Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[15 Jan - I give up trying to come up with titles for these tracks]

Coming up with song titles is half the fun. I'm turning mine into a small kidnapping story when they're all read in order. Sorry I'm not reviewing everything but I'm not finding much time to do stuff with all this song writing D':

Cool pad motiff, love that pad patch. Track is tight. I'd have included a hi hat rhythm and some aux percussion of some kind. With something written fast and simple you can just copy/paste the hits after you write a few notes in. Finding the time to do anything in a day is rough but I love engineering drum kits. You can get new drum sounds by layering complimentary drums and cleaning them up. I like to select three to four snare drums that all compliment each other and hit different textures. They can each be pitch bent to work together but I also like to merge all their signals into some fidelity units for greater control over the textures they all combine into. So instead of sending each snare to the mixer on separate channels, I use a merger/splitter to make them all one signal before sending the signal through a graphic equalizer, and then a compressor. Then it's all one signal back to the mixer. The same can be done for the kick drum, but I usually only have 2-3 layers for the kick.

A good ghost snare can be layered in too, but used individually on off beats to create really dynamic rhythms. It takes some practice but learning how to program good ghost snare rhythms is a lot fun.

That's all I got dear, sorry again for not leaving feedback all the time. I'm never sure how much feedback to leave but I saw that little invitation. Track isn't awful, it just needs a little more love. You can always come back to these tracks when the month is over :D

[K.K. Schmoovin [Jamuary Day 18]]

I heard that intro chord progression and almost automatically added this to my favs. I'm not as into the vocal chops but the melodies they make are all ace. Do you mind if I sample that little chord progression at the beginning? If I finish something with it you'll get full co-credit and will have the perfect excuse to take a day off.

Still adding this to my favs by the way. It wouldn't be fair to mention all that then run away like a silly knife stabber. "YOUR SONG WAS GREAT EXCEPT THIS ONE LITTLE THING I FOUND MINIMALLY DISPLEASING, HAVE A NICE DAY." Fuck that vibe.

I stress out everyday wondering if I'll have something I like by 8:00 PM or if I'll be up till 12-2:00 butchering old RSN files for ideas that were good in 2012. When you asked the other day "how does it feel to never miss" I laughed, felt good, but I've been "missing" everyday for 32 years. I eat bricked shots for breakfast. I literally failed everyday I was 20 something so that I could write one song a day everyday for one month in a forum on some website I like.

So again, I ask if I may sample that intro chord progression so that I can share one of these needlessly stressful moments with you!

Edit: Those pink headphones scream "rock and roll mothafucka."

milkypossum responds:

Of course! Sample away, my friend! TOGETHER WE SHALL CONQUER! We will survive Jamuary and brave the cold prison of our musician brains!

[Mellow Misery]

This is a really good swing. Loved the crisp glitch effects and off beat modded clap snares. This is probably my favorite thing all month but I'm such a slob I hate to admit that haven't had the chance to listen to everything.

Such clean sounds on this. Amazing :' ]

Casper responds:

Thanks, i've been wanting to layer those snares or make my own so i can fill up my drumkit but haven't had the time, glad you enjoyed it:3

[N. Different (feat. Yasiin Clemens)]

Gonna have to give this more listens laturz, tablet monitors at the moment. Only way I'd have made this better would be with a 2x osc saw/sine lead programmed with sweeping portamento, pitch/shift mods, and automation lanes for them. Portamento slides and pitch/shift modulators are awesome but the option to automate them on/off creates a very human feeling.

That is such specific feedback but the track itself is amazing. Chord progression is lush. Drums sound nice and full (on my tablet). Aux percussion is killing it. That vocal melody is hauntingly gorgeous. I'm curious what that is. Sample, recording, midi instruments, or something more mysterious?

I'm gonna ask you guys to gush a little bit about the creative process under author's comments. An artist's statement is an important tool to communicate ideas. Telling us to check out Yasiin is legit, he is very talented. Though, you could include some more feelings or thoughts. Newgrounds is a community of creative people and artists. They love to learn and share ideas. While it feels safe to assume that your music will speak for itself, saying a few things might attract a larger audience. Make yourself personable to some degree. I realized at a certain point that if you say nothing about your work, you are just a webpage to everyone that stops by. A webpage serves to be used. Force people into acknowledging that you are a person, not just a webpage :D

Hairmilked responds:

Hey Quarl!

Massive post so I'll do my best to break it down and any good points will be put in the bio.

I synthesized the bass myself and originally it was more of a Halftime sine with a deeper sine under and modulated at 16ths but Yasiin wanted a more analog bass which I think fit better in the end.

The analog was sequenced so I agree it wasn't that human, I tried modal randomness but that didn't go great so I left it alone while I had my sanity.

The chords were Yasiin's he did a bunch more stuff but I personally wanted the drums, snare and hats that I made to be used as I thought they were floaty and spatial.

The chords were so bouncy and I needed to match that, once the bass was done I need the lead. The mysterious piece you speak of is actually a simple synth. Harmonic series and saw at a high pitch, gated as a pluck and EQ'd for high frequency.

I'm super proud of the melody, I started with Yasiin's chords and worked backwards to make the rhythm more bouncy and infectious. I'm glad you thought it was a vocal as that was my plan hehe.

There are also some pads that in truth I got from Splice as I was racking my brain for something to layer on the bridge.

I of course want to be more personal in the future but have struggled with getting real on the songs, I will do my best in the future.

Take care,

Stache :D

[Without Stress]

I hate to burst your bubble but I counted the drums in 4/4. Snare always falls on the third quarter note but that fourth pulse is still there. You can count this in 3/4, the pulse will eventually overlap 4/4 every 12th quarter note but I'm not getting a prominent 3/4 pulse out of this.

Time signatures can be a strange concept but I'm glad your trying it out. Writing stuff that divides time in ways your not used can lead to interesting ideas and new jams. Try 3/4 again, try to get the drums on a good triple "waltz." You can do it!

Wouldn't be fair if I left you on a critical note, the jam still funks nicely. Moody, chill, pro. Loved the birds, they always make wonderful pads. Just googled this for the musical trivia, birdsongs in music:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdsong_in_music

Birds have always informed our musicality so I'm always sampling them and noticing when others do it too <3

Casper responds:

Yeeeah i had to do the drum pattern several times due to weird rhythms and awful sound selection , i've been producing way too little to get time signatures haha. This was rushed, I'm working on some music for a video game and figuring stuff out for my album. Thanks for the review:)

edit: im counting.. 2/4? tf did i do this is a disaster, a chill disaster

[stormz uh brewin]

Lol, "pop."

I'm listening to this on some low fidelity tablet monitors but I love the crazy eccentric jungle energy. Nice breaks, synths all contribute to a good harmony. That lead goes all over the place. Your my hero, this goes hard. Great track beenie :D

beenibroh responds:

thanks man :)

[Jamuary 2022 (Day11) - A Possible Mission?]

Don''t you mean... see if you can HEAR it? Sorry, it's a semantic issue and has nothing to do with the track itself. Great work. Love that play around the mission impossible theme. Love me some 5/4.

metalblinga responds:

Thanks! 😄

[Jamuary 2022 (Day8) - Clear skies and a new day]

I wouldn't call this an attempt, you wrote a really chill song and three hours is impressive. Congrats on writing something really relaxing in that three hour time frame. Track is polished and lovely. Honestly, I'm finding it way easier to write "chill type songs" on short notice but I've been saying this a lot: great music doesn't have to be an extravagant affair. Great music creates feelings, and this guitar is making me reflective. The pads are gentle and work in perfect harmony. Great work metalblinga :3

metalblinga responds:

Thank you! That means a lot 😊

[honk if your brain isn't working (mine hasn't in a while) [jamuary2022]]

Glad to have you back, track sounds great. The instruments work really well together, trippy modulations on those patches. Loved the perc. That little ball whistle sample is a smart detail. I don't think I've ever used a ball whistle in a song. I really wanted to use one in my highschool band but I suppose we all had creative differences :'c

vermeen responds:

thanks so much quarl! i live for these oddly-specific anecdotes. glad you liked it

[Cruisin [Jamuary Day 6]]

Love those funky clav pitch mods. I just used your track to demonstrate an effect to my mate. Reggie Watts will use his loop gear to make fast pitch modulations on his voice, noticable on his performance of "Kwanzaa Juice," but they're more obvious on your clav thing than his voice.

If you've never watched Kwanzaa Juice... do it.

milkypossum responds:

I'll have to look it up, but phasers and pitch mods on clav are always the way to go for funky beats!!