Karco's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[GF]SmalltownBoy[GF]]

I like this! :D

It's very high-quality music, you definitely know what you're doing! Let's see whether or not I've got any criticism for it...

None up to about a minute and a half into the song, great job! :D But at that point, I hear a guitar... is it just me or have I heard a guitar like that before? Just a random thought, I might be wrong. But, guitar choice aside, it's definitely well-used.

I'd have to say that the buildups are definitely a bit lacking, like navij11 did, so that probably means you really need to work on them now, huh? ;D You could also have made them a bit more rewarding - more powerful climaxes and the like, as I wasn't really feeling it for them. ;)

I also hear very recognizable VEC sounds, and while that's not very often a problem with the casual trance listener, it probably will be with your fellow trance makers. ;) Try to disguise them a bit, you probably know how and were just being lazy... :P

You know, the "weird dist synth" as referred to in the other review, I actually find to be an awesome creative touch. I always like to hear things like that in trance songs, so great job there. :D

Not quite one of your best - you can do better - but it's still pretty good! Keep at it, I can't wait for your next submission. >:)

One other thing - care to stop by my page sometime and review my latest? The .flp file corrupted and I didn't have a backup, resulting in an edit of an old render being submitted, but I still think it's decent and worth a review sometime. (It hasn't gotten one yet. ._.)Thanks a lot, and keep up the great work. :D

[Utopia (Original Mix)]

Fine. >:(

If you want me to review this one, that works too. :P Let's see what I think of this song...

Is it just me or do you introduce your songs like that a LOT? A pad or something, then the kick fades in.

Has it become a HABIT of yours to put that bass on the offbeat?! XD I won't bother you much about it after this but you really should try something else sometime.

Quality is, again, a problem... there's distortion everywhere, again. It's a mix of too many things overall in the song, and too many things in the same frequencies. Low-to-mid is my guess. Maybe if you listened to other artists with good quality, you would get some ideas? Or you could look into some more advanced techniques... not like I have, anyway. :P Try limiting your synths, too - maybe as an experiment try to make a song with only three or four good synths. For example, a lead, a bass, and something in the middle, i.e. an arp or pad. It just might come out pretty good. ;)

For some reason I'm thinking the composition and energy levels just don't go that well together - if this song had less energy to it - maybe a slower beat - and the clarity was much better, THEN they would... I don't mean this as actual criticism, though. :P Just my opinion.

The way those crashes are used on the transitions - one on each beat of the last measure before the transition - I've heard that about as often as I've heard the bass on the offbeat. More, actually. It should be easy for you to figure out the rest of what I'm going to say, I'm sure you can and it's less work on my fingers, typing. ;D

Overall... I can't really give it much more than a 7. :\ For the rating, it deserves a 4 more than it deserves a 3, though, so hooray for rounding up. ;D It's good, but there's definitely a lot of room for improvement. So keep at it, you're bound to make something awesome sooner or later. :D

A-New-Decade responds:

Did you not listen to the end? It's amazing! =D

[Miracle - (DXS) Remix 2]

I'll comment on some other things now...

This review might be as long as the last one, it might not be, I have no idea. :P We'll see.

I see you've got VEC! :) Definitely Volume 2, I hear samples from that one, I can't remember if any of those are from Volume 1 or not. So you have more resources to make better songs - all you need to do now is learn how to use them well - which is no easy task, considering there is no "best" way to use a resource. Just give it some time - those awesome ideas will come soon enough, with enough experience.

Another major concern is your mixing - it's becoming an issue now, I see. Don't worry, I had more than a few songs with... less than perfect quality. XD One song of mine's especially famous for it, but... if you're interested, bring it up in a PM sometime. :P The main problem is your kick - I can understand trying to get it to sound bassy, and stand out among the rest of the song. But how about you don't go about it by simply raising the volume next time? ;D Fruity Parametric EQ 2 is a perfect tool for this sort of thing - play around it and you'll see what I mean. Distortion and clipping is the thing you least want when perfecting the mixing of a song - so if you're listening to it, whether on FL Studio or on an .mp3 render, and you hear any distortion/clipping, do whatever it takes to fix it. ;) Tweak with the individual volume knobs, or drag down the master volume - and then amp up the .mp3 render in a program like Audacity. Once you've finished that (and ONLY once you have), you could put a Fruity Parametric EQ 2 on the Master channel, and tweak with that until the song's overall easier on the ears.

I don't know about your synth and drum choice/usage in this song. Some choices are definitely better, some... well, they're weird. Don't go with synths that are TOO erratic, detuned, etc. Same goes for drums. This kind of song does better with cleaner-sounding synths and drums, at least in my opinion. ;) Just a thought here.

That bass is still on the offbeat, see the review for the other song...

You know what would help you a lot? If you listen to music of the genre you're trying to make, by professionals or at least people better than you - and OFTEN - you'll definitely get a lot better, a lot faster, compared to listening to one genre and making another. It worked quite well for me - it's been less than a year since I started and people say I improve fast. :P</ego>

Not a bad song, but I THINK you could do much better. :P Don't get me wrong, though, there's definitely improvement! As always, send me a PM or respond to this review if you have any questions. :) Oh, and I'm still waiting for an original song. ;D Keep it up.

[Miracle - (DXS) Remix]

Heh, I remember my first song... :D

It was... well, you could go listen to it for yourself. XD But this easily beats it, by far. That means... well, as SBB said, you have a lot of potential. :)

I've got lots of things to say about this song... I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're a beginner. >:)

Firstly, and most importantly, your drums - they came with FL Studio, correct? Well, get out there and invest in some better ones - if you want to get anywhere in music making, avoid those FL Studio drums like the plague. I'll send you a PM with a few options right after I finish reviewing this song. As far as the usage of your samples, everything seems to be fine - next time, though, I wouldn't reccomend a closed hihat for the offbeat. Go with an open hihat instead - generally they sound a lot better on the offbeat. What you could do with closed hihats is either go the lazy way, and have it play 16th notes next to the rest of the percussion - which works, but this other way I'm about to mention is a lot better. See, you also have the option of creating a closed hihat line with multiple samples, or going even more advanced and making sure it sounds good with the open hihat, too - I'm hardly there myself, though. ;D

The bass is decent, though not amazing - you've let it sit on the offbeat, which can work out to be quite catchy sometimes - unfortunately, it's a very unoriginal thing to do. Next time, try arping it - I reccomend doing it manually on the piano roll, but the built-in arpeggiator FL Studio gives you (click on the channel button of a synth in the step sequencer, go to the last tab, and find the arpeggiator) could give you some ideas. Listen to other songs and see what they do with the bass, that could give you some ideas, too.

Your synths overall are good, but sound quite plain. Next time, play around with the FX FL Studio gives you - The Fruity Filter, Fruity Flangus, Fruity Fast Dist, and Fruity Parametric EQ 2 are some of my favorites. :) Done right, your synths will sound completely different and a LOT more original... but only if you practice, of course. ;) Another option is to invest in some new synths - for example, Nexus (go to http://www.refx.net) is an awesome VSTi I use all the time - it's easy to use and the synths (though it can have drums, too! :D) are very high-quality. ;) Just a few thoughts.

The composition... well, it's a remix, so I can't really credit you for any of it. Again, like SBB said, make an original song next - I want to see how it turns out. >:)

Overall a nice start! It's your first song so I won't give you too low of a score. ;) Most of the stuff I mentioned in this review is pretty advanced, so don't try to figure it ALL out while making your next song. Just go a little bit at a time. ;) If you don't understand something in this review, or have a question, feel free to PM me. Looking forward to your next! :D

[~Conquer~]

You've got talent for this stuff too! :D

It's definitely quality classical music, especially for... well, how many times, exactly, have you made a classical song? XD It had its downsides but the good parts definitely made up for them. My comments are below as they came...

Great atmosphere so far, I like it a lot. :D

I don't like the transition at 0:43. It felt a bit too abrupt - you changed keys, emotion, and quite a few other things. Then strings come in, and they clash with the choirs... :\ Not one of the better parts of the song. The following part is better, though. :D

Is that a xylophone I hear? XD Well-used, though there are more fitting, similar-sounding instruments out there, I'm sure.

Overall it's quite a diverse song - diversity would have to be its biggest strength, in my opinion. :D

The transition at 2:45 is also a pretty big one. It switches, abruptly again, into a triumphant mood for the rest of the song. I like the section on its own but the transition... well, keep trying with those, I have trouble with them myself. :D

About all I've got to say, I enjoyed it! :) I'll vote 4. Keep up the good work. :)

[FL - Summer Rain [Remastered]]

Has its ups and downs.

I think I just might leave a monster review on this one. ;) We'll see...

First thing that comes up to me is that you're using the VERY recognizable FL Keys and... correct me if I'm wrong, but VEC? 1 or 2, I can't tell. If you're using any common samples, go ahead and FX them, heavily! That way it'll sound LOTS more original, and in turn that much better. ;)

I hear the bass on the offbeat - this is quite commonly done, and though it's quite catchy, and works well almost all the time, it comes at a price of originality - dropping the bass on the offbeat is one of the most unoriginal things you can do with it, unfortunately. Next time, try arping it. Play with rhythms you'd call ridiculous. Change the 'Snap' on FL Studio (which you PROBABLY use XD) to 1/2 step, and experiment until you have something that sounds good.

The composition of this all is nice, and you've paced this song pretty well. Was this, by any chance, inspired by cornandbeans's Lazy Summer Days? :P Sure sounds like it... I notice that you switch between piano breaks and climaxes, several times in the song. If that's the deal, then take, say, a part of the song from one low point to the next (preferably the biggest) climax, and then the next low point, and work on it by itself as an original song, polishing it until it shines. Putting that kind of effort into a shorter song will almost all of the time give you something a LOT better than what you have now. ;)

Claritywise, there are a few things that need addressing. I'm noticing you're stacking your hits in a fashion that cause your song to clip... careful, there. ;) Use less hits at these points. If you absolutely HAVE to, though, then lower the volume on all of them so they don't clip, and mix/master them individually and as a whole. If that still doesn't work, then bring them back up to normal volume instead and lower the master volume, and start mastering the hits. If THAT doesn't work, then you need to get rid of a few hits. ;)

The general mastering could use some work... do you use FL Studio 7? Even if you don't, you probably have some version of Fruity Parametric EQ - I reccomend you use EQ 2, though it's up to you. Use it to master your songs, it helps me a lot when I master mine. ;) When I master mine, I generally end up cutting the middle frequencies - where buttons 3 and 4 would be, for example - a bit, so there's less clutter in the song. Then I build on that by raising the 5 and 6 knobs as needed until I have some nice, sharp, clean treble. I boost the kick by raising the 2 knob a bit, and then toy with the 1 and 7 knobs as needed until the song sounds good. It's up to you how you master your songs, and different songs often need different mastering, but that's the general formula that's worked for me nearly all of the time. ;)

Hmmm, anything else? This is a very good song, though songs like it are very common. If you want to get known on Newgrounds for songs like these... you're going to have to try VERY hard. ;D I reccomend taking up different, more original genres that less people do, but it's up to you in the end. If you want to stick with this style, go for it, and good luck. :) Just a thought you might want to consider.

That's about it, I enjoyed this song! I hope my comments help you in the future. Mind stopping by my page sometime? My latest could do with a review, especially since it's some of my best and I'd really like to see what lots of people think. ;) Find it at http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/liste n/96663.

Great work! Don't hesitate to PM me in the future if you want another review for a song of yours, though no guarantees on my availability. I'll try. :P Keep up the great work.

Pyroific responds:

MEGA REVIEW! lmfao, and NO i did not use FL Keys i used The soft grandpiano sound from Refx nexus.. D: w/e man thanks for the review

[==(Glowing Galaxy)==]

I haven't reviewed one of your songs in a while...

And since you went so far as to send me a [crazy] PM about this one, I thought I'd review it. :P

It doesn't quite sound so epic, really, but it is more melodic than most of what you make. It's in a major key too, and it works. Some of your composition is brilliant. :D

The tom roll at 0:41 doesn't really fit, in my opinion... I do like what comes right after - that high-pitched, heavily reverbed, sliding synth.

It does get a lot more epic around 2:40, and even more melodic. You should have built on it! You build on it differently, though. It works.

This could almost be listening music, except for the tom rolls, which are too loud, and the high-pitched sliding synth, which does get quite overpowering at times. The section at 3:53 through to 4:10 is a big example.

What I'm finding about this one is that it's generally the same stuff over and over, with very similar changes. True, you do your best to keep it diverse but it doesn't really work. For ambient listening music, diversity works fine but then the aforementioned loud parts get in the way... :\

Enough criticism, though - I'll end on the note of your atmosphere, which you set up and build amazingly. The impression the beginning gave me was that this was going to be a calm, gentle kind of song. A 'watching space' sort of thing. But I instead got a 'watching the quirks and little things of space' image. The song was happier, almost humorous and playful-sounding in places - like 1:26 to 1:29, for example, which is a perfect example of this playful feeling. :D Great job, there.

I enjoyed this song! Here's my 9/10, 5/5, and a download. More like this later on is a good idea, you're good at it. :)

Oh, by the way - if you read this review first, which you probably didn't, check your PM inbox. If you checked your inbox first, then you saw the PM which directed you to this review, and you don't need to look at it again. :P That's all.

Keep up the great work. :D

[_-={He's a Pirate Dance Remix]

A bit too used to submitting in Classical, are we?

After all, it is a DANCE remix, and you submitted the demo version under Dance... unless you think that it's Classical with Dance influences and not the other way around. :P But it's neat to see you're exploring genres, I'll give you what I think! Now that I'm in my real element, I'll give a nice juicy one too. >:)

Great use of vocals in that entrance! I'd have liked to hear it a bit more often, on the other transitions, though...

The first thing that stands out to me is that, as far as dance influence is concerned, your synths all sound quite the same, and quite video-gameish. I'll hazard a guess, correct me if I'm wrong - mildly FXed 3x0sc? The one exception is the sine in the beginning, which is quite an original touch and works well as an intro. It also works pwnsomely in the little interlude starting at 0:48, which happens to be my favorite part of the song. :D Here's a tip for your other synths, though. Try throwing whatever effects you find onto your synths, and play around with them. I like to use the Fruity Flangus, for example, to spice up a synth when it sounds rather dull, and I've been playing with Fast Dist these days, too. :P If you use FL Studio 7, pull out a Fruity Parametric EQ 2 on the Mixer channel of one of your synths and play around with the knobs until it sounds good. :P I once started with the default 3xOsc preset - as in, right when you open it up? I ended up making an NES-like distorted electric guitar purely with the FX I added on. XD

I'll comment on that bass of yours - it's on the offbeat, which works and can be quite catchy sometimes, but is also very unoriginal. Creatively arping it works out - once again, it's an experimenting sort of thing. Listen to other songs of this genre to see how they do it (assuming that they don't have an offbeat bass too, which could happen) and use them as a template.

You don't do too much harmonizing, which is a bit of a disappointment - your bass stays on C for a lot of the song, for example.

Something about your claps - this song is in 3/4 time, so the claps can't simply sit on every other beat like they would in a 4/4 song. I'd have either left the claps out entirely or experimented with the rhythms so I had a consistent one-measure-long clap pattern that sounded good. The kick is fitting, though nothing amazing. You might want to switch it up a bit on the transition measures, for diversity's sake. You could throw in a bit of extra classical percussion at those points too, for extra effect. :D I can hardly hear your hihat - it's closed, and closed ones usually play eighth notes or sixteenth notes in this kind of song. If you want a hihat on the offbeat, make it open for the most effect. ;) Finally, your snare rolls - they sound a bit off to me. I can't really tell how far off, but they SHOULD be ending right as the measure does. It could just be the 3/4 time throwing me off, though... XD

Oh, wait, I just noticed a 4/4 section... does that mean this song goes in both 3/4 and 4/4 time? I hardly noticed! o_O Great job bringing them together like that, I hardly noticed. Or was it unintentional on your part, too? XD

As far as the orchestrated parts of the song go, I don't have very much to mention. I don't think Dance always works well with orchestral influences, though you make it work. Not in a particularly unique or amazing way, unfortunately, but I can't say there's anything negative about it. :) If we're not talking about how they go together, though, I will say that there were times when the orchestra was a bit overpowering compared to the synths... but other than that it's all just fine.

A great effort at what came out to be pretty good, MaestroRage! :) You should give it another shot soon, you could be doing techno/dance as a side genre! :) Hope these comments have helped. :) Oh, and just something I'll say about what I've been up to lately, while I'm at it: There should be a new pwnsome submission on my audio page very soon... >:) But that aside, great work! I definitely enjoyed it. :)

MaestroRage responds:

I always love buying a small coffee while reading your reviews. There are a lot of great points, and because this is your genre we're playing in now, i'm very thankful for hearing your expertise.

You're right on several accounts, the hi hats for example are closed, for some reason I thought i'd try putting them in there. Failed experiment, but then again, experiments are not meant to be 100% success all the time!

And how did j00 knew aboot mah 3x0sc D: !?!?!?

I guess when you work in a genre enough they just stand out eh? Yes in fact, I did a pretty vicious melt and meld on those oscs. Saws, sines, and triangle 3xOsc's put together in one layer, after playing around with them for a bit I felt they sounded decent. Of course at this point even Sytrus presets sound decent to me, so how much that means could very well be nothing.

Also this song WAS meant to be in Dance. My absent minded submit mode kicked in and I just clicked on classical because heaven knows, my mind's always busting out an oboe and rudely interrupts my train of thought with a sick arse solo. Strings are usually included. For this song there was also a guy holding this cube, it r mede sounds.

As for the 3/4, 4/4 time switch, yes in fact it was intentional. The claps you see were designed for those sections, for some reason I didn't quite like them there, and then moved them to the 3/4 sections. I guess this was a bad move.

*If I am not mistaken the beginning and the heavily orchestrated parts are in 4/4*

That build up snare, is one I don't quite like myself. I just really didn't have any other snares on me. Or at least ones that didn't sound like fail.

The bass does stay at C. I thought the repetition would help keep the song together as everything else is pretty melodically active, i'll be sure to make it do something more on upcoming projects.

A brilliant review Karco, thank you for your tips, i'm glad you liked the project, i'll be checking out your sick tunes soon!

[==(Autumn is Closer)==]

Hey, look, it's the song...

The song you gave me a preview of a while ago! :D Here's a review...

Great atmosphere, the effects sound quite real. :D The wind does sound a little bit synthesized, though... Are those drums in the background? They're quiet, and I get what you're trying to get across with them - but it's almost easy enough to miss them entirely in my opinion. This idea is a good one, but make them a bit more noticeable next time. :P

The piano is well-chosen, and the octave it's at fits the mood of the piece. It wanders a little bit but for the most part, it works very well. :D It could have done with something in the lower ranges, though... I don't know, a note in the C3-C4ish range, every 2, 4 measures? Would really have added some depth to the song, especially if you had put off adding it in until the second half. Though if you're going for a light, mellow feeling, I can see why you'd stay away from it - it adds a bit of intensity as well.

That sliding synth... I can't say I remember it from last time, but it works! :D Like the piano it wanders a little bit... this actually could have been a countermelody on the piano, in my opinion. But you wanted a seperate synth, which works just fine as well.

The ending is a bit abrupt, but well-done! Gives me the feeling that Autumn's not closer anymore, but rather that it's HERE. Of course, it's really not yet, but you get the idea. :P Anyway, good job with it.

That's about it, here's my 5 and download. :) Looking forward to your next...

[*Rave-a-thon*]

Hey! :)

Took me long enough, huh? But I was going to get to this soon enough... :P

A bit of a slow intro - I was expecting something faster, better. You know what I mean? The intro to Tranceformation(I'm not going to bother checking if I spelled it the same as you did), for example... that was golden. :D

Once the song DOES get going, though... it's good! :D The string thing is a bit old, but it works. :D

Nice use of that sliding bass guitar! :D Used very well. Not too much else to say about it, but you used it creatively and you were creative to use it in the first place. :D Also your melodywork is very good, though could do with a bit more rhythmic diversity.

That bass of yours is on the offbeat... and it's not very original of you to do that. I mean, sure, it works! :D But I've gotten past that and you've been at it for... what, just as long as I have? Longer? XD Come on, you're better than that. Arp it, delay it, go crazy, just don't drop it on the offbeat and walk away. ;)

Hmm. When you use the reversed kick... is it just me, or does the song distort? Careful. :P In fact, the song's clarity is... second-rate. And that reminded me... I've been mastering my songs a bit lately, and experimenting with different kinds of speakers and headphones. They've been sounding a lot better, too. :D Even if it just means using Fruity Parametric EQ 2 or something, you should give it a try sometime, it really makes your songs sound a LOT better. Right now... your hihat is weak, and the kick distorts in places - again, especially when distorted. Mastering can make that better without touching the volume knobs. >:)

Sheesh, you know what I realized? I sound like I'm advertising mastering. But really, you should give it a try sometime. :P

That's about it, hope I've helped! :) Looking forward to your next song, hopefully it'll be even better. :D