Darren-M's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[DKC2 - Brambles Ressurection]

brambles meets the postal service

dude that pad you have goin on that has the slow attack and mid release is probably one of the best pads i have ever heard and you totally utilized it great.

i really enjoyed the the drums patterns you chose to make. they were really fitting and relaxing. great HH work.

to me this song was nearly flawless in musicality until 1:50 with that piano. dude that needs to be fixed. stick to white keys and dont over complicate it. at 2:16 the pads musicality gets a little weird for my tastes im just not ok with what that sounds like there but i did kind of like how you structured that middle part at 3:10, fix that hichest percussive synth note it sounds off and like you are trying to mix it up when it sounds great just floating i liked most of the guitar section it had a cool sound a and went with the song and i just think some of the notes on the wave file need to be sliced and pitch shifted because there were like 2 parts musicly i didnt think belonged there, but then again this is your expression not mine so i cant agree with everything and i wouldnt expect you to do the same with mine. your last review was great because you were assertive about what you didnt like.

at 4:07 i felt you ending lost focus and you were trying to make a climax, but it was chaos to me. i had n idea what to listen to or what i was supposed to be feeling at this point, you kinda threw off the chill vibe of the song.

the very ending coming back to that pad was great.

this song is pretty good and with some tinkering, sorry but mostly of the notes not the mixing or instruments because i liked them all and you made wise choices and had a great variety, but once you get that musical part fixed it will be lush. if you want my help to do this ask me and i will get to it when i can. otherwise seek outside help if you cant hear it. dont be stubborn and think this is an insult because training your ear takes time and you have allready come a tremendous way from where you started. i still remember what it was like when people told me my early music sounded way too bizarre to be pleasant. ... im talking psychedelic dewop with circus music and alot of modulated vocals with alot of reversals...lol i dont think i ever posted them on ng.

anyway take a break from this dude you have worked so hard. you are going to wear yourself out on this song

cRAVE01 responds:

I promise I will refrain from ReMixing this song again . . . for a while . . . at least until I build up my progressive skills . . .

[Crashcourse]

wow

i really liked the laughing at the beginning and the percussive instrument that comes in with alot of reverb is really lush. great choice. at 1:22 i really like this pad.

at 1:40ish i would have trned the HH down a little.

i gave you a 5 for a quality track. you guys might get a better response in ambient from this track rather than hip hop.

great work on this.

Keegoman responds:

Thanks Man appreciate it. I changed it to ambient.

[The Song of Heaven.]

LOL LOL :D

you made me laugh so hard when i heard this. i need to favorite this. this so is so quarky and fun. and i know this is original for sure. i actually liked the samples. to be honest you did a good job with the kind of sample you had to work with and you kep it up to the tempo best you could. you are going to hate me for this but i gave you a 10. and your acid synths are getting better.

by the way there is nothing wrong with your musical endevors to me. my sight for music is to do something fun and clean and that can improve my personal well-being so dont worry if you arent sure why you are doing it. as long as it not to be pretentious i think our ok

im happy to see you back on the scene in any case

cRAVE01 responds:

e______e really. A small part of me is crushed in sight of the fact that this song that didn't even take me a day to put together merited a 10 when I sweated over and was so confident in Swim Up . . . but I did get a ten . . . so I can't complain. but where do I have to work up from here? . . . . ^______^

I had picked up some pretentious attitudes . . . to which my friend polietly corrected me. Glad to be back on the scene. have some different stuff coming up. I'm gonna review you now cuz I've been dragging my feet. I do really like your new one thos

[Power Of PleasureRMX-[Dj-S]]

watch the res/peak on the sawtooth

i though there was almost a little too much res on the main melodical synth part. a very original approach

man ... cant believe they canceled the contest for this rmx and the other rmx packs.

man i really enjoyed the vocoding at the end

good work keep them coming

Sacrafan responds:

Which saw? The one going along with the lyrics, or the one at the starting?

[Dreaming Together]

levels

well i liked the song but i am going to comment on your volume problem you mentioned in the reason thread.

when i listened to this and compared it to other works, to me the levels sound just fine. perhaps you are over stressing it. it sounds efficient to me.

hope this helped

Nekoprism responds:

Oh well... Thx again!
Like we said it all must be in my head... =P
I'll get some sleep and it might help!
See ya!

[MoonSight 18]

visual

you are good. you have visions before your music which is a great thing. i would have to say after listening to a few of your tracks that your mixing style is...just right, but not over board, i feel like you like the way things rest together naturally which i think is good to do for ambient music. its all about overtones.

anyway when i was a kid i used to listen to music like this every sunday night on a late night radio show till i fell asleep.

great work.

DjUntold responds:

Thank you my friend.
I always make my music based off of a story or vision I have floating around in this crazy head of mine. This is probably one of my favorite tracks out of my collection here on Newgrounds, and I'm glad you liked it too!
I felt some nostalgia as well while making to this song, it brought me back to my childhood, of my memories laying out in the grass looking up at the stars.
Good times,
Thank you again for your reviews!
- Aaron

[[COS] Dust Man]

breath of life

first off the synth here was kinda cool, sounded like a square with a noise osc. it was kinda breathy, good work here. your high end drums sounded high passed, and really weak, but this piece did not call for it to be so strong, i think the main synth filled up that space in the spectrum well. i wasnt a fan of those tom like drums you had. but good work on getting them to cut through the mix. cool harmony at 1:31.

at 1:55 i felt your effect was a little sloppy, i think it should be gated so that the sound cuts out on the tempo at like 16beats for the gate. and it would be a cool effect to make those pan left and right upon each gated section

this was well mixed and a hella great song for 90 minutes

good ending

DjUntold responds:

Thank you very much :). You're one of the few people who actually reads the Author Comments before leaving a review on a song haha. Yeah it was tough to get the mixing to be top notch without the time to do it. Usually I spend 20+ hours on each song, but 90 minutes is basically a mad rush to get anything done. Though it really teaches you a lot about music production, and teaches you to not throw out your ideas once you've got them down. I used to just throw away melodies if they weren't perfect. Editing is a wonderful thing...

Anyways, thank you for taking your time to review the track,
I quite enjoy constructive criticism, it really helps.
- Aaron

[Lamp Concerto]

awesome

awesome creativity awesome effort you get a 5 which i never give and i know i must have rated like 200 audio submissions

sorohanro responds:

Thanx man, thanx.

[Candy Zoo]

great!

ok i am impressed by the creativity in this, and it completely sounds great, ... i am a really goofy person though.

i was not aware there was a pizzicato strings vst lol!

ok i think my favorite part was about the jelly bean giraffe i think the song needs a video though

curriemaster responds:

Aye the song definitely needs a video I think, unfortunately I am no animator so if anyone wants to have a go feel free! Glad you liked the track and thanks for the review :).

[DKC3- SwimUp]

patting yourself on the back

well im goin gto tell you not to pat yourself on the back just yet lol! because once you know you did well remember there is room to improve, but im going to tell you that it isnt time for you to do that yet because im going to do it for you.

ok well went i first heard the song at the beginning i felt good. i really liked the instruemnt orbanjo that you love so much, it actually fit in pretty well. at :37 i disagreed with the side chained part some, it sounded great but musicly i wasnt sure.

the drums on this track were all very great, i loved your patterns i know you made those just right.

at 1:40 if you made that synth i am proud of you.

you really took time on the intro to this song holy crap, it sounds great, and i am really impressed that you introduced the themes in a smart way by having little fragments of the musical elements kkinda faded andwaving in and out so as to accent the atmosphere! GREAT ideas. the delay on that banjo was really cool! good work there. i really felt and heard water in this.

the side chained pads were great. it made the atmosphere really enjoyable, you really had alot of pads in here that made the song incredible at 3:51 that synth you chose for the little melodical part was a good choice

at 3:32 i liked the drums you had snapping in with the delay, good distraction. sory but at by 3:05 i expected a buildto the next part i felt that dragged out a little.

there was an acid synth towards the end that was really cool.

good idea to have those panning variantions of the main bas at the end but it was a little too crazy for me, and this looped really well.

i am giving you a solid 4 on this because i rarely give solid 5's and a solid four is sayign alot from me, and there were some musical elements i wasnt sure aount so that was my doubt.

im giving you an 8/10 because you have improved much on this piece. and also its an awesome song.

something in this feels like your mastering was completely different this time around because things sound more clear.

cRAVE01 responds:

>:D you are going to make me WORK for that 5 and 10, arent you!!! XD Every time you say I've improved is pressure to work equally/harder on the next one X )

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Really on the mastering? I was kinda thinking that I'd done a bum job on it cuz it goes in the red PLENTY! That main bass was really frustrating, but fun. o___o; lol But I am glad the EQing fooled you ^o^ and thanks for the compliment. And I was back and forth on that saw. Couldn't settle on anything that sounded better . . . Technically by defenition I guess that is a sign I should take it out all together - but you know how I am with side-chaining : 3 I had to go back to some of your PMs to make sure I was using smart inputs for the right type of instruments . . . so yeah. This was fun and rewarding.

The pad work in the original is my favorite part of the song, so I knew I'd have lots of fun with this one! And I loved how the tar (my banjo) turned out with the panning on that part!

I am very glad to know that you enjoyed this one! Here's hoping I can keep up this momentum '_' ;