prodrift101's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Future Vibes]

neat. i would change up the velocity on the hats and master the drums.

TrickshotMusic responds:

Now that you mention it i did forget to master the drums :,(

But thanks for the reveiw :)

[Some random untitled song]

Okay, first and foremost, you definitely have the basics down and despite what many people might say, this actually is not that bad. Here's a few things you may want to look into in order to progress a bit further with your music.

-FIRST: Where is the kickdrum? You need to give the kick wayyyy more presence here and that will come with mastering your songs.

-Onto my next thing here, you need to work on your drums altogether. Everytime I give a review, I can never stress this enough. You need to work on and vary your samples and loops. Now, I am no expert by any means, (believe me, I started here too, check out my first submission), but I can tell you that I know when I hear something that's interesting, and when I hear something that's boring
and this just needs work.

I would say that before you get into creating your own music, try and listen to as much CRAP from the genre you like the most, and compare your songs to that, see how they are different, and what could make them better.

Keep it up!

VIBEAT responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I agree, the drums are a little quiet, but everything seems too loud when I play my songs back. Maybe that's just my program? I'll do some more tests. I'll see if I can find some more samples, and test them too. :D

[My Last Chance (clip)]

Well, this is pretty neat even though it's just a clip.

Overall, I think you need to add a little more to the song as a whole. It just doesn't seem like there is enough going here especially for a short clip (which you want to be involved). For example, I hear maybe two or three cymbals in total. Vary that S*** up man! Put in like 10 or 15 different samples and make them all fit into their own little niche, make it interesting.

Work on your bass a little bit more, make it stand out. It's more of a background noise when, in Trance you really want your bass to be influential in your songs.

THE SIDECHAIN, SIDECHAIN EVERYWHERE! I would say, tone it down just a little bit, don't rely to heavily on sidechain to make your songs sound good.

Overall, 3/5. Not bad, keep at it!

SkullDrone responds:

I totally agree with you on every aspect (lol)

I know it needs a lot of work and I will be working on it more. This is basically a sketch.

yeah i got really lazy with the sidechain haha

Thank you for the comment :)

[Hotcut]

Hey, cool track. On to the review.

Overall, the composition is okay. The mastering needs some work though as the whole song sounds like it was just thrown together. You need to make certain things stand out more than others. The kick for example needs to be more prominent, instead in this example it's more of a suggestion. I also barley hear any cymbals or percussion variation.

While the automations and composition are nice I would have to say you need to work on getting your songs to flow more smoothly, and by smoothly I mean adding more transition effects. They work for the song to glue it together.

All in all, 2.5/5 stars.

Things to work on:
-Mastering (big one here)
-Drum progressions and variations
-Transitions

Keep it up man, you just need some more practice and you'll be pumping out awesome tracks in no time.

OZeros responds:

thank you very much for this helpful advice. i need to work harder on my music especially mixing things.

[Bouncy BitHouse]

This is an excellent mix. Everything, right down to automation side of it. Coming from a fellow FL user I can honestly understand how much effort went into this. Well done.

Onto the bread and butter:
The main theme is somewhat repetitive...but I love it. The progression is a fine example of musical theory, truly.

The Kick:
Full and meaty, just how I like em'

The Bass:
The sidechain automation is good and the bass is crystal clear.

Atmosphere:
Well mastered and creative...I really must stress, these are some really creative chords here, well done.

Cymbals:
Noise is noise no matter how you look at it...these sound like samples but I could be wrong. Well mastered though.

Onto the pianos:
Ill admit, they do seem a bit rushed on the first break but that's not a bad thing considering the framing of this song...It keeps up with the entire pace. The pianos at the end are beautiful and create an excellent setting for the outro.

Easily a five out of five.

Regarding what you said in the description;

I've been trying to find out how to add good presence to my songs since I started. What I've found out so far is that the presence of a song is your formula. It's what the makes the song what it is...that's what I think anyway.

OcularNebula responds:

good review, if a little compromising

the piano was really not up to par, I've found, and maybe it was too repetitive, but I'm glad you liked the chord progressions

cymbals are indeed samples (I mostly use vengeance essential packs)

I feel like structure that allows for high contrast is really important in a song, and I'm not sure this song achieves it, but it's not too bad either

[Beautiful Life (Remix)]

+The intro is well thought out.
+The leading bass makes me want to get out of my chair and start dancing.
+The piano gives it that old trance feeling.
+Awesome main melody and composition.

The only negative thing I could possibly think to say is that maybe it's a tad too repetitive in some parts.

ForeverBound responds:

I'm glad u like it, and I wantted to do a more slow intro to boost the klimax.

[Chain]

Just listening to some of your other pieces I have to say this one sparked a comment. What an absolute amazing song. The whole thing is amazing, well balanced and clear. Faved.

ForeverBound responds:

Thanks man

[Automation]

What an absolutley amazing piece. There's so much going on I was impressed at nearly every bar. What an amazing composition.

Let me start off. The intro left me feeling violated and a little creeped out, but then mystery and discovery made it's way in at about :20. Then I started feeling the creativity at :43 with that lovley oboe you introduced. I have to say, the sounds you used here are amazing. From about 1:00 I could feel the experimentation. Getting to the outro, at around 2:00 I started feeling triumph which bled out to satisfaction with the bells and orchestra hit.

What an amazing piece Step. I truly think you will go far with what you create. Thanks for being such an amazing addition to NG audio.

Step responds:

Oh wow, I'm flattered! What a supportive and encouraging review. Reading your analysis of the piece's atmosphere was great, because sometimes when you make your own music you may think it evokes one kind of mood but other people would think completely differently, so it's nice to see what you think of it.

Small note; that's a clarinet, not an oboe. I always get the two mixed up so I don't blame you for the mistake haha.

Thanks a million, I'm really glad you enjoyed this.

[Digital Technology]

Excellent. I wasn't too impressed with the piano melody, but the rest of the song is great.

ForeverBound responds:

Thanks and yes I need to learn how to make epic piano pieces :P

[Biohome]

There is nothing I can say that Step has not already mentioned.

What an amazing track.

johnfn responds:

Thanks bro! Step certainly has that effect, doesn't he? ;-)