Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Skypunks]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
LordAndiso, Skypunks: 9,7,9,10 (35/40)

This comp has been getting some top quality DNB. It's unfortunately a genre I have to identify a bias for. I was waiting for a more potent snare drum to take over the hard hitting sections but the snare you gave us was comparably weak against the rest of the track. A lot of other DNB producers at the moment make use of a punchy pitched-up snare drum. I'll post a low-fidelity YouTube video you could sample for snare layers, most mods would be none the wiser:

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

Pitch-bent up and with a quicker cutoff, these might slap nicely in your tune. Building a layered, punchy snare drum can take a lot of practice but you have so many good elements in this song that I had to zone in on what I felt was the weakest element. When making drum and bass, you want to make sure the drums are perfect. The melodies are beautiful, the instruments are lush and colorful but that snare drum is uncooked kale. Fatten it up a little, it needs to slap >:]

Despite my massive issues with the snare drum the track still manages to compliment the art nicely. The art is bubbly and alive, the chibi characters are well echoed by those colorful melodies and "minion" background gibberish. Those fun chipmunk voices at 1:05 could have been reused within the track and pitch bent a little now and again for diversity. It was a really cute motif and you could have tied the structure together a little better with some more of it sprinkled about different parts of the track. All in all you wrote such a perfect little bop...

...but that snare drum. Most the points you lost in production will be focused on the simple fact that the snare drum is failing to tie the whole thing together. It's not a bad snare drum during the lighter sections but it lacks the drive and power I anticipate from a DNB kit. Even gentler subgenres like liquid benefit from a solid snare drum. I need to move along and judge a ton of other tunes but realize that you almost wrote a perfect song. I'd have come back to this tune several times more with the right snare drum because of how much life you put into everything else but the one issue stands out so much that I'm not certain I'll come back and listen to this later. That's a huge issue, disappointment is a bad reason to remember a tune for. Good luck with the other judges Andiso, I do wish you well!

LordAndiso responds:

Woah! thats really cool. I've got alot of stuff to learn.. thanks for pointing it out.. helps me a ton. :)

[AIM - Psalm Palms]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
BusanBlack, Psalm Palms: 9,7,9,7 (32/40)

Before having listened to the track, I'll make sure to point out that you can always gush a little more about your music when you're writing about it. The people on this website are your peers and we love to share ideas and inspire each other. We have a lot of global artists so sometimes conveying ideas in English is impossible but I also understand when a user sticks to their native language and I can manage Google translate. Never be afraid to express yourself, our work can give us a sense of existence, accomplishment, and meaning. I like to know more about the people I bump into here. Other users also helped connect the illustrations to their music by writing small stories, which is a little overboard but it only helped them defend the idea that the illustration and the music were somehow related to each other. Everyone has a different style or approach but I'm left to interpret what yours was. Guilt the judges into recognizing your intentions with a small manifesto.

The song itself is very chill and written with love. I noticed that you played with panning data,
a lot of other users failed to make use of that stereo element. Panning has all sorts of advantages, disadvantages, and functions but typically the bass gets mixed into the center to give structure to the sound field. Thinner frequencies and textures are better served with a panning bias. Another artist uploaded chiptune and I was very forgiving with production issues on them because that genre lent itself to being a little thin. You have a progressive mix of styles and sounds so it's a little hard to pinpoint my production criticism. On one hand, I can respect your creative integrity in sticking to that hip-hop drum kit and funky bass line but maybe the entire track could have benefit from the same level of energy? It's like the track wanted to be half chiptune and half RNB but even chiptune sounds can convey high fidelity.

The image is nice to look at and the music is comfortable to listen to but you definitely could have taken advantage of the authors bio to better direct us with some more words or ideas. I'm not 100% convinced that the image and the music belong together. There are birds in the image and you could have used chiptune blips and bleeps to convey bird song, or literal bird song samples. Sinewaves in particular are very flexible for that kind of thing. Some digital distortion on the drum kit might have better tied the jazz kit into the pixel setting of the image. The melodies are very peaceful but the drum kit comes across a little amateurish and stylistically at odds with the rest of the track, and 8-bit drum kit would have played into this track nicely. Given that the drum samples have a live drum vibe I'm torn in how robotically they were presented. A drum kit benefits from dynamic changes to volume, as a drummer myself I can point out how a drummer conveys control with volume. Velocity is one of the few tools a drum kit can use to convey emotions. Again, by making the drum kit digital you might have better fit the chiptune vibe while needing to think less about things like dynamics. It's a great song but it sounds a little at odds with itself and the illustration.

I'm going to point out that there were some great artists and musicians in this competition, worth giving your peers some listens if you haven't yet. You have a wonderful day Busan, keep writing great stuff :]

BusanBlack responds:

Thank you for the insight. I honestly feel foolish for not putting in a description of how the music and art were related. That's completely my bad. I was going for the hip hop chiptune type sound but it still needs work. I originally never listened to chip tune music until recently and so only just got into the mix of chemistry. There is always room for improvement and I'm glad you were able to provide me with such detailed input. I honestly only know a small amount of what you are saying as I am still learning about music production but will nonetheless look it up and continue improving. Again, thank you for taking the time to write me an amazing critique!

[AIM - 8-Bit Hero]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Arginnon, 8-Bit Hero: 10,9,10,10 (39/40)

Rock and roll, I'm noticing a lot of users are taking advantage of those animated pixel artists, especially aleha84. I think I'm biasing into these animated images a little but for different reasons each time. The art you choose gives off SNES JRPG vibes and you wrote the genre perfectly. The song so wonderfully matches the energy of the illustration that it makes me want to play whatever game this is. I will probably download some roms later to scratch the itch you're giving me. I remember playing the first few Dragon Quest games in the 90s on my Gameboy growing up (having missed them when they released on consoles a few years before I was born.) It's such a compelling work of art, top scores for relevance.

This is a little short compared to what some of the other contestants produced but you kept my attention the whole time with constantly changing elements and that was impressive. The motif rang wonderfully. I'm not certain old-school videogames had the memory space to include something as complex as this around every corner of a game but we live in a time when retro ideas get remixed and remastered constantly. This would go super well paired with an Indy Steam game release.

I'm giving you a perfect structural score because that echo to the motif at the end jived with my sense that the track was very well thought out. From a well paced introduction into segments that took a professional amount of time to introduce and play with the motif, you managed to write a very well thought out work of music. Chiptune can be difficult to convey ideas with in how limiting the genre and technology was but when done well the effort really stands out. This is one of the better scores I've come up with so far. It looks like the track has more space to be compressed (make louder) but the genre you wrote is not known for maxing out that contemporary PA system sound spectrum that genres like dubstep can hit. Other contestants might feel it unfair but I'm tempted to give this a perfect score despite the fact that chiptune can always be mixed better. At the time I'm writing this, I'm taking off one point via production. Good luck with the other judges Arginnon <3

Arginnon responds:

Thank you so much!! Your words mean a lot, Quarl. I'm so happy that you liked my music! I've been wanting to try something like this, reminiscent of the old video games I used to play as a kid and AIM gave me the perfect opportunity. But I never thought my music would be eligible to such praise. I don't even know what to say, I'm just rambling here... So just thank you <3

[AIM - Dusk (2022)]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
CryNN, Dusk: 8,8,7,5 (28/40)

You're not the only user to zone in on a highway illustration as being an interpretive space to convey music with. Art & music can get very subjective. I find all sorts of sounds and genres relaxing to listen to in my car when I drive across the country. Only problem with face melting EDM genres is that the slog of a highway robs the car's sound system of those low frequencies. I almost never listen to a face-melter in my car unless I'm doing a commute with slow speeds or traffic jams. Another user that grabbed a highway pixel illustration produced some relaxing house music. That's not a genre I listen to often but driving across the country at night with some gentle house can really give me some good headspace to think. The illustration seems somewhat peaceful, sun set colors and a possible storm brewing but you went 110% action and excitement. I'm not entirely convinced that the music has the relevance to the illustration that I'm looking for, so forgive me for being a little critical of it.

Another user produced liquid DNB and used an animated pixel drawing which was a very smart choice. Drum and Bass is a genre that should make you want to move. You missed a small opportunity by choosing static artwork. It's something I noticed someone else do and the choice helped make their music more memorable by being paired with something that had motion. It's not important but worth thinking about in the future.

The mix was a little too stuffy, that was a massive kick drum. It helps to use a kick like that on the first count of a measure but it helps to use less power on subsequent hits. When you evolve the velocity of the notes you can add serious depth to your drum rhythms and make a little extra room in the mix for other elements. The kick is so big that subsequent hits in the same measures are a little distracting. Percussion instruments often only have volume to convey emotion, think of how a drummer juggles their rhythm, confidently grooving to the pulse while still sprinkling taps and hits about the off beats sheepishly to convey control. You can do the same with hi-hats, snare drums, tambs, shakers. Drums being such an essential element of the genre, I love when producers show off their control over the drums with sensitivity to all elements. The bass drum is massive in your mix, it's likable but sometimes less-is-more.

I have a lot of love for DNB producers but I have to check that bias by treating every DNB track with the sensitivity of someone that might not agree with the choices. I think you could have picked a work of art that more closely inspired the genres and tones that you love. One composer found a literal rave illustration for their hardstyle. The fact that I'm aware of your general body of work, I feel like you could have challenged yourself with something a little gentler. There will always be time tomorrow for a club banging nuerofunk. For the sake of the contest I might have gifted you with higher scores if you had gone a little outside of your comfort zone and wrote something gentle or peaceful. I know what it's like to have 100% integrity when producing a specific genre or sound but I also love hearing people explore new places and this contest was a good opportunity to really push your ideas out of the angry/industrial nureofunk box.

I can't argue that you didn't put blood, sweat, and tears into the song but the emotions you powerfully choose to convey came across as the wrong ones. These moody synth lines are oppressive and edgy, I love your synth work in this. It just would have made more sense to use an illustration of spaceship combat, sci-fi battles, or dank industrial monsters to suit your strengths. I wish you the best with all your future endeavors and hopefully this review comes across constructively. Have a wonderful day CryNN, you're a beast, a lion <3

CryNN responds:

Im very happy with your review. It describes point to point what exactly people mean with the track relevance in comparison with the artwork. I must say that I really meant it to sound this way and just maybe, im the one black sheep that felt it natural hahaha. I totally agree on the fact that I might have gone too hard especially in the second section.

Thank you Quaarl!<3

[AIM - The Storm]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Accel-yo, The Storm: 10,9,10,10: (39)

Smart to include that timeline in the description. I have been hounding people for not writing enough about their work. It's a little embarrassing when I can gush more about a track than the artist can. Writing a timeline directs the attention of a judge. There's always a chance judges will ignore it but I will always take notice when someone writes an essay. Your making a statement that the music is undeniably connected the artwork. I'm giving you a good score on emotion for taking the time to just think about how you could relate the song to the image.

I'm loving that people are choosing to use these animated pixel drawings. I feel like DNB is a genre that should make you want to move somehow. Old-school jungle vibes very nicely with these hi-class pixel animations. I'm a little older than others and remember what 90's jungle sounded like. The retro videogame pixel style is almost romantically attached to that via memories and feelings. Watching cartoons growing up, old school breaks would assault us from time to time. Commodore breaks, James Brown funk, Winston Brother loops... the genre is somber and nostalgic for me. A storm can be beautiful when viewed from inside a quite space while looking out a window. The structure of a shelter keeps you safe from a storm and allows you to ponder less important dangers like what you'll eat for dinner or when you need to accomplish a task.

I'll admit to taking off a point for production in that I'm not very impressed with straight-up old-school jungle breaks. I love to hear EDM artists engineer their own kits and sounds which is a skill that can take a very long time to learn and accomplish. It's probably unfair of me to ask you to produce music to a virtuous degree and I really love what I'm listening to. Drum & Bass is one of my favorite genres and has a deeply personal connection to my childhood. You got so many elements perfect, learning to get a little nuttier with your drum programming is the mark of a Junglist that has pushed their boundaries. The technology we have to write music with these days can do so much. A snare drum with three layered samples has the potential to be wired into fidelity units and effect units to really get the crispest tones out of things. Each drum layer can work together to make a full & powerful sound or individually at times to create dynamic structural changes. It's not necessarily something that comes easily but once you start engineering your own drum kits it becomes a huge badge of pride and style. That's really all I have to be critical about. Great work Accel :']

Accel-yo responds:

Sup Quarl? I really appreciate this review and your advice! First off, im glad you got those mellow / nostalgic vibes from this track. 90s DnB has quickly become my favorite genre to produce just cuz of the unique feelings that can stem from each track. I'm glad it resonated with you!

Next, i just wanted to say thanks for your production advice :) As a live musician turned producer, its been fun to really get a hang of mixing, mastering, sound / kit design, etc. While it does take awhile to master these skills, im in this shit for the long run haha, so imma use ur advice and always keep pushing my boundaries and producing the highest quality tracks i can!

[AIM - Adventures of Noodle Girl]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Accel-yo, Adventures of a Noodle Girl: 10,8,8,12 (38)

So I decided to give you an impossibly high "Relevance to Artwork" score of 12/10, haters come fight me. The digital score sheet Annette sent me won't let me write 12/10 so I'm stuffing the points into "emotion," it will be our little secret. The score is entirely based around the fact that you managed to make use of that stupid Navi "hey" sample in a creative way that related back to the visual hilariously. I literally laughed out loud when I noticed that. As a dubstep/drum&bass producer, I'm a little tired of hearing that sample. Though it can sound crisp and well placed, samples can also come across like a bumper sticker slapped on top of a million dollar dubstep track. That sample is massively overused but your approach to spill it on top of the entire song like a sabotaged salt shaker legitimately made me laugh. You went with a more-is-more approach and it made me very happy when I first heard it.

I have to take off points for that static pan data. I've been getting on people to make better use of stereo data, panning can create the illusion that sounds are louder than they actually are which means you can turn the volume down a little and make room in the mix for other elements. It's also very exciting to feel like sounds are unexpectadly coming from all directions, I'd have peed my pants slightly if I got a "hey" in my left ear followed by a quietly nonconsensual "hey" in my right ear, automation lets you add dynamic pan changes like that. Panning properly can take time to master but feel free to experiment with that kind of stuff and learn to identify what sounds good and what doesn't. Bass frequencies and textures usually get mixed to the center and mid to highs have a thinner quality that can be pushed to the sides more easily. People develop mix styles and preferences, I like to use the drum kit to emulate space. As a drummer myself, I like to pan tom fills & rolls. First tom will get panned a little to one side, next tom center field, final tom opposite side of the first. That creates a quick left to right and/or right to left sound, exciting! You can do similar tricks with other instruments and samples to create space or create the illusion of movement, imagine the way a marching band is always on the move. I love when an instrument frantically rushes across the stereo field like "no wait, I'm supposed to play this melody over here now..."

Drums and synths are all very lofi and colorless but it kind of works with the art nicely. The art is not overly ambitious or arrogantly complex. It's just good ol' noodle girl, less than ten colors total. I'm taking a couple points off emotion for being static with velocity data as well. I'm hounding contestants to use more volume control on drums but any instrument can powerfully use volume to convey emotion. For the most part, the only way a drummer can truthfully convey emotion is via volume while slamming percussion instruments with fury and anger or bashful drunken little taps. An instrument can crescendo and decrescendo to convey human feelings. The song is still cute with minimal velocity data which can arguably play into the art style... but I like when a song drags me back to it over and over again. I'll remember this track, it's one of my personal favorites but a masterclass mixdown would have guaranteed that I circle back to it in the future for further laughs. When this contest is over, will I say to myself "I miss Adventures of a Noodle Girl, I need to go listen to that again?" Only time will tell.

(Additional note worth saying at the time I'm uploading reviews, I did in fact come back to this song and even told the other judges via Discord how much I loved it. hey,hey,hey,hey,hey...)

Theepicosity responds:

Thank you for a such a detailed review! I really appreciate the bit about panning, it usually tends to be the thing in mixing that I have the most trouble with, so this really helps! I will also definitely try using more dynamics and articulation, I certainly agree that it will help my music be more lively and carry more emotion. Again, thank you! :D

[AIM 2022 - downstroke exercise]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Yoshii343, downstroke exercise: 10,7,10,10 (37)

As I mentioned in my other review, I was really looking forward to these tracks. I gave this one an early listen a month or so ago and fell in love. It evokes FLCL's The Pillows. It shouts romantic but angry young energy. It feels very Scott Pilgrim meets early Fall Of Troy, Faraquat, Circa Survive, Sunny Day Real Estate. Fight me, I love the bands this style and genre echoes. A technical issue: there is plenty more room in the field. You might have under/over-compressed? The final recording could have been boosted a little via a single compressor if it was impossible to slap fidelity units on each recording to boost things with a little more sensitivity. All in all, there's a fullness and loudness that this track is massively missing out on. Producing bricks might get a lot of hate but you never really know your limits until you push your field out and learn where those upper limits are. This track could have way more energy with that mixing issue in mind. I hope you know who Fall Of Troy is because their discography is a great example of how their mix quality got better and matured over the years. I still give their album "Manipulator" a listen from time to time as it had a fair share of their early energy but was informed by years of growth, focus, and experience. Manipulator stood apart from their self titled debut album in how much sensitivity was focused on recording fidelity and mix quality. Mix never necessarily needs to be perfect, but extra sensitivity always helps.

MatthewLopz is actually a favorite graphic artist of mine, I've considered contacting him to commission album art. Unfortunately I'm not judging the music via your taste in graphic artist because it's impeccable, 10/10. I couldn't have asked for a better combination of artist and musician. I'm being very generous with my score but I doubt the other judges will notice the things I've noticed. I can forgive the quality of the mix a fair bit because I find the music so relative and romantic. It reminds me of the dreams I once held in high school, drumming for a short but hairy guitarist that wanted to write post-hardcore and grind-core while only finger-picking under the assumption that finger-picking was superior to all other styles of guitar playing. I loved certain aspects of that time in my life, and miss having a small band of friends and misfits to jam and roar with. Call it a bias but you hit a chord with me. Get that fidelity issue solved, become god-tier. Good day and Thor's blessings to you Yoshiii.

(Additional footnote, at the time of posting this review I literally exhaled, smiled and said "fuck yes." You have such a refreshingly memorable style and funk Yosh.)

Yoshiii343 responds:

you know, for the past few weeks or so, i've been considering quitting music entirely and selling off all my instruments because i can't seem to get on top of this whole "life" thing.

truthfully, aside from a handful of tracks, i actually hate my music. it's been that way for quite a while now.
it just doesn't...feel right to me.

if i had to put it into words: it feels...uninspired. a knock-off of my favourite bands/musicians, a cheap imitation of what made me fall in love with the sound in the first place.

it lacks spirit.

maybe it's because of perfectionism. perhaps because they're all made through software, mouse and keyboard; as opposed to real instruments played by an actual human

you ever heard of MAARTN ?
dude's an old-school hip-hop beat maker, and he'd post videos on his youtube channel where he goes crate-digging, get some vinyls and mess about with his MPC3000.

with just a few musical snippets from some vinyls; a bassline, a little melodic line, and some drums, dude could make a damn good beat.

and it has more spirit, more creativity and individuality than any of the tracks i've made in my entire life.

i know, i know, i shouldn't compare myself to anybody else. i shouldn't compare my page 1 to their page 263, everyone's journey is different, blah blah blah...

but i can't help it.
it seems as if everybody else has that "X factor", that secret sauce or what have you
and i don't.

it kills me.

but then you posted your reviews on both of my AIM tracks, and well...lets just say that i'm very very very thankful for your words.

i mean, stuff like:

"You have such a refreshingly memorable style and funk"
"... it reminds me about why I love hearing from you every now and again. I doubt anyone else in this contest will sound like you."

i can't possible imagine anyone listening to my work and thought to put those words together.

admittedly i haven't been very kind to myself in recent years, so i thank you for seeing the good in my work when i'm far too absorbed in my negative thoughts to do so.

i've rambled on for too long now.
good day to you as well, and God bless you and your loved ones.

[AIM - Here They Come!]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
wobwobrob, Here They Come! 9,7,9,10 (35/40)

Well, it seems we have some eccentric character select music for what looks like a curious bunch of playful rascals and bashful vagabonds. I can totally respect that "Saturday morning kids TV show" feeling you wanted to express. It's not terribly far off from what I initially visualized. Given the level of detail in the drawing, I might start by nitpicking mix qualities, the drums in particular are very lo-fi and uncharismatic. The rhythms are all very well written but as a percussionist myself, I'll commonly rib into people for drums that hit at a consistent velocity. Dynamic volume changes are one of the only ways you can convey emotion with atonal instruments such as drums. Once you master creating rhythms with good dynamic range, other more tonal instruments can also benefit from crescendos and decrescendos.

A few additional instrumentation ideas: fun slide whistles, vibraslaps, gongs, chimes, tambs, bells... with so much diversity in that cast of visual characters the song would have benefit from some diversity in your percussion instruments as well. I often fail to include where I find my samples in the commentary but percussive noises could be grabbed from YouTube videos with most people none the wiser. I'm not encouraging you to sample sounds illegally but with a little pitch bend or fidelity work, one could argue that you've made them fair use.

Panning data is something I bring up often but I'll add here that a complex and everchanging dynamic field is saturated with directional information. Panning data can surprise listeners with tones and textures that convey movement. You also make interesting space in your mix when an auxiliary sound or instrument introduces itself with an emphasis on left or right channel. There's a surprising amount of space you can create with good panning data, low bass frequencies typically mix best towards the center but anything else mid to high can be experimented with. An instrument can even express movement through space if you automate changes slowly, a slide whistle in particular can zoom across the room like a UFO.

The chaotic tempo changes were noticed, I loved that element a lot! The outro tone was beautiful. All in all you have a very strong piece, and there's not much more that could be said about it. Thank you for saying what you did in the artist's comments, I've been getting on people's cases for not gushing enough about their work. We're a creative community that thrives on exchanging ideas and the fact that you love AIM is a solid reminder for why I signed up to judge this year. You people all deserve real feedback, but the winner will probably be the user that can manage to leave us speechless. Your work made me smile uncontrollably but again, I'm leaning really into how flat and uncharacteristic those drums sound to justify taking off points. A little work into your dynamics and you'll be among those top composers constantly delivering unquestionably professional music. I'm happy to now be following you wobwobrob :3

wobwobrob responds:

What lovely feedback! AIM is such a cool contest and does so much to link us as a community. Thanks for you all your work towards what must surely be the best one yet!

[AIM - Thingamabob]

Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
MetalBlinga, Thingamabob 7,8,7,5 (27/40)

I looked at the art and was curious how you'd interpret that imagery. Since I'm a little more familiar with your work than many of the other artists in this contest I wasn't terribly concerned you'd be capable but the thought "how the fuck is he going to convey minimal imagery with maximum music" crossed my mind. After giving the track an initial listen I feel like "relevance to artwork" is going to be the hardest subject to address. Your work is very technical and interesting to listen to so you'll receive high marks on composition, structure, and production. I'm impressed with how much work you put into the percussion but given how you got this whole classic funk and jazz fusion jam session going on, I'm wishing you included some modulations to make the drums sound more alive as well. You have techy but repetitive drum patterns that get a little boring after a while. Modulating the volume knobs over time can give you the illusion that a drummer or drum machine is trying to be more emotive. Dynamic volume control is often a percussion instrument's only means to convey emotion. When all the hits happen at the same velocity over and over, I'm going to get a little sad after a while. Since I'm really hounding the drums, let's talk about additional perc you could have used! Bells, vibraslaps, chimes, ball whistles, tambs, egg shakers, güiro, wood blocks... I wish the percussion was as natural and comfortable as the other instruments you wrote with.

Forgetting about percussion for a minute, let's talk about some visual cues you could have taken from the art. The figure is standing in what looks like a posh residential city scape. There could be samples to convey setting such as traffic or foot steps, crowded spaces. A city, even at it's most relaxing, has a lot of ambient noises and sounds. The girl is clearly comfortable in shorts and looks happy, so it must be a good part of the city or a nice neighborhood. Your breezy and uplifting jazz might fit into the neighborhood well with some polite buskers quietly jamming. The sun seems to be setting so it wouldn't be too warm nor too cold. It's a nice time of day, your music would be a pleasant backdrop at this temperature. I see some birds in the picture which would add a natural element to the art that I'm not necessarily finding echoed in the music. I'm not calling for samples of birds cooing and cawing but something like that would have fit this setting nicely. The half step intervals and chromatic inventions don't always feel pleasant or natural, the notation is more showy than it needs to be to accomplish something that could have been said with less notes.

Please don't burn me for saying that, artists like Mozart and Thelonious Monk coined unapologetic levels of creative integrity when others tried inferring that there are notes in too great of quantity or even "wrong" sounding. A healthier music philosophy worth addressing is the classic jazz adage of “it’s the notes you don’t play that are as important as the ones that you do." The illustration artist conveyed an amazing setting and style using minimal elements and colors. I could argue that you also used a select few instruments to convey your ideas but the constant flourishing and evolution in that lead melody might have conveyed the wrong degree of complexity. Truthfully, I got worn-out listening to this on repeat. Take the "notes you don't play" adage to heart, even heavy hitting genres like dubstep need breathing room from time to time. Outside of an endurance one-hour club mix, every good EDM song has a gentle breakdown, intro, or outro. This work is unrelenting and complex and could benefit from a cooldown period of some kind. TEMPO CHANGES!! Life in a city doesn't always move at the same speed! Sometimes you stop to tie your shoe, read a magazine cover, or wait to cross a street. That calls for tempo changes and more variety in the rhythm section!

I need to stop to convey the fact that you really challenged yourself with the complexity of your music and I can hear it. I love what I'm hearing, but maybe my respect for you is why I'm hitting all these tough points. We can always do better, there's always room to improve but at some point I want to hear something that makes me speechless. Your goal should be to get Quarl to write a review with the least amount of words possible. That's a tough platitude to hit but identifying these things is the only way I can feel like I've justified the scores I'm handing out to my peers. Good luck with the other judges and live beautifully Metalblinga!

metalblinga responds:

Hey Quarl! Long time no see 😄
Man you really went all out on my submission haha. I really appreciate your detailed analysis and feedback 😊

Ah yes, the drums, I actually planned on doing more with that, but literally everything else in the song took up all of my time 😭

About the art, a lot of people in the comments mentioned the song was very reminiscent of games like persona, and they were very much on point with that observation. When I first saw the artwork, I thought, This looks like a really cool still-frame image from an rpg or visual novel. Like the kind of image that would show up during a dialogue scene with a character. And so my song became more of a character's soundtrack conveying their personality and mood rather than focusing on the ambience feel of the environment. I did consider the enviornment, I just didn't focus on it.
Also I focused on jazz because, one, I love jazz lol, and that's just the kind of vibe I got from her appearance, the color palette and even the background. And I deduced from her posture, that she has a very spunky personality, hence the upbeat and somewhat restless nature of the song.

When I made this, I was really tired of making "regular" songs so I made a llllot of questionable creative choices, and for the most part it was hella fun! Although I definitely wouldn't put this in my top 5 songs I ever made.
My plan was to make this for fun and then make a 2nd entry using a cyberpunk themed artwork. That way I could also make a song in the genre I'm most comfortable with (synthwave) and actually get mainstream listeners interested in it. But I kinda lost motivation for that, probly cuz of the Audio Tag Team contest being terribly managed and eventually cancelled, or I just got lazy idk.

One thing's for sure, I had no idea I'd be getting a Quarl review 😳
I definitely would have spiced up the drums AND made a second entry if I knew that 😄

(pardon any typos, I'm a clumsy typer 😛)

[AIM-Tragedy]

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

Good lord, you did the thing that many other users didn't do. You actually wrote up details for your creative inspirations and ideas. So many people lay down one or two sentences like "judge me" while missing the point that the judges are peers. We love to know what makes people tick. You can always benefit as an artist by having a little courage to indulge us with manifestos and feelings. It can feel lonely sometimes when no one takes notice of your ideas but it's not like you ever hurt yourself in competition by giving us things to think about. We also have to operate on "the honor system" in that we have no idea if people just took the easy route and chose work that compliments their style or genre. By indulging, you've taken away a little bit of my potential skepticism so here's a massive "thank you" for including all of that data.

The work itself is very strong and layered. The strings have a very human quality to them in how they trill and tremolo. I don't know anything about the "Chris Hein" sounds but sometimes all it takes is a good plug-in to really separate your work from your peers. When sticking to that live orchestral vibe, human qualities and sounds are a boon to emotion. The only instrument that sounds a little off is that vocal pad, it sounded a little digital with the envelopes but it's barely noticeable. You're getting an almost perfect score from me but there are aspects to the mix that I'll point out and consider. You had the space for a little bit more loudness and bass. The human feelings present in the art are massive, more percussive elements might have painted fuller feeling. The bass drums are what I wanted to hear some more of but they were sparse and far apart. You used mostly mid to high range sounds to paint with, a momentary cello at one point. I'm getting an amazing sense of depth and wonder from this piece but maybe some contemporary sub bass stabs with crescendos/decrescendos could have made it even more potent. Some more background pads or creeping sfx samples? The track has plenty of room for more elements... but I suppose sometimes less is more.

I'm really nit-picking that one point off your score. I might not be justifying it enough with this review but I hope your proud of your work. It was very well done. Great job DigitalProdigy! I hope you have a lovely day :3

DigitalProdigy responds:

Thank you so much for that well thought out and professional review. I always try to paint a picture with my music and sometimes I leave paint in their jars instead of on the canvas. I wanted to add more to the song, but didn't want to over crowd the composition. I agree with what You've about adding sub-bass, or even the loudness of the song, but ultimately I think I was a little afraid of changing the dynamics of the song, and then I said those same words you've said, sometimes less is more. I am proud of what I've accomplished with this song and where I was placed in the contest. It was fun to be a part of something special and to have join so many talented artists and musicians together, while we display our talents to the NG community. It was fun and I can't wait until next year so I can be a part of this special event again again thank so much for the review and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day