diggerplus's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Up and Away (Take 3)]

I like this track... aside from it being overly long... it's a nice track... might I suggest trying to shorten it about 5 mins long or so... or maybe adding in a break from the repetition?
I only ask this cause after the 4-5 min area I was starting to get bored with the same melodies... even though they were decent... they still got boring...

You might want to level your sounds a bit... in my headphones (earbuds) the high pitch synth was quite overwhelming and I really didn't hear the beat when the synth was at it's fullest...
When played on my basic computer speakers the sound was fine... but still a bit much on the synth...
Finally, played on my production speakers... all seemed fine but the lack of depth in the kick drum..

That's all I have, I hope this helps.

madhousecreations responds:

Thank you for your review :) It was very helpful and I am working to try and better the track. I do agree, the track is a bit long winded. And am working to try and make amends to this. I have made slight amends to the kick and added low pass filters to the high pitched synths. The kick I have added a bit crusher, to add a little more depth. I have also lowered the volumes of some sounds, as I do agree they were very over powering. And to the point were deafening. I am now working on the arrangement of the track to try an shorten it.

[DaTfAcE]

First off you should put this under TECHNO, not trance. Even placing this under Dance would have been more accurate. Here's a few reasons and tips for you....

1. there's no hypnotic sounding synth melodies, just randomized arp or 303 sounds.. maybe this should have been under Goa..
2. The beginning sounds like you took a chunk from one of Tiesto's songs... maybe Armin Van Buuren's... at any rate.. it was still detectable.
3. It almost sounded like you had a break beat song at certain points... Trance beats are typically "4 to the floor" style...

1. Listen to a few popular trance songs and study the sounds and layout.
2. Clean up the beat and make it more noticeable.. even listening through my production speakers it sounded like i was playing them through tin cans...
3. Make a "Main" synth line and build the song off that... if you take my advice in #1, you will see that most do this... not all, but most... the ones that don't build off the beat and bass line...

Here is a list of some true trance artists:
Tiesto
Armin Van Buuren
Swedish House Mafia (most songs)
ATB (older stuff)
Above & Beyond
Blank & Jones

Sorry I couldn't give a better rating, but I Hope this helps...

[DB - As Dust]

Soooo... I only gave you 3 stars cause the drums sound like they were added as a secondary measure... and they sound like they are computer generated. if they aren't, it may be the MP3 you uploaded has horrible bit rate... i dunno... but they don't sound like they work so well. (but I guess they were ok for fake drums)
I do however like the guitar... the solo was a nice touch too. =)

[MekkStep]

NOT dubstep...
1. no bassline
2. should be listed under chipstep or 8-bit tunes.
3. was there a beat? sounded like it at times, but really couldn't tell.

Some suggestions...
1. add a filthy bass line. If you had watched the tutorials like you state, this is known as a key element in a dubstep song. Heres a link to a bass line tutorial... one of many..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3bH5o7mDg8
2. kill the squirrel that's screaming it's bloody head off through out the song OR take those screams and sequence them a bit more.
3.You really must bring up the levels on the beat section. it is after all the second key element of any dubstep song.

If you take my suggestions, feel free to let me know when you've uploaded a new version.

[track - 98]

Nice song, but definitely not a trance song. I would put this under something like Ambient Breaks.
One of the main things that makes a trance song just that is the solid "4 to the floor" style of beat. Yo have whats typically found in breakbeat songs or even dubstep to some degree.
You also might want to bring up the volume in the beginning of the track a bit sooner. I had to check to make sure I had hit play.

OPFX responds:

Thanks for the review. I am familiar with the broken beats, however, with such a minimal differentiating aspect, percussion, would it not make the exception?

I've never really had an interest in using genre's. Unfortunately, where they exist is where they are used by others to obtain a better understanding of the artists perspective.

Know that if it feels like trance, moves like trance, puts you in a trance, it's a trance song. I admire the of rhythm of break beats and the momentum of trance so I combined them.

This song is more trance than break beat simply because.

[Xtrullor - Reverie]

Very nice song. Loved the pianos. Can't say that I'd change anything other than fine tuning some levels.... and by this I mean at points in the song some elements completely overcome other elements almost making them non existent. Overall.. A very good song.

Xtrullor responds:

I'll keep a lookout on my volume levels from now on. Thanks for the input!

[Today's gift]

I agree with TheDukeofJuke when he says the song isn't up to a DnB tempo, but in contrary, I do like the piano. The overall song is nice and relaxing (not what DnB is supposed to do to you)
Suggestions...
1. Grab some gritty bass and throw it in there... just make sure it blends well with piano.
2. Crank the speed/tempo up to at least 155bpm.. then you can at least call this ambient DnB.
3. Guitar is really muted... bring it's levels up a bit.

HowardWimshurst responds:

Hey thanks very much for the feedback! I will definitely keep those in mind for my next track

[RAWSTYLE]

can't say i liked it. Reasons:
1. posted as a song, clearly not a song, but a loop.
2. no sign of leveling out the sounds, makes everything distorted and hard to hear.
3. obvious curse words present, no warning label.

Options to fix:
1. drop the levels on all sounds, keep anything already predominant at 0.0db. if you need to bring up the subtle sounds, don't go over 2.0db.
2. post a warning like "Explicit" in the title, children more than likely listen to these audio files as well as adults.
3. you have the base for a nice gabber song, maybe you should make it a full length song.

TheBetterAudioPortal responds:

1. It's a full track if you listen to it long enough.
2. That's the entire point.
3. Don't be a bitch.

/

1. NO
2. Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you...
3. IT'S NOT GABBER. IT'S HARDSTYLE OMG.

/

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/607831
^ This is Gabber, can't you tell the difference?????

[Anxiety In The Mind VIP]

Just a few things..
1. nice grungy bass.. possibly coulda used a little more variation in distortion levels, but still solid enough.
2. smooth strings.. not overpowering, so sounded good.
3. liked the break.. even better that you added a little bit of voice.

[Four Zero Five]

Really not bad.. kept my attention all the way through the song. You could almost put this song under dubstep... almost... and thats an awesome thing for a DnB song.
BAD...
Played on 3 speaker types (Earbuds, Computer speakers, and Surround Sound) but couldn't hear all the same elements of the songs on each.
POSSIBLE FIX..
Bringing the bass levels up a smidgen so they can be heard clearly on the earbuds.
High tone elements are harder to hear on surround sound, possibly doing the same as the bass there.

Stapless responds:

yeah it wouldn't sound as good on those type of speakers. But thanks for the references.