Hippokopter's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Endless WIP]

I find your lack of unison detuned chordstacks to be.... disturbing. xD

But seriously, unison detuning could help those chords. Also, if you have Serum, there's a really cool way to make stupidly beefy chordstacks with only 3 layers.

Layer 1: Osc A is a full unison detuned saw, with the detune turned down a bit. Osc B is a full unison detuned saw with default detuning, and one octave up. A little bit of noise is optional. FX is multiband compression with the default knob settings, and then an EQ highpass to remove the low rumble.

Layer 2: Osc A is a full unison detuned saw, with the detune turned down a bit, like before. FX are the same as before, except that the EQ should have a mild high shelf to get out of the way of layer 1. After all of that, chorus with a little less wet signal is optional.

Layer 3: Turn off both the oscillators and turn on the sub and add some noise. In the FX, add tube distortion with full drive, then multiband compression. Yes, it should sound like a broken speaker.

After all of that, lay out the chords with layer 1, copy those chords an octave down or so on layer 2, and have layer 3 play the roots at an appropriate octave. (Sidenote - if you have extensions or tensions on any chords, have the extensions/tensions in layer 1 but NOT in layer 2.) And finally, you can route all of the tracks to some type of submix (maybe a submix routed to another submix?) and add some compression to beef the sound up more and make the chords feel more like a single instrument rather than three.

After all of that, I still have more to say... that groove at the end is really awesome! My suggestion to you is to make that groove the first half of a verse, and then go into a dramatic chordstacky suspended-feeling third quarter of the verse, and then buildup to a drop that could have some fat chords too, if you wanted. Or just have some gnarly basses and a pre-drop to glue stuff together. (I think that's the right word I'm looking for, pre-drop... it's that thing where at the beginning of the drop the drums don't come in right away, but there's still sidechaining going on, y'know? Like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESeQ5Ld_xIQ (Omar Varela and Ghostkilla's "Aries") or something.)

Hope that helps! :p

[AtRysk - Impulse]

Wow. Really good! Some of the elements were a bit unclear, and the chordstacks could use some beefiness, but I think it's really cool! I think that if anything needs more work, the transitions could make the song more dramatic with the use of some silence.

About chordstacks... there's a really cool way to get awesome chordstacks with Serum, if you have it. I only have the demo, but it works really well. First, load up two instances of Serum. On one, turn on both the oscillators and just a bit of noise, then max out the unison on both of the oscillators. Then, turn the detune on oscillator A down a bit, and turn the octave up 1 on oscillator B. Then, compress it and highpass it after compression. You can do hyper if you want to. Then, go to the other instance of Serum, turn off the oscillator, and turn on the sub and a bit of noise. Finally, add full tube distortion and some multiband compression. It should sound sort of like a broken speaker. Then, using the first instance of Serum, get some chords down, and have the second instance of Serum just play the roots of the chords or whatever's convenient. I'll let you take care of the octaves.

The sound of that chordstack makes Massive, the synth, look small. No freakin' joke.

Hope that helps a bit!

AtRysk responds:

Thanks for your input. This is actually the first song I made using serum. I just got it. I am always looking for ways to improve my music so feedback like this really helps!

[Balance]

What happened to the snare in the drops...? Snares are kind of important... anyways, I like the idea of having 3 drops instead of the typical 2, reminds me of Excision and Space Lace's "Throwin' Elbows," Getter and Virtual Riot Remix ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7LZTnUhXPU ).

I think that the buildups could have been executed better. The drops sound good, except for the unmoving sub. All I have to say on those fronts is that improvement will come with time and experience.

I've had a thought about buildups and drops, and I think that as good as a drop is, without the right context and mixing, it's trash, whatever it is. Learning to mix is the easy part. I think that with any given buildup, there's an ideal "flavor" that the corresponding drop should have. If that buildup is sharp, high quality, rhythmically driven, and maybe contains a motif, then a corresponding drop might be a sharp, high quality, rhythmically driven drop that has that same motif. Might. Figuring that out is where I think much of the trouble is found.

It's just a theory. :)

CineMaticx responds:

Thanks for your feedback it means alot to. Me that somebody is really trying to help me i try my best to include all of you tips into my next project thank you very much ^^

[In memory of my cat (2007-2017)]

It's sad whenever things die, for sure. My suggestion is just to look forward to when you won't be thinking about your cat.

Dark thoughts aside, the song sounds nice, even if it's only 26 seconds.

[I Play Pokemon Go Everyday (Dubstep Remix)]

I would say that a dubstep song should have two drops, but who wants to listen to that kid for another drop, no matter how cool the rest of the song is? xD

Still, decent song. :D

[Chaos]

Pretty decent! You've got good ideas, but it could probably have been executed a bit better. The balance is kind of off, things are loud in some awkward places, and the drops aren't as energetic as they should be. First of all, if you don't know about clipping, go watch ASDR's video on volume vs gain ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33u60cYDZTM&t=257s ). It's pretty good. Second, be very critical of balance. I don't know if you had noticed it and just didn't know what to do about it, or if you hadn't noticed it at all, but regardless, if you think that your balance just miiight be a liiiitle off, investigate things.

Good luck on future tracks!

[Dovax - Transform (VIP)]

Hey, sounds really nice! Sounds a lot like Wubbaduck and Dead Critic's "Duck Hunt" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyj9KBJr0s4 ). Very professional sounding, and the drops had a really cool alien feel to them! Very well put together, and best of all, you didn't abuse cussing to get the job done. Keep goin'! :D

[Xtrullor - Paradigm Shift]

This is what the world of dubstep needs. Absolutely 1000% amazing, no question. Heart stopping buildups, smooth exit from the drops, crystal clear mixing, ear warping basses, and that Xtrullor-esque time signature madness that contributes so much to that style we love. Gloriously legendary. Keep it up, please!

[[Dubstep] Dreams]

Pretty cool! All I have to say is that you should put a bit of silence just before the drop somewhere, and the basses in the drop need to be more pronounced. Other than that, it's pretty good!

Casiel368 responds:

Thank you for the tips! I will keep them in mind in the future tracks :D