Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Downpour]

I mean, I love it but I'm siding with Varsity. A high pitch sine wave or a punchy piano would make a great lead here. A motif melody can help the track stand out in someones memory. This track would be on another level with some kind of brain piercing lead.

Something else that helps a track stand out in someones memory is some kind of voice sample or audio clip. I mean, it would probably change what you were going for but something as simple as Homer Simpson saying "doh" softly in the background over and over again with slight reverb would have helped the track stand out a bit.

Do it.

ActualElf responds:

Viewing this as a standalone track I totally agree with the both of you, really solid advice and criticism, thank you for that. Whenever I listen back to this track I feel the arrangement feels incredibly lonely with no solidly stated melody, which is exactly what I was going for at the time. Just a feeling of pure loneliness and hearing eerie things shifting around you whilst you're in the dark, so that weird slightly empty feeling the track gives off to me from a production standpoint I guess was in my mind kind of the point of it upon writing.

Thanks to you guys though and one or two other comments I've had more of a shift of focus to viewing my tracks as a whole more often instead of honing in and making the harmony or sound design the focal point, something I do need to pay more attention to.

Thank you as always for reviewing Quarl, you always steer me in the right direction or point out things I don't always notice myself, it means a lot (Homer may now make an appearance in a track someday) <3

[AIM - DRUGS]

I loved those juicy synths. Super fly melodies. This track bounces. It's hard not to envy how cool it is. I think it's fair to say the drum could use a little extra kick but I'm also a snooty drummer.

ActualElf responds:

Thank you Quarl <3

I agree that the drums could use a bit more punch and weight, I started the track quite small and cute to follow with the art inspiration but somewhere along the way it became bigger and fuller and I never thought to adjust the percussion to compensate, thank you again for popping in every now and again, it really means a lot!

[Distorted Artifacts]

A good four and a half minutes. I loved those quirky melodies and squeaky pads. Rhythm section stayed interesting too. Sassy 303 bass at 1:13.

If I may make one critical remark, it felt like the drums could have been way more powerful. Looks like the wave shape of the file has plenty of bass. I don't get the cleanest mix downs but something in this mix is kind of over powering the other instruments. Perhaps more emphasis on a punching drum kit might drive this better. Whats the bpm?

Good Thor I love that piano at the end. BRING THAT FORWARD. It's so soft. I want to hear those sweet jazzy melodies but my ears are old and wrinkled.

Great track, one last question. Was that sudden end meant to loop around? :)

CrystaluxX responds:

Sorry for the late response.

I could have made the Drums louder and punchier but I wanted it like this.
I make nearly all my Tracks with loud and overpowered bass because I like the heavy sound.

The bpm are 170.

The end was meant to be like this because I thought it sounds crazy and interesting.

and thank you for the review!

-Crys

[Lion King]

Chron sent me here.

[Üloths' Cave]

I've been dropping you reviews because I've really been enjoying the stuff your putting out. I figured you'd be ok if I spoke my mind and said "not this time."

Artists can't always pound out killer stuff. Some of my favorite tracks from Noisia's Split The Atom EP were the shit tracks thrown in to fill catalog. Every now and then an artist needs to go out of their comfort zone and just upload something stupid like Rebbeca Black's "Friday" reversed under distortion and a ton of reverb. Rig once uploaded a sound bite of himself brewing coffee. When you've established yourself, you have some leeway to shit post.

This track however is way better than a shit post. You put some thought into it, I can hear it. I really liked the instruments. It's the drums that turned me off. This could be a really chill DNB with the right drum kit and a slightly faster BPM. Hell, with that same kit you can keep the BPM and make this drum step.

I have a lot of respect for artists that push their boundaries and experiment. I might not like this track but I can see what you're doing and I can respect it. Now take this song file, delete all the midi in the sequencer, and make something better out of the synths ;)

[Puppet Master]

wooo, inspiration credits. Loved that goofy melody. I'm not sure how much side chaining you use but I'd have made those kick and snare drums punch through a little more :D

Loved how dirty this was :]

larrynachos responds:

Glad you liked it quarl! I was going to add another punchier snare, but I never got around to it. I sidechained the kick though, as well as one of the hi hats.

I don't really use triplet notes much in my music aside from hi hat patterns, so it was refreshing when I kept leaving it on while making melodies.

thx for the review as always <3

[RIDDIM]

Spooky af. I waited all day so I could get home and review this with my headphones. Sounded lit on my laptop when I was getting ready for work in the morning. Talk about pay off. You worked hard on this. The quality is top notch and those evolving synth bass leads were pro.

I'm wondering what kind of money you paid for your laptop? I haven't seen an audio program crash a computer since 2007. You need to save all your lunch money and get a decent machine.

ActualElf responds:

Wow you have no idea how much that meant to me, thank you!

My production set up is a bit of a funny topic amongst me and my friends, my laptop is a fairly outdated hand-me-down that my parents bought to send emails with years ago and all I have for mixing purposes are a small bluetooth speaker and some earphones (I'm very poor right now ahaha). It's such a case of making the best of what I have at the moment, having to learn what good mixes sound like on my low quality equipment and referencing from there.

I'm saving my lunch money and in the meantime learning what I can so I can spend it wisely.

Thank you again <3

[∀malgamation - Falling Through]

This is like some old school Aphex Twin or Squarepusher. It's not very loud but neither were their tracks back in the 90's. Just chill sounds. Curious if you've found the glory of layering drums? I like to use two or three snares simultaneously to create new snares. Same with the kick drum. It takes some experimentation, not all snares compliment each other but you can aim to cover the sound spectrum of lows to highs and get really full drum sounds.

You can apply that same technique to lead synths, pads, basses... I mean, you're already layering sounds like drums and synths to make songs but you can really compliment a mid bass with a low sub bass and no one will know the difference. People will be like "damn, that bass is so huge" :D

Skiddle responds:

Thanks, Quarl! I'll definitely use these techniques the next time I make DnB :D

[∀malgamation - Berseepon]

This is awesome. Those drums are super crisp and the melodies are cool. There's no bass though. Half way through the track it could use a simple, driving, three-note, sub bass melody. You could also copy-paste the second half of the song and make it a third longer. Just change the key of the melody or add a pad synth and viola, you have a three minute club banger.

I love dark house musics.

Skiddle responds:

Ayy thanks :D Really glad people like muh shit XD. I'll definitely take this into account in the future :p

[WIP - Raspy]

Nice forking tune. Super creative beats. Off beat, and funky. Wish it was longer but I'm not gonna spaz on someone for uploading a quickie.

SucoVidya responds:

I always seems to stop halfway on my tracks.
I need to hit a blunt and get some of these finished.