Nav's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Milk{Sytrus!}]

Damn... Drums.

Cool sounding, definitely. Synths were basic, to tell you the truth, you should've done something rhythmic, because that is where some of Sytrus' strengths lie. It can do amazing gated synths too.

However, you should've made the drums in sytrus. It ain't that hard. Bandpass some noise for the snare, do the same for the hat, use a fast pitch decrease for the kick, etc. Its easy. I'd do it if I owned Sytrus, but sadly I only own FL 8 Producer edition.

Nice song, though.

Mrmilkcarton responds:

Everyone needs to read this review because its the truth. Everything is really simple which means Sytrus is much more capable of greater things. Even if the synthes are simple it shows how good it can sound and how much better it can sound.

I figured drums were possible but didn't want to venture into that area of knowledge.

Thanks for the review Nav.

[Forever Gamer]

Now, let me review as an artist

Hi, this is Nav, one of the other audio artists on this site.

I've got some weird issue here that you probably wont know how to fix, but should have picked up on. Its just that all the instruments and drums here are completely UNNATURAL, and yet the vocals have a natural reverb on them. It sorta conflicts in my head. Of course, the vocals sound great and are well written, but it just feels a bit weird, having synthesized instruments meld with natural vocals, without some sort of vocoding or bitcrushing. I'm not complaining, though... NG loves it, as most like rock or pop music. I simply think that you could've done so much with the vocals... whatever.

It was a nice song. Melodies were catchy and nice, only issue is that some of the synths seem quite bathed in reverb. Might wanna turn that down a notch, as it sharply contrasts stereo-wise to the relatively dry percussion and SID chippy stuff.

Nice transition into mario at the end, and I love the random chippy noises that don't seem to follow the song. Again, I think the mario vox in the intro would be cool if you downsampled them so they were all crushed-ey, it'd sound more authentic... or at least reduced to maybe 11025 or less.

Whatever, those are just semantic suggestions, the song rocks! I might want to do a remix? Maybe? Maybe not. It could never pan out. But, hit me up with my contact info.

Thanks!
-Nav

SkyMarshall responds:

Hey Nav :)
I see what you're saying about the reverb/kick/vocal-bit - but it was all intentional on this one. Well, it has to be ofcourse, since nothing is left to chance when you're carefully producing a track. It just became this way, simply because it sounded great and filled out the way I wanted to. Later on however, like now, I do hear things I would like to ADD - but nothing I would like to change. Well actually, there is one thing I would go back and change if I ever get to it. And that is the percussion ... but it works, but it buggs me a little.

The NordLead is actually not bathed in reverb, it is just playing with the frequencies, the cut-off, attack, sustain, release and beat-synced delay. I did it that way to make it mesh nicely and sound fat. I love my damn NordLead. Again, the volumes and way they sound stereo is also something Im happy with.

I DID actually crush the Mario, and played a lot around with that - but no - I ended up using slightly modified original samples insted. It wasnt an attemt at making a complete 8-bit track if you know what I mean - I just wanted some influence in there to make it more nostalgic.

And thanks for the great review man. Appreciate it a lot =)
Constructive criticism is always the best.
And for your remix ... just message if it ever happens :)

- Eirik
SkyMarshall Arts

[-DXR- Under Tone]

Cool!

See, I generally don't leave reviews by request, but sometimes I just gotta, as it means something to me.

I've been telling Druid from the beginning, "man, you have great melodic ideas! You just gotta learn to 'produce' and 'arrange' them!" Then you come along F-777, with the arrangement and production values. Him + You = great.

And this is pretty cool. Does remind me of Druid's work! My only real issue is that lowpass filter. The thing I love about professional trance songs is the "sparkle," and it loses it. I'd recommend a notch filter instead, I've done that before, and it works well. The tempo change isn't the best (if it IS a tempo change), but it does its job well.

Nice track pretty much, with a couple o' issues. 9/10, 5/5

Digital-Xcstasy responds:

yeah Nav, thanks for the Reveiw man! good looking out friend =D

thanks man! me ad 7 do make a good team =D that dude will be my homie for a long ass time man, thanks for the comment about my Melodic ideas! =D we kinda do fit in hand in hand aye? thanks for you past help you gave meto better my self as a producer!

[Wizex - Can you hear me now?]

Review!

I can tell you're still a rookie, but since I was given this review, I thought it might be wise to return the favor. By "this review," I'm talking about a lengthy review on an early submission of mine. I'll try to help you out as much as I can.

First off, this is definitely FL Studio, definitely preset synths. Here's what I'd try to do if I were you. First of all, think of a basic structure in measures, or bars. Try to keep your song to that structure. That will help you think around it, and get phrases to work.

Next thing you want to do might be the drums. For a basic drum, try one of the kick drums in the "Dance" section. You might also want to try the Fruity Kick plugin, and mess with the settings. That will give you the steady dance beat you are looking for! Don't be afraid to mess around, experimenting is the best way to learn these programs! :D

Next, lets look at the synths. They are complex, synths, I'm sure you didn't design them yourself. I bet they are Sytrus presets. That's not a bad thing per-se. Its just that many people will recognize them! Try to make your own! Mess with Sytrus. If it starts to make some sense, then make some basic synths. Otherwise, try messing with that "3xOsc" plugin you see! It seems basic at first, but it is a good road to learning other plugins. Do you know how to assign tracks to the mixer? If not, then go to my page and check the FL Studio tutorial. That will teach you. Otherwise, let me address the final part of this song.

The mixing. That is simply getting the levels all right so its fine. You see the "Master" insert on the mixer? That should have a volume light on there. If it goes over "+0", then you need to fix the mixing. That can be done by lowering the volume levels of tracks! Its really just that easy :) Lower the levels until it sounds alright. Your song will be a bit quieter, but that's not a serious issue!

Since you obviously have ideas, and understand melodies, keep at it! Keep trying and working! http://kvraudio.com/ is a good site for finding plugins once you get more advanced (don't ask me how to install them).

Here are a few tips about Newgrounds: You are going to get 0ed or low voted. A lot! I know from experience, it happens to everyone! All you can do is simply not trust the scores. Trust on what people tell you! People actually read your reviews and I'm sure you do too. Remember that people also look for responses, so its good to respond to each and every review you get! Keep that in mind when you improve so that you get lots of reviews!

Anyways, it was definitely a good track for a rookie! Keep at it! :)

Wizex responds:

Thank you, this really gets me even more pumped up to make more!
i'll be checking your tutorial :]

Greets, glenn

[Scooby Doo Talkbox Hardcore]

This is bad.

Really bad. But I can't resist the 10 for the nostalgia.

THANKS >:(

TB-303 responds:

Failure.

[Yun+WS - Call of the Siren]

Pretty nice track here man

I'm feeling this track, unlike most of the hiphop on this site. Pretty nice piano melody, sounds eerie but cool at the same time. Really emotional, this track tells a story in its own right, and I'm feeling it in bits and pieces.

Pretty nice sounds, the drums are nice and cool, sound bitcrushed, but not much. Not liking the kick, through. I feel like it could use a bit more higher end. Snare is real nice IMO.

Kick ass track man, your hiphop is awesome. Keep it up!

YunVeroz responds:

Thanks for the constructive review, man :)

[Mind of a Child--_--]

Review I guess

I gotta say, nice use of the Action snare (I believe). I've never really been able to nail a snare with a long decay like that, and it fits nicely here. Snare could use a bit more fuzz IMO, but that's just me and my purist electronic tastes, while you as a drummer would probably feel differently.

Reese is pretty cool. Sounds a bit like Spor if I think about it. Nice weird synths... Reese is a bit filter-heavy. I'd resample, slice, and put in shit, but I bet you've already done that.

Nice track, though, I just wish that the drums would punch through the reese a bit more. Some light sidechaining should do the trick, or just duck it a bit, because I'm losing that fuzz that I love on the snare.

Overall, this track feels a bit different, as it doesn't have a LOT of energy, like I'd expect DnB tracks to have. Oh well, it was a nice listen! Some good elements here! 9/10

PERVOK responds:

"Action snare"?

[Speedy Bass (Dubstep)]

Nice... Some good music on NG

Pretty nice song you've got here!

Sick ass wobble bassline. Reminds me of some wobblestep I've heard. Really phat subbass there, vibrating the floor!

Hm, to tell you the truth, I don't think a Rap would really fit over this. You'd be forced to lose some of that awesome low bass you've got going here!

Drums are nice, pretty reverbed. Synths are really eerie, reverbed! Pretty cool shit man!

Only real problem is how its repetitive, and doesn't have too much other than that bass and the occasional stab to draw in listeners! Try adding in maybe some alternative bass tracks, or possibly some other FX. Its pretty nice for a club track, just not really a headphone type of thing!

Overall, nice job! 9/10! Would you mind checking out my most recent track, Quantum Fire? Thanks man! :)

Jimbobsthebest responds:

Thanks for the review navij11. Yeah i'm completely with you on the repetitiveness, I think i'll have to add something else to it.

It's interesting what you mentioned about the rapping. I thought it could work quite well over the top, but it would completely depend on the type of rapper.

Thanks again for the review man, i'll get on to checking the Quantum Fire out.

[Rig - Ronays' Fantasy]

AWESOME

I'm totally doing something like this now! I mean, he thinks I'm you, so why not continue it?

I'll make something like that.

Rig responds:

Dooooo it. We could like, make a compilation CD.
Btw, have you heard his latest songs? He really IS a stalker.

[FattyMcpatty And LardyLarLar 3]

Jokes?

Humor about autism? That seems really tasteless. And his "matrix" powers. Sure funny. Mmhm. Funny. Ok, fine. I didn't really find this funny. It DOES seem sort of tasteless.

My main problem is technical, about the volume levels. The "radio" and "loudspeaker" effects make the voice WAY too loud, much louder than your voices. Its really irritating, and it hurts my ears.

The only part that I considered chuckling at was the Kamahameha thing, but then the noise from the "radio" made me turn the volume down in pain, so I couldn't hear your voice again.

Background music was actually fitting. Using Garageband how it's supposed to be used, for once.

Overall, volume levels and humor needed work, but the background music was nice, and really helped set the atmosphere. 7/10, and 5/5 to counteract 0-bombers.

FatKidWitAJetPak responds:

Lol, thanks. The volume levels at some parts were supposed to be like that, but it isn't fuzzy is it? Well, I am surprised you listened to this. If you think the humor is tasteless, that is your opinion. This is just something my freind and i enjoy doing. A lot seem to like them to, so we keep on making them. Thanks for the 5!

Hope to impress you some day.. lol.