Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Skyocean]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
TebyTheCat, Skyocean: 9,8,10,9

So I totally recall coming across you in the last AIM that I helped judge ten years ago and from time to time I notice your name amongst the community. I'm glad I judged this AIM, I get to see names new and old alike! This was a very nice track Teby. To note your profile page "making stuff I like, improving little by little," I do believe that you are in fact doing these two things, we all should. There's always room for improvement, never stop improving! One of the last things I remember my mom telling me was "I'm still trying to figure out what to be when I grow up," and it was inspiring. Obviously "dead" is a fucked up punchline but I live by that notion that there is always time to figure yourself out a little more and become something better than you were the day prior. Words to live by.

One criticism I levied at many other users is a simple one remedied with a little experimentation via sampling. This is a laid back contest, none of the judges will take off points for atmospheric samples like animal noises or rainfall, especially if you left a link in the authors comments to the sample location. We're not mods, we're judges. Not that your illustration specifically had rainfall, I just wanted to highlight the fact that there are hour long videos on YouTube that feature things like "1-hour rainfall meditation" or "one hour of nature noises to calm your cats." If your ever worried a sample breaks community rules or standards you can ask a mod but they know the struggle too. Most people on Newgrounds don't own or can't afford a field recorder and the free time necessary to record ambience at a location. Sampling is part of the hustle, so long as the samples are not the key focus of the track. For the art you choose, I see oceanic animals amongst the sky. Though you can emulate dolphin and whale calls with simple sine synth patches and a little engineering, literally no one would have cared if they heard a literal whale call from a nature documentary (I noticed a little bit of sinewave play at 2:46 but you can do so much more with your automation lanes). Many programs allow you to record sounds straight off your hard drive or sound card and a free program like Audacity is a great alternative. I like to grab samples with it, then quickly export things to sample folders. Not a lot of judges will talk about this kind of stuff but you can safely approach samples without "breaking the law" or infuriating mods. Just have to be conscious of the process and situation, meter your risks and rewards.

Peroneal choices, I'd have slipped some submarine radar blips into this and some glittering chimes to represent twinkling stars. Percussion instruments like vibraslaps, waterphones, and chimes are easy to find via YouTube. Orchestral sounds like cymbal swells and bass drums would have been well used. Some large booming bass drums could have filled out the sound spectrum just a little more. The mix is decent but there is totally room for some deeper sub sonic bass textures. A lot of users can't afford the kind of monitors necessary to get a good grip on those tough to hear sub sonic sounds but even a genre like chiptune benefits from sensitivity to that extra range. There was a very thin lead at the two minute mark, it over powered the surrounding instruments so much that I had to turn down my volume a little. The melodies were triumphant but the mix at that exact spot was noticeably unbalanced, those booming orchestral bass drums I mentioned... counter that thin lead with those orchestral bass drums or warn the audience of rising action with a cymbal swell that leads into that part :3

I will take a moment to thank you for writing what you did in the authors comments. Many users fail to understand that the people judging the contest are their peers. I love getting deeper insight into how people think and why they make the choices they do. Having visible feelings will help sway my "emotion" score that I was asked to judge for while promoting your authenticity. People don't realize how powerful a tool an artist's statement or manifesto can be. A ten page thesis won't win the contest but it's not like it hurts either. Such a thing might make you more memorable. One user opted to say nothing at all, I guess under the assumption that they thought the music spoke for itself. Or maybe they thought that saying too much was a waste of time? Very few users wrote songs that spoke for themselves, I'm usually stuck over here trying to make conceptual connections with zero guidance. I like to know that artists are authentic so that I can justify my scores. I've witnessed too many users on Newgrounds cozy into the community with stolen music but having the bravery to tag your equipment is a sign that you know a thing or two. I noticed you didn't tag equipment but I really didn't mind too much after reading your commentary. You covered your ass with detailed commentary & decent music and for that I awarded you a perfect score in "emotion." I have a feeling next year will see competitors posting more commentary...

I got a lot of great vibes from this song Teby. The points I justified taking off usually cycle back to everything I already mentioned. Composition and structure can lead back to affecting production. Relevance to artwork could have been remedied with samples or lyrics which is also a production footnote. This was a tough competition to judge despite it being fairly laid back. There is always a small group of artists that go 110% which leads to pulling my hair out. You could easily fall into that top tier list with a little more experience. I feel you've made great progress over the years and I look forward to seeing you maximize your skill set. This was a pleasure to listen to Teby, salutations!

[AIM - Earliest Memories]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
DarkHorseOrchestra, Earliest Memories: 9,8,8,7

Full stop, I've written a massive review for almost everyone in the contest by now. A common critique I levied is that not enough users are taking advantage of the authors comments to toy with our feelings. I'm being asked to judge "emotion" in a contest about "inspiration." To make sure I'm treating everyone fairly I have to take EVERYTHING into consideration, even the possibility that composers aren't being honest. You can share a few quick sentences to really drive home an idea or emotion you wanted to express while simultaneously providing the community with a sense of authenticity. Some composers wrote poems, others reached out to the artists and asked for permission. That actually used to be a rule of the contest back in 2013, composers needed to reach out to illustrators in an attempt to gain permissions which helped build bonds in the community across portals. The spirit of that rule was exciting but I'm not sure it always worked out as intended. In the spirit of that rule however, I gained a lot of respect for musicians that shared their feelings, inspirations, and emotions. I usually took off one or two points in this contest if the artist tried letting tracks speak for themselves because often their work didn't. This is a hard contest to judge, toy with us some. Leave a poignant statement, thesis, or poem. It helps us relate to you and makes you memorable.

I'll point out a useful thing to know, tagging your equipment is a stamp of authenticity. I used to mod audio on Newgrounds back in 2009 and back then there was a pending list where new musicians would wait until an audio mod could get around to vetting them. We were encouraged to ask pointed questions about the creative process for their music in an attempt to sort out the people that were uploading stolen or copywritten content. The process was terrible and I got burnt out quick but that need to vet my peers has never dissipated. Other judges might not be as honest as I try to be but I'm willing to say these things because it can help you in the future. This is a really strong song with some solid emotions at play and your hard work is audible, please tell us a little bit more about your baby. We are a community of peers, a dysfunctional family at times. You can reach out to your listeners and fit into that community better by expressing yourself with a little more than the music itself. This kind of goes for everything in life, never be afraid to have a voice DarkHorse. I've said nothing about the actual song to this point. This is why judging Newgrounds competitions takes so long.

It looks like the drums are taking up most the room in the mix during that climax but you could have "compressed" forward other tones earlier in the track such as those pads and instruments. For the climax, sidechaining would help balance all those bigger tones and textures. I'm not looking for a brick necessarily but this entire track could have benefit from some foreboding orchestral perc like booming bass drums, bass drum & cymbal swells, chimes, bells, cowbell, vibraslap, waterphone... I've been sharing some of my sampling techniques with others in this contest. Being a "younger" member of the community can lead to an unease with sampling because at it's core the legal issues are somewhat mysterious but the people that mod often know the struggles. Not everyone can afford a field recorder and the lifestyle to record every atmospheric sound we come across. As long as a sample doesn't become the primary focus of a song most mods will turn a blind eye. A free program like Audacity is great for just nabbing certain materials from YouTube videos or elsewhere as it can rip right off the soundcard/hard drive. Many programs let you do it, I just find Audacity faster in it's simplicity. If you ever nab a sound and feel like it breaks community guidelines just mention it in the comments and ask "is this ok?" I used to mod back in 2009, the people combing through flagged subs are honestly looking for the easy stuff like copy written music uploaded for Geometry Dash or songs made entirely from sample packs. Tagging your equipment is a newer feature that I love because it gives artists a stamp of authenticity. Don't be afraid to share your equipment so others can research techniques they like or comment on gear. I like to see headphones tagged personally because many headphone brands have variable results on quality of sound. If someone is mixing on Audio Technicas I can actually switch my gear and hear what they're hearing. The judges for an informal contest like AIM are probably not that crazy (but I am).

I loved that sensitive hi-hat programming. Given how techy the illustration was I was surprised there wasn't some more synth engineering. A sinewave synth is the classic synth for portraying sci-fi UFOs and aliens, the classic theremin produces the same sfx. A few 1950's cinema classics to use that sound are Forbidden Planet (1956), the Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), The Thing From Another World (1951)... you missed an opportunity to echo classic sci-fi sounds and atmosphere. These sinewave sounds still get used today to comedic effect in cartoons like Spongebob and Adventure Time. You can do so much with synthesis, one competitor in this contest managed to make wonderful racecar engine noises using what sounded like simple sawtooth waves.

You must be using automation lanes on the pitch of those hi-hats, see if you can slap automation lanes on your synths to invent new tones and textures. Those sinewave synths I was talking about in particular can bend, stretch, echo, and communicate with listeners like underwater creatures. Ghostly cries from deeper sinewave modulations may embody the sad cries of an interplanetary species that swim across the void of space like whales. For the imagery you chose, I felt like there was a lot of techy experimentation you could have explored. I have to keep pounding away at these reviews but I hope I was able to express some of the reasons I was able to whittle points off your scores. Always upwards and have a wonderful day DarkHorse :3

DarkHorseOrchestra responds:

Thank you for not only reviewing my piece, but also the advice and suggestions relating to the information about the uploaded track and not just the track itself. That last sentence came off horrible in my head while typing it but I really do appreciate it. Like you said, this is a community and I really did feel a hand extending out and encouraging me to join in more. So thank you again for that! I've also now tagged my software and hardware used for this piece.

The drums...well what you said about making use of the author's comment comes into play here lol. I mixed them that way to represent the crazy lines cutting throughout the picture heading towards the craziness in the middle of it, and also my lifestyle during my late teens to mid 20s(Not that anyone would know that or make that guess cause yeah lol). The hi-hats was actually a pattern for the keys, I randomized velocity(alt + R in FL) then edited it a bit.

I agree I could've done so much more and I do regret not doing so, I'm with all of you there 100%. The score I received from you is far better than I expeced, so thank you! There's a lot more I could and should respond to in your review but I'm not going too, just know Ive taken it all in and will definitely keep them in mind and try to implement them more in my future work.

Thanks again and have a great day!

[AIM - Moonlight City]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Voltus, Moonlight City: 6,7,7,8

Oh wow, I genuinely smiled while bopping to that intro. I feel like things got a little too experimental at 00:52 though. Sometimes a song hits really nicely at first but aspects become jarring and out of place. Example: 2:23 was perfect and awesome then 2:58 comes around and stands out in a bad way. I paused the song to think about it. I can get really experimental with transitions so I totally understand the need to do something experimental but I'm not sure it helped this time. You mixed a fairly big sound, a lot of people fail to hit that volume never realizing that their songs can be bigger and still sound good. Listening to music on an apparatus that doesn't let you pass a certain decibel, a good mix will stand out immensely. A kid put me to shame once when he pulled out a cell phone and showed off some high fidelity dubstep and it still sounded awesome ON A CELLPHONE-WHAT. So you got the volume trick down but I I felt like that lead square synth was a bit too loud compared to surrounding elements. There were other sounds you could have surprised us with to help mix things up but that big square lead got old and grating after a while. It has some awesome energy but if you wanted to get some new amazing tones out of it I'd slap a filter on it and add automation lanes. Low-pass/high-pass whatever, just play with those freq & res knobs and automate a little battle between them. Instead of simply using MIDI to tell an instrument what notes to play, automations tell knobs to move autonomously over time. Automation lanes are essentially recordings of motion. It's such a powerful compositional tool, automation lanes can let you filter a synth line like it's a dubstep bass or dnb nuero. You can apply the same tricks in house, trance, synthwave, whatever. Just play around with more automation and make new tones! An automation lane on the BPM can let you emotively play with time and tempo, just sharing that idea for fun.

The next aspect of the review might feel awkward but I'll explain myself. Many people did not take advantage of the author's comments meaningfully. I'm going to try to inspire you to write more in the future and tag your equipment because these things can better your odds with peers by making you more authentic. This is a very hard contest to judge and I have to take EVERYTHING into account. I was asked to judge for "emotion" and if someone mentions how the art inspired them and what they wanted to accomplish they can develop a human element with me. Music doesn't always have to be good to be loved by people. Captain BeefHeart's Troutmask Replica album is the perfect example, an album too experimental for normal people but just terrible enough to be loved by many others. People fall in love with music for many odd reasons. Awkward segue, my video teacher at Alfred University used to try to inspire us to blog or publish books about what we were doing, an artist with a voice divorced from their work will stand out more memorably. Leave a bread crumb trail of information for posterity. It's fairly easy to say things about your own music, don't be afraid to gush or write a short manifesto.

The structure was torn asunder with transitions from sections I enjoyed into sections I enjoyed much less. The production was loud but loudness isn't always the most important aspect. There was very little dynamic information. Everything hits at one volume, you can bring a song to life with evolving velocity data. Drums are a great example as a drummer will often use volume as a means to convey emotions. I play louder to convey triumph and quieter to give off bashful playfulness, when juggling velocity data into my rhythms I can turn the drums into a much more enjoyable instrument. Every instrument can benefit from evolving dynamics. Crescendo and decrescendo volume. A neat trick that works for many instruments is an automation lane on the volume knob. I quickly draw out dips and peaks in volume automation as the song plays and this more or less fakes that human element.

The song did alright at evoking the art but you might have benefit from some atmospheric samples. There is what looks like an ocean or bay between us and the city. Some waves crashing would have fit this well. Would have sounded progressive and inspired mixing that synthwave sound with some high fidelity samples of waves crashing-

"BUT QUARL, I CAN'T RECORD WAVES CRASHING, I DON'T LIVE NEAR THE OCEAN," I don't want to hear it Voltus. This is a really laid back contest and we just like hearing things. You can use a free program like Audacity to rip samples from your hard drive as they play on your computer. Google "one hour waves crashing YouTube meditation video" or some garbage and just nab a wave. As a professional, this is a dirt tactic and a field recorder taken to the beach is far more legit, but here on Newgrounds we have kids learning the ropes and can excuse certain uses of samples. Always link back to one if you think it's questionable, meter the risk and the reward. There was a really nice synth patch at 2:22 that could have been used to emulate waves crashing, it would just take a little engineering work. Nothing crazy, just play with the synth patches some more :3

You know what would have been a really neat conceptual idea? Imagine we're on a boat looking at the blue city lit up at night. The music bumping on the sound system could be our date night jam. A sinewave synth patch could be a metaphorical dolphin or whale below the water singing ocean songs as they pan from one side of the stereo field to the other. Chimes could glisten across the field as well, as if evoking twinkling stars. A synth could zip across the stereo field very quickly as if it were a comet or shooting star in the night sky. You see, I'm writing all this conceptual nonsense up but it was unfair that I had to do this for like 90% of the contestants. Music doesn't always speak for itself, you're the parent of this music. Say some stuff about your baby! Why should I love your baby? I'm a complete stranger. Never miss an opportunity to communicate effectively with your peers, remember that authenticity matters to some of us.

Another secret reason to share ideas, I modded audio here back in 2009. The portal was different back then. Audio mods had to send personalized messages to people waiting on a list to submit their first song. We were encouraged to ask pointed questions about the music we listened to in an attempt to weed out people uploading stolen music. I grew to hate the process. I have a lot of respect for artists that tag their equipment and share their creative process because it makes it easier to tell if they're authentic or not. A benefit to this community is that you are surrounded by peers that have vetted each other. It can take time to understand this website enough to get the most out of it but anyone can become a big fish in this small pond. I have to keep peddling away at these reviews but I think I've shared enough of my thoughts with you and I hope this clears a few things up. I don't expect anyone to write an essay the way I do, a few sentences would have sufficed. Music doesn't always speak for itself, be brave and gush a little! Voltus, I wish you the best and have a wonderful day :3

[AIM - A Spirit's Thoughts]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
masterakuma99, A Spirit's Thoughts: 10,10,10,10 (40/40)

Funny story, I got on almost everyone's case this AIM about not providing feelings or information in the author's comments. I don't need an essay but you honestly wrote exactly what I wanted to see out of everyone. A few quick thoughts, feelings, aspirations, and inspirations. For a contest about inspiration, too many people assumed their work spoke for itself. This is a hard contest to judge because the theme levels the playing field a little bit. I was asked to judge for "emotion" and I take an artists statements into account because those can add authenticity to a contest about "inspiration." Composers need to have a voice divorced from their work to stand out. I was an audio mod back in 2009, the process was terrible. Back then we had to vet everyone before they could submit music. I'd send personalized messages out to new musicians asking pointed questions regarding how people made their music to try and weed out bad apples uploading copy written content for things like Geometry Dash. You wrote just enough data to win me over, including the equipment tags was very nice of you. Thank you for sharing your feelings and equipment. I respect that a lot.

I tried to avoid handing out perfect scores this AIM but you were one of the few to do it and with such a unique soundscape. That panning data was inspired and swirled nicely. Every odd atmospheric synth or stab sounded like it could be a fantastic creature. You struck such a massive chord with me in such a simple manner. The song had an almost reverse "Explosions In The Sky" decrescendo to it. Very unique in that you basically hand us the meat of the song 30 seconds in then play around that shoegaze vibe for the rest of it.

What am I doing? I already gave you a perfect score and am just stroking your ego at this point. Thank you for this wonderful piece of sound Mr. Akuma Master, congrats on getting one of the shortest reviews :3

masterakuma99 responds:

Thanks a lot for the "short" review and the perfext score! I really appreciate it when judges give out detailed reviews for the entries.
Similar to what I said in storykeepers reply it is really encouraging to see people resonating with my songs the same way I resonate with songs from my favourite bands.
It´s good that you mentioned the whole author`s description part. I often forget/don`t think it is important to describe the idea of the song. The only time I try to give information about the track is during the AIM contests. Since I wanna do some different music in the near future it is propably a good idea to give some context for the tracks.
The equipment tags are something I use on pretty much every track I publish. Exactly like you said, I respect everyone who hands out information on how they made the track. It can give you some inside and especially inspiration. That`s why I always add those for the chance that it might help someone.

[AIM - Succubus]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Shifterhead, Succubus: 10,8,10,10

NIN energy, Marilyn Manson, Billy Idol. This song managed to get better after multiple listens and playthroughs. It has that 90s alt grunge, pre-emo stank. Can we call it Premo? No joke, historically the jazz that led up to bebop is known as prebop. Call everything written before The Cure pre-emo and see how fast people get angry. "The Beatles? The Doors? Jimi Hendrix? No, that stuff is premo now. As in pre-emo. It's a time period of classical rock music. Only a hipster like me would know that, I discovered Premo."

Guitar sounded a little boring to be honest, please hit me with some sassy pro pitch slides and more surprising riffs. Though the song may have some great nostalgic energy I felt like there was a lot of space left in the stereo field. I like telling people that they have to mix one or two bricks to know their limits. Not that a brick is some incredible goal or accomplishment but you'll notice on smaller sound systems songs that are mixed better sound louder and they don't lose fidelity. There's a point when a full mix does truly brick and you start losing fidelity via over compression but this is why I say "you have to mix a few bricks." There's still a fair bit of space in this but what you have still sounds very nice. The voice is actually doing most the work in this song.

You sang with a lot of soul despite having lost your soul to a succubus, performance enhancement drugs? I have a lot of respect for people that use their voices as a creative element, it can take bravery to find your voice. A low key criticism I tossed at a lot of people was to write more in the author's comments (only took off one to two points each depending on the situation and how well the music spoke for itself). Keep your secrets Shifterhead, your music spoke for itself but I would have loved to know how the inspiration came about. What did you like about the art? Did you have some personal feelings to get off of your chest or was the track just for funs? Anything is better than nothing. I used to mod audio here ages ago and seeing a deeper thought process and what gear you're using is always engaging data to share with peers. Adds authenticity and allows you to speak to the global community that Newgrounds has become. Write a manifesto. I fought with myself over whether or not to take a point off for emotion for not taking the time to just write more but your singing saved me from doing it. Modding in 2009 fucked with me a little, I'll never grow out of the feeling that I'm vetting people somehow. The community always gains from talented authentic users so I look for those that are aware enough to share some of their work process. There are a lot of young people on the site, at 35 you could be a reasonable role model (yes, I dropped by your main page and nabbed that age data.) For such inspired lyrics, you could have typed them up. Many users that wrote lyrics did exactly that, it doesn't hurt your cause. I like to read ahead to develop feelings for whether or not the song is really inspired by the illustration. You picked a really basic illustration and went hard into moody industrial synthwave, the lyrics are the only reason why it works so well. Without those wonderful vocals the entire thesis falls apart and I'm left with a track that doesn't do the art justice. That hurt to say, I'm sorry. Everything in a song works together to compliment each other, the back track was weak compared to your vocal chops.

I sat here and listened to Succubus like 500 times. It's a great, if challenging track to listen to. After a while I really wanted to hear the synths evolve and transform. You succeeded in romantic 70 & 80's synthpop but I love hearing people mix classic sounds with new age fidelity. The production on the instrumental is my greatest issue with this, it's a little boring and predictable. I'm only taking off two points because I loved this so much but do consider some of what I've shared with you Shift. Track is awesome and I wish you the best with the other judges. Have a good one Shifter :3

[AIM - MEAT]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Droid, MEAT: 10,9,10,10

LMAO, photography isn't allowed in the art portal. PsychoGoldfish using his privilege's to break the law, tsk tsk. I won't tell anyone if you don't.

The classic punk rock compliments the BBQ setting oddly well. I must be pretty old for this to jive as it does but it does. Lyrics obviously echo the "illustration" nicely. You compressed the shiz out of that track. I often tell people "you don't know your limits until you mix a few bricks" but you must have taken that to heart and mixed one fuck of a brick. Tracks a little over compressed but I'll forgive it this time. The track is actually wonderfully mixed despite that. Only thing I could think to do to tighten up the mix is an EDM trick to sidechain certain instruments using that kick drum to get crisper sounds. The kick drum is thumping in a way that obnoxiously fights with the surrounding sounds for emphasis. You can fake sidechaining if you have multiple tracks in a software sequencer, automation lanes can push certain conflicting textures out of the way for a moment. I'd have done something like this to the bass and rhythm guitar tones but I'm not exactly a punk rock recording expert so don't ask. It's hard to nitpick this kind of stuff because punk is so traditionally recorded in garages with cheap 8 track recorders and like 5 mics found at various garage sales within walking distance of your grandma's place. YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW THE STRUGGLES? I AM PUNK ROCK DROID I WAS BORN IN 1989, WHICH IS SOMETIME SLIGHTLY AFTER PUNK ROCK WAS INVENTED. I GREW UP IN A TIME THAT REMEMBERED THE TIME WHEN PUNK WAS PUNK, NOT THIS POP LIMP BLINKIN PARK 182 SHIT. YOU EVER GO TO A SHOW WHERE PEOPLE THROW UP ON EACH OTHER DROID? YOU EVER DRINK PISS? YOU EVER MOSH SO HARD YOU LOST A KIDNEY DROID? Oh wait, your profile says you're 93 years old and handsome. I bet you remember a time when "punk rock" was legit ragtime music. You were probably there when dirt and music were simultaneously invented, I envy you Droid. For a 93 year old man your skin is very taught and soft. Sorry, I didn't mean to get so close to you... look, I have a thing for men over the age of 90, I thought I saw you on tinder earlier? Send more meat pics...

Would have been great to have the lyrics written out in the author's comments. I'd love to see if there is a visible structure in how it was written. I can make out most of the lyrics but if there was a hook or something it would have stood out a little more. I've been coming back to this song a lot for repeat listens. It's such a classic sound that I'm really happy you made it into the contest. It was such a nice throw back to simpler times. My taste in music got so stuffy and arrogant after my middle school punk rock phase but I still bump some NOFX and Me First And The Gimme Gimme's from time to time. I remember every word of every song they wrote. Personally, my taste for punk led to ska, ska led to metal, metal led to post hardcore, grindcore, idm, dnb, jazz and so on. It's a gateway anthem genre. I suppose punk will never die so long as there are people willing to roar idealistically. I took off one point to production because it was the only thing I could really nitpick. I didn't really need to say any of this but I felt like everyone deserved some feedback and I just really liked this one Droid. I wish you had wrote a little bit more about the recording process or what was going on in that head of yours but I'm familiar enough with you and your work that I have a hard time chastising you for not getting a little more personal in the comments section. You're lucky the music managed to speak for itself, often it doesn't and I was left trying to make my own conceptual connections.

PS, nice "meet up" wordplay with that title :3

[AIM - Waking Dream]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Quebi, Waking Dream: 9,8,9,9

Funny story, at the time I'm posting my reviews the art you chose is no longer visible. "ERROR — Submission not found. It may have been deleted." Good thing I wrote all my reviews like a month ago but I'm updating them all as they are being posted. Only thing to stop this kind of thing from happening in the future is by downloading and posting the image to your music page or communicating with the artist so they know the art means something to someone. Maybe a mod removed it? Reaching out to the illustrators used to be a rule and I thought it was a good one because it forced us to network and reach across creative platforms. Newgrounds has so many socially defunct creative juggernauts. In my opinion that rule was a good one, if a little awkward because it encouraged growth.

I remember loving your work the last time I judged an AIM so I was looking forward to this when I recognized your name in the list. That introduction was beautiful. Good use of the author's comments to defend your thesis. You picked such a raw experimental image to try and translate into song. There was only one other image that stood out as much as this one did and that review didn't go over well. So my initial gut feeling was to be worried. You're a very strong composer in my mind but I'm allowed to get worried. Literally every great composer has moments where they say "I'm doing something different today." Voice synthesis is not something I've ever played with. A little vocoding here and there but this was a neat sound to drink in, thank you. I wasn't a fan of the vocals when they initially hit me, something was off about them but the melodies were inspired and well written.

I think there was a little more room in the mix for bass and mid frequencies? Things were mixed very well but there appears to be more room for certain other elements. Maybe more percussion during the climaxes? What you do have is lovely but a faster shaker, some tambourines, chimes, rides might have helped that climax hit extra powerfully. Maybe that climax should have dropped the synthetic vocals in favor of stronger instrumental features? The lyrics were poetically written but perhaps it's a good time to apply the adage "less-is-more." Despite being painful to hear it is often times true. It's hard to toss this critique at you because there were some absolutely inspired sounds in this. Loved the percussion I did hear as it was unique and crisp to boot. A live vocal collaborator might have delivered the lyrics more soulfully but there's a very good reason all my songs don't feature amazingly recorded live vocals, can't hold it against you. Using an experimental voice generator is what I assume a cutting edge creative composer is going to play with. You got a great sound out of an experimental tool, even if it doesn't totally sit with my taste.

Overall, for what I was expecting this was a little underwhelming. I know you can be top of the class, but this time I'm giving you an awkwardly muted score to give some of the others a better chance. I do hope you've listened to some of your peers as some of them hit it out of the park. I handed out a few perfect scores and I really fought with myself to avoid that, you're on the receiving end of that decision right now. I know I'll hear more from you in the future and it will be amazing so please forgive me this time. Last time I judged (ten years ago) you made top three, right? You know what they say, if it isn't broke...

Regardless of my misgivings I wish you the best Quebi. Salutations and love.

[AIM 2022 - Heaven's Night :// City's Light]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
TheVodouQueen, Heaven's Night :// City's Light: 8,7,9,10

You managed to perfectly hit a number of points I drilled others for. Atmospheric samples and SFX were inspired and engaging. I was expecting some Bjork Hyperballad stylings but got something a little different. You actually wrote about your work and ideas, too many composers failed to realize the advantage in filling up the authors comments but that's an emotional element that perhaps only I personally care about. My video professor at Alfred University used to stress the importance of blogging or publishing a book. Though she didn't get into massive detail why, I've found that writing helps develop your voice, your goals, your image, or a cult following. I try to keep posts positive because I'd rather people enjoy their time on my page when they scroll in. Comfort people when they visit your page with neat content and a welcoming voice. It can be hard when we want to vent anguish, we all get emotional and sads sometimes. Interestingly I was asked to judge "emotion" and mine are very easily toyed with. I love knowing more about the contestants. I used to be an audio mod in 2009 during a time when artists had to be approved and vetted first often via interview. I was encouraged to write messages and ask pointed questions before approving artists to the portal. The whole goal was to verify if they were uploading original music or not and the task fell on any four or five mods at the time. It turned the whole process very personal and I got tired of it. People don't understand why it's so important to share equipment and techniques but I take everything into consideration because I like to know people are real. Communicating ideas adds a degree of authenticity.

You asked for feedback, sorry I haven't talked about your music yet. I was awestruck by that intro. Though some of the recordings had fidelity issues, I forgave that very quickly. It mostly just sounded like there was a little wind or too much ambient space hitting the mic. What I didn't forgive quickly was that experimental background melody at 1:55. I took off my headphones off and looked around the room because I thought a cell phone was ringing. I paused the track because it was very out of place. As someone that personally used to do things "just because, nothing really matters" I can respect the decision to put that there but it was very jarring.

There is still a lot of room in your stereo field to boost sounds, the wave shape shows all sorts of space that could have been filled by slapping some compressors on things. Compressors can boost volume as much as they "compress." In Reason I'd have given that gentle airy pad more umpf by splitting the signal and sending it to two separate mixer channels then hard panning both, one to the left and one to the right. Many instruments can gain some presence with that trick, it's essentially putting the same instrument in a room twice and telling them to stand on opposite sides and be loud. You can then sidechain instruments with the drum kit's kick. I'm never sure how much any individual person knows in regards to sidechaining but it's such a useful technique for controlling the levels of one instrument with the levels of another.

I like to think that the drums are the most important element in any EDM genre so getting them to slap nicely is important. I actually program an independent mixer for the drums entirely which then get's chained to the main mixer. Between the two mixers I'll sit down a filter for playful EDM drum crescendos and decrescendos. If layering drums, I'll usually use two or three kicks, three snares, and three hi-hats. I can then merge the signals as they leave the drum machine. All the kicks get their own fidelity units, as do the snares, and hi-hats. Example: once I merge all the snare signals they get put through a graphic EQ, a compressor, and a stereo imager. Then they get sent to a mixer channel as one signal and labeled "Snare." You can repeat this trick for all the bass drums or all the hi-hats but I usually skip fidelity units for the hi-hats. A useful trick with having three hi-hats is that you can slightly pitch bend them, change their volume a little and just quickly write up rhythms that switch between each or all of them simultaneously to fake some dynamics. Another fun trick for faking dynamics includes automating volume knobs. I'll set an automation lane for an instrument's volume and quickly draw some dips and peaks then copy & paste the data really fast to quickly fake dynamics which makes the instruments sound more alive and emotive.

You really challenged yourself with the length, I noticed that Annette seemed interested in length. Personally I prefer a less is more approach assuming a song can be a few minutes long and still say everything it needs to say but I can't dictate that as a reason to give or take points. Just thought I'd bring it up.

Something else I'll bring up needlessly is an old Jazz adage: "it’s the notes you don’t play that are as important as the ones that you do." Sometimes I don't make a song at all and that's honestly the same idea. Everywhere I go, I'm silently still playing Jazz.

That horn melody towards the end was lovely but I didn't realize how discombobulated that drum panning was until 4:13. The kick drum and snare sound panned far to the right, usually those elements stay in the middle to help give a mix some structural spine. The thinnest elements of the drum kit can get panned challengingly. You managed to balance it decently in earlier sections, not sure what happened towards the end. You can counter balance hi-hats with shakers, tambourines, güiro, rides, bells, chimes, and all sorts of fun percussion noises. I know the genre is synthwave but I find the drums got a little boring. Please don't hold that against me, I'm a drummer and I get bored playing the drums sometimes. Holding a beat can be a job and in my opinion jobs can suck if they remain static and unchanging. Though you challenged my ears with that late pan data, I think it was the wrong kind of challenge, as it came across jarringly. You can experiment with everything on the drum kit but the kick and snare which should stay towards the middle.

I think I've managed to say enough to justify the scores but if you have any questions don't be afraid to reach out. I try to stay somewhat accessible to the people of Newgrounds even if I'm a little reclusive. I wish you the best of luck with the other judges and may you have a wonderful day Voodou. I hope to hear some more from you in the future :3

[AIM - Cosmic Harmony]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Remfy, Cosmic Harmony: 8,7,8,8

You are the second person to choose this image but don't worry we don't take points off for that. If anything it's an homage to the artist in that multiple people are swooning over their things.

Thank you for writing extra comments this time. I'm not sure if the poem is yours or if it comes from somewhere else but it's beautifully written. The rhymes were graceful. I notice your profile says your Swedish, I'd assume writing a little more about the music isn't that big of an issue? The amount that people shared in their author's comments was a common critique I levied during this contest because making the conceptual connections on your own conveys authenticity. I'd have totally respected a wall of text in a language that I couldn't understand. At the very least I could use google translate. All in all, I just want artists to realize what kind of community this is so that they can better belong in it. I'm far from the only crazy person here. Much of the community uses Discord now. The forums have always been a part of Newgrounds, not certain how active they are anymore because I don't spend much time in there myself but words are a powerful tool. You can be as vague as you want or as detailed in your commentary but you can never hurt yourself in contest by writing a little more. Some of us can read.

Something I noticed is that a lot of the instruments hit at the same static velocity each time. Human players use volume emotively to help convey feelings. I'd love to hear this track with some sensitive dynamics. A cheap trick involves slapping an automation lane on a volume knob, easy crescendo/decrescendo. It sounds like a synth patch your playing with has a long attack. That's a cool patch but most the time I just do that volume automation trick for stuff like that. I've gotten to the point where I can quickly draw in volume data as the track plays on. All instruments could have benefit from some evolving dynamics as that pad did, if not as dramatically.

I think there are issues with the instruments in how perfect every instrument's timing is. Human players have a warmth that radiates from small fluctuations to timing. Humans are not perfect. It's not like you need to get totally random but an odd exploratory note can really stand out and grab attention. The art was very organic, emulate that with some surprising timing or changes to tempo. I like to slap an automation lane to the BPM to create the illusion of rubato.

Something I pointed out to composers who echoed Japanese illustrations is that tempo is counted differently in traditional Japanese music. In western styles, we have time signatures you may recognize like 4/4 or 6/8 to denote pulse. In old Japan, players emotively made use of time and divided phrases by how long it took between breaths. Elsewhere in Europe rubato came into use during the romantic era which means "robbed time." Again, this is when composers would slow and accelerate time emotively. Some of my favorite romantic era composers that use rubato are Frédéric Chopin, Felix Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, there are so many greats. It was a wonderful time for European music. I only bring up these composers and ideas to try to inspire something a little less mechanical and stiff, more Zen-like shifts in keeping time.

The melodies are beautiful though. I really do like how inspired the melodies are, they are wonderful. Percussion isn't bad, I caught that güiro. Maybe some more orchestral percussion like cymbal swells and big bass drums could have helped convey celestial bodies? A French horn played in a really low register would sound lovely. I feel like this song is missing some things but that's not the end of the world. Some reverb might have sounded nice on one or two things. I like to automate my reverb units on and off to create certain effects and sounds. The song is dream like and thought provoking. I really would like to know what that poem is :]

I hope I cleared up a few things or provided ideas to think about. I don't like taking off points from anyone's tracks but this is a contest and the competition was stiff. I do wish you the best. Good luck and salutations Remfy!

[AIM - Sunny Afternoon]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Remfy, Sunny Afternoon: 9,9,9,9

Another composer aims their scope at animated pixel art and gives me chiptune to listen to. It was a very smart choice for this contest. I've pointed out to a few people that this contest bridges a gap between skill levels in that a decent chiptune can nab fairly high scores while a high fidelity dubstep or DNB tune can fail because it just doesn't echo the art. You took a small experimental progressive chiptune risk with those full fidelity drums but they sounded really nice and programmed well. That last section was easily my favorite. It wasn't too intense of a climax but maybe more of the song could have used that full spectrum energy? The track doesn't seem to repeat itself much but for an almost four minute track two climaxes are better than one, imo. They can be different from one another but I felt like I waited an unnecessarily long time for that climactic pay off.

So almost everyone in the contest got the next criticism but don't worry about it too much. I only say it to help you all but writing a little bit more about the creative process can help the judges hear things they might not have noticed. If you had an idea for how the sounds echo back to the music, point it out. If you had something you were particularly proud of, point it out. If there's information you feel we need to take into account, point it out. The judges are your peers and if someone like me happens to be on the judge panel, your words can sway emotions. I was asked to judge for "emotion" and that's a fairly conceptual idea that can subjectively change from judge to judge. I love the Newgrounds community and taking the time to post some of your thoughts can help endear you to the community. I've witnessed so many artists grow up here. It can feel silly to share your ideas and it takes a little bravery but use every tool at your disposal to be an artist. Sometimes it can feel like no one is listening but for those that do, take that risk to communicate to them.

I'm having a hard time finding things to take points off of. This is a really great track that just works nicely with the image you chose. The critiques I levied at others have a harder time sticking here. This wouldn't necessarily benefit from atmospheric samples. Maybe some waves crashing at the end with some gulls or something similar might help transport us into the image? You totally took a "less is more" approach that many others could have benefit from. I'm not as impressed with your tune as I am with some of the other contestants but the score kind of reflects my unwillingness to toss you into the shark tank with the best composers. I don't know if I'm being unfair or not. I've highlighted some minor issues but overall this song was a strong contender. Hopefully this review is somewhat helpful in illuminating how hard it is to judge contests. Write a little more next time to make a statement that undeniably connects the art and the music and I'll have a much harder time justifying taking off points for such minor things. The author's comments is your chance to post a decisive manifesto.

The judges are your peers so don't be afraid to talk to us through that specific means. For all I know you could have already written this song before you found the image but a quick blurb about how you were inspired by the image makes it impossible for me to suggest that. I'm glad you took a second to shout-out the artist but there is so much more you could have said about your work and hopefully this review inspires you to share a piece of yourself with the community. Your music is lovely but we love to know that artists are being authentic. What tools did you use? Did you spend a lot of time on this or are you showing off your chops with something that was made in a day? You don't have to write anywhere near as much as I do but you can't hurt yourself by sharing a little more. It can often be somewhat therapeutic and often people may leave reviews addressing your feelings. I have one more song of yours to judge, but I do hope to hear more from you in the future. Be proud of your work and have a good one Remfy :3