Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[today is going to be a good day, i can feel it]

Pretty 13/8 measure. One, two, three, one, two, three one, two, three one, two, three, FOUR YES. UNF, I LOVE THAT EXTRA PULSE IN THE SWING. Face melt.

Loved that cute little synth lead. Hell, all the synth patches are classic video game. It all comes together really well. Bass was tight. Drums are tight but I think the beat could be a little fiercer with more drum mods and effects. Pitch bent 32nd note snare drum fills. A tamb and shaker rhythm might help brighten the space a little. You can pan them in opposite directions and activate some more of the stereo field.

I'd have added extra an bass kick and snare drum layer. You can get really diverse IDM rhythms and textures with drum layers that emphasize one another and can take turns sharing the spot-light. A nice bass kick with sub freqs can have moments where it sustains to emphasize a relationship with the bass melody. I think a fidelity unit could push the low frequencies on that slappy bass synth some more. I paid stupid money on these headphones and am hungry for moar sub sonic textures :D

[Machine Learning]

Damn slippy, I love this. Love it when artists can merge grimy digital noises with gorgeous pads, atmosphere, and glitter. Vocal samples were wet and lush. Drums are nice without getting in the way at all. I don't listen to a lot of EDM so I kind of laugh when I hear a killer clap snare. It's my least favorite snare texture but you made really good use of it.

If you used this song as a pick up line, I'd pay for dinner.

[toastywav, Don't Tremble, cat.flp, Azkii, astr1d, Fkntay, Interpunct, F1regek - soup house]

This title summoned me. Thank you for composing a title as intellectual as the song itself. Breaks were hella rad, those pitch bendy filtered amen breaks around 1:00 ... I'm mad I didn't write them myself. Who ever did those, apologize to me now >:C

Some of the more ambient parts were very thin. The person mixing all the work together could have compressed those sections forward a little more...

Jesus Christo, give me some more of that 4:30 stuff. To whoever did that section, you should consider topping the lead synth with another filter and wub up those grainy beasts. That would clean it up a little. When you filter like that you can also add more distortion units, fidelity units, & boost mid frequencies. It's a messy process sometimes but those hard Reese leads can benefit from experimentation. I love splitting leads up into two signals, panning them off a little bit from each other, playing with levels, and processing the two signals a little differently. *Crisp panning, drool*

Edit: I wasn't done writing my review. Damn slippy fingers. Loved hearing that punk rock section. I found the distortion on the voice a little off putting but I know how hard it is learning to use your voice like an instrument. The distortion on it sounds like it's hiding something. The process of singing seems to come so naturally for some people that it can hurt a little not fitting into that category. We can't all be Ella Fitzgerald, a singer so good her band would tune their instruments to the sound of her voice. I have a certain level of respect for the vocalist here having the courage to seek out their Thu'um. I'm always trying to hone up my own singing voice into something better. Keep adding technique to that lovely voice :D

Cool collab y'all! So much talent :')

F1regek responds:

holy shit tysm for this review! i did the part at 4:30 btw :))

[Danger at the 2nd Floor]

This is cool! I won't try to lie to you, the track has a ton of amateurish vibes to it but that's one of the draws I like. A lot of users here have tracks from their early days when they were getting accustomed to their equipment. I love hearing the progression people make to their work. You is young lmfao, stick around Newgrounds and seek out feedback that can sharpen your musics!!

I'll give you a few tips that were handed down to me ages ago. Drums are always going to the be the most important element in any given EDM genre. Take a nice long listen to the producers you like and try to get an idea for what sounds and characteristics make up their drum kits. When I build EDM drum kits, I layer different drum samples to make new samples. I'll typically use three different snare drums. One will have strong mid frequencies and two others with more high for timbre, tone, and general character. Lot's of producers now a days use cool pitched up snare drums, clappy 808 snares always make good layers, I like having a small but woody sounding snare to play ghost note rhythms. Play around with layering and make really unique snare drums! It takes some practice and eventually you need to add fidelity tools to everything, but it's so worth it. Building drums is so much fun, the crazier you get with the signal flow the better :D :D

Bass drums can get that same layering treatment. Once you get a few good samples that resonate perfectly with each other, you can go crazy with fidelity tools but layering is a pretty game changing technique on it's own. Also remember to pick up good drum samples whenever you can. I posted a few drum kit sample folders a while back on Discord, let me know if you want them in a private message, I love sharing those.

I don't know if you've discovered automation lanes yet but if your program lets you use automation lanes, use them. Use them to give instruments crescendos and decrescendos, pan sounds from side to side, put a filter on a synth and automate changes to the frequency and resonance knobs, pitch bend things at will! Automation lanes are just recordings that emulate movement. If the MIDI tells a synthesizer to play a note at a certain velocity, the automation lane tells that same synth when to move certain knobs. Automation is power!

Again, let me know if you want those drum kit sample folders! They're totally legal to share, one folder is mostly just amen break chops but they make wonderful layers <3 <3

I hope you love what you're doing, music making is an awesome thing! You need to make a follow up track called "Drugs On The 3rd Floor," think about it! You can have a whole series of songs going up a really strange building, make an EP called "Really Big Building."

guiltlesslmfao responds:

Hey! I appreciate the review (probably the longest one I’ve ever gotten). This song’s couple months old and since last month I’ve been trying to learn how to make my own drum sounds and playing around with em. I’ve also been using automation lanes for couple years actually (at least I think so) though I didn’t use it here. Those drum kit sample folders sound nice, so you can share them to me! And yes, a series sounds awesome, if I do it I’ll probably remake this track as well. Thanks!

[Spider Stones]

Classic jungle, lush instruments, funky breaks. Sub bass is perfect. The whole track is mixed perfectly. I might crave some more mid freq drum kit punch but I have a bias for louder drums so you can choose to ignore me and keep grooving.

[Jade]

Woof, this one hits hella hard. Love the style and groove. I get the feeling that the mix is a little dry, you have a lot of elements coming together to make a wall of sound. I'll totally forgive any issues with the mix because everything else is perfect.

If you want some ideas for the mix let me know and I'll send you a PM. I get the feeling there isn't a whole lot of panning but with some pro tips this stereo field can be a lot more dynamic and face melting :3

HypercubeRecords responds:

YES SEND :D and thanks !

[Ice Girl (EP)]

I am going to remix "You Are Filled With Determination" and there is nothing you can do about it.

EDIT: actually... there are several things you can do about it but please don't D:

[666XXX666]

I saw that wave shape and laughed. I love how classic techno genres max out that field with like... three instruments. Bass drum, a romantic 303 "bass synth," and like... a hi hat. Add a few compressors and that audio field is totes maximized.

I love hearing the variety that comes out of you D.

Demonicity responds:

yup i need to master this one better

[NGUAC - Wannabe Heroism (CRY.NN)]

Jaysus Cry, synths and drums hit hella hard. Those raunchy 303 acid bass lines were piff. Could probably get away with automating some of those hard gabber kicks in such a way to get some variety in the cut off? They have a static cut off that can benefit from longer and shorter pulses. Those bass drums could also pulse at various velocities instead of the constant 100% hard style max volume.

I love hard styles and the unique sounds these genres evoke but I know that the judges for these comps don't always have the exquisite taste people like you or myself might have. You can soften up the drums a little and then sprinkle some of that hard style in at key points. Even the shoe gaze kids will appreciate the apparent restraint. You and I can handle pure hard style but I worry that this will kill the judges. Their bodies can't handle the pure unmitigated force of your bass music. You're a mad man Cry D':

This is near perfect hard style. I'm only trying to coach the best work out of you right now, if you got some time to make changes I'd recommend fusing some more genres in here. You could sidechain a piano to the front of everything, punch it thought the gabber. That ambient section could benefit from a string section, maybe you could have some orchestral strings crescendo in and out, swapping places with the saw pad like an evolving instrument. You can rumble up some orchestral bass drums, or use cymbal swells for transitions. Merging orchestral and video game sounds into your songs will make newgrounds judges hard... do what you will with this advice c:

I wish I had some headphones on right now so I could get a sense of the panning, those ambient sections can benefit from a diverse field. Ààaaaa sorry, I got distracted for a minute. Fell on the keyboard. Where was I... PANNING. You can always make room for more things with clever panning. While your pushing the compressors to the max, you can also pan sounds. Certain elements sound best in the middle like bass&snare drums, sub frequencies, leads... but pads and aux drums can be tossed into various unique places in the field. Tambs, hi hats, shakers can all get panned. A benefit I learned a long time ago is that a panned instrument will have this illusion that it is louder than it really is. You can consequently turn those levels down a little which makes room in the mix for other sounds.

One last thing, I might recommend putting a filter on that saw pad and slowly automating a reveal?? With the idea of swirling in orchestral sounds, that synth can hand off the lead from time to time and that entire section could sound hella more triumphant! Huzzah!!

Sorry to leave you a wall of text on a competition song Cry. I want you to be the hero you want to be. I want you to become the Phoenix that emerges from the ashes. You are a mountain. You are a lion. I believe in you.

CryNN responds:

;D thanks for the review as always Quarl. its always a pleasure to read them!

[Killer Robot Blues]

"Sounds like rock and roll to me." Been listening to a lot of 90's grunge these last couple of years. You got that classic garage blues bop down pat. There are minor issues I can hear in the mix but I got no idea where to start fiddling with it? Vocals might sound better without that distortion fuzz? Is this a real drum kit? Doing things live is hella difficult and expensive when done right. I'd never take off points for using samples or drum machines :3

Loved the rock and roll approach instead of the tired electronic nonsense typical for Robot Day. Happy music making :D

LexRodent responds:

Great ears my good mate.
That was indeed a bit of rock n' roll , a bit of garage blues with a pinch of alternative and a low key tuning. I wanted to experiment a little with the dist on the vocals, but maybe a got a little carried away :D
That's a virtual drum kit indeed (by far the hardest part to record and mix properly in rock).
Glad you like it ; Thanks for listening.