Hippokopter's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Hypothermia]

Huh, pretty cool! I really like the beginning, but I think the buildups could use some improvement, like not having the chords go up chromatically and not having the lead double as a riser. One other thing threw me off a little bit. In the drops, the kick and snare weren't just a simple "1+2+" pattern, and I think that the absence of the kind of stability that rhythm gives made the drops a bit less enjoyable. I just feel like having an underlying stability would help. Other than that, sounds great! Happy New Year!

Snakewine responds:

Thanks for feedback! It's So helpful :)))) Thank you again, and happy new year!

[Incendi]

Awesome! It sounds like Panda Eyes's "Shuriken" minus the heavy guitars. I like the name too, "fire." The only thing off about this song is that it's not loud enough. There's a psychoacoustic effect where louder things sound better. The louder it is, the better it sounds. In my experience, it also sounds a bit brighter. Anyways, it needs to be louder is all I'm saying. Still, I like the theme, and it's definitely a cool song. Happy New Year!

[{GTard} Nightlight III]

This is pretty cool! Sounds complextro-y. The ideas are good the buildups are nice, and the whole song has a good dosage of compression, it looks like... lol. All I have to say is that you should focus on mixing I think, because the song sounds kind of muddy to me.

GTard responds:

Thanks, this one is definitely not my favorite song that I've done, mostly because of the mixing issues, but frankly I gave up after a while of trying to fix it. This is ironically the worst mixed out of all the songs I've done lol :P

[Lovely Kitten - Always]

Really awesome! The chords sound clean, the chord progression is nice, the feel is awesome, and the transitions are great! The only thing that irks me about this song is that not much tension every really builds up. Still though, this is definitely a great song. Happy New Year!

[-Varsity- Iodine]

Hey, pretty cool! I like the idea, but I feel like it's lacking some high end in some parts. The odd accents on the drums at the intro and the buildup toward the end are kind of odd too, maybe make them less loud, or switch the kick with toms for those parts like in "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2S1I_ien6A ) but not swung?

Also, I've been thinking a lot about improvement, and this article ( https://www.edmprod.com/5-stages-electronic-music-producer/ ) sums it up. Definitely read it, it is probably the single best document that I've found for electronic music producers of all skills.

By the way, happy New Year! :D

Lot7even responds:

I read the thing-Thanks!
I know the song is weird; still experimenting weird sound samples and such.

2 0 1 8 O H B O Y O H B O Y

[the Insult song (swearing)]

No. Just... no. No joke is worth spewing garbage to make it happen...

[- Varsity - Ming Court]

Huh, interesting! I'm sure that FL Studio is shaping up to be a nice program for you by the sound of it!

At 00:14, I was hoping you would repeat the melody with some kind of harmony, and at 00:29, the two basses are clashing. Other than those things, I don't have anything to say except that you should learn how to mix. There's a course out on a website called Udemy that's pretty good ( https://www.udemy.com/mixingtutorial/learn/v4/overview ). I'm not quite sure where exactly that link goes for you because I've bought the course and you haven't (presumably), but it'll get you somewhere near the mixing course. There's a new years sale going on, and Udemy's courses are dirt cheap. If you miss this sale, don't worry, they put things on sale all the time.

So yeah, good starting song in FL! Keep making music, and abuse Harmor for whack sounds! xD

Lot7even responds:

Well thanks! I know I'm not good with mixing, I'm still not used to Fl's weird console veiw and automation features. I may take that class.
I am still developing my style.
I'm not using Harmor, I'm using GMS.

[Varsity - Trajectory]

I had never listened to this before, but... stereo madness? xD

I think this song is old enough that any critiques of it would be useless... but it still sounds decent! :D

Lot7even responds:

Yeah, same chord progression as stereo madness... But I hope its better bcuz that song is SO annoying!

[ALESDA! & AL3X - Xmas Step]

TEACH ME YOUR WAYS

PLEASE

I'M ACTUALLY SERIOUS

Seriously tho, the mix is crystal clear, the buildup is really sharp, and the DROP! O MY FREAKIN' GOSH THAT WAS AWESOME! What did you do to get so good at this? How?

AleXizGD responds:

uff a lot of practice, and a good equalization, and also musical theory (a lot)

[WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS - QWAZDYN REMIX]

Nice desc! Lol. I like the ending part with the 3 against 4 kind of vibe. The drop starts at kind of an odd place, though... I don't know what you were aiming for though.

In the drop, the basses could use more high end, and they all need to be louder. Otherwise, it sounded good! At the beginning of the drop, maybe make the bass have more stereo width for more impact? Or, you could layer some kind of compressed supersaw above it.

As a final note, I don't know what processing you did here, but mixing and mastering are essential to dubstep. Learn to do those things, and it'll sound better. I actually contacted OfficialNovaCore about this, and he said that "you can have a drop like Zomboy, but if it's not mixed well, it'll sound like garbage." I think I'm paraphrasing a bit, but you get the idea. And just so you know, there's a guy out in the ether named SeamlessR. Go watch his videos, they're full of production knowledge about this kind of stuff.

Have fun!

QWAZDYN responds:

Thanks for the feedback!