Hippokopter's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[BARE NOIZE 1]

Whoah! Cool! Sounds inspired by Wubbaduck. I don't know if you were being experimental or what, but this sounds pretty good! My thought is that this song is just intro-drop-outro, when usually dubstep songs go intro-verse-breakdown-buildup-drop-verse-breakdown-buildup-drop-outro. Kinda long, but it goes by quick. The easiest way to go about doing that would probably be to make something like this, but with a verse-breakdown-buildup before the drop, then literally just duplicate the verse-breakdown-buildup-drop, then plop down an outro, and finally just change a single noise in the second drop to keep things "interesting." Kind of a dirty trick, but it can still sound really cool, like in Omar Varela's "Mess Up" ft Ghostkilla ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuBpUecMa4s ), which is probably one of my favorite songs. As long as the noises you use are good, nobody's gonna complain about you repeating sections (and even repeating noises over and over). And, you seem to be one of the rare few who can arrange the noises well, which is probably more important than the quality, or even the number of noises available.

So yeah. Song's too short, but you sould have an okay time dealing with that, seeing as this is still pretty awesome. :)

[(future bassy) Summer Air]

REALLY COOL! Nice and loud, catchy, just really awesome! All I really have to say is that there's no buildup for the first drop, but that's not to subtract from the coolness of this song. Really awesome!

5TanLey responds:

thanks :)

[Daniwive - Lonely]

Wow! It sounds well arranged and thought out! The buildups were really cool! That being said, there's some nit picky things that aren't so great to me. First of all, the drops have quite a bit going on in the background, which makes them less energetic. Also, during buildups, the snare is usually the driving force. Other than that, nice!

DaneeWive responds:

Thanks for critics,I always needed someone seeing all the mistakes in my tracks.We learn from them...

[Mm2x2-Go back]

This sounds pretty good! I like the structure, and the general character of the song. That being said... what happened to the snare? I don't know if that was a design choice to keep the snare in the background or not, but either way, it's doesn't make for an energetic track that wants to keep moving forward. Snares are super, and I mean SUPER important for keeping tempo and characterizing the song. Also, during a buildup and its drop, the atmospheric stuff usually goes away to heighten the energy. Also, it seems like you have some elements that just get drowned out by other things going on in the track. Typically, that's remedied by removing frequencies that interfere. If there's some mid-range synth that's messing with a vocal, you can cut out some of the frequencies of the synth and/or the vocal to make the two elements clearer and more distinguished from one another.

I dunno. Just try to fix problems that you come across, and make sure that you notice as many problems as you can.

mm2x2 responds:

Ha I am bad at noticing problems man xD
But thanks will keep that in mind I guess
:P

[[Tsets] - X (WIP)]

Very atmospheric! Much of this song has that professional, well-structured sound. My only complaint is with the buildup and drop. First of all, the atmosphere is really cool, but that atmosphere stuff usually leaves at the beginning of the buildup and comes back sometime after the drop. Second, the buildup isn't too powerful. I'm not totally sure why buildups build up, but I think it can best be described by how often you would nod your head to the track. I think in a buildup, that head-nod speed doubles, usually once throughout the buildup, if not twice. A good example of all of this is Teminite's "Stormbringer" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLCi21QJd2E ).

Despite all that, it sounds nice! Keep it up, don't stop improving!

TsetsukenMusic responds:

Thank you for the review and constructive criticism!

The build up and drop is something I dream to be able to hit the nail on the head but it's going to take a few tracks to do this. I'm so used to making mellow sounding songs that this is a completely new area for me and that's why. Build ups take the mellow to extreme (powerful) in a sense and that's something to work on. I'm very happy you enjoy this though, it's a step in a good direction!

[Vintage Souls - Charliux]

This is cool! I like basically everything about it. Good melody, decent drums, nice rhythms, cool noises, all that good stuff. All I have to say is that the noises in the drop should be the same volume, or at least sound equally intense. You could change the melody synth in the drop maybe, add chord stacks, all that. Then, just keep the growls and stuff at the same volume. Still, this is good!

[Supreme Allegiance]

Sounds cool! I think what you were going for was something grand sounding, but the chromaticism in the melody didn't contribute towards that goal. I would advise sticking tightly to a single scale with this cinematic type of stuff. Also, try not to have a low instrument play a melody unless it's a solo. Overall though, sounds well put together and nicely structured with the gigantic crescendos. Cool!

A few side tips: Try to use interesting harmonies! If you listen to John Williams, he does this often (e.g., he uses chromatic mediants in Star Wars). Other types of "out-there" harmonies include: neapolitan chords, secondary dominants, common tone resolution, the list goes on.

Shoehorn some big skips in your melodies! Again, John Williams does this a ton. Just listen to Star Wars or the Superman theme. Adding skips, for whatever reason, makes the melody more memorable. Try it out, seriously!

Azuleux responds:

Ahh ok. Damn, thanks for the review! I'm only a year or so into music theory at the moment so I'm not up to date with all the super fancy chord progressions and stuff lol, but I'll try and keep your tips in mind. And yeah I agree with the low octave instruments situation, I kept them in there to see how people thought of it cus sometimes little things like that make it better for others but worse for some :p. Anyways, thanks again! Glad you liked it, and have a good day 8)