Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Head Up High]

It sucks I keep hitting your music when I'm on my tablet, I've been wanting to say how much I loved that dnb you did a while ago, time passed, here we are today. Sick track, awesome work. I'll listen to it again later when I have a better sound get-up but I'm not missing an opportunity this time to say "fuck yeah, shit is tight."

ADR3-N responds:

If it sounds good on the tablet, that's good enough for me! After all, that's what mastering is for. Now, if it's actually good enough to go out and get the proper sound system going, that warms my friggin heart

Also, I just wanted to say that before I was any good at this music biz, I always looked up to you for insight. You've inspired me a lot through the years. Poke me with a track would ya?

[The Devil's Slide / New Life]

It's painful to admit, I skipped around at first to get my bearings. I'm attention deficit but when I read "...these pieces are dear to me, so more than technical feedback I would love to hear how they make you feel..." I felt compelled to really give this a full listen from start to end. Art is an experience after all...

Wouldn't say I heard complex textures or patches but I love the simplicity. Good minimalism is beautiful, that build up in track one was magic. That climax gets grating with high frequencies though, I'd have pushed the sub bass more to counter it. I can hear a bass, wave shape looks like your compressing to a certain degree but there is so much room in the spectrum to hit further tones. Mix isn't always easy, no recipe works every time but I notice so many sound artists pick weird limits that quiet the tune too much, which is especially noticeable on certain apparatus.

I don't check my tunes on PA monitors, just pointing out that I have hypocritical blind spots in regards to mastering...

The second piece is beautiful, I'm really noticing an over limited/compressed mix though. I'm at max volume, totally unbothered by this small sound, while knowing the track could be bigger, shinier, tastier. The tones are beautiful, rhythm bouncy, melodies peaceful. I'm curious how big this might get with the master-out fidelity tools bypassed...

The last section is a wonderfully contemplative track. I used to live on an island, I'm reminded of the way the waves would feel attacking my feet, moving soft wet sand across skin. It's missing presence in the same way the other tracks do but you don't really care about that, the emotions and feelings are very inspired.

There's a lot to like about these songs, they are indeed very special. They convey feelings beautifully, feelings I often lack when writing. Track one would make a great morning alarm, track two steadily progresses the rhythm of the day, and track three is the return to dream world. Almost had a seamless loop with that water sample making a return towards the end. I know these tracks come from some older project but a small fade out towards the end could have kept me in the water. Instead I felt a sad longing for whatever that voice/string pad was, that patch sounded lovely. Oh well, you got your reasons :3

It's nice to see that you put soul into the work, thanks for pointing out that the work is dear to you. Too many people aren't willing to pour their feelings into the track descriptions but it's an important element, many genres and sounds are an acquired taste. Peers know all the complex feelings and emotions that come with making music but the average listener has no idea a person even exists on the other side of the screen. Artists are often just digital commodities, faceless web pages, and free downloads but our feelings give it all a reason.

This was a long distraction in my morning but I'm glad I took it. Thanks for coming back to Newgrounds, you're a talent :)

SHE-RE responds:

Wow, I really appreciate you taking the time, both to listen and to write all this! There's a lot of technical ideas here, a few of which have occurred to me and many of which haven't. I don't have a lot to add there besides that I'm absolutely going to be thinking of them as I work on my next projects. I have to say I'm more interested in responding to the commentary on the artistic choices. :)

First— I'm so happy that you heard magic in the buildup in The Devil's Slide. That's one of the defining moments of these two pieces for me. Though I can't say I was going for alarm clock with that piece, but if that's what you heard that's what you heard lol? That climax definitely bursts open loud and sudden like one, anyway!

I also love that the image of an island came to you in the third part, because that's almost exactly what I was going for, and that tells me that I did something right there! I grew up on the west coast of the US, and so I got to see the sun setting into the ocean fairly often, and that was what I was going for there — my mental image was of standing on a sandy beach as you described, watching the sun set, a picture full of bright golds and oranges. Not unlike my current profile picture lol. I'll also say the cutoff at the end was an intentional artistic choice, but I think I hear what you mean about keeping you in the water and now I feel a little torn about it? I don't know if I'm going to change it but I do hear how that would work.

It's definitely really special when emotions and experiences can inspire music the way it happened for this piece, and for some of my best past music, and for much of my favorite music in general. It's something I've been trying to tap into more, and to me it's so nice for it to be seen when it works out.

Thanks again. :)

[AGNOSIA SHATTERED]

100% less glitches? Awwwwww, put them back D':

Just kidding, I went and gave the old version a listen, gabber section is cut. Looks like there's a fair number of difference between the two versions, I love remixing my older tunes. Track grooves something nice :D

Rombit responds:

yo thanks a lot! the uptempo section in the original was specifically made for a GD level, but I just felt like I could do so much more with the first part, and that's how the shattered version was made. the original also got a small remaster with this version. im very glad you liked it, have a great day! cheers!

[Chocnoon - Tellurium (DXLVIII)]

After giving the author's comments a quick glance, I just wanted to say that I feel the exact same way. Everything you just said, it exemplifies my feelings entirely. The drums were rbdfssg, the synths were asdasfasfasd and the chord progressions were dytjiybbxbikbg. Mixing could have used some jnrnjbfjnfbjo but I think with a little more jndbjubdgjobdgoj you can really sedsjnodsvjo this to another level. Peace homie, and remember: vsdhkkhhkfkhn. Always <3

name responds:

Thanks for the sdoiaufgqwoiugf!

[-Chase From Cosmic Fortress- (Ft Charlmot)]

YES, FRONT PAGE. FEEL THE MAGIC OF NEWGROUNDS WASH OVER YOU, OUR COMMUNAL JUICES FLOWING. SMELLY CREATIVE JUICES, gross right? Here's the communal towel, I forget to ask who washed it last. Just spit on it, it's yours now :'|

Loved the story element to the music. A little direction like that helps keep my focus, I'm mad attention deficit. Keeping that in mind you took this to a lot of different places! Attention was held wonderfully! Arpeggios are classic, chord progressions interesting, instrument diversity was awesome :3

Fidelity and sound quality needs a little tune up but finding all the right tones can take years of adjusting your ears, playing with fidelity tools, watching tutorials, and constant vigilance against one's own laziness. I'm currently doing an OST for someone else and I've sent a few files across that weren't perfectly mixed and mastered. Feels like I shot myself in the foot a little but I have a good relationship with her, we good :3

I'll let you in on a few general fidelity techniques and tricks that should work in most scenarios to get a little extra out of your sound:

EQ units, compressors, limiters, "informed" stereo imaging...

Compressors and limiters will help you get more "presence" out of your instruments. People will warn against over compressing everything and to a certain degree I'm on board with that logic but I.M.O. you have to mix a few armature bricks to really find where the limits are. Compressing can make things quieter as well as louder, it's very sensitive dynamic play. You know you're over compressing when you export a file that sounds quieter than it did in the DAW, go back in and pan instruments while turning things down. Panning DOES create the illusion that a sound is louder than it is so you can get away with turning a well panned sound down a tad. If you pan something you have to try balancing it in the other ear as well, asymmetry in the stereo field is amazeballs to break monotony but doing it too long can create an annoying disbalance, vibe killer.

Doesn't sound like you have to worry about over compression at the moment, there's plenty of room for more tonal goodness. An EQ can help you boost very specific tones and textures on a sound or instrument. Combined with careful compression EQed bass tones can glow, arps can glitter, pianos can punch, orchestral drums can violently thunder. If you're worried about amping things up too much a small limiter can help prevent an instrument from overdoing it and frying the stereo field into an over compressed mess. Nothing is a miracle salve though, just gotta be aware of your options while your working...

Easy sauce technique: start out with good samples. Most digital instruments use samples to relay their sounds, especially orchestral/live instruments, as such, samples aren't something to be ashamed of. Never be afraid to go on a journey to find the best drum samples. It's easier to model new drum sounds when you just have good ingredients from the get go. Layer drum samples to "model" new sounds.

You can spend years modeling drum samples, layering them, balancing them to punch just right, changing snare pitch to get the right snappiness, deeping bass drums, playing with their envelopes... tbh, I sampled a vibraslap ages ago from some demo vid on youtube because I was too lazy to spend $20 on some cheap slap and record it myself. The guilt of it washes over me once or twice a year. I'm starting to feel it again right now, THE SHAME OF IT-and it's gone. See, nothing to worry about, very temporary shame.

I mentioned something about "informed" stereo imaging. Panning creates space, emulates location. It can be really exciting when sounds move across the field. Automation lanes on the pan data can help you find new locations for instruments and sounds as the track goes to new places.

I'm getting lost in this review, I'm so sorry. I hope something here was in any way helpful, I gotta run back to my own project and roll on it until everyone knows it's mine >:3

wilidacious responds:

haha; i am printing this out and sticking it on my bulletin board! thank you so much!

[Existential Emptiness (Full Album)]

I came for the title but stayed for the fun frequencies. Celestial hits nice. The titular track Existential Emptiness had some really slick breaks. I love the sonic explorations <3

I'm not gonna give up a long review because this is a full album but with a little more polish on fidelity you'll have a pro sound. Things like melody, percussion, arrangement, pads... all these things are inspired. Fidelity is the last push and it's a tough one because every explorative track needs a slightly different balance or mixdown. Was talking to another producer the other day about having a wide range of mix quality from track to track, inconsistent mastering. It's just part of the game. A formula will work for a minute but the moment you start experimenting or trying new stuff you have to adjust your techniques.

Drums are kind of my favorite thing to work on, I think your drums can be a little more prominent in the mix. Not sure if you got much sidechaining going on but I like to send the kick drum and sometimes the snare signals to various compressors attached to other instruments. That kick signal can then control levels of the chained instruments. A chained kick drum signal will momentarily mute the bass or a pad... when listening to Existential Emptiness in particular I felt like those drums could have punched through the mix a little more and side chaining the drum signals is key.

There are a lot of drum techniques, not sure if you use MIDI or drum loop samples but I prefer the freedom of MIDI. Dropping other people's breaks into my tracks never jived with me but if you use them you can actually sidechain stuff using a secondary muted drum kit. Just quickly MIDI up the core rhythm the sample follows, then send the signal to compressors attached to other instruments, then mute the sidechain drum machine before it gets to the master. I use Reason's spider merger/splitter to multiply drum signals for sidechaining but I'm sure most programs let you split a signal with their own tools. Regardless of whether you use full break samples or broken up MIDI samples this type of stuff can be fun to play with and folds back into what I was saying about needing different techniques for different situations :3

Regardless of which drum techniques you use you can still layer new drum sounds on top of those. I love the sound of the drum samples on Celestial but they're a little lonely. I'd add some aux percussion like tambs, shakers, toms, cowbells, vibraslaps... there is a world of percussive instruments that can help add life to that groove! Then there's the classic layering, most my snare drums can be two or three samples deep. I got a work flow where I take the snare samples from the drum machine, send their signals into a merger, then I send the combined drum signal into an EQ unit, compressor, limiter, stereo imager... sometimes I bypass the fidelity units but this signal flow lets me get snare samples all on the same page. From the drum machine I can change the pitch or tone of individual snare samples, the end goal is to make them all work together, as one! It's a little convoluted at first but I've been doing it for decades now and this is just the way it is now :3

Automation lanes can provide some rhythmic life with a little dynamics, I quickly draw peaks and valleys for hi-hat and shaker rhythms when I don't want to play with their individual note velocities. I'd also add snare reverb every few measures. End a measure with some reverb on a snare just to see what I'm talking about. You don't want to go too crazy with snare reverb, this isn't the 80s but a little snare reverb automated in once or twice a track... beautiful mix trick.

I said something about keeping this review short. I was lying D:

MixxyHD responds:

It really was a huge criticism xD but I'm still in shock about the frontpaged...

I made this album for a whole year and it evolved as it went along. Existential Emptiness was made in 2023, probably halfway through the year and I was in that phase of very rapid evolution, I could have improved a lot and done a lot more, but at the time I just didn't think that way... Even so, I managed to finish my album and this project is finally going to get some recognition.
A thousand apologies for not knowing how to react to your incredible criticism of my songs, but you've given me a lot of ideas for my future songs and projects! I hope you had a great time listening to my album. That's very special to me <3

Anyway, thank you so much for the criticism and the comment!!!

[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

[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