Marks-a-lot's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[MH16: Bedtime]

Well, I am tired...

But I'm not feeling this as a bedtime piece, then again maybe I am. I am thinking of like the stars when I hear this which I guess could be associated to bedtime or sleepiness. If you want a song with more of a lazy feel to it though you should probably use more sounds with a high attack and a lower decay and songs with a softer timbre and less brightness. Anyways how about I review this thing?

I don't know if you have changed your samples up yet because this sounds like the same old set, nothing wrong with a good thing I guess but may I suggest some low pass filters for a soothing effect. I like the delay on the pianos, they give off a peaceful feel. That is what I would say is the overall feel, peaceful. I like the beat but I think that snare should be tightened up a bit. progressions are nice and this song is easy to get into and enjoy. I actually think this song is really appealing to the listener and for that I am going to bump up my rating to nine stars. If I were making the song I would have put in a long ambient break, just with pads and completely re-verb'd out sounds with your piano and stuff. I don't know if I liked how you ended on the open hat but I guess it was quiet enough to go without saying. This is reminding me of like reading rainbow and all those cheesey kid shows back in the early 90s late 80s. I think you could use some resonance automations on your pad some filter automations too. Give it a evolving feel to it and really tease the ears of your listeners. A good thing about this track is that is actually structured well, opposed to my songs, this actually has an intro! something I have yet to accomplish lol. I am going to start taking notes off you MH16, I think I have already heard some good ideas for structuring songs and what not.

Back to the review, I would like to hear some life in this but I don't know if that is something that you would want to go for as this is supposed to be a mellow song. But, I think that there is a medium somewhere between interesting and mellow. A perfect balance that will really enthrall your listeners. You almost have it here, maybe the res and filter work will find that balance too. Like I always say FX and filter work and experiment..blah bla bla, you know the deal. Great job with this one though, keep up the good work and I can't wait to hear the next one!

5/5
-Antoninus Pius

FairSquare responds:

First of all: you are not Brad Pitt. I am Brad Pitt and you are Matt Damon :P
Seriously!
Anyway, about your review:
Actually, i used different drum samples. I understand that you can't hear the difference though, they sound a lot like eachother :P
Oh, and i didn't really try to make this a bedtime piece, i just gave it that title because it made me sleepy XD
And yeah, at the moment i'm really working at structering my songs. First i just made a little melody and just builded on it, but now i try to really... structure a song without that it's repeating constantly.
Well, thanks for the review. Alot of interesting ideas and advice as always and i really appreciate that :-)
Thanks Matt! :D
MH16

[Because were runing out]

I'll give this a listen!

I thought it was cool. I liked a lot of things in this track from the little beeps in the background to the fat ass snare rolls! I think some reverse snares could have made this even bigger than it is (if that is even possible.) Different is good! very good in your case, you should probably say where you got the samples from though don't want to be accused of stealing stuff. And if you made them then god damn I am going to have to force you to take a bow. I am running out of things to say so I will leave you with a nice job sir and I will be looking forward to hearing some more stuff from you in the future.

5/5
-[V]-

audiomatrix responds:

WOW!!!! Thanks! No samples, just plain old me being spacy! Thank you so much!!!!!!! :)

[B-S - Concrete Waffle Loop]

MMmm Crispy...

Sounds fantastic! Great lead and the drums sound awesome! lovin' the hp filter on the set and the static feel to the song. the bass was alright too but the drums and lead is what really held my attention. I'm going to go check out the full song now.

[Level Headed Cartoon]

Agreed.

This would go perfect in a game. I find it to be a little empty, those strings that were in the background could have filled up the song a little more or you could always add some pads. The drums sound really stiff, loosen them up a bit by making some ghost notes and some more velocity edits on hats, cymbals, etc.

On the positive side this song was pretty amazing. I loved the progressions and synths/sounds used in this piece. I liked the drum chops too, the piano fit in well, and the overall flow of the song was really good. Nice job and keep it up!

5/5
-[V]-

audiomatrix responds:

WOW! Thanks! LOL,, I try not to overload the track with to much, but in this case,, your rite! Im gld you liked the vibe, and I will be sending more of the same, with your advise on production! Thanks again!!!!! +)

[MH16: Take A Seat]

Hmmm...

This song isn't to bad, I don't why I'm not enjoying this as much as your other stuff...I must not feel well. I am definitely starting to memorize your style of progressions though, which might be the reason why I don't feel to surprised when I hear this piece. A lot of elements are the same, the same drum samples (just a little fx and filter work on fills and what not could totally remake the song.) Those samples are undeniably good though, so I have nothing against that, just try unique'ing them more...I guess?

Something that I noticed first time around that really scared me was the static in the intro and at points throughout the song. I hope to everything holy that my speakers aren't blown or something, and I hope that it is clippings or something coming from your song. If that is the case you can always just turn down the volume or use some compressors/limiters, no big deal just a simple quick fix. I say this all the time but I will say it again, let your listeners be the ones to turn up the volume. Don't ruin your song's quality by turning the volume way up. A little short but overall this was an enjoyable piece. I just wasn't feeling this one and I blame that on myself for listening to too much hardcore music [hangs my head in shame] Hopefully I will be better soon and equiped with a more attentive ear. Nice job none the less, try encorporating different progression style and working with different tempos, you might be able to get some different feels of classical music.

5/5
-[V]-

FairSquare responds:

Thanks for the review!
You really give a lot of good advice and i'll work on everything you said. Not in this track though, this one is closed for any further editing :P
Once again, thanks for the review!

[~-Acid Time-~]

Great Job!

got some nice acid lines, which is what I am going to focus my attention on. I think that the acid line that comes in around 1:07 is a bit low. The drums come with time so don't worry about that. nice job on this though. just keep workin' on stuff and playin around with FX and making sounds. Think outside of the box and just cut loose I'm sure you'll have some tight music in no time!

5/5
-[V]-

Cecil-Sayataki responds:

Thank you for the review. After listening again, I think the Acid that you were talking about could have been a bit higher.

[MH16: Battle Within]

Mikey! He likes it!

Dude it sounds like you have it. For a first try to that's pretty nice, You even have the calyx and teebee rhythm on the snare rim hits. Now with drum and bass obviously you want to nice bass and for your first attempt that bass isn't all that bad. You can chop of some drums and mess around with fx to get some awesome DnB sounds too. Just chop fool around with the time multiplicator and loads and loads of effects and automations to get some awesome DnB songs. Usually there aren't leads like that in Drum and Bass but I always put leads in my drum and bass. If you can't make the crazy 'wub' lines on the bass then you usually have to resort to something else that can catch attention, I like that lead though. You are going to want to use a thinner hi-hat, that one is a bit wide for dnb unless you are going for a more sloppy dnb feel. Don't be afraid to use different hi hats either, try to pick out some really tight hi hats and some mid hats. Gotta have rides too, that is a big one in DnB. think realistically when making those drums you know that every hit on the hat isn't going to be the same volume and that some hits on the snare are going to be lighter then others so show that, it's is just the little sub conscious things like that that make or break the song.

So recap; more FX on the drums, tighten up that hi hat, vary your hi hats, and just keep toying around with the drum samples (chop them up, put fx all over them, just mess them up.) An excellent start to your new genre. It definitely sounds like you have a good ear for music and good for all kinds of genres. Keep up the good work!

5/5
-[V]-

I hear that you are going to be doing a co-lab with YouriX or something like that? Co-labs are the best way to learn new genres, actually dealing with the song in your own hands helps A LOT. aight well see you around.

FairSquare responds:

Calyx and teebee? Never heard of him/them :P
I'll change the hi-hat, i think i have a very good sample for that and i'll use some rides. Oh, and this isn't my new genre, i'm just trying some stuff out. I'm not saying that i'm never going to make another DnB song, i'm just saying that i'm not going to make DnB my prominent genre :P
And how do you know about that co-lab with YouriX? I actually just made a melody for him and he uses that in a song :P
Well, thanks for the review. It's really appreciated! :D

[Sonic & Knuckles-Invincibility]

Damn...

This is pretty chaotic. this chippy arps are going to explode my mind. Some nice spacey leads and a nice acid bass line. there aren't much bad things to say about this track. just a little mastering and maybe make it a little longer. Keep goin!

NKAT responds:

Thanks man. Agreed on all parts of your review. It is unrefined, needs "channeled" chaos, remastering for sure. I figure you know this is a rough cut, but it is entertaining as is. Thanks for the review. Go Sonic!

[Good To See you Again]

Awesome...

It has been a while since I heard the actual song. yet another great use to the most sampled piece of music ever created. Great job and keep up the good work.

NKAT responds:

I wanted to point out the obvious,....that this beat is amazing, universal, genre-transcending unstoppable, wanted to be very blunt about it. Respect Marks?Mark

[{ANT} - Inside the Madnes]

YES!

This is awesome, gotta love people's old music. I like the vocal sample, lol, I wish this was longer though. It only gave me enough time to trash half my rooms with bone shattering kicks...Nice job anyway.

5/5
-[V]-

Anth0n responds:

Very true, I like my own old music. As for song length, I tend to make short songs, mainly because I run out of ideas after awhile.