iamwontolla's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Going Crazy (2018 Reconstructed Mix)]

Where's the bass? There's no low end in the whole song. If you make any kind of EDM, you need something to carry the sub bass and get that thump. The sounds are also super dry because there's no reverb. More variation wouldn't hurt either, but the real thing this is missing is some sweet buildups. Listen to more Goa and see how the songs are structured (how they use loud and quiet parts), and how much reverb it uses to make it sound big and roomy.
E: "EDM" is short for electronic dance music. This is dance music, and it's electronic. Plus everything else I said.

Jeansowaty responds:

EDM? Nice try!

[Little wild dubstep (loop)]

The melody sounds like random notes and chords, learning some basic music theory (scales, chords, keys) will help you write a more cohesive and memorable melody. The sample leading into the drop is the wrong tempo, and that's important, since the listener will need the sample to know the exact moment the beat drops, so either stretch it so it's in time, or use a different sample.
The drop "bass" has no actual bass and it's in the wrong key. Layering another bass under it, with more actual low end, and EQing it, will help a little, but it's just not a very interesting sound because there's no movement, just the same noise for the entire drop. Break it up with some other sounds, to give it more interesting rhythms.
Finally, get rid of the limiter on the master channel, PLEASE, it just makes everything sound bad. Find some tutorials for mastering if you want it to be loud, otherwise, just turn down the volume.

Skandor responds:

*SNEAK 100*

[Dua Lipa - New Rules (Alison Wonderland Remix)]

Not your song. The upload page says not to do this THREE TIMES. How did you miss them all?

[Yirokos - Shockwave]

Cute! With tighter production, this will sound great. Digging the Tokyo Machine influence.

Yirokos responds:

Thanks alot man, appricate it a ton!

[F-777 - Fairy Dust]

I swear you're mastering every song worse than the last one on purpose, just to see how long it'll take people to notice. Well, you can stop now.

[An Open World]

how did a piece in "E major" end up in C minor lol

anyway it's built around some good ideas, not a bad start, but the arrangement doesn't evolve over time nearly as much as it could. production is clear but it's garageband so there's not much to do on that side anyway

JamesTheMuttz responds:

Hey Thanks for the feedback!

First off I can't tell if a song is in C minor or E major to save my life (I make music but I know nothing terminology wise)

secondly I know I could have made it better but my iPod's onscreen keypad is 3 and 1/4 inches small (should have used the iPad)

I do appreciate your feedback and will try to make something better in the future! (maybe in Ableton Live 9!) :3

Signed,

Pack Man3.

[F-777 - The Secret Dynasty]

Yeah... I have to agree. The mastering just ruins what's otherwise a really good track. Catchy melodies, good buildup, pretty standard sound design but we can work with that, it sets a mood and stomps. The biggest non-mastering issue is that without any sidechaining, the kick has very little impact, and it's playing a 4x4 beat, so it needs all the impact it can get, but even with that, this is still some solid 4x4 whatever-step with some personality.
But this mastering needs to stop.
The highs are nails on a chalkboard. The human ear is more sensitive to higher frequencies, especially around 2-5k, so boosting them makes your track louder, but also literally painful (literally literally) to listen to for too long. You cut a lot of the lows to make room for the highs too, so instead of a wave of buttery-smooth bass music, it's closer to white noise. The overcompression only compounds the lack of sidechaining, pushing the kick further into the back and adding that trademark Newgrounds Sound (tm) that never, ever sounds good.
It's easy to see why lots of people like your music, you've got skill and you can put an original spin on a tired genre, which isn't easy. But I think a lot more people would give this a shot, or come back for more, if they didn't have to deal with constant ear fatigue from the mastering. Good luck

[Alan Walker - Alone (Xcessive remix)]

for the love of all that is good and holy, STOP USING A LIMITER ON THE MASTER CHANNEL

Other than that, the mix could use plenty of cleanup so we can actually hear the vocals (and everything else), but seriously, that much compression/limiting makes anything sound terrible. Look for some tutorials on mixing and mastering and it'll sound a lot better.

[Melodic Eargasm]

Arrangement's workable, but the melody just isn't that good. It's the kind of melody someone would write if they never listened to any music, from any genre, other than Tobu. Try listening to some songs with melodies that stick around, and see what makes them different. Working on your phrasing will help with that. And this definitely isn't the kind of melody you can just repeat over and over for three minutes, add some variety.
Double-check your mix, this is pretty raw and unrefined. Focusing some sounds into different frequencies will give it a lot more vitality, and so will using the stereo field so everything isn't just straight down the middle.
I don't really like this kind of EDM to begin with, too much of it just sounds exactly the same and there's not much room for this particular style to develop, but I guess this'll be passable if you work on the composition and mixing? Other people like it, so sure, I guess?
And please knock it off with the bots. This is a couple steps above Dubstep Machine, you're not actually getting 11.5k views on something like this.

SpeTheof responds:

I disagree completely, thank you

[Soupernova (a remix of an Xtrullor song)]

There are some workable ideas in the composition. You've got a sense of flow, with the switch from melodies to chords to a bass-driven drop, but to get a workable result, your production seriously needs work.
The instrument balance is way off (why does it suddenly get quieter at the drop? why's the organ so loud?), the drums you're using are dated and don't pack any punch, there's no sidechain to bring them out (see my guide: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1421528), but mostly, it's just empty. You've got a barebones arrangement going, with no reverb to fill out the gaps. Using the stereo field (smart use of reverb, stereo delay, chorus, and unison will help), layering sounds to fill gaps in the spectrum, and compressing key sounds (individually!) will make this more interesting.
If you're just starting out, don't get discouraged. Electronic music production is a lot harder than it seems to an outsider, but things get easier when you learn to listen critically. Watch tutorials to learn the basics, then check your tracks against tracks from producers you admire, and see what they're doing differently.

Stardust-Nation responds:

Thank you for the review. You've given me some pretty valuable advice! I didn't even attempt to use the reverb and stereo field but I will in the future. I'm still experimenting and learning. An important part of that will be to continue to learn how to use all those key elements of my app, Caustic, which is fairly easy to use overall (if a bit limited and simplistic). But I'm improving over time, and continue to learn a lot.