Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Takegawa]

I'm so glad I ran into this while I was smoking a bowl. Good lord man. If I wasn't so high right now I'm not sure I would of had the patience to sit here and meditate. I took off a fraction of a point because I felt like there was so much more that could have been done. I know it's minimal so it's unfair to say it but it's just too darn minimal for me. If this was any more minimal it would be maximum minimalness.

[Rig - Old Machines]

Damn, you have quite the flavor rig. The tracks perfect but if I had to request anything it would be some more style change ups. You do a really good job to keep things constantly interesting but maybe it would have been nice to get a tiny melody in all that chromatic hell raising. This whole track is perfectly dark. Maybe an ounce of hope, a light delicate pad breathing for a half second somewhere to add sensitivity... dunno man. This track is so filthy and claustrophobic. Love it <3 <3

Rig responds:

I had originally planned to have an "Alliance" part that would feature the more uplifting songs and sounds from the game, but I was having too much fun with the Reaper stuff to get around to it. I think I'll make another song in that regard ;P

Glad you like it!

[Some are Salts]

haha, unlike dosko I really loved the directions you went in. I felt like the entire track could have used better production but aside from the audio quality this track was really fun. Good vibes, good rhymes and some melodic style to move the track in some interesting directions.

To help with that quality, start with the drums. They sounded incredibly lo-fi. Try a different kit maybe? Try compressing or EQing them to make them sound cleaner. They were just way too thin for me. Fatten them up by layering some more drums on top of them. An electronic drum kit doesn't have to have just one snare. Put in a few new ones that will hit different areas of the sound spectrum. Create new sounds by layering old ones. You could also look into a technique called side chaining. Side chaining controls the levels of one instrument with the levels of another. Example, side chain that piano to the bass drum and the snare to help clean up the mix/ create room for other sounds.

The vox could go for a better mic/ recording but that would cost money so I understand if your'e not feeling that avenue. You have some serious potential though and I'd love to hear you pursue this sound . Peace and good luck sir:)

[Dubstep WIP]

Sounds like you have a great start to an awesome track. It sounds like the things that are giving you the most trouble is the mixing and general tweaking of things to get the sounds you want. While things are sounding pretty decent as of now they also sound kind of messy. The thing that's getting to me the most is that snare because I have to constantly hear it. I think it would benefit from a faster cut off. Letting it take up so much extra space is gonna muddy things up in there. Let the pads create the atmosphere not the snare. That isn't to say that you can't have an interesting sounding snare... you just have to watch that space and mix things with a more critical ear. That bass drum sounded like it could use a more solid layer. It sounds really hollow.

I'd have turned down that lead just a tad and hit it up with a filter to clean up those highs.

That string pad was perfect. Loved it sitting ethereally back there :]

After giving the track a few listens to I really think my only gripe is with the drums. Resample, layer, compress, distort, EQ, side chain... actually, it didn't sound like you were side chaining at all. you can side chain an instrument to the drums so that every time the kick or snare (or both) goes off it momentarily de-amplifies the instrument it's attached to (such as a lead or a bass.) This really helps clean up mixes and gives more punch to those drums which is a huge characteristic of those harder dance genres.

Peace and love. Good luck with finding a sound in dubstep <3 <3

zenodio responds:

Thank you very much for the review, I'm working on it now :)

[- LD - Find Me]

glurp

Fatten up those drums. Drum and bass is mostly about the drums. It's the attention grabber that's lacking here. Give that snare some mid frequency. Compress, distort, layer, EQ and repeat as necessary. You can do sooo much to those drums. Perhaps even add a kik with some more mids. Add some tambs. Add some shakers. Reverb just waists room when your talking drums. Add AUX instead of adding reverb.

That bass/reese is sexy but you could probably do for some distortion. Don't be afraid to play with things here. This song is an awesome skeleton. It just needs some serious flesh.

[==(Solace)==]

yummmmm

Wow, I haven't had a song I worked more than a couple weeks on in a long time. To have started this back in August just goes to show how much you wanted it. The results are phenomenal too. This is such a clean song man. Those guitars were romantic as fuck. Were you trying to sex me?

Ahem. Drums had perfect dynamics. Melodies had a nice vibe to them with a fe notes in there to add mystery and what not. Damn, this is awesome man. Thanks for making this. I didn't even realize how long the track was because it ended before I wanted it too :p