ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Lost Energy]

Interesting effect with the detuning going on here. Feeling good as we bring the intro in. I was expecting a quicker intro, but I'm not complaining by 0:50.

Mix wise, I would bring up your percussion by 2 dB... Or just bring everything else down.

This is a little pleasant sunset driving groove. I really like it.

For your snare, I can't hear if you're using gated reverb or just delay. If you're using just delay, look up gated reverb. It will help the grit of your snare so much. Then you can cut the delay wet signal and feedback down some. I always recommend cutting reverb and delay signals as much as possible due to their tendency to muddy up a track.

I would have skipped that stutter and re-entry into the chorus before 3:13 or so if we were going to fade out and have gradually faded over two choruses or so. Where would that have taken you, maybe 3:30 seconds? That's not bad. So I would either cut the intro and do that, or leave the fade completely off and just let it end on a nice I chord.

Anyway, really enjoyed this little groove. Nice work! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

BrandonTurner responds:

I'll definitely look into gated reverb! Getting the snare to sit right with the delay was a pain and definitely could have been better.

Thanks for the critique, I'll keep all this in mind during future projects! I appreciate it!

[Ji4H3 - Lightning Strike (Original Mix)]

Surprised me with your track coming in after that pickup.

Some mixing critique real quick. That bass needs to come up in the mix a little. The kick and lead are very loud in the first section in regard to it.

I also don't particularly like the synth bass up to 1:18. It sounds either sharp or flat, somewhere in between.

Your structuring is good. I find myself wanting more hi-hats throughout but that might be a preference for music outside of this genre talking.

The synth bass I don't like is handled a little better by 2:32 but I still feel it's a bit loud and not meshing very well with the synth instrumentation. Maybe a ramp would work better?

Nice transition into 3:10.

I just find something is off in the last section of our drop. The snare isn't sticking out too well -- you may try gated reverb on it -- look up the concept. The backing harmonies are sitting low in the mix. There is some clipping at 4:15, watch for that.

The synth bass naked at 4:25 I would have low passed at least so it doesn't sound so flat. Try some different fx on it also. Bass players know what a dry bass sounds like.

Other than that, not bad at all. Enjoyed the listen. The presentation is good, the melody is nice and upbeat. Track holds together. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[AlgoRhythm]

Not bad! Writing wise this is pleasant to listen to. Predictable enough to be groovy, but not enough to be annoying.

My complaints would come in the production area. I can't really hear your percussion over the other instruments. Just turn them down some. Maybe look up gated reverb as a technique for your snare to make it stand out more.

The leads are very loud. I would take them down at least 2 dB.

I would also cut the reverb wet send down by about half what it is and shorten the length or room size/feedback. Depends what settings you have. Too much and it gets very muddy. You can cut your 250 hz and below on the leads and reverbs to save space in the mix for your bass.

But overall I enjoyed the listen. Nice work!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Wait for my Brain]

Wicked tremelo effect. Writing wise, this isn't bad.

I'd like that gated chord synth down about 3 dB, your lead down 2 dB. I can barely hear the percussion over it.

The solo repeating at 2:30 isn't really my cup of tea. I might actually rewrite it so that it doesn't resolve downward but up. Maybe study some leadwriting by ear. It sounds like that is how you write.

Not a whole lot of critique other than that. You might study some producers from the genre you want to emulate and see how they construct their melodies, harmonies, and sound. Always have a reference track with levels close to the ones you want. Solo that track every so often as your mixing and compare the volume levels of all the different instruments to what you hear in your mix. It really helps get the kind of sound you want to achieve.

Anyway, nice work. Hope to see more from you soon! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Take the Day]

Not bad. My only real gripes with the piece are a lot of repetition with not much build-up, and the variation in individual hits of the sticked instruments could be a lot more obvious. I really would have appreciated were this not a loop and you had gone into a full out chorus with this theme. It's not a bad piece of writing at all. Makes me interested in LABs actually.

Beyond that, I feel the frequencies of each individual instrument could be cleaned up with an EQ or multiband compressor. Especially with naked sections, its common to get a boxy 250 hz and below sound from all the other instruments that gets in the way of your double basses. And those themselves can get gnarly hums in 30 hz and below... we all know they don't play in that range ofc.

Do not be afraid to layer other string libraries or instruments also. I know there are plenty for Kontakt such as wonderharp, egyptian ney (a wonderful flute), Pocket blakus cello, mini Naal, egyptian darabuka, clingfilm frame drums, and many more. You can also use a trick of pitching down an instrument with the kontakt pitch wheel, and transposing a second instance of kontakt with it -- or moving the samples on the keyboard. Go nuts.

And don't forget, raked cymbals are your friend!

Great hearing from you. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Heart of the Game]

Finely crafted. Absolutely nothing bad to say about your writing. Just some mix critique. I would take the reverb down quite a bit and shorten the length of the tail; if you want that snappy slapback for your snare, I would recommend looking up gated reverb for snares. It gives a nice gritty, very sonic-esque snare sound.

I would take your lead sounds down about a dB and cut the 250 and below hz range in the EQ (or with a multiband compressor) on all but the bass and percussion. These frequencies get in the way of your bass, and especially with VG bass that is very soft like this one, that can be a problem.

Beyond that, great sound. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Nonet]

Not gonna lie, I was tripping out when only the left channel came in at first, but I'm liking the induced chaos. I think the initial orchestral sections could have done without as many repetitions. I'd give it two. The bassoon part I could do without there, or perhaps just shorten the section, as it doesn't seem to develop a whole lot from there.

The decrescendos feel forced just because of how the instruments are soundfonts and don't really want to respond to velocity.

The piano clips when we hit those dissonant bang chords. But 3 minutes in had some nice ones. I expected more development at 3:36. I really feel the strings are too loud for the chaotic dissonant -- what sounds like melody. Ah, by 4:01 we hear they are bassoons.

Chunk chord at 4:11 is pleasing to my ears. Would be nicer without clipping in the piano, still.

I really feel a lot of these real instruments, you could get away with replacing longer sustains with some retro 80's synths, at least until you are able to get more realistic instruments.

By 5:51 I'm liking the development, particularly 5:57. The dissonant chords are pushing and pulling against one another pleasantly.

The piece boy 6:44 feels like an unpleasant bout of stepping through tar and trying not to leave a trail for someone to follow me, then having an anxiety attack about trying to get all of it off, but it never comes off. The chunking piano has now become pleasant and rhythmic. Like percussion. I was not aware piano could even be used as a percussion instrument.

I would split the chords at 8:06 between low and high some more, panning wise, bringing perhaps bass notes to center. It feels very unbalanced without. Or some string tension.

How did you make your chord decisions from 8:20? It sounds like planned chaos. I'm not sure what is happening, but it is stressful. Here there is plentiful clipping throughout. I appreciate so much that you did not apply a lot if any reverb. It would have been unpleasantly muddy.

My ear is starting to hurt at 9:40. I'm not sure why. This is again back to pleasant dissonance.

I would have appreciated a smoother... or more disjunct transition into our outro strings.

10:48 texture wise is how I would like to hear most sounds in this piece. Once all the strings are in. That slippery string feeling of something about to go horribly wrong.

I wish avant-garde were a genre.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Ice Sheets]

This is a very simple, natural piece. Not a lot I can really say other than I appreciate how subtle it is. My only complaint is the abrupt outro. I can hear what sounds like a clip at 2:18, and it just doesn't sound natural to not let those notes ring out. Other than that, great work. It takes a lot to do so much with so little instrumentation. Keep it up!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!