Or4nges's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Daybreak.]

Oh my.

Quality wise, this is one of the best first songs i've ever heard. That kick is punchy as hell, the snare fits nicely with it, great (albeit fairly loud) bass, and a nice saw lead over it.

Here's some criticism though. On all your transitions you used the fruity Free Filter. You might wanna step away from that; It's a really full on effect and needs to be used sparingly. I recommend using reverse crashes, snare rolls, and other filtering effects for your transitions to keep things fresh. There's alot of things you can do.

Also, I think some of your instruments are a bit loud. The bass kind of drowns everything out, along with your saw lead. You can barely hear the hi-hats over it. Try working on that next time :P EQing helps alot too. By cutting out frequencies you can make room for other sounds while still keeping the same volume.

1:22 was an awesome break. Some effects here and there would do awesomely. Maybe some delay on the piano? That lead you had over it was a great call too by the way, i'm a sucker for distorted, airy type things lol. Only problem is your transition back, Maybe try filtering your bass back into the song at 1:43? As is it's kind of ... jarring :P

There's some other stuff too, but since this is your first song, i'll let it slide :P Seriously awesome work here though, Some people take ages to get this good of sound quality. Song structure wasn't that bad either, reminded me of a few of my first songs; Dancey bass, Catchy lead, and of course a piano break lol.

... Whoa, sorry for the wall of text lol. Anyways I look forward to more! Keep up the good work dude.

AustinHayes responds:

Thanks for the feedback man! I'll definitely have some much better stuff soon. And consider all of your suggestions duly noted:D

[Sound of my Dream (RW remix)]

/jawdrop

Dude I loved the original! I think most of us can say that was one of our first techno songs, and I think you're playing our nostalgia like a drum :P Either way, glorious.

You knnow, you compliment my mastering, but here you are pumpin' stuff like this out; this blows the mastering of most other versions of this song to hell. Bravo :P The guy below me says the volume of the voice falls at the drop? It doesn't really. I'm actually surprised it didn't with all dat bass lol

Only critique is that I think you rely a bit too heavily on the bass. Particularly at 1:20. Maybe rely isn't the right word. It just feels like it drones a bit much. Maybe throw some filters on it? High passes make the world go 'round.

Anyway, great job on the mix, Maybe not groundbreaking in terms of dance, but i'll be damned if it doesn't do it's job :D

Indigorain responds:

Whoo!
Thank! You! Sir! :D
Thanks for the compliments man! Haha, the mastering on the other tracks was one of the things that made me remix it :P
But thanks for the advice, I agree about the bass, I've been struggling with that throughout progress, because everything I added affected the bass.
But anyway, I'm really really grateful for this review! Thanks a whole lot man! :D

[Race Around the World]

Ergh

You should look up Waterflame. He's got a pretty famous song by the same name :/

But that has nothing to do with the song itself does it? :P

It felt somewhat empty. You should really work on your mixing/mastering to bring out all the elements in the track and to make everything fit. As is all your pads and leads sounded pretty raw. Eqing, stereo seperation, compression, reverb, and whatnot are your friends
- The lead at 1:12 needs some harmony methinks. The melody itself could use a few flourishes and some more surprises.

Kinda catchy though. I can see it being used in a racing game to be honest :P Oh! And that voice was a nice touch.

Anyway, keep it up. Also do you think you could give my newest track a listen? Thanks!

RawGreen responds:

When I titled the song, I was thinking of the movie, I didn't realize someone else had the same title. Then again, when I made my first Tetris remix I did the same thing.

Thank you for your insightful advice, I will go over everything you've mentioned thus far.
I'll check out your stuff gladly.
Thankyou <3

[And Life Goes On(Final Mix)]

Hmm.

Alright let's see.

First of all, I like the idea for the lead, but I think it needs some reverb, and almost definitely some delay. It contrasts too heavily with the piano, which has alot of reverb. You also might wanna tinker with the chorus a bit? It sounds a little.. eh.. phasey. lol. Also, I think your bassline is a bit off, I heard some dissonance that sounded a bit out of place around the 1:30-2:00 mark.

Next your percussion. I think you should add a bit of sidechaining with the kick to give the track a bit more of a bouncey feel. It's really common these days, but it does add alot. Also helps the kick punch through the mix, which is essential in house and dance music. You might wanna try tinkering with the clap's EQ. It sounds too raw :P

At :34, I would try to introduce a new synth, or at least add something an octave or two higher above it. There's no transfer of energy; no build up.

-On that note, you should add some crash cymbals at the beginning of each segment, and some reverse effects before hand. That prepares the listener for a transition. Kind of a heads-up, and really helps with a songs flow.

This probably sounds kind of negative, but I figure advice is more helpful than "it was good" :P

You've got great melodies, the song structure is there, you've just got to work on adding more effects, more synths, get the percussion to cut through the mix, and possibly beef up the bass a bit. The low ends are really important in dance music nowadays. The bassier the better.

Keep it up, man.

OneEighteen responds:

Haha thanks. You're the first person to give me legit ideas on how to make things better on Newgrounds in... well.. Probably ever. I'll look into working on that stuff. I'm not particularly good at the EQ'ing and transitioning part of production yet, but I'll work on it. Thanks. :)

[[Genesis]]

Hmm

I know you're kind of showcasing the synth at the beginning, but I think it needs bass. Try EQing out the low ends and adding a sub bass? Or just a regular square type bass thing if that's what tickles your fancy. Either way, it definitely needs something.

:28 Needs work, I literally thought the song restarted lol. Maybe introduce another sound as well after the filtering?

Also, for your transitions, try using some cymbals or some effects. All the meat and potatoes are there, it just feels like the song could do a better job getting from one section to another.

P.S; Really enjoyed the synth at 2:30.

My last little suggestion is have your melodies vary a little more? They're all good, but they're all a little basic/generic as well. Add some triplets here, some nuances there, maybe a slide for good measure. Anything to break monotony and/or keep the listener glued to their seat.

Regardless, really liked it. Nice and punchy, with good energy.

Keep it up man!

halfdeadorfull responds:

Thanks so much! This is perhaps the most comprehensive review I've ever gotten on any track before! And it actually is stuff I can improve upon, not just a simple comment like "that's good", or "i liked it". Thank you so much for the feedback! It means so much to get great feedback like this! (: Thank you!

[Norato - Plucked]

Pompus?

If you don't care what we think why post it on newgrounds? And furthermore, why the insults? These people could be great help to you; take their advice, and use it to improve, because frankly, you're far from perfect.

Norato responds:

xD I upload song to newground to more people hear it, my officialy chanel is on youtube. AND ! IF YOU LISTEN TO OTHERS ADVICE YOU´LL LOST !YOUR! STLYE and become just some idiot which do only that what people want > slave

[Dubstep Bass Trial]

Hmm

The separation of the highs on the left and the lows on the right kind of bugged me, but this is still rather snazzy. Can I ask how you did it?

Also, you should use better drum samples, those were god awful :P

ConsciousAutomation responds:

Yeaah. I need to find some better drum samples. Unfortunately, FLS is got rid of some of the better loops it had (Like DL_Breaks. Awesome to slice up and rearrange).

Basically, how its done is by creating your own sound wave on the OSC option on Op 1, then utilize the 3 filters to modulate the cutoff of the LFO (I use the standard triangle pattern, take off global setting, then increase the speed). Utilize the wave shaper to create distortion. Add in some other wave files (like sine, square, saw), tweak it, and you're done.

Thanks for the review!

[Curb Servers (Original Mix)]

Hey man

Wow, way better than my house stuff. I should go back to trance haha.

I think the formant lead at :20-1:00ish could really benefit from stereo seperation rather than panning. I'm not sure how it works Logic though, so I can't help you out with how to do it :/ In FL Studio we've just got a plugin for it.

Also, I think the main reason you're not getting the "clean" sound you're looking for is that sounds don't have enough attack, and they have too much reverb/decay. Try compressing em a bit to get that punch/bite you're looking for, and then cutting out the decay time of the sound itself.

Also, try sidechaining just about everything except the snare; Doesn't have to be extreme though, just enough to be noticeable. Or extreme if that's what you're looking for. Either way, it allows the kick some room to breathe, gives the track a bit of pulsation, and a bit of character :P

Lastly, try EQing your chords, melodies, and drums so that they stay in their own frequency range. Definately cut out the low basses from everything except a sub bass if you have one. Nothing should usually go below 100hz. That alone will make it less muddy. Also, boosting the higher frequencies a few dB will make a sound a bit more crisp. It's all contextual though, do what sounds best :)
----
Just work on some of those things and you'll be on your way to a more crisp, professional sounding track.

Don't get me wrong though, what you have already is great, I just feel like constructive criticism is better than "it was good"

Keep it up man!

TheTriangle responds:

Great tips! I'll have a few more songs on here soon and I hope you'll notice the consideration i took from your word of wisdom. much appreciated & i'll be sure to keep up with your tracks as well!

[End of the Journey - slunchyy]

Noice.

I like it. Seems like a loop you'd hear in a nintendo game. Not much criticism except that it's pretty short. Even background loops can afford to be at least a minute long or so :P

P.S. Can I ask what you're using for the bass? I mean the vst. I like it alot, nice and full.

kjhsdgf responds:

oh thanks, man.
yeah i might extend it a little for juicier tunes.

the bass is 2 different sounds:

the deep sound is the "rough step" sound out of the misc shapes
and "rough square" is the mid-low sound, it's from the same folder.

the deep bass has a parametric eq on it to cancel out the high-pitched sounds.
and i messed with the instrument properties on both of those shapes.

tl;dr packs>shapes>misc on the left side
(if you're using fl-studio)

[FEAST - Illusion]

Ask and you shall recieve :D

I particularly like the chord progression. It feels different and somewhat irregular with the strings, so it doesn't get boring at all. Awesome work on that bit.

I will say that some of the bass seemed like it needed to be turned down a little at 0:28. Just a little though! it was kind of overpowering.

Plucks, sweet :P Kinda like my song "Welcome Back". I feel like we've got some similarities stylistically lol. I think it would have been cool to have them slowly fade in with a low pass filter or something. The rest of the song flows extremely well, but those just kind of 'pop' in. You know?

You might wanna try sidechaining the strings when the kick comes in, or compressing it some more, sounds to me like it's having some trouble punching through the layers.

Don't get me wrong, I like it alot :D. I get nit-picky with my reviews. All if this is mainly my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

I like this style, you should do it more often!

FEAST responds:

No no, recommended changes and they shall be made. I like reviews like this - ones that actually help you improve your music.