Nav's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Kitty]

Interesting mood, interesting track. Some thoughts, in no particular order:

- Watch the interplay of your ideas here. Your pad (bass?) has a lot of low frequency content which could end up clashing with your kick drum (also low frequency content). Your LF only has room for one thing at a time, so it's useful to make a decision. Lots of choices, to fix it though (sidechaining, selective EQ, etc.). EQing the pad/bass differently might not be a bad idea, so you can emphasize its (currently subtle) note changes. Otherwise, the mixing is acceptable.

- "This is one DJ you don't wanna fuck with" is a pretty overused sample. Always be careful with vocal samples. Many come off as cliche in this day and age.

- The groove could definitely kick in earlier (though it is a nice groove actually). The intro might bore audiences. However, if you're getting someone to rap over it, it might be cool to have an intro like that.

- If it's going to stand on its own, it needs something else. Another sample, another hook or riff, something to change it up. It starts to drag after a while. Nothing super huge, just another element to spice up the track.

Not too familiar with this genre, so I wish I could give more targeted critique. Keep up the hard work.

- Nav

[xKore - Technology]

Cools

Dubstep seems to be the big thing as of late, replacing "minimal deep tech"... And quite frankly, this ain't bad, although it's kinda missing the point of dubstep.

Dubstep is a combination of "Step" and "Dub"... Dub is an old genre originating from Jamaica, mostly built around giving elements room, creating a sort of "space" within a tune. Step in this sense implies grimy elements.

Anyway, about your tune. It's definitely got the step to it. Great dirty shit throughout. However, I feel that some parts could be given more room. Sure, there are EXCELLENT little bits throughout, like that part after the big middle build kinda thing, where it drops to the basic drums and the bass... That was just superb. However, I feel like there are too many elements to this (I guess)... It needs more space.

I love how you can hear the highs on the reverb when it's bare, but it's not bare often enough. Maybe you could change up the hat line so it's not playing straight 8th notes? Anyway, cools, I enjoyed it more than most NG tuenz...

9/10 5/5

[*Assassin's Call* [IZK]]

Bits of Criticism...

Haven't listened to this stuff for a long time, but I'll just say what comes to mind...

1. The drum loop is not loud enough. It's pushed far to the back and covered in reverb, so it doesn't punch through the mix. Do a major mix revision.

2. The bass just keeps going, doesn't ever take a break, even for a second for some cool drum programming tricks.

3. Pad synth doesn't fit for a darkstep song. Leave that stuff for the intro/outro.

4. Arrangement is incorrect: "64 bar intro, 64 bar main part, 32 bar bridge, 64 bar main part 2, 32 bar outro" is the correct structure for a drum n bass tune. Change it up within each part to add interest.

Positives:

1. The intro is pretty cool sounding.

2. The synths are all decent and work.

Overall, not a bad tune for someone just starting this type of genre. By the way, don't use the term "mastering." That is a totally different process. What you're actually talking about is "mixing."

Hope this helps.

7/10, 5/5

[Fuiste-The Facemelter (NGmix)]

Not bad...

I must say, not bad at all. Let me lay out some criticism, but this is just for your own improvement: You don't have to take it if you don't want to.

First off, the EQing. That's the big problem here. The kick sounds great, but it lacks in punch in the mid-frequency regions. More distortion can help here, or layer with a mid-heavy clap for help.

The synths, though, felt very thin. That's 3xOsc's classic problem: It doesn't sound full or rich like the analog synths it was designed after. Instead, it sounds damn thin, and the odd EQing/Filtering you used didn't help at all.

Next criticism is the structure. It isn't really friendly to DJs like the genre is supposed to be, but that's ok, since this was more of an experimentation song.

Personally, I like the tempo faster, but to each his own.

The positives were that the kick sounds cool... The patterns you used were fine, and you have some good ideas going. Just listen to more hardcore. Try to flesh the ideas out more fully. Download some nice freeware VSTs and mess with patches... fuck around with synth programming... experiment! It will turn out well in the end!

Overall... 8/10, 5/5

Fuiste responds:

I gotta say, thanks so much for not hesitating with the criticism. This is why I'm on Newgrounds; to get better at my craft, and I'd much rather be told that I suck and how to get better than to be praised emptily. But anyways...

The structure is far from final. This is merely a rough mix of a song that came out of me inventing a cool kick and seeing what it would sound like in a finished product. If I make a final version of this, it will certainly be more standard in structure.

I also completely agree with your statement about the thin lead synth. It's actually a z3ta+, and not a 3xosc, but as I said in the previous review, I removed a huge chunk of low and mid frequency for the sake of sound clarity. I then compressed it to make it sound more saturated and energetic. I guess this was a bit of a misstep.

AS to the kick, I think if I fill out the mix in other ways, it can probably remain more or less unchanged, at least that's what I think.

Thanks for the awesome review, man! Much appreciated!

Peace.

[Mantra]

YES

Dude, perfect timing. Turns out that next week is oldskool week on the internet radio station I DJ on. And guess what I was preparing? An oldskool jungle/hardcore set. This might fit in... it depends on what happens in the next two minutes of the track.

Nice bass stabs. Very oldskool. Straight offa the 808? Or synthed yourself? Amen sounds like the oldskool too, although I would've maybe liked a layered break for variety. I mean, the set is entitled "Pianos, Amens, and 909s". If this can get 2 out of three, then it's in. Otherwise, it's not.

I don't really hear a piano yet XD. Actually, I don't hear much substance to this track at all. It could use a melody maybe, or something other than bass and breakbeats and this vox. Maybe a hoover type thing...? Dunno, that's up to you... Too bad, though. Guess I'm not gonna be playing it :S

Good track though. 10/10 since the style is fairly unknown on NG.

Triskele responds:

Bummer >:

I definitely wasn't going for an all straight '94 jungle tune feel, and I kept the instrumentation very simple on purpose. Meant very much to be a full vocal sort of mix, and very vibey and stylish, so I stayed away from the hardcore style cheese and tacky piano synths :P

Bass was sampled, authentic 808 though I'm pretty sure.

Glad you enjoyed, I'll hit you back.

[teh sp1r1t sawng (banana)]

OMG NO U DIDNT

WOW THIS R AWSOM WHEN DID I MAEK DIS?! IT R KEWL!!!!!!1!1!!!

PLZ MAEK MOAR PLZ PLZ

navij11 responds:

U MAEKDED DIS WHEN I MAKEDED DIS AND IT WAS GUD DONT U REMEMBER? K I WILL MAEK MOAR I MEAN U MAEK

[Fuaraya]

"Review Trade"

Ok, lets take a listen here.

First thing that comes in is the kick. It's fine, no problems with it, sets a nice tone for the rest of the song. Great, wonderful, let's move on.

Next thing I noticed was a melodic portion at around 0:16. I doubt that's enough time to do a full mix into this track, unless you're harmonic mixing. I'd be hard-pressed to do it, even with software. How about some FX instead?

Then a breakdown at 0:40. That's really not giving much mixing time at all. But ooh, everything sounds so nice! :), great synths, I like that sine one that comes in. Bass, however, seems a touch gritty compared to the other synths in the breakdown, but works well in the main portion. Maybe remove it from that little breakdown, and introduce it when the beat kicks back in?

Ok, and the energy falls again at 2:15... Remember, Trance is a genre of Dance music. That's not giving much time to dance! XD, I suggest extending the kickdrum a bit more, lengthening that section a bit.

Now, epic breakdown. Very nice, well put together, nice synths, great harmonies. around 3:00, that bell seems to hit an odd note not in the chord. Maybe attenuate that.

Beat back in at 3:17. Well... that wasn't much of a buildup. No snare roll? No noise? Just some kicks, and then we're back. Nice synths in this next danceable section, great stereo separation too, liking the panning on them synths.

Now HERE we go, I was expecting another full breakdown, but it actually keeps on going, and thank god too, or this track'd be more breakdown than energy :S

Starts to lose elements... bringing back the bare kick at around 5. Bit short, don't ya think? And what's with the 50 seconds of silence? O.O, Dunno why that's there.

Anyway, good song, but quite short. Also, not really enough danceable sections. I'd extend the first breakdown, the intro, and the parts with energy.

Overall, production is excellent. I can crank it up without too many bad things happening, but kick might have a touch too much compression... it distorts a touch on my system, but definitely not bad enough to matter whatsoever.

Good one. 5/5, 9/10 for the aforementioned issues.

[*DarkMoon Rave* [ZeRo BaSs]]

Seriously?

Did you really just rip the melody from "Dee Dee Wonder - Darkmoon Fighter"? I approve.

Nice remix :P

[*Anima Uproar* / ZeRo BaSs]

You need to do club mixes.

I spin hardcore and rave-ish stuff, like old skool JAL/Quosh records, and some Red Alert and Slammer stuff, etc. Your style is basically the same as theirs is, except a lot more modern. Your one main problem is that your tracks are toooo short. Way too short. I can't fit a 3 minute song in a set. It's gotta have a bare intro and outro.

Here's an idea, and probably the reason why labels weren't interested: Make club mixes, and pitch THOSE to labels. Nobody will buy a 2 minute track on vinyl: It's kinda useless. If you could bring the time up to maybe 5 minutes, with a 32 bar intro and outro of just beats, then your music would be workable.

My other main problem with some of your music, not just this song... actually, not this song really at all, but with others, is that you dwell on one musical idea for too long. Ya gotta change it up. You did a good job of that in this song. However, it's completely unbalanced. The beginning was good for the intro. Now, extend the breakdown. Really build up tension, and then WHAM! The major dance part hits after the breakdown. Then you can do what you want from there.

In other words, make some club mixes.

Good job on this song. However, I would've liked that piano in the background during the intro to have been louder.

Nice use of hot pants :P
5/5, 9/10 for being short.