Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Masq ft. Buoy - TGTBTF]

So like, when are you and Buoy getting married?

jpbear responds:

Were already married under common law :^*

my album coming out monday has her on 4/10 tracks lol

[The Corridor]

I really loved that intro. Piano always gets me wet.

I think that drum kit could have punched a bit more. Mid to high range :D

Also, I can't tell if your side chaining that bass with that drum kit but you should consider side chaining to really let that kit shine!

Those horns were sexy as fuck. Like... saxophone guy sexy. Doing those reverse strings towards the end were a nice touch. I might have spiced things up with some sort of vocal sample. I use youtube to mp3 converters to grab vocal samples from videos when ever I notice something cool. Sometimes one sample can really drive an entire project forward.

Loved the track Jass! MARRARAMPARMPRAMPRAPMAR

Jassummisko responds:

I didn't sidechain jack, I forget about that shit. Glad that you liked the saxophone. It's a REALLY small and low quality VST, but I did a bit of EQing to make it sound less shitty. About the vocal samples, I should add more indeed. I do have 2 vocal samples in the track, but they are so fucking hidden. (Both of them play at 1:30, one of them plays at 1:40 and about 1:55, and a very distorted and weird sample at the very end of the track) Problem is that I always edit the samples so much that they don't sound like vocals at all.
Anywayz, Thanks for the review mate! :D

[Hard Rock Theme]

hahaha good to see your still writing. I fell in love with your work back in highschool. Jazzy metal you've got. The track has some really well done drum fills and rhythms. If I was a game producer this would be the kind of track I'd look to have turned into a loop. Your tracks always had a really usable loop quality to them.

Again, good to see your still kicking!

No1r responds:

Hey MATE! I remember about you! It's a pleasure to find you here again :)
Yes yes, i'm still writing. I can't live without music. Until i can do it i'll keep writing and studying to become better!
Good luck with everything!
Davide

[King Kilo - Code Red]

The bass and effects were right on man. That panning was really slick too. This track is getting me pumped to start doing dnb again. Really hard track you got.

Things I would have worked on:

That snare was really hollow. I'd have layered on top something really thin to give it some more salty flavor. Hi/mid frequency flavor. This track is mostly bass and mid. I might have added some sort of shaker or aux percussion to help liven things up. I'm not a fan of that fade out. A DJ won't want to spin a short track that ends on a fade out. Not like that's important though. I never write my own songs in a way that favors what a DJ would want. Write what makes you happy :D

One more idea, a vocal sample of some sort would help give the track some character. Ian Slider once told me that samples from songs, videos or movies help create atmosphere in a track and gives people something to remember. He also taught me about compression. Google Space Laces. That's him today :D

KingKilo responds:

First of all, thank you for taking the time to write me a helpful review, with good, constructive feedback.
Now, I could take everything you pointed out and respond to it, but I'd have to agree with you on everything, so that saves us a bit of time.

Instead of the 'fade out', what would you suggest? And yes, some vocal samples could have worked, though I have no experience in using those. So I'll watch some tutorials on that!
And I'll definitely check out Ian Slider.

Thank you!

[Masq & Buoy - Gloom]

Sexy. Nothing really negative to say. Just wanted to pop in and say hi :D

jpbear responds:

gravy :)

[Winterly]

Damn yo, that drop was SIIIICCCCCCK. I took a half point off because you never talk to me anymore :'C

peace and love gurl <3 <3

SineRider responds:

yes I do D:

[Cascade]

Lol, stan sb, love that kid. Did you know that's he's as physically attractive as his music sounds? True story.

Check out his album. He just put it out a little while back. Sexy sexy sexy. You can download it for free if you share it on your facebook page. Read the youtube description :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAUzm j-gtM4

Geoplex responds:

I actually got it a few weeks ago because I donated :P

[knocking on hollow wood]

Not bad man! Have you ever thought to layer different drum samples to make new fatter drum sounds? That snare sounds like a good start but it's kind of hollow. I'd add a snare that hits some mids, and a snare that has some low end to it. You can always EQ your drums later to help the different layers mesh. For dubstep you really want to make those drums huge. You can phatten them up a bit by using a compressor to boost the signals a tad. Sometimes I have a hard time telling if someone is side chaining but if you aren't already doing it you should learn how to! Side chaining will let you control the levels of one instrument with the levels of another. In other words you can make the bass cut out every time the kick/snare hits to help create space and make the drums pop!

I'm in love with your synth work. You can layer synths much in the same way that I mentioned layering snares. Expand that frequency range :3

One last thing, you'll notice that a lot of professionals will include vocal samples and pads in their tracks. Pads are just atmospheric synths that add character to a track. I didn't really hear and pads in this. The vox will do the same trick. It gives people something to really remember the track by. Even if people forget the name of the track they might say later "hey, that song with the Family Guy sample in it was awesome!"

Keep it up man, I'm loving the sounds :)

Yoshiii343 responds:

Funnily enough, this is my only recent track that I'm too lazy to try and layer stuff. It always end up too messy in the mix (or to my ears). Maybe I'm not doing it properly. Same thing applies to synth layering. As for side chaining, I roughly understand how to do it, and I should probably try it sometime.

For pads, I'd probably slide in a simple pad progression. Putting in vocals or voxes are my weakest link. I just don't know how to work with them.

[Nav - Opioid Fever]

I had to say, I'm actually in ownership of an original Korg M1. Mod joystick broke off a while ago though so I'm kind of sad about that but other than that it still works just fine! Things a year older than me. I was using some technics monitors back at college that were older than me too but I had to ditch them. I had no room in my girlfriends car. I should have left her instead :c

Also, kudos on another slick track. Old school vibes <3 <3

Nav responds:

Lucky dog! Thanks for the review :)

[Nav - Binkers (Short Ver)]

lol, binkers. I usually don't name a track until it's done and if I don't delete unfinished projects I get tons of .rsn files called shit like "kittymeowslurrrrrrr" and "fafafafafafkkjkjj." Hmm, looking over my old documents now I'm getting curious what "FUCK" sounds like...

haha, still posting track stats? It's hella fun to see those. You actually timed yourself too? You always were really anal <3

The track itself is really cool. Really laid back and experimental. Warm as fuck. Those delayed pads took up a surprising amount of space for such a simple sound. My favorite element of the track was the rhythm. Those perc sounds were so perfectly placed. Unpredictable and savvy. SAAAAAAVVVYYYYYYY, I want to have sex with your percussion in this track.

That is all.

Nav responds:

Why thanks for the review! I'm not actually nearly anal enough to keep track of the time; FL Studio does it for you! :D

I appreciate your words. Especially the stuff about percussion. :) I think sample selection is one of my stronger qualities in music production.

Thanks again for the review :)

Gah I'm so blahjhgjdhg I need to make more music but I'm not even, like, listening to EDM anymore D: not good enough at guitar yet either... fuck. I know I should just do it but like I'm so musically uncreative when I get into the software I just can't even handle it. I need someone to work with who can provide a creative spark (write melodies or sing or something) but I also don't have any goddamn time to actually do work like that... Grr I guess I'll just languish in music hell a while longer.

Sorry about the rant. I hope the percussion satisfies your every sexual desire.