4AM's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Pacman drum N bass]

If you're a young up and coming producer on NG...

...or anywhere else, it isn't in your best interests to try and even come NEAR what Aphex Twin has done with anything. As if the Pac Man remix wasn't enough, I hear samples from "Buchephalus Bouncing Ball" in there. To top it off, this is more "Trip Hop" than Drum N Bass or breaks.

If you listed this as a remix, that would be one thing, but I clicked on this thinking you meant to be original. I heard the pac-man parts thinking "Oh, I wonder if he knows he just made a trip-hop remix of an Aphex Twin song", and when i heard Bucephalus Bouncing Ball samples, I was like "OK, lame".

Either be original or label your work better. Preferably both.

[Heavy Load]

Very fun

This is like Flat Eric gets thrown up on by DJ Icey, but somehow it works out really well. Fav'd.

[the tubes]

F'ing solid track!

If this is new territory for your Drum n Bass let me say that it is very promising indeed! It has been a year since I released a track on NG (to the day) and I believe I am inspired to go put something together after hearing this. Thanks for that, and keep putting stuff like this out. Fav'd/5'd.

PS: The vocal samples made this. Aggressive and funny at the same time, I loved it.

[[ space invaders ]]

Felt a little too...patchy

This was conceptually a good track, but it almost felt like you spent more time on structure than on the sounds themselves.

Not that that's a bad thing, but polish things up a little more. I know it was meant to seem computerized and hollow (with a name like "space invaders" one can only assume), but it still felt like it was missing something small to make it complete.

boney-man responds:

seeing as you own at DnB i'll take your word for it. maybe i should have put in more background fx?

[Easier Said]

I would describe it more

As some creepy kind of Freeform (which is a form of Happy Hardcore, except not really as happy and not really as hardcore. Similar samples, can be more breakbeat oriented, usually at Jungle tempo. See Luna C, some Hixxy tracks, etc). Obviously not the intent but it comes off a bit that way.

Anyway, I like the eclectic-ness (although I don't believe it qualifies it as IDM), but the sounds like I said are bit cliche and the mix needs work. I heard a lot of Factory Sound Bank samples in this, it's good to avoid that as much as possible. As useful as it is, everyone uses those and it can make your work sound "cheesier".

A for effort.

[{Hollow Man} Remastered]

Hmmmm

I gotta say man, I love your stuff but this mix sounds way to minimal. To quick of a release on the drums, the snare feels louder, or like it's a new sample or something. Also, this doesn't have the "wall of sound" feeling it used to invoke. If I listen closely, I can hear the high-hat percussion that used to drive the beat at double-pressure faintly in the background. Why did this get mixed down?

If you go back to the intro from {Hollow Man} Preview, the mixdown of {Hollow Man} [NG Cut], with the EQ clarity of this mix, I think my head would explode (in a good way). Give it a try, see how you like it.

(Yea, i've never been a fan of intro v2.0. The first one was way creepier and the extra compression made it really sweet.)

[-Emotion locomotion-]

This was fun!

Ok, admittedly this wasn't the most professional sounding production on NG, but it had a really fun kind of Freeform/UK Happy Hardcore appeal to it.

Reminded me of a lot of stuff by Luna C (look it up).

4/7 - It was cool!

[-API- Anaconda]

I'd spin it!

You have all the right moves for pro production. If I had to criticize anything, this was a little cliché and predictable, and a little heavy on the high end in the lead bassline (poke a little nip up in the mids to round it off); other than that the structure is there, the sound is clean, clubworthy, layered very well, and matched up perfectly with the other sounds. I knew exactly what you wanted out of this, and that's the key right there.

5/8 - Get it pressed already!

[Indulgence]

I don't know what to say here...

The drums where good and punchy, but that's about where the buck stops...

The beat sounded like a house beat you tried to somehow finagle into a drum n bass beat, the bassline has no bass whatsoever, and the arrangement keps jumping around at odd times.

1/5 & 3/10 - keep working

Alcohol1 responds:

*cries*
your too evil with me!