Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sensory Overload]

A little reverb on the drums would give this an 80's synth metal vibe. Regardless, this is still super oppressive machine music <3

Layer in some bird chirping samples to contrast those heavy drums and synths. You don't have to, I'm just throwing that idea out there. Sample some birds Morty. Do it or we die Morty. Do it.

[Sawce]

I love hearing the early music that people make. In ten years you'll be producing some heavy future jazz musics and only the real fans will say "remember Sawce? Damn we're old now."

I think you got some room in this for some more instruments and techniques but the fun thing about digital musics is that you can always open an old file years later and hit it with new knowledge. There's room for basic sine wave pads, string or violin ensembles, Rhodes Mk II, saucy clavinet melodies, tamb and shakers...

That was a really interesting choice to put so much reverb on the hi hat & clap snare. That effect takes the place of potential aux percussion in the mix. I'd have traded the reverb for more percussion instruments like tambs, shakers, more hi hat layers... track still funks something nice. I'm just trying to get those creative juices flowing a little :D

DaVaP responds:

You think i know all this i just go 'tune bangin' and ship it

[Cosmic Druid]

Yooo, that snare slaps nice. Which specific frequency did you decide to amp to get those hi freq snare slaps?

Dude, get out of here with these perfect little scribbly nuero basses. Whatever drugs you are on right now, keep doing them.

Demonicity responds:

Pogo with camelphat ;)

[After Curfew]

Lol, I can picture an indy game playing along side with this. Game loops only need to be 00:15 - 00:45 seconds long though. If I were trying to get the attention of game producers I'd just keep tracks short. Gotta hand it to you, four and a half minutes is a solid investment. I have trouble past two minutes xD

[Europa]

This has a cool world vibe. Super creative use of auxiliary percussion to create atmosphere. Definitely fits in the world of Drum and Bass musics. It has that driving tempo and powerful kick/snare rhythm necessary for the genre. Without an over powering lead nuero synth, this has a liquid or IDM sub genre vibe.

I love it. Another unique style I'm getting exposed to today :)

[Ad Astra (VRC6)]

Punk rock rhythm, in-your-face bass. Love the melody progressions. If this was a Sonic or Mega Man game the stage with this song would be my favorite.

MaldivirDragonwitch responds:

You flatter me! So glad you like it! ^^

[Jaywalker]

I hear your 7/8 time signature loud and clear. My college thesis work was all about time signatures, love the world of syncopation <3

Melodies and rhythms are all really cool. Is this a Beepbox creation? The last five or six people I've listened to have been using that app xD

edit: Famistudio, read it on your other track :D

MaldivirDragonwitch responds:

Ah, yes, the prog fan in me can't resist having fun with odd time signatures now and then. Glad you like it! That college thesis work sounds sweet. :D
I personally never used Beepbox, this was done in a DAW with the some 16-bit sounding VSTs and some Genesis soundfonts. Not a "true" chiptune, but I think it sounds rather cool!

[Dog Bus Remixed in the style of QUAKE]

Super avant-garde. Creepy space vibes. Most people wouldn't consider this to be music but those people haven't spent enough time in a small room with a bunch of video artists learning about Fluxist stuff. The is the kind of track that would cream my sonic art professor's pants. If the instruments here were plugged into a surround sound mix, this would qualify you for a BFA from a University :p

Redead-ITA responds:

Well to that i credit trent reznor and the quake community for the feedback!

[digital dream]

Another great track. I think the lead synths could have been turned down a little bit... how much panning is going on? I love the qualities of this track so much but I'm going to nit pick the mix a little bit. Everything sounds like it's coming in mono. Getting a little experimental with your panning can create space in the mix for everything that's going down. I'm not sure if this is good advice or not, but I like to automate certain instruments from side to side sometimes. Low quality speakers will sometimes lose areas of the field when you do that but I don't make music for people with potato spud monitors.

Panning creates the illusion that sounds are louder than they actually are so you can pan an instrument a little then turn down the volume to help make room. Then take another instruemnt and pan it in the opposite direction to balance things a little bit. You can get creative with it. The better you get at panning the more often certain instruments develop a mental home location. Personally, hi hats, tambs, shakers will often get hap haphazardly tossed far to one side of the field, bass kicks and instruments take up mono center, pads go where they are needed to help buff the field... everything falls into place :D