This is quite extraordinary! Haven't heard anything of this quality on Newgrounds in a long time.
Really thick layer of guitar. What kinda rack/software are you using? Fantastic dramatic chord progression and orchestral backing makes it sound like some of the best stuff from Dream Theather. The strings stand a little too much back though I think, would love to hear it more up front.
I don't think guitar/bass/drums/strings are enough to do this song justice though. Would you be able to make stems of this song? I would so much love to make a little alternate version of it.
Hahahaha thank for the review !! I'm only using a Line 6 Toneport UX-2 (Cost $300).. I take cubase as master recording and I put Reason as rewired device in cubase... It only took 7h to do my song :p
As you can see, my english is bad, when you sayed "Would you be able to make stems of this song?" I don't understand what you mean... What is "stems" ?
Sweet-ass intro man. The whole song is a bit dry perhaps but you really got something going with the various percussion. Woulda been cool with a similarly-themed breakdown right in the middle of it, with crazy-ass glitchy variations of the same percussion as in the intro. But yeah I think you did a really good job capturing that "robot day"-vibe I think the staff is looking for. You got the playful vibe, you got the industrial elements, you also got some humor and original lyrics, what can I say, you're all set to win this thing.
The composition also, is mostly excellent, extremely diverse. That's the good thing with collaborations, you get something pretty unique. And the melodies are, I'm not sure how to put it, mature, in a way. Especially in that jazz part, you know, the horn is all laidback and cool and the percussion complements it very well.
So yeah. You've got a god damn good thing going here. Good luck with the winning.
AND SO, PLEASE GIVE ME A MINUTE TO POINT OUT STUFF I THINK COULD BE IMPROVED,
The horn synth sounds a bit much like a stock cheap stock midi sound. Woulda been better if it was either a different sound altogether or if it wasn't so intrusive, i.e it had a little reverb or lowpass.
So the vocals are pretty off and to be blunt it all sounds very amateurish. I understand the stuff you wrote about the vocals thing but I disagree that it should be off-pitch. It just sounds too human as of now. They are programmed to output exact data, so the notes should be consistent (though not necessarily strictly in tune or quantized). THEREFORE, it seems to me like like, for a Robot day song, you really NEED the vocals to have some fast, crude autotuning, perhaps with shifted formants too, to give it a more unnatural sound. And perhaps also some bitcrushing to give it some character and originality. That's my thought on that...
Some obvious clipping/overcompression problems throughout the song... I think it's a result of the bass range being a bit too loud and muddy at times.
"Sweet-ass intro man. The whole song is a bit dry perhaps but you really got something going with the various percussion."
Yeah I didn't really want it to sound full of depth and dosed in too much reverb in the techno parts, unlike in the vocal parts, and even then I didn't use too much reverb :D.
"Woulda been cool with a similarly-themed breakdown right in the middle of it, with crazy-ass glitchy variations of the same percussion as in the intro."
Damn that's a good idea. Wish I had thought of it, but it's too late now :P.
"But yeah I think you did a really good job capturing that "robot day"-vibe I think the staff is looking for. You got the playful vibe, you got the industrial elements, you also got some humor and original lyrics, what can I say, you're all set to win this thing."
Haha thanks. I really hope I win or at least get second or third. This song was weeks of non-stop hard work :(.
"The composition also, is mostly excellent, extremely diverse. That's the good thing with collaborations, you get something pretty unique. And the melodies are, I'm not sure how to put it, mature, in a way. Especially in that jazz part, you know, the horn is all laidback and cool and the percussion complements it very well."
Yeah, I definitely agree with you there. I took advantage of collaborating with someone who knows a lot of music theory (Darklight) who took care of the harmonizing and most of the background melodies, while I took care of a lot of the foreground melodies. Definitely produced a unique result, to say the least.
Glad you like the melodies :D.
"So yeah. You've got a god damn good thing going here. Good luck with the winning."
Thanks!
"The horn synth sounds a bit much like a stock cheap stock midi sound. Woulda been better if it was either a different sound altogether or if it wasn't so intrusive, i.e it had a little reverb or lowpass."
Yeah, you're right about that, I was thinking of layering East/West brass on top of it and giving it some reverb, but I had so much to do with the song that it passed my mind :3. I'd go back and quickly fix it if it doesn't take 4 hours to export lol.
"So the vocals are pretty off and to be blunt it all sounds very amateurish. I understand the stuff you wrote about the vocals thing but I disagree that it should be off-pitch."
Haha lol not a problem, that 'robots are never perfect' thing was me thinking of an excuse for Nick's singing :D. Not saying it was bad, but there were a few notes which were off, so I had to think of something to say xD.
"It just sounds too human as of now. They are programmed to output exact data, so the notes should be consistent (though not necessarily strictly in tune or quantized). THEREFORE, it seems to me like like, for a Robot day song, you really NEED the vocals to have some fast, crude autotuning, perhaps with shifted formants too, to give it a more unnatural sound. And perhaps also some bitcrushing to give it some character and originality. That's my thought on that..."
Hm, yeah, but the thing is, this song is supposed to sound comical and funny, yet still evoke a robot feel from the melodies, effects and instrumentation. If Nick's voice was unnatural and robot-y, then it would take away from some of the humour, I think.
Actually, if you hear close enough, I added a metallic-sounding layer at the second repetition of the first and second chorus, but it's very low volume :3.
I didn't really want the vocals to be unnatural and robot-sounding, to be honest, since it wouldn't sound as funny, and I already have the background music and effects to take care of the robot feel.
Although maybe I'm talking crap xD.
"Some obvious clipping/overcompression problems throughout the song... I think it's a result of the bass range being a bit too loud and muddy at times."
Haha that's my amateur mixing skills at work :P.
"That's all I have to say about that."
You're pretty much right about everything, wish I had time to change the song a bit. Thanks a LOT for the awesome review!
Such a cool sound and initial concept. Love the lofi sound and sampled chords. Unfortunately it sounds like you looped a few bars for 4 minutes with little variation, so it serves for little more than an annoying background sound after a while, especially since the vinyl scratch samples are so loud. Work on this one and I think you'll have a proper hit.
The bass is kinda floppy and makes so much high range noise that it drowns out the little synth melodies and even renders its own melody unintelligible. Even the drums are drowned out a bit. The kick still punches through nicely though.
I think it sounds fine. It's supposed to be the centerpiece anyways. I also kept the chords and melody in the center channel while spreading out the bass, for extra clarity.
Please excuse that my review isn't structured all that well. I did listen through it a few times, then I skipped through it to different parts to find out stuff that I would point out in my review. Hence;
Throughout the song I'm noticing that the high end is a bit extreme. It's got that noisy quality that exhausts the ears after a while, usually resulting from detuned saws and noise sweeps with lots of reverb. For example, the thing at 1:40 should have a bit more tonality in my opinion, now it's mostly a harsh sweeping noise. I'm thinking maybe it would be a good idea to tone down the super-high frequencies and kick the 6-9khz range up a bit to make it a bit more pleasant while keeping that hi-fi sound.
Dude! I love that mood change at 1:35 SO MUCH! The square synth thingy introduced the calmer part perfectly. There was a similar transition previously, but now it stands out a lot since the same instrument wasn't used previously in this part. Just excellent.
I like the more laidback feel about halfway in the song when you switch to half time and then build up to the standard part again. Really gives the whole piece that kind of "epic" feel after a full listen. I could see even more processing (mostly reverb) on that specific part, to make it stand out a bit. I dunno. It's fiine.
There are some gems in this piece that i only noticed when cranking up the volume quite a bit. The hi-passed little buildup around 1:47 for example, there's this kind of resonant tone hidden deep inside the noise. A perfect example of juicy synth bits that I'd like to hear more of. Another thing I only noticed when I listened to it quite loudly is the quite extensive reverb on the low end. I notice you used some of those super-processed kicks (VEC I assume?) from 1:00. This is something you should be very careful about using for anything but emphasis (kinda like you'd use a crash cymbal), but here it strangely doesn't mud up the mix very much. It sounds very cool too, so I'll let the senseless use of low end reverb slide. For now :)
Hmm, the piano part was great, the melody and supporting harmonies are good, but I think it's the wrong choice of piano. The one you're using has no dynamics at all, and the velocity is way higher than what is realistic in any sense of the word. This makes it sound strikingly similar to so many cheesy trancy songs that use FL Keys. Which is unfortunate.
There's a noticeable degradation of sound quality due to poor compression at 0:49 and 3:42. Fix that please.
Ok so I'm going to put a generic overall paragraph here to tell you I thoroughly enjoyed the piece and any flaws I'm pointing out are quite minor and strictly my opinion (except those near-clipping spots I mentioned. Seriously there's no excuse not to fix that :P). Very nicely done man. Keep up the good work!
Wow, man, epic review. Now I know what it feels like getting walls as reviews xD. At first you're like 'HOLY CRAP' and then once you finish reading you're like "Wow, that was awesome", right? Hehe, thanks for the awesome review, I worked really hard on this so any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.
To answer to your first paragraph, now that you mentioned it, the high end is a bit too prominent in this. I'm not one to make bassey songs (my first attempt at Drum'n'Bass can be compared to the sound someone makes when puking :3) so I can't disagree with you. I'll definitely get around to balancing this out a bit more, although maybe I can blame my terrible Ye Olde Subwoofer, which makes the low end of everything I hear through my speakers virtually nonexistant xD.
Also, regarding the sweep at 1:40, you're completely right. It just didn't come out how I wanted it to lol :P. I'll have to make it sound less like white noise :D.
Regarding the second paragraph, I used that transition like 4 times in the song xD. I feel that it sort of links the song structure together. Also, I was lazy and couldn't think of a better transition :3. Well, glad it worked out then ^^.
As for the 3rd paragraph, yeah I always try to vary the moods in my songs with breaks, ambient parts and all that. An epic song isn't all epic, so I'm glad you liked that part.
4th paragraph:
"There are some gems in this piece that i only noticed when cranking up the volume quite a bit."
Lol, I won't dare turn the volume higher than usual, or I might risk making my other ear deaf too xD.
"The hi-passed little buildup around 1:47 for example, there's this kind of resonant tone hidden deep inside the noise. A perfect example of juicy synth bits that I'd like to hear more of."
Haha, that was unintentional :P. You really have an ear for music ^^.
"Another thing I only noticed when I listened to it quite loudly is the quite extensive reverb on the low end."
Hmm, yes, I tend to add reverb to a lot of things; in this case the kick I used to add emphasis and the bassey arp. That'll probably explain the excessive use of reverb in the low end I suppose.
"I notice you used some of those super-processed kicks (VEC I assume?) from 1:00.
Nope, not VEC. Just some random layered kick samples :D.
"This is something you should be very careful about using for anything but emphasis (kinda like you'd use a crash cymbal), but here it strangely doesn't mud up the mix very much. It sounds very cool too, so I'll let the senseless use of low end reverb slide. For now :)"
Heh, I suppose I got lucky there then xD.
Regarding your 5th paragraph, I'm happy you liked the piano part, although I never actually thought of adding different velocities to the piano part. I sort of have the mentality that trance tracks don't need different velocities lol. Well, again, I agree with you with the different velocities, I'll definitely fix that later on.
6th paragraph, 0:49 and 3:42... You know, maybe people complained about that :P. It's probably because of the fact that there's so much going on at that time, I'll probably not make it so full of loud sounds lol.
And as for the generic overall pragraph; I'm glad you enjoyed the song. I agree with all of the stuff that you mentioned, even if they're strictly your opinion ^^. Yeah there's no excuse not to fix the near-clipping parts, I'll get around to it xD. So, thanks again for the really really epic review. If you ever want to trade reviews again, I'd be glad to. I'm thinking of reviewing your song Absent Minded sometime anyway :D.
I've probably said this too many times, but thanks a LOT for the review!
Feels a bit unfinished yes. The main synth is nice but very plain and without a proper melody. The drums are also very plain, sounds obviously extracted from a sliced loop. The loop that comes in at 0:50 has a better flow to it and sounds better in this context. The subbass is very nice sounding, but there's only so much you can do with a clean sub like that, I'd suggest shaping it up a little, either by layering or some subtle distortion and modulation. Sounds very good as a starting point for a song. Keep up the good work and good luck with the finished piece. Tell me about it when yer done.
Well actually the kick and snare aren't from loops, only those weird hats in the beginning and some of the high-end that comes in at 0:50, the rest is a looot of stuff layered. Snare needs some snap, but I already got that covered. ;)
It's pretty cheesy and not as what should I say sophisticated as some of your other doodles, but it doesn't matter because the little vocal samples make it so awesome. A bit like Weebl's cartoons, I guess. The production is balling though so it definitively stands out. My ears also promptly came at around 4:06.
I'm also adding this one to my running/cardio exercise playlist. Thanks much.
Lights of Darkness 
RD2010 - I'm a Robot 
