boney-man's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Para - Smog Step Sanctuar]

Yeah...

It's a good song and all, but dubstep's not my thing. It's very good though, the bass is great. I love its texture. And the effects are also very good. The drums are nice and powerful, unlike any other "DnB" in the audio portal. So basically I have nothing negative to say. Good job.

Btw, is that snare one of Cornandbeans's snares? I have it too lol.

~Ackute
10/10
5/5

[Lolwut drum loop]

lol

Well it obviously lacks a lot musically, but for what it is, it's pretty good.

I'll download, don't know if I'm gonna use it though. But it's always good to keep a large collection of breaks.

~Ackute
10/10, it's a good loop.

[Billain - Coded (Para Remix)]

YAY

When did you submit this? This is one of my favorite of your songs man. Keep it up, and please don't stray too far from DnB, because I see you making a lot of house lately! I want more Para DnB! lol. Ok I'm done.

~Ackute
10/10
5/5
Your DnB is effing awesome. btw, what track of yours is getting released on C2D? It's great to finally see you get signed man.

Koriigahn responds:

Para - ?
Para - ?

Are the two tracks getting release ;)

<3

[Machines Die (Dj Sonik) WIP]

This isn't DnB.

I don't even know what genre this belongs in, maybe techno. But it's definitely not DnB. It kinda sounds like DnB in the beginning when the drums first come in, but they're still too fast and not prominent enough. It has good concepts and melodies and effects and stuff, but the mixing isn't the best. Clean it up, and it could be a great song.

~Ackute
6/10
3/5

[Black Day]

Whoa whoa whoa.

This isn't a bad song, and it certainly is DnB, even if it has a lot of other stuff going on... but your description of DnB in your response to the previous review is not completely correct. First, drum & bass definitely DOES need drums and bass. Otherwise, it wouldn't be drum & bass, it'd just be fast breakbeat or something. That's not to say you can't have other stuff going on, because you certainly can and you certainly should. But I just wanna clear it up - without drums or bass, it's not drum & bass lol. And point number two, DnB isn't between 140 and 190 bpm; 140 is way too slow. That would be breakbeat. DnB is generally in the 170s, but it can range from 160-190. Personally, I think 190 is too fast, but that's just me.

So about the song, in your intro, I much like the pad, it gives it a great atmospheric feel. The synths you have, especially like the one that comes in at 1:37, should be turned down. It sounds too overpowering. You have to find that perfect balance between drums, bass, synths, and effects, you know? This song is not bad, but it could use some better mixing. With a proper mixdown, this is 10/10 material.

~Ackute
8/10
4/5

[*Mystical* [IZK]]

Nice job.

Better than most DnB in the Audio Portal, so you get extra points for caring about DnB. I only have a few complaints about this one. First, it's not a full, structured song, but I don't really care about that, as long as it's good musically, which this is. My main complaint, as usual with dnb in the audio portal, is the drums. The snare drum isn't really punchy enough in my opinion; it doesn't pierce through the bass and everything else. Come to think of it, neither does the kick. The hihats might be too strong in the mix. The kick and snare should generally be the loudest parts of the drums. Some proper mixing would solve that though. Overall, it's not bad, the reese has a nice texture and the automation is good. The ambient sounds in the background are nice. The intro was good, but a more powerful drop would've felt better, you know? In songs like this, it's good to build up some sort of suspense before the drop. Just something that would smack the listener across the face. I felt you could've done more with the ending instead of just fading out, but it's not bad.

Overall, good job. Of course, don't take what I say as what you must do (not that you would anyway); I'm still learning. I need to be able to get those kinds of ambient sounds like you have in your intro. I love them.

So to conclude this long review, I'll give you a tip a pro gave to me: "Pretend you're making music for a huge arena, not just a room." I still have to work on that lol.

~Ackute
8/10
5/5 to put it above all the non-dnb songs in the dnb section lol
P.S. Do you have AIM or something? Because you seem to actually care about DnB and if you want, I could give you some tips or something. Or maybe we could collab.

Jenni-Harry4eva3 responds:

Sure mate. Thanks for the in depth review.. I spotted some of the things you spotted yourself lol. Mixing's a bit off in this particular track. I know the drums aren't as punchy as I wanted them to be, sadly. =/ and that sample is pretty punchy. (Time to mess with the filters again ;D)

I'm glad the reese pulled through. That one was fun to make. I felt giddy after listening to it play out lol. Lots of things that I need to work on. Usually I'm good with the drops.. and suspense is something I also have to work on XD I usually do fade outs when I don't know how to end it. Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely keep that in mind!

(My AIM is right on my front page.)

~[IZK]

[Default [Me3]]

Ehhh

Agreed with Mr. Campbell. A more pwerful beat would've been nice and is totally possible using only FL core samples. To solve the issue with the kick blending with the bass, all you have to do EQ the lows out of the kick o_O and maybe layer it with a kick that has more of a texture. The snare should defintely be more powerful if this is a DnB song. Otherwise, that's it. The drums are my only problem with this song. The bass and ambience are well made.

I'd give a whole lesson on how to make better drums, but this is only NG lol.

~Ackute
6/10
3/5

[Backyard Boom]

Nice. Thank you.

This is great. I rarely see good DnB on NG anymore, and even though this is a commercial-esque song, it's still very good. The bassline is quite catchy, and the synths you've got going on in the background add some space and feeling to the song. I love it, I might actually download this, and I NEVER download NG music anymore.

Btw, I recognize that break... good use of it.

~Ackute
10/10 (finally I get to give a 10!)
5/5
What the heck, I'll give you the DL too :D

[Chaoz Impact-[Anima Mix]-]

Wow...

This sounds exactly the same as the original, except the drums are a lot worse. They sound muffled. Oh, I just noticed one difference - the bassline at 0:43, but it sounds so similar to the original. That bass sounds like... weird. Agreed with others, the bass should be clearer and reesier.

But overall this gets a 6 because it sounds almost exactly the same as the original.
Nothing new or your own seemed to have been added. That's the point of a remix.

~Ackute
6/10

Anima-Theory responds:

Urgh, as I said its a remix not a remake, most people say remix when they mean remake.

I took paragon's sound and structure and remixed it, ie changed the mixing. The bass is a shit load deeper than the original. As I stated below Also, I stated below that the I had trouble with the drums with the compressor.

"Nothing new or your own seemed to have been added. That's the point of a remix." - That's the point of a remake.

Thanks for the review anyway

Anima

[Iced Tea Baby! {^}-{alix1}-{^}]

lol

I lol at wtflolnoob. This isn't Drum & Bass.

It should be in like dance or something (I'm bad at classifying other genres)

It's good though.

~Ackute
7/10

alix1 responds:

lol. it is D&B its just that i dont really like D&B so it got more of a hardcore-jumpcore sound to it. along with the D&B. thanks for the review. :)