Score: 8

"Well, let's see what I can do for this song."

submission: [L3] Forever (Better Master)

date: June 14, 2008

As I'm going around and reviewing more songs than usual, I may as well. :D

First off, your mix - it's been a problem apparently since the last version so I'll comment on my thoughts this time. First, your kick isn't that good. It's hard for me to judge because your clap's playing right along with it, but there isn't enough boom to it and too much mids and high mids. I hear that low bass rumble, but there's just not enough of it there. It might be a multiband compressor or something, compressing the low end and leaving the higher end relatively alone (or a normal compressor, with which I've gotten similar results, which I can't figure out myself). Careful with those either way. ;)

As for your bass, it sounds a lot like a sample when it plays different notes - I'd stay far away from sample synths if I were you, they're quite limiting compared to actual VSTis and either a) you're using them raw, which isn't good in terms of originality and effort, or b) you're heavily processing them, which I find very hard to believe because it sounds to me like it came straight out of VEC or VEC2. And anyway, if you're heavily processing your bass, you can put the same effort in creating a good synth, or disguising a preset if you have to. ;)

Melodywork's all good considering the style of the song, though I'd use a more creative bassline than one just using the 1st, 6th, and 7th notes of the scale. The 3rd note of the scale is often just as easy to use (and the 4th to a lesser degree), and one I've found to be a lot less common (and the 4th to a greater degree). If you can use the 2nd or 5th notes of the scale, and WELL, that would be really creative. :D

That's about all I've got for this song, hopefully I've helped. :) I'd rate 7/10, but I want to give an extra point for the effort, so here's an 8 and a 4/5 vote. :D

Score: 8

"Better."

submission: #2 Song of All Time

date: June 14, 2008

This'll probably be a shorter review than usual, definitely not using my alt, but when I think you've made something groundbreaking, I'll write one of those again. ;)

In the intro, the biggest problem you've got going on there is the crackling. At least, I'm hearing some... I'm pretty sure crackling varies between headphones/speakers/etc., so one thing I'd suggest is to listen to songs you're working on through multiple headphones or speakers. That way you pick up any crackling there is, and work to fix it. In this case, I'd have to say your filters are the problem - try reducing your resonance, using another filter, or, as a last resort, EQing as much of the problem away as you can without changing the sound. Maybe this will help - I heard it while the piano was playing around 0:12.

You didn't place a compressor on the master channel this time (or at least I can't hear it), which is great! :D The song sounds a whole lot freer now. The kick and the bass aren't fighting each other either, probably because the bass is on the offbeat, but your mix is pretty good this time around. One thing I'd suggest would be to arp your bass somehow - this'll make the mixing a bit trickier but becoming big on Newgrounds is all about how you catch the listener's ear. A catchy bass arp will help you do that, rather than simply placing your bass on the offbeat. If you've got to keep your bass on the offbeat, though, make it boom! You put a bass on the offbeat so it doesn't interfere with the kick, and if it's not going to interfere with the kick, then EQ it so you can really hear that bass boom. The same can be said about the kick, since it's not interfering with the bass. Neither really "booms" in this song.

As always, try to avoid blatant Vengeance samples. ;)

Last, be a bit more creative with your bassline - the note your bass plays from measure to measure. Instead of ONLY using the 1st, 6th, and 7th notes in the scale, be a bit more creative and add some melodic flair to the song somehow. All of the songs you're trying to reach in skill level do it - you'd be hard-pressed to find a good, well-known song on NG that doesn't (ok, there's Chaoz Fantasy, that's ONE example and potentially an exception - so find another). ;)

That's about all I've got for now, hopefully I've helped. PM me when you've got another! ;D

Score: 8

"A nice listen, but old."

submission: ==(Ice Desert called Earth)==

date: June 13, 2008

But I'll get to that later. ;)

I really liked your intro, the ambience there was amazing. :D Make a whole song with that kind of ambience, and I'd applaud you. Seriously. :D

You take off in your usual style, and what I could swear is the same drumset you've been using since whenever... I brought this up a few songs ago but still, couldn't you bother using another drumset? It gets repetitive after a while. XD Toms help the uniqueness of the song, though. Other than that everything's fine, and very pleasant to listen to.

The hit at 3:03 bothers me, it's louder than anything else in the song as far as I can tell, it's like you had the kick overlap itself and play twice or three times simultaneously. :\

Now, the bass at 3:17, I liked - it's those moments that make songs awesome, and the sliding there fit perfectly (like it did elsewhere in the song, that's just the point where it stood out the most to me).

Like I said, it's pleasant to listen to, what I'd really like to hear out of you is something radically new. I've heard the drums before, the bass sounds ordinary, the lead was predictably in your style, etc. It was new in a few senses, but not enough, in my opinion. Something like the stuff you'd submit at SantaBro, I just listened to a bit of your latest submission there, I liked it. :O

Yeah, that's about it. :D

Score: 8

"THAT'S more like it! :D"

submission: Kr1z - A Silver Kiss [Demo]

date: June 12, 2008

Compared to your other song I also reviewed, this is tons better, you seem to have taken my advice, or at least improved by a lot. Still, I hear problems...

Starting with drums. The kick sounds like a Vengeance sample, and not just that, but it's really raw, too. It feels like you didn't add any FX on it, you just used it as is. Which you shouldn't - one, it's recognizable, and two, it's not as loud as it should be, a problem that could be fixed with some good EQing and perhaps some compression. Your hihats sound really good in the beginning, but later on they get drowned out, towards the end I can only hear two or three samples, the rest are inaudible. Clap sounds pretty Vengeance-ish but personally I find them the hardest to disguise beyond recognition, you might have found it difficult as well. ;) Lastly, FX is amazing. :D

Synths are all good, I actually don't recognize a single one this time. :O The bass isn't as bassy as it could be, though - in fact, there's nothing in the song that reaches down to those "booming" bass frequencies. You come close, but you don't quite make it. Just mix and EQ better and you'll be fine. ;) The bassline is great, as is your gated synth, but the song doesn't really have a melody. The closest it comes to one is the top note of each chord the gated synth plays, which probably isn't enough.

Another short review for now, though I really enjoyed this one. :D Finish a full-length trance track like this and I'd definitely download it and add it as a favorite song. Keep it up. ;D

Score: 8

"#1 song of all time? We'll see..."

submission: #1 Song of All Time

date: June 12, 2008

Well, you saw already, I guess, by my rating, which isn't a 10. :P First off, before I start the actual review - I highly doubt naming your song "#1 Song of All Time" will get it as far as you plan it to. In fact, someone might just zero it just because they think you're being egotistical. :P ParagonX9, Envy, and Tatsu-Takahashi didn't have to use that name and look where they got (by the way, if you'll notice, In Your Face has waaay more downloads than listens... think about that). Also note that, probably, none of those artists made those songs with the intent of making the #1 Song Of All Time - they were simply making music, or trying their best to make something good. I don't think they made those songs because they got angry at 0ers and decided they'd beat them by making a song too good to zero, o whatever is you're trying to do.

But since you gave it that name, I'll give it a full-on review. >:)

First off, it feels like you put some kind of compressor on the Master channel. The kick and bass peak at about the same loudness levels, and the song never distorts, though it's REALLY bassy. Don't do that - I've made the mistake before, it comes back to bite you later on in production - namely, you'll hear some annoying ducking with your hihats (as if they were sidechained) when the kick plays, and if not ducking, then some kind of effect. I hear the main open hihat play at normal volume for a split second on the offbeat before the compressor pulls it down - it happens either because the bass causes the compressor to need to pull down the hihats to keep overall volume down, or because of the attack of the compressor. Either way, I'm sure it's an unintended effect. I'm also noticing it messing with the attacks of some of your synths - sometimes they have a quick fade-in, sometimes they start pretty sharply.

Second - I recognize the opening FX that you also play multiple times later. Try not to use raw samples like that, it hurts your style. Personally I love it when an artist doesn't use any samples I recognize (and better still, any synths which I've heard resemble ones I've heard before), the song gets a really fresh feel. Often, I'd BUY stuff like that. :D But I hear that FX, a Vengeance hit, your hihat line (which I don't actually recognize, but feels similar to most of the VEC loops) and most of your other drums. Sure, Envy got away with obvious Vengeance samples, but it doesn't mean you have to. :D At least try, you can't expect it to come right away, I'm still using Vengeance loops somewhat obviously myself.

Last thing, the structure and progression does NOT at all help the #1 Song idea. I'll map out the progression and afterwards explain what exactly you did wrong.
0:00 - 0:40: A breakdown, then a buildup.
0:41 - 1:15: Drums come in, progresses up to a second breakdown.
1:16 - 1:55: Second breakdown. Drums come in but the energy doesn't really go up, so I'll count that as part of the breakdown.
1:56 - 2:31: Energy goes up, second progression, up until the ending.
This song has no real peaks. No euphoric melody, no section where everything comes together. Sure, there's melodywork, but think of it this way - what would the listener HUM while listening to this song? The sliding saw? The piano? There's no one melody. All of the good songs had one, you'd think to be up with them, you'd need to have one too, right? :\ And same goes for the peaks themselves. They're the points with the highest amounts of energy in the song, but there's really no peak in this song, even if we're speaking relatively. It's all progressions. It's disappointing to the listener, really. And that's who you're making this song for if you're trying to become the #1 scoring song of all time - the score being DETERMINED by the listeners themselves.

Continuing on my alt, I'm out of space. :O

Score: 7

"So I'll try writing a shorter review for a change."

submission: Kr1z - Lost Thoughts

date: June 9, 2008

I'm probably going to have to start giving shorter reviews compared to my usual standard anyway - that way I can get to more songs in less time if I need to. ;D So, I'll go through the problems of this song...

One: The bassline. If you're going to make a full length trance track, take it seriously and make your own bassline instead of using that one. If you made the melody first and the bassline second, which I suspect you did, for full length songs start with an arp or pad that isn't based on that bassline and build from there.

Two: I can hear four, maybe five things in here that are blatantly obvious Nexus synths (and from the factory presets no less, they're not even from expansions). They're the arp/sequence (which also has the clap on all four beats in the same synth, I believe), the plucked synth, the shaker line, the piano, and maybe a pad or two (though, even though I may not recognize it, it's probably from Nexus too if so many other things are). Basically, this hurts your own style and makes the song sound more like Nexus (and the person who made the presets, Manuel Schleis) and less like you and your own style. Having your own style makes it that much easier to be everything you wanted to be in music - good at it, popular for it, respected, etc. ;) Try disguising your synths a bit better than that - the arp/gate, Filter Modifier, Master Filter, Amp Modifier, and FX (off to the side, in the same section as the internal EQ) all help a lot. ;D Also try using synths in ways they weren't necessarily meant to be - I used a synth out of Dance Leads as a bass and a synth out of Bass as a lead in the same song once. :D

That's all I'll cover for now. If you can make a song like this without either of those two issues, I'd be glad to give it another review. ;D Keep it up.

Score: 7

"Doesn't deserve Weekly 5th."

submission: @ndrea - What Hurts The Most

date: June 5, 2008

It really surprised me that this song made it up here, let alone got a reasonably high score (WITHOUT getting zeroed?). And just for that I'm going to give this song a long, highly critical review detailing just why I'm so surprised.

First off: the mix. Easily the first thing that comes to mind in listening to this song. It's badly in need of more work. The song's extremely cluttered (especially at sections like the one starting at 0:35) - you have your standard four-on-the-floor kick, clap, ride, hihat (which was also extremely lacking, I'll get to that later), your bass (which is playing waaay too low for the synth, I'll also get to that later), your piano, your strings, your vocals, and then just for good measure, various FX in places which cause the song to distort entirely, anyone can hear that. This is far too crowded for any dance song, and contrary to what you think, the piano and strings didn't help at all. Why?

In a typical professional trance or dance song, there's a good balance in the mix; the frequencies are filled. You have your kick, clap, some kind of hihat line, and sometimes a ride which make up the drums. There's a bass synth for the low ranges (which balances out with the kick somehow so they don't distort each other in filling up the low frequencies), some sort of filler synth in the middle ranges (though it's not uncommon to hear them in the higher ranges as well) - an arp, gated synth, sidechained pad, or something - optionally vocals, sharing the middle ranges with the filler synth, which can make working with them tricky (you didn't do so well here, unfortunately), and if not, a lead playing up top, taking the high frequencies. So let's compare the mix of "the ideal trance/dance song" to yours.

1) Here, you had your bass playing too low for the synth - synths have a limit of how far up or down they can go while being audible and recognizable (in terms of what notes they play) just like a piano, and here you had it playing way too low - it was hardly at all audible in the mix just for that reason. There was no boom, or anything like that - the role an offbeat bass typically plays. Basses are on the offbeat so they can be as bassy as possible without hurting the kick, you didn't do that here. Then there's the fact it's on the offbeat to begin with, which can be good when done right and for a good reason, I enjoy a good offbeat bass now and then - but in this song it just feels like you did it because everyone else does it (and I make that assumption only because you remixed a fairly generic song by none other than CASCADA). Hell, the only thing you didn't do here was use the cliched 1-6-3-7 bassline (in your key, F# - D - A - E), which was good, considering it was used in the original. Still, you came close, you used 3-4-3-7 - the second two are still the same.

2) Your piano and strings. In the "balanced" trance/dance song outlined above, I can only assume they'd be your mid-range fillers. I find them to be completely unnecessary. They fight with the vocals for the mid-ranges, which aren't as cramped as the low ranges with the kick and the bass, but still end up leaving the piano too quiet, and the strings all but inaudible. What's more is that the vocals often have delay - for example, in the section at 0:35, the reverb continues after the words are gone, and some words are even repeated - filling the frequencies even more. It might have come with the acapella, but then you could have worked with the strings or piano to make room.

Cutting the review off here and continuing on an alternate account. I've got 473 characters left.

Score: 8

"Review time! :D"

submission: Milk{Deep Blue}

date: May 14, 2008

This is a really great song - it grew on me enough to make me download it earlier today. :D That, and I'm giving it my first review in a month... be thankful. :P

First off, the biggest problem I've got with this song is that it's got too much bass throughout - the bass synth sounds like it's filtered, and it feels like you threw an EQ on the Master channel, boosted the bass to ridiculous levels, then threw a compressor on there so it wouldn't distort (which is good - this is better than a song that distorts ridiculously). All I can say about that is this - imagine playing it loud on big speakers! XD It's bearable on my headphones, but it might make enjoying this song difficult for people listening to it with a subwoofer/in their car/etc. :\ With that out of the way, I'll go through the song section by section...

Introduction - it's hard to relate what the pad's playing to the later end of the song, does it even have anything to do with the melody or are you just having it play whatever? :P Either way it's hard to follow, and in turn hard to predict/expect the next section, which isn't really a good thing in my opinion...

Kick comes in and everything sounds nice and wavy, the sidechaining's great. Though every now and then you realize something bad about the mix... if I focus exclusively on the sawpad, the sidechaining begins to sound off. Listening to the drums, I can hear a really loud hihat panned to waaaaaay off to the right, which is annoying... :\ The clap is almost inaudible, and is there a ride hitting along with it or what? Try to make everything clean and audible, the concept here is great, but it's a mess. Transtion into the next section is weird, the filter wreaks havoc on the mix... be careful with them. ;)

Next section, the panning is even more obvious but the hihats quickly fade out. FX is amazing here... one of the best qualities of the song. :D It sounds vaguely familiar, though, have I heard it somewhere before? It might just be me. :P The break is probably the best part of the song - no mixing problems, and the progression's perfect, you know what to introduce and when. :D My favorite part would have to be the transition at 2:16 or so - clean pads, a moment of silence, then the bass joins the calmness, just as calm this time. ;) Kick comes in, it's filtered, I'm not so sure that was necessary considering the peak came right after that. :\ Couldn't you have done some sort of snare roll build or something?

The peak's amazing, you really SHOULD have done a proper buildup, the energy here's amazing. :D The lead synth playing along with the kick is a nice touch. The composition is great, my only complaint is the mix, which I mentioned two paragraphs ago. Right after the break, the composition is the second biggest strength of the song... way to go. :D Ahh... here's your snare roll! Took its sweet time. :)

That was kind of a cliffhanger ending, unfortunately... you could have picked up from there (if you had pulled it off after a few seconds of silence, that would have been even better :D) with a second break, built into a second peak, and then outroed the song at 7 or 8 minutes long. THAT would have been awesome. :D

I really enjoyed this one, this isn't one of my longer reviews, but hey, at least I reviewed in the first place. :D Overall, the concept is AMAZING, and the execution left some to be desired, but keep doing what you're doing, I see really good stuff coming from you in the future. >:) Reviewed 8/10, though I'll vote 5 anyway. :P Congratulations on Weekly 2nd, keep up the GREAT work!

Score: 10

"Kinda sad that I never review anymore..."

submission: Swift (Original Mix)

date: April 8, 2008

There are so many good tracks these days that deserve it. D: I'm glad to say this is definitely one of them... unfortunately I've only got ten, fifteen minutes or so until I have to leave the computer and possibly pick up the review later. On my marks! XD

Intro is great, the drums/perc. are fully original (as far as I can tell) and the bass synth is great - not at all raw, and, though it has delay, it doesn't clutter up the lower range. :D

Wait, that wasn't the bass synth! :O Your actual bass synth is good - a bit plain, with a standard rolling arp, but that aside it's very good. It's actually got enough bass to it to make up for the kick having very little bass of its own. XD

Your two arps are good - the one that's constantly playing doesn't get boring, as you change it up every fourth time it starts over. The other one is a great creative touch, you're good at that kind of thing. :O It also helps to add to the melodic feel later on, as you have it follow the chord progression... it would be perfect if it wasn't also the culprit of a bit of clipping! D: I hear it mostly during the somewhat long transition into the breakdown - nothing ridiculously distorted, just a bit of crackling in the high frequencies. And, thankfully, it's not easily noticed unless you're looking for it, like I was. :P

The breakdown is great - it flows right in, not sudden at all, and everything's just how I like it - the chord progression comes in here, and you've got a guitar playing? Heh, I read what you said in the first review, you did a pretty good job of emulating that Cordis style there. Better than I've ever done! XD Though sadly, it was really quiet. It worked here, but later on, during the peak when you have it playing again, it's really hard to hear. D: Overall, though, this is one of the best breakdowns I've heard in a while...

Phased hihats come in, then an arp, then the kick/bass synth/ride. This is probably one of the more disappointing parts of the song - I was expecting a dramatic reintroduction of all of the synths and drums! Some kind of buildup, maybe? There's no energy in it... if you're going to make a song this melodic and emotional, at least give it some energy as well! If not to make it more energetic, then to make it more powerful.

Outro is good - a bit similar to the intro, but that's how it is in almost all trance songs, right? ;D The percussion loop from the beginning returns, and - I forgot to mention this - there's a sliding/distorted synth that plays every two measures or so? Another amazing element of this song that makes it one of your best! :)

Way to end the song, JUST LIKE SIRENE. XD I swear, it's exactly the same. Nothing big, but I HAD to mention it.

Now that I'm done with your synths and progression, onto the drums... and I've got 1400 characters or so left! :D

The kick is good, as it usually is with you - more click than boom, which the bass takes care of, which works. ;) Clap is also good. My biggest problem here comes from the hihats. Is it just me, or am I hearing some VEC loops in there? >:( Either that, or you've used those loops before somewhere. I don't know for sure, but seriously... if you can take the time to make a song this good, make it perfect and kill the preset loops. (And yes, that's exactly what I'm doing with Beginnings, but what can I say? You're better than I am, especially at the creative touches in a trance song. :P) That doesn't apply to all of your hihats, though - the ones that aren't preset loops, like the ones that you begin the buildup with, are good. ;) I think I've heard that ride somewhere before... it's the third sample in VEC2's Rides folder, right? It's a bit harder to make individual samples (at least, for me, I don't know how it is for you, studio and all XD) than loops, but still - something as recognizable as this should be avoided. ;)

That's about all I've got to say for this song. My personal favorite from your stuff so far, I'll be listening to this one for a while! ;D I'll five it (and maybe again later if I feel like it XD). 10/10, amazing job. :D

Score: 8

"About time! >:("

submission: ==(Melting Snow)==

date: March 23, 2008

Seriously, I was about to get to reviewing this song, and then, whoops! I'm leaving on an over-the-weekend vacation. So it took me until now to review this song. At least I reviewed at all, though! ;D

Nice intro pad/atmosphere. The piano/hihats coming in like that kinda ruined it, though... perhaps you could have brought them in a bit more gradually? They kinda get drowned out behind the rest of the song as well... they're there, but hard to hear unless you focus on them, which you shouldn't have to do with a refreshing song like this. ;)

Your drums all sound a bit standard, in both sample choice and the use... couldn't you be doing some more complex, original stuff by now rather than the same sort of drumwork you've been making for several months now? (Though the toms and triplets were both great ideas. :D) And use some synths/FX along with them too (I like the synth around 2:56 in the back, though it might have been around earlier in the song), instead of just the kick/snare/hihat deal. Give your song some life, it's SPRING! ;D (And the ride sounds a bit weak too - raw-sounding, and it feels like I've heard it, or a similar sample, before.)

Your lead synth is good, though the composition lacks direction. It juts plays harmony. If you're going to use a lead synth like that, in a song like this, at least make it play a melody! ;) I mean, the song's got a bassline (the piano), drumwork, a peak-breakdown-peak progression with buildups to transition between the sections... it's practically an atmospheric trance song minus the four-on-the-floor kick, which you never do anyway. :P The one thing that could make all of your songs better is a catchy (though not simple like the piano playing in the low ranges) melody that people could hum or something, and would LIKE to get stuck in their head. That would make it awesome. ;D

I think that's about all I've got for this song. Not one of my longer reviews, but definitely one of my more helpful ones (I think :P) for your stuff. I enjoyed this one - 8/10, though I'll vote 5. :P Keep it up, hope this advice helps. :)