stuff would have been good. You didn't even try though. It's so blatantly there. I digress. It's a video game loop. That drum rhythm might help give off a vibe of familiarity that ultimately benefits the game. It's more of an ethics problem than a compositional one. I've used it before too... once actually and it was recent... just to see what it was like. I'm disgusted with myself but I've gotten by somehow.

Aside from my gripes on the drum pattern everything else is cool so far. It sounds like it will work great with a game when you finish.

"It's the same drum beat." Hypocrisy :P

Rig responds:

Fair enough, I guess. What makes you hate the drum loop so? The repetition or that the beat itself is just so overused?

[Rig Interviews Chatroulette]

gah!

lol... pop down here for a while. When you're done visiting me, you can visit the girl you interviewed. Funny stuff rig :D

[AD - The Passage (DUB)]

asfdffffff

Sounds pretty good so far. That grimy bass is coming along nicely but it's a little too predictable. I'm not sure how your modulating it but if it's set to automatically modulate change that and just automate the bass where you want it to modulate so it doesn't always have the same attack. Like you said, the stabs need some work. I'm not sure if it's the texture of the voice or if it's the melody thats getting to me but I'd play with both.

Other than all that you got a solid track coming through the pipes. Keep it up!

AeraDynamic responds:

agagagag thanks I am working on it, I modulate my basslines with automation clips or freehand but thats in fl only hahaha the stabs are already done so far, I changed em a bit ;)

[Kinda, Like You]

wwereeeeeeeeEEE!!!!

Great sounds mister! It's always fun to hear people playing around with drum modulation so employing that early within the track definitely helped hook me in. There are some elements in the mix that I don't entirely agree with but first I gotta mention something I just left in some one elses review. Sometimes really effective uses of traditional compositional aesthetics such as rhythm or melody can over power an individuals disagreements with the mix. You've got a really nice piece of work here! I was able to listen to the full track without losing attention once. You're melodies are strong. They come off as simple but really effective. Normally I'd consider the syncopations in that drum rhythm kind of awkward but it has that traditional tech step pattern working at it's core. As much as I hate that drum pattern, it works. That core drum pattern works in the same way as a four to the floor would in any other EDM genre. It's helvetica. Kick snare kick snare. Perfection in minimalism. I hate it and love it at the same time :P

Now for the bits in the mix that got to me a bit. That bass kick is all low range. This becomes glaringly obvious when I unplug my monitors and listen in on my laptops factory speakers. There's no audible kick. I'd layer in a mid frequency ranged kick to give it some more punch. The snare has wider range but no mids. It's all hi and low. Again, some mid range would be huge! If there's a hi hat in the mix it's not audible on my monitors. I can hear plenty of tamb action. I might turn the more prominent tamb down in favor of a hat somewhere working on 16th notes and perhaps a shaker. Dunno. Just ideas. I just noticed the bongos. You really made some interesting choices with that perc section. I like :)

That pad at 1:41 sounds so close to a perfect sound but there's something about it I'm not entirely agreeing with. It might be a little too prominent, it might need a touch of verb, it might need a tad bit of filtering, dunno. It's so close to the sound I want to hear but something about it just isn't giving me the right vibe. The melody is great though!

All in all you have a great composition! Really sir, kudos for making something so lovely. Keep on keeping on and good luck with future projects!

Chozz responds:

Thanks :) Its funny you brought the kick up, I was listening to it at work today in my office, and i thought dayuuum, a little bit of mid might be needed for this, and it's good to see that im on the same wave length as most people!

Regarding the simple beat, yeah I know what you mean. I've only just started producing drum and bass. My main focus at the moment is sound quality (layering of snares, eq, e.t.c), whilst providing a nice simple (but entertaining) beat to uplift the liquid-jazz sounds and riffs in the background. Maybe as I get a bit more experience I'll start slicing and dicing beats :)

I'm going to remix this track I'll let you know when it's up, and kudos for the real inspiring review!

[Rucklo - Endless Handbag WIP]

mew

You said this was a work in progress so I'll consider that but I'd like to say that sbb mostly hit the nail on the head for what I was thinking. A lot of your songs feature thin lo-fi sounds. That kit sounded nice at first with a few minor things out of it that got to me but once the other instruments came into the mix the kit lost a good bit of it's punch. I have a habit of liking really heavy kits and sounds so I'll admit that my opinions a bit biased but the instruments in this song sound really thin.

Now, I'm not sure if this will help at all but I noticed that when I turned up the volume on my monitors the sounds had more life to them. I'm not sure how low of an amplification your working with, but maybe you can get clearer sounds by turning your monitors down. My laptops speakers had a really nice sound to them... actually, everything sounded a hell of a lot better on my laptops speakers. That should never happen. I might recommend experimenting with different monitors, set ups and work spaces. You don't necessarily have to head out and grab new monitors. Just get another brand/size/set up to compare and master with. Sometimes just changing rooms will give you new acoustics to work with that can change everything.

Some of the more traditional aesthetic choices in melody and rhythm were interesting and nice. I can over look a mix I disagree with a lot of times when songs have hooks that transcend anal contemporary fetishisms. Really, those were some sassy drum fills and aux rhythms. You're melodic choices can be unconventional at times but in some cases that can work really well for you. I'm a hypocrite for pointing it out especially when thinking of this as an EDM track but I think that some of your melodies can explore further ranges. Play with jumping up an octave at the end of a repeated measure. Even something as simple as that can widen up a songs texture. Dunno.

Well, thats my two cents. Good luck with the rest of the work you got going. All the best sir!

[Rig & FoD's Epic Tune]

meh

You damn kids and your rock music. In my day, we had dirt and we liked it >:C

Rig responds:

Dirt tastes good with rocks.

[cry goat]

mew

haha, nice song. If your a fan of piano at all I'd recommend looking into some chopin. He's my favorite romantic era composer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0kr_V cKESk

there might be a space you have to get rid of there to get the link working. Things get insane after the two minute mark.

Now about YOUR song. Great melodies and rhythms! I love them all. The drums can have a wider sound but I might recommend reading through this thread for that...

http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1 137269

It's looking like it might end in a dumb flame war but xkore linked to some good drums. I also typed up a little ditty about layering. Those two posts alone will be well worth your time. Peace sir and keep on keeping on!

[Rig - 3 hour DnB]

pur

haha, sick stuff. For three hours this is huge. Also, I love the kitten. Nice element.

Rig responds:

MY CAT KEPT MEOWING DURING MY COMPOSITION AND SO I RECORDED HIM

[SR - Your Hand]

merp

The only thing this track is missing is Jeremy Enigk. Find that guy and you have it made.

SineRider responds:

that would be amaaaazzing. He has one of the best voices I've ever heard...

[SN | No Purpose Flour | SN]

dahkdakhdahkdakadh

haha, awesome background intangibles. Your selection of sounds and rhythmic choices are well thought out. There might be a bit too much reverb on something which is muddying things up but for the most part everything sounds pretty tight. I think the verb is on one of the pads or a hi hat. I notice that a lot of pros turn the hi hats down in the mix. They're really important in idm to help distinguish a rhythm but sometimes the remainder of the rhythm can imply the hi hats existence. Dunno. Try nudging the hats down a bit and let me know if that changes anything for better or worse. This song fucking rocks by the way. I'm in love with everything melodically and rhythmically. Fucking ace.

SessileNomad responds:

hey thanks man, yeah i tend to go a little to crazy reverb, its probably the pad thats fucken stuff up

im glad you liked this one, glad at least other IDM artists like it

thanks for reviewin man :)