Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Alienlike (Ronatapes1)]

OUCH THIS IS SO GOOD. ABSOLUTE GRIME. I LOVE THESE MACHINES, CAN I CUDDLE THESE SYNTHS?

CryNN responds:

bwahahahahha

[basskicksnare]

Yeahhhhhh, front page FOD. Love seeing your music there. Today, front page Newgrounds. Tomorrow? Front page Nobel Peace Prize.

Father-of-Death responds:

xD lol

[27 Jan - We can always try again tomorrow]

Another great composition Leavesz! I love it. The little chromatic slide at the end says "yeah. We're done here." Cutting the track where the artist feels it needs to be cut is legit. In 44 seconds you managed to tell a neat little story with this. It would make a wonderful segue on an album between two larger songs.

Since you want those suggestions, I'd have quickly tossed in a string section. Some low tones could be made from a simple few notes. You can even copy/paste the piano part onto a violin instrument, then delete all but the core few notes that paint the general chord progression. I feel like there's always room to patch a quick violin section and record a simple progression.

A few others have realized how well a dulcimer works with a piano. A lot of the "guitar" sounds in my work is just a dulcimer patch.

There just isn't enough time in a day but if you had it, percussion. I get bored with orchestral percussion patches really quickly but it costs next to no time at all to drop in a few cymbal swells, bass drum swells, a gong, some güiro scrapes... I only use stock orchestral patches from Reason which is probably why they get boring after a while but you can manage some more drum diversity with fidelity units, pitch bend wheel, reverb... honestly stock sounds can be ok with some work :3

Ummm... my last bit of suggestion is to save this file, back up everything you can. You never know if ten years down the line that you might feel like opening this up again and recycling the melody for a separate project. This is gold, and recycled gold is still gold :D

[cat song]

lol, we both went a minimal route today. Honestly, good music doesn't need to be extravagant and nuts. Love this little bop Droid. Nice little clap/snap snare. That voice lead is super creative <3

[API madness Reboot 2022]

API, Arnold Geier? He stopped posting music here at about the same time I started circa 2007. Last time I heard one of his tracks was on the Lifted music podcast over a decade ago? He was too good for Newgrounds :p

[Hysterical Notions]

Honestly, a thin mix down like this creates a great "tired out" vibe. We're all feeling stretched right now with this Jamuary song a day nonsense. I feel like this mix down is hella relative. I love that bubbly pad sound. Bongos just slapping away. If you looped this for ten minutes instead of ending after one, I wouldn't care or say anything against it. I'm so worn out right now, this track basically sounds like how I feel. Stretched, chewed up, wrung out, but still funking away. Slapping those bongos, chin up high.

Casper responds:

Was considering sleeping but im not giving up, just 339 more daysss jk i would literally physically diee

[WIDE EYES]

Big percussion, instruments all sound great. Melodies are all very gorgeous. Phat trap bass. Loved all the elements working together. There's so little time in a day to perfect everything but I'd have slipped some reverb on that crash cymbal at 00:42 and 01:25 just so that the envelope sounds a little more natural. I also toss an automation lane on cymbal volume knobs to give them more controlled, gentle cut offs. It's honestly probably something only a drummer would nit pick, I'm sorry xD

Though to be fair, I'd have wanted something similar from that final note. I don't think I can end a song without automating a slight increase to an instruments reverb for a small texture fade out. You kids ending your tracks on sudden silence is way too edgy for me D:

[25 Jan - Not lo-fi hiphop]

This is very creative, I love those "square" envelopes on those instruments. Fast cut offs to volume knobs give off a glitch vibe. I feel like there could have been a little more of a transition between the glitch intro and that middle section. Maybe the chord @ 00:18 could have sustained on it's own for a few seconds before going into that next beat? For something like that you could just chop everything in half down the sequencer with a razor tool, move half the midi to the right one or two bars and just extend that chord for a little longer. Ultimately you can decide whether that kind of thing is worth doing or not but I love putting a small rest on the beat by sustaining things for a measure or two. Transitions can build up a lot of tension in a short amount of time before the new part brings the release to that tension.

I loved the three distinct sections. It sounds a little like you wanted to write three separate songs out of this idea but couldn't settle on the rhythm. I think all this needed was slightly emphasized transitions but just my opinion. Great work Leavesz :3

[Jamuary 2022 (Day24) - Don't Look Back]

I'm surprised any of us are still posting stuff everyday. Great tune by the way. I'd have changed one note just to say "I finished this today" but there's literally no reason to do something like that. I love how chill this is. I have so much trouble keeping things simple but I have a lot of respect for music that just is. This doesn't need to be anything more, the melodies are lovely. So modest and pure c':

metalblinga responds:

Thanks! I appreciate it :)

[PowerPutt Legend!! - Steelworks]

Sounds mad authentic, love those melodies. Nothing feels needless. This is killing it for me. Love those sfx doing their own thing like a furious soloist in the background. I have no idea how chiptune songs are supposed to end, would it have been a smart idea to emulate the noise of a screen getting turned off? You can take this idea and roll with it, I'd love to hear that ;3