Karco's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Rave Gift]

At last, I get to this one! :D

I was shown this song, and I was REALLY impressed by what you have here - you really know what you're doing! So I'm here to give you the feedback you'll need to hopefully make songs like this, that are significantly improved. >:)

Amazing intro, the song comes at you full-on right away - I hardly ever hear that pulled off that well! The combination of synths is amazing - everything fits perfectly. There are only a few downsides, but otherwise, this song is PERFECT. I'll skip all the praise (for the sake of my fingers, ok? XD) and move straight on to the criticism I've got...

The one killer downside to this song is the quality - you've killed the bass here! D: What I would have liked to see was a mix for headphones, since not everyone busts out their giant speaker system for every song they listen to - I hardly ever listen to my music on speakers, usually I use headphones, and I'm sure a lot of other people do, to. What I'd suggest doing here is going a bit easier on the bass and giving it some room, while cutting the middle frequencies - or whatever you need to - to keep control of the amount of distortion, clipping, etc. that the song has. If I could hear the boom of the kick in this song, ah... I'd be listening to this for weeks, no joke! :D

The section from 1:00 to around 1:22 could have used some general improving, in my opinion... the piano was a bit strong and would have been better played on a MIDI keyboard - that is, if you didn't use one. If you did, then don't hit the keys so hard! XD The drums could have used some general improving as well, compared to your other drums in the good parts, they're... well, so-so. :\ If you could maintain a section like you started with throughout those two minutes, without losing the listener's interest, this would really be something amazing.

Definitely worth finishing - and work on the quality, too! If you have to, make two different mixes, because this stuff is gold. :D You would get an 10/10, but you get a 9/10 because of the quality. D: I wish this were perfect, because then I'd download it... but you'll have to settle for my continued checking on your page instead, for something better. XD I really enjoyed this, and hope my advice helps! :D One last thing - care to stop by my page? I have a brand new submission that could use reviewing. :P Thanks a lot, and keep up the great work!

Davirus responds:

yay! what an amazing review here! xD
wow, thanks.
Oh yes, Im still working on bass mastering over this one, maybe the saturation made the "low quality" feeling.. grrr ><

Im gonna try to finish this as complete song and try to make the bass to fit perfecly!

Once again, thanks! =3

glad you liked n_n

[[TMM43]Digital Girl [?]]

Looks like I'm a bit too late...

Seeing as you've got another submission up and all. D: But I promised a big review, and you're going to get one! >:)

Great synth you started with there, though I recognize it - Nexus, right? I might be wrong, though I know for sure I've heard that synth SOMEWHERE before... hmm. Either way, try to keep your synths disguised - like this, it works for the casual listener (though in some cases even they might recognize an overused sound), but all of your fellow artists will notice. ;) If you disguise the things you use, it'll have a new sound to everyone. :D

On that note, I'll bring up your vocal FX, and your hits - Vengeance Essential Clubsounds, right? I don't have any real comments about their use, but rather that you used them at all. Once again, try to make it difficult to recognize what sounds you're using, so you've got a unique sound that you can call your own. ;D I'm recognizing your hit, "Are you ready?", "Freeze!", and the transition at 0:20. Also, another thing - I see you're using multiple vocal FX samples, some of them only once or twice throughout the song. I understand the concern for diversity, but try to keep the number of samples you use like that to a minimum - it gives the listener something to come back to. ;)

Next, your synths and composition. Composition is great in this song, though I would have liked to hear a bit more rhythmic diversity - the melody had some, but just a little bit more and it would have been perfect in my opinion. Synths are all well-chosen - once again, try not to use them raw, but give them some additional FX so they sound different. (This applies to the last paragraph too, by the way. :P) Synths are all good - nice sidechained bass, by the way! :D It could have been a bit more bassier in my opinion, but it did the job. Your lead is a bit thin in my opinion, and too quiet in places. Miscellaneous other synths/instruments are all fine. I don't recognize that piano, which is great - I vaguely remember hearing it somewhere, but otherwise it's completely new to me. Way not to use FL Keys! XD

Now for your drums - your snare is the first one I'm hearing, and I've heard tons of snares just like it before. FX might be in order here. ;) Thankfully, its volume is fine. Kick is new, I haven't heard one like it before, which is good - though it could be EQed better. Or, maybe just the rest of the song around it - my guess is the boom of the kick is getting lost in the clutter (see next paragraph) of the rest of the song. The clap and hihats also get drowned out by the rest of the song, I can hardly hear them - they need to be louder! ;D Try EQing them as well, (raise the higher frequencies) for a slightly different sound, and then choose between the sound of a different EQ and a higher volume. Sometimes one is better, sometimes it's the other. The crash is good, but could be a little bit louder. Your reverse crash is also good, no complaints.

Lastly, mixing/EQing. It's decent, but it could use some improving. The song overall has a cluttered sound, possibly by having too many instruments playing at the same time, with too much reeverb. It might be that your bass is a sidechained pad... maybe a sharper sidechain and better individual EQing would give you a cleaner sound? I think that the overall mixing/EQing could do with a bit more work as well - I don't know specifically what's wrong but I can tell this song could sound better as a whole. ;) Stick a Fruity Parametric EQ (or Fruity Parametric EQ 2, or whatever equalizer you use if you don't use FL Studio) on the master channel and play around, you might get something you like. ;D

Overall, it's definitely a decent song - you definitely know what you're doing! ;D However, you've also got a long way to go. So hope this review helps, and sorry again for being late! :) I'll give this an 8/10, and I'll vote 5. :D One other thing - my latest song hasn't gotten a review in a while, any chance you could stop by and tell me what you think? I'd definitely appreciate it. ;D Thanks a lot and keep up the great work! :D

TMM43 responds:

Karco what a long review! Possibly the longest I've received to date! Thank you very much for this. (No sarcasm) I try to keep my responses to my reviews the same length as the review its self... so here it goes!

The synths are indeed from Nexus. You've caught me. :( I've grown accustom to using many of the same synths and saws in my songs only because I'm comfortable with them. I suppose I should start breaking out of my norm and using other things I'm not so comfortable with. I guess I needed someone to give me a wake up call. :D

Again, you've caught me red handed! My what an ear you have. Again my usage of the unoriginal vocals is due to the fact that it's my norm. I probably should break out of it... haha
The FX..wow..now there's a challenge. I have so many FX that it's kinda hard for me to go through them all. I try to mix things up with FX because I have a tendency to have a minor problem with repetition. Minor is used lightly here. I will, however take your advice into consideration when creating my next piece!

My synths! Ugh.. Every song I try to get some new ones. Some that are new to me, but not new to the listener. I like to make things that everyone has heard of, but at the same time, I try to make things that everyone hasn't quite heard. Again, this goes back to my comfort zone. I really need to break out of that, don't ya think? haha
The piano on the other hand is something that I personally think I've perfected. I try not to use the same one in every song, unless I really have to. :D I'm going to keep what I use a secret! haha

I'm not one to use snares. I know they really make songs, but they also break them. I've had a few songs where the Snare was too loud and unique sounding, or in this case, a snare that isn't loud enough and generic. It's a win lose situation. haha
The kick on the other hand was created by mistake. I had a generic kick with a sample thrown on top of it, and I guess it came out really nice. :P
Believe it or not, but this song barley has any high hats! I decided to try something new. I put a clap in where the high hat should have been, and then added a louder clap every other beat. ha, strange, but it works!
The crash...OH the crash. What a struggle for me... I'm not sure if it's my speakers or what, but everything sounds different through the speakers I use. Not like distorted, but somethings sound louder than others. But only by a little...So the crashes sound louder than they really are through my speakers. I think it's about time to get some new ones huh? :D

Mixing/EQing is one of my biggest problems. I'm a self taught Fruity Loops user, and every song is a learning experience for me. I do something different each song and I learn something new. I just recently learned how to mix/EQ, so you'll have to pardon me on that for now. haha
I'll defiantly take your advice on EQing on my next song. Any advice right now can only help me.

I'm glad you liked the song. I aim to please. I know...The road to success is a long and hard one, and I'm only just starting.
This review helped me SO much, you have no idea. I'm just honored that someone took the time to make a review this thoughtful and helpful. For that I can not thank you enough.
Again, thanks for the vote and the AMAZING review.
-TMM43 (DJ-Pinke)

I WILL indeed review your song! It's the least I can do!

[Bring The Night Preview]

Next review! :D

First few seconds, and I'm impressed - nice melodic sound! :) I don't like the clipping once the hit comes in, though - you've still got some mixing/EQing left to do for this one. ;)

Bass is on the offbeat, but it's not going to kill this song. In fact, it sounds pretty good. :D Now, that clap... maybe it's because I use them all the time, but it sounds extremely old and overused to me. :\ Maybe you'll want to FX it a bit? At this stage, it might be hard to choose a new sample altogether - though if you can, then do it! ;D

Unique-sounding hihat/ride you have there in the second half, I like it. :P Don't change it at all. :D

Once again, if you would submit longer clips, I'd leave longer reviews... but so far, so good - keep it up. ;D

A-New-Decade responds:

Appreciate the review! I can tell you really like this one. I saved it on fl as "2008epic" lol.

[-Emotion Burst locomotion]

I think I like this. :D

Nice feeling here - funny that sinspike says it should be slower, I think it's pretty slow in the beginning, compared to your other stuff. :P

I hear FL Keys - or possibly some other widely available free piano thing - throughout the song, I'm not so sure about it... :\ It's really recognizable to those of us who use FL Studio and even some people who don't, but have heard it enough times to know it. You left it really recognizable, too... come on, you can do better than that. ;D

I really like that distorted synth that plays on the first beat and the second offbeat of the first measure of every four measures in some parts! :D A bit of a long, specific sentence, but you get the idea. :P Point is, I ALWAYS like to hear synths like that in a song - it's a personal taste thing and I think it's awesome. :P The bass synth is also awesome, I just noticed it, and no complaints - really good and original-sounding. ;)

Vocals at 1:04 sounded a bit random, to me... :\ The song didn't really need them, in my opinion.

Composition is great, instruments are great - together, they make a slightly video-gamish feel. :P Drums are, as always, first-rate... do I hear some panning in them? o_O Because my right headphone is making just a little bit more noise drumwise than my left now and then... ah, well, it's all great. The ride (or is that some kind of an open hihat? It's on the offbeat) introduced midway through the song is good, though you did some weird gating stuff... you should have just let it play! ;D

That's about all I've got to say, great job with this one. :D 9/10, 5/5, and a download - keep it up. And congrats on weekly 1st with Control: Crowd! :D

Waterflame responds:

Haha yeah i guess youre right about the FLkeys, but tbh ive never found any piano like thats better. i have only ONE vst and thats the magical 8bit :(
thanks for the long and awesome review :D i found this review verry helpfull aswell! (lol *clicks the yes down below*) again, thanks! :)

[==(Climbing a Snow Mounta]

I've got half an hour to write this review...

So let's see what I can do! >:)

That synth/arp thing that starts the song... I've heard it before. o_O Recycled? Stay away from that... ;D

Nice squarelike (right?) delayed synth. Strings are good, too... not too much to say. Drums are good, but the low, distorted synth makes the whole thing sound a little bit odd. o_O Composition is nice, but I've definitely heard better out of you - I hear the "snow" in the strings, and the "mountain" part in the down-to-earth drums and now, bongos. (You did stretch the idea of ambient, a bit... XD) But overall this all doesn't really mix well. :\

Wow, that's three minutes? It felt a lot shorter. :P But this is all I've got to say this time... sorry for the short review. D: 8/10, and 4/5... good, but you can make better stuff. Especially now that you have Logic. ;D Keep it up.

Woah, I just realized how short this review is. At least, compared to my usual ones. Sorry about that. D:

[{A10} Experiment]

Not bad... :)

The melody and harmony parts are all great - your drums are great too, though I'd have to agree with Rig - you're a bit lacking in the bass area. I think your bass synth is a good one, though a little bit distorted - it just needs some good EQing. What would really help that bassy feeling is if you found a better kick sample - this one is centered around frequencies too high for a good "boom." ;)

Lead/guitar are both great, but could use some more EQing so they stand out. Is that some sort of phased arp I hear around 0:10? Waaaaaaaaaay too quiet, make it louder! ;D

I'm not sure if mastering is really what you want - quality is definitely what you're looking for but you're using the wrong term. At this stage, you'd want proper mixing (adjusting the volumes of the individual drums/synths) and EQing (cutting and boosting certain frequencies of individual drums/synths, and the song as a whole). Mastering is for once you've got those two perfected. ;D Still... check your inbox. ;)

Well, this was a bit too short for me to write a good review (by my standards :P) but it's a loop after all. 7/10, 4/5, nice work.

aurora10 responds:

thanks man. im not very good in termnology in those kind of stuff. Still...check your indox ;) I mean it, i replied ;)
--
aurora10

[==(Morning Sun)==]

:D (my summary is just that face but it won't...

...let me submit it like that. So I had to type in more stuff. >:( )

Interesting glitched-sounding introduction... very well-done. A bit repetitive, though, you could have begun progressing the song sooner.

Nice transition there, to enter the drums - EQing and mixing is perfect, too! :D There's something off with the toms - panning, maybe? o_O It's no big deal, though. They're VERY catchy every single time. :D

Something I'm noticing about the composition is that it's repetitive - it's a short, four-chord chord progression, with each chord stretched through two measures. If you had stretched it to 16 measures and 8 notes, while keeping it consistent and not wandering or anything that would have made the song even better. :D That might be my taste in music, but I think this is some helpful advice here. Your call, you're the one I'm giving it to, right? ;D

Later in the song, everything still sounds crystal-clear - I like that new synth you introduce somewhere between 2:15 and 2:20! Piano composition is great, too - and VERY realistic-sounding, you could have done this with a MIDI keyboard. Did you?

I've got only a little criticism, and this is definitely one of your best songs. So... 10/10, 5/5, and a download once I get home today. ;D Great job, this is really something awesome.

[[GF]RuN[GF]Demo]

You updated it! :D

And you took my advice, too, and added in a melody at 0:58! It's pretty awesome, too. Sadly, this review will probably be shorter since I'm reviewing a different version of the same song, but I'll try. ;)

Not much is different... again, your melody is great, no complaints. Bass, while improved, is still a bit too bassy, I can't hear the boom of the kick. :\

Apparently, though, your computer is giving you trouble, which always sucks... hope you can figure it out soon. Until then, you can't really fix much, huh? D:

Nice job either way, I definitely enjoyed it. ;D

[(::Towards The Sun::) =FINAL=]

A bore to listen to, but great background music.

This is interesting, though very simple and plain. You have one pad play chords... and that's just about it. As far as complexity, diversity, and effort go, this song falls short. :\ This seems to be more of a "background music" song than a listening song to me.

The composition is nice, there are no clashing notes for the most part (though I hear a few in the low range) and this is very easy on the ears - clarity is near-perfect. Tip: At most, have only one note at a time playing in the C3-C4ish range. Any more than that, and the lower range becomes muddied. C4-C5, still, keep the notes to a minimum, though two, rarely three, notes will work. Higher up, there are hardly any restrictions, and it becomes more an issue of clashing notes and volume and less an issue of clarity.

A far cry from my usual reviews, but this is a fairly plain song. I hope my advice helps anyway. ;) As background music, this deserves a 9/10 and a 5/5, so great job. :D

FatKidWitAJetPak responds:

Hey, thanks a lot. It was more of a background song, but isn't most Ambient music plain? Lol, thanks for the honest and sincere vote!!

[{DXS} -=Mix=-]

It's about time! :D

Interesting introduction you've got there - I'm pretty sure I've heard those strings somewhere though I'm not sure exactly where. :\ It starts out a bit slow, and somewhat boring, but picks up with the kick, and then more trance elements, which should have come in a LOT sooner.

Wow, more than halfway into the song and it hasn't hit the main part yet? o_O Careful. It finally has, though, and I'm not too impressed, though I can't say it's bad for a first original. ;)

Melodywise, you've got some pretty good stuff, though it's a tad repetitive. Remix material by my standards! Too bad I'm working on one already. D: I might give it a shot, sometime, and make a short loop, maybe a bit more if I feel like it. I'll send it to you if you're interested, and maybe I'll even submit it. :D

Your short synth, playing three sixteenth notes and one sixteeenth rest at a time... is that an attempt at a gated synth? Da-da-daa, da-da-daa? :P I did that once! XD It's something completely different, actually. PM me and I'll send you a link to what you want to use to gate your synths. ;)

Your bass is on the offbeat again - it works sometimes, but it had BETTER be well-done. Otherwise you're just using another cliche, and nobody wants to hear something they've heard hundreds of times before, now... :\ The synth is well-chosen, though, which is good. Though I smell a .mp3 sample... am I onto something? Because you don't want to use those, EVER. ;) Listen to my song Nova to see what happens when you go too far into the habit of using them. XD

Drums, drums... well, your kick is weak and needs EQing so the bass will stand out more. It also needs some volume adjustment. The sample is fine.

Your hihat sample isn't the best I've heard, though I recognize it from VEC. Just a thought - when making trance songs, you don't just want one open hihat on the offbeat, you want a whole hihat line. Sometimes that's just two closed hihats one sixteenth note before and after the main open hihat, and sometimes it's an amazingly complex line the likes of which I still have to master. :P Give it a try sometime, it'll make your songs that much better in the end.

Odd, two clap samples. The first one, while great, is a little bit overused, and you had better be using it well if you're using it at all. The second one just doesn't fit, at least in my opinion. :\ Try to stick to just one clap sample throughout your song. If you have to, layer them, but that's the most you should do.

Your huge snare roll in the middle of the song is definitely a highlight! :D Nice job there. It's a bit too long for my tastes, but at least you keep it interesting throughout. ;)

I hear FX - chimes and the like. They're a bit weak, though, so you might want to raise their volume, too...

No big overall EQing problems stand out to me - everything has to do with the individual elements and not the song as a whole, which sounds great. So nice job there! :)

Overall... repetitive, and the production isn't quite perfect. But it's definitely a forward step, and decent progress. You'll be making great stuff in the future, I know it. >:) Keep at it!

DXSpirit responds:

Thanks Karco :). I always loved your reviews because you specify any little thing you see and helps me make a better job on my next subscription. I agree 100% on everything you've said in this review. Thanks alot :)