This is an NGADM Round 1 Review

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I feel like this song got off to a great start. The filtered drums, interplay between the fizzy and smooth synth, and the generally good atmosphere, led me to believe I was in for a treat. Your commendably intricate drum work also gave me an impression of good production value and experience in this genre.

So why the low score? Unfortunately, this track goes nowhere. The same small melodic idea that was used at the start is recycled throughout the whole track, during its ups and downs, exciting parts and soft parts, and by the time the track ends, we're left feeling like we made no progress. The structure also feels rather senseless and the pitchy sound that comes in first at 0:38 feels very out of place.

This has some good qualities, and I feel like you as a musician have LOADS of potential, but personally, this submission doesn't quite do it for me. Thanks for taking part!

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SCORE: 6.1/10

NGADM review

So I actually really like the sound of this track. The drums when they first come in keep me bouncing as drum n bass inevitably does. Production of the drums sound REALLY solid, which is most of the production in drum n bass music and generally most music. So the downfall of this track to me is generally just compositional value and the melody. The melody is memorable but only because it feels sort of annoying, it really isn’t something that I can groove to. When I hear those awesome drums like you have in the beginning of your track, I expect a kickass melody to come in that will make me want to groove even more with the track.
Due to the melody not having any real depth or structure to guide the song in a proper manner, I feel the composition takes a hit from this, because I notice a lot of dynamic changes which sound really nice. The sound and dynamics of the drums changing is really nice, but is hurt by the melody not really guiding it in any direction. Basically, the composition and structure sound nice, but it’s overshadowed because the melody isn’t so great.
Mastering was solid! But I thought I’d mention some problems I noticed. The track was nice and loud which is great and a big part of mastering, but when I listened to this track across different speakers, some problems like having unwanted muddiness appeared. I’m not taking off any points for this, but I felt that it would be worth mentioning to help you on future tracks.

6.5/10

-Ryan

I love the distorted and rather quirky filters at the beginning. The sound effects and beat are creative and cool. I think you waited a bit too long to add more harmonic and melodic content to the piece, though. In fact, you probably need a lot more of it. I tend to look for melodic development in the pieces I review, and in this submission it’s clearly lacking. It sounds like it was made for a videogame – continuous flow and energy to it, would probably loop well, etc. – but in a stand-alone piece, you need more dynamic contrast, structural relief, and variety to your instrumental texture. The ending is also really abrupt (leading to my conclusion that it would probably loop well). My main problem with this track, though, is that you need more variety. You have that oscillating mid-treble range synth playing for almost the entire track, and there’s little other non-rhythmic content to keep my attention. You also never vary those pads that first come in at :02. I like that you have a pretty full texture here throughout, and the mixing is also pretty good. Use some melodic content to create more emotional variety, and this track will be well on its way. Hope this helped! Keep at it, man. ;)

6/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

Not a bad little DnB track, but there isn't really much that makes it memorable. It's got a nice quick driving tempo and the beats are decent, but the bass doesn't really add much in the way of variety. After a few listens, I still find that your main melodic instrument comes across as more strange than awesome.

There are a handful of nice breaks here and there where you lose the bass and add something a little different, but what ends up standing out to me the most is the single gunshot at :55 that leads to the rapid-fire gunshot transition at 1:00. It was different, and that's always a good thing. You did have some fun with the stereo field, and I found that to be pretty cool, especially some of the wider and more active stereo panning effects.

Ultimately, I was hoping for increased variation within the track. It's good, but I think it could be improved with greater diversity in the beats and bass riffs. Switching up the timing even once within a track is a good way to keep the listener interested. Otherwise it ends up sounding more or less like a background track. I can't really complain about this being under three minutes in length since it has such a driving tempo, but the overall lack of variation is rather damaging. There isn't really any kind of underlying melodic structure, either. It's just the same rising and falling pads at its heart, which makes even a track this brief repetitive.

I know there are only a few more days left before the deadline, but it would behoove you to consider adding at least one or two sections that differ from the rest. It could be quite impactful. Best of luck!

lol i know that drum loop 0:30