Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[NGPR #4: Quarl]

*Comment why you think NGP fcked up real bad! Theories in the comments!*

So, my theory is that at around the time I guested on the show it came to light that one of the hosts was masturbating on their side of the microphone for an entire season. Despite flying under the radar the thought of it made the work of editing really awkward so yall just kind of drank heavily to get through the hardships. The feelings never numbed though so the Newgrounds Podcast team turned to harder and harder drugs until you collectively hit rock bottom. Times got really hard, Shal had to sell his mint condition Golden Girl Doll collection. Through some kind of Christmas miracle, Tom Fulp got you guys back on the straight and narrow. You spent time working out, hitting the gym, Droid got his masters degree. It was a complete 180, everyone was happy.

During this period of happiness you burnt the hard drive containing all the show data. It took you a really long time to remember that there was a cloud back up but honestly your hearts just weren't in it anymore. Despite masturbating, getting addicted to drugs, getting clean of drugs, and accomplishing everything you ever set out to do, uploading digital files seemed insignificant now. What was the point of it all? Who are we? What is reality? After grappling with crippling existentialism it became clear what needed to be done. The team put down the peyote pipe one last time to start uploading episodes and so here we are today: harder, better, faster, stronger. Work it. Make it. Do it.

So how close is my guess?

[feverdream </3]

This is a lot of fun! Melodies are romantic, the pulse goes hard. I wish there was more breakage like around 2:12 but you do you. I'm not on good speakers right now but the wave doesn't look as full for the breaks. Without hearing the subsonic sounds I'm guessing that big four to the floor kick drum was filling up massive amounts of space. That dnb section might have had some space to get compressed a little forwards? Wish I had my headphones right now, I wanna know if there's a sub bass doing work :'c

I'll come back to this later for the melodies <3

[Free Bass Loops Bb pack demo]

...and I will stuff these into the decades old Soro folder. You make great resources :p

sorohanro responds:

More to come in the future ;)
You always make awesome stuff out of them.

[Shopping Spree]

I wanted to get something together for the mall collab but failed to do anything because lazy. Love this melody, chords are magic, beat holds down the foundation perfectly. Not sure I agree with a house groove being certified "mall music" but it grooves really nice. All you need is Marc Rebillet in a German grocery store screaming in the background @ 1:30 and it's 100% funked up <3

Casper responds:

I guess "house" itself is more so club music, the song's instrumentation is more mall-y haha, i liked the rhythm and how it fit tho. I wasn't too fussed about making it tradionally mall or whatever, just went for something funky and fun, made the first part during jamuary and the switchup at 1:30 was done like one day before the deadline lmao. Transition is a bit rushed but I actually think it fits in the context

[Andromeda]

I can really hear that BOUNC3 influence in the melodies. Mix is tight, track is a lot of fun! Powerful stuff, classic dance sounds with a contemporary mix of techniques. Got nothing bad to say Synami, great track!

[Quantum Ooze]

Headbanging, funky, hard. I'm not gonna bother nit picking anything, you know what you're doing Nacho. If someone steps into your life with advice about how you're doing music feel free to take that with a grain of salt, including this statement. You've come really far over the years and I'm getting floored by your stuff.

[Qshunt-Schism]

Clean, massive, unique, love it Qshunt. I usually just favorite your stuff but why not give a little extra today? Love your sound <3

Qshunt responds:

Thanks heaps Quarl!
I've been out of action for a bit and a touch demotivated. I've got so many projects on the go, and I've been unable to finish most of them, so this was a bit of a diamond in the rough that I was quite happy with.
Cheers for commenting. I rarely get comments, but I get hundreds of downloads. :S
It's a bit off putting sometimes. :(

[bitching at the wind]

Indy vibes, I can hear that classic goth sound though. Singing reminds me of an Interpol sound I grew up with. Reverb isn't too over powering, the reverb on the snare in particular gives a texture of that 80s sound but I'm hearing indy vibes again. Drum rhythms are creative and sound live where in a lot of those old goth tunes had somewhat cheesy rhythms and often electronic kits.

In regards to indy, I'm one of those angry kids that got pissed when the term indy got picked up and misused to describe a genre instead of it's classic means to denote independent acts that were totally on their own and without the support of a label. I mean, indy labels are a total paradox in that respect. Due to that, I won't neg you to change the genre. Indy isn't supposed to be a genre AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL D:<

It's great to see you still working on your music chops, you're doing your own thing and I love it! Never stop Mr Rick. You're making a fun riot with your music :3

RickSteubens responds:

thank you quarl sweaty, preesh. Funnily enough it started with the shitty drums after listening to tom waits, it evolved from a grungy thing into more of a type o negative feel by the end. Also def agree on the indie thing, call it what it is: navelgaze lmao

[Tainted Airwaves]

I sent you a message saying that Tainted Airwaves was the coolest thing I've heard so far this year. I maintain that opinion today, this song had so many awesome elements. The vocals were creatively affected and utilized, the drums had some sick fidelity and texture.

I'd check all your fidelity units though, there are one or two spots where the tones get a little too powerful (1:00 being a perfect example). I don't like to rely on a limiter but I always do. I soft clip leads and basses to avoid overpowering the mix. I might even be guilty of putting a limiter on the master out I'M SUCH A BRICK SLUT, WHAT EVEN IS 0 DB??? OLOLOLOLOLOL.

The above limiting trick might also help your four-to-the-floor section sound a little cleaner. That part in particular could use some limiting/more side-chaining but I smiled wide when it played because it was a really creative decision, which I respect immensely. If you love a genre or sound enough to randomly put it in the middle of a song... big balls. Juicy balls, massive... how do you even sit down?

larrynachos responds:

Thank you so much Quarl, I really appreciate that! It's a bit messy but I feel like I'm one step closer to making the kind of music I want to make.

I made the switch from limiting to soft clipping a year or two ago, but with this track I was having a lot of trouble balancing the mix. Lowering the volume to reasonable levels like -3/-6 completely deflated the sound, losing all of it's gusto. I had more elements sidechained but I kept turning them off because I couldn't get them to sound right. Cutting out frequencies for elements was constantly backfiring as well, so I decided to just embrace the jank. I do agree that some moments in the track suffer because of it though x.x The drums in the hardstyle section get a bit crunchy because I have like 3 kicks layered but I also had them all routed to a single mixer track cause I'm an actual psychopath.

The chiptune midsection is one of my favorite bits, but 3:23 is what I'm all about <3 I wonder if it would have been better with a wider bass, maybe a reese. I wish I allowed myself to tweak and change my songs after release, but for some reason once I've published a song it feels like that waveform is set in stone, and if I make any changes it never really hits the same in my brain.

Thanks so much for listening! I'm really glad you liked it!