Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Say My Name (feat. Robin-Kei)]

I remember the way a friend described using the voice as an instrument when we were in high school. We were talking about throat singing in metal genres and how while a vocalist can't always be understood there is still musicality to appreciate. The human voice can be used as an instrument that compliments the sounds around it in a song despite a message or language. In regards to hip hop, when I hear a language I don't understand I get excited. Hip hop is originally black American culture. In the past the music world has adopted things like the European twelve tone system, sampling, synthesis, and to hear the ideas of hip hop artists permeate across the globe has been a fascinating aspect of my life.

I went through a big Anna Tijoux phase for a minute for these exact reasons. You kind of got a similar flow, cadence, and chromatic range. The melodies lack impressive range but lends itself to that folk story telling style from older hip hop artists and writers.

It would take a certain kind of ignorance to hear some swedish hip-hop and get upset. I loved this one Benji :3

Benji-G responds:

That's awesome to hear! I'm happy that people can still find it enjoyable to listen to this despite it being written in a language they don't understand.
Thank you very much Quarl, I greatly appreciate it!

[Ōkami]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Kettako, Okami:7,3,7,7 (24/40)

I have a lot to think about with this one. It takes me back to a high school day when I would basically jam with anyone willing to pick up an instrument and hang out. The most critical thing I can say about that time period is that the audio recording fidelity by and large comes down to what you can scrounge together for free. There's also the fact that no one at that age has any noteworthy experience mixing music. Full stop, I just looked at some of your older tracks and now I'm super confused by the huge shift in audio quality. Giving out scores in this contest is hard for me because I often have to justify jumps in logic to bridge conceptual ideas. In other words, what are the artists thinking? The Pillows is a fun group that strikes at the hearts of many Newgrounds users. 99% of the older users have probably watched FLCL at some point in time. I just wish I was more into this song from start to end. It hit very amateurishly which is strange coming from you when compared to tunes like "Leena's Song" or "Recolonize."

I can hear some really good ideas in the melodies and rhythms but the fidelity comes across like it was recorded through a tin-can, which is an actual recording technique but I don't even know what that technique sounds like. So I went over to YouTube and watched a few videos about home made tin-can microphones, your audio is comparable to what I found. In a contest like this, you'd have benefit from posting your audio equipment. I love knowing what my peers are up to. I modded audio here for a little while back in 2009, things were very different. Back then I had to interview new users and try to weed out those that were uploading unethical music (mainstream copy written material and unoriginal tunes). I have no idea how they do things anymore but tagging your equipment is a great means of proving your authenticity. I noticed you've included equipment in your past songs, what's different about this? You've posted so many pro tunes but this recording feels very out of place. Feel free to gush about your music, your amongst peers that love to know more about who they're bumping shoulders with. What kind of guitar are you playing on? What are the drums doing? How tough was the switch up from your other writing styles to this one? I'm sorry if this all sounds like work but you could have said it with very few words and with very little effort. To be honest, many users in this contest failed to say much about their work. You said more than most. If you had posted the lyrics in Japanese I'd have used google translate to figure things out.

"I hope you like it," 気にいるといいな.

You're getting a decent score for relevancy since that is the easiest category to justify. It even looks like you got the artist's permission, "thanks Graskip for letting me participate with your work." It used to be a rule in this contest to reach out and contact the artists. It's hard for me to take away points from people that have such good form in that regard, hence the high relevancy points. I also agree with the tin-can sound working with the illustration style but something is very jarring about the recordings. It might be how the guitar overpowers everything around it. A good mix can sound like it was recorded from a tin can but still sound great. I think Yoshii343 managed to nail that sound style perfectly. If you are not familiar with him, please go listen to his competition tunes. His recordings all sounded very small but they nailed that high school indyrock peak so many of us older users might remember. I'd also recommend going and listening to "Meat" by Droid. He managed a song using that old punk rock sound but damn did he mix it very well. That tune pushed bass frequencies perfectly and as an EDM producer I was legitimately impressed with that punk tune.

Panning data is solid magic that this song is missing out on. You'd have benefit from experimenting a little more with finding unique homes for every sound in the stereo field. Everything sounds so mono but panning is a technique as old as dirt and can boost fidelity to new heights. My sonic arts professor at Alfred University tried so hard getting us all into mixing in surround sound but stereo is still the golden standard and you can accomplish so much with only those two channels. Vocals & bass will sound great in the middle, kick drums and snares benefit the mix in the middle but little things like hi-hats can be pushed off to the sides then turned down a little. Auxiliary percussion can combat each other with alternating cymbals in opposite ears. Rolls that begin on one side of the stereo field can end on the opposite giving off a cool illusion of movement. A guitar can sit somewhere on the left and be balanced by another on the right. Mixing is an art form, you can be very sensitive to the entire process and write some great stuff but I'm not hearing a whole lot of panning data in this. In fact, I'm not sure I'm hearing much stereo data in your other catalog songs but at least those hit the spectrum in a way that sounds pleasing. This tune in comparison is lacking a ton of bass.

This is gonna sound really stupid but I'm kind of surprised you were inspired by a cartoon wolf girl but you didn't take advantage of some wolf howling samples. Something like that would have managed to make me smile. I'm not getting professional vibes from the singing but I have a lot of respect for anyone that learns to use their voice as an instrument. Your voice lacks power, presence, and confidence. Honest, a terrible vocalist can own the mic with some high energy and stupid levels of confidence (look up Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). It sounds like you recorded vocals twice, once holding down the bass and another hitting a slightly higher register. I know I said "vocals...great in the middle" but with two separate recordings like this a very slight pan would have created a great illusion of space. These two voices are right on top of each other, this mix-down is massively claustrophobic and does the recordings no justice.

I'm sorry, I don't want to come off as massively critical. I tried writing reviews for everyone in this contest because you all deserve to get some real feedback every now and then. I found this track a little confusing to be honest but that doesn't mean you should toss in the towel and never do it again. Come back in the future with some Indy rock that hits as romantically as Hybrid Rainbow. I just gave that old Pillows tune a listen since this song put me in that mind set and honestly, that vocalist sang with soul and experience. I think you may have set your goals high with a genre and sound you weren't as experienced with? You know what, on further listens I've come to the conclusion that the baritone voice recording is taking away from the other vocal recording a fair bit. Muting that lower vocal track, pushing a heavier bass tone, and finding better spots for things in the stereo field may have been all the elements you were missing. It's hard to say but I hope this review was in any way helpful to you. I want to wish you the best! Keep toying with this music style and blow people away with it. I believe that you can now that you have some experience with it. gg Kettako and salutations!

Kettako responds:

Firstly, I apologize for the reply you might have seen earlier, my account was hacked and unfortunately it got to this comment before I did v.v.

I appreciate your thoughtful commentary on this song. It clearly showed a lot of contemplation and the confusion that was included is super genuine which I appreciate. Even the reference to my other work's mixes provided a lot to chew on it seems lol. I'm also flattered you checked them out at all for context ^^

I want you to know I appreciate how much thought went into trying to deconstruct the fidelity of this project, but if it helps to bring any solace, just know most of it was very much intentional.
In fact, you hit the nail on the head right out the gate, that feeling of jamming in middle/high school...Working in 8 track and audacity, and how I FELT trying to recreate Pillows tracks at 12-14 years old on a much shittier setup was a lot of the reason for...Well....Everything you're hearing.

The sum-to-mono mix, the awkwardly set vocal mixing, even an unnecessary 3rd guitar that is strumming open chords with a flanger on, just to completely destroy the low-mid end. Incorrect notes during the solos, and irregular form on the last pre-chorus and chorus. I'd say the only thing I didn't "intentionally" smear was the pronunciation/awkwardness of the words. Japanese is not my native tongue so I didn't need any assistance screwing that up.

Believe it or not, all of the recording was done with a Fender P-bass, Fender Telecaster, and sm57 / Sm7b with Cloud lifters all run DI through an RME Babyface fs Pro. The reason I didn't include it in the equipment tab was mostly because I usually only include "samples" or VSTs because it doesn't come "directly" from me.
And I figured it wouldn't have mattered as much here. But I appreciate why you made a point about that. For future contests I can definitely see value in letting the judged know.

And I suppose in a way, that was really the challenge for me. I wanted good equipment to sound like it was recorded through a tin-can. From the standpoint of a judge whose criteria is clarity/quality, I completely understand the grade you gave, so rest assured you made the right call. I would agree with you 100%

That said, the vision of this song, for me was unkempt, dirty, youthful, simple, unprofessional, and a reminder for me of what it was to be a young writer who didn't understand how to record a guitar to save my life. So just know, I didn't take anything from what you wrote poorly. I think it from a technical perspective there is a lot of good advice in there. A lot of good advice I used in other tracks.

I just chose not to use any of it here.

If I could end on an anecdote. When I was 12, I would download music from groups like IOSYS, Sum40, The Pillows, etc from youtube at 144p, using the lowest audio settings so I could fit as much as I could into my Ipod shuffle.
I loved this music so I showed my dad, who was a musician and audio engineer in his own right, and his response was "Wow this mix sounds like trash". I still loved it, but he ignored what I loved about it and the rawness I felt towards those CRUSHED TO DEATH MONSTROSITIES (lol)
in favor for a technical perspective.

This track, I want to believe, represents that trashy mix I showed him lol.

If it's any consolation, any future j-rock j-punk tracks I do won't likely do anything like this again haha

[As Screaming Shadows Consume Us]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
LD-W, As Screaming Shadows Consume Us: 9,9,10,10

Oh god, I skipped ahead a little to write this review when the judging was going on because the image and the song juxtaposed next to each other made me laugh and smile. It's like a Rorschach ink drawing, those demonic moans and noises at 2:11 made me quickly look around the room and say "mom is that you?" Listening to this song while looking at the image, I have no idea how you got these maximum sounds from that minimal illustration but it worked really well. I doubt you expected me to laugh though. Something about this juxtaposition was nostalgic and reminded me of an angsty childhood. I'm now a fan of linda-mota and I'm actually surprised you didn't choose one of their other illustrations with comic book text. You essentially went ultra hard mode with a queer illustration to convey music with. I was also very happy when I saw how much you chose to share in the authors comments. A major criticism I lobbied at people was how hard it was to judge music that doesn't speak for itself. If there aren't some concrete connections to the visual in the song than I'm working on scout's honor that the image inspired anything at all. Since I've already typed it almost 80 times, I was asked to judge "emotion" and sharing feelings can only benefit the cause and even lends itself to authenticity. At the very least words are posterity; a breadcrumb trail for others to pick up and chew on as time goes on.

You know what, I'm going to pretend this song and the image are the embodiment of that zero-bomber you mentioned. This cacophony could be a wonderful theme for the satanic zero-bomb suicide cult. When they show up to zero bomb your music it's their misanthropic way of saying that they love you! You just don't understand their gifts, HOW COULD YOU? You'll have to forgive me when I decided to take points off of the structure. It was very musique concrète. Powerful on a second play through but the first time I was a little weary because I wasn't certain what to expect. I know you can write some massively wonderful tunes but this one explores and wanders. It's terrifying but something must be wrong with me because I'm smiling manically and enjoying it. This song is like a massive nipple twist, your either gonna love it and beg for more or cry and feel emasculated. I fell into the first category, t'was a good ol' nipple twist. I'm sorry, this is the worst review I've written by far but I'm going to make up for it with massive "emotion" and "relevance" scores. To honor the production point taken off, I felt like the mix was a little thin. I just gave "Pico, Guns and Flesh" a listen to compare to, that track was mixed much better with more bass and mid presence from the climactic action. I don't always mix at my best and I think you're experiencing a little of that with this massive song. yOu'Re GeTtInG oLd LiCh, you just can't hear those finer frequencies anymore. It's time to retire and live off of your welfare, it was fun while it lasted. Honestly, I know I've lost some hearing over the years and it drives me nuts. If any children stumble upon this review: protect those ears, treat them like gold. Play music at safe levels 99% of the time, damage inducing rock and roll decibels 1% of the time. I recently got an e-drum and gained the ability to turn the volume down on my kit, power moves.

I think I said everything I needed to say and am just rambling, feel good about your work here LD. You have a wonderous sound which would go well in a Tim Burton Batman movie or BDSM dungeon. At this point I'm only finding stranger and stranger things to say. Good luck with all things in life, you're a gem <3

LD-W responds:

Thanks for the big review!

I would of liked to of dived further into the 'mentalstate' which helps me with generating ideas for sections/passages for these kind of projects, although it would potentially dive into some areas I'm probably not-so-keen of shouting about in public without significant context tbh. I could probably elaborate further in DM's at some point!

The production-handling of this project (and associated template) would look like pure agony for anyone looking at it from the outside due to these situations:
- Utilising different ensemble and solo libraries together which may have things recorded in different traditional positions
- Utilising solo libraries together which may have things recorded in a studio enviroment and would need manually repositioning on an X/Y plane instead of tilted panning
- Utilising different ensemble and solo libraries together which may have things recorded in different halls/chambers through different potential hardware and it's associated signal harmonics (and have them present in the signals, even when turning lib-reverb values to 0 to try and get it as dry as possible)

The coherency challenge here was enormous, since the ensembles adds up between libraries/players to an IRL emulation of just over 500 people being digitally crammed into a custom hall preset of my own design in Eventide UltraReverb, and then all of the solo sections repositioned in 2.1 Stereo (instead of Binaural) in dearVR MUSIC. Plus all of the mixer channels having SSL 4000 G console instances on with unique TMT values assigned and a 'small-to-moderate' amount of console harmonics/saturation baked in at different intensities dpending on what I think required boosting. At that size, it ends up being a very fine-balance of being 'enormous and squashed', or 'thinner and roomy', which is where this project ends up gravitating towards the latter. Perhaps I could of reduced the wet% on the reverb settings on each channel to potentially increase the fullness of many parts, although it's definitely a fine balancing act haha

Compositionally, I ended up sticking to a mixture of Atonality, but also going to the efforts of trying to create two of my own nonatonic modes. It turns out that one of the 'modes' that I thought I made up from scratch, was actually Messiaen's 3rd Mode of Limited Transposition after Colin poked me about it over in the NG Audio Pub haha. Otherwise I kept things in a mostly half-structured state, with the earlier and later parts having more conformity, while the entire middle sequence was the main course of freeflowing non-conformity, composing that section by 'gut feeling' and ignoring time signatures etc.

I took some big risks going with a modern Avant Garde piece, and it seems to of mostly paid off at least! I'm planning on shoving into an album at the end of the year: this track, an updated version of last year's NGADM Finals Track with a mix update sorted out on it (The Tridecahedron Blood Summoning) and the *big project*, which will be the 25-30 min long planned avant-garde monstrocity large enough to make this track seem 'simple' by comparison. I am thinking about making a small community event for the *big project* for fun, as the later half of that will need a custom choir of screams, shouting, moaning and whisper swarms doing, which I think a fair bit of the audio community might find funny/cool enough to donate a few recordings to! If you're interested in contributing towards the cause, stay tuned for when I put the thread up around late-october ;)

[AIM - 3am Waltz]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Zechnition, 3am Waltz: 5,10,10,5 (30/40)

Very romantic concept right at the beginning Zech, I just wanted to take a second to express that I loved being able to hear the keyboard compressions on the instrument that begin to play 12 seconds into the track. It's probably not going to affect the score much as I continue my review but my initial impression was to ponder memorably on keyboards of my past. I currently play on a weighted electric piano but I totally remember that soft sound that a keyboard makes when you play with velocity. You're tearing me apart with that little audible Easter egg.

I can totally agree with Random-Story in her review (this is the first review I'm writing while seeing another judge's opinions) and it does sound like you had a little too much fun making unexpected choices. Some of the decisions seemed brilliant but I had trouble on subsequent playthroughs because I never knew what was going to happen. It was so jarringly structured that I couldn't fall in love with much before you changed things completely. Any of the sections would have made a fine motif for this character you've defined but all of it happening at once was "masturbatory" writing. It was an incredibly written song in some respects but at the same time, only a parent could unconditionally love it. Throw us a bone and give us a rest from all of the unpredictability. If this scene is actually meant to be contemplative, don't make such a distracting piece of music. Let us look at the moon and chill a little, some breathing room to meditate. Musicality is impressive when a band can come together and perform it as a unit but EDM actually benefits from a hook or anthem.

An old jazz adage goes "it's the notes you don't play that are just as important as the notes you do play." Though great artists like Mozart and Thelonious Monk are regarded for defending the notes they did play. Sometimes you have to buckle down and write something less manic to suit a commission or competition. You won't always be writing for yourself.

The night sky is often silent and frozen but your melodies and rhythms are on fire while seemingly belonging in some other scene or moment. If the entire song sounded like that part between 2:40 and 2:52 I'd have been a little more satisfied, THEN YOU SEGUE INTO A HAPPY MEAL JINGLE AT 2:53 THIS SONG IS SO RANDOM but don't worry Zechnition I still love you. There are elements to this song that I love a lot, you have some serious spirit and thank you for taking the time to mention how you felt. You didn't write much but you wrote enough to sway my feelings a little. Too many people failed to take advantage of the author's comments to bridge conceptual gaps, you nailed it using so few words. I have no problem handing you a perfect score for emotion and the production was actually surprisingly clean and well mixed. I have nothing to say about those elements but the other aspects that were brought up are too jarring.

I'm sorry if this review is a let down because you have some killer sounds. While you can continue doing you, I might recommend a "less is more" approach in future contests. You can always write the way you wish, you may do so to your heart's content but keep in mind that to stay competitive you might have to write something that you don't love as much. You have a good one Zechnition and I'll be looking out for you in the future :]

(An extra note added at the time I'm posting this review, with complex ideas it can take time to grow on a listener. I'm liking this track much more one month after initially hearing it. Being a performing artist, sometimes you have to learn the ins and outs of a complex song before it can grow on you. That's a risky maneuver for a competition where the goal involves sharing the spotlight with the illustrator. The illustration was gorgeous but very simple. You're music overshadows the art, maybe pick something with more complexity next time to better compliment the style you love to write? In any case, cheers and love!)

Zechnition responds:

Thanks for taking the time to write this review, it makes me very happy.

I'm also happy that you liked that deliberate little detail about the piano. I don't have easy access to pianos that aren't broken (yet), so I'm also a bit jealous of your experience :3

One of the main things I don't understand about music is patterns. When writing a piece, it feels like I'm trying to tame a beast. I wasn't satisfied with this piece after submitting it, mostly because I failed to tame the beast. And now I know why.

:: also, that was not meant to be the happy meal jingle but I totally hear it! I think the last interval is off by a bit though

[AIM - Escape!]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
NativeNiles, Escape!: 9,7,9,8

An awesome orchestration, loved the classic sound. I got a few suggestions and they're gonna focus on maxing out that stereo field to your advantage. The mix itself is needlessly quiet. Though it might sound nice and full on a PA system, I maxed out my headphones momentarily to get a better idea of what everything sounded like. I don't like being able to max out my headphones for the sake of ear damage but even at full volume, I'm hearing more space available. Sounds can be very deceptive, you can boost your instruments much more before you get anywhere near bricking. Maybe you have a limiter on the master out you could bypass? It's such a nuance of an opinion, I could forgive it but I'm going to also suggest automation lanes for instrument volumes. Though I can hear you playing with dynamics I feel like you could have turned the contrast up more with deeper crescendos and decrescendos. Automation lanes give you complete control over your orchestra. You can dip and tremolo like a live virtuoso, instruments can arrive on the scene via panning automations as if running onto a stage. There is a human element missing from the dynamics and I'd love to hear something like this hit harder AND softer. There is something robotic about the way everything hits.

I can hear you playing with panning data but I think you could have entertained us more with something to balance every panned force. There was a long section starting at 2:12 where I'm constantly assaulted on the left, a bell rhythm or glistening chime of some kind could have counter balanced that but after a while that volume coming from the left got unbearable. At a slightly louder volume, my left ear got fatigued. I'd have automated the following string instrument to the right just to put it somewhere more interesting. There could have been an entire heated conversation from left to right in the orchestra as strings battled each other but the mix stayed lukewarm. Though it would not have been more "realistic," I'd have personally panned the violin jabs at 00:19, 00:21, and 00:22 strobed against each other via automation to give off a sense of conflict. I like my action music to be a little jumpy and surprising. Doesn't have to be too crazy but I can admire a little bit of daring panning.

More bass please. I'm not sure how many people can make out sub sonic frequencies with their equipment but do yourself a huge favor and find an apparatus or means to get some more bass. While you play with pan data finding a location for every texture, those bass tones can really gloat in the middle. I'm not sure if you've heard this before but panning a sound can create the illusion that something is louder than it actually is allowing you to turn down the volume on that instrument a little. A benefit of that is making room on the opposite side for something to contrast it with.

Though the orchestration wonderfully conveys suspense, I think you could have masterfully delivered us into the scene with some sound effects, sampled or engineered. There are laser beams, glass is crashing, we got a wolf looking lady that could be howling or panting, there might be footsteps running at full speed, an alarm could be going off... you get the picture. There are a lot of orchestral artists in this contest but the best have learned a thing or two about building cinematic atmosphere from dubstep and hip hop artists. I'm not sure when this idea became common place but hip-hop groups like NWA would incorporate entire tracks of just soundscapes divorced from music. It turned a music album into something cinematic. John Cage is a popular reference when talking about soundscapes as he popularized making atmospheric sound tracks with found objects and improvisation. You went full orchestra but missed an opportunity to have a conceptual laser fight back and forth. If you don't have the ability to program some wild synth patches, I'll direct you to another classic hip-hop technique called "sampling."

Many artists are afraid to sample sounds for fear of breaking community rules and guidelines but most the mods here will turn a blind eye to it situationally. You just have to be aware of what your doing and why, meter risk vs reward. So long as a sample doesn't become the primary focus of the song they can usually act to pad things a little. I doubt anyone is going to chase you down over sampling some fighting game footsteps or a "1 hour beach meditation" video. Not everyone on Newgrounds has access to top quality field recorders or can travel to the ocean to nab waves crashing. I usually link back to things I've sampled in the author's comments as a means to look the mods in the eyes while saying "this is my dirty laundry." So long as the sound comes across as substantially altered, short enough, and your not financially harming someone else's investment you can claim fair use. The main thing they are looking for is copywritten music that belongs to someone else or music that was made entirely from loop packages. Sampling is a massive grey area and if it really bothers you, synthesize some lasers. I'm tiny mad that you missed an opportunity to make use of atonal atmospheric sounds and instruments, hit me with a waterphone.

I'm not sure I could find more to say at the moment but I do hope your proud of your work. I got on a lot of people's cases for not wanting to say more about their music. I think you could have said more, but you wrote the bare minimum I was looking for. I have to take everything into account if I want to judge a contest fairly, even the possibility that artists are being "unauthentic." Tagging your gear was a very smart choice, but don't be afraid to gush some more! The judges have to shuffle through many works and writing a little extra will never hurt your cause. I was asked to judge competitors for "emotion" and as a fellow artist I like knowing I'm giving high scores out to the people that really care about authenticity. Unless a song unquestionably takes us to a scene, you can't expect the song to speak for itself. I could picture this song going with the imagery but I could also imagine it going with many other genres or locations. The soundtrack you wrote would make sense alongside Indiana Jones, Conan The Barbarian, Adventure Time, the list goes on forever and having an artist's statement will always make it harder for us to deny the composer's intentions. My ability to remove your song from the illustration and put it somewhere else in combination with that lack of atmosphere is why I justified taking off two relevancy points. It all comes together in this contest and one issue can affect the next. Those atmospheric soundscapes can benefit composition/structure, production, emotion, and relevancy all at the same time.

Please forgive me for writing a review so long but everyone has been awesome and I want to give every competitor something to think about. Even the top-tier winners I see as peers and I have no problem telling them what I think is wrong with their tunes. There is always room for improvement but a perfect soundtrack should always be the end goal. You could be god-tier, I hear the potential. NativeNiles, enjoy your day! I wish you the best :D

NativeNiles responds:

Thank you for the review. As always, I have trouble with the editing/mixing process. Its one of those quirks where "it sounds good on paper, but...".

[AIM - Shining Lights]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
xZiriusX, Shining Lights: 10,8,10,10 (38/40)

Woah, hello big mix down. The wave shape actually echoed the illustration as far as I'm concerned. The image was claustrophobic, and that 1980's hard rock sound mixed big was a perfect fit. This is top tier. Not wasting anytime, first critique: despite the throw back to romantic 80's synthpop, I feel like these retro genres can benefit massively from better fidelity techniques. Either there's very little pan data in this mix or I'm a little deaf in one ear (I am) but some more aggressive stereo/panning data would help this old sound pop into the year 2022. I love hearing throw-backs to old genres but I don't like hearing throw-backs to flat old mix-downs. The electronic music scene in recent decades has really pushed sound quality to new heights and going back in time can be a double edged sword.

When mixing you want lower frequency bass tones towards the middle but thin auxiliary percussion can be thrown around a little more aggressively and used to counter balance other elements. Kick drums and snares belong to the middle but toss hi-hats to one side, counter with tambourines, bells, shakers, and what have you on opposite sides of the stereo field. That percussion section at 2:42 would have been a great time to have auxiliary percussion battling across the stereo field. I love playing with an aggressive ride cymbal the way you did during that section.

Panning creates the illusion that sounds are louder than they actually are so after you pan a sound you can turn it's levels down a little and you've now made room on the opposite channel to find something to balance it with. Automation lanes are totally fair game to find new locations for things in the mix if things get boring. Panning is a tool to emulate space. A drum fill can start on one side then bias to the other as if you're right on top of the drums and you're following the drummer's motion across the kit. You don't have to be accurate to a live drummer, you can get super experimental with how you pan drums but I find it's one of the instruments in a mix that can really make the stereo field more interesting. Panning is something so many people over look but good panning is the mark of a professional. You might have played with panning in this but I really can't tell and that's not a good thing. I got very bored with that constant bombardment of texture that never really evolved. You could say that constant bombardment emulates the drawing but a poor mix only distracts from the musicality without offering anything positive.

The melodies were awesome, solid chord progressions. Everything was great aside from that static pan data and an underwhelming bass tone. Though you pushed the field to it's max the song came across a little flat. With those mid to thin sounds panned more expertly the bass has more room in the middle to just rock solid and groove. These are the reasons I took points off in production but I had a hard time justifying taking anything else off. I got on people's case for saying next to nothing about their music but you said just enough to add a human element that I often took points off for. I was asked to judge for "emotion" and people having the bravery to talk about their creative process or what inspired them makes it easier for me to sense "authenticity." It's so easy to just nab a random image for this contest and write some uninspired track, I often have no clue if someone was truly inspired or if they faked it. I have to sit here and draw conclusions from opinion but taking the time to write some lyrics, or a poem, or just saying anything at all is a deceptively powerful tool for a music contest. Newgrounds is by and large made up of a community of peers. Learning how to communicate with that audience is essential. So many users assumed the music spoke for itself and often it didn't. One user in particular wrote nothing at all. I'm over here writing reviews for everyone in the contest because I felt like challenging myself and you all deserve some solid feedback. Often I pointed out though, to all the people that wrote one or two sentences: how is it that I can say so much about your music but you cannot? I have a feeling there will be more contestants next year taking advantage of stronger writing but many of the older regulars understand who their audience is.

You've been around since 2016 (I looked) and I think I've seen you around before. You shared just enough information and wrote a good enough track to get perfect "emotion" points from me but with a slightly more nuanced mix-down you could have stood out and remained more memorable. The only time I noticed any panning were those crashes at the 5 minute mark (yay, I noticed some pan data) but everything was so balanced towards the center that there was no surprise. Every sound colorlessly hit me with the same energy and although colorlessness reflects the image well, "relevance" was only one category. You could have pushed this mix down to god-tier with just a little more experience juicing out masterful fidelity. Retro sounds honestly benefit from contemporary mix quality. If you can pull it off you'll become so powerful. I'm grateful you included all your equipment tags. Have a wonderful day Zirius. Ever upwards!

Mechanical-Head responds:

this is exactly the kind of feedback i needed, thank for taking the time!

[AIM - Earliest Memories]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
DarkHorseOrchestra, Earliest Memories: 9,8,8,7

Full stop, I've written a massive review for almost everyone in the contest by now. A common critique I levied is that not enough users are taking advantage of the authors comments to toy with our feelings. I'm being asked to judge "emotion" in a contest about "inspiration." To make sure I'm treating everyone fairly I have to take EVERYTHING into consideration, even the possibility that composers aren't being honest. You can share a few quick sentences to really drive home an idea or emotion you wanted to express while simultaneously providing the community with a sense of authenticity. Some composers wrote poems, others reached out to the artists and asked for permission. That actually used to be a rule of the contest back in 2013, composers needed to reach out to illustrators in an attempt to gain permissions which helped build bonds in the community across portals. The spirit of that rule was exciting but I'm not sure it always worked out as intended. In the spirit of that rule however, I gained a lot of respect for musicians that shared their feelings, inspirations, and emotions. I usually took off one or two points in this contest if the artist tried letting tracks speak for themselves because often their work didn't. This is a hard contest to judge, toy with us some. Leave a poignant statement, thesis, or poem. It helps us relate to you and makes you memorable.

I'll point out a useful thing to know, tagging your equipment is a stamp of authenticity. I used to mod audio on Newgrounds back in 2009 and back then there was a pending list where new musicians would wait until an audio mod could get around to vetting them. We were encouraged to ask pointed questions about the creative process for their music in an attempt to sort out the people that were uploading stolen or copywritten content. The process was terrible and I got burnt out quick but that need to vet my peers has never dissipated. Other judges might not be as honest as I try to be but I'm willing to say these things because it can help you in the future. This is a really strong song with some solid emotions at play and your hard work is audible, please tell us a little bit more about your baby. We are a community of peers, a dysfunctional family at times. You can reach out to your listeners and fit into that community better by expressing yourself with a little more than the music itself. This kind of goes for everything in life, never be afraid to have a voice DarkHorse. I've said nothing about the actual song to this point. This is why judging Newgrounds competitions takes so long.

It looks like the drums are taking up most the room in the mix during that climax but you could have "compressed" forward other tones earlier in the track such as those pads and instruments. For the climax, sidechaining would help balance all those bigger tones and textures. I'm not looking for a brick necessarily but this entire track could have benefit from some foreboding orchestral perc like booming bass drums, bass drum & cymbal swells, chimes, bells, cowbell, vibraslap, waterphone... I've been sharing some of my sampling techniques with others in this contest. Being a "younger" member of the community can lead to an unease with sampling because at it's core the legal issues are somewhat mysterious but the people that mod often know the struggles. Not everyone can afford a field recorder and the lifestyle to record every atmospheric sound we come across. As long as a sample doesn't become the primary focus of a song most mods will turn a blind eye. A free program like Audacity is great for just nabbing certain materials from YouTube videos or elsewhere as it can rip right off the soundcard/hard drive. Many programs let you do it, I just find Audacity faster in it's simplicity. If you ever nab a sound and feel like it breaks community guidelines just mention it in the comments and ask "is this ok?" I used to mod back in 2009, the people combing through flagged subs are honestly looking for the easy stuff like copy written music uploaded for Geometry Dash or songs made entirely from sample packs. Tagging your equipment is a newer feature that I love because it gives artists a stamp of authenticity. Don't be afraid to share your equipment so others can research techniques they like or comment on gear. I like to see headphones tagged personally because many headphone brands have variable results on quality of sound. If someone is mixing on Audio Technicas I can actually switch my gear and hear what they're hearing. The judges for an informal contest like AIM are probably not that crazy (but I am).

I loved that sensitive hi-hat programming. Given how techy the illustration was I was surprised there wasn't some more synth engineering. A sinewave synth is the classic synth for portraying sci-fi UFOs and aliens, the classic theremin produces the same sfx. A few 1950's cinema classics to use that sound are Forbidden Planet (1956), the Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), The Thing From Another World (1951)... you missed an opportunity to echo classic sci-fi sounds and atmosphere. These sinewave sounds still get used today to comedic effect in cartoons like Spongebob and Adventure Time. You can do so much with synthesis, one competitor in this contest managed to make wonderful racecar engine noises using what sounded like simple sawtooth waves.

You must be using automation lanes on the pitch of those hi-hats, see if you can slap automation lanes on your synths to invent new tones and textures. Those sinewave synths I was talking about in particular can bend, stretch, echo, and communicate with listeners like underwater creatures. Ghostly cries from deeper sinewave modulations may embody the sad cries of an interplanetary species that swim across the void of space like whales. For the imagery you chose, I felt like there was a lot of techy experimentation you could have explored. I have to keep pounding away at these reviews but I hope I was able to express some of the reasons I was able to whittle points off your scores. Always upwards and have a wonderful day DarkHorse :3

DarkHorseOrchestra responds:

Thank you for not only reviewing my piece, but also the advice and suggestions relating to the information about the uploaded track and not just the track itself. That last sentence came off horrible in my head while typing it but I really do appreciate it. Like you said, this is a community and I really did feel a hand extending out and encouraging me to join in more. So thank you again for that! I've also now tagged my software and hardware used for this piece.

The drums...well what you said about making use of the author's comment comes into play here lol. I mixed them that way to represent the crazy lines cutting throughout the picture heading towards the craziness in the middle of it, and also my lifestyle during my late teens to mid 20s(Not that anyone would know that or make that guess cause yeah lol). The hi-hats was actually a pattern for the keys, I randomized velocity(alt + R in FL) then edited it a bit.

I agree I could've done so much more and I do regret not doing so, I'm with all of you there 100%. The score I received from you is far better than I expeced, so thank you! There's a lot more I could and should respond to in your review but I'm not going too, just know Ive taken it all in and will definitely keep them in mind and try to implement them more in my future work.

Thanks again and have a great day!

[AIM - A Spirit's Thoughts]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
masterakuma99, A Spirit's Thoughts: 10,10,10,10 (40/40)

Funny story, I got on almost everyone's case this AIM about not providing feelings or information in the author's comments. I don't need an essay but you honestly wrote exactly what I wanted to see out of everyone. A few quick thoughts, feelings, aspirations, and inspirations. For a contest about inspiration, too many people assumed their work spoke for itself. This is a hard contest to judge because the theme levels the playing field a little bit. I was asked to judge for "emotion" and I take an artists statements into account because those can add authenticity to a contest about "inspiration." Composers need to have a voice divorced from their work to stand out. I was an audio mod back in 2009, the process was terrible. Back then we had to vet everyone before they could submit music. I'd send personalized messages out to new musicians asking pointed questions regarding how people made their music to try and weed out bad apples uploading copy written content for things like Geometry Dash. You wrote just enough data to win me over, including the equipment tags was very nice of you. Thank you for sharing your feelings and equipment. I respect that a lot.

I tried to avoid handing out perfect scores this AIM but you were one of the few to do it and with such a unique soundscape. That panning data was inspired and swirled nicely. Every odd atmospheric synth or stab sounded like it could be a fantastic creature. You struck such a massive chord with me in such a simple manner. The song had an almost reverse "Explosions In The Sky" decrescendo to it. Very unique in that you basically hand us the meat of the song 30 seconds in then play around that shoegaze vibe for the rest of it.

What am I doing? I already gave you a perfect score and am just stroking your ego at this point. Thank you for this wonderful piece of sound Mr. Akuma Master, congrats on getting one of the shortest reviews :3

masterakuma99 responds:

Thanks a lot for the "short" review and the perfext score! I really appreciate it when judges give out detailed reviews for the entries.
Similar to what I said in storykeepers reply it is really encouraging to see people resonating with my songs the same way I resonate with songs from my favourite bands.
It´s good that you mentioned the whole author`s description part. I often forget/don`t think it is important to describe the idea of the song. The only time I try to give information about the track is during the AIM contests. Since I wanna do some different music in the near future it is propably a good idea to give some context for the tracks.
The equipment tags are something I use on pretty much every track I publish. Exactly like you said, I respect everyone who hands out information on how they made the track. It can give you some inside and especially inspiration. That`s why I always add those for the chance that it might help someone.

[AIM - Sonarity]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
DiosselMusic, Sonarity: 8,8,10,7 (33/40)

I admire you for being honest about your thoughts and feelings in the author's comments. Too many people couldn't be bothered to write much and in one case, nothing at all. I was asked to judge for "emotion" and that's an element open to massive interpretation. When Johnny K. Guy introduced this contest back in 2013, community was a huge theme. A rule that was lost over the years but was integral to the original contest was "ask the artist if you can use their picture for the contest and make a song inspired by the picture." The point was to build bonds, connections, and social skills. The contest reached across the music portal and into the realm of the art portal for the first time resulting in a network of messages going back and forth across Newgrounds. These bonds helped build the integrity of our community. Dizzie's review was heart warming. I wish you had said a little more to how exactly the image and your music was thematically connected because I'm not sure I understand the connections but I'm respecting you for just having the bravery to make the statements that you did. It sounded like you actually reached out to Dizzie and got permission, THANK YOU <3

The mid-tier relevancy score kind of stems from that lack of certain inspirations. Theme music for a character can be hard to write, a couple of the other contestants nailed it. As a huge Junglist myself, when I hear Drum & Bass I immediately associate it with people and faces from the scene. EDM genres pulse with nostalgia of nightclubs, video games, and long-ass DJ sets. I'm not quick to remove DNB from that very specific scene and history. I'm seeing stars and mobiles in the illustration which I would have connected to the music via glittering chimes, gentle cymbal swells, and panning data... actually, I caught your creative use of panning data with those delayed piano patches. Effing beautiful patch Diossel <3

Sadly, sometimes it can feel like musicians are sticking to their strengths when they might have benefit from going a little outside their comfort zones. I know you're a Junglist and this track rocks but an image with some more futuristic architecture and space imagery might have played to your strengths better. I have a lot of respect for this song but I'm trying super hard to take everything into consideration so that I can say I judged this contest fairly. You did the artist serious justice, I just wish I could hear the connections to the illustration as well as Dizzie could. I gave you a few extra points in relevancy and emotion for that little bit of networking I saw.

Despite the somewhat low relevancy (imo) you made some awesome breaks if just a little old-school at this point in time. I'd love to hear you engineer some of your own drum kits. Between you and me, I have the Amen break tattooed as a sheet music band that wraps around my right forearm. It's a very romantic sound as far as I'm concerned but the world of DNB has moved on from namesake loops to snappy pitched up snare drums, multiple drum layers, and depressingly oppressive yet futuristic reese basses. Learning to engineer your own kits give you a unique style and energy to stand out from the pack. Liquid made a notable comeback in recent years. To get those techy unique sounds out of your drum kit: experiment. You always have to start out with good drum samples, I usually have a tiny layer of the amen break mixed into my snare drums but they exist only as a layer amongst many simultaneously or sometimes used individually as ghost snares. I typically have three snare layers that work together to make a big sound but on each layer on their own can be used individually from section to section. A nice crisp 909 snare is great for build ups. A snappy jazz drum or clap snare can be used for an intro or breakdown. Find some snare samples that layer nicely. You can do the same layering tricks for everything on the kit from bass drums to hi-hats, tambourines, and shakers. For an old school break it sounds fairly crisp and well mixed but I would love to hear a slightly more contemporary drum kit from you. It wouldn't have necessarily helped with those relevancy points but I'm using this technical data to inform my scores for "Composition/Structure" & "Production." For such a wonderfully written song I hated having to take off points for anything but I'm doing everything I can to be fair to everyone in this contest. Competitors were at a small disadvantage putting drum and bass in front of me because it's a genre I can nit-pick like no other.

I linked to the following YouTube video for one other composer. Though kind of low fidelity, the snares out of this YouTube video might help layer into your sounds? As a layer, the low fidelity aspect might get lost to the other sounds you use. The video might also demonstrate how special a unique drum sound is, Koan has some great snare drums:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUUx3GeZa_g

Maybe you'd have been better off muting the drums and making two separate versions of this track? An ambient song with these beautiful melodic elements might have vibed with the character better? She's fantastic, stars in her eyes and wings on her head. Drums are super aggressive but I'm not feeling that from the character at all. She's too sweet to roll hard into the club with rude bois, original nuttahs, and grove-riders. I'm so sorry, I'm only coming in here with an essay of feedback because I love what you're writing. We can always get stronger and compose new ideas. This track reminded me of "Run, Run, Run" by Russian DNB artist Receptor, that cat can write some techy DNB. Again, I'm highlighting an issue in that I know the genre and sound very well. You impressed me with great writing, please don't take any of this feedback as hurtful or rude. You knew it wasn't your best but I admire that honesty deeply. Thank you so much Dio <3 <3

DiosselMusic responds:

I'm not going to take any of the comments in a bad way at all, I really appreciate the time you took to write a review on the song, I really enjoy getting feedback from another artist ^^
To be honest, I would have liked to work a little more on the song.
I know I didn't talk about the connection between the song and the art, I was really inspired by what the stars are in the drawing, sona's look makes you notice that they are like her wishes, shooting stars, maybe I went over it too much in my head and ended up adding the amen break lol, once I did there was no going back.
I didn't want to do a quiet song at first.
I wanted to do something moving, that could generate emotions or some kind of connection, which is super hard to do, but I always try.
I will keep in mind all the points you mention and try to improve as a junglist.
Thank you very much Quarl ^^

[The Amalgamate [AIM 2022]]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
TSRBand, The Amalgamate: 9,10,10,10

Space scenery usually lend itself to EDM elements and genres but you clearly reflected hard on the illustration via those lyrics. I had to open up the original illustration page to come across the phrase "amalgamate," I loved that you clearly weaved the other artist's words and inspirations into your own. I wouldn't have caught onto the lyrics with all that throat singing but you clearly wrote lyrics that endeared themselves to the original artist's intentions. The scene they painted and the words themefinland wrote were brutal. Full stop, I can't nit-pick your choices so far.

Given how harsh the competition for this contest is, I justified taking one point off of composition/structure for giving me maximum energy the entire time. I would have loved to hear a more progressive track with an intro, breakdown, or outro that reflected some of that sci-fi futuristic fidelity and atmosphere we hear in genres like dubstep. Don't take that comment the wrong way, for metal this fidelity is pro. To clarify, I'm a huge fan of David Maxim Micic, Chimp Spanner, Mushugga, Animals as Leaders, Chon and those guys really know how to make full use of instrumental diversity and fidelity to make atmospheric metal and inspired soundscapes. Though I don't anticipate you'd want to make use of synthesis to emulate the SFX of shooting stars, space craft, and organic creatures I figured you could have implied some added textures with creative guitar shoegaze. Gentle low volume finger tapping in the frets closest to the pick-ups could have given me a sense of sci-fi organic creatures communicating amongst themselves. Similarly a high pitch slide panned side-to-side could have emulated spacecraft movements seen in the image (like a theremin or sinewave). In all fairness, that throat singing could have been a nod to the amalgamate creatures but I wish you had said so. I'm doing my best to judge this contest fairly and I'm often forced to make a ton of conceptual connections without the aid of the artist sharing their feelings or intentions. Sharing more of your intentions probably wouldn't have affected your score as far as I'm concerned, this track is amazingly brutal but hey... couldn't have hurt with the other judges, right? So many users tried to let the music speak for itself, one user in particular wrote nothing at all. If another judge is biased against metal, they might not hear what I hear. Sometimes you got to defend your thesis with some good words.

All in all, this track is such an incredible show of force. I'm sorry for taking off that one point but that comes from a place of encouragement and fairness. You have a ton of skill and I made sure to promote this in the "front page suggestion thread" via the forums. It was too awesome to not promote some. I wish you included a little gear data because I love to know what people are using and playing with. I see you put that data on your main user page, thank you. I wish you nothing but positive adventures in the future, keep thrashing hard TSR <3

TSRBand responds:

Thanks so much for your kind and detailed comments! I'm happy you liked it :)