Quarl's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Nav - Deathwish [Full Ver.]]

lol.

So this is what happened to our collab? jerk. Sounds awesome :P

Nav responds:

Thanks! :D

[Nav - Lightwalk]

sass

oh yeah. Rockin 7/8, heavy drum kit. Sass muffins. Sassy sassy sass muffins. Really... sassy.

Bass sounds great, pads rock... if there's anything you could have done to make this track better, it was vary up the rhythm. It was cool to take it out of the norm, but a break down with some more variations would really take this awesome track and make it godly. Is it possible to change time sigs within a track in fruity loops? Have it jump from 7/8 to 8/8 then into a 6/8? Even keeping it in 7/8 and switching up the rhythm would have rocked.

Other than that this track is perfect man. Awesome awesome aweoms! sass taffy!

Nav responds:

Nah FL can't change Time Signatures, I wish it could. I can see what you mean there, though! That would be fucking amazing, but I made this in the course of one morning, so I wasn't thinking that way :P

Thanks a lot for the review! :D

[-=LJC=- Amygdalic Atrophy]

yar!

I always loved the simple line visualizer because I feel like it really gives a great interpretation to how deep a mix is. A good mix can really make that thing dance and this track is no exception. It hits close to the edges, but it never clips and if it does, it's completely inaudible.

I swear this track reminds me so damn much of a padman track. I don't know if you remember him at all back when he was submitting, but I loved his work. Idm/ experimental tracks like this define what it means to be a producer. Exploration beyond that which the masses could immediately understand. Pioneering for self exploration.

By no means am I making the claim that your better than artists like bounc3 or paragon, but I just think it's really noble for an artist to go out of their way to learn something new. I look up to you three for good reason. You guys have the experience needed to inspire motivation.

Keep rocking out!

LJCoffee responds:

Thanks Quarl,

Honestly, just knowing that there are people that can appreciate or understand something - even if it's "not thier style" makes me feel a little better about the world.

I never knew padman but I'll take your word for it.

For the mix, I generally just "cheat" :)

In the slightly newer stuff (within a year or two), there's almost always an instance of Reaktor 5's 'FlatBlaster' at the end of whatever effects chain might be on the main bus. I use a slightly modified version of a preset - do I feel bad about it? Not one bit. That's what it's there for.

IMO, it's one of the best software compressors available. It generally smooths out any wrinkles that would otherwise cause a clip or two and it offers a lot of control over how heavy each definable band should be handled.

As for the Paragon, B0unc3 comments...
The best part about it, is that I'm, in no way, in competition with them. There are a lot of people who try (and fail) to create tracks like PX9 and B - so even though some peeps want to emulate those artists, I think there may be a few sour grapes and a bit of animosity here and there.
I'm not threatened in any way by those guys so I don't have to worry about being "better than" and it's really quite liberating. If I were trying to be "better than", then I would only be causing myself undue stress (like some people on NG do).
I find that once you develop a healthy bit of apathy, it really frees you up from the constraints and pressures of conforming to the expectations of others.

In this way, I feel especially bad for Paragon. Imagine the pressure of feeling like you always had to top your last track - every time - without fail... God forbid you submit a track that's anything other than whatever the masses have decided your style should be. Honestly, I don't know him and have only exchanged a very few words so I could be absolutely wrong - but I imagine that it sucks a little to be Paragon. His hands have been tied and his style has been defined by everyone else. Experimentation would probably not be met well by adoring fans and they'd turn on him in a minute. Fickle little bastards...

That's the beauty of experimental crap - nobody ever really knows what you'll try next so everyone's expectations are usually kept quite low. :)

Suddenly, I have no idea where I'm going with all of the above, so I'll end this rant abruptly with a simple:

Thanks for the review!

[DJYvs300(techstep)]

fun mix!

rawr! That's some hard hitting dnb. Now I don't know a lot about tech step, but I'm an avid fan of darkstep... I'm guessing the two genres are extremely similar? Actually, can you tell me the difference right now, just to save me the time of having to google search tech step?

Fun sample from 300, but the sound quality of the recording was shit. Did you put an effect on it, or was it just a really shitty mic? Mra, the song is a lot of fun. Sounds like it came right off of substance d, though with a little added distortion to everything. Maybe a little too much distortion.

The breaks are good fun, the reeses are dark and muddy, really interesting track. Hmmmm... what are you using to make your tracks? I'm curious :)

Yoshii responds:

explanation? that's what wikipedia's for lol

I know the sound quality of the clip from 300 is shit. it's the only sample I could find floating around our lovely interweb unfortunately ans seeing how my dvd's are back home, I'm not able record a far better one.

I use FL Studio 4, and 9 years of experience.

[Nav - Excitement (Club Mix)]

FUN!

WEEE! SO MUCH FUN! YAAAYYY!

Seriously though, this was a pretty darned good time. I was expecting a hard dnb style because of the amen break, but then I read on and saw "happy hard core." I'm not too into four to the floor genres that much, but sometimes they slip into my ipod. Kind of like the way this one is gonna once I click on that little floppy disk.

FUN!!!!!!

Nav responds:

Haha! FUN FUN FUN! Thanks! :)

(Why the 8, though? o.O)

[/BBQ\ -- Once]

kittens

Pretty good track. The EQ needs a bit of work, cause the mix sounds just a tad dull, but the elements are all there. Maybe try a sharper snare/ hi-hat. You might benefit by cutting the length of the bass kick and EQing it a tad louder, but that may not work... dunno. Just gotta experiment with it a bit till you get a sound that's just a little more powerful.

Cleaning up the drums will improve the track quite a bit. The piano sounds great, but you might want to try taking spirits advice. Dunno. Really it's the drums that I think need the most work. Everything else works out all right.

Keep up the sly tactics :D

BBQSandwich responds:

Yeah I get what you mean, that's what the original version was like, untill I played it when i rendered it, my boxes almost exploded because of all the bass lol, but I can always try to EQ it better ;)

[The Red Leaves Outside]

laffy taffy!

I really like the voice. It's well done. Not bad for some one your age. I can tell that your gonna have a lot of fun with your music when you get older, cause it sounds like your already at it. Question: Was this recording done in one shot or did you record the guitar track and the vocals separately?

Also, do you mind if I take the file and add some synthetic drums for fun? I'm an electronic music producer, but a drummer before anything else so I can promise you they'll sound good. I'll send the finished file to you for uploading. What do you say : 3 Pretty please? Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top? rawr?

LenardNotLenny responds:

They were two separate tracks, cause I had to fiddle around with the guitar a little bit to make it sound less powerful for the track.

I'd love to hear what you make of it. Just be sure to send me the file. Thanks for the review.

[drum and blues]

WEEEE!

You just love experimenting with your melodies. Your work is always so much fun to listen to. Sure it goes against a lot of traditional dnb ideals, but it's just so much fun.

Those are some nice phat drums, great vibes. Very interesting compositional choices. Very interesting. I'm not sure what else to say really. Good work I guess :D

Stan-SB responds:

wooo quarls talking again!!
lol this is the less complicated version i put this in as an exam peice for school but it had about 3 separate arpeggio's and a key change !!
btw im in an exclamation mark mood

[{r} Ascended]

yessssss

OH MY GOD... when I read ambient I was all ready to relax and get comfortable. That pad came in and I was like "oh, how pleasant." Then that madness! I had my volume way up too. God damn. Scared the shit out me.

Great song man! I'm loving that dramatic rhythm. It gets things pumping hard. Guh, this is fucking gold. I'm playing this at my house rave tomorrow. Guh. SO DAMN AWESOME...actually, it might just be because I just smoked a nice bowl pack... hmmm... I'm too high for my own good D:

I have a new favorite song :)

Rawrthaas responds:

yeeeee