Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[bloom]

This is some pretty cute music. That glistening triplet scale @ 00:36 hits kind of loud out of nowhere but gave the track the feeling of playing a video game. It sounds like a power up I guess :p

That instrument could have led some pretty lead melodies but it always kind of acts as a pad instead. It's not what I'd have done but I like what I'm hearing <3

I'm on phone speakers right now but the wave shape is showing that there's room in the field for other elements or instruments. It can be hard to squeeze the right tones out sometimes but fidelity units hold all the power...

Sorry if this seems at all critical. This would fit in really well with many a videogame or cartoon soundtrack. I just want other artists to enjoy the same level of overthinking that I feel. I want to cherish the moments of indecision with you :D

trevor8 responds:

thank you for the incredibly thorough review! i have never had anyone look at my waveforms before (i am a little embarrassed). i honestly thought i was on the cusp of blowing everything into an indiscernible mess if i added another track, but i see what you mean with the triplet, i obsessed for a while last night whether to even keep it in, but it might be fun to experiment a little with expanding it, although i fear the patch in its current state would bear too tinny and harsh to carry much more burden. sorry if i am rambling a little, i do like criticism and feedback is always appreciated and implemented! thanks again!

[Killhouse]

woooooof, perfect hard hitting track to get down to. I'm guessing I can hear some mario fire balls, or some familiar video game sound :]

[HeadCracker]

Unf, I hate that I crossed by this on my phone because those glitch sounds are coming through nice and crisp. Gonna have to add this to my favorites and come back with headphones for some sub sonic pleasure listens <3

[EDIT] Got around to headphones. I kept this to myself but I could tell on my phone that the bass could be pushed harder or layered more. The waveform visual produced by the NG player produced a bunch of negative space which I've been trying to fill up with subbier, rounder bass layers. Pure sinewave in an oscillator, add compressor, EQ the lows forwards... sub sandwich :D

[modus - Sector Five VIP]

Some dance music aficionados might get a little tossed at the rhythmic change ups but I'm loving the techy break downs and chin-strokingly smart syncopation. Was looking at a comment that used the word "disjointed," and I get that. Was listening to "Beyond The Satellite" by Prolix recently. That track had a good balance of offbeat nonsense but he brought the groove back every few measures and I think a lot of DNB fans like that dance floor capability. Gotta give them something solid to groove to every so often. Predictability, controlled chaos. Toss the groove out the window and suddenly all the jump up kids are like "I hate it." I veer more towards IDM and breakcore, so naturally I love this.

Gotta give you props though for passing a sound that's way cleaner than the typical producer of either said genre. I've been listening to your music lately and while I might not fall in love with everything, all your tracks are tops clean. Your music went through the wash twice.

Was that a fucking pikachu at 1:59? It might not have been. Sometimes when mixing songs I hear shit that's not happening. Certain frequencies sound like my boyfriend so I rip off my headphones like "WAS THAT YOU? TOM, ARE YOU IN THE HOUSE?" You ever hallucinate to audio like that?

iammodus responds:

Controlled chaos would be the perfect term for what I was trying to achieve. The track as a whole was pretty dense so the mix was the number one priority. Glad it shows!
And that's not Pikachu - just a tapestop effect! Kinda see the similarity now that I think about it though

[Pufferfish]

Jaysus D:

[lately]

Hi lead synth, my name is quarl and I love you. I can hear those arpy trills. You can't fool me, you're doing sonic fast arpeggios and I love it. Sexily unique lead. Hi. I love you synth, yes I do.

My only useful critique is on the lack of aux percussion and mid frequency field. It's a really clean mix but there is room for so much more. Additional hi hat rhythms, tambs, rides, triangles, shakers, toms, bells, gongs. This could use some splashy crescendo drum rolls, and nasty drum fills. I love to remind people that vibraslaps and güira are things. WINDCHIMES. This track needs some breezy windchimes, I've decided it.

I kept imagining a large boat horn, sounds of the dock or ocean. I could hear crowds of people, seagulls cawing, kids running around, and this audio field has room for so much more sound. Don't get me wrong, the mix comes off across super clean, it was perfect in so many ways. Just consider adding some aux percussion or some additional samples. Spacelaces once told me that atmospheric samples can add character to a track and help people remember it.

Using my own experiences as an example, a kid here used the sound of someone sipping a slurpy or icy drink through a straw and I listened to that track everyday for the next month. I was like "THIS SOUND IS SO UNIQUE, WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT TO SAMPLE THAT?" On that note, I just spent an hour searching through my favorites list just so I could listen to that track again because I forgot it's name.

Found it:
https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/787431
(It was actually the squeaky toy sound that I fell in love with late track. I forgot about it and remembered the drink instead but the point is I remembered the track.)

Fuck I love your arp lead. I'll probably listen to your track a few more times until I can make an arp lead like this that I'm happy with. Hi synth, quarl loves you, yes I do.

[My Name is Tom]

This is one of my all time favorite tracks in the audio portal. I am now on the record for having said that.

[Shadow People Jam]

New favorite techy jungle. Drums rocked something unique. What programs you using to make tracks with??

LaserBrain responds:

Thank you. At this point I was using ableton live and my own Max/MSP patches/devices, as well as a bunch of old freeware plugins

[Implant]

Tight drum loops. Probs a tad over compressed. That bass kick hits so hard it sounds like it clips stuff, might also be the hi-hats working at the same time. You got that loudness thing down pat though :)

You side chaining that sub bass at all? Letting the bass drum counter the levels of the sub would let you fatten both sounds up, juicy. Toss in some liberal panning on the hi hats to give off the illusion they're louder than they really are then lower their levels to make some room. You could also fit a shaker or tamb and pan it into the channel opposite the hi hats. It sounds like there is some white noise when the drum kit plays... not sure what that is, might be a shaker :)

Damn, I love how experimental it gets. I usually don't recommend people put silence into tracks but I liked that fuzzy silence at 4:40. You could have slipped a sample into that spot there but, meh. This track reminds me of old Violence Recordings with Hive, Gridlok, and Keaton. Keep bumping the breaks :D

edit: six minutes long? Calm down there LazerBrain, you're flexing on the rest of us with our 2 and a half minute romps.

LaserBrain responds:

Hello, thanks again. I resampled all the drums through an old tape deck, that's why everything is clipping. I'll take notice of the side chaining. Violence Recordings is class, thank you. Cheers