Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[Thunder Strike]

So I wrote up a massive review detailing mix and fidelity techniques only for it to get lost/deleted when my tablet's cookies were refreshed for leaving the pop up review momentarily. LET'S TRY AGAIN, LIFE IS ALL ABOUT MISTAKES, WOOOOOOO D':

Great sound for only three hours work. Loved the cinematic vibe. That aux snare rhythm was tight, so was the hi-hat work. I felt like that trap snare was a little weak, it has good presence but you can fatten up that tone by layering another snare on top of it. I'd start by looking at a crisp 909 snare. Layering takes practice but it's such a potent force, all my tracks have 3-4 snares working together to make new snare tones. I like to merge each individual snare signal into one so that I can then send the merged signal into fidelity units to polish them all at the same time. I use Reason's Redrum, so before the merging the snares I have a little control in the drum machine over each individual sample's pitch, tone, and envelope. The "real" layering happens in the MIDI so if I want to I can use each snare sample simultaneously or individually for different parts of the song, combining them all only during the hook, drop, or chorus. Say in the intro if I need a weaker sound I can just use one or two snare layers. You can also do the same for kick drums and other instruments, layering is a powerful tool. I like to layer pianos behind synth patches sometimes...

The snare you're using might also sound alright with a little reverb on it. I like to use automation lanes to sparingly introduce reverb from time to time so it doesn't muddy up the mix unnecessarily or get too repetitive but your mix here is probably simple enough that you could get away with some constant snare reverb like some kind of 1980's pop act. Artist's choice, snares can ultimately sound however you want them to :p

Taking a second from fidelity technique just to say how much I loved those horns and strings. Orchestral elements in this track are tight. That guitar patch towards the end wasn't terrible but it's the instrument I think is the most out of place. Does your DAW have a choir? I'd try replacing that guitar patch with a breathy choir, transpose the melody over and maybe simplify it a little bit?

For such great orchestration I'm wondering where the orchestral drums are? Song is called thunder strike and you don't have a single drum swell or timpani? TIME TO GO BACK TO MUSIC SCHOOL TRASH-just kidding don't do that, music school is expensive. Instead, see if your DAW has some nice orch drums. Hook them up to a compressor/EQ, let them become the thunder. A lot of people over look how much atmosphere aux drums can create but something as simple as chimes or a vibraslap can go a long way. I love a good güiro, woodblocks are nice, or orchestral cymbals...

I think the sub bass could be pushed a little harder. I find a good distortion unit often does more to push tones than just using the fidelity tools, especially if it includes a lot of options and features (Reason's Scream distortion unit is my baby). Granted, if I'm slapping a distortion unit onto my bass I'm also using an EQ and a compressor to avoid clipping or tone issues. The compressor also give you the ability to control the bass patches' levels with a sidechain signal (watch a sidechain tutorial if you haven't, it's really easy when you get the hang of it.) Sidechaining just let's you control an instruments levels with another instrument's signal, the most common use applying the kick drum to momentarily duck the sub bass from the mix to get cleaner drum sounds. Sidechaining has other uses and applications but the most common use is for cleaner drums.

Impressive work from a three hour binge and I hope this review doesn't bother you at all. I want my music peers to sound as good as possible and that sometimes requires a little misunderstanding. I hope to see you around more TrashDragon, peace love unity respect <3

TrashDragon89 responds:

Thank you so much for the review! I am very new to music production so your advice is very helpful.

For the snare layering, I will definitely keep that in mind for my next track. I tried to layer some on this track, but couldn't find one that sounded right.

As for the electric guitar, I also agree it's out of place. It's just from a free pack on FLEX and was a last-minute addition. I might remake this song and take it in a different direction, and use some orchestral drums like you were talking about.

I also haven't even bothered to get in to sidechaining or better mixing yet, but will definitely look into it soon!

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this! I will definitely use it for my future projects :D