NikolaosTheDark's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[{425} Wasted]

Not bad...

...but definitely not Top 5 worthy.

First off, I'll echo what Rick, MdR, and Berto said: The sound quality is poor. It sounds incredibly muddy, as if someone let the compression monster run rampant. Mastering isn't an easy part of putting music together, but it's undeniably critical.

Second, I'd understand your massive use of sawtooth if this were one of the minimal genres, such as electro, hardstyle/hardcore, or dubstep. But it's not. It's trance. Diversify the instruments. It's a sawtooth nightmare, and it also might be one root of your quality issues.

3/5. Keep working on it.

Michael425 responds:

I will have to work more on mastering in my future songs. As for instrumentation, I was not going for variety. I just wanted the easiest way for me to get these tunes across to the listener. It would have been even more difficult to master otherwise. I just don't have the skills to do that yet.

Thanks for the review.

~{425}~

[{EpP} Complexes]

Not bad.

Hopefully, you'll be making a broader version of this track.

My only criticism, which is hard to explain, is that the track feels...cluttered. I don't know why. Maybe you can put your finger on it.

Also, I'm pretty sure that you want to tease the PUBLIC, not the pubic. Thanks for the offer, but my pubes are fine. = P

dj-Jo responds:

Cluttered huh

I'll see what I can do

And about Pubic, yea
A really bad typo XD

[{dj-N} Regret]

Interesting take on the genre.

Of course, not all dubstep is based purely on wobbles. If you (or any other listeners) feel yourself skanking or bobbing back-and-forth without consciously thinking about it, you've done your job. You've got the dubstep vibes.

Still, if anything, I recommend that you make a no-wobble mix of this. Imagine, if you will, that you're having sex with a gorgeous woman. The wobble is like your annoying friend knocking on the door, asking how much longer it will take you, when he can play on the X-Box, where the Funyuns are, etc. I don't have anything against wobbles, but I'm not entirely fond of your setup.

I'm also a bit taken aback by Brainchild's comment, and about how dubstep "takes credit" from other artists, noting the trance genre. Dubstep got its emergence in the reggae, two-step, and hip-hop scene (although influenced by genres such as trance), so I'm not seeing a definite link here.

dj-Nate responds:

In response to your first paragraph, I've yet to listen to a dubstep song without being conscious of the wobbles and I wonder what thier LFOs look like. Maybe it's because I'm a producer, I dunno.

[Welcome to Salvation_Hardstyle]

Not bad at all.

It could still use some work, though.

- I'm not feeling enough power from the main kick drum during the intro and outro, and then it's nearly obnoxious during the climax.
- That little synth/reverb kick drum hit of yours is also bothersome. It eats up the main kick during the intro. Either lower the mixer slide on this hit altogether or use a high pass filter to cut out the frequencies that eat up the main kick.
- From personal taste: I don't like that clap/snare that you're using. I personally wouldn't derive too much gravity from this particular criticism until multiple complaints arise.
- I'll go ahead and disagree with the Sarge below me. While I find nothing wrong with triplet hardstyle, any kind of hardstyle...is hardstyle. It's bassy, it's floor-filling, it's moving, it's danceable, old school hardstyle or not.

You definitely have those hardstyle vibes. Keep at it.

FrameWork responds:

Thanks for the long review! yeah, I'm not brilliant at mastering but I'm trying. I do agree though. The snare is only in there cause I only had one sample pack with snares at the time, which was a house pack, soo... and thanks again! Glad you thinks so

[HW - Progressive Introversion]

Interesting dubstep.

I personally wouldn't use it in a live setting or a DJ mix, but it'd fit perfectly within a soundtrack.

I went ahead and gave you a five, by the way. I'm fighting off zero-bombers as well, and every little bit helps.

haywirehaywire responds:

Thanks man.

[TI:.Maniac Despair]

Pretty good, actually. The snare sounds fine.

As for criticisms...

- The piano doesn't clip on my feedback, but it tends to disappear behind other things. I don't how dominant you wanted the piano to be.
- I'd personally pick a kick with less reverb to it.

TIMarbury responds:

thanks i am going to re upload a fixed version this weekend for sure.

[Reali-t's House]

...Oh God.

The composition itself is alright, but this has some bad FL Syndrome to it. I mean REALLY bad.

Reali-tGlitch responds:

Yeah, I used quite a few things that are FL defaults, but at least there's Rapture. Also, it still sounds better then most mainstream songs they have now.

[DJ YouKraine - House´d]

Composition? Yes.

You've definitely got those house/electro vibes, and I wish I could say that I truly grasped hold of the genre and its production as early as you did. Well done for getting this far in only eight months of production!

However, there's still much to be improved. First off, your sound is still muddy. Now that you have the composition down, it's time to learn how to EQ and master your tracks. EQing individual mixer slots, adjusting volume knobs in the mixer itself, sidechaining* -- these all help.

Also, work on that piano. I've worked with the FL Studio Piano synth for roughly 3-4 years right now, and I hate how it sounds. Pick out a good piano to begin with, tweak the knobs within the piano synth itself, EQ the piano mixer slot, and maybe even give it a little bit of Flangus so that each note doesn't make me think of bricks falling on a dashboard.

3/5. Art is defined as "skilled workmanship, execution, or agency, as distinguished from nature." Unfortunately, it's also defined as "trickery or cunning." I see none of the latter definition in you. Please, please keep making music.

*Many electro artists abuse this like crazy. Be careful.

You-Kraine responds:

Thanks man!
your review is really helpful!
but... how long do YOU need to do a song?

[Boiled]

I don't know if it's what you were going for...

...but the song is lacking drum presence and -true- lower frequencies. Crank these up some, and the song will be near perfect.

Pocketpod responds:

Yeah I think I have to work on this again. thanks for your review!