Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Project: Reflex]

This would make a really good DDR or ITG track. I didn't really feel the tempo change was too weird but I listen to some crazy ass shit so don't look at me. I'd tell you to make it even more pronounced, change the time signature a few times, and add a screaming goat sample.

It's a great little ditty, a good reminder that you're still alive. Be alive more often :)

Step responds:

Quarl! Been a while. Thanks for dropping by :).

Definitely getting the DDR vibes now that you mentioned it. I would've totally added that screaming goat time sig madness too if this wasn't for a university project!

Thanks again.

[Memories of Memories]

This is a really beautiful track. I got nothing to say about it but praise. Creative, original, full of good motifs and vibes. I was expecting a typical "trance" genre but this really stands out. The progression is smooth, the pads work well with the drum kit. You even avoided the four to the floor typical of "trance" which really threw me off a little. It's cool to have my expectations shattered. Great track candy :)

CANDYdisturber responds:

You have no idea how much this comment means to me; thank you very much!

[Vicarious]

Forking brutal. The mix is a little thin but I'd still give this a 10/10 if the maximum metric was 10 and not 5.

JDawg00100 responds:

Thanks for the review :D

[[Jam] Deepmind ambientish doodle]

That feely when you plug a synth that sounds so pure you've wished you could make an entire song out of it. You actually went ahead and did it :D

This is awesome mich.

Mich responds:

I'd hardly call it a song, but yeah, I keep being told to hit the record button when poking away with a patch I like; glad I did. :) And glad you like it!

[Beatdown Funk |vocal version|]

smoooth, herbie hancock vibes. I loved the arrangement. How'd you come about the cool horn section samples? You have some good friends, or some good samples? Just personally curious because I have no friends :'C

chertolet responds:

Hello ! Yes, the horn section is samples, not a live recording.

[Mocha]

I keep coming back to listen to this. Really stand out job, tops. That intro got me so pumped, I didn't give a fuck when the drop hit me disappointingly. I just made a face and nodded a few times like "I can deal with this."

Really tight melody and composition. Exciting to listen to :)

8-bitheroes responds:

Thanks for the feedback!

[Thinking]

Nice! I loved those harmonies. Great melodies! Sounds like it's time for you to focus on mixing and mastering. I'm going to bullet a few things you may or may not already know. FYI, I use Reason so what I say might need a different fix in FL. Also, my hearing is going so you can use that factoid to gauge the usefulness of anything I post.

- Panning creates the illusion that sounds are louder than they really are. You can pan your instruments and lower their levels to help create space in your mix. Not everything needs to be panned though. Bass frequencies should get mixed towards the center. Pads can go to the sides. When I mix my drums, I put my bass drums and snares towards the middle while the aux percussion does whatever I think sounds best, left or right.

-In reason, I like to split certain audio signals so that one instrument gets sent to two simultaneous mixer channels. I will then pan the two channels in opposite directions and drop their levels. Both signals can be treated individually and can add a level of depth to the instrument that the mix might have been missing.

- Sidechaining is a useful tool in Reason, no idea what the equivalent in FL is. You should be able to use the level of one sound to control the level of something else in FL. Bass drums are a great tool for controlling the level of your sub bass. The sub bass in your mix is super over powering, so using the bass drum to momentarily duck the level on your sub would create a lot of space and structure.

-Listen to the pros! There is a reason why you see the same people in the industry ten years on. The pros know what they are doing. If you can hear a difference between their mix quality and yours, you know there is still room to improve your work. Aim to achieve that crisp sound you hear from your favorite artists!

-Watch youtube videos from the pros AND amateurs. See what other people are doing to achieve their sounds, if just for inspiration. The most helpful thing I ever did was collaborate with Stan-SB back in college. Just seeing his audio files taught me so much about my mixing tools and the DAW itself. No improvements can be made living in a vacuum. Stay active :D

Hope this review isn't seen as obnoxious. Just trying to help nachos. Love what I'm hearing. You got space to grow and so do I. Keep pumping out music :)

larrynachos responds:

I did pan my sub towards the middle, but I chose to have the bass pluck panned slightly for a synthwave-y effect. I panned the synths at 1:26 super hard, but they still don't sound as big as I wanted them too. Is there a certain plugin I should be using for stereo panning/widening?

I'm pretty sure I side chained everything that needed to be. I probably should have lowered the sub and sidechained it a bit harder and for longer.

I definitely know what you mean by crisp, but I still have no idea how to do that. My songs are always so... uncontrolled? Maybe I don't automate enough, but I feel like there are some techniques I don't know that would help me get to the pro mixing level. I don't know where the good tutorials are at, and I can't wanna pay for college ><

I've lived in a vacuum my whole life, same house, same town. And change is hard.

[Re:Reveris]

Nice! Never heard the original song but I love Troisnyx. Why not not link to the original track in your description? I love the elements here. I just wish the mix was a little cleaner.

I reiterate a lot of what RealFaction felt. The mix sounds pretty high end. Maybe up the mids on the distortion of that guitar to help balance out those highs? I'd lower the levels on those crash cymbals a little. Crash cymbals take up a ton of space but don't need to be very loud to effect the quality of the entire track. I used to wham on my crash cymbals so much in high school. I've learned to be a littler more conservative with them as my hearing has dissipated over the years. It's a piece of percussion that mixed into something, can be a whisper but still have a ton of presence.

You can improve drum rhythms if you add some variety to the velocity of drum hits. I used to automate the levels on my hi hats to emulate the crescendos and decrescendos of a live drummer. I'd focus on putting that kind of variety into those bass kicks. For those double pedal rhythms I'd use a slightly higher velocity for the first kick hit. It's a small detail but we notice that kind of thing.

Love this track! Could you give me a recommendation for one of your original tracks? I love metal :)

ADR3-N responds:

The original is over in the sidebar, but I could probably drop it in the descrip, sure.

Yes, the mix is super dirty, partly because I only now am figuring out multiband compression can do what an EQ does, but better. Part of the whammed crashes is in the master bus and I'm not sure where that came from but will do. Maybe compress them less and let the room do the work.

Mix is a tad gainy and high. I'm still learning my way around this genre. Coming from swooshy EDM and Trap, you get used to that fizz.

Also, yeah, still getting a feel for kick velocity. E-drums don't have a great deal of sensitivity either. Need a new set.

As for my original tracks, Jesus, they all suck. Old Wounds was fp'ed tho. That's more of a ballad. Venom and Devil in the Mirror are crappier mixed because I'm a noob, but you might dig.

Thanks for the awesome review!

[I made this in my sleep.]

This is really cool, don't call it garbage. I can relate to your vibe but it's not a good ad strategy. A lot of artists and musicians work in one of two mindsets. Some get super arrogant and think they're hot shit. I suffered from that mindset for a long time. Then you have the overly modest artists that self deprecate themselves into obscurity. You fall into that second category but it's wrong. You've been producing for so long, and you've been consistent about it. Your work is prolific. You have a very unique personality.

This track is really dope and goes to a lot of places. It had two super distinct parts but each motif evolved. The melodies were tight. I loved that reverse drum rhythm. Love it when tracks rubato the tempo... I used to do that in every song I wrote. Must be a bias :]

This has a down tempo Aphex Twin vibe. I want to comment on how much I loved that end but I let it loop too many times. It didn't feel like the end anymore. It's a good loop :D

Father-of-Death responds:

holy shit i do gota stop putting negative comments on my shit but i they aren't some ad strategy thats for sure. I'm going through some dumb shit lately and idk.... and newgrounds feels so dead at the moment yet its the only place that listens to my music so you're right i shouldnt be spamming sad comments all the time it's probably wearing some people out..... i dont even work on songs anymore i just sit down and make little beats/loops and feel like im just shitting out stuff. Just havent been able to focus lately, or ever really....

QUARL YOU ARE AWESOME! :) I'll be more upbeat in my comments from now on.