ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[BoneCreed - Aurora (Original Mix)]

Is that M-Theory or String theory on those koto-like notes? I dig it.

Most of my critique here is going to lie in mixing. Your structure and writing is good, and so is your use of instrumentation :)

Your percussion is hiding in the mix, particularly on bigger sections like 1:15. I would pull the other instruments down, including 808, until that was nice and under control. Even sidechain is not a 100% bandaid for not having enough oomph on your perc.

Other than that, great production. I really enjoyed it. Happy chords, cheerful bassline. Goes hard. All the things a girl could want. And congrats on the front page!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Afterimage]

I feel like with most of our chords here, your leads are only one octave above the tonic note of the chord change. That leaves not a lot of room for groovy progressions.

Now, what you have going for you, your structure forces it to be somewhat moving, even in the chords themselves want to just kind of sit there. So good job on that! That's an accomplishment. Keep with this structure. It works for you.

Now, by 2:14 we get some chords, but that disappears quickly. I would have at the very least repeated that twice.

You might try learning about chords in general. A good channel to watch on YT is Signals Music Studio. There's only so much you can do with one note.

3:50 is a nice change and ambitious compared to the main chord progression. I feel like this should have been your drop, period. Repeat that second section we have for your drop again, and Let 4:36 be the end of your song.

And no matter what happens, never stop writing. The more you do, the better you will get. Every finished song is an accomplishment!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC! Excited to hear from you in the future :)

BlueNexus responds:

Thank you for the feedback!

[BlighterProductions - Quasar]

Intro is very subtle. Dig.

I think the perc comes in just a liiiittle too heavy. I'd take down the hihats about half a dB. Maybe more. They're quite loud compared to the rest of the track by the time our bass comes in.

I may also space out what sounds like claps somewhat more and possibly reverb those veeeeery lightly.

The next section to come in is so abrupt sounding due to how quiet the piece is. Might take that arp down by a dB and low pass filter it.

We also have a lot of low frequencies. Make sure any ensemble you have, the instruments aren't in each other's way. I.e cut the low frequencies of higher instruments or non-basses to crisp them up and get them out of the subwoofer's way. 250 hz is usually the magic number. There are tutorials and lots of free plugins for this like ReaPlugs which will let you see the frequencies you are working with as they come in.

I would still take down those hihats more as we get to 3:47 and take the arp down a bit more until we get those wide swells in. I like that btw.

There is some synth that has a lot of tingling ringing in what sounds like the 18k or so range. It's like tingling change in my ear and I don't really like it.

The radio noise also could probably come down -- the tuning SFX. And I would give it a ping pong delay.

You're talented at creating atmosphere for sure.

I think JBL headphones might be coloring your sound some. Commercial headphones tend to add a lot of bass or alter mids and highs to get people to think they're somehow better than others, when really the issue is inferior audio quality. I use Audio Technica ATH-M40x studio monitor headphones. They give a good representation of how a song will sound all around and make for a good reference headphone. I would try to mix songs so that they will sound good on the average sound system, as well as the extraordinary, since not everyone has the luxury of JBL, beats, or any other great setup we might like to have represent our music. :)

Great work, and thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

BlighterProductions responds:

Hey ADR3-N, thanks for your constructive advice. I would like to answer on some of the points you mentioned:

-You shouldn't take the JBL thing literal, it's only since I use JBL headphones to create my music, and I tweaked them to the JBL headset perfectly, which is perhaps why it sounds different on other devices. You couldn't know this, but thanks for letting me know. It's only more helpful to know these things.

-When the second drop comes at 228 seconds, I didn't even realise to the point you notified me about it that there is a little too much of a 'significance' (if I wrote that correctly) between direct attack and swelling attack.

-The tingling is caused by resonance in the so-called ''Droplet''-synth. It's an instrument I frequently used in my newer songs (Natrium Flow, R136A1, Discothéque to name a few) and also with my headphones they're decreased since JBL headphones are automatically equipped with a lower frequency equalizer that causes more bass.

-''You're talented at creating atmosphere for sure.'' Thanks a lot, and I only joined the NGUAC to learn some new stuff in music on NG. And I reasoned that, since this is my most popular, and also one of my best songs, this would make for a good submission (not trying to show off or so).

There are still point in your comment that I can't really agree with, but it's nothing personal, more something from my point of view. But comments like this are always welcome in my comment sections.

-Signed BlighterProductions

[ZUN - A Tiny, Tiny, Clever Commander(BegissoR's Remix)]

Right off the bat, I would cut the reverbs on your organs and intro substantially, chop off everything below 250 hz. It will do loads to clean up your sound. Same with all your sidechained reverbs throughout. It will help so much with your transitions and sidechain sounding clean. Right now despite these blazing fast rhythms and great structure, that sound is making it hard to get into your bass groove, which is what DnB is all about!

Also, compliments to great use of that sample. My heart. <3

But yeah, I'm really enjoying the theme itself, but noise from that verb is distracting me even from your transitions. Before 2:44 is pretty rough. That kick build also seems to be close to distorting a bit. Might dial back just slightly the compression there.

Bass is sounding good before 3:16. Past that I think we are pushing the limits of just how hard the track can be compressed before the bass suffers. Make sure to clean out room in all your FX chains and instruments for the bass to lay into. Eg. cut frequencies on leads, pads, and other synths below 250 hz. Cut reverb aggressively because those boxy sounds just don't add anything to the song unless it's a completely naked sound out there.

Bass wise your squelching growl could use actually some 1000 hz or so I think. And the lead and other synths could come down a bit more so I could hear it in the mix. Cutting those frequencies will help. You may even apply a chorus to it.

I might even cut the attack and release on your sizechain just a little so that it's shorter. There are some places where it gets a little hard to make out bassline and other synths because it's so deep and long. 45 seconds or so and on is an example. I also can't really hear the bass well there because it's a sine wave. You might try a ramp in that section.

I would say the offbeat stabs at 2:40 or so and the lead are also a little too loud. Maybe .5 dB.

Otherwise great, fast, furious remix. Love it. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

begissor responds:

Wow, never expected such a big respond, thanks. I always highpass everything that isn't a bass as you say. Reverb is a problem, yes, will fix in my new works. Also I have problem with sidechaining dnb, variative dubstep drums and etc.

[Garbage]

My only complaint about that bassline we got going on up to 26 seconds so far is it sounds like it's in the left channel. Did you stereo spatialize it or something? The next to come in sounds a little centered.

1:00 sounds GREAT minus what's been going on so far. All your synths except that high lead are VERY loud compared to the bass.

Also I like the panning play here -- it reminds me of playing N64.

But back to what I was saying. Melodically and structurally this is lit. Minus that pause at 1:15. I'd rather that have been a 1 or two beat affair, fade, or a complete rest, and a pickup. As is, it's long enough I thought it was the end until I looked back up.

But anyway, the drums are hiding in the mix up until 3:30, and even then they're still pretty low. Try turning everything else down some. Turn your pc volume really low, low enough your uncomfortable, start playback. Fiddle with the levels until they sound good to you there, then turn it back to normal. Repeat as needed. Cut unneeded low frequencies from reverbs and other instruments that aren't the bass until you have a clean low end for them to sit in. You will be surprised how much just cutting below 250 hz with a multiband compressor or EQ will help your mix fit together better.

You may also use techniques such as gated reverb or transient shaping -- YT is your friend -- to help fix that perc laying there. But otherwise fantastic work. Loved the track.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Ethnobeat B-Side]

Very solid composition, lead writing, and progression.

My critique would be reserved for mixing. There is so much reverb in this piece, and it's muddy. I would pull down the 250 hz of all your reverbs and in general shorten the tails.

I might also take whatever chorus or bass boost is on your bass -- possibly change oscillator shape. You have a lot of what sounds like 30-40 hz hum and a mid cut on that bad boy.

I would compress your drums more, notch the mids a bit, and apply a gated reverb to your snare. The kick also is very subby and doesn't stand out a lot in the mix. Sounds good but I want to hear a little more of the head.

Compositionally, very much a journey. I am at 2:50 and am appreciating all the little diddies we've got going on here. Pushing the bass down to 3:15 though is stretching the limits of what it wants to do power wise, the way it's mixed. That's why I say adding some mid can give it some more oomph. Make sure also to make room for it by cutting the lower frequencies of leads with multiband compression or EQ.

That low saw at 4:12 is loud and isn't really doing a whole lot for the mix. I would move it up an octave and take it down volume wise or forgo it entirely.

By 4:40 I'm feeling like we're ready for complete fadeout. 4:55 just feels like drawing it out some more. Not to say that it sounds bad ofc. We could have had that breakdown a whole chorus ago, is what I mean, or cut that section where the bass was straining, etc.

Very nice work though. Monster track :)

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Basiator responds:

I appreciate such constructive technical and precise critique more than the main prize.
Thanks very much.

[No Empathy: intrumental]

Ah, that good old plingy piano patch -- I would swap to a different synth. It sounds alright with the 30 second section, but it sticks out a whole lot.

You've got a good bassline. I would probably not use those strings though -- there is an instrument called SQ8L which is free, which you can replace them with, and they may sound better.

There doesn't seem to be any percussion in this track, and I find it suffers for that. Writing wise, however, it's a nice little groove.

Can't wait to see what you do when you've got some good kit and software under your belt. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Blast Off]

Like the first chords going on here.

Mixing wise it sounds like it's been soundgoodized. Over compressed. Try to mix your track well before you do that. Make sure reverbs have clean low end, cut it off about 250 hz, etc. Shorten any tails.

I do like that little dissonant diddy we end with. It goes well with the bassline.

I would bring out your percussion more -- by turning everything else down a little, and also, if you're going to use guitar synths, you can use a technique called double tracking with different amp and cab simulators for each track, then humanize the notes slightly differently, or even use different guitar patches, and it will sound more spacious/better.

You can also look up gated reverb for snares.

Enjoyed the piece. Keep em coming. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

BALDORF responds:

Thanks for the feed back!
You obviously know your stuff well, mixing/mastering is probably my biggest weakness. Much more about the arrangement.
Appreciate the advice!

[glass half empty]

Really interesting little piece.

Some mixing critique, your harmony acoustic guitar on those fingernailed chord stabs needs to come down a lot. They ring out a ton -- there's no way the listener can't hear them. Bring those vocals up some and cut down the reverb wet some. Bring up the lower bass strings on the guitar a bit. Take down your kick sound about .5 to 1 db. We're also not going to unhear that magically because it isn't very loud. It's the only sound in that range.

I would also not autotune the vocals so hard but that may be a spacy stylistic choice.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Aweror responds:

awesome, the critique means a lot. thank you!!

[Cuprum]

Interesting, driving groove, reminds me of the old days here on NG.

Your drums are having a hard time coming through the mix. I would turn everything else down by anywhere between 1 and 1.5 dB or until you could hear them clearly when you turn your PC volume down to 20% or so.

1:15 section sounds ... very interesting. Very busy finger against the window texture -- although I'd probably turn that down just a tad.

at 1:45 whatever those chords are in the bottom, I would not have those notes so close together. They sound very chunky. Either simplify them or move them up an octave -- or invert them.

That said I hear the chords you want to make, and I like them a lot. As far as how the piece is going I might restructure it a little, perhaps to just a standard house template. But by the end of the song I'm starting to really appreciate those window slidey noises. I don't even know what's happening.

For Caustic, I'm actually really impressed.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!