no-ma-designs's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sundans- A Heart Aflame]

Really nice song! The very beginning has a bit too much volume on that low boom; you can hear the limiter trying to cope. I'd watch the same for your kick, but aside from that, the combination of your chordal synth design and the vocals was great! Though the mixing could use some work, I really love this track and I'd definitely like to see more like this.

[Sundans - Bandwidth]

Great song with a nice feel, but I kinda wanna see a bit more variety in how you construct your song. It follows a pretty standard complextro/drumstep pattern that I think could do with some more sudden shifts in volume and instrumentation. There's a lot of the same sections building off of each other, and while it works, it doesn't surprise. Some of this has to do with the lack of much melody (a simple synth pattern could add a lot to just create a recognizable monophonic motif), but a lot also has to do with the sound design. You may try gating the verb to the MIDI to get more sudden transitions between instruments and building some more fills and patterns to provide interruption to your loops. An alternate chord progression could also accomplish a lot, as could some sort of sans-sequence breakdown. There's also a bit much high-end on some channels; a gain reduction in the high shelf on your snare and a few of your synths could open up a lot of space for the hats, noise, and distorted effects, as well as allow you to sneak your master limiter's input up a tad. I also thought a few of your synths could use a bit more verb and that the sequenced pattern you had in the background could use some mangling/effecting/note changes at some point to break it up a little. Overall, though, a great composition with a very appealing neurofunk/complextro/drumstep sound!

[Broken Dream (Original Mix)]

Overall, very good quality, with a nice mixdown, some very cool sound design, and a nice, trancy groove.

Could use a bit more variety in terms of chords, beats, sections 'n stuff, but it also works in that trancy, semi-ambient way. One thing I will say is that, in my opinion, the best trance DJs tend to really micromanage the little bits of their song, such that despite the repetitive pattern, things really sound different from point to point. The reversed cymbals, for instance, were a little overused as they were. However, if you mangled them up or resampled or effected them differently at points, it would provide for some great contrast to the chords and melody.

Hope this helps!

[Hardly the Sound]

Okay, so I can't really find any fault with the compositional aspects of the song; it's quite an interesting mix of trance and dance you've got here. So I'll just concentrate on the more sound-oriented parts that could help. The first thing I have to say is you should mix the track a little more. It sounds a little like your levels are overriding each other a little, particularly when that high distorted noise synth transition comes in (0:30, 0:57, 2:08, etc.). Try turning off any compressors or limiters you might have in the mastering chain, moving your individual track volumes to a maximum of about -3 DB, seeing if it clips anywhere, and adjusting the individual levels accordingly to get the sound you want. I think your bass might be just a wee bit loud, personally, but it's your call.

Trying to play a little to your style here, try low-passing all your tonal instruments aside from the bass at 100-400 Hz, depending on what frequencies you want to emphasize. Low-passing the bass at 40-60 Hz can help to bring out the kick, too. High-passing the tonals from around 5 kHz to 15 kHz can open up space for your hi-hats, cymbals and high effects, too. Most importantly, you'll be able to hear the high and low ranges at lower volumes, which'll decrease your pre-production RMS (so you can make it LOUDAH!). The bass can be hi-passed from 1 kHz to 10 kHz depending on your sound preferences. Side-chaining some, most, or all of the sounds to the kick in varying degrees might also give the tune a bit more danceability. EQing down some of your extreme hi- and low-end range (say, beneath 60 Hz and above 15 kHz), as well as the mid-range (maybe 300-1,000 Hz), in the master might also help to get everything nice 'n peachy.

Finally, there's a fairly wide stereo field, but you might be able to hear everything a little better if you narrow down the individual drum and tonal track widths and pan your melody slightly harder to the side (usually make an exception for the atmospheric effects and pads, though). I'd narrow down the kick (without narrowing the kick reverb too much) especially. Just make sure that very, very center of the mix is reserved for your low and very-low-mid range kick, bass, and snare. Some mid-side processing might also help to get those high frequencies outside so you can lower their volume a bit.

Oh, and double-finally, (totes not trying to patronize, just making a disclaimer of sorts) take any of your own preferences over mine or anyone else's if they end up contradicting each other.

Peace and love,

No.Ma.D.

GershBeats responds:

This is the hugest and most helpful review of anything I've ever seen. You're obviously well-aquainted with mixing techniques so I'll probably give myself a few hours at some point, make a copy of this song, and try to implement everything you said here. Thanks so much this is critique at its finest!

Also I'll be sure to check some of your stuff.