Karco's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Counter Melody]

Finally got to this.

Sorry for taking so long, I've been busy lately. :)

First thing that comes to mind with this track is that you seem to still be using FL Studio presets with both your synths and your drums. I'd suggest getting away from those ASAP, those will do nothing but hurt your tracks most of the time. Find other synths to use or get good at making your own sounds, and as for drums, find better samples - for this style, Vengeance is always a viable option, though be careful, it can make your songs sound very generic.

Second thing, I believe that bass pattern came from a Basshunter song? Come on, it's easy to be a lot more original than that. ;) I also don't like your bassline - it's the very cliched dance bassline, i - VI - III - VII, which I hear used almost everywhere. Do everything you can to avoid it, your tracks will only sound generic (which is a bad thing - if your song is generic, there are others like it, and why would someone want to listen to your track over someone who does the same style but better?) if you use it. The vox "Let's drop this bass," didn't seem necessary at all to me either.

Next, use only one bass synth per song. So, you shouldn't have used either the sub or the bass from the intro - I'd have to say, the sub bass, as those rarely do a track like this any good while playing at the same time as the drums.

Try to find one core melody (4 or 8 measures long should do the trick - for this track, you would have wanted a 4-measure melody) for your track to revolve around. This is what'll make it memorable and defining to your listeners... believe me, it's important. ;D Without one, the track will sound random and incoherent overall.

Last point: check out my post at http://karcoreviewalt.newgrounds.com. I'm not going to repeat what I said there, here, so give it a look and see what applies to your tracks. I don't think any one point applies to your track particularly strongly, mostly because it's geared towards intermediate-level artists, and you seem to be still at a beginners' level (by my standards anyway - you seem to have been making music for a while, so you might consider yourself intermediate. In this case, my intermediate is your advanced, my beginner is your intermediate). ;)

What I'd suggest doing now, is first to find your own sounds. That's the most important thing. They can be anything, as long as they're not generic FL sounds. Those are probably the worst sounds you can use - they'll almost always hurt your track compared to what you could be using, believe me. ;D Second thing, aim for originality and coherency - don't use that bassline, and make a core melody to define the track.

Not that good a track overall in my opinion, but hopefully my criticism explains why I rated what I did. ;) Keep at it.

Sanryd responds:

Nice and lengthy, I appreciate that. I don't think I can match that length in response, lol... but we'll see.

When I first started making this song, it was called "Generic Techno Song", and so i tried to make everything generic, then I couldn't help myself and started writing more melodies and harmonies. Unfortunately I didn't scrap the poor idea of "Generic Techno Song", and left most of what was still there and hence the not cool synths, bass line, etc. So I think this song in general needs to be completely revamped... I agree.

The VOX, "Let's drop this bass", i loved that... Damnit! Do i really have to leave it? :P

Thats a pretty good idea about 1 bass synth, i usually cloud my piece with too much bass buzzy here and there and I've never figured why so much muddy sound in my songs. Thanks.

Everyone that has heard the song (not on NG) says they feel like its a journey, at first I took that as a completement, but now I see what you're saying... there is no "hook" or catch melody.... its way to long and moving.

Um, I don't see myself as anything but Beginner.... doesn't matter how many songs or how long I've been making them. I do see potential in my stuff but don't consider it good yet. I will definitely put it on my list of things to do to go check out your page.

I actaully read your review a couple days ago and have been getting new sounds and new everything since you mentioned it. Also have been watching FL tutorials... since that is something I never did, which I think was a dumb idea, since i've been making music on the same level for almost a year.... not a smart decision. So hopefully from this point, a difference in the quality of my songs will be noticed... I also don't think I'll be able to pump as much stuff out, since I have come to find out how much goes into a really good piece, lol.

I really appreciate the criticism, gets me off my arse to learn, and not be complacent. Thanks for taking the time to review.

-Sanryd

[Nightscape (WIP3)]

Here you go? :P

For starters, note that my comments might not make sense because I hardly ever review this sort of track. :P

I'm personally finding it very difficult to keep up with the different time signatures... especially in the intro, when there's nothing easier to follow (for example, the pad).

Your saxophone (right?) makes really good harmony with your pad (really good composition there by the way) and sub at times, and other times it sounds boring - for me, mostly when the pad isn't there to back it up.

Your pad is great, nice feel to it, and your progression is very good. I'd have liked to hear you develop it a bit more, maybe have a few more chords or a second progression? Two chords just isn't enough for a six-minute track in my opinion.

It also feels very repetitive - it's mostly drums and sub, with the pad on and off. The only real diversity in there is with the saxophone and the drums, but since it's six minutes long, almost all of it sounds the same to me.

Voice clip at 3:43 kinda breaks the nice atmosphere for me, I don't think that was necessary. :(

Since you only have two synths and one instrument in this track, I'd have liked to hear a fourth or fifth sound in there changing things up some. There was that bass sound playing eighths around 5:25? But it didn't help much.

Normally I would say I don't get the ending, you seem to have ended mid-measure. But since you say it's a WIP, I guess that's your excuse. :P

I think that's about all I've got to say, not bad. :) Let me know when you post the finished version.

[=\ Silver Knight /=]

Not bad...

You've made progress since your first track. :) Since you want advice mostly on mixing, I'll tell you about that - though keep in mind your mixing will be in vain if you don't have any original sounds or samples to use. Try looking into Vengeance Essential Clubsounds, those are some really good samplepacks that, though you have to buy them, can really make your tracks a lot stronger overall if you know how to use them. ReFX Nexus2 is a very useful synth to use, but be warned you can sound very generic using it unless you use it right.

As for your mix. First off I hear very little clipping, crackling, or distortion, which is good. Though it seems to be because you've placed the entire thing under a compressor - I can hear your mix duck all at once where it would normally be loudest. I'm not going to elaborate on why it's bad, you've been given a link to my article in that thread of yours. ;)

Your kick has reverb - typically putting reverb on a kick will do you mix no good. You'll get reverb in the bass frequencies, which will muddy up your mix and make it a lot harder to keep clean. As a rule, never place reverb on your kick (I've really only heard one occasion when it was done right, and it was on a short transition anyway). The sample itself sounds like it came straight out of FL - it's all punch and no boom. There's no mid/high mid to it either. Like I said, find better sounds to use. ;)

Various elements of your track are getting pushed to the bottom of the mix, partially by that Master Channel compressor of yours, and partially because of the louder sounds in there. These include some of the hihats, the clap, and in the louder sections of the track, your pad. Be careful - to make sure your sound levels are good, share your track with other people (fellow artists will help you the most) and listen to it yourself with an objective ear. Make it a habit never to take the easy way out - sometimes that extra push of effort will really help your track and your mix.

I think that's about all I've got to say for now - those are the biggest problems you've got for now. Make it a habit to avoid them in the future and you'll have a whole host of new ones to worry about, I'm sure, but you'll have taken a big step if you do. ;) Keep it up!

Miren2k responds:

sweet thanks,

i like this review mainly because you've picked on some small things that i CAN change for my next track, so at least next time I have a track at the best i can make it

i just put my song on my phone to listen to it with ear phones - i learnt a lot just from doing that, i found that my bass was way too high, and yea i think i shouldve made the lead a bit louder or higher on the EQ on the highs

and i don't think i used a channel compressor.. or did i? :S

[BeeT - Hold On!]

Right...

Well, first thing, I hear several raw Vengeance sounds. Stay away from those, you'll get a generic sound (because they've been used so many times) to your tracks and then nobody will really have a reason to listen to them over a different, more original track, or a similarly generic track that's just produced better. I'm recognizing the hit, the fill, the FX... all raw. The kick sounds like it came out of Vengeance as well, most obviously in the intro, while it's highpassed.

Synths and composition are lacking. Your lead is a supersaw, which is unoriginal as is. I can't tell if your bass on the offbeat is the same supersaw playing down a few octaves or a different synth, which is in itself a bad thing... try not to use more than one supersaw to a track for the sake of originality. As for the offbeat bass, it seems like the "easy way out" especially when you could be making a really creative synth playing a creative rhythm - great basses make tracks very memorable you know. ;D Your progression is boring and cliched as well - it's been done before in plenty of songs. Come up with something creative, that's ho songs get recognized. ;D No comment on the synth in the intro, I'm neutral about it, nothing special. Piano is nice, I don't recognize it, which rarely happens - it's usually either a Nexus piano, FL Keys, or a common soundfont these days. :( Though be careful how you use it - it sounds blatantly sequenced. Play with velocities and tweak rhythms by tiny amounts to "humanize" your notes.

Drums. Well, the kick doesn't boom at all, it's all punch, mostly because your bass synth is taking up all the bass room. I already said it's recognizable as a Vengeance sample. The snare is a bit too loud and trebley for me, and could use some minor EQing, though personally, I would have chosen a different sample altogether. I don't hear anything filling up the hihat role, there's a nearly inaudible closed hihat on the offbeat but that's it. What you should be going for is a nice, thick hihat line, even if it means using a loop or two - just make sure they're not blatantly obvious. ;)

The scratch FX at 2:55 or so sounded really unnecessary. It seems you added the clarinet in there for melodic and emotional effect, but the scratch ruins it for me.

I think that's about all I've got to say for this review. What I would recommend you do is make a song keeping all the criticisms here in mind. Once you're satisfied with it, give it a look with song structure in mind - how are your breaks? Buildups? Peaks? Intro and ending? Transitions between them all? Etc.

Hope this helps. :D

BlizzardTears responds:

Thanks. :)

Helpful as it is. I'll keep it in mind, and will use this to tweak my further songs. :P
I'll notify you when i submit a new song.

[==(Repairing a Broken Sky]

Quite awesome. :D

I'd have to say this is easily one of the better tracks I've heard from you in a while... mostly because you focused on atmosphere, which was definitely a good thing to do. :D I really love all the subtle elements you've got going in there - that synth playing on the third beat, that acid-like synth (which was a pleasant surprise), and the synth coming in at 11:55, for example.

The kick and squareish arp are the only things that seem to break the atmosphere in my opinion. The kick only in the beginning, when it's really loud (relatively speaking) and less consistent, though the arp throughout, it seems a bit strong and raw compared to the rest of the song, which is all-around a lot softer. It seems a bandpass filter or something would do well to give it a softer touch.

Drums are all nice (except for the kick in the beginning which I mentioned already), you used a different drumset this time? Yes or no, they sound different. :D That shaker-ish thing I hear playing on the offbeat at 6:00 sounds a bit loud and random to me though, I feel the song could have done without it altogether. Snare is ok, I'm neutral there, I think you could have found a better sample - something more subtle and less attention-grabbing, maybe? Last - is it me or do I hear a cowbell coming from my right headphone? :D The rest of the drums I'm pretty much neutral on, nothing amazing, though I do like that other drum coming from the left headphone that plays along with the cowbell sound.

I just realized I forgot to comment on that lead of yours that's in there from the beginning! :O It's nice, sounds like something I'd hear out of you, the vibrato that gradually comes in during the longer notes is a nice touch, though it kinda felt out of place in the great atmosphere you had going (like the arp).

Yeah, other than that, I really can't think of much else to say, which makes tihs one of my shorter reviews, sorry. D: Really nice song here SBB, I want to hear more like this in the future! Keep it up - 5/5, 9/10, favorited, and downloaded. :D

[Infablue--_--]

Pretty good.

In fact, so good, I'm down only to a few points, mostly nitpicky ones, for this review. :(

The main problem I have with this song is that it's 5 minutes of sameness. It's background stuff. The energy level really doesn't change much throughout, the biggest change is the "melody" later on in the song (though it's just a synth on the offbeat, I actually don't see any one defining melody in here) and the quieter section before it but I still don't see enough of a difference overall. There's very little structure to it that I can find, it's section after section of goa. Well-produced goa nonetheless, but it's difficult to listen to it all the way through (even for me, and as a comparision I listen to 10+ minute trance songs all the time), let alone multiple times. This is the kind of song that gives me a good impression the first time, so I download it to my computer (which I have already), listen to it a few times, but then rarely listen to it after that. And even now it repeats in the Newgrounds player, and I hardly notice. :\

I'm not necessarily asking for a break-build-peak sort of trance structure, rather, I'm asking for defining moments and sections in the song that makes it addicting to listen to - I'm not finding many of those here.

It might just be that this song's not a serious song, or just an exercise, or something you pulled together for the sake of submitting something after you came back (great that you did, by the way). But hey, a review's a review. :P

Other than that, I have very little to criticize on. There's no real melody, the kick has a little too much click for my taste, 4:06 is a little rhythmically disorienting (though that could be a good thing depending on what you were going for), the bassline later on sounds somewhat simple - it's all mostly personal taste. Other than my first point, the song's really well-done to the extent that I can hardly critique it, after all.

Last thing - if you've got the time, I'd like to ask you to review my remix of Paradise on E. Last time you reviewed one of my songs it was really helpful, so much so that you made me reconsider where I was going with my music entirely. If you don't mind, I could use that point of view again. ;)

Nice job with this, keep it up, I hope to hear more from you soon!

PERVOK responds:

Goa is entirely different from "real" trance. If you don't like it, you don't like it I guess.

I was thinking about reviewing that song when it first got on the top 5, but I didn't for two reasons: It's really, really, REALLY long, and it repeats itself a shitload.

Sorry bud, but I wouldn't be able to review that song without going for several cigarette breaks in between. I do appreciate this review, and just PM me when you have a newer song that's up that's a little shorter and I'll gladly oblige you with a review.

[It's Cheese]

Well, it's not your latest...

But you specifically asked for me to review it, so here goes. :P

First thing that comes IMMEDIATELY to mind is the really strong compressor you've got on the master channel. It gives the entire song a really bloated feel in the bass ranges, as there's tons of bass coming from both the kick and bass, but it never clips thanks to that compressor of yours, hence the bloated feel. It also sometimes compresses the hihats too so that they pop up at annoying parts of the beat, making the song annoying to listen to, though it didn't happen too badly here... it does make your open hihat a bit hard to listen to, but that's about it. My advice would be to avoid placing anything on the Master channel (except for temporary effects, i.e. an EQ sweep or filter for a buildup, etc.) until the very end of the song. Then, once you do, go for SUBTLE, NOT DRAMATIC! It's one of the biggest problems I see with many people at your level, you may or may not realize it now but it's a bad thing. Do any of the professional songs you'd buy have this kind of compression going on, to this degree? I seriously doubt it. ;)

Second major point are your blatant VEC samples. Namely, the:
1) Hit
2) Kick
3) Intro loop
4) Snare
5) Ride
6) Open hihat
7) "Get" FX
8) Horn FX

And I have suspicions about your sliding sine and crowd as well. Of course some people will recognize some or none of these depending on their familiarity with VEC, and I've probably missed a few myself (judging by that many blatant sounds, the rest may just as easily be VEC also), but the point is, these are recognizable sounds that aren't yours! If the sounds aren't yours, then it's that much harder for you to develop your own style that everyone can recognize you by (and think, many famous artists on and off of NG have their own style, but how many use sounds as blatantly as you have here? Very few I bet). I seriously doubt you don't want your own style and don't mind being just another generic-sounding artist. :P

Which leads me to your synths - first of all, I recognize a Nexus supersaw or two, see the above paragraph. Second, their sound is overall very generic, it all feels "done before" to me. You took the easy way out with your bass and placed it on the offbeat, and the chord progression is a very common one too - be a bit more original than that! ;D What's more, if you're ok with using VEC sounds raw like you have, I wouldn't be surprised if all of these are presets. I certainly can recall hearing most of these synths and sounds (or other sounds closely resembling them) from various other songs I've heard in the past.

Something I DID like about this song was the very high overall energy and the structure/pacing, which caught me, perhaps because they seem (to me anyway) to match up well - rarely done on Newgrounds. :P The stuttered voice at 3:17 was nice to hear as well, I haven't heard anything quite like it so it sounded like a nice addition to me... it's a shame it didn't pop up elsewhere in the song. :(

I think that's about all I've got to say for this song. Hopefully all this advice should help you out some, I'd be glad to give you another review once you submit a song that shows real improvement to me! Even if it doesn't show real improvement, I can always comment it on MSN, just ask. ;D Keep it up!

[A Silver Kiss]

Here we go...

It's been a while, I believe I really enjoyed the preview, let's see what I think this time around... sorry I took a while to get to it, but I've been busy. ;)

First off, if you used Nexus, then you HAD to have used presets... perhaps modified presets, but presets nonetheless. :P

Second, I recognize your shaker line out of Nexus's Factory Presets, under Textures and FX I believe. Just like last time I think. :\ Its sound doesn't really fit all that well with the rest of the song, either - it just stands out and gives this kinda corny sound, and the fact that it's mostly noise (like white noise or something, not loudness :P) doesn't really help it much.

Your bass is really loud in your intro there, I can hardly at all hear the boom, or almost the punch, of the kick, while it plays. It's almost a click in comparison. I'd EQ it some, cutting the bass frequencies a fair though not extreme amount, so you have more balance between the two. The bass also makes the entire song hard to listen to - it overpowers nearly everything, I can hear the hihats ducking under it, for example. It even distorts a small amount in places... :\

I don't hear any kind of overpowering c
ompressors on the master channel, which is a good thing, considering a ton of the songs I've reviewed lately have had one. ;) Just a tip while I'm at it, you might know this already, but why not? When putting the finishing touches on the full song, aim for subtle effects when FXing the master channel, instead of dramatic ones.

Other than all of that, though, I've got nearly nothing to say. :) I'm sure most of this was obvious to you already anyway, I don't believe you needed my review. :P I'll give this an 8 (with better mixing you could have earned a 9 :( ), though I'll vote 5. Good luck this week, hopefully I'll see this song somewhere on the Weekly Top 5... ;D

Kr1z responds:

Yeh the bass might be a lil loudy ;D
I'll fix it.
Shakersz less noise.. will do
Thanks for the tips, its just hard to do every little detail correct at the first time, but next time it will work out better.
Thanks for ur time ^^

[What Phfor?]

You know, I haven't reviewed you in a while...

So it's about time I did anyway, right? ;D

First thing that comes to mind... I smell a VEE loop. :O You're the one who told me once that using blatant loops gets you less respect... follow your own advice. XD Though I only recognized it because GroundForce used the same loop in his song he submitted here, ExTrA... there are a few other recognizable sounds in the song as well but they're not as big a deal.

The decay on your kick seems to be a bit too long, it messes with the bassline a bit... and when you lowpass it to transition into your break, it distorts a bit, maybe turning down the resonance/Q is in order here. ;)

Synths sound good, as I'd usually expect from you... I've been hearing a certain bell-like synth of yours multiple times so it's nice to hear a song from you without it for once. XD The only times they stand out to me are the delayed lead at the end of the first buildup, which seems to play a clashing note or two, and your sidechained bass, which sounds a bit harsh too - perhaps some EQing is in order here? As a side note, the delayed lead sounds a bit plain, I'd prefer to hear something a bit more original. ;)

Your breakdown melody (I'm talking about the one at 3:45) is nice, but the second measure of it doesn't really go well with your chords, perhaps it's because one of the notes in the chord was the second note of the scale? It's almost a clashing note, but it's not quite one. Dunno, you might have wanted to rethink that. Your melody for your peaks is also nice, though rhythmically repetitive. Hmm - you said it's driving and very melodic, but it doesn't sound like either to me. It's good in its own sense but I wouldn't use those words - the energy seems to be a bit lacking to call it "driving," and I've heard plenty of songs more melodic than this one. ;)

Listening to that second peak, it sounds like you have a compressor on the master channel, as the mix seems to duck at random-sounding points, which makes it a bit annoying to listen to. :\ I'd go for more subtle changes when putting stuff on the master channel, if you're going for dramatic effects, then maybe you'd be better off raising/lowering the volume, or EQing if you have to.

I like what you've got going on around 3:26, pretty original-sounding! :D It sounds pretty good as is, but it would really be awesome if you could find something better to put in that empty space instead of a snare hit. ;)

The second buildup is a bit weird, and inconsistent with the EQ, or filters, or whatever you used - it might have been part of the idea but it didn't really work for me. And as for your ending, it sounded a bit plain to me, with just the kick. I'd have used something else along with it... dunno. :P

Other than all of that it's a decent track. I suppose we're pretty lucky to have it if you got it signed, too, so thanks. :D Looking forward to more from you...

Pulstate responds:

Greatful Karco.

Thanks. =)

[+Factory+]

Congrats on 100 submissions! :D

Here are my thoughts on this one...

The first thing that strikes me is that the drums aren't present enough. Not loud, present - so perhaps some mixing, EQing, compressing, or even sample changing might be in order? The kick doesn't boom (and is pretty quiet in the mix too), the clap is a bit quiet, and the hihats are inconsistent with volume and possibly panning, which makes the song hard to listen to. :\

In fact, the whole song lacks a good presence, it feels like you cut the bass, and the high treble frequencies. What you really should do is fill the frequencies more - to fix it I'd start by exaggerating, though not to an unfixable extent, the mix you have in mind, keeping in mind you should have a balance of frequencies - equal presence of drums and synths in the low, mid, and upper ranges. Once you're done with the song, mix it. ;)

The song lacks structure - considering you submitted it as a trance song, you'd think it would have some kind of structure to it as nearly every trance song does. :P I don't really hear one here, though. It might be that it was originally for Envy's contest, but I can imagine plenty of ways to make a full-length trance song for Envy's contest. Maybe this would be better off in Industrial, where less trance-heads like me will complain it's got no structure, it isn't long enough, etc. XD

One of your synths sounds like a 3xOsc preset, it might just be me, though. :P

Other than all of that I think you're fine. I don't usually review this sort of song but it's not bad. :) Keep it up.

WritersBlock responds:

Thanks for the tips. I'm not too good judging genres of songs, and my mixing and mastering knowledge is pretty limited.
I only just recently got some new drum samples, so I'm still sifting through them to find the best ones.
This was probably the fisrt time I've used 3xOsc presets, nice pick. ;D

Thanks for the great review and advice, it helps lots.