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conorstrejcek

26 Audio Reviews w/ Response

All 37 Reviews

I really enjoyed this!

I loved the synth with the vibrato that you threw in there at the end of phrases.

One thing I think you could work on a bit is adding some more presence with reverb. Especially at the beginning the sound seems really unnatural and dead. Adding a subtle reverb and/or delay could really add some character to the lead.

MrStr8face responds:

Thank you! And you're right. I should have added a bit of reverb on my synths x.x

You have some really professional sounds here -- did you make them from scratch or are they from a sample pack?

There are good ideas here, but there needs to be more energy/contrast. Your B section (around 1:04) is good, but the stuff before it is too similar in frequency range and energy. The sub bass also seems to be doing its own thing sometimes, when it should really be following the bassline.

I hope some of this helps you improve, good work.

Cethic responds:

Yes I did make these all myself, from scratch using NI massive and some EQ automation.

The sub actually follows all of the notes in the drop, only during the break down and what is considered a verse the sub is from the first section of the drop, just to help with building to it.

This is pretty cool!

I love your chord progressions, and they are very cinematic. I could definitely see the character of Dr. Strange within this piece. I don't know if you ever watch the show "Dexter" but the beginning had some moments which reminded me of the show's soundtrack (which is oftentimes eerie). That's a compliment by the way haha.

If you're looking for ways to improve, there are a couple of things you could do.

1. I think you rely too strongly upon the piano. There are some really nice pianistic moments in the piece, but overall I think choosing to use more other instruments more often could help improve the quality.

2. The piano itself has a bit too much delay on it for my liking, and makes the piano sound a bit cheesy.

3. I would have used a bit more percussion in your climax around 0:38 to give it a bit more power, with some nice heavy drums which you use in other parts of the song. Sustaining the brass at a loud dynamic could help as well.

Overall, this was really nice, I hope to see more from you soon!

- CS

DaDocta responds:

Awesome.. Thanks for the advice. I'll keep that in mind on the next track I create. :-)

I really liked the mood you set with this. The chord progression and melodies were really nice, and I also very much enjoyed the 'swelling' which was present throughout.

If you're looking for things to improve:
1. Your drums are pretty weak. By weak I don't mean not loud enough, but the samples you used are pretty fake-sounding, and the velocities weren't messed with at all. The hi-hat stood out the most, and you could fix this either with a different sample, or by varying the velocities of the notes.
2. The drum patterns could have been varied a bit more. Also, I felt like a halftime feel might have worked with the mood.
3. The piece doesn't quite have an ending, but also doesn't quite loop. If you want it to loop I would have the sounds at the end and beginning be at the same volume.

Altogether, the things I didn't like were pretty minor. I really enjoyed this song, and I could tell you really put your heart into it.

Great job!

supervoltage responds:

Thank you for your review!

I'm going to pick out your points one after the other:

1. Yes, they are weak. They're some free samples I found lying around the internet's "darkest corners" (aka it took me a lot to even find these). I never messed with the velocities on drums - you can notice that in all my other works. The hi-hat is so loud because I intentionally made it like so, but after reconsideration, yes, I could lower it by a bit.

2. Yes, they could've been, though I felt like it was okay for me; as I listen to the song more and more, though, I feel like I could vary them as per your recommendation. I don't know what you mean by "a halftime feel" - could you please elaborate by sending me a PM?

3. The volume at the end and at the beginning seems to be identical for me.

All in all, I am grateful that you enjoyed my song!

Hey, this is really cool, you've got great ideas!

I know you're probably finished with this song, but for the future here are a couple of things I think you could work on:

1. The mixing/mastering could use a bit of work. There were some clarity issues that, if fixed up, could really take this song to the next level. Most of that is probably in EQing and getting the correct levels on all the channels.
2. The overpowering wobbling sound which comes in around 2:13 is a bit distracting and uncharacteristic for the song. Maybe a different choice in instrument/effect at that point would have worked better.

Your musical ideas are 100% there, but your mixing/mastering is lagging a bit behind. I would suggest watching some videos on Youtube to learn a bit more about it.

Cool sounds!

flippytomtom responds:

Thanks for the help i will take your thought into consideration thank you! the wobbling was just something i was trying out im not a big fan of how it is in the song either i might change but idk yet.

I'm not usually a big house fan, but wow, this has some real atmosphere!

When the voice comes in at 0:48, I don't think it needs to be on every single offbeat, it gets a bit annoying (at least to me). Maybe start it just on the + of 1, then add it in on some other offbeats later on (this also adds variety to a normally repetitive genre).

Other than that, it sounds great -- I can't wait to hear the full track!

K-POW responds:

thanks alot man!

haha yeah, I actually fixed the vocals right after the upload, I also noticed that it was a bit annoying.. stay tuned for the full version :)

This is awesome!

I almost gave you 4.5 stars for the bad tone you mentioned, but honestly the composition itself makes up for any inconsistency in tone.

Really cool, would you be open to doing a collaboration some time? Just curious.

Darkmaster603 responds:

I might be, it all depends on my schedule. I work two jobs so it's kind of hard to get free time for my music. I'm forcing myself to write and play again recently though, so just shoot me a pm or email and I'll get back to you ASAP.

Thanks for the review :)

Dude, really cool sound you have going!

Your chord progressions are really cool, and your ideas for arrangement are pretty solid.

The things I think you could work on:
1. If you're going to use synthesized representations of real instruments, you really need a good ones, or else it will sound unprofessional. This shows especially at the beginning with the distorted guitar sound. Your drum samples on the other hand were pretty nice.
2. Some of the synths you chose are a bit cliche sounding (as in they may have been used in the 80s, but not since then in contemporary EDM). Some examples are the bell sound which comes in at 0:14, or the lead sound which comes in at 2:16.
3. The little fill you have around 1:25 or 1:26 sounds too bare. If you're going to go for that interruption, you really have to fill that space with a REALLY cool sound, or else it will fall flat.
4. Your trap elements only showed for a bit (around 2:15?), and I thought you could have incorporated it more, seeing as that was your main goal. It works well how you did it, but I thought you might want to even out the amount of dubstep with trap.
5. The ending sounds like you just tacked it on, you might want to change that.

Overall I really enjoyed this -- I don't mean to be hypercritical with all of the comments, but you said you're looking to improve, so I thought I'd give you some advice (which you can take or not, it's really up to you haha).

By the way, what did you use for your bass (was it Massive?)? It sounded really good.

I hope this helped a bit.

- CS

Unknown8 responds:

Whoa. Didn't expect a detailed response like this. I really appreciate the feedback and I'll make sure to put this advice to work in my next track. And yeah, every sound here was made in massive except for the guitar, drums, ect...

Thanks again for the feedback!

Really nice sounds and great musical ideas in here!

Where did you get the samples for this piece? They are great. There is nothing I would change about this piece, other than possibly making it longer, but it seems you have finished it already.

Also, the term "Ethnic/Oriental" is a bit inflammatory, not particularly PC if you know what I mean. Just wanted to throw that out there, it could be offensive to some.

Mattashi responds:

Thank you conorstrejcek!
the samples are mostly from the East West Quantum Leap edtions (Silk and Ra).
And thanks for letting me know, I'll take the term off.
Thanks for your review :)

Dude, Druid your voice is amazing!

Druids-Warcry responds:

why thank you sir

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