BlastBeats's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Psybot - Limbo]

Sounds like pop song DnB. The vocal sounds great, but it's not in tune the whole time. In pop music the vocal is the central point of the mix, and here that's not the case. The structure, composition and layering are amazing. The only real thing I noticed is that the mix is not super. The vocal suffers from the saw in the beginning, and some synths are too loud compared to others. Although, that last point may be personal preference. Hence, I think you did a great job :D

Psybot responds:

I agree that it's not in tune the at some points. Maybe i'll try and record it again.
And i agree that it sounds like a pop dnb. But you have to try different styles right? :P
And I am trying to get the mixing together, but I still have much to learn.
I am pretty pleased with not using any presets or any "non-flstudio-vtsi" and still manage to get this quality of sounds ^^
I hope you agree with me a little bit on that ^^

Thank you for the review, it means a lot to me ^^

[Dark Matter Suite (ft. LOrbSheddy)]

Untill 1:08 I've got nothing to say actually. This song has a subtle but fitting beginning and build up.
The DnB chorus however is quite messy there happens a lot, and it sort of blurs together, making it unclear what exacly happens. This may be a mixing issue, but I'm cautious with touching that subject, because I know you can mix very well. Let's say I think the snare has too little power compared to the kick, and the bass is muddy. At the same time it gives me a certain feeling of tension. Putting it into the perspective of a battle, it does a good job. I don't know if that's intentional.

From 2:07 you get the atmosphere. Amazing, seriously. It touched me.

Around 3:20 there is this build up that I can't quite place. It's abrupt, but it suits the song somehow. The following part can do with some more highs I reckon. It's a bit muffled in my opinion.
The transition around is 4:40 is also abrupt. That probably is intentional too.

Overall I think this song is a creative masterpiece. The production level is high, and the composition is rather complex. Tempo changes, changes in style, different time signatures, the whole lot. I'm seriously blown away by this. Also it was quite hard to review. I hope this helped, and I hope that I didn't say anything stupid.

5 skips in the R4R is too much, I reckon ;)

Onefin responds:

A million thanks for the review! I was almost ready to give up XD

I noticed those mixing issues in the DnB section, but there wasn't much I could figure out to make it better. Part of the problem was the sidechaining - we decided on sidechaining everything to the kick instead of to the beat in order to make the kick drum actually audible, but that resulted in some excessive ducking in some parts. Also, the bass consisted of sixteenth notes with a boobass, an e-guitar, and a sound LOrb decided to title "crisp noise bass". Wasn't sure how to clean that up, as deleting one of the three sounds makes the bass lose its intensity. It was tough - we did our best, but there's definitely still mud.

Your battle perspective was most certainly intentional! Quote from the description: "The fight with Dark Matter gets under way!"

Augmented chords and sound effects are fantastic together

I can understand if transitions in the last half were weird. We had to figure out how to get the piece to constantly switch between very distinct styles very rapidly and seamlessly. The buildup at 3:20 is where I had to go from dark ambiance to melodic house, and the 4:40 part goes from a DnB rock thing to a piano break. We had another one of those at 5:04, as well. Neither of us are too great at transitions - we certainly tried our best, but there's definitely room to improve. :)

Hey, with so many style changes, maybe I should list them in the description in the "STATS" column.

Once again, thanks a bunch for the review! Feedback is always appreciated! I'll pass on these words to LOrbSheddy, as well. :)

[OST: To The Next Frontier - 432 Hz]

R4R review following:
This whole minute of audio (I wouldn't mind it being longer :P), has the same tendency the whole time. Its start isn't introductory, and the end is somewhat abrupt. The beautiful thing in orchestas is that cadence, the different rhythms of the instruments, the layers and variation, which all make a song interesting. I recommend trying out using contrast more often, especially in classical music. Try varying the overall volume of the song. Humanise notes, let them not all be perfectly in sync, and let them play at different velocities.

To me this sounds like a Zelda like video game background song. It's there, and it's a bit flat. Try using some more different chords, to create an emotional tension.

It's really good, but for a classical song, it needs a bit more advanced applications of music theory and humanisation. This is what I found after comparing the song with its title. I know it's mainly personal interpretation and taste, but I hope this review helps.

Kazamy responds:

Hi! First of all, thank you for your review. It's very detailed, I really appreciate it n.n .

Well, I never learned composition or music theory anywhere x.x . I just started this year experimenting on FL Studio as a hobby, thats why my tracks are approximately one minute long. I know that my songs have falls and modest good chords.

About the similarity with a video game background music, I had in my mind that kind of music while making this song. Cinematography, game and anime soundtracks are my favorite type of music and the type of songs that I would like to make :D . I put this track on the classical category because I thought it was the category that best matched this time.

[Echoes in Eternity]

It so cool to see how you improve! I only think the hi-passes part is of too long a duration, and I don't like the snare sample.

The melody works very well with the chords, and it's in my head... It's catchy and the lead is pretty dominant. Simple but good sound design here!

Last thing is that the sidechain on the kick is too much compared to that on the snare. It makes the snare sound way less powerful.

GobSmacked responds:

thx for your review m8. :D

[Ghost Slayer [DUBSTEP]]

DIN! (at the end) Sounds like this is a cut from a larger project. Let me get a bit more serious:
I think that thunder sample in the beginning is a bit too much. It's quality is low compared to the rest of the song, and it's quite cheesy. After that you build up an amazing ambience untill 00:12. I loved the combination of those background synths and samples! Then there is a very loud voice trying to be creepy. Ok, his voice is low and everything, but I think you could do some more post processing to give him a ghost-ish voice (like putting reverb on it!). Also the lyrics are too much for the drop. You'd expect something heavier. The drop is neat, but its neatness can be ruined by the build up. I actually expected the drop at 00:27. I'll go in a bit more detail on some separate things.

HARMONICS: I think I heard like 2 different chords. That may get annoying over the long run. The melody was good, and everything was in tune. I'm not so sure about that 00:31 plucky pre-drop melody. It's too happy for such a serious drop.

DRUMS: The quality of your samples is great, but I think you're able to get more out of them. The kick needs a bit more punch, and the snare has too much of its highs. I'd have sidechained bass more by the kick and snare, but that's my thing, and it may not be yours. The drum patterns are standard, but ok. They could do with some more variation. Also I hear a ride, but no hi-hats. They might let you give a rhythmical vibe to the song.

DROP: I hear a short 2-4 bar piece being repeated with great variation. The drop arrangement is fab! The synths sound very familiar though. I may be wrong, but they sound like frequently used presets. Also they sound a bit lifeless. More bass, better stereo imaging, and compression can do the trick.

MIXING: The levels of some synths are too loud. The drums get overpowered by the bass at 00:15, and the vocals are too loud for example. I'm not an expert at mixing, so I won't get into the EQ, and compression side of things (you're way better at that than me). Something that bothered me a bit though, was the stereo imaging. Your transition samples are too stereo compared to your synths.

MASTERING: I can hear some wrong-time-variable-and-harsh-compression-combination at 0:49. I don't know if that's due to a compressor in the master, or elsewhere, but it's an artefact.

Don't think I hated the song. I'm in nit-picker-mode to help you improve. It's definitely enjoyable and worth more than the rating it currently has (which I think is this low due to it being not a complete song). I hope this will help you improve!

Have a smashing day!

Anitrik responds:

Wow thank you so much for this huge comment ! You're right on almost everthing you say ^^ This song was made as a "test", because when I hear it I can feel that something lacks, but I can't guess what it is and I struggle to improve it. I really love to have comments like this that because when I read it everything seems so simple and so obvious !

I have never worked on vocals and it's one of the first ( or maybe the first ) song that has vocals in it. I have to learn how to change the voice tone/aspect and so much stuff like that and I was surprised that nobody told me that my vocals are pretty poor before you. I was not sure about that storm/thunder sample too but I agree that it's not very neat. I took it from freesound.org and never had an idea of how to start the song in an other way. I'll think about it seriously ^^
About drums, I really appreciated your comment because it is one of the part I master the less, I mean I don't really spend much time on it as I don't really know how to make them great like in most Dubstep songs. But you gave a couple of great ideas, thanks for that !
About the drop you're right too, I took a growl preset that I modified so it sounds like I want, but maybe I made it too much like a common and overused growl.
And about that sound at 0:49, wow, I didn't even heard that before publishing the song aha ! Of course it doesn't fit, it's actually a sample, but I let it here by mistake, thanks you for that too !

And yes, this is just a preview of a bigger project and there is a lot of cool stuff/drop variations after that still need some work.

Thank you so much about your comment again, and you can be sure it'll make me have a smashing day aha ;)

[[DnB] - Muzzy - The Phantom [Monstercat Release]]

You sound desperate. This song is copyrighted, and isn't supposed to be here. I flagged, sorry, but this is just not ok...

ShikaGS responds:

fking hell i just want to make a level in geometry dash with it >:C there are so many coopyrighted songs in this site !!! almost everything is copyrighted ! if i upload that song but not the monstercat release will u keep it plz ?

[Nebula]

The basses are so overpowering that the drums sound a bit flat. I also hear some distortion on the lead. To me it sounds almost like clipping, or low time variables in a compressor. The track is loud all the time, which makes it a bit intensive to listen to. Also the drops feel like they have less power than they would have had with more silent breakdowns or in/outros. The high end overall is maybe a bit too loud. Some parts hurt my ears a bit (but that may be a problem with my headphones).

Just wanted to point that out. I didn't really find any criticism in the review section, so here you have it. Since I had hard times criticising this, I think this song is awesome. There is a good flow in the drops, and the basses sound great too. All in all, great job!

Ravitex responds:

I'll keep everything you said in mind when I produce.
Thanks for the feedback!

[Ricochet]

The intro sample is too loud, the lead starting around 0:51 is pretty cheesy (and it hurts my ears), the song is quite repetitive somehow, and it's too short... because I WANT MORE! The ambiance that you've got going on is so cool. It's inspiring to listen to the chords evolving, while the drums and the bass don't seem to be bothered by the behaviour of the chords, while minding their own business. This contrast works really well, and creates a soundscape I could listen to for days.

I feel like me being a videogame drum and bass producer too (occasionally), who tries to create such soundscapes, makes me go crazy a bit here :P. I'm glad I came a long this song.

PSiMetronome responds:

Thank you for writing such a detailed review! I'll make sure to watch my volume on the samples, but I appreciate your love for the style I was going for. Thanks again for the constructive feedback!

[her name was Susie!]

This one's quite repetitive, and overall it's too loud in my opinion. The drum mixing can be improved on too. Add some sidechaining to the drums, and I'd bounce the rest of the day listening to this :D

I can't get this out of my head though, lol. Nice work!

demon1000 responds:

thanks man!

[Pardon Me]

Man, this track is awesome! I love the synths, and how the post processing brings a flow into the track. I think improvements can be made on the drums. They're too loud, and sound like an overused 70s disco loop. Also your transitions can be made a bit smoother (the transition after the drop). Overall the song may sound a bit empty, so next time maybe add some more instruments... maybe... I don't know. I'm in nitpicker mode, since I want this to be a helpful review. I just really like what you did here. In particular I love the background ambience noises.

Stay awesome,
BlastBeats (R4R)

TIMETRAVL responds:

allright, thank you for feedback.
i kinda wanted some cheesy oldschool drums lel:)