Saltbearer's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Break Time]

Smooth vibe, compelling rhythms, nicely done overall. 8) Mixed feelings about the cymbals/clap though - so loud, clear, sharp, defined... my eardrums want to caress every tantalizing squiggle of crystalline soundwave, but doing so, at least initially, caused pain to happen, in a pain way. I poked some others in possession of ears for generalized opinions, and the clap/hats were a main point of criticism, though perhaps more due to personal expectations for perc priority than pain receptors (WORTHLESS OPINIONS). Unfortunately, we all know that reducing the high end at all takes the magic out of music, so... what's the harm in occasional ear spiciness, anyway?

ThatAndyGuy responds:

Definitely some Very Good feedback! Glad you liked it and BONUS POINTS to you for being honest as hell, I'll revisit it when I'm able to set my computer back up to work!

[Moth to a Flame]

even if a song sounded nothing like a slake song but I was told "this is slake inspired" I'd just be like "okay cool I'm 110% on board with this slaketastic jam"

that this sounds reasonably slake-like greatly enhances the experience of enjoying the slaketastic jam beyond the charm of the Golden Namedrop

[Dot Dot Dot]

~00s menu VGM is one of my favorite vibes in music, love to hear it. To me at least, the palette and shaping of sounds in this track are more than a perfect fit; they encapsulate the kind of unique flair that's often missing from the works of those drawing from the same sources of inspiration. This is the sort of individual work that contributes to the memorability of the whole style.

[hacker.07]

This is the sort of mix of classic jungle vibes and modern production sensibilities I've been craving and struggling to find lately. Finally scratching that itch a bit. 8) (Should tag [jungle] on that note!)

[Koala Bear The Person - Splitting Hairs]

not not good

this doesn't have textures which aren't textures I wouldn't say don't constitute that which is not bad

yum-yum high low wibble-wobble scritch-scratch modulation and what are totally blows in a good place

[Airborne Thoughts]

Hey, this is pretty nice! Good sense of progression, subtly guided at times, some cool details and sound design throughout. Ear candy and stuff I feel the need to point a finger at: Plucky delay synth, lo-fi pad at 1:40, gentle energy boost at 1:56, crunchy distorted swells up to 1:40, soft arps at 2:09, 3:19 feedbacky glitchy thingy, detuned? glidey flutey thingy, stereo squeaks and prickliness.

Less a fan of: Eh... the noise snare feels a bit loud to me here. And maybe the mids in general? Not sure where exactly, but it seems like there's too much energy packed into some frequency range and it's exhausting my ears. I'm also generally a fan of deep, dynamic mixing, and think this track would benefit from more of that. I also take inspiration from microsound albums and subject my own listeners to intense high frequencies in unexpected places though, so who am I to talk?

Well. I'd say your personal theme reflects well on you. :) Looking forward to your next one!

[Chordd - Vibe]

Not bad at all for starting off! Can't go wrong with some chill chords and a smooth bass (which is a fine complement to the bitcrushed lead + perc).

Best advice I can give to anyone starting out is: go NUTS, experiment in every way you can think of. Route effects wildly, retune things, use strange time signatures and tempi and song structures, automate, modulate, toss something you shouldn't toss into a certain household appliance into that appliance and sample its violent destruction, etc. Do everything to everything, and then do none of those things and only do something else to something else. You'll have learned a lot by the time the dust settles - particularly how to kick up dust. 8)

[Monolith (Speedcore)]

Drone-inspired speedcore is something I've been wanting to hear lately, so it's cool to stumble into some while gawking at someone's prolific output! The genres sound like near-opposites at first, but there's clear points of overlap - it's apparent here that a low, distorted bass rumble in itself isn't too far off from a long extratone kick drill.

This kick might be a serious point of contention for me though. It's got a solid body and a transient that remains sharp up to extratone speeds, and considering the drone influence and track title, it feels a bit questionable to criticize it for being… monolithic. It can pass for stylistic, how something simple becomes powerful as the tempo increases - but that's inherent to extratone. For what's typically regarded as the centerpiece of genres under the speedcore umbrella, where you'll be hearing a LOT of the one thing, it seems underdeveloped at its core. static. dry. clean.

So far, I've made one deliberate attempt ("Revitalize the Battered" under my audio) at simultaneously taking influence from drone (moreso electronic ambient than SUNN O)))'s doom) and speedcore, and I made a few other things in the past that veered in that direction. In ReThBa, I used a complex (… rather needlessly convoluted honestly) yet soft synth kick, separated into independent frequency bands, with their own automated effects and ranges of potential variability... I even squeezed many other percussive sounds out of the automation. All of that kept it interesting for me to listen to, even at the beginning and end where, as a whole, it's about the only active element.

I did not, however, decisively achieve my original vision for drone speedcore - I envisioned more gradual and controlled drifting of attributes on a kick with less low end and more distorted buzzing high-end punch, and thought a good way to mix the genres would be to shift between gentle textures so frequently, regularly, and chaotically that it would all register as one droning mess of sound. Pressed for time by February Album Writing Month, up against SunVox's technical limit on modules, and conscious of storage space, ReThBa only comes close to touching that in the last minute, nowhere near as chaotically/sound collagey as I wanted. Reason to revisit the concept someday!

Back to Monolith, my ears like things that are wide, scratchy, and screamy above the mids, so it has all that going for it. 8) The "screaming" distorted cymbal and bass in the beginning feel nice. Rhythmically, hard to go wrong with expeetore. The way the different elements sit together in the mix is fine, as is the tension arc in which they prop the energy to a satisfying peak. From my comments on the kick and ReThBa though, it should be apparent that I have a general preference for highly-ornamented and semi-unpredictable music. Some people don't, but I usually sense *room* for a bit more flavor in everything. Could sprinkle in more one-off sonic events for dramatic flair, play around more with how everything's distribution in time affects tension, complicate some timbres… you may even be able to squeeze some things like pad layers in some spots.

All that fuss is why I've allowed hundreds of things I've started to sit around and rot though, which doesn't seem to be your speed. Good job on having things to show for your efforts, a diverse breadth of work including obscure genre fusions like this one! Keep that up!

One other thing - "atmospheric speedcore" is at least a notable-enough specific subgenre for it to be named in a YouTube video some guy made a decade ago, and I'd say this matches. Probably a good term for the tags!

etK responds:

Wow, thanks a lot for the constructive criticism! Yeah this was something that was on my mind for a while. The remastered and final version of this track will be released alongside the album, hopefully soon enough!
Well if you make Drone Speedcore or Speedcore in general, I have this channel called Speedcore Network, and you can send me a message at [e-mail] and maybe your track will be featured, it would be a pleasure!
And out of curiosity, what is the video talking about Atmospheric Speedcore you're referring too? (you can tell me by editing here or by sending me a message anywhere if you like)
Thanks again! Might try this again in the future.

[I Do]

SO MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE GLORIOUS NEW ERA OF NAL1200 UPLOADING FINISHED TRACKS TO NEWGROUNDS ON A REGULAR BASIS

(Regular interval: 5 years, longer than previous upload to today)

((It's a nice little melody though, and it's nice to see you!))

nal1200 responds:

Hey thanks! I'll try and upload stuff more often hahaha

[Fluid State]

Instantly in love with that rich padded bass! And the snappy wetness of all the perc, my god. The wide high-end ear-ticklin' sounds. The smooth guitar. All around a nice clean space to dunk my head into. Struck nice balances with progression, variation, and detail.

Fresh start better treat you well!

jcunliffeuk responds:

Thanks for the kind words Saltbearer!