ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Adrenaline]

Interesting opening melody. Sort of as Kwing mentioned sounds like a sound showcase.

There are a lot of interesting textures, but transitions are nowhere to be spoken of, so I end up having absolutely no idea what's going on. That said, a lot of interesting sounds, but no overarching melody, no idea when different elements will appear. Sort of leaves a bad taste in my mouth for that reason.

I will say that your growl bass is mixed somewhat too loudly to be sustained by your drum loop.

At 2:51 there's a lot going on and I can't understand what you're trying to show to us. I'm also unsure if this song is composed entirely of loops?

[Genesis]

Interesting delay texture at 0:13. It does start to hurt around 0:15. Please limit that and turn the signal down on that track there.

Now, you've got some cool little runs going on at 0:22 with those cool SFX textures. I see potential in that sound. I would recommend taking off most of your reverb. It's super muddy at 1:03 where I can hear the attack of the kick twice, once for the kick and twice for the room. Turn down that 'verb and cut the low frequencies in it.

I can't give a great score because this piece is so short, only about 50 seconds of melody, per 20 seconds or so of intro.

I will say melody was kinda buried in that muddy reverb texture and needs to come up in the mix.

I find myself agreeing with Timothy's review. Would be much better if we came into your melody poco a poco, so to speak, because it ends so sharply, there's really no time to appreciate the piece as a whole.

[Makuta - Collision]

I don't understand what's going on at all.

Intro sounds really consonant, great arrangement, and 0:33 this piano comes in and lays on top with ... that bottom note on that chord needs to come down a full semitone.

I recognize the synth at 1:44 as one I do like.

Honestly, this sounds like a lot of synths played over a premade project and I'm not sure how I'm meant to feel. Lines like 2:13 are way too loud over the instrumental.

MakutaMiner responds:

I agree to be honest. My newer tracks are way better, as I actually have an understanding of music theory and have good plugins. I don't like this track either.

[Jeffbeard - The Other Thing]

This sounds like bug wings against a lightbulb. I'd like it a lot more if it were more consistently mixed. It gets so loud at points that it gives me a bit of a headache. I'm not really sure what is going on other than some rhythms all on the same note with a couple overtones. I can't hear drums for most of the piece, if there are any at all. Just not really my thing. Sorry.

[ElderlyKite - The Excentrism]

Nice intro here -- but I feel that big reverse cymbal needs some reverb and delay not to just... be super dry and anticlimactic.

Your drums are all over the place here. I can't tell where things are going, or why certain things are placed where they are.

Your chord progression is fine, but your piano attacks all sound the same velocity, and when you have those low chords, they're very congested sounding. Recommend some inversions. This has the potential to be very pretty.

0:21 feels like you started to do something and totally changed your mind. Could have probably done without that fast break. 0:39 chorus probably could have been repeated again.

0:52 texture and piano also probably could have done with a repeat before those interesting vocal sounding synths.

Really this piece sounds like a lot of disjointed ideas put together. I would recommend studying song structuring. This composition is pretty hard to follow, even though it has some pretty cool ideas going on. I would have rated a lot higher if I could understand the structure of the track better, where you were going compositionally, etc.

2:02, that lead is really, really loud. I had to turn the song down a bit and resume listening. It has been pretty loud throughout and pumping in and out volume wise. Not sure what's going on there.

Also not sure why the ride cymbal bell at the very end.

0:40 is probably the strongest section of your track. More like that. With less volume on that lead and probably a little less low-mids on your drums. They're a bit boomy. It's kind of like DnB, but I can't hear a bassline. That would probably be another thing to work on.

Definitely recommend checking out some tutorials for the genres you want to produce, specifically song structure, mixing, and mastering. Would love to see you revisit it someday once you've got a little more experience under your belt. 'Til then, keep at it! :)

[Trip to Egypt]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say I could rock with the guitar/synth arp if it didn't sound so dry. Could probably also use some more elements before that drop. As is, the mix kinda feels empty.

I also notice you apply distortion to that synth later. Garage Band string and key instruments are just kinda universally terrible for this kind of music. By 2:07, I'm feeling the feel you probably wanted around 1:11.

Outro was not bad, but would have been way better if it didn't cut off abruptly. Not sure what happened there. I know in my DAW this will occasionally happen if you select a section and hit render. I'm not sure if maybe you wanted this to loop or not.

Regardless, this feels incomplete. I'd have liked to see more done with this minor chord progression rather than just two chords with the root a semitone apart. I can't think straight enough to analyze what exact chord each is but it essentially felt like the same 4 measures repeated, with no real variation. I get that this is house, but if you listen to most house, they will also have more instruments, textures, percussion, and sound effects coming in every 8 to 16 bars to keep things fresh. They also will use longer progressions and add more chord tones as they go on. You were starting to do this at 2:14 and I was hoping for the track to go on in that vein.

I recommend looking at some tutorials for the genres you want to produce, studying how they structure their elements, and try to apply some of their principles to your own work. May also want to check out some basic videos on music theory and voice leading. You're off to a good start, but there's always more to learn. :)

There are also free VSTs like SQ8L, Dexxed, and APBL (ample sound bass plugin) and AGML (I think) that can supplement or replace some of Garage Band's crummier synths and help improve your sound.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC. Best of luck with your music. I look forward to seeing you grow!

DustifiedGD responds:

Well honestly now that you point out this stuff I’m really starting to notice it. My newer songs have much better progression and the WIP ones have some nice beats. The outro is very short but the beginning could have been made shorter. I don’t really consider this rock music because of the lack of variety and creativity. I just will keep this here as my first track but I’m pretty sure that bass plugins won’t really be an option because I think GarageBand has quite the variety of basses, but I see what you mean by the melody being dry. Also I don’t really want to focus on one genre, I want some variety in my songs for all listeners but I don’t think that GarageBand is capable of dubstep too much, sad but true. My next song should be more techno than house with nice drums and progression.

[Big City]

Smooth riffs going on here. Track looks compressed to death though, and it shows throughout when the vocals and drums are buried in louder sections. I can hear what almost sounds like clip distortion occasionally.

Vocals really need to come up in the mix, and rather than recommending turning them up, I'd actually turn everything else down. Those rhythm guitars are taking up 80% of the space in the mix.

Distortion is starting to affect the drums around 3:22, I suspect due to the low end on those toms not being reined in. Otherwise, this is perfect bar rock.

Solo section is great. I would recommend double-tracking that 5% left and right respectively, or slapping on a chorus. Right now it sounds very tin-can-y.

Overall, sounds like a fair mix with a bad master on it. Before you master your tracks, recommend having about 6 dB of headroom. Leaves room for compression to do its job. Not to mention, your track won't be clipping, distorting, or pumping in and out after all FX are applied, all three of which are happening here.

Smashing track though. Only other complaint would be first couplet of your verse is kinda wimpy writing, and diction is hard to understand. "Leaving back your own life" doesn't make grammatical sense. "Owning all and stuff" is kinda word salad.

Otherwise, great.

dude2312 responds:

Wow, this was a great critique which I welcome with open arms. It was my third time (ever) recording my own songs. Under no circumstances would I consider myself a professional on this, one thing that I can tell you is that I am going to get better at it!

Thanks ever so much for taking the time to listen to my track.

[Into Darkness]

Lot of dissonance going on here, and it sounds like you have two different basslines going on at once. Very hard to hear anything going on in that range with so much sub bass. Also sounds like it's seriously distorting at 1:05.

Your lead is fairly interesting, but something in the background sounds like smearing fingers on a clean window.

1:39 again, there's still a lot of dissonance, and I can't really tell what's going on. 2:03, it sounds like you took your melody from earlier and just changed the pitch. You've got some good ideas going on, and your approach is fairly creative to this track, but a couple recommendations right off.

Your final mix will sound better if all your instruments together, before you apply FX to the mastering channel, are sitting at about -6 dB of headroom. Mastering services universally recommend this, and you'll find that if you can get a good sound at that volume, your track will sound AWESOME when you apply good mixing and mastering compression. The mastering channel is not a crap-in-gold-out channel basically. Slapping on a brick wall limiter to avoid clipping is a bandaid fix to a bad mix, basically.

Now, composition-wise, it kinda sounds like you just put together 3 or 4 different songs, but I do see from this the potential in you to pump out some bangers. Recommend looking at some tutorials for the genres you like and paying particular attention to melody writing, mixing, and mastering. You've got a good idea of structure already.

Synfang responds:

Thanks for the feedback.

TBH? My DAW is kinda crude (basically bootleg GarageBand). It wouldn't tell me what dB level the song is at.
Admittedly, yes, there are 2 bass synths in this song (sub included). Yes, I know I use too much sub bass (as I had to tell Waterflame tho: my hearing ain't that great, so I make everything louder so I can hear it during production). And yeah, that's not the first time I've been told my songs are distorting bc I have too much bass. Not that I don't think it needs fixing, but what can I say? I love my bass. ...ironically, all my attempts at DnB have failed...

The smearing sound...well, that's just how the preset on that lead works.

As for the master channel, I usually don't apply anything but a limiter to it. That's the only thing I've ever been suggested to put on the master channel (thank Waterflame).

Thinking about it now, I get what you're saying about it sounding like a blend of a few songs. NGL, I do take a lot of inspiration from other tracks when I make my songs (largely the likes of the artists on Geometry Dash's official soundtrack), but I never directly rip melodies from other artists, bar my remixes.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I'll try to keep this in mind when making my tracks in the future.

[I Have Arrived]

I liked that opening SFX -- but thought it clashed with the chord progression you wrote.

Piano chords seem really chunky in that low register. I recommend taking some of the notes and moving them up an octave.

Structure wise, this song is good. Progression wise, it's a little bit confusing, and the chords aren't resolving as well as they probably could be. I do like that it's not maximally loud, like most pieces are -- but as a dubstep piece, it probably could do with some compression.

Mix is a bit low-mid-heavy. Could probably use a tape saturator on some of your percussion to give it some edge.

As things go on, I'm starting to get used to your percussion, and your second drop comes together fairly nicely. I would recommend stretching it out with a repeat rather than a short bridge between drops. It's super short!

I will say atmospherically, this piece is fairly well done. I really don't like the floppy attacks and tons of reverb, especially on your brass, but ultimately, the mix is clear enough, and nothing sounds particularly bad despite some really mid-heavy sections.

I'd like to hear something other than a sine bass throughout.

What this track is lacking is punch and a strong bass line. Seems not to have a snare in the drop. Hi-hats are almost inaudible, and your drums are laying down in the mix. Tape saturator would fix a lot of that, but I would apply it carefully.

Bass is very smooth for dubstep. Possibly hearing some euro influences. If this is your genre of choice, I recommend looking at some tutorials on structuring your drops, versus your voices. I almost can't hear your growls relative to the intensity of those sub stabs, which are probably too loud.

Outro was a really nice touch. Probably one of the more tasteful I've heard.

Overall, track is pretty well-handled. With a little more oomph and a stronger intro, it could be a real banger. Nice work. :)

SynthShrimp responds:

Thank you so much for your feedback! This is exactly the the kind of tips and stuff I expected from the comments. I can actually use this to improve and I'm happy with that!
I'll definitely keep the tape-saturator in mind as the mix was really low-mid-heavy. Also the sub should've dropped an octave and a bit in volume, could've used some time in sound-design as well. I'll try some stuff with the tips you gave me, I'm experimenting with other genres as well so once again, thanks!

[Launcher Octopuld (30th Anniversary Edition)]

Drums definitely need to come up in this mix. Lead writing is catchy, but as mentioned, feels very sloppy. Way too much portamento and detune. Also recommend panning bass 0% LR.

Otherwise, this is a fairly catchy piece. Drums are really groovin', I just can't hear 'em over your screaming leads, strings, and bass, leaving this piece sounding floppy. It sounds like there may be some compression issues going on as well.

Shame, because this piece loops really well and has great drive!

RetroCarrot responds:

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