Mataro's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[~`The Jester`~]

Aloha. You may not remember me, but I remember you. Vaguely. I was flipping through my inbox, saw we talked about one of your old songs a long time ago, decided to see what was new with you. On to the song.

Firstly, the instruments themselves are what let you down most here, I think. The use of FPC plus what sounds like Fruity Keys just don't create the ambience I think you were looking for. The drums are also a little overpowering, and while some of the rolls and such are nice, I think a more electronic kit would have provided a better atmosphere. Next is the use of effects. I think a little more airy reverb with a longer tail and some better balancing of the levels would have created a much wider and dreamier soundscape. Lastly, I'd have dropped the tempo a few notches, which would have suited the progression better in my opinion and should help alleviate the James-Bondesque tone. :P

Going from there, with a more defined melody, you could have advanced the progression into a climax and carried it on into a pretty solid ambient techno piece with airy tones and a driving rhythm. Overall, not bad. Not something I'd put on my phone, so it's not quite.. There, as a piece. And it's not really usable in an sort of scene, really. It's a shame, because there's actually a good foundation here for something much grander, and it's obvious that you have a solid grasp of what you're doing.

Hope you keep at it, mate. :D

[The Aftermath]

What the BLOODY DEVIL IS THIS?!

This is certainly not the Karco I remember. I was sort of bummed there wasn't something newer to review. The production values on this are very nice. The melodies are sweet and simple. A touch melancholic, but that's good. Strangely Christmasy, but that could just be the season working its magic.

There isn't too much for me to say here.. I haven't reviewed anything in ages. I hope you're still writing music though, mate.

This was good stuff, even if it's not your usual bag of tricks-- if anything, I think diversifying is great.

Something like this, but a bit darker, and stretching into your usual techno/electro stylings could be a pretty awesome second half to this piece, but alas.

If you still remember who I am, perhaps we can get to talking again some time.

Merry Christmas, my friend!

Karco responds:

Glad you like it. :) Haven't been writing too much music but that might change when I have some time this summer. Thanks for the kind words!

[-Clutterfunk-]

This is unbelievably good. I've listened to your stuff off and on for a while now. This is just really excellent. It simply oozes character, and it's got a healthy heaping of downright badass beats. Some nice upbeat chunks, and it all just flows together incredibly well. It's pretty rare I hear something I think couldn't honestly be any better, but I have no qualms here.

Unless you can count wishing there was more as one, anyway.

[Haywyre-Dubsonic(Album Samps)]

Voted five,

If not for the fact it's an individual song but for the fact your work deserves all the exposure it can get. It's all brilliant, and remarkably diverse. So much of the genre is the same old wobble bass, but you've used it intelligently to support a style rather than crutching on it like a gimmick. Five minute mark onwards is brilliant, but it's all awesome.

Keep up the good work. Definitely looking into your album.

[B7 - Infernus]

Not digging the mastering.

But the rest is a whole pile of FUCK YEAH.

Wicked riffage, brochacho. The break at 2 minutes was somewhat unexpected, but awesome. Felt like the lead into it could be a touch better on second playthrough. That aside, if you could reduce some of the digital static from recording during the softer bits, it would really add to the awesome that much more.

Altogether; drums feel a tad bland at parts, mix could use some adjusting, some better recording would do it justice, and some minor arrangement changes could be in order. Nevertheless, you get titanic props for a tune that rocks ass more than I've heard in quite some time. I can only hope I aspire to riffs of this caliber.

Burn7 responds:

I completely agree, this is one of my older songs and as such... has absolutely no mastering/mixing other than panning the guitars L/R.

This was also my 3rd or 4th song using the drumkit, and had never orchestrated the drums myself before then. I'd say the drum arrangement is pretty stale as well.

The recording static is also something that I have fixed overtime. It really is pretty apparent without any distortion around the clean bridge.

Thanks for being honest and giving me suggestions. You'd be surprised how rare that is, I think out of every 100 reviews I get only 1 or 2 of them have suggestions or improvements.

And thanks for giving my stuff a listen!

[Pantheion 1999]

Jim The Worm..

Was amusing. But what I really got out of it was that this is a pretty awesome piece. Love the sounds. In fact, I love it so much that I would like to dig into it and see what I can come up with to remix it-- with your permission of course. :D

If it sounds like a plan to you, just let me know through a PM and we'll figure it out. I'll probably need at the very least the sheet music. Or if you use FL, then the project file itself would work great. Let me know, looking forward to your response. :D

-Mataro

Vertlain responds:

Remix? Sure, why not! It was made in 1999, so as far as I know FL Studio was just launched and probably wasn't very popular. I used soft called FastTracker 2 at that time. Still I'm almost certain I have midi version somewhere. Would it be good enough?

[CKC - Gangsta Beat]

I ain't much for hip hop,

But this really isn't all that bad. I'll toss you a 4/5 for it. The few complaints are that the mastering is a bit rough, a bit of distortion can be good, but I think the mix is just cranked up a bit too loud and it can be heard in the rumbling from the bass drum. Aside from that, it could do with being longer. The lead itself though is pretty cool. Not bad, bro.

One other thing, you may want to edit the submission and change the name to "CKC Tribute - Gangsta Beat". Then you can pay your respects without pissing off the bloke you're trying to respect. Keep up the hard work, dude. :D

[Techno Rocker v2 - RdM]

This is pretty awesome.

I'm not a huge fan of voice clips for this sort of stuff, but the "Techno" bit fits pretty well actually. Not too much to say, it's pretty solid. My only problem is the odd panning of the mix. It sounds like all the elements are completely on one side or the other. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but there needs to be more to it. As it stands, it feels like it's pretty heavy on the right channel. With a more full sounding mix, it would definitely be a ten. Awesome job. :D

Bahdshah responds:

ah yeah sorry bout that!
this track was done when i was sort of into the stereo enhancer effect XD

[Mario 64 End]

Well I'll be. Percussion.

A five, because the song itself is already, a six because it's tolerably well done. Very midi-ish. Would have been a seven actually, but some of the frequencies are a tad grating on my ears, but that could just be me. Alas, not much to say. I reccomend trying out some original stuff. If you would actually like to work together, I would be happy to. Or perhaps just start you off on a project or some such, your choice. Anyhow, let me know if you put up anything else, and I'll review that too if you'd like. :P

Brawllord responds:

I originally made this as a midi so i know where you came from on it being midi-ish I was lazy though and just put it straight through to mp3, i already regret that. oh well harm done and i don't actually feel like editing it maybe in another 396 years i might come back and make it creative.

Yes Percussion, i've given up on putting piano on here, i'll come back to you on that working together stuff when i'm used to making my own original stuff and not just video game stuff. ahh well i've got more video game music projects in the half making after that i'll give a shot at original stuff.

[Pinna Park (piano)]

Not so grand.

Not much to say that I haven't already. This song got on my nerves a little, and the aforementioned quantizing is even more noticeable here.