Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Slow Motion]

I'd pay $5 to hear a version of this without the modulations on the voice. Under all those effects I think I can hear some good singing. Some vocalists go super hard on things like reverb. I kind of prefer the less is more approach.

Taking this one critique to another level, I noticed that I couldn't enjoy the back track as much because of how in my face those vocal effects were. Peel back some of those fx and the entire mix will benefit :)

Final take on this one critique... I get the feeling people are afraid of their voices. I did the same thing in highschool by overloading vocal recordings with effects. You paradoxically cannot progress with vocals unless you are willing to hear yourself and open up to critique. I have so much love and appreciation for anyone willing to use their own voices. I'm not implying that you have vocal shame... but honestly I hear some really nice sounds lurking under those noisy frequencies. Such lovely sounds :o

ADR3-N responds:

If you'd actually venmo me 5 bucks I'd do it for ya! It'd take me a couple hours to work around the compression and redo everything and I just in general am so lazy ordinarily wouldn't. I could just leave the raw vocal on top with some compression maybe, and the vocoder harmonies beneath, but most of what you're hearing is a distortion plugin and some slight pitch correcting

This track I felt like experimenting with different timbres, I'm almost whispering at points. I have three takes, some of which I had to edit out from the party going on in the next room. I wanted to see how hard I could push vocoders and distortion to get a different sound, like song for my mama type vibes. The talk singing shame was like off in the corner making it hard to mix. I'd be down to pull a redo

[Incineration]

I keep thinking "can't wait to hear this on headphones" but am stuck with a kitten in my lap and don't want to betray it's trust. I will get down to this later on my PA system. I want to know what those lows sound like :D

This ending is way cooler than it has any right being. I'm gonna have to ask you to add some vuvuzela samples to make it less cool. K thnx.

baryiscool responds:

vuvuzela samples it is

[Tundrata]

How dare you challenge my listening skills by tossing out a 3:35 time stamp. If I have to listen to relaxing chill vibes for three and a half minutes than I shall decidedly suffer. I'd have put some reverb on that snare drum. Probs would have tossed in an odd cowbell or gong.

That 3:35 drop at needs a pikachu sample. You can take this critique seriously or not. I'm just saying, a cute "PIKA" would satisfy my simp sample ass. That ambient section leading into it could have used a nice long dialog sample. I came to the realization recently that newgrounds has a lot of voice acting talent which could be useful for giving tracks a unique atmosphere. Do it :)

TeraVex responds:

I’ll add a Pika but only because you told me to! I struggled to find some good gongs/percussion for this, I really wanted to add some but I wasn’t finding any with the flavor I wanted... I’m probably gonna look around a bit more because I feel like it’d improve the tune

[DrUm aNd BaSs LoL]

This song rocks my socks, packs my glocks, and invests my stocks.

Father-of-Death responds:

WORD!

SUP QUARL!

[Centralia PA]

That intro reminded of what it felt like to listen to Boards of Canada in college. Super colorful chords and interesting choices. I loved that modest guitar. That note at the two minute mark was either too loud or could have been an octave higher? That's my constructive input. Legit perfect track otherwise :D

RazzmatazzMania responds:

Lmao tbh I was stressin’ about that note. I thought I turned it down more, but now I know I’m not crazy.
Thank you for the kind words!

[Side Hustle]

lol, that slap bass jazz drum kit combo reminded me of some old fashioned squarepusher. Check out his band Shobaleader One. Squarepusher is better than bass Jesus, IMO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-j_D-O1vwM

Flashbulb can also give bass Jesus a run for his sheckles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD8N9tDDQT4&list=RDZD8N9tDDQT4&start_radio=1&t=0

No shame in working to pay the bills. I'm not sure where this luxurious idea of artists being rich comes from but it needs to stop. The dirt poor homeless artist is far more common. That's not a particularly good cliche either.

Don't feel guilty for writing about yourself. We all have lives away from the internet. I love knowing more about the people I stumble upon here. It may often feel like you're alone, tossing bits of your life onto a lonely internet canvas, but people lurk in the shadows. Those little scraps of life feed stalkers. OWN IT :D

After listening to this for an hour or two I started to wonder, did you ever consider writing a section of this song without drums? A melodic pad or arrhythmic break down would have been acceptable at the beginning, middle, or end. This track could have been at least three minutes long with an intro. Maybe four minutes if you copied the intro and pasted it at the end while changing one note.

:D

TeraVex responds:

Thank you! I do hear some Squarepusher in this! I've been thinking about making some mini tunes as part of a pseudo music journal series but I haven't really figured out how to approach it but your review has given me inspiration! I like the idea of the song extension too!.. Maybe I'll play around with that for a future extension!

[Run]

Lol, this is so cool old school. Reminds me of old Calyx and Timecode, early millenium. At that point the Moving Shadow label was transitioning between the old school dnb to more of a nuero sound. I stayed for the synth work that came in around 00:50. It was so CUTE. I just want to pinch the cheeks of that sawtooth wave reese.

HypercubeRecords responds:

Thanks XD

[Aurora]

This took me back to High School. There was a time when newgrounds was so heavily inundated with oppressive amen break samples and filtered Reese saws. That might sound like an insult but that time period shaped so many of my tastes in the last couple of decades that it is essentially a part of me. I kind of miss that period of wonder and mystery.

Track could use a little more polish but I'm not gonna try not to hound you for it. Couldn't tell if there was any panning going on. Might of been able to slip in some auxiliary sounds left and right to add character. Maybe a simple high pitched synth with a soft release?

On that note, moar aux percussion! Gongs, chimes, vibroslaps, some wood blocks... on that note, I haven't used wood blocks in a while. I'm stealing this idea...

SchattenDnB responds:

haha, no offense taken! i might actually work on a second version of this track since i'm not proud of how it turned out. But thanks for the response, means a lot.

[Thought]

Loved those melodic explorations. Those instruments felt like they were searching each other out. Drum rhythms pounded. Those subtle ghost snares added a good bit to the over all groove. I think you could have gone a good bit harder on your aux percussion. You could have fit tambs, shakers, cowbells, more hi hats... and panned them all to find places for them.

On that note, panning sounds like what I'm missing the most. There's so much room left in the mix, every thing that falls mid to high frequency could have had it's own home.

I'm loving those bass rhythms and grooves. This track jams so hard. I only wish the mixing techniques were a bit more powerful. Good night love :D

Noisysundae responds:

"Ah thank you for another bunch of mixing tips, Quarl. Honestly, I was only trying to EQ the existing synths to occupy the highs. Completely forgot about the percussion. :P

About panning, I usually use slight randomization on note panning in FL, rather than just setting that of the synth. Perhaps I should drop this habit since most of my tracks are full of synths playing at once." — The Manager