Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Girl With A Knife]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
ChromaCee, Girl With A Knife: 9,10,8,10

Thank you for providing some relative data in the author's comments. Since one of the key elements of the contest is "inspiration," providing key data only helps an artist's cause via communicating conceptual ideas not easily conveyed to the listeners via the music. I'm taking everything into account for fairness and too many users didn't write much or in one or two cases, anything at all. Judging for "inspiration" is often subjective but having a manifesto helps direct attention. The image itself isn't terribly inspiring but recording percussion with knives suited the character well, I wouldn't have notice that without your statements. That squishy climax sample at 2:59 implies a viscous stab wound. You did a really good job with very simple elements. The production was very well done, creative, and fun. The reason I mentioned that the image isn't very inspiring is because someone less familiar with Nene might not understand the character well enough to connect the knives.

She literally begs Pico to kill her in the original Pico's school. How she became a reoccurring Newgrounds character after dying in the 90's always confused me a little but she's a fun if incredibly flawed character known for over-reacting. I kind of identify with her manic energy a little bit, I often emotionally crash much as she does.

With the popularity of KawaiiSprite's music in FnF, I'm surprised you didn't use some pitched up female vocals or vocoder. This would have been a good character to include a voice actor or some other form of reference to Nene. The knives aren't enough, imo. She is after all very human and the track could use a little more of her humanity. The track is dark and moody but Nene is a tragic character that FEELS immensely. You could have toyed with my emotions a little bit more with manic orchestral breakdowns or melodic switch ups. This affected both the "composition/Structure" and my "emotion" scores. Even though I think there is more you could have done with this you still made an otherwise wonderful character theme. I'm nitpicking the lack of diversity only to be fair to the other contestants. Not many competitors tried to make theme music for characters. The first half of the judging process involving the other 92 contestants felt like mostly chiptune music with pixel art, diverging from that is sometimes refreshing. 37/40 is still an awesome score.

In any case, I'm happy to have come across this, have a wonderful day Cee. I hate having to nitpick little things like I did for your track but you are far from the only person I've apologized to while writing up my reviews. Judging contests is emotionally draining but at least I'm better aware of the community and I was happy to come across a name I recognized. The late submissions to the contest seem to have a higher ratio of users that I recognize and compared to the users that submitted material on day one or day two, these later tracks feel a little more authentic and inspired. You made good work bae <3

[Beware - AIM]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Spadezer, Beware: 10,10,10,10

I would expect an old regular to understand the value of the author's comments. Thanks for providing your thought process, lyrics, and equipment. Since I don't need to waste my time needlessly analyzing how this song connects to the art I can quickly hand out top scores for emotion and relevancy. Working the song title into the lyrics via acrostic poem was sassy. My fiance could hear the song despite the fact that I was wearing headphones and he made a connection to the Gorillaz. For certain this is a fun track and it exudes commercial professionalism.

I actually filled out my score sheet with a perfect 40/40 before I finished listening to it, only song to nab that. I'm trying to keep perfect scores rare but the production was through the roof. I can't nit-pick anything. You're on track for getting the shortest review out of everyone but I thank you for saving me the time and energy. The previous review I wrote was six paragraphs long, mostly sharing production techniques. This was such a pleasure to start my day with, thank you so much Spade and I wish you the best.

(This is an additional footnote I'm adding at time of posting my review because it's not fair that I gave everyone else like 8 paragraphs and you only got two. If you want me to be critical I suppose I could wait outside your window every day and every night, waiting for you to forget to brush your teeth so that I can punch out your window and say "FUCK YOU, YELLOW TEETH HAVING MOFO. ALWAYS BRUSH YOUR TEETH TWICE A DAY AND FLOSS," but I'm not sure how helpful that would be in regards to your music. You wrote something special and I hope you feel proud of your work. gg)

Spadezer responds:

A Gorillaz connection is new. I'm really glad you enjoyed it, and I'm deeply honored by your compliments. I'm glad to hear that you think I have a professional sound.

I don't think you need to punch out my window. My cat would not appreciate that

[AIM - Neo-Noir Nights]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
LuckyDee, Neo-Noir Nights: 8,5,10,10 (33/40)

I'm going to open up my review by pointing out something silly. You went with futuristic Japanese Zen garden vibes but I'm feeling like the image more closely resembles Nordic culture with that big tree of life emanating in the center and golden circles radiating over the canopy. In Norse mythology, life takes the shape of a circle. When one generation dies the next will take it's place for eternity. MINUS FORTY POINTS, CULTURAL FAIL D:< oh wait there's Japanese font in the image... this is awkward... you win this time Lucky but I'm watching you.

You can keep your points for now as I write up my review. It's a 100% bona fide inspired piece of music. There were two other competitors that went with a Japanese illustration and evoked that culture's instruments. Whether they realized it or not, I studied a little music history while at University and came across the fact that Eastern music was counted differently. Most people are familiar with bars and time signatures but traditional Japanese music was rubato as fuck, players would emotively express themselves free from time restrictions minus a discernable pulse. It's why that culture of music has an impromptu style. A measure played on traditional Japanese flute is counted in how long the player takes between breaths. Or so my music appreciation teacher told the Uni class so many years ago, she could have been high for all I know. Half of my art professors were high like 50% of the time. I might have liked to hear an ambient section that takes full advantage of those traditional rhythmic elements, lacking true rhythmic pulse. For the most part the song hits at the same energy level for the majority of the time. A good drum and bass song gives listeners a little time to rest and DJs a time to switch up or drop samples. I might recommend listening to Noisia's Moonway Renegade to hear how they really play with that energy the track over. They take long segments to build up atmosphere and creatively slow down the drums to a hip-hop esque down-tempo kung-fu break.

Thank you for taking the time to write what you did. I've been analyzing author's comments in this contest to better understand artist's intentions and inspirations. It feels a little silly that I can write so much about people's music but they seemingly couldn't be bothered to share anything themselves. Newgrounds is a community of nutty-creative renegades and outcasts. I was asked to judge emotion and having a better sense of the people behind the accounts helps me feel like I'm making the right decisions. This contest is too often left up to interpretation but I fall back on one of the original goals of the contest which was to encourage us all to reach out and get to know one another. I'm giving you solid points for emotion and relevance because you didn't risk letting the music speak for itself. A manifesto is a powerful tool to manipulate my feelings while I'm forced to sit here, taking in the sounds.

I can however take points off for the other categories. It's always dangerous to put Drum & Bass in front of me because I can really nit-pick the mixdown of my own genre. I can appreciate a lot of what I hear from the perspective of a fellow Junglist but the drum samples are a little pale compared to what's popular these days. That was a relatively tiny drum kit for a genre that prides itself on over compressed drums and tight fidelity. You're layering an adorably snappy ghost snare but without the power from the main snare drum to drive things the two snare drums fight for my attention. The most powerful element from the drum kit was the hi-hat, a sound that usually get's a little panning bias and is turned down considerably. When a sound get's panned it creates the illusion that it is louder than it actually is so you can then turn it down a little. That makes room in the mix two ways, the opposite side of the field will have more space but you also turned levels down. Win-win. While bass tones are best mixed towards the center, thinner sounds can bias left or right and find happy little homes to balance each other. Masterful panning takes a lot of practice but it's such a powerful tool and too often underused. Feel free to take notes from the pros, listen to their music and compare it to yours and try to get that fidelity they so effortlessly drivel out constantly.

The genre of Drum & Bass has gone through many evolutions but I somehow doubt this is what it will sound like in the far future. You went with classic clean jazz guitars commonly heard in liquid of earlier decades and I commend you for taking the time to use them. They had a romantic sound but could have benefit from fidelity tools, a little compression, some more pan bias + balancing. I'd have hit that futuristic vibe with timeless sinewaves. A simple sinewave can take so many shapes and grooves. They have long been used in the world of cinematography via theremins to evoke mysterious aliens and UFOs. Any program with a sine wave synth can emulate an ear test with some pan strobes. A sound that gently tickles one ear then the other activates the brain to start trying to locate where the sound is coming from. I assume the future will feature music in much higher definition than surround sound but I've always found surround kind of gimmicky tbh when you can do so much with only two channels. So many people don't make full use of that stereo field. Pan like it's the future Dee. Pan like it's the year 5000, get brave with those stereo locations!

That saw synth jarringly hits full blast at 00:27. There are ways to introduce those kinds of instruments casually. I slap automation lanes onto my volume knobs to slowly crescendo instruments into the action a measure or two early. You can simultaneously play with the pitch bend wheel to slowly "rise" the sound into play. In fact, these kinds of synths are commonly called risers, I assume because they warm up the listener and elevate the energy from section to section. I want to take this moment to apologize, the next critique is very specific and a little unfair. I've been listening to DNB for a long time and the classic reese saw-synth reminds me of a world before 9/11. The 90s were a time when Junglists could wreck a dance floor with that synth. It doesn't necessarily hit the same in 2023 but maybe slap a distortion unit on it? Follow that up with a graphic EQ to boost and cut key frequencies into a compressor. Then you slap a filter of some kind on the signal and play with the freq/res knobs. Use automation lanes to tell the filter what to do and suddenly that cheese-reese becomes a nuero bass. I'm sorry I used the phrase "cheese-reese," that was hurtful and uncalled for but I did warn you of danger when putting DNB in front of me. I mentioned Noisia's Moonway Renegade earlier but that songs a really great example of just how much can be done with a simple sawtooth reese synth after modulating it. Automation is power. Go look it up while realizing that most sources like YouTube will diminish the audio quality some. I bought that track in 2008 like a very simple Noisia whore.

I had a chance to loop this song many times while writing this review. Do understand that I loved what I listened to. There is so much great music in this contest that I'm really taking everything into account. You wrote wonderful melodies and rhythms. Just because the snares didn't pop, and some of the elements are dated, I still liked the offbeat accents and moods. A good ghost snare rhythm can carry the track. Salutations Lucky and may you have a wonderful rest of your day!

LuckyDee responds:

Wow, thanks for the extensive analysis! I won't argue your points either, I'm by no means an expert when it comes to DNB - I do enjoy listening to it from time to time, but never did a deep dive into it to figure out the basic production techniques - nor do I know the first thing about traditional Japanese music, so I'm bloddy intrigued by the picture you paint of it. Like I wrote in the description, all I was looking for was to release some music again, and I'm grateful for the AIM to help me along here. And all the better if I can get some people to dig it along the way. Thanks again, thrilled by the effort you cared to put in <3

[AIM - Anamnesis]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
JoMoMusic, Anamnesis: 10,7,6,1 (24/40)

I'll get right into pointing out that you missed an opportunity to connect to my emotions via the author's comments. I scrolled back up my review file to make sure I didn't write the same thing twice but you missed two opportunities to direct my attention to what may have inspired you. I tend to honor artists to some degree when they force me to understand them. I was asked to judge "emotion" and I'm taking everything into account to meter fairness. Rule #2 of the original AIM in 2013 was to ask artists personally for their permission to use their illustrations. It was a rule intended to get artists communicating with each other to build bonds. Though that rule disappeared over the years, I still feel like community is an important element to this contest. I'm encouraging everyone to write a little more from now on if only to endear yourselves to your peers. I enjoyed judging this year's submissions and am now far more familiar with the diversity in the audio community at this point in time. Never be afraid to drop a manifesto or a few key sentences to provide us some insight into what inspired you in case the music didn't speak for itself.

I'm not sure how the rock'n'roll sounds alluded back to the art. The guitar melodies twinkled a little and the figure appears to be reaching out for something shiny but that's the only connection I can honestly make. You could have said something about timeless Greek architecture in the illustration, I see a white pillar. Classic rock music has a certain timelessness to it I think? This is why you never leave it up to the judges to make connections to the art on their own. Very few composers seem to understand that the main theme of the contest "inspiration" is subjective and if the music doesn't speak for itself then you are best served sharing your thoughts and feelings. I love getting to know the community better. You've been lurking since 2007 and this feels like my first time noticing you. Give me more to remember you by so I can feel an emotional attachment to your work (which emotion was something I was asked to judge and I take artists feelings into account to help nit-pick such an intense competition of music sharks.) Your words can authenticate "inspirations."

I took a couple points off production and I'm pointing to the drums. Though crisp drums are a feature commonly associated with EDM genres there are plenty of metal and rock composers that mix drums powerfully as well. That was a very gentle kick, possibly alluding to the softness of clouds in the art but I'm just spit balling an idea that you could have highlighted in the author's comments. The snare is equally low energy. If you're not going to write a song that clearly and perfectly reflects the illustration than I'd hope you could mix everything perfectly to make up points with production. I'm not sure if you make use of sidechaining, it's a post recording technique that let's you control the levels of instruments using the levels from another instrument. Bass drums are often used as the signal to control levels, a bass drum can tell other instruments like pads and basses to make room by getting momentarily out of the way. Sidechaining is a very powerful tool regardless of genre, it should never be over looked in the studio.

I'm not sure I'm hearing much panning data. Since I like to harp on drums I'll focus on how you can pan them up a little to help make room in the mix and make everything a little crisper. When you pan a sound you create the illusion that the sound is louder than it actually is so you can then turn it down a little. Panning also frees up a little space on the opposite side of the stereo field. Panning creates space but it also emulates space. Though you want to powerfully mix the kick and snare drums to the middle to glue everything together other auxiliary percussion like hi-hats, tambourines, bells, shakers, and cymbals can bias to a side. Imagine the way a drum kit is spread out. A drum roll or fill can move across the field. Pan the first tom a little, keep the second tom in the middle, then toss the final tom to the opposite side of the first. Suddenly a drum fill can create the illusion of space and movement. It breaks up the static monotony of mixing everything to the center and makes for a more interesting mix. Panning professionally takes practice and experimentation but finding good homes for all of your sounds is a masterclass balancing act. Remember, bass tones towards the center for structure, everything else can be toyed with until you find a perfect home for everything.

I don't like handing out low scores, I try my best to justify what I've given people. Do understand that I can hear a lot of talent and potential in your work. You wrote a wonderful piece of music. I hope this comes across as helpful and not upsetting. You've been lurking here for too many years to risk not having a voice with your peers. It can feel silly sharing your thoughts and feelings when you just want to make music but there is a community here that would love to have some more of you. This was an opportunity for me to get to know the community better and so many people wrote next to nothing. I hope to see some more of your work in the future JoMo, don't be invisible :3

[Amiss]

LucidShadowDreamer, Amiss: 10,9,10,9 (38/40)

I didn't even realize you snuck into this contest, who let you in LSD? Was is Annette? I'll let it swing this time BUT I'M KEEPING AN EYE ON YOU, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. I haven't even listened to your song yet as per when I wrote this. I noticed your name on the score sheet, got excited, and skipped ahead to write this initial paragraph. I hope you enjoyed it.

Ok, now I'm listening to your music. Haunting and beautiful, colorful. Despite such a small waveform you got some really loud elements and I love that. Many users gave me tiny mixdowns but at max volume this hits my ears pleasantly. Not too loud but not so quiet that I can't make out the finer details on a cell phone. I suppose these mix elements are a side effect from the one instrument you chose to write with. Your melody stylings stand out powerfully, a strength of yours I'm familiar with. I reviewed one of your songs a while back and critiqued your use of synths which are not a strength of yours but I'm always happy to hear people go outside their comfort zone. I didn't feel like this song ventured too far from that comfort zone of yours, this might have been a wonderful track to practice some gentle synth patches and evolving panning data. Dammed if you do damned if you don't, right?

The clouds in the image could imply the movement of wind. That tree is either beat red because it's a Japanese maple or it's fall. Dampness is common in the fall, the water colors makes the road look damp. The instrument patch you used almost sounds like windchimes. You have the orchestral chops to make use of chimes but you didn't. Cymbal swells could have been used to gently crescendo into transitions evoking wind and light. With panning data, those swells could have implied ghostly movements or vapor. The image uses light and shadow very well, gentle bass drums could have darkened the mix up a little to echo the potency of the darker colors. You left it up to the melodies to do all the work of creating all the contrast A VERY BOLD DECISION LSD. WHO LET YOU INTO THIS CONTEST? THIS IS WHY I DON'T TRUST YOU. GOING ALL EXPERIMENTAL FOR A CONTEST YOU COULD HAVE STUCK TO YOUR GUNS AND OWNED. This is why I love you. The competition this year is steep, and I'm trying to be fair to everyone. I hounded other competitors in reviews to write more about their work. You were very brave to say "my personal interpretation of the artwork differs somewhat from the creator's" because I feel like that showed a small flaw. You didn't perfectly embody the spirit of the original illustration despite doing it some serious love and justice. A church bell would have fit the scene well because we have headstones and even one with a cross. The artist aimed to make an illustration that showed "letting go of a loved one's loss," and she spoke of happiness. The sparse but brooding mood your dissonant notes created was odd in comparison. Though the artist was trying to illustrate a positive scene the melodies you used created feelings of unease or lingering. I honor your bravery to make a contradictory statement in the author's comments, so many people chose to say nothing of substance or value. One or two persons mentioned nothing at all. You got my emotion points for toying with me.

I'm sorry I'm not handing you a perfect score but I'm trying my hardest to keep those rare to be fair to everyone. This contest has been a small nightmare to judge because I impetuously decided that I would leave everyone a personalized review like this. You're still one of my favorites Lucid, I wish you the best and may you have a wonderful day <3

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Firstly, I wish to apologise for the delayed response. I try to reply to every review, but when someone has put so much effort in to writing one, I also want to sit down and properly take time to respond. It’s been a while since someone took such time to really put their interpretation of my work into words, so I must thank you for that; it’s nice to feel heard.

As you say, nowadays I feel more like a shadow that lurks in the darkness of Newgrounds, only to share a dream here and there (perhaps for contests or events), so one has to remain lucid or my work will pass by unnoticed.

As for the waveform, I’m guessing that many people master the tracks to -0.1 db, or perhaps even 0. I believe the NG player waveform visual might exponentially grow the closer you get to 0. I master my tracks at -1db, since this better circumvents issues with certain playback devices, and I find achieves enough loudness. These are just some thoughts I haven’t really tested too thoroughly, however! Naturally, it tends to be easier to mix a single instrument.

You caught me trying to stay within my comfort-zone. Well, rather, I chose to stay close to it whilst still experimenting with something I found novel and worthwhile. The methodology brings the Zone of Proximal Development to mind. The main reason I didn’t dare venture too far is because I was travelling, and in Portugal I had no access to Cubase. This meant I had to use FL studio which didn’t require that dongle I forgot back in Finland :p

I see that my (admittedly only slight) worry of people not really ‘getting’ my choices were unfounded with you as a judge. It was nice to mentally listen to the edits you verbally added to the piece! A good reminder that there is never really a complete song, as a single addition or retraction could completely change it, and one could argue for eons which choice is superior.

Whilst there might be some peace in death, I find it is rarely surrounded by merely one emotion. The whole array of feeling might be present in differing degree, for different people. All of this is difficult to understand, even more so to convey. This piece is my attempt to come at least one step closer to conveying that complexity, still falling far short, of course.

Never be sorry for not giving a perfect score! Always give what you feel is right <3

You wished me a wonderful day, but as I am so late in responding, I must wish that you have had a great month (precisely, in fact), and that you on top of that will have a great day.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!

[AIM - Dusk]

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

Lmao, massive relevancy points for that non stop rain. You didn't need to spam it all over the track but I laughed a little because of it. So many competitors missed an opportunity to make use of atmospheric samples, you went the opposite direction and Saran wrapped the entire track with one. It's honestly a little distracting from all the other elements. You wrote wonderful melodies and contemplative Jazz. I'm a huge fan of Mouse On The Keys, I like to point people towards them when someone manages to write a sound so similar. While the rain and thunder gave you massive relevancy points, I took off points to "Composition/Structure" and "Production" because that same element just brings everything else down a little. You handed me high-class down-tempo jazz and then suffocated it a little with that storm. For a guy called "Dryest" you ironically drowned the mix with that massive atmospheric sample. It's why I mentioned "I laughed a little because of it."

It would have done just as well at the intro and the outro, without playing entirely throughout the track. If it was your intention to depress everything with it's ever present and menacing omnipotence, you should have said so. I really dug into people during the review process for not making use of those author's comments to direct the audience's attention and confirm inspirations. The primary theme of this contest is "inspiration" and if you leave it entirely up to the judges to draw their conclusions you might miss the chance to captivate our feelings. Newgrounds is a community of like minded misanthropes, creative juggernauts, and vagabonds. We're like a crappy family sometimes, we'll argue or disagree but we still like to know more about each other. Back in 2013, an original AIM rule involved reaching out to the artists and asking for permission to write music to their illustrations. The goal was to build bonds, make new friends, and strengthen our shitty social skills. I'm reminded of that because so many users made the mistake of assuming that the music spoke for itself but there is always something to be gained by having a voice. I took one point off of emotion for missing an opportunity to connect to your audience but don't worry, I did it to like 90% of the people in this contest to stay fair. Don't be afraid to have a voice for those that will pay attention to it.

My college advisor and video professor at Alfred University had once taken a moment to inspire her students to blog about their work and several of them recommended publishing books. It's not necissarily an artist's primary focus but writing about your work is an emotional hook for those that can read. A successful artist can't exist in a vacuum. Publishing content is an important aspect of our lives and everyone does it now via facebook or twitter. It can be a little annoying in this day and age when digital opinions and thoughts seem to oversaturate everyone's lives but you're an artist and so am I. From this day on I challenge you to have more of a voice, if for anyone it's for your peers. I don't always read a wall of text but there are times when I do and am usually grateful for it.

All in all I hope this review was helpful in someway. I despise coming across like a raging bitch, have a good one Mr. Dry!

Dry responds:

Thank you for the review, ngl this made me think a lot more than I thought it would have otherwise

[AIM - Sweet Tooth]

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

For a theme song I feel like this was very well done, possibly even perfect. I looked at Ortani's original artist's comments about wanting to make "something cute and fun" and you managed to echo that very uniquely. Probably the most common critique I gave people is that they didn't make use of the author's comments to say a few things about how the art might have inspired elements in the music but you managed to make a song that spoke for itself better than most others. Music doesn't always speak for itself and an artist can always direct attention to key ideas. An artist can play with the judges emotions by adding that small human element. We love on our music much like a parent might dote on their kids. We love what we do and so many people just missed that opportunity to appeal to our feelings. I was asked to judge "emotion" after all and I take everything into consideration. We're a community, cult like at times. You didn't say much so I'm a little upset that I'm stuck over here doing all the work of trying to make the connections to the inspirations but at least you wrote a song that appeals to the imagery almost perfectly. Those kawaii fem vocals suit the Candi character and yes, I factored the silly candy puns. "Chew on this," "take that suckers." Very cute and in style. Jeez Code, you wrote a good one.

The music has an edge to it while still staying sweet and cute. I suppose the figure in the illustration could be ready to use that loli-pop as a weapon. A little Harley Quinn, a peppering of fun Adam West Batman high action orchestrations. I felt like there might have been minor issues in the mix but I'm not sure I can offer any meaningful feedback to improve it. I mean, the vocals sound like they were recorded in a big ass room. Aside from a negligible amount of room space on those voice recordings, the kick drum might have benefit from some more attention and power. I'm not sure if you sidechain at all but in EDM genres the kick drum is a massive part of the mix down and via sidechaining will push everything else out of the way. I'm used to heavy, charismatic EDM kicks. Compared to the energy and colors everything else has, the kick drum is the one element I can gripe about confidently. It's just not quite powerful enough, sorry my love.

I used that as my logic for taking off one point from your score, it really hurt to do. I really wanted to give this a perfect score but I'm trying to be as fair as possible to everyone in this contest. One last time, this song is so good. Have a wonderful day Codefreq and keep rocking out wonderfully.

Codefreq responds:

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed review! :D

In terms of inspiration, there isn’t really that much to say that hasn’t already been said. I saw the character, who’s name I assumed was Candi, based on the title of the art, and thought the character would fit in a 2D action game like Dust: An Elysian Tail or Metroid, and I wanted to convey the energy and vibe I felt would be appropriate based on what I was seeing through the instrumentation I chose to compose with. As with my other music, this piece is an audio-version reflection of both what I saw visually in the existing picture and what kind of corresponding animated story was playing in my head.

I did use the “music box” sound heard throughout the song to reflect the sound of an ice-cream truck driving by, given the “sweets” and “candy” themes of the drawing. Also, the lines in the song were intended to be possible catch phrases that Candi would say during combat.

I’ll keep in mind your tips about the production. Thanks again. :)

[AIM 2022 - Rock 'n' Roll]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
UncouthkidAC, Rock 'N' Roll: 10,5,10,10 (35/40)

Damn, you and Yoshiii343 got that teen grunge-indy-angst vibe down perfectly. Scott Pilgrim meets the Pillows FLCL OST. Your song brought a huge smile to my face. As someone that used to play a lot of acoustic drums for noisy youth bands I can respect the genre. Truthfully though the fidelity is going to make this hard to listen to on repeat. These high frequencies are scratching my ear drums painfully and makes everything sound a little too thin. Affording the equipment and space for high fidelity live studio sounds is a painful hurdle. You got wonderful song writing chops and I'll give you high points for everything except production. If you play a live set at a venue, ask if they can record via the mixing board.

How many mics are you putting on that drum kit? As an EDM artist I can tell you that auxiliary percussion like hi-hats and crash cymbals can be panned left or right to reflect the drum kit's location or balance the stereo field. Tom fills and rolls can emulate a right to left movement, with the first tom panned in a direction and the final panned opposite with the middle tom sitting in the middle of the field creating dynamic breathing room in the mix. That kind of sound fidelity requires more mics than you probably have. The first three songs I uploaded to Newgrounds in 2005 had maybe two microphones on my drum kit and the recordings were so embarrassingly flat. We recorded those songs in a dark basement using an old 8 track mixer that was given to us with a handful of microphones. I know the struggle all too well.

I can't overlook bad production just because I'm aware of the struggles while romantically remembering that time in my life. I'd recommend researching how to get better stereo recordings but you can still fix stuff up a little with digital tools. I'm not sure what programs you're using to mix it all but if you have the ability to slap a graphic EQ onto things I might recommend it. You're mix looks fairly full but there's still room for more bass and an EQ can help boost those lows. EDM producers have the ability to just drop fidelity tools on everything but you can also make use of those same digital tools to a righteous degree. If you have less mics you can try to record parts separately, would recommend structural elements such as drums first. Mics can be shared between instruments and voices but the more recordings you can divide the band into the better. Heck, one guitar can be recorded via two mics, one panned left and one right to get a much stronger sound. I do the same thing with my synths when I make dubstep but many a guitarist I've talked to attests to the efficiency of that stereo recording technique.

I loved hearing this track. Thank you for sticking it to "the man" and writing some old-school punk/grunge recorded in the same teen-basement energy that spawned the genres in the 80s. I'm sorry for being critical over the mix quality but I feel like I've adequately explained myself and will move on with a huge smile. Thank you for providing something unique to this contest and have a wonderful day Uncouth <3

UncouthkidAC responds:

Hey! Just wanted to say so sorry this took me so long to respond to! I had been away from a proper computer for a minute and really hadn’t time to go on Newgrounds much!

Thank you so so much for such an indepth critique of this track! I really appreciate you taking the time to listen and give your thoughts. It really means the world to me! Makes me really happy to hear that this track brought you some joy!

I think I totally agree with everything you had to say about the track including the things that didn’t vibe with you! I think something I’ve been trying to learn recently is that just because I like a crunchy punk aesthetic/sound doesn’t mean it will be nice to listen to. A conversation I had with a lot of people I showed the track to went something along the lines of:

“I really like it! It’s very catchy but it kind of sounds like shit!”
“Thanks it's supposed to sound that way!”
“... Okay. but it still sounds like shit…”
haha So definitely something I would like to get better at in capturing that punky vibe while still being enjoyable to listen to.

What I will say was kind of an unintentional compliment on your part is those drums were entirely sequenced digitally! That main break on the verse was sampled and chopped up from the Zero G Sound Sense Grime Scene sample pack and then whenever the drums kicked in on the verse/Choruses it was mainly the Spitfire Audio LABS drum kit with some subtle humanization added to the midi sequence and velocity and then layered with some samples from my DR-770 run through the filter on my SP-404sx for some added grit. Makes me really happy to hear that they sounded convincing enough to be thought of as an acoustic kit that we mic’d up!

Once again thank you so much for taking the time to really digest and give your thoughts on the track! You’ve given me some great pointers and a lot to think about with my production! I hope you also have a nice day Quarl!

[AIM - A Joy in An Apple]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
ShepDeathWoods, A Joy In An Apple: 10,9,10,9

Lovely instrumentation, loved the diverse set of sounds you chose to use. I started to hyperventilate during the first listen because of how much I liked everything while simultaneously noting that I needed to keep my bias in check so I could judge you as critically as I judged everyone else. I can totally nit-pick issues and had to focus on that kind of neurotic stuff to help sort out my score sheets and make things fair but do understand that I loved this track a lot. The techy drums were my cup of tea but they came off as a strength you leaned into and not necessarily something that benefit qualities of the illustration. I'm not sure if the percussion reflects the art at all. I like to lean into my strengths too but going full house towards the end of the song was just you showing off, admit it. I'm giving you tops in emotion for having fun with it and sharing your thoughts & feelings. The track is wonderfully written. The melodic elements were inspired and gentle, the progressions matched the mood and energy of the image well. This makes me want to write some gentle house.

The water, wind, and chime noises brought a connection to the art powerfully by transporting us to a natural setting. I really pushed people to focus on using atmospheric samples to transport us into the image, many might have benefit from a few more elements like those you demonstrated. I can see a bird flying in the background. Some samples of birds chirping or cawing might have fit the song perfectly. Mountains in the background implies slow tectonic movements and I personally can feel a connection to those slow off beat drum rhythms throughout the majority of the track. Nature often lacks clear rhythm but a day-to-day structure is visible to anyone that monitors it. This song explores so many musical ideas wonderfully.

The first thing I found myself taking a point off for was production because honestly you could boost these sounds a little more. Just because something is loud doesn't mean it can't be gentle, soothing, or mixed perfectly. I turned the music all the way up to better hear everything. Many critics will nit-pick a brick but a near brick can still be perfectly mixed without mudding up unnecessarily. Too many artists mix on the quiet side gimping the power of their delivery on certain speakers, probably afraid that they'll over compress and brick but you really don't know your own limits until you've mixed a few bricks. This track has a lot of space left over but even that house section towards the end could have used a little more bass. For such an abundance of beautiful song writing I found myself craving a little extra volume. I could have plugged this into my PA system for some more volume but you have to consider that your listeners might not have a PA system and you're handing them a song that won't bump the way you want it to when limited to their equipment. This is a very small mastering issue but it's what I'm going to take a point off for, sorry my dear. I'm also going to take a point off structure for hitting me out of the blue with that house segment. It sounds lovely, amazing really but does it belong here relative to the illustration? It's a question I'm rolling around in my head and I hate that I even have to think about it. How about I give you a 10 for structure/composition and I take off one point to relevance for just not using enough atmospheric sound effects?

I'm having such a hard time justifying your scores, please forgive me for the points I've taken off. Please have a nice day ShepDeath, and know that I loved this with almost all of my heart :3

[AIM - A Skilled Warrior]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
AceMantra, A Skilled Warrior: 10,10,10,10 (40/40)

Yay, someone I recognize! The community here evolves so much as the years pile on, recognizing someone often feels good and rare. Unfortunately I can't give you any additional points simply because I recognize you, sorry love. +0 points :c

This is the second Japanese-style art inspired track in this contest, you both wrote very strongly. Something the other composer made use of was rubato. Traditional Japanese music had a very flexible pulse or even lacked any sense of concrete timing. This was an emotive tool traditional Japanese composers used. I was told in college that a phrase in Japanese flute was divided not by a traditional Western count or pulse but by the length of time a player took between breaths. I doubt the other judges would be aware of that but I gave high relevancy scores to Azurenite for nailing that element. You took a very different contemporary Western orchestral approach with Japanese instruments tied into it. Though you have a very "metal" approach it still works nicely with that art. The artist chose to paint with black ink, reflecting traditional Japanese calligraphy but the scenery is high action. One of the figures is seen leaping into the air while the brush strokes imply comic like movement. The art is both traditional and contemporary. I can very easily connect the energy of the art to the energy of your song. I can't take off any points to relevancy, the two creations are near perfect for each other.

You know what, I've written so many long winded reviews at this point that I'm willing to venture giving you a perfect score to just save myself a little time, COME FIGHT ME AIM PEOPLE. I could nitpick the guitars sounding a little flat or electronic but I respect the fact that you included all the software tag so I could look it up. I could nitpick small elements here and there but the production is honestly great enough that it really stands out from the majority of your competition. Professional work, inspired sounds, and killer mix. You did great work Mantra. I'm moving on from this contest with a small nod towards your skills and ambitions. Good job Ace!

AceMantra responds:

I finally have some time to reply. Sorry for the wait.

First of all, thank you so much for all your hard work and in-depth reviews! It's not easy to go through all those submissions and even harder to write reviews for each one.

You hit the nail right on the head. I decided to mix something traditional with something more modern, much like how the image was. I experimented with some things new to me with this piece; using Hirajoshi and Blues scales in a couple parts for example.

I'm already hearing things I would do differently with this song, but that is part of self-improvement. Thank you again. Keep being awesome, and don't stop creating.