durn's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[XeroQ - Soar (Trance Demo)]

Great sound!

Everything blends and meshes so beautifully, I really like it. :) Like others below have said, the pad intro is a bit long.

The piano seems a little lonely though. Great chords, sounds well-mastered but... harmonically it sounds like there should be something building or being added in alongside it.

Then again, I guess this is just a demo. :D

Fantastic stuff here, dude. :)

[Enteroar - Saturation]

cut the song and start it at 0:44 and you're gold!

I really like the lead melody that comes in after the build -- absolutely radio-friendly, man! :D

The clap+crash you chose for the tune are kinda m'eh. I love the kick+snare though.

You're definitely getting a lot better, man. :) As for eq'ing tips... trust your ears, dude. :) They're your first, best resource.

Enteroar responds:

Thanks. Means a lot coming from, durn :D I just hate when my songs end all short like this. no dancey ness. oh well.
I probably spend more time mixing the making the structure etc...:P
thanks again.

[xXFunkadelicXx]

Is that you playing or are these all samples?

Nice layout if they're samples. Biiig Kudos if it's recordings of you playing. :) What program you lay all this out in?

xXStoneyXx responds:

The bass is the only sample, The rest was done in piano roll on FL Studio 9 xxl. Thanks For listening ----xXStoneyXx

[[P] - Erosion]

Great stuff, just needs some polish

Pretty damn good for only 4 hours though. After hearing the 5-4-3-2-1 sample I was really hoping you'd slice it up/repeatify-it and use it throughout the track, woulda added a nice continuity.

Like the guy below said, a lot of the sounds were pretty muddy. Especially near the end around 3:30 or so, not sure what you introduce there but it really eats up the track.

All in all, pretty sick man, didn't know ya had it in ya. :D

Pezmobile responds:

Thanks dude, and it was 4 hours the day i finished so it was probably about 6 hours total. Anyways the mastering is worse than i remembered.

Thanks for the feedback durn!

[P]

[DJ Cloud-Escape]

w00t!

I knew this one would make it on when I saw ya rockin' the top of the Trance chart! Nothing but congratulations from me, dude! :D

Absolutely love the off-beat between the two kicks, has such a driving rhythm to it. Well-polished track with just a few rough edges. Honestly, so freaking in LOVE with the psy-trance elements/parts. That dirty electric-guitar synth is just tops!

Way to go, Cloud!!!! :)

[La Grabadora]

Got my head bobbin' immediately! :)

Nice use of percussion to accentuate the intro, really liked the flow.

And dude, your build was great (0:30-0:55). The crash that brought it in was a bit loud but everything else was tight.

Nice use of side-chaining on your lead after that but it seems a bit loud and would do well if it had a nice complimentary melody to support it.

Interesting change-up at 1:30 though I'd recommend adding some time-stretch/reverb to the electro sound you end with, would really help smooth the transition down.

Hehe, almost seems like you've blended 3 tracks into one on this. Not a big fan of the use of that electro sound at the end (from 2:18-2:48), doesn't compliment the big lead synth. it sounds awesome by itself at the end, maybe don't bring the lead synth back at the end and focus more on an electro-style sound? :)

really nice stuff you've got going on here, just lacks uniformity. :)

Enteroar responds:

Ah thanks, really gotta work on that ):
I always make my songs too random..But thanks for the review!
It was really helpful :)
~Enteroar

[Thermoplastique]

Man, oh man.

On my, like, 6th listen through now. Absolutely epic, man. I didn't read the description of the song as I was doing something in another window and at first I was like "Hmm, is this tryin' to be like the Killers?" and then it just went FUCKING NUTS!!!!!!

Holy shit! This is amazing! Metal+chipsynths=mynewfavouritething!
!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously man, this is too awesome. I'm feelin' the urge to skank around my office right now.

Absolutely love the breakdowns, the pads, the leads, the rhythm guitar, abso-fucking-lutely EVERYTHING about this song is great. :D

Just, as people have said, would be sweet if there was some dude wailin' it out on a mic. I'm imagining two singing voices, one screamo and one more like deep german monk-style metal singing.

Just fantastic, man. Kudos. :)

MashedByMachines responds:

Im glad you liked my mix of metal and chipsynths! I will be doing more tracks like this so just hang in there :) (Actually I made some a while ago, listen to Cyberfire, Highscore, drWily, Dreadnaught)

I´ve been looking for someone that could do vocals, unfortunately I know noone that can sing ;D

Thanks for the review!

[+- Pathway to Dreams -+]

Pretty damn good! :)

Composition-wise, this was very well-done. I didn't find the parts too repetitive as I noticed the attention you put into changing the little things, instrument/melody-wise.

I felt the clap-clap-clap-clap you do at right before your build needs a bit more clarity (eq it a bit better, make it stand out) as I freaking LOVE it at 1:42 and concurrent repetitions. Man o man, made me feel like gettin' up and bustin' a move. The drop right afterwards is flawless as well.

Like I said, compositionally, this track is superb. But, as far as I'm concerned, for trance, things need to be mastered/eq'd to -perfection-. Unfortunately, a few of your elements come across as fairly muddy when playing with others.

The lead synth you end with, for example. It's great on its own but seems to phase out the other sounds a bit when playing in tandem with them.

All in all, great track. You've got the method down, dude. Just need a little more clarity in your elements. :)

AikaMusic responds:

Thanks for the advice :), I think i set the end lead synth too loud so it kinda causes the other instruments to wave, as for the claps I'll up the volume a little to see how that sounds.

[- LD - Burning Society]

shit man, you got me dancin'

I'd never go to burning man cause there's as much dick as chat roulette but this would be a killer start to any set. great stuff, man. not even gonna bother going into technical details cause it's just sick.

the intro is perfect subject matter for burning man though. maybe tailor a new version that just hypes up your bro's dj'ing styles so he can use it at any event. :D

sick sick sick!

Breed responds:

bahahah I had never heard of Burning Man being a sausage-fest, and I always see a lot of women in my brothers pictures...Regardless I appreciate the kind words! I'll probably do another whole piece if he does any other big events, otherwise a lot of his DJing is at local clubs and bars and parties and whatnot so he's better off with a popular piece rather then custom. Thanks again for the review durn,

Cheers!

[Paper Lighter - Enteroar]

great instrument selection

but I agree, your structure is all over the place after the first minute.

it starts off so beautifully too! kinda weird how you introduce the drums and then cut them out as soon as you bring em in.

the drums themselves sound kinda weak, eq them so that they stand out a bit.

also, where's the bass? :d I'm a huge bass nut and am kinda disappointed that I'm not feeling -any- in this track. it's all mids-highs!

hmm, what happened at 2:40? volume just fades and song changes. sounded really odd.

generally when transitioning between segments you want the notes (at the end of the 8 bars you're leaving and start of the new 8 you're going into) you're playing to interact in a way that's either pleasing to the ears in a harmonic way for a smooth transition or makes a stark contrast and change drastically when going from style to style.

you've definitely got a great ear for melodies. start adding some basslines in and watch how it changes your thinking of harmony and structure. sometimes all you have to do is change the bassline to make a section different, while keeping the other elements. bass is a powerful thing. :)

Enteroar responds:

I only did that cus if I didnt introduce something new it sounded repetitive, but if I continued them longer it didnt fit with the intro.

Im just a fan of soft drums lol :@ and btw there was bass D: the bassline plays through out most of the song.

@2:40 I was just trying to figure out a way to end the song! D:

thanks from all the advice durn!
~Enteroar