DSMagnum's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-=/Oboed\=-]

Sounds better than your DNB

Heh, this is pretty cool. I liked the first half of the song over the second half. It was lighter on the ears. I liked how you threw the strings in there. This could have used a bunch more elements though. All sorts of different instruments. That would have made the piece very great. :)

~ DSM

TMM43 responds:

Thanks DSMagnum for your time and review.
The second half was meant to be more of a climax than anything.
I'm happy that you liked the strings, I liked them too. xD
As I said in response to other reviews, I AM going to add more to this. Such as drums, and other wood wind instruments.
Again, thanks for the review!

[*Atomic Trigger 3* / ZeRo BaSs]

My goodness

This is such an awesome track man! I don't really have much else to say. If you have AIM or MSN, I'd really like to talk to you. I wanna learn how to make stuff like this. Great job. 5/5 from me.

~ DSM

ZeRo-BaSs responds:

Thanks!!!! check pm

[[TMM43] Heavy (?)]

Not DnB

Have you ever heard a Drum N' Bass song? If so, you would know that this is clearly not Drum N' Bass. This is Techno. Go to http://www.liftedmusic.co.uk/ and listen to some of the stuff on there. That's real Drum N' Bass.

Anyways, interesting song. It's poorly mastered in my opinion. Clips quite a bit. Another thing is those hard kicks every now and then confuse me. They just don't seem to belong.

~ DSM

TMM43 responds:

Thanks for your review DSMagnum.
Yeah, DNB really isn't my thing...and I guess it shows. I didn't even create a DNB track here. haha
The song clips!? I listened to this song through my speakers and through my headphones, both seemed to be ok.
The kick every so often I could have done without I suppose. After reading this review and listening to the song again, it is rather confusing I guess... And yes, they do seem to be out of place.
Well, I really admire your honesty. That's what I look for in reviews. Thanks a lot.

[The Blue Trough]

BLUES D:

Many things that could be improve. Recording could be improved, but you don't really have much control over that. The drums sounded a little off and didn't entirely match the guitar. A little alterations would have made them perfect. Though I'm not a big fan of Blues, I can see that this is a pretty good song for it's style.

~ DSM

FlameMesial responds:

Ahhh, well, cheers for the review, I know what you're talking about. The drums maybe be a little flat, but I used drum samples that are soft to the ear for people with hangovers, which is what inspired me to make this song, along with the trough :P

Thanks for the review.

[Believe (StereoTactik Remix)]

Bitch

Two things:
1) Screechy effect thing at the beginning was annoying. It just sounded out of place.
2) Old bass was better. This one sounded really drowned compared to the previous one.

~ DSM

StereoTactik responds:

It may be the low quality that's been annoying people. To get the higher quality version, MSN me at [e-mail].

[Anyone Can Make Techno]

Anyone CAN make Techno

WTF WAS WITH THE MASTERING. I mean it was WAY over the top. Great idea though. Try working on mastering and expand on it a little bit, and you might have a gold track.

~ DSM

LfunkeyA responds:

wtf was with the mastering? :) my ears are but a pussy in a harcore porn movie.

[Test Drive--_--(2:01)]

This is what I'm talking about!

Great job. Definetely one of the better DnB songs in the portal. You have okay drum samples, could be better, and the bass is a beast. The overlaying effects were very well done. When I first heard that detuned synth, I thought it sounded like crap, but it grew on me. I love the sound of this song. Very dark and neurotic. The only thing I would really look into improving is your samples. They just aren't quite doing it for me.

~ DSM

PERVOK responds:

Naw, I'm quite happy with my samples. Thanks for the review though.

[p4c-Escape]

Lesse what you did here

Drums very glitchy. Nice effect. Pads are absolutely beautiful. Love em. Then the distorted lead kicks in. That's a problem. It's really ugly sounding, and it's a lead. Doesn't belong in DnB. Then that break down into a rap piece, omg. LOVE IT. Absolutely beautiful sounding. Love the pads with the piano and bells. Just wonderful. I noticed one thing throughout the entire piece however: lack of bass. You have a great potential DnB piece here, you just need that bass! Take out that lead and put in that thick bass that makes DnB was it is. That breakdown is definetely the best part. I've never heard anything quite like it before.

Now I have a few questions for you.
1) What program do you use?
2) How did you make those drum samples?
3) What did you use to make those pads and other synth sounds at the breakdown?

All in all, it could be so much more than it was. Great effort put forth though. Nice job.

~ DSM

p4c responds:

ty for the review!! yeah, one of those synths i used did seem i bit out there while i was makin it, i might change it and reload some time if feel like it :D

answers:
1) i use reason
2) well technically i used a loop, but not as aloop. for the one at the beginning, i heavily distorted a loop, transposed it two octaves down, then cut out like 4 segments for each drum, and crapped them together. for the main drums that come in i took two drum samples, and distorted a bit. all the arrangements were done directly on da timeline ;D
3) all the pads and synths are subtraction synthesizers or graintable synthesizers, with exception to the violin and the piano.

[Nova Mortuus]

One of the better Techno to DnB

One thing I don't like about Techno artists who try DnB is there lack of changing over. They always do something wrong. Most of the times its with the drums, but you did those great. However, you didn't get the other aspect right. Not the bass, but the LEADS. You don't use leads in a DnB song! Not a bright decission. Also, this song was too eerie. That would cause some people to dislike it. But I'm not one of those people. I liked it. <3

~ DSM

NightHawk22 responds:

I usually make my songs first, then try to decide what genre it would fit in. It seemed most likely at the time to fit into the DnB genre, but looking back I probably would have had more sucess if I had submitted it as a techno song...

[Rucklo - Schiz]

oh mah godz!

dis is da bestest track i eba herd is so gud dat i giv 5

Now on to seriousness. I must say that this is a very well thought out track, but there is always room for improvement. I could have seen some very light effects playing in certain parts of the song just as a filler. You could have used the piano a lot more too. I would have enjoyed the piano popping up more. One issue I find with this song is the amount of panning used. Panning is good to use for some parts of the song, but I think you used it to an excess around the end. The ending could have been better, too. Instead of having whatever you used to exit the song, you could have used a pad to flow out of the song. To add to this rambling, I would like to say that the most powerful part of the piece came in too early. You should have had the first piano melody part placed later in the song, at least past halfway, or at least brought it back. Doing so would give people a reason to listen to the entire track. Which leads me to another thing, the build up came much quicker than the exit, or so it seems. That should have been reversed.

Sorry about the rant and my lack of breaking it into sections, but I'm lazy. Other than what I stated above, the track is wonderful. I usually have more criticisms the better the song is. :P

~ DSM

Rucklo responds:

Oy!

You're perfectly correct about the build of the song, it's not very well balanced. As for the panning, I can't remember what's been done really... it's all alod stuff, so that shit is... old :)

I remember I wanted vocals on this song when I made it way back, but ended up writing a melody with a piano instead. I never got the piano right either, and most instruments are poorly EQ-puzzled in the mix.

Thanx alot for the review tho, appreciate it! :D