bdog705's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Clouds]

ducking is a much better term than sidechaining, also ducking is insanely easy in FL, i always thought i was stupid because i couldn't figure it out but here's how to easily do it without all the automation BS

link your kick drum to your bass in the mixer and right click on the arrow at the bottom of the insert (kick and bass are in separate inserts obviously), select 'sidechain to this track'

now your kick is sending input to your bass, the kick itself isn't being sent but the transients from your kick are being sent
basically the waveform of your kick is going to automatically set the volume dropoff for your bass (way faster then trying to guess the right automation points to make it duck better)

now on your bass insert, pop on a limiter and go to the compression tab, right click on the sidechain box and the insert your kick is set to should appear so select that insert.
then in the loudness section, turn down your THRES knob by like 20-30% then up the RATIO knob by the same amount

now you have Fruity limiter doing the most basic duck it can, the rest of the tweaks are up to you however as your ears are the best judge

also another fun tactic ive picked up on is using PEQ2 and cutting out the bass completely with a very steep low pass and automating the 7th bands frequency knob to follow the kick drums waveform, so the bass is getting EQed out while your kick comes in nice and clean

also great song yo, i like your sound design throughout the track
watch your volume with hi hats and crashes and what not as those are part of the ''if it sounds quiet, its probably not that quiet'' group of sounds

great work yo keep it up!

SlashCrazySmirk responds:

Thanks for the feedback man! This is the kinda stuff I need, constructive criticism. I'll definitely try to improve on my next song with this help. Glad you like this song aswell.

[Kick your fucking ass]

inb4 swearing for cool points

you should export at 320kbps instead of 192 or 160 like, better quality ;p

NuclearRadiation responds:

Hey man, get off my arse, I haven't made music like this before, i'm trying out new sound sampling too so yeah, I know the quality isn't HQ atm...

[Her Hope ft. Troisnyx (Can You See The Clouds Divide)]

probably my favorite song of yours
i think your final mix was great, everything comes in clean and nothings overpowering

the vocals could have been in pitched a little better but oh well. its such a minor flaw that it isn't really noticeable.
damn everything here fits together quite nicely, lovin the instrumentation
your songs have a weird vibe that i enjoy and i cant pinpoint why i like them but i do
keep it up man this is pretty good!

ADR3-N responds:

Considering the level of rekt on the guitars this track (put the cab before the amp like a dodo bird lol) I'm pleasantly surprised. Glad you liked!

[His Honor]

your mix here is pretty good
im not much for rock songs or anything but this was pretty catching for my ears
i think you just need to work on your bass mastering, the kick is layered with the bass and causing small amounts of muddiness, always good to avoid that
other than that, great song
love the chorus at 1:22
reminds me of command and conquer red alert 3's rock soundtrack
good job on this yo! keep it up

ADR3-N responds:

Yes this track is super muddy. I really need to go back and mix it over again. Thanks for the review!

[DJRadiocutter - Pulse Ray (MDK Tribute) (Just Drop)]

i can just hear harmors prism filter, very nice sound design for the most part
if you expanded on this i think you could actually make something cool
but still good nontheless
keep it up yo!
you using FL on mac? if so is the beta pretty decent?

DJRadiocutter responds:

Yeah, i love the beta version. The full version is up for grabs on the 18th, and so imma get that one any time now. But yeah, FL is the best.

Actually, it's the phaser filter, not prism, though, i can get how they got mixed up. ;)

And thanks, i agree with the extension, and the only reason i didn't extend, is because my brother took the computer and started a new project on me xP

[Deep In The Dunes]

watch the high end on your snare, a little loud, just a little

reverb like that on your snare? what is this? 1982? jk

dude this song is fucking awesome all around like holy shit
im getting retro electro vibes from an NG song and ive never felt that before
this was a great addition to the audio portal, got yourself a new follower

i love your sound design on the synths and pads, very spacey and melodic, i fucking love it!
the FX reminds me of old scifi movies
the chorus was beautiful and i loved the progression this song had all the way up to the lead because it kept getting better from there
beautiful chord whips too and those tom fills are so....filling lol

seriously dude, good shit right here. this made my night
keep it up yo! can't wait to see more

Slintas responds:

And this review just made my day! Thank you so much. I went back and adjusted the HI on the snare abit and a few other bits and bobs. Should sound fuller/richer now overall.

Again, thank you for your kind words.

[California Breeze (Final Mix)]

sytrus would be a better instrument for you, not harmor just yet

could use a little more thought out melody, pretty good so far though

TeraVex responds:

I agree, this song overall is just a weaker song of mine, if I really had a choice I'd just not include it on the album altogether because it's just kinda there but meh whaddayagonnado

[Colours Vocal]

cool vocals FX
i wont bother giving an actual review since this song is old and you've obviously improved but i thought it was very nice.

vocals like this make me want to make instrumentals that fit them so it's very inspiring
i like the chorus at 2:12
good job all around yo! keep it up

elektrobear responds:

Thank you!