mr-jazzman's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[SN | Obscene Amounts of Steam]

Underrated masterpiece

I like this. A lot. It's very atmospheric, floaty, dreamy, all of the above, etc. The glitch drumming is superb, some of the best I've ever heard on the site (it reminded me of this song called "Synops" by Karnivool, off of their Themata album). The reverb too on those drums is something to bask in, as it just gives an awesome feel to the whole song. The mixing in this is also extremely good; nothing overpowers anything else, I can hear everything clearly. I think the only thing that I wish I had more of was a little bit more bass later on in the song, when the...what do you say...amen portion kicks in? if I'm wrong in that description, then the more typical DnB beat, where the snare comes in full-blown, around 2:20. The progression is nice, but I feel melodic expansion in at least one more area of the song would have made it all the more awesome. This is definitely a good track though bro, probably my favorite one by you. Inspirational, and as of writing this review, it is definitely an underrated song here on NG. Keep making stuff in this same vein man, you've got a knack for it! =)
9/10
5/5
Fav'd.
DL'ed
P.S. I'm particularly curious on your glitch drum production, and I've always wanted to produce stuff like this, if only for a nice fill section in a song. If I PM'ed you, would you be willing to share info on how to make glitch drums?

SessileNomad responds:

of course i would share, feel free to ask whatever you need

lol, if i had a nickle for every time i heard i needed more bass, i would have a lot of nickles

its called the amen, named after that drum beat, the typical drumbeat that all dnb artusts use in like ever ysong ever, yeah...called the amen break lol

but yeah, feel free to contact me, glad you liked the track, thanks for reviewing

[Badman Sound (DUB)]

I agree, very Borgore indeed!

The drums are nice and heavy, and the drop has plenty of anticipation in it (albeit not QUITE as heavy as I love lol). The melody sounds extremely familiar to something I've heard lately and I can't put a finger on it. Kudos on the bass as well, it's very distorted and a la Borgore; in my opinion, it feels like there's just a tad too much "swirl" on it, but this is simply my own humble opinion. I also feel like there coulda been a little bit more goin on towards the end, but hell, it was a good track, who am I kidding lol! Keep it up man, it was good.
9/10
5/5

Reignee responds:

thanks for the review , about the bass i really just started out wanting to make that 'speech' bass, i kinda ended up like a borgore one with a hell lotta distortion as you say, can't complain really ^^

[}Voices{ (Dubstep)]

Mystic

I'll tell you what man, this is getting close to the kind of stuff I'd love to here more on this site! It's very dark and ambient, and I love that. That pad is perfect -- PERFECT -- for this style of music man. Your drums are pretty expressive, although your snare could stick out a little more in my opinion; consider increasing the sustain on it. Your wobble bass had a good rhythm, but I'm kind of dubious as to its tone; in my opinion, it didn't feel harsh nor deep enough. Consider adding a hint of distortion to it (no more than a hint lol), and consider dropping the octave of the bass in places, especially the beginning (or consider layering a sub bass underneath it). You have great ideas in here man, I can't wait to hear the final track! =) If you have any more questions for me, seeing as I'm god tired and a little drunk, let me know man over PM, I'd be happy to help you out in any way that I can! =)

MA3HbO responds:

Thank you for the nice review !
I wanted to create a more, lets say "happy" track.You may see a piano in future versions.Still not sure about it though.As for the bass, i'm going to say it again - there is a SUB.Some distortion will indeed be nice.I'll consider trying what you suggested.As for the drums, i might change them alot (going for harder ones - check out my track called Monster to see what i mean by hard drums).
Thanks for the support man.I'll let you know if i have any questions and i'll PM you when i finish this one.

PS.Check out Reignee's song Badman Sound i'm sure you'll like it. :)

[DrumBug - DanceStep]

Pardon me, but this is nice!

See what I sent ya in the PM; I hope this helps you out a little! =)
9/10
5/5

DrumBug responds:

Hey dude, thanks for taking the time out to message me back, thanks for the input :D

[DrumBug - The Winds]

It's on the right track

Your drums need a little boost that comes with layering, with a low-tuned clap for the snare and a deep rumbling sub sine wave for the bass drum. The bass is nice and distorted, unlike some of the other basses I've heard you use (and Gritchy's right, it DOES always sound better with distortion lolz ;) ). However, I feel that the bass could use a little more character; try not only messing with the volume level, but also the cutoff frequency to give your bass a "talking" feel. The song itself also feels rather empty; while you do use a few background FX, I feel the beginning and conclusion could especially use a dose of sound effects. And the conclusion just seems to "trail off"; I was expecting another portion, and it never came. =( But overall, it IS in the right track, and the motifs you present are extremely liquid and smooth. It feels like a steel drum, almost like "beachstep" lol. Thanks for the listen man; I will eagerly be seeing what else you can come up with in el futuro! =)
8/10
5/5
P.S. Make sure to check out my latest dubstep submission as well, in return. ;)

[Dubstep SH!T (Preview)]

Hey, not bad!

I really like your drums. That sticks out the most out of any other element to me. Your bass isn't too shabby either, it has more character to it than most dubstep artists on NG tend to pump into it. It's pretty grimy too, although I feel like adding a little bit more drive would improve its sound a little (and I'm talkin a smidge, not too much because it'll get it sounding like mud lol). While the song is rather repetitive, the motifs you present are quite good, very freaky if I might say. Some other sound effects would be cool (maybe some sound clips and the like in the intro?), and I think if you cut your drop into a fourth (or at least a half) of what it is now, you could improve the impact of your drop a lot (make it heavier, because it's shorter and with more "anticipation," so to speak). All in all, I really like where this is going. Keep it up, and lemme know when the full version comes out!
9/10
5/5

MA3HbO responds:

Thanks for the nice and honest review man.I was really happy when i saw your review this morning (knowing that you are one of the few people who actually have something to say, other than "Yeah this is awesome" or " this is sh!t").
And you are quite right about everything.I spend alot more time with the drums than the rest of the song (including variation) and they turned out really nice imo.
As for the bass, i think i might change it alot till the final product.Also the thing you mentioned about the drop was going through my mind too.I might even cut the whole drop and make it an instant one with a fast bass build right before it just to give it a surprising effect (as alot dubstep tracks have those).I'll surely let you know when i finish this one (i hope i get the inspiration soon :D)
Thank you again !

PS. I'd like to request your feedback on another track of mine (if it is possible?)
called Meat Grinder (the dubstep remix of it), as it would mean alot to me.
Cheers and continue making sick tracks like Reflections.
:)

[AF+T888 - Lightspeed (DM Edit)]

Ay, very nice!

Very nice indeed. I see now that the AF+T888 corresponds to you and tigger888. I'll be sure to check out tigger's version after this. But, I love the motif here, even though it's a little repetitive. It's so spacey, I really like it. While it feels that, in places, there's too much business going on (especially around the 3:40-ish mark and beyond), all the sounds are superb. I think the thing that I like most about this song is the drums. At least, that's what stuck out to me the most. I think it's because it reminds me of a drumbeat that I recently wrote for a song (check out "Dubstep Preview" to see what I mean lol; it's not quite the same, but it has the same FEEL to it in my opinion - this big, sort of "trodding" feel, like something you'd hear in a Transformers movie). You've got great ideas here my friend, I'm very excited to see what you come out with in the future! =)
9/10
5/5
Fav'd.

aliaspharow responds:

Thanks man! Much appreciated.

[xKore - Cries (FL Core)]

Very nice, how much?

I dunno what else to say. The melody is great. The drums are nice and dubsteppy; you'd never EVER be able to tell it was made with default FL Studio stuff. Not even in the sound clips. Your drop pwns anything I've ever come up with. Good job. This is professional-grade, it really is. The bass is freaking great; it's not as heavy as I usually like it, but hell, it just mixes PERFECTLY dude... Honestly, I'm freaking jealous lol. I have no real complaints in the song (I rarely give out 10s anymore, just lettin you know); the only thing that I can say I don't really like is how the pitch crowbars up on the drop, but that's about it (that's just personal preference). Expect a PM from me shortly.
10/10
5/5
Fav'd.

[Deathly Tranquil--_--Dubstep]

Interesting...It's like Shaman in dubstep form!

This is kind of a dream I've had lol, you doin dubstep. Your melodies are freaking ace as usual. And, your drum parts stick out like a beautiful rose, and the inclusion of the piano is a nice touch for sure. However, since I've also been getting heavy into producing dubstep recently, I've taken note of a lotta different things, and tried to get some filth goin on my end. You come far closer than anyone else on the site that I've encountered to date (and to be expected, you're just a sexy producing beast lol ;) ), but I feel like it could actually be FILTHIER in places; a lotta this comes with playin with distortion and the like, and layering different detuned wave forms in the bass. The drums in places - especially the snare - could use a little bit of extra slap by layering it with a low-tuned clap. The drop could also use some extra "anticipation," so to speak, to get that portion of the song to have its own flare and heaviness (and you get people to just FREAK if you add that energy to it; it's like seeing your roller coaster drop or something at an amusement park: you can feel the adrenaline rush coming on, and that's what makes the dubstep drop so beautiful); I think the main reason that it doesn't have enough anticipation is because it's too long and too far into the song - but this might just be me.

Overall, this song is probably my new favorite NG dubstep tune dude. There is quite a bit of mastery that you pumped into this one! It reminds me so much of some of your other tunes that made me flip - especially the Shaman melody, and I don't know why lol. The transitions are flawless, and the melody is to die for - and I can't cut you on that melodic expansion towards the end, it's somethin else. You play with my head in this one for sure, and I love it. So artsy, man, so artsy!

Thank you, Zenon, for yet another beautiful tune!

9/10
5/5
Fav'd.

PERVOK responds:

Thank you for a beautiful review :)

[Against the Clock (WiP)]

Dude nice!

Wow, everyone's right, this is pretty much your best track - and not just cuz you added synths lol. I love this quite a bit! There's a lot going on here (much like my dubstep song lol =P). I love how this song opens; it's just epic, and then adding that DnB drum track made it all that much sweeter. And then you add scratching? Nice! The melody progression is also great, and your transitions are essentially flawless. The synths are so fat dude, just wow; when most people try to mess with these sounds, it comes out cheesy, but you nailed it as far timbre goes man! I commend you on that. The few weak points in the song, though, are in the overall EQing; I feel that your kick overcompensated for my "weak" one lol, it's so punchy that it just takes over the mix in places. There's also a lot of sound towards the end, and it contributes to this somewhat overall muddy, distorted tone. Structurally, I think you coulda carried out the ending a little further too; I was expecting this epic outtro, and it just ended short of where my ear wanted it to. But, the track is still very good, much better overall than anything else I've heard you make! It's like Mortal Kombat on crack dude! Haha. But anyway, it's good man, and the blend of both classical and electronica elements makes it all the more unique; make more stuff this complex, and you'll be at the top of the NG artists for sure!
9/10
5/5
Fav'd.

Step responds:

"Wow, everyone's right, this is pretty much your best track - and not just cuz you added synths lol. I love this quite a bit! There's a lot going on here (much like my dubstep song lol =P)."

Haha thanks man! I'm not sure whether this or Racing Through Eternity would be my best, but thanks for the compliments!

"I love how this song opens; it's just epic, and then adding that DnB drum track made it all that much sweeter."

Yeah :D.

"And then you add scratching? Nice!"

Lol, the scratching was the only thing I added which persuaded me to turn this into a techno song. At first I was like "Nah, I'm doing so well with Classical instruments and a drum kit, why turn it into techno?? Although I can just try out scratching just for fun..." and then I tried it, and I liked it, so I continued it as techno xD.

"The melody progression is also great, and your transitions are essentially flawless."

Thanks man. I think the transition from the first part to techno could use some work, but I'm glad you liked my transitions :).

"The synths are so fat dude, just wow; when most people try to mess with these sounds, it comes out cheesy, but you nailed it as far timbre goes man! I commend you on that."

Yeah, that was my exact intention when I was making the techno song. I was using generic synths, so I tried my best to make sure it won't come out cheesy.

"The few weak points in the song, though, are in the overall EQing; I feel that your kick overcompensated for my "weak" one lol, it's so punchy that it just takes over the mix in places. There's also a lot of sound towards the end, and it contributes to this somewhat overall muddy, distorted tone."

I totally agree with you regarding EQing. This is a WiP, and I tend to EQ everything towards the end of producing a song (I just solo each instrument I need to EQ and EQ each one individually) so that's why there's a significant amount of distortion and mud in the mix.

"Structurally, I think you coulda carried out the ending a little further too; I was expecting this epic outtro, and it just ended short of where my ear wanted it to."

Yeah I think that I'll add a break after the part at the end, and it turns into some trance.

"But, the track is still very good, much better overall than anything else I've heard you make! It's like Mortal Kombat on crack dude! Haha. But anyway, it's good man, and the blend of both classical and electronica elements makes it all the more unique; make more stuff this complex, and you'll be at the top of the NG artists for sure!"

Great, thanks a bunch man! I'm usually more of a Trailerscore/Classical person, but heck, it's my first proper techno song, so I may as well make it original :P. Thanks for the epic review, you never cease to impress as always :D.