Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Metal Combat]

Dank.

[Qshunt - Fractured]

Damn, this kicks. I freaked out at first, that pad at the intro sounded like it was coming from behind. I had to double check my headphone inputs to make sure they were even plugged in.

Pro nuero Q. Full mix, full drums, original reese synths. Something was pinching my ears a little in the mix, might have been a hi hat. It gave me the chance to admire those squelchy little pads though. Had a similar frequency and location in the field. Really loving this Mr. Shunt <3 <3

[House V1b3S - Audition 2020]

Dank atmosphere and pads. Definitely has it's own funk. Has a bit of that house sound but is far enough removed that I can only agree, putting this under "dance" was a good move. I just looked up tutorials to see if Live 10 can sidechain. This track might groove a little harder if those bass kicks were side chaining some of those pads. Heck, I'd even include the snare signal into the sidechain. It costs nothing to play with it :D

CaptainBoomcake responds:

yeah there's sidechaining in live10 with the basic compressor, but the reason I didn't was because I didn't want it to be tooo punchy just so it could be relaxing at the same time as dancy if you get me, a lot of my other work has heavy sidechaining, I might side chain my pads to create more space when I do the vocal edit though :) watch this space, and thanks for the review appreciate it! Because the bass throb is definitely all encompassing and needs to be dealt with on my other edit!

[Rumble]

Tasty melodies and change ups. Really sexy elements love. Mix sounded pretty mono and flat but that's my only complaint. All those great elements would have sounded more crisp if they all had their own place in the field. Just have to get brave, play with panning, and trust your ears a little.

It's a well accepted rule of thumb to put your bass tones, bass drums, and snares towards the center field. You can play with everything else. I like to split my lead synths into two signals, route the two signals into a mixer, than pan the two channels hard to the left and right. I'll send hi-hats, tambs, bells, rides, and crash cymbals off to the sides where ever they sound best.

Panning creates the illusion that sounds are louder than they really are so you can pan something, then turn the level down on it to give room for other instruments! Go nuts Valent, would love to hear these dank melodies and elements in a crisper field :D

UmValent responds:

Somehow this slipped under my radar, but thank you so much for the review, Quarl!
I'll keep on working on stereo balancing and mixing in general.
:)

[A Pat on the Back]

Almost has that synthwave vibe a lot of the kids are throwing up these days. I'd have added an awkward amount of silence to the end of the track to let things slide along a playlist a little better but hey... don't be like quarl.

[Hero's Best Friend (Cosmic Defenders OST)]

Lol, front paged before nailing 5 votes. Seems like one of the mods heard this and thought the same thing I did. For such a cute little track it bangs. Compression like a pro. That thin bass drum kept my focus on the happy melodies. Seriously, those melodies are so flipping happy. That high pitch sine/triangle synth lead towards the end filled it's role perfectly. Damn this song is so cute.

[XTC]

Damn, this has some solid demolition room vibes. Lifted podcast used to post tunes like this and I've missed the dark step vibes. Out of sheer curiosity, who are you listening to these days Demonicity? What inspires this sound? I need some new DNB artists.

Clean reese basses, clean drums, creative samples, tight synths. Great stuff :D

EDIT: yo, I was so sad when noisia announced they're disbanding.

Demonicity responds:

thanks!
i listen to various neurofunk and techstep artists and my biggest inspirations on DNB are mostly NOISIA, Prolix, Phace, Malux, Black Sun Empire and Aeph.
Also the mindset of organic expression to sound gives me kicks.
Not forgetting raves tho.

[#14 - Rucklo]

For a man that got rich doing SFX in the game industry, Rucklo sounds like a sad mudkip talking through a small tin can. Can somebody get that mic some fidelity?

[The Fall that Broke Me]

A beauteous romantic hand slammer. I'm certain people will be making babies to this.

It's good to hear a new LSD track. I haven't noticed you in my feed in a little while and I was starting to wonder if adult life had you cucked. In all seriousness though you really do compose such lovely solo piano work. Never give up the dream :)

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

That'd be quite the peculiar baby-making experience!

That said, I'm glad you like the piece! I have indeed not been uploading much as of late. I was in the risk zone for adult life-cucking, but thankfully I clawed my way out. I shall do my best not to give up on the dream, and I hope you do the say! Thanks for the nice words :D