Rucklo's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Khuskan: Outside (Absolut Fin)]

I never really...

...checked your audio, so i decided to take a look at your stuff.
I have to say it´s much better than i expected.
This song, at least (only ive heard so far), is well composed and have a really cool sound to it. Gotta love the piano in the beginning, no? :D
The song has alot to it, even vocoded lyrics (yay!)
There are a few technical issues that felt they could have been better though. First, the overall mix felt very treble-ish, stronger subbass, or simply some multi-band eq´ing to the lower frequences would be good. The beat felt pretty descent, but the snare fetl way too hard. I weill even be so bold saying that i think the basedrum should have a lil less beatings on it. It messes up a lil, and even thought theres a good flow in the song, i honestly think that a simply 1/4 beat would give a better feel to this song, since the isnteruments overall are so trance-dance-ish.
One last technical issue i thought was bad, was the panning. way too much sound to the right in many parts, you should automate the panning in places when needed, so it dont get "stuck". Try ecperimenting using panning as an effect, it usually adds alot to the song.

Still yeah, i think this was a cool song, i really liked the chords and the overall sound of this, and thats more important than the technical issues, since the real difficultie in making music aint the technical shit, that anyone can learn :)

/Rucklo

Khuskan responds:

A deep and helpful review! Rarely found on the portal these days. All this stuff you've said gives me an excuse for another release, i'll get playing about :-) Thanks a lot.

[Helix - Origin]

Cool stuff man...

...I´m a fan of your doings mate, u got some real talent going on!
This track is really "Helix" souding, with the swirling beats and "ongoing" rythms.
One thing I reacted on in this song was that the snare in the beginning felt very dry, and powerless. Later on when it got boosted by the hihat, or whatever, it fell perfectly in place though!
I really like your breakdowns, very well placed and smoothly performed. This is needed indeed, since it IS quite the monotone stuff u got going on.
Anyway, thats whats keeps it "chewing".
Nice panning and stereo fell to the song and very good mastering overall here!
I´d like to praise u for yet another kickass song! Nice job! U keep your standard high and improve even!

/Rucklo

Helix6 responds:

Thanks a lot. This song kind of came together in a matter of hours, it had just been floating around for weeks. I was sick of messing with it so figured I would release it and see what everyone thought. Thanks for the feedback.

[ParagonX9 vs KFNX - The Legend]

This sounds...

...pretty cool. It is, very different from the stuff one thinks about when one hears the name "ParagonX9" (yea, ur quite the underground legend, u know :), and to be honest, this is not the style I like. This sounds very much like some old nintendo 16 game, asian doing, and I never relly like them "town songs" from video games. But this only shows that you´re more diverse and can make more music than just battle-style tracks, wich is very good of course.

Anyway, about the technicals;
The drums is what hits me the first, I don´t like them, really. Opn hihat and hihat goes in different sides, the snare just feels... nah, not found of the beat at all.
Anyway, the other instruments are well balanced to each other, and well mastered. I like the glittery-sound thingy going on to the left in the intro. Very nice stereo-panning in the song, its not like it really goes "whoa", but its creating a clear sound.
Nice job.

/Rucklo

[KFNX - RED SKY]

At first...

...it felt alot like some old warcraft song, in the intro. Then it kept the fantasy-battle sound all the way through the song, but in a more "floating" manner. This was a very cool battle song, and I hope and think many ppl would want to use it in flashes.
Personally, I could imagine thisone in a "real" game.

/Rucklo

[KFNX - UNDERGROUND]

Cool synth...

...in the beginning. This song sounds very "videogameish" to me, something out of an arcade car game or some "fast" game, not that violent, by some reason. This song sounds quite full and is overall a pretty cool thing, its just not my style, kindof. However I do appreciate the mix itself. Sounds well balanced. Perhaps tho that´s tomehting that could have been more made clear, panning. I hear its there, in delays and stuff, but it gets drowned. Anyway, panning doesnt have to be that clear, as long as it does its job.
Cool song tho.

/Rucklo

[KFNX - ASTEROiD]

This is...

...really nice indeed.
It reminds a whole lot of Paragonx9 (someone got hiself an alt??? ).
The baseline is reaaally sweet, and goes amazingly goo with the strings. The beat is too very cool, but it seems like the overall song lacks something, and i´d say its some swirling effects to make it more complete. The intro felt a little poor too, when it just got that silnt. I would expect some upgoing "buuuurnnnnrnrrrrn" sound there, or whatever.
Basicly, i think this is really good stuff, but it simply lacks some effects. That pitchbend on the ride could be really cool, but i like the way it allmost unnoticable goes up and down thru the mix.
About the instruments in general, they feel very full and rich, the overall mix is too very good. But like i said, this song lacks something, and i´d say FX for starters.
Still, very nice job mate.

/Rucklo

[-API- Another Dimension]

Yeah...

...this is very raw indeed. The beat is really doing alot for the fast-feel here, and the high blipp sound combines the dark drone bass good! I like the effects you´ve put overall, filtering is really nice! And yeah, nice panning :)

/Rucklo

[-API- Organic]

Yeah!...

... if there is to be good DnB, it better be dark, or "exciting" somehow. This song was really fucking cool. It felt "light on the toes", yet it has lots of weight underneath, if u know what i mean. The section with the drums filtered down and panned were really cool! Im gonna have to download your stuff and give it a real listen, man. This is high qual shit!
/Rucklo

[-API- Powerup (AP LOOP)]

Really blippy...

...this was really nice! It has the diversity a small loop shorequires not to get boring at once. It sounds like a bossfight. I like the prrrrrrr knattering sound, it goes really well along with the high lead-blipp.
Nice one!

/Rucklo

[Helix - Illusion]

I really love...

...the way you use them industrial beat-samples. Do you sample them yourself?
You have a knack for coming up with really cool rythms in your stuff. This song was indeed a lil different from the rest of your stuff, but listening to the beatwork, it sure is Helix sound :)
There is one thing that you could do with these songs you´ve put here on this site to make them sound better (in my ears). A simple pad that shifts a couple of times, maybe not throughout the whole song, but in places where it fits. With this your songs might loose a little of the industrial pump they have, but they might gain a little more "melodic feel" to it. I hope you know what im talking bout here ...
Anyway, this song was really rich, and if you wanted to experiment with that pad i mentioned, u might as well just use some of the instruments/pads you allready have in there. For example that half-glitched dark synth going on. Make it 4 different tones in some places or something....

Keep up the excellent work mate!

/Rucklo

Helix6 responds:

Thank you and acknowledged. I have been listening to a bit more classical music lately, and hope to integrate some of the more symphonic sounds in my music. I definitely believe that modern music in a lot of ways is lacking in melodic beauty, but sadly it takes a lot of talent to really pull off. :) Thanks for the review.