boney-man's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[-ganon95- Power]

No. Stop.

Not stop making music, stop being ignorant. I quote, "but either way this is technically drum n bass because it has drum and bass." No. Just because it has drums and a bass doesn't mean it's drum and bass. Jenni-Harry4eva3 is right. He knows what he's talking about. I just want to say, don't look up ParagonX9 for examples of DnB. The only DnB song by PX9 is Defection. Also, Zero-Bass is good, but not really DnB. He's more dance-y. Look at Koriigahn (Para) and ZENON. Also look up some pro stuff on youtube or something.

As for this song, the bass is boring, the drums are boring (wtf no hihats?) and it's overall pretty boring. Sorry.

I'd leave a long-ass review about how to make DnB here, but I just did on somebody else's song, so too bad.

~Ackute
6/10

ganon95 responds:

keep in mind when i make any music im using sound kits for techno, i don't have any DNB sounds to use, meaning its not going to sound like a professional DNB is supposed to. this song is 200 BPM which made it very hard to come up with a decent beat without it sounding like a super fast mess of sounds which is what i had before i came up with this.

and if having just drums and bass doesn't make it DNB then why is it called Drum n bass? just reading that gives me the idea that you should have ONLY drum and bass. also im not sure exactly why you would need hi-hats in this because the way i use hi-hats would make it sound too much like techno

[Lost in Clear Blue]

Ok. DnB halp r here

Well everybody else is just reviewing this all like "teh omg u r genius" but no one is offering any help. So I will, because this is supposed to be DnB. I will help you get it closer to DnB. Ok first, stop using so much kick drum. Get rid of those drum patterns like at 2:37. This is DnB, not trance/dance. Also, with the pattern that comes in at 2:58, don't play both the kick and the snare on the second beat - only the snare. Don't use so much kick randomly, because that's what it sounds like. Oh, hey, that straight kick-kick-kick-kick pattern again. Get rid of it. Ok next, don't flange your hats/snare. Just don't. The point of DnB isn't to have weird in-and-out sounding drums. Make the kick and snare clearly noticeable. They need to go POW. Actually, now that I think about, I don't care if you flange the hats, just don't do anything to the snare (unless it's just EQing or mild distortion or stuff like that - no weird stuff like chorus/phaser/flanger). Yep. So that's all I have to say about drums. Search up some DnB on youtube to see some examples of DnB drum patterns.

Ok. On to bass. You have a dance/trance bass here. Not good in DnB. It's a good chort progression, but never put a bass pattern like that in DnB. I mean bass patterns where the bass is on the upbeats. Don't do it. Straight notes would be better. But next - a DnB bass is kind of complicated. Not just a low saw or whatever you've got going on here. You need, first, and at least, a sub bass, which is not present in this song. It's really simple - a sine (or triangle) wave played on really low notes. Bam, a sub bass. And then, if you want, you can add some texture to it - I'm talking squares/reeses/whatever sounds cool. Mostly reeses. Just throw 2 or 3 mildly detuned saws over the sub, distort them, filter them, chorus them, mess with them basically. They sound cool, and give the bass some texture. Just make them play the exact same notes as the sub. Otherwise, they can sound discordant. And make sure they're on a low octave - otherwise, they'll just sound like another lead. You want them to be low. Again, search for some DnB on the internet to see some examples of reeses. So that's it for basses.

Now on to general composition. I'm not a composition nazi like Nav is, but generally DnB has 5 parts: intro, drop, break, drop #2, outro. You can even cut the outro out of that and end right after the second drop. I'm not going to go too far into this because as I said, I don't care that much about arrangement. And other DnB people might say this is too melodic, but it's fine. Melodic DnB is where it's at, lol. I can't say this enough, look up some DnB on youtube or something to get a general idea of the arrangement of DnB songs. If you want.

And that piano at the end isn't bad, but it's pretty random.

Hope this helps you get closer to DnB.

~Ackute
7/10

[ParagonX9 - Chaoz Airflow]

agreed with thief1337.

You're certainly not bad, PX9, but honestly, I don't see what all the hype's about. And it's probably useless for me to leave this review because I'm probably going to get flamed by all of your little fanboys (like asiangamer1029). Now I know it's DnB, and I love DnB, but jeez, it is repetitive. I was expecting something a little different after the relaxing part. Not that you have to do what I want. I don't care. I just think it would make the song better. Also, I think the bass could definitely be fatter, and the drums more clear. The bass is barely there for me, and I have good bass on my speakers. The bass sounds like it's glitchy... and if it is, that's not entirely a problem, but it's kind of annoying. The bass pattern could also use some changing up occasionally. It's almost the same throughout the whole song... I only hear two different bass patterns. I think all it needs is more sub, more diversity, and a bit more growliness. I know it's not supposed to be hardcore DnB, but mixing the two (melodic & darkstep) is great. So you should make the bass reesier. (lol i invented a word.) Now on to the drums. A complaint I've been having rather often lately. The snare sounds too high to me. It's got a very good hit, and I can certainly tell that it's a good snare, but some lower frequencies would make it even better. It just needs to be middier. (lol i invented another word.) The kick is good. The hihats could flow more, but that's not a problem. Overall, the melodies and stuff are good, but work on the drums and the bass a bit. Just a bit; I don't ask for much. This could be better.

Older songs like Defection were better, in my opinion. That song has hot drums and a hot bass. More like that would be great.

~Ackute
6/10

lol i can see it now, the next review: "LIEK OMG LEEF PX9 ALONEZ HIS MUSIKS R TEH AWSUM"

[Rig - Am I Cool Yet?]

I love you

I do. This is a real DnB song for once.

That bass kicks ass. Now I'm actually gonna try that cardboard thing...

~boney-man (now Ackute)

[Fredgy - Systole]

"First real DnB"

Actually no. This isn't real DnB. But I'll go easy. This song is ok. I think you need to vary the drum pattern more - it seems to be the same pattern throughout the whole song. Also, I think it could use less bass drum. Sounds kinda busy. The snare also seems too high - something I've been finding in many songs lately. Layer it with something that has more treble, and more a snap. Your current snare doesn't really HIT me, you know? The drums, overall, just need to be fatter.

A sub bass wouldn't hurt either.

~Ackute

Fredgy responds:

i know 'bout the drum pattern :p like i said in 2 previous, i'm going to edit it after exams :)
I really understand what you mean thanks ;)

[Axial [Grind]]

also, FINALLY.

Damn. I never see any real DnB on NG anymore. Thank you for actually caring enough to make a real DnB song and uplaod it. A little more work, and this'll be perfect. The reese is great, the drums just seem like they need to be layered some more. I don't know, just something to make them thicker. Add some bass (or treble or w/e) to that snare (around 1:30), cuz it sounds pretty high. It needs something to give it some fatness. Some POW. Yeah otherwise, this good.

~Ackute

Slipstreamer responds:

Thanks for the review man, STOP CHANGING YOUR NAME LOL.

[Fionn Hodgson - So Far]

You hit what you were aiming for.

This song is genius, in my opinion. It's so smoooooooth..... I could drift off into this. The key change at 3:22 is cool too. The drums are great, in both the rhythm and samples. The vocal samples add dimension ot the song too, so it's great. I'm downloading this, and I barely ever download NG music anymore. Be happy :D

~boney_man
5/5
10/10
+DL

[dice]

You know what I love about your songs?

Most of them are full-length. I love full-length DnB songs. Especially melodic ones like this. Melodic DnB is awesome and you've definitely conquered it. I like the diversity in this song. The melodies are always changing, new things coming in, it's great. And that bass.... both the sub and the reese-ish thing... they own.

Good job, I'm downloading this.

~boney_man
10/10
5/5