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!