Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Tonestep! [MAC]]

mar

This would be my favorite ring tone in the comp but at the moment I kindly ask you to get rid of that intro. This is a damn ringtone. My phone rings once before I pick it up. Great work, just cut it a little shorter and you have the perfect ringtone/ a chance of winning. Peace.

Koriigahn responds:

Cheers man, the intros been cut now! :)

[°°Call Me Back°°]

maw

Meh, the piece doesn't waist any time getting into the track. Allot of other comp entires beat around the bush for about 30 seconds before getting to the damn ring tone. Just for that I'm gonna say this piece has a pretty good chance of grabbing top five with the current running. The ring tone is interesting. I'm not sure if I'd set my phone to this but I still really like it. I'm not sure how audible those voices would be on low res cell phone speakers but they were a really nice touch! G'luck whirlguy!!

Whirlguy responds:

Ha, thanks. I've been noticing the long intros myself, and made extra sure my intro was shorter than that. Aw man, I should have tested this on my phone before. It's sound quality is pretty crap so I'm gonna check it out(though I won't touch much of the mix if it sounds bad, except maybe volume on the vocals). Thanks for the idea :P

Also, loving the songs you've sent in. The one you did with Sorohanro is my favourite entry at the moment :3

[SR - Smashin']

maw

Made in a morning? Not sure if that's what you meant but if it is then rockin. If not, rockin anyways. Good fun, good vibes.

Curious, do you record your melodies with a keyboard or do you write it all up with your mouse?

SineRider responds:

Yeah it was made in a morning, like 2-3 hours of work one morning.

I rarely play my melodies in on keyboard becuase I suck at playing piano. I mostly pencil it all in, but brainstorm on my keyboard ideas, then work them out. The melodies in this one are pretty simplistic, rhythm-wise.

Thanks for the glowing review quarl ;)

[Pixel 9000 [Ring] (Dance)]

maw

I liked what I heard but what do you mean by 100% samples? Isn't that illegal?

djInTheDark responds:

No not those types of samples, the kind that you either recored or design/manipulate, meaning that this is completely me down to the last hi hat.

[SN | Obscene Amounts of Steam]

fsbdnd

I fucking love this good sir! Wonderful track, ace sounds and atmosphere. Really atmospheric! Fucking win!

I'm not sure how deeply you've probed newgrounds audio portal but this guy used to submit a shit ton of slick idm...

http://dj-padman1.newgrounds.com/

SessileNomad responds:

hot damn that dude does have some pretty sweet tracks

glad you liked this, worked hard on this one

peace brah

[Rig - Mind over Metal theme 1]

Great buuutttt...

Sorry it took a while to get back to you. Midterms. Also, I wrote up an essay for you but my browser quit on me and I lost the essay. Not to fear. I'll just paraphrase it into one sentence.

I HATE THAT FUCKING DRUM LOOP.

Now I'll do a rewrite. I don't mind it hiding behind syncopations and slight variations. Hell, even simplifying that core rhythm even further and making up some cool aux percussion stuff would have been good. You didn't even try though. It's so blatantly there. I digress. It's a video game loop. That drum rhythm might help give off a vibe of familiarity that ultimately benefits the game. It's more of an ethics problem than a compositional one. I've used it before too... once actually and it was recent... just to see what it was like. I'm disgusted with myself but I've gotten by somehow.

Aside from my gripes on the drum pattern everything else is cool so far. It sounds like it will work great with a game when you finish.

"It's the same drum beat." Hypocrisy :P

Rig responds:

Fair enough, I guess. What makes you hate the drum loop so? The repetition or that the beat itself is just so overused?

[AD - The Passage (DUB)]

asfdffffff

Sounds pretty good so far. That grimy bass is coming along nicely but it's a little too predictable. I'm not sure how your modulating it but if it's set to automatically modulate change that and just automate the bass where you want it to modulate so it doesn't always have the same attack. Like you said, the stabs need some work. I'm not sure if it's the texture of the voice or if it's the melody thats getting to me but I'd play with both.

Other than all that you got a solid track coming through the pipes. Keep it up!

AeraDynamic responds:

agagagag thanks I am working on it, I modulate my basslines with automation clips or freehand but thats in fl only hahaha the stabs are already done so far, I changed em a bit ;)

[Kinda, Like You]

wwereeeeeeeeEEE!!!!

Great sounds mister! It's always fun to hear people playing around with drum modulation so employing that early within the track definitely helped hook me in. There are some elements in the mix that I don't entirely agree with but first I gotta mention something I just left in some one elses review. Sometimes really effective uses of traditional compositional aesthetics such as rhythm or melody can over power an individuals disagreements with the mix. You've got a really nice piece of work here! I was able to listen to the full track without losing attention once. You're melodies are strong. They come off as simple but really effective. Normally I'd consider the syncopations in that drum rhythm kind of awkward but it has that traditional tech step pattern working at it's core. As much as I hate that drum pattern, it works. That core drum pattern works in the same way as a four to the floor would in any other EDM genre. It's helvetica. Kick snare kick snare. Perfection in minimalism. I hate it and love it at the same time :P

Now for the bits in the mix that got to me a bit. That bass kick is all low range. This becomes glaringly obvious when I unplug my monitors and listen in on my laptops factory speakers. There's no audible kick. I'd layer in a mid frequency ranged kick to give it some more punch. The snare has wider range but no mids. It's all hi and low. Again, some mid range would be huge! If there's a hi hat in the mix it's not audible on my monitors. I can hear plenty of tamb action. I might turn the more prominent tamb down in favor of a hat somewhere working on 16th notes and perhaps a shaker. Dunno. Just ideas. I just noticed the bongos. You really made some interesting choices with that perc section. I like :)

That pad at 1:41 sounds so close to a perfect sound but there's something about it I'm not entirely agreeing with. It might be a little too prominent, it might need a touch of verb, it might need a tad bit of filtering, dunno. It's so close to the sound I want to hear but something about it just isn't giving me the right vibe. The melody is great though!

All in all you have a great composition! Really sir, kudos for making something so lovely. Keep on keeping on and good luck with future projects!

Chozz responds:

Thanks :) Its funny you brought the kick up, I was listening to it at work today in my office, and i thought dayuuum, a little bit of mid might be needed for this, and it's good to see that im on the same wave length as most people!

Regarding the simple beat, yeah I know what you mean. I've only just started producing drum and bass. My main focus at the moment is sound quality (layering of snares, eq, e.t.c), whilst providing a nice simple (but entertaining) beat to uplift the liquid-jazz sounds and riffs in the background. Maybe as I get a bit more experience I'll start slicing and dicing beats :)

I'm going to remix this track I'll let you know when it's up, and kudos for the real inspiring review!

[Rig & FoD's Epic Tune]

meh

You damn kids and your rock music. In my day, we had dirt and we liked it >:C

Rig responds:

Dirt tastes good with rocks.

[Rig - 3 hour DnB]

pur

haha, sick stuff. For three hours this is huge. Also, I love the kitten. Nice element.

Rig responds:

MY CAT KEPT MEOWING DURING MY COMPOSITION AND SO I RECORDED HIM