Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cabin]

I'm guessing this is also coming out of cakewalk? Wish I knew more about the program so I could offer suggestions for where to take your sounds. You've got a nice young but flexible style of writing melodies that can evolve in whichever direction you want to take it. All I'm hearing right now is the limitless potential of someone finding their voice :)

Catalystl responds:

Thanks for the review!

This track wasn't made with Cakewalk, I used some other program called Brel's Midi editor, which was a lot clunkier to use.

Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 is old and outdated, and so is its sound system, but its easy to understand. It just involves using SoundFont files (which contain many .wav files) to change the sounds of midi instruments when they're played.

I kinda like old programs more than new ones because they're just easier for me to learn, even when you can't look up how to do anything in them.

[Sawce]

I love hearing the early music that people make. In ten years you'll be producing some heavy future jazz musics and only the real fans will say "remember Sawce? Damn we're old now."

I think you got some room in this for some more instruments and techniques but the fun thing about digital musics is that you can always open an old file years later and hit it with new knowledge. There's room for basic sine wave pads, string or violin ensembles, Rhodes Mk II, saucy clavinet melodies, tamb and shakers...

That was a really interesting choice to put so much reverb on the hi hat & clap snare. That effect takes the place of potential aux percussion in the mix. I'd have traded the reverb for more percussion instruments like tambs, shakers, more hi hat layers... track still funks something nice. I'm just trying to get those creative juices flowing a little :D

DaVaP responds:

You think i know all this man i just go 'tune bangin' and ship it

[Cosmic Druid]

Yooo, that snare slaps nice. Which specific frequency did you decide to amp to get those hi freq snare slaps?

Dude, get out of here with these perfect little scribbly nuero basses. Whatever drugs you are on right now, keep doing them.

Demonicity responds:

Pogo with camelphat ;)

[Ad Astra (VRC6)]

Punk rock rhythm, in-your-face bass. Love the melody progressions. If this was a Sonic or Mega Man game the stage with this song would be my favorite.

MaldivirDragonwitch responds:

You flatter me! So glad you like it! ^^

[Jaywalker]

I hear your 7/8 time signature loud and clear. My college thesis work was all about time signatures, love the world of syncopation <3

Melodies and rhythms are all really cool. Is this a Beepbox creation? The last five or six people I've listened to have been using that app xD

edit: Famistudio, read it on your other track :D

MaldivirDragonwitch responds:

Ah, yes, the prog fan in me can't resist having fun with odd time signatures now and then. Glad you like it! That college thesis work sounds sweet. :D
I personally never used Beepbox, this was done in a DAW with the some 16-bit sounding VSTs and some Genesis soundfonts. Not a "true" chiptune, but I think it sounds rather cool!

[Dog Bus Remixed in the style of QUAKE]

Super avant-garde. Creepy space vibes. Most people wouldn't consider this to be music but those people haven't spent enough time in a small room with a bunch of video artists learning about Fluxist stuff. The is the kind of track that would cream my sonic art professor's pants. If the instruments here were plugged into a surround sound mix, this would qualify you for a BFA from a University :p

Redead-ITA responds:

Well to that i credit trent reznor and the quake community for the feedback!

[Warp]

This is so massively cool. Only suggestion I might make is a crisp snare layer, maybe an 808 or a clap to give the track a little more of a spine... it sounds like nuero and idm had a spineless jello baby... track just melts. Bass reeses are nice and wet. You got my attention so hard with these creative breaks. Drums are busy doing their own thing and I can't get enough of them. Again, only suggestion is to add a crispy snare layer. I feel like aux percussion can always fit places. Chimes would sound nice at 1:23. Tambs, shakers, and rides could add a little more diversity at 2:07. I notice a lot of producers seem to avoid toms but I love tossing in an odd fill or roll. I keep reminding people that vibraslaps and güiros are awesome instruments to sprinkle in.

That's all I'm gonna say about suggestions. You have such a unique style. This is mad cool and I love it.

HypercubeRecords responds:

THANKS!! Alot!!!

[bloom]

This is some pretty cute music. That glistening triplet scale @ 00:36 hits kind of loud out of nowhere but gave the track the feeling of playing a video game. It sounds like a power up I guess :p

That instrument could have led some pretty lead melodies but it always kind of acts as a pad instead. It's not what I'd have done but I like what I'm hearing <3

I'm on phone speakers right now but the wave shape is showing that there's room in the field for other elements or instruments. It can be hard to squeeze the right tones out sometimes but fidelity units hold all the power...

Sorry if this seems at all critical. This would fit in really well with many a videogame or cartoon soundtrack. I just want other artists to enjoy the same level of overthinking that I feel. I want to cherish the moments of indecision with you :D

wilidacious responds:

thank you for the incredibly thorough review! i have never had anyone look at my waveforms before (i am a little embarrassed). i honestly thought i was on the cusp of blowing everything into an indiscernible mess if i added another track, but i see what you mean with the triplet, i obsessed for a while last night whether to even keep it in, but it might be fun to experiment a little with expanding it, although i fear the patch in its current state would bear too tinny and harsh to carry much more burden. sorry if i am rambling a little, i do like criticism and feedback is always appreciated and implemented! thanks again!

[modus - Sector Five VIP]

Some dance music aficionados might get a little tossed at the rhythmic change ups but I'm loving the techy break downs and chin-strokingly smart syncopation. Was looking at a comment that used the word "disjointed," and I get that. Was listening to "Beyond The Satellite" by Prolix recently. That track had a good balance of offbeat nonsense but he brought the groove back every few measures and I think a lot of DNB fans like that dance floor capability. Gotta give them something solid to groove to every so often. Predictability, controlled chaos. Toss the groove out the window and suddenly all the jump up kids are like "I hate it." I veer more towards IDM and breakcore, so naturally I love this.

Gotta give you props though for passing a sound that's way cleaner than the typical producer of either said genre. I've been listening to your music lately and while I might not fall in love with everything, all your tracks are tops clean. Your music went through the wash twice.

Was that a fucking pikachu at 1:59? It might not have been. Sometimes when mixing songs I hear shit that's not happening. Certain frequencies sound like my boyfriend so I rip off my headphones like "WAS THAT YOU? TOM, ARE YOU IN THE HOUSE?" You ever hallucinate to audio like that?

iammodus responds:

Controlled chaos would be the perfect term for what I was trying to achieve. The track as a whole was pretty dense so the mix was the number one priority. Glad it shows!
And that's not Pikachu - just a tapestop effect! Kinda see the similarity now that I think about it though

[Shadow People Jam]

New favorite techy jungle. Drums rocked something unique. What programs you using to make tracks with??

LaserBrain responds:

Thank you. At this point I was using ableton live and my own Max/MSP patches/devices, as well as a bunch of old freeware plugins