Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Zone Zero]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
wobwobrob, Zone Zero: 8,7,8,8 (31/40)

I only started listening to the song but I already feel like going with these gentle vocal pads was a bold decision for what looks like a hellish dystopian metropolis. The image reminds me of Midgar from Final Fantasy 7, thought you might try to Nobou it up. Since you managed to write a fair bit about your inspirations and ideas I'm being friendly with my "relevance to art" points. Too many competitors missed an opportunity to say something nice about the illustrations. Literally saying anything helps draw judges in and endears you to us. We're trapped here listening to hours and hours of music, people need to take advantage of that human aspect. I feel like you missed an opportunity to use atmospheric sounds or samples to relate back to the image. Sounds such as space craft flying from left to right could be emulated with saw synths and panning data. A shooting star could be referenced via sinewave or slide whistle and could also use panning data to help create depth or illusion of movement. Glittering stars or lights could be brought about with chimes. I've promoted the idea that musicians can use a free program like Audacity to sample sounds, edit them enough and you could claim fair use and the mods won't mind. You wrote a very inspired song but with the addition of atmospheric samples and instruments you could have really turned your song into a work that effortlessly related to the image. Instead I have to try and make connections on my own. I can agree with you that minimal sounds could relate to space in that sound doesn't travel through space at all. The vacuum of outer space has essentially zero air. Sound is just vibrating air and space has no air to vibrate and therefore no sound. If you are sitting in a space ship and another space ship explodes you would hear nothing but that would make for a very boring "John Cage" sound track. However I don't immediately relate this image to an outer space scene, it could very well be an industrial refinery underground. You could have sampled power tools or hydraulic presses, traffic moving. When I see this image I imagine the sounds of metal scraping and machines working. The drums were industrial enough to give me some of that mood but those melodies were gentle and soft. You can be proud of the fact that you put some serious emotion into things but I'm not sure if I agree with the emotions you chose to use, sorry my dear.

I love the description you chose to write to symbolize space travel, that you created "a sense of arriving on a spacecraft, isolated and free to absorb the sheer scale of the place you are approaching". I respect that you "wanted to create an optimistic vibe, as you calmly float into the unknown delights of the planet below you." Looking to the left of the image I can see that this industrial space is still being constructed which implies grating machinery. I think you managed to perfectly convey your aims but I'm in too much disagreement that it was the right feeling for what I was expecting, personal bias to be honest. You could have mentioned that the light pollution from the structure obfuscates the stars that would be present in a space setting? I'm sorry if it feels like I'm coming down hard on you but you did a great job. I love this but I have to feel like I've justified the scores and to be totally honest other composers came through much stronger. The last person I judged engineered a synth to emulate the sounds of racecars. An image with waves crashing could feature the sounds of literal waves crashing. You did a good job conveying what you aimed for but there's always room for improvement and I would love to hear sounds that echo the sci-fi soundscape I was anticipating. I'm justifying that "production" score by pointing to that pan data. Everything in space is constantly moving, even if technically without sound. Pan data via automation is the best way for a composer to convey motion.

I have to keep moving with my reviews to get this work done in a reasonable time frame but I hope I was able to illuminate some new ideas or inspirations. I hope to hear more from you in the future, salutations wobwobrob :3

wobwobrob responds:

Mate, your comments are truly appreciated. As a judge myself for the first time (NGUAC2022) I hope I can be as eloquent and clear as you are with your constructive feedback. Thanks so much!

[AIM - Pole Position]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
TeffyD, Pole Position: 9,9,9,10 (37/40)

This was a wonderful surprise, Sega Genesis tier. The music gave off some seriously high class grand prix stylings. The melodies and drums were very well written. That synth work beginning and ending the track totally sounded enough like a car starting up and wizzing by to garner the recognition I needed to give this some high relevancy points. So many users missed the opportunity to allude to visual elements, whether via sampling or recording atmoshperic samples. You didn't go over-the-top with that kind of stuff, done poorly samples can sometimes sound cheesy. That guitar was great so I looked at your tags and researched the Gio. I had a Korg M1 a long time ago but after years of travel and abuse, it died. The M1 is a wonderful jam machine, thank you for posting some of your hardware data. The illustration is surprisingly minimal but still manages to convey incredible motion, depth, and clarity. I suppose I could simultaneously complain about or praise how mechanical the dynamics sound relative to the image. Some additional velocity information or automations on volume knobs could have helped certain instruments pop. Drums in particular benefit from evolving levels. Volume is one of the few ways a drummer can produce emotion and show off technical skill. If that static velocity data was intentional, you should have said so. (On dropping the review I noticed a nice dynamic hop in the hi-hat rhythm, sue me.)

One of my biggest gripes in this contest revolved around the simple idea that many musicians choose not to take the time to write stuff in the author's comments section. It literally couldn't hurt to direct the judges into your thought process a little bit by telling us what inspired you and what your aspirations were. We are your peers, let us know what you're proud of. It feels strange when I have to sit here and try to make all the connections to the art on my own. For a competition like this, saying anything can only help you out. I don't think I should be able to say more about the music than the person that created it. Some users wrote endearing poems or lyrics, some promoted their other social media pages. There were a few users that ventured to say nothing at all. Newgrounds has really opened up into a global community, I'd recommend not missing a chance to have a voice in it. I personally don't like being a webpage that lets nameless people download my music for free. I share my thought process when I make music because what better way to get into someone's head than with some human empathy?

I think that's reason enough to take off one emotion point, I've done it to almost everyone at this point. Loving the music enough to overlook flaws is bias when the theme of the contest is inspiration. I'm sure the artist would love to know why you picked their art, tell them it's pretty and perfect. I recall an original intention of the Art Inspired Music contest was to get musicians reaching out to artists to ask for permission and grow relationships (not required anymore). This is a great community, there is some tremendous talent. Be accessible, be personable, and keep making amazing material. You're a gem Teffy and I wish you the best!

Salutations :D

TeffyD responds:

Thank you for your very thorough response, and I appreciate the kind words. I very much enjoy using the M1, very cool lead sounds and pads, sadly it is the VST version since I couldn't find a real one, and when I put it in tags It would say its hardware so just left it lol. velocities was mainly because I liked how it came out and very robotic like an 80s drum machine, but it has a real sound? Idk if that makes sense. I also liked thinking it sounded like an engine idling with the constant hi-hats.

I will say that I never thought of explaining myself in the description. Like explaining why I chose a specific piece or what I was going for, because I assumed (you know what they say about assuming) that the song was supposed to convey it enough and that writing it in the description defeated the purpose. Just as a post review response, I chose this piece because it fit the F1 style I had in my head to make the song for, minimalist but stylistic in a certain Japanese way, that fits an 80s F1 Highlight TV Show song. His art in general is very cool as well. I also enjoy seeing people come to that conclusion without me having to say, because that conveys to me that I did my job well, and that's what I'm personally proud of the most.

I guess the hardest part for me is being personable and branching out and networking with others, idk why but it's hard to for me, mostly because most music I make sounds generic or 70s to 90s and it doesn't vibe with a lot of what others make. I can't write lyrics because I don't really make music that has a meaning to me, or of a time in my life or story etc etc, but I make it because I think it sounds cool, and I want to show it to others to chill out to or jam to or anything, because at the end of the day the listener will get his own interpretations on how to listen to the song, and I like that. I also think I have a knack for that kind of music, a very simple BGM that could fit in any application given I think of that application lol.

Thanks for the kind words and if any of you homies ever wanna collab or do something hmu cause I'm always down.

TeffyD

[AIM - 14]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Cresince, 14: 10,10,10,9 (39/40)

Somebody else used the same image MINUS 40 POINTS, YOU LOSE HAHAHA- just kidding, I'm actually really happy with this song a lot.

This is very unique. It expertly crafts some very haunting tones and textures. It's a definite favorite of mine in regards to musicality. This has amazing depth and texture. I think you could compress certain tones forwards a little more, there's still a small amount of space in your field for more amplification but you still got a great sound with the space you did use. I'd have definitely gone a little louder with bass tones. I had to take my headphones off and do a double take, there was some wonderful panning data in this. That guitar breakdown was romantic AF. The pads and random instruments are very cool.

I need to take off a point for not giving me a few ways that this art inspired you. I've been really leaning into people that don't share their inspirations. I can look at the image and see that the cityscape is hectic and everchanging. Buildings tower over buildings giving serious depth to the landscape. Though the scene seems infinitely complex, we view it from a distance that makes it appear deceptively peaceful. There is a feeling that many of the sounds you wrote could reasonably exist in this atmosphere. The sounds span the world of progressive jazz and musique concrète expertly. My brain is connecting a lot of dots but it's unfair that I had to mention them explicitly. A critique I've used regularly is that it's not fair that I can say so much about the art and the music but the people writing the music sometimes couldn't be bothered to say anything at all. Music doesn't always speak for itself, people can lapse and judge art & music contests based on personal taste and preferences. By saying a little more about your work you can endear yourself to the regulars here and make some friends! As a judge, I love seeing people engage their listeners. Newgrounds is a community of like-minded renegades and scoundrel. So many users are young and can absorb information like a sponge, this community feeds off of itself. You can tag instruments, tools, and programs to help us weed out bad actors that submit stolen content. That's been an issue in the past, I only bring it up because it's an unfortunate fact regarding any creative community.

I thought about taking off a production point for not making use of atmospheric samples like city noises, moving crowds of people, foot steps, construction vehicles, car sirens and traffic. That section with the panned guitar duo could have used some samples such as the ones I mentioned to help create a little cityscape. You still managed to convey great diversity and space with what elements you did use. I could pretend that French horn was a car driving by. There was a small arpeggio I could pretend was an exotic sci-fi city bird. That ending felt like the metropolis was winding down ominously much the way a city often does when it gets late enough to be the early morning and the only people up are the scofflaws. I'm absolutely in love with this track, the competition has been difficult to judge because I love music so much. I can't expect others to write essays much as I do but I think that I've managed to demonstrate the simple fact that you can freely talk about your work here. No one with any mature sense is going to read the author's comments and act a jerk.

Endear yourself to your listeners with a story about the image, anything. This is such an expert composition, it hurts to take off any points but I believe I was able to identify a key aspect that you were missing. This is my first time coming across your work and for all I know, you just happen to write amazing music all the time and it has nothing to do with the art. Addressing the few critiques I brought up, I think I can justify taking one point off of your work. I got to keep working through reviews but I hope this was helpful or explanatory. Salutations and good day Cresince!

Cresince responds:

Thank you so much for judging this year!

I do agree that I could have offered more insight about the song, especially since I write instrumental pieces that feature no lyrics, that is something I will definitely work on in the future.

You absolutely nailed the ending of the song analysis, of course my songs are free to interpretation to whatever a person feels like it is saying, however, that was what I was going for in that ending haha. And yes, my mixes could definitely use some more loudness/balancing so your advice has not gone unheard.

Thank you again for your hard work making sure everyone gets a thoughtful response and detailed review. Hearing your words has definitely helped me get some perspective on my music! <3

[AIM - Cold Breath]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
SomeguyMusic, Cold Breath: 8,8,9,6 (31/40)

I was really curious what this was going to sound like after loading up the image first. You've managed to endear yourself to me quickly with that modest piano work. A piano melody can feel chilling and lonely. The practice rooms I've sat and played in are usually impeccably clean, to say the least: immaculate. The empty space in the image reminds me of a particularly large practice space I got to play in at Alfred University. A space like that would have some interesting resonance.

I'm really hurting from judging this competition. I'm listening to such incredible music but not many people are using author's comments to write even a little about what inspired them. There have been some amazing tunes that I took points off of because the artist missed a chance to throw a few compliments to the graphic artists or mention what their goals and inspirations were. You remembered to advertise your other media sites. I struggle to remember to do that kind of stuff when I post new material but for the sake of this contest you could have written anything about the illustration to help tie it to your music somehow. Even tracks that I felt had little to do with the illustrations would receive some relevance points for just saying a few key things about what kind of atmosphere they wanted to produce and why. You've left the ball in the court of the listener to decide whether or not the image and the music go together but music doesn't always speak for itself.

You have nothing to lose by saying something like "I wanted to portray a chilling scene with a cold nocturne. There are sparse elements in the image so I used sparse elements in my song." It's kind of silly that as a judge, I can say more about your work then you can with two quick sentences. Don't let the judges in competitions simply judge your work and move on to the other submissions. Give us some of your thoughts or inspirations, doing so will never hurt your chances. I'm still giving you a decent score but it's really difficult to look at that scenery and draw the connection. I'm also not terribly impressed with the production quality but that's due to the overall simplicity. You could have amped the piano and vocal pad considerably. I'd have been a little more forgiving in ALL categories if you had just helped me piece the connections a little better. A perfect structure or production quality isn't always important but it's impossible for me to give you a higher relevancy score.

I apologize if this review comes across as too harsh or too wordy but I want to encourage everyone in this competition to learn to analyze every step of their creative process. Just because you've exported the song doesn't mean your done. You need to think of a few clever things to say that will help endear yourself to your listeners, often it's just a song title but in a contest like this you're being judged by your peers and we love to build friendships here. Your not just a webpage. Your a person, a musician, and an artist. So are your peers and so we love to know more about who we're interacting with. Never be afraid to take a risk by sharing a little bit more about yourself or what you're proud of <3

Salutations SomeguyMusic!

SomeGuyMusic responds:

I'm sorry about that but my mindset sending it off is that it would be obvious what inspired me. You probably might mean more of the creative process to which I say the cold nature of the picture was all I had in mind when I made the song. I went for a cold, spacious nature - hence the name. I don't mean to sound rude but I thought this would be quite obvious to people. The cold nature of it was the main target with the spaciousness supporting it. It didn't feel like I needed to explain this because it's what the AIM's task is. I get you're looking for how it inspired me but like I said I thought that would be obvious. It wasn't really anything too deep. It was just more of a song for fun. Just cold and spacious. To the point of the picture. As for the mixing and composition yeah it definitely could've been better but at the time I made this my skills weren't as good as they are now. I thank you for you time. I'll keep these things in mind though for next time.

~Someguy

[AIM — Lost in the Fog]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
D-Volt, Lost In The Fog: 8,8,2,5 (23/40)

(I'll preface my review by apologizing, I'm giving you an essay in English, sorry my dear.)

Given the nature of this competition I gave this a lower score than I wanted to. The track is wonderful, you made use of a large amount of the sound spectrum. You probably could have pushed your bass tones much harder to be honest. I can hear some low tones hiding back there. I'm guessing you might not have the headphones or sound system necessary to nit-pick those sub sonic tones but I'm still getting a surprising amount of bass from the kick drum. Compress forwards whatever the bass instrument is in this composition and give it a little more presence, my opinion.

You have a wide diversity of sounds and textures but I can't honestly relate those big booming drums to a peaceful image of a figure standing in the woods. I almost didn't even notice the figure in the woods because the art has a deceptive amount of depth despite only making use of five similar colors that may or may not "pop" based on the screen viewing the illustration. Given the atmosphere present in the art, you would have benefit from a "less is more" approach. I'm a percussionist so this next statement will hurt to say but try muting the drums and going full "Bitey of Brakenwood" orchestral percussion. These glitchy drum rhythms would make more sense in a musty club than in musty woods. To each their own but for the level of attention to detail I'm hearing, you could have added some animal samples. Try googling "exotic birds" and rip the best bird sounds you can find. You can then pitch bend the samples a semi tone or change the envelope of the sample and claim "fair use." Odds that someone recognizes the bird call of a common nightingale or hermit thrush from a YouTube documentary that they created themselves is low. You'd be safe to sample some natural atmosphere to use sparingly in the background of your tracks, try one of those "one hour of peaceful nature noises" videos. If the DAW you're using can't record straight off the hard drive try a free program like Audacity, no joke I use that program all the time for quick sample chopping. It's helpful for those YouTube videos I mentioned but you could in theory sample everything from computer games to DVDs. All depends on how far you want to take that avenue.

A more professional review would encourage you to go out and buy a field recorder so that you can start building a totally legal and original sound bank but most the people on Newgrounds are hobbyists, kids, and people without money which is why I mentioned all of this.

Thank you for saying some stuff about the image, it greatly helped to make the connection that you tried to tie the drawing to your music. I'd go with an different kind of image next time that inspires more sounds and atmosphere next time because this image is a little boring (don't tell the artist I said that.) Your track isn't boring enough to reflect the art to be honest, you might have gotten a better score using a "less-is-more" approach. That ending was the perfect energy for the image and is more along the lines of what I was expecting for the entirety of the song. I'll have to give some of your other music a listen because I recognize full EDM dubstep drums when I hear them. You're obviously a fairly talented producer but you don't need to rely on your strengths in the AIM competition. You can experiment as much as you want so far as you write something that clearly reflects the art. You make strong drum kits for your primary genre and style but you can write music without percussion from time to time. Minimalism is taking a simple idea and doing it perfectly. You over complicated things in this one.

I was happy to stumble across you while judging the music in the contest. Nineteen is a great age to be making this kind of music and I hope to hear more from you in the future. Music is a terrible career path, very little money but you can do it for fun and good vibes at any age. Having figured out as much as you have at your ripe age only highlights that you have the potential to do so much more with your skills as the years pile on! Cheers D-Volt!

X-ManOfficial responds:

I drew this drawing a year ago. It was made in just a few hours. I didn't really try to work on him, I just live near the forest, so I wanted to dedicate something to him. And so thanks for the comment. :)

[Lorelei]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Anonymous-Frog, Lorelei ft. BeepBoxClock: 8,5,6,3 (22/40)

When I saw that art I kind of expected Iron Maiden or Guns & Roses era metal. You might have been better suited picking some pixel art to compliment your sounds and tools but I won't hound you for being ambitious. I was very confused trying to connect the illustration to the music so I gave you an equally confusing 3 to relevance. I've been hounding musicians in this competition to write more about their music and how the art inspired them. Saying something about the art and how it inspired you can only boost your relevancy points and makes it harder on judges to give out low relevancy scores. Guilt us into loving you by talking about the art work and how special it was to you. It can feel dumb when no one notices what you write, especially if you write a manifesto but it's honestly for the people that care and as a judge I care.

I don't necessarily like looking at the art but I'm not judging your music on how much I like the illustration. I'm trying to find connections. We have a demonic figure drooling on top of a seemingly naked woman. There's a red fog in the air and waves are crashing on the shoreline. You could have sampled some waves crashing to create more atmosphere or some howling wind to transport us into the image. I don't necessarily want to encourage any illegal sampling but judges would have such a hard time identifying waves crashing sampled from a one hour long meditation YouTube video. Though most contemporary programs let you rip audio straight off your hard dive a free program like Audacity can do it too, no special equipment or skills needed. You just have to look it up and try it out for yourself.

Some aux percussion might have opened up the track a little, some chimes would go in nicely. Some high fidelity orchestral percussion. I could envision plucked violin strings and drum swells. You're really limited inside of BeepBox, the sound that program produces are very low fidelity. I'd see about putting this mp3 into a program like Audacity and playing with layering samples straight on top of your initial work. It might take a little practice and this technique won't work as well as a full fledged digital audio workstation but using Audacity in tandem with Beepbox, you might be able to get some incredible sounds. I use Audacity all the time to trim vocal samples from larger documentaries or news broadcasts. It's a great tool available for anyone getting started with audio!

I hope this review was helpful and that you keep making inspired sounds. A tough critique can hurt but my goal is always to encourage people to grow and learn! I wish you the best Anonymous-Frog and I hope to hear some progression in your style in the near future!

Anonymous-Frog responds:

A 3 for 'Relevance to Artwork'? I thought it would be a little higher.

I agree that BeepBox is a lot more limiting than something like Reason or FL Studio (even the earliest versions of those from the 2000s). I tend to use it because a. it's been my primary "DAW" for many years and it's what I'm used to, b. limitations help foster creativity, and c. I don't have to hog around 20MB source files on my computer, only to lose it to a hard-drive failure, just a 20KB URL that I can easily share on Twitter or in the description. I also agree that this song isn't what you expected and that I should've explained more about it in the description.

I took advantage of the new 'Simultaneous instruments per channel' feature introduced around version 4.0 to squeeze multiple synthesized instruments into just 4 channels, even though it supports 15 and most modifications support even more, so it's even more limited. This was in part inspired by video game composers like Tim Follin, who managed to make kickass music for even more restrictive systems in the 80s and 90s like the NES or Commodore 64.

= The blue channel has two instruments that I switch back and forth as a 'call and response' between the two characters in ol' Wally's artwork. The lower pitched wobbly 'voice' represents the knight and the higher pitched softer 'voice' represents the naked lady.

= The yellow channel is not just some harsh-sounding bass, I also used it for some percussion and sometimes some higher-pitched instruments.
How this works is that I have a sustaining melody instrument that's set to play regardless of the note's volume, while the percussion requires volume. That way I can have one note with percussion and one note without in the same channel. However, there's no volume control on the melody instruments and it's harder to do pitch control

This trick can also be seen here with just 2 channels.
https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1132792

= The red channel has the highest amount of instruments, with 8 instruments that I switch between and up to 4 that can be played at once, including a copy of the knight's voice in a section where I couldn't use both voices separately.

= The grey channel's a dedicated noise/drum channel. I used this both for regular drums and also to simulate waves and wind. It's not the real thing, but it's a close enough approximation. It also helps add some 'grunge' to the red channel's instruments.

Thanks for the review! I've made a few endeavours into using samples. There is a variant of BeepBox that supports samples, Pandora's Box, but that's still very experimental. I've tried it a few times, but most of the samples there come from games like EarthBound or Sonic the Hedgehog (which might be a bit iffy for me), and custom samples uploaded by other users can only be used in an experimental beta, and there's no 'no-repeat' option, so samples keep looping. I also use Bandlab sometimes, which has its own mastering options, which I sometimes use on its own.

[AIM - Void Metrics]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Banana-head, Void Metrics: 7,6,10,1 (24/40)

As I've written to other users in this contest, writing more about your creative process and how the art inspired you will only help us judge the tracks better. At the very least, writing a few key sentences or a poem will guilt us into assuming there was an honest attempt. I've played drums in one or two bands with this kind of post-hardcore/grindcore energy and it hurts to take points off "relevancy to artwork" because I can't really picture the connection at all. I wrote reviews for everyone in this contest and I almost always managed to write more about the music than the artists did which isn't fair for me. You can't expect that your music will always speak for itself. Sometimes you need to share your goals or aspirations to help others bridge the gaps. Newgrounds is a community of like-minded renegades and creative misfits. We love to inspire each other and learn from one another. Don't be afraid to give us a piece of your mind Mr. Banana.

Language barriers exist, I noticed you are Brazilian. There's actually a huge Latin American population on Newgrounds at the moment. I'm seeing Spanish more and more often, me encanto. Though I don't use it often, I love seeing Español and challenging myself to understand it better. Google translate isn't always perfect but it's a decent tool to help us better understand one another. Don't be afraid to drop words in whatever language you need to convey your ideas. How did this music relate to the art in your own words or language? Hit us with your feelings.

Another user that submitted a similar production style was "Yoshiii343," go listen to his work because you two have a similar recording sound quality. I listen to bands like Archspire, Dillinger Escape Plan, Animals As Leaders, Mushugga, Chimp Spanner, or Chon. There is a sound quality you lack and those artists are a great example of that maximum thrash energy while still composing a perfect mix quality. You're musical ideas are wonderful but nailing fidelity techniques will help you deliver a more powerful sound.

Music is a huge part of my life and I love giving people the time out of my own life to try and inspire others to be the best that they can be. I really love this sound and energy but work to master your production quality and become the most powerful version of yourself that you can be! You can be so powerful! SO MUCH POWER D:

Salud y buenos días mi amigo :3

Banana-head responds:

Thanks so much for your review! I actually agree with your point of giving a little insight on how i came up with the song, i just never created the habit to do it on the songs i post here, i usually just say what sub genre of metal the song is and thats it for a description.
What i can say about this song is that in the instant i saw the artwork i immediately thought ''oh hey, Voivod-esque artwork, this is my stuff'' and i just had to make a Voivod style track to it. They're pretty much my favorite band with a unique sound and a unique artwork made by the drummer, i thought the sci-fi aspect of the artwork i based the song on would fit the sci-fi weirdness of Voivod-esque riffs and thats pretty much all the thought i put into the composition. I dont usually put too much thought into music as... i dont know... i just never had that emotional and subjective attachment to art, my mind is very mechanical and objective. If you ask me what does an artwork means to me or what makes me feel you pretty much won't get an answer from me lol, so as much as i love being a musician and making music myself, i never put too much thought other than ''hey, these notes sound good together and i have the musical theory knowledge so i can make it sound a certain way''.

[AIM - Lost in the dark]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
IndexatioN, Lost In The Dark: 8,8,8,6 (30/40)

Another beautiful but hard EDM track. I'm in love with this kind of stuff but I'm really hounding people for sticking to their strengths instead of making a song that undeniably reflects the image. By explaining your creative process a little more you could have at least guilted me into believing that you were inspired by the art. This isn't necessarily a competition that rewards perfect fidelity and danceability. That "relevance to artwork" category that I've been asked to reference is incredibly subjective but there are ways you could have tied ideas back to that adorable illustration. A light bulb makes a very distinct sound as it fizzles out and dies. I'd have sampled the gentle percussion sound that a dead lightbulb makes when you shake it. The scenery and character implies a hypnotic gentle loneliness. She's not exactly standing in a club surrounded by hundreds of sweaty guys, she is alone. That ending was perfect, the piano somber and reflective. As much as I love DNB and Dubstep, those pounding drums make no sense in this setting. It was the wrong energy for the illustration. The moth isn't flying or running, she is standing still fixated on the light bulb. You made a very high energy dance song when you could have just muted the drums and had a much more powerful ambient track that focused more on your graceful auxiliary sounds and tonal instruments.

I actually did something similar recently with an old DNB track in where I removed the drums and the song became 100% better. Sometimes less is more. Many artists feel that they need to shoe-horn their strengths into a track to get the judge's attention but sometimes going outside your comfort zone is how you really impress us. Music isn't always some grand affair with laser shows, pyrotechnics, and burlesque dancers. Sometimes the perfect song is a simple lonely melody around a crackling campfire. That final 30 seconds is what I most anticipated to fit the image. Try to go full orchestral percussion next time, mix in some moody French horns. Some violin strings would have sounded nice anywhere presented legato or staccato (bow vs plucked.) I'm a huge DNB nerd but I also love those romantic classical sounds. Many EDM artists hone their orchestral skills with composed introductions, breakdown, or outros. You clearly have the right skills to do that but sometimes you have to toss contemporary drums out the window entirely in favor of focusing on atmosphere.

You unknowingly shot yourself in the foot in that I happen to produce a ton of DNB/dubstep. Not only did the drums not fit the image but I felt like the drums weren't mixed perfectly. The drum samples got repetitive and lacked a little energy. I've gotten so used to hearing DNB in the last 15 years that I'm not easily surprised by a crisp kick or a punchy snare sample. Relying on good drum samples is something many users need to learn about but then you also have to put your own spin on them afterwards. Panning data is something I harp on people for not taking advantage of, the drums in particular have a lot of space to be moved around. Though you want to keep the kick and snare in the middle of the field, the auxiliary percussion like hi hats, shakers, bells, and chimes can be pushed to the sides a little and balanced. You can have two to three hi-hats battling across that stereo space to make interestingly high energy rhythms. I knob twiddle my aux percussion until they all have happy little places in the mix. I'm only hearing one lonely little hi-hat. Compliment that hi-hat rhythm with a tambourine or shaker and use the hi-hat to add energetic 16th note accents. Add a ride bell to accent certain off beat grooves. Use a ghost snare to accent the off beats as well which gives off a much more "human" sound. None of the details I'm providing in this specific paragraph would have helped your "relevance to artwork" score but I wouldn't have taken points off of "production" because of your drums.

I don't want these reviews to come across as hurtful, there is so much great music being made yours included. I can hear potential and many Newgrounds composers have something special. This is still a great track, I'm just trying to be fair with everyone. Have a great day Index!

IndexatioN responds:

Welp, that's one of the most honest reviews I've ever had. Thanks. Some parts even made me laugh. And yes, i totally agree with all the points provided there, and i would not consider this work as my best either. Anyway, I'll try to take everything into consideration :)

[AIM - Trinitron]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
CorruptModule, Trinitron: 8,8,6,9 (31/40)

Well, you may have lucked out with a judge that spends a lot of time with breakcore and hardstyle genres but I'm good at checking my bias. I can give you massive credit for finding illustrations that suit your apparent strengths. There's an honor system we have to acknowledge that the musicians are truly finding works of art that inspired them. The image you found could suit any number of "club" genres and styles, honestly breakcore doesn't bring in the crowd the way two-step does in my experience. Totally unrelated to your music, I saw Evol Intent in NYC ages ago. They have a lot of breakcore, IDM, and glitch in their catalog but the DJ set that they played had a lot of "jump up" two-step DNB breaks. It was a funny surprise, the simplistic high energy drum breaks really got the audience grooving but I was hoping they'd play more of that "Era Of Diversion" and "Human Resource" material I grew up on. Two step drum patterns in the streets, breakcore and glitch in the sheets.

Actually, you consistently used that high energy "two step" DNB jump-up pattern I'm talking about. Nice switch up towards the two minute mark, I love that nasty break section. This track is like an agreement between jump-up and hardstyle breakcore: a handshake to coexist. I'm a huge fan of progressive ideas and genres, find what you love about music and make it your own. I'll bring up a minor issue of taste, those grimy synth lines are a little boring. Over 15 years ago, a critic of my music once told me "DNB synths just sound like fart noises." It's been my goal ever since to avoid that boring low energy sawtooth tone. The drums are high energy but you're kind of relying on those "farty" tones and textures from the synths. I love what I'm hearing but I'd have dropped a filter on top of the lead synths and automated freq/res knobs to create more interesting tones and textures to get "wetter" contemporary sounds. I can hear you playing with tones and textures, I love that but the tones and textures from that grating low reese synth overpowers things a fair bit. Using a filter and some automation lanes you can draw peaks and valleys to create rhythmic accents. Boost and cut frequencies over time to bring more life to those monster synths. I never let a reese "fart" unless it's only momentary. Sorry to use that word, fart. It's a trigger word for me and I'll always squirm a little when someone uses it to describe a synth.

The song is all energy. I like to hear DNB that can deliver that max energy but also tells a little story. You have great atmospheric tricks, you could of used more atmosphere and less drums at times. Noisia made the statement very early in their DNB career that they wanted to make music that could fit in with the dance floor or a DJ set but they also wanted their songs to sound good enough to be listened to casually on their own. This track really feels like it fits in with an hour long DJ set but it doesn't really make me want to come back and listen to it in my free time. I've been listening to DNB for a fairly long time, go give "Moonway Renegade" by Noisia a listen, it's a personal favorite of mine (low quality on youtube, try to find a high resolution versions of songs when looking up Noisia). Powerful synths for 2006 but the filter modulations they programmed contributed to a really unique groove. They built a synth in that which sounds very similar to yours but the modulations they programmed have remained interesting and powerful over 15 years later. "Monster" by Noisia also uses "farty" tones but they clearly have a filter on top giving a slight wobble to the texture. Those cats programmed some masterclass grooves.

I'm sorry if this comes across as overly critical but I love what I'm hearing and only wish for you to keep pounding out some solid work. Everyone needs a hard critique from time to time but I know you can do more and I know you can do a little better. One final footnote, thank you for posting so much data, I griped on people for not writing enough about their creative process. It's a tough contest to judge and you can influence things a little by showing that extra attention to detail. Music doesn't always speak for itself but you went ahead and said everything you could. I got to keep moving forwards but have a good day Currupt! Salud and salutations :D

(Final statement, I almost didn't catch that the illustration was animated. By putting the illustration on the same page as the music I almost missed that element. I've mentioned to a few other users that the animated images seem to lend the music some energy. A moving picture is almost essential for those DNB genres in that DNB is a style that should make you want to get up and move. I added an extra point to "relevance," because that motion is a really powerful tool. I'm curious if next year will feature only moving images after I've pointed this out so often...)

CorruptModule responds:

Thank you for the criticism! I was a little bit bummed that this one didn’t make it for the finale 20 songs but that’s alright. This is probably close to a second or thirdish time I messed with this genre. I am glad tho to get this criticism from someone who has really enjoy the genre for awhile now. I myself started around 2020 just listening to it. At first I was unsure a bit but I truly love this genre now. I think what I worry the most about when I try making music for a genre I’m not to familiar with or I haven’t been part of for 10 years is people criticizing me on that but you haven’t. It’s really nice to now that a new person in the genre can still flourish in it. I also produce many other genres I can’t satisfy my self with just one genre. So thank you for this criticism I don’t really get it to often ,especially one this detailed, but thank you for it I really do appreciate it.

I still have some other things to add. I get the idea of “fart” synths. I prefer “shitting my pants” synths as a term instead. ( that was a joke don’t take it that seriously) but fr I understand that “fart” synth moment. I try and stay away from those and I really like growl sounding or kinda “electronic screaming? Thingy” sounding stuff. For some reason tho I really liked the idea of the drop being like this. When I was working on the synth I just loved how aggressive it’s was. It was mean it was nasty it I feel wanted to be put into a song that was breakcore/ dubstep/ riddim/ tear out. I feel if I didn’t make that song with this synth it would have not been the same vibe.
And being this proud I will defend my synth as tho it were my own child. Yes it was farting but with style. Yeah I’ll try and keep away from those type synths unless the song demands it of course.

I couple more things:
- I was kinda annoyed that the gif file I put on the description didn’t work. I was I bit mad but I couldn’t really find a way to fix that so thx for pointing it out. I didn’t know how it showed up on others, I really thought it was just my internet tweaking.
- I really could talk about all my songs with as much or more detail here. I try to keep it simple for the other ones. The great part about aim is that I can blabber about the song for a whole as essay and someone will ( unfortunately) have to read it.
- I’m a go check out the songs you recommended to me thank you for that.
- mfr’s love fart synths

Also once again thank you for the criticism. Thank you for taking your time with my song and evaluating it as unbiased as possible. I do feel like it can be necessary to have people on the judging team either have a lot experience in specific genres. So I guess I am lucky that I got you to judge my song. Thanks lad.

[AIM - Fusion Energy]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Mikaiah, Fusion Energy: 10,8,9,10 (37/40)

A lot of artists that went chiptune didn't manage to amplify their tracks as well as yours, surprisingly big levels for a chiptune production but I think you could have pushed mids and lows a bit harder. At higher volumes those highs really overpower the surrounding tones and textures. A mixing pet peeve I've been sharing with other contestants is with static panning. Panning can create the illusion that a sound is louder than it actually is which will allow you to turn that element down a little and make room in the mix for other things. When you pan, you also create a little extra space on the other side or opposite field. There's a lot of space to play with panning on a tune like this. Your synth work was inspired, I loved how crazy everything was but you can emulate space and make the mix deeper by gently panning those high frequencies into interesting spaces. You can slap automation lanes on the panning knobs and get really nutty with where you put things, emphasizing glitchy aspects in your synth lines. You'd be surprised how much atmosphere you can unlock in a stereo field.

Panning can create the illusion of movement, slowly panning an element from left to right or vice versa which can trick the brain into following certain sounds. Eyes will move unconsciously with the direction people think a sound is coming from, directional data can really help bring music to life. There's no limit to how nutty you can get with panning data so experiment for a while. Skillful panning can takes years of toying and play but it's just another tool to be creative with.

I haven't yet addressed how the track relates to the image yet but I felt the tune was perfect for that videogame sci-fi scenery. Those crunchy drums takes me back to older Gameboy/SNES Games like Ninja Gaiden, Streets of Rage, and the likes. EDM genres tend to benefit when you put the drums up front. I'm not sure if sidechaining things using that drum kit would help make space for higher fidelity sounds but I tend to sidechain literally everything a little bit. These drums sounded fine without sidechaining stuff but it's a powerful technique and can always help you make extra space down the road. If you're not familiar with the technique, sidechaining lets you control the levels of an instrument using the signals from another instrument. It's worth learning about regardless of whatever genre you're writing for. I'm hearing some serious potential dubstep growls and glitch stylings in your song. Everything you learn can inform whatever you end up writing down the road and sidechaining is top tier regardless of how people feel about it. It's an overrated technique for a genre like chiptune but mandatory for genres like dubstep and drum & bass.

Your melodies are bona fide endearing, you're correct to feel pride with them on this track. As a musician that loves to play with live instruments, I can confirm that playing anything like this would require a lot of skill, practice, and experience. A benefit of MIDI is the ability to write the juiciest melodies and chord progressions without the need to be able to play them and you're taking full advantage of that fact. I wish I could be this neurotic in my own melody programming but I usually record a quick loop, then copy & paste it so I can focus on other aspects of music. The longer it takes me to write something the less likely I get it done, so I have respect for the artists that really take the time to write endearing melodies. I took a point off emotion because those minor mixing issues can diminish the power of whatever ideas you're trying to get across to the listeners. You had powerful ideas but with that extra bit of panning data I mentioned you could take this digital symphony and make it a virtual kill room.

I have many more artists to move onto and spent a fair amount of time on this review but I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors! Salud and salutations Mikaiah :D

Mikaiah responds:

Wow, this was a really helpful coment, thank you so much! And ye, i think i still got a lot of way, and practice ahead, yet thank you for telling me those tips, i'll try to have them in mind x3

But yet, i'm so grateful that you enjoyed this piece, and i'll try to get better, and maybe try to use those techniques as well.. Or try to figure out the best way to do so x3, still thank you so much i really appreciate it! <3