iamwontolla's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[Turnkey Tyranny]

Good ideas, but a busy mix. Cut some stuff out of the mids with the EQ, and don't forget to leave room for the drums.

zybor responds:

Thanks for the review!

[High Score [ Future Bass ]]

Yup, it's future. Adorable sounds, clean mix, big arrangement, suddenly I'm living in a slice of life anime. It's interesting how the main sounds are pretty simple/chippy, but some of the drums are a little beefier. I kinda like that tbh.

If I can say anything bad about this, it's that the rhythms are pretty stiff for future bass; good future has a lot of syncopation to give it some bounce. Some sounds could use more reverb, too, but this is still great.

AikaMusic responds:

There is always room for improvement, I feel like every song though I'm getting better and better.

You're actually the reason I started making future bass in the first place! So thanks for the inspiration. :)

[Motorgear (Sonorifle)]

I get that you're going for a lofi sound, but here are some fixes that'll make it hit harder without taking away from that. If you double-track the guitars and pan them to the sides, that'll give the vox more room. Add some chorus and delay/reverb on the vox to make them bigger, and check your instrument balance so that nothing's too loud or getting swallowed up in the mix (like the drums), and you'll get something heavier but still dirty.

ORI-TAGGART responds:

Thank you for your criticism. Much appreciated my friend. ^^

[Let's Run!]

Bits of dnb, bits of future, all great. Cute chippy sound design, tight mixing (except one thing I'll get to), and it's just so much fun :3

For taking this to the next level, I wasn't feeling all the melodies, but more than that, try making some sounds wider in the stereo field. Right now, most of the track is straight down the middle; widening the chords, for example, will fill it out a lot. Always check the mix against other tracks on headphones.

MrKoolTrix responds:

Thanks for the review and mixing advice. =) I might try applying that in the future. ^_^

[[GDBH] -Trance Never Die-]

This mix is okay, but it sounds awful when you just put a limiter on the master and crank the gain so it's always peaking. Back off the gain, and learn about sidechaining to make the kick hit harder: http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1421528
Most of the sound design is super basic, but that's how it usually works here and they sound fine, so that's all right. Try making the arrangement more dynamic, so there are quiet parts building up to a crescendo. That's important in a lot of trance, and it's also why most trance songs are twice this long; they just have more room to grow and build. Listen to some more trance to see how they arrange it.

blackhole666 responds:

the basic is not bad, and my style is an a strange trance.

[Nine Echoes - Fresh]

Off a to a decent start. Clean mix, passable structure, but this melody just doesn't work for me. If you're going to build every second of the song around the same 2-bar loop, with no variation, it has to be *really* good, and this just doesn't stick. I feel like the best way to get better at melodies is just to listen to music with good melody lines. And yeah, this needs some variation. Chord progressions, alternate repeats, anything to make it less repetitive.

NevoMusic responds:

The 2 bar loop is for the first 16 bars, it's called a DJ intro. It's only purpose is to allow a DJ to easily transition between two songs (There's also a DJ outro, the last 16 bars).After that, it evolves into a four bar melody. IDK what you mean by "passable structure", since it's usually meant that it follows the idea of transitions at 4, 8, 16, or 32 bars. Or it could mean layering the right sounds together, which obviously went well, considering that it has that 'full' sounding drop. The repetitive nature of this song is commonplace in this genre. While there would have been room for more fx, such as glitches, this isn't the issue you make it out to be. As for the melody, I'm no Madeon, but this track is not French Pop either. I think you might just be judging this as if it were something that was meant to be melodic, such as Porter Robinson.

I don't mean to be defensive, but I disagree with most of what you said. I really don't think you understand this type of genre, or know quite as much as you think you do about structure and composition to be critiquing a song like this.

Nor do I like the term "decent start," as if I hadn't been a producer for over five years. Your review comes off a bit elitist to be honest, and I don't think you have the experience or knowledge to pull it off well. I don't expect 5 star reviews, but I will disagree when the reviewer is unfair or just not knowledgeable on the topic.

[Basic big room]

Watch some tutorials for mixing (especially stereo field) and composition, and learn some basic music theory (just simple stuff like scales and chords), and this might sound consistent. For now, it's just a mess.

DjGrahnstetto responds:

Criticism is always appreciated. I'll work on it

[:DjA: Monsters]

I know there are a lot of sounds to balance, but try going over the whole track a few times to see if anything sticks out. Put it on your phone and listen to it when you're not doing anything. Also, http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1421528 this will help you.

DJArkkus responds:

Okay, thanks for the advice