Yodamanjaro's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-ganon95- Nyan Cat]

Hmm

Your master isn't exactly clean.

Since I'm not sure how this song originated, I can't say too much else but talk about
the master you put on this song...or the lack of.

My suggestion to you is to make this into a more full-sounding song. It may not be in your intentions but it would be more-well suited.

Throw some cowbell in there too. Lots of cowbell. Might help your overall sound too.

Ya know, scratch the cowbell. Never made sense in the first place.

ganon95 responds:

by 'master' i assume you are referring to mastering.

this song has no mastering because i made sure the instruments all remained at a consistent volume.

this is not meant to be a 'full song' its just meant to be a showing of the beat and some extra stuff i added in there. if you haven't heard the original then i think you should look at it.

cowbell would be the dumbest add-on in the history of remixes.

honestly...a 0 is a bit steep considering its only about the mastering and not the song itself

[Relaxing on 128 bpm]

128bpm

Sorry man, but 128bpm is usually just meant for house...which this isn't. If anything, it's a slow dance...and dance isn't ever meant to be THIS slow. lol

If you want to try a style, you have to actually stray away from the dance stuff man. I know it's hard to in FL, but it's definitely possible. Just listen to a ton of house, listen to your song, and take away what doesn't sound "house-y." Believe me, this works, and you might be heart-broken to say goodbye to some of these melodies or sounds, but it has to happen to fix the genre and style.

I would really be interested in hearing what comes out if you do indeed do that, and PM me if you do.

[Morph - Jump Into A Puddle...]

ha.

I would hardly call this perfect, it could still use some more close mastering and EQ work. But this is NG (I just reminded myself), so here's a 10.

If you do indeed spend the extra time to master a track I would be definitely interested in checking it out!

Morphone responds:

Yeah, I REALLY didn't feel like doing mastering. It no doubt needs some mastering and I can do mastering but I do get very lazy at times. I never said it was perfect anywho. I'll master it another time. I only made it in two days.

[The Rift]

Hmm

As a trance track, this isn't that great. As an ambient track however, it's pretty decent. Please put this in ambient for the rest of us.

Thanks!

Cirrow responds:

Wasn't aware ambience had thumping drums and saw leads in it O_O

Thanks for the review!

[(AO) No Vox]

Nice samples

I can tell you don't know my friend. His name is Param EQ 2. This is under the mixer in FL, and is very handy for most instruments. It can let your lows have more low. Even more low than what your samples get naturally.

Also, masking samples is something I would try to go for at this point, it shows a higher level of professionalism.

AntiOxygen responds:

Constructive review!
I made this quite a while ago, before I met our mutual friend Mr. Param.

[[DF] Crush]

You're right.

I can't either.

To say why I can't wait?

I hardly call this music. It's poorly organized, not very wisely constructed melody, and cuts off at the end of the loop.

darphfluffy responds:

lol

[Silent train.]

Hmm

First of all, I hope you read this review with humility and with a sense of humble presence a producer of your experience should.

To start this off, this isn't trance. If it was, I would be ripping it apart EVEN MORE.

The volume levels are off. This means you have to actually move the dials in FL Studio instead of just importing presets and putting random notes to them. You may ask me what levels, I will tell you to turn them ALL down by 5%. How will you know what volume levels are good? Listen to this song, then listen to a PROFESSIONAL track. Listen to the levels they have and mimic them. It's not cheating, that's just how professional tracks sound. That's what you should be trying to achieve with your music, not just by what's in your head.

I love good inspiration tracks, but it doesn't matter if you don't actually spend quality time working on your music.

How will people want to buy this? I mean, I can't say I'm much better, but I can at least say my most recent tracks have been approved by professional producers. I have only been producing a bit longer than you have, and I've been a busy student, only working on a song a few hours per WEEK.

To clarify your "Author comments," exporting this in a higher sample rate would have little to no actual clarity in quality. mp3 @ 320kbps is hardly worse than a wav for most speakers and headphones. My intuition tells me you fall into this category. This has no effect on your production skills, obviously, but I had to point that out there so you don't make the same mistake in the future.

Now. Onto the actual song. Your intro is interesting, but could use a bit more definition and layering on the reverse cymbal.

The bass could have more layering. And higher frequencies so people without subwoofers can actually hear what notes are being played clearly. This applies to your kick drum as well. Please put just a hint in the higher frequencies.

Your song doesn't have many "changes" throughout it. To me you're just taking off and adding layers. No filters. No special effects. No alternate notes for the end of phrases. This sounds like you took about 30 minutes on this song and expect everyone to love it.

And for your piano. Yes, I would be changing it. Along with the notes.

For the synth you have going throughout, please put some changes in there. Put in a different rhythm, notes, SOMETHING to make this song more interesting.

The synth itself could be more calming and less obtrusive. If you "meant it to be this way," then make every other instrument or percussion sample to go with that type of sound.

To make this clear over the whole track: I'm a person of sound quality. I would rather you come up with the most HIDEOUS melody, MOST OBTRUSIVE synths and percussion but as long as all of them fit into their alloted frequencies and "play nice" with each other, you've got yourself a good song. A clean but unorganized song is better than the best melody but crappy quality in EQ and master.

The suggestions and things to fix aren't an over-night thing. This will take you probably around the same amount of time it took me...2 years (at least). Many many songs will be produced and released, most of which you might think are worth selling. This is where you should come in humbly and tell yourself, "not yet." When someone comes to you with a label offering OR a professional producer comes to you with only positive comments and reviews, you've hit that spot where I'm sure you want to be at.

Just keep working, practice makes permanent. Because realize that none of us are perfect.

Adjeye responds:

I think it will take a week for me to understand this review, but I will work on the things you said. I see your point. Thank you for this review!

~Adjeye-3

[+- The Last Journey -+]

EQ/Master

Here's the thing. You can put all of these very good-sounding instruments and melodies together, but it will never sound pro if you have poor EQ and mastering for it.

For my finished projects, I always put about 20% into making the actual song and put the other 150% in EQ and mastering the actual track. Since I've developed tricks along the way I can speed this process a bit, but a clean master will beat good melodies and instruments ANY DAY.

If you're looking for tips, please PM me (and listen to some of what I have up on NG to see what I've done, but I don't post my final edits on here...due to being signed).

Also, if you're willing to defend this track with "it sounds clean" I'm willing to hear it...I have a very open mind to suggestions myself. I feel it helps when constructive criticism comes along.

With that aside, I really do like the melodies chosen and the instruments used (for the most part). Keep it up!

5/5
7/10
Derrick

AikaMusic responds:

Thanks :]

[{Dj-L} Forever]

Good bass

I like the bass. Reminds me of my earlier days producing....
Keep working at it man, you'll get EVEN MORE amazing...we all are :D

5/5
9/10
Derrick

[Going Home Again]

Hmm

This isn't techno. If it's anything, it's dance (by the style of lead you chose here, along with the melody type). Otherwise, it's trance...a very dance-y trance.

Techno doesn't usually have chord progressions, which this one does.

Just had to throw in my 2c. hahaha

Not bad though. If you wanted to make it trance, I'd turn down the arp by 20%, make the pads a bit wider with reverb, take out the beep-y lead, change it with something saw-y. That may be cliche, but it's better than what it sounds like now. Make the bass deeper and wider as well. I feel like you pinched this song up so tight that it doesn't have any room to breathe.

Just some things to consider, that's all.
6/10
3/5
Derrick

ArcticFront responds:

I really appreciate your response, this is one of the most helpful reviews I have ever received. I realized that I sorta blew the dynamic range for this song out of the water. I'm gonna have to go back in and adjust my levels for everything. Its true it has no room to breathe, its clipping the red almost every second. I gotta adjust my levels and recompress a few elements of the song to tune it up.

Thanks for the advice, i really do appreciate it when someone can be completely honest with me. I will continue to work diligently. Remember, success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.

I really like your music also, keep it up!