ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[|-I Dont Want You Back-|]

I'm not really feeling this. Kinda empty, and that sounds like Nexus keys.

Your leads are pretty simple. Doesn't sound like you've messed a lot with velocity. Remember to do that when you have 2 or more of the same notes in a row especially.

I'd also recommend some basic study of music theory like chords and scales. Your chord progression here could have been a lot stronger if the voicing wasn't so chunky in those lows and mids. Chord inversions will also allow you to spice things up without transposing the same chord up and down. That's what it sounds like you've been doing here from your octave lead to your powerchord background.

I also recommend not using the same instrument for your lead and chord changes throughout the song. Piano lead? Why not a pad playing your chords instead? Keeps the ear fresh.

Good transitions though. I'm only listening on my phone so I can't comment on mix. If you like I'll revisit later and modify my score accordingly.

Keep going. You've got some solid ideas here. Slow and pensive. I dig it.

[Aura (NGRMC 2018)]

Nice slow intro, filter sweeps, etc. Beautiful fill bringing us in, totally unexpected! I had to hear it again.

Now, your "snare" sounds like a clap. Needs some bottom head sound. You can try blending a snare sample, etc., but as is, super thin.

I can also really hear that stereo expander effect. I would advise against using it on an entire track, at least to this wideness. It can start to sound like a cheaply applied verb. I notice it expecially on your chorus. Sounds washed out, like standing a football field away from the main melody, crammed into a gymnasium on PA speakers.

That said, I don't have the same criticisms of your phrasing. I found the change warranted -- I would have gotten bored after hearing the same melody for like, a week tbh -- and you've done some magical things with it.

Great work! Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

ClockbeatAdelony87 responds:

Thanks a lot! <3

[Spatial Anomaly Detected (NGRMC 2018)]

Nice warbling synth play; something we tend to see less of in the synthwave genre today that I wish would return.

My singular complaint by 0:39, bass is just a hair too loud -- or the percussion is not cutting through enough. Try a gated reverb on your snare/other pieces.

I do really like that drone. Never too overt, always quietly doing its job without complaint.

Phrasing at 2:14 is a bit off. The straight toms and later fills don't really go well with the synthwave feel you've got going on. I would have spaced those throughout the track as variations at the end of an 8 bar or 16 bar phrase.

Nice chord at 3:05 with filter modulation. Totally unexpected and would have loved to hear more of, earlier, but did its job.

Smooth piece, man. Diggin it. Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

[Zophar's Domain (NGRMC Remix)]

Very nice video game. Initially I was thrown off by the entrance of the bass at 0:11. I'm disappointed to find we keep hanging out on that note as it's really dissonant most of the time. Even just moving it between 0:11 and 0:13 would have been better.

It does sound like an old SNES game, which I appreciate. I don't have any real useful critique that you couldn't have guessed on your own. I'd like to hear this piece expanded and developed a bit more. As is, it feels like we're repeating the same idea over and sort of just hanging out there. It's also really short, which I understand to be part of a busy schedule -- I barely had any time for music when I was in college, and I didn't go to an ivy league school if you catch my drift.

Still, definitely revisit this later.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

GFThePlayer responds:

Thank you for your critique, and yeah, this isn't my best work admittedly, as I could've put much more effort into the making.
Thanks again!

[Hors la loi (NGRMC)]

Man, I'm just as anti-government (hello, has anyone noticed how we've gone from 0 to socialist tyranny in... less than a century?) as anyone else, and I have to say I do not appreciate the lottery crap at all.

I also recognize that these governments, for some reason, are more interested in copping economic migrants who will vote socialist (for free stuff they can't get at home -- bankrupting the government and destroying the culture, shooting themselves in the foot), than giving asylum to honest people such as yourself who actually WANT the freedoms and judeo-christian values that have quite literally given birth to the western nations as we know them (and thus might not vote socialist when they realize, oh crap, socialism leads to communism, and communism persecutes everyone equally for the benefit of the government).

We also have a lottery in the US, and it's equally stupid. If anything, people should not be judged from the country they're coming from; there's probably a reason they want out, just like there's a reason I'd rather stay here in the US! Their individual qualifications, aspirations, principles, and intent to assimilate into the culture they're moving into should be the only considerations we take into account -- something Europe is totally failing at right now, btw. Basically, the main reason there is so much suffering and animosity toward otherwise innocent immigrants fleeing persecution such as yourself -- people who DON'T mean well and actively seek the destruction of the host culture over their own assimilation are ruining it for everyone involved, and the government is complicit.

In that sense, I totally identify with your lyrical presentation, albeit entirely in the third person. The solution is not to abolish law entirely but to change it and make it truly equitable -- equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. The govt unfortunately right now is socialist, so the latter looks pretty.

I will say, this is lyrically the song I've felt you were the most in your own skin about. This is who you are. This is what you perceive, your voice. I haven't even begun to listen just yet. I think I will now. I've been typing out this paragraph hoping it will load, hehe.

-----

Structurally, this may be one of your strongest pieces yet. Sections are clearly outlined, constant sense of progression. Your sense of melody and phrasing, lots of soaring lead work, clear themes, chord progression belying struggle, angst, with a faint glimmer of hope.

FX wise, I would probably dial back the reverb considerably or try gated reverb, since you seem to be a fan of that huge, spacy sound. I would probably also apply some crunchy distortion to those ... are they 16th notes? 4:46 is a good snapshot reference. I can't help but hear a snappy palm muted guitar.

I'm also hearing a bit of À cause de l'ombre -- slowed down a bit and pitched down ofc, on your choruses. You might try mashing the two together in the future. ;)

Now, your verses I have a bit of a hard time picking out diction somewhat. It could be FX -- I'm not sure if you've pitched them up. They may also sound better split even between L and R. Rappers do this a lot with a center track.

Vocals wise, sounds like you're singing out a lot more, more comfortable in your skin -- or larynx. I also appreciate the slightly lo-fi bit at 4:00. Big technical improvement there. I'd still like to hear a little more resonating back against your soft palate. It sounds like you may have a little bit of obstruction back there. Recently I've been taking some lessons from Ken Tamplin. I've noticed just a couple things, tongue-depression (although it almost always makes me yawn), standing up straight, wide open vowels, and diaphragmatic breathing usually helps me get that good resonance and avoid that flat, no-vibrato talk singing I'm really wont to do.

Drum wise, I like those little bounces and bobbles on the snare. That's my favorite thing. You've structured your clicking very naturally here. I think the only thing I don't like is the panning and the hi-hat sample itself. I would love to hear the snare more centered, perhaps some saturation on it or gated reverb, and the hat swapped out for a lower, grittier hss-tss than the teeh-teeh sound the one I'm hearing has. You might try something like Cymbalistic out for a test run. It's got a pretty nice range, plus bell sounds.

I'm noticing your composition improving by leaps and bounds lately, not to mention more consistent. Diggin' it.

My remaining critiques are probably just the compression of vocal lines in general. I think that may be contributing to a little bit of the verse unintelligibility, particularly on "Fuck you." You could even try a bit of saturation on your choruses.

Anyway, overall, I was most impressed with your pacing. Great freaking work!

Oh, and I almost forgot, thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

Troisnyx responds:

The irony in Britain at least is that the government doing this IS conservative, and it got worse during Theresa May's time as Home Secretary and as premier. Both left and right have been responsible for the ill-treatment of *even those who want to assimilate in Britain* -- but it worsened over the last seven years in particular, and I could certainly feel inwardly the shift in people's sentiments as this happened. I told one of my rampant Tory friends that if conservatism is about individual liberties, I certainly do not see it *at all*, certainly not here. Personally: I lean liberal, I wouldn't call myself a socialist. My ideal is centre -- seeing good in left and right and learning lessons from them, providing for the good of all as a civic or even state duty, but endeavouring to guarantee those individual freedoms that are so often trampled upon. Guaranteeing the right to life, the understanding of each person's mind, the spending on public services that has been so badly cut to the bone, and I feel that's only scratching the surface. Somehow I don't know if there is a middle ground, something that is based on common sense and understanding and compassion and heartfelt civic duty, but I want to believe it's there.

But there are the lotteries you mention, but also fractures in the way people think -- that it's practically frowned upon everywhere to lean centre. I feel like in a lot of political matters, I (and perhaps others) have to trade 50% of my soul for a vote either way -- bearing in mind where Britain's history has led her, and the divisions that still haven't healed. And that has immense, bad ramifications for human welfare as a whole. Coming from someone who has read law and understands how the law needs to correct itself with twists and turns, I'm still yet to see the kind of twist and turn that will restore dignity and compassion to people *regardless of*.

With regards to the song -- I'm glad you enjoyed it. Your critique is thorough; I wouldn't have it any other way. 4:46~ Yeah, they're 16th notes. 4:47 is 16th note triplets. I'd appreciate any help you can lend with making guitars sound crunchier, more distorted when the song calls for it -- I'd tried lots of things but couldn't get the mix right hhhh ;;

I haven't pitched up the verses AFAIK -- I think all that was EQ, but it may have been a bit nasal. I took some advice that MetalRenard had given me in the past about turning down the 900-1000Hz range and I did that, but it sounded tinny to my ears. Also someone gave me a tip of tripling that track so you have a strong centre track, but softer L and R of the same thing. Now, I realise I don't need to do this -- iZotope has released a vocal doubler for free; I found this out today -- so I might want to see if I can't put that to good use and achieve a more solid kind of panning.

I'll certainly check out Ken Tamplin; there is a place for vibrato-less singing and vibrato-rich singing, and I think this isn't necessarily the place for cantor-like singing. Agreed on the drums -- I wonder if I EQed them too high and cut out the crashing mids that cymbals ordinarily have.

Huge props and thanks for your review. Lots of love to you as always -- we ought to catch up after this is over!

[Neverend [Lo7] (NGRMC remix)]

Hmm, think those are minor-major-7 chords. Interesting way you've twisted the melody. Spooky -- I think it's pretty satisfying.

I'm not sure what's going on with the really loud distorted bass, but I was expecting to have a bassline by 1:10. There isn't one. :( That distorted bass would have been perfect!

I'm not sure why the drums are so loud, but I think they work pretty well this way. I would for sure recommend cutting down the reverb on your percussion. If you want that washy sound, try researching gated reverb. The verb as it is now has a long release, non-low-cut bleed that is, well, distracting me from the rest of the song hehe.

It also sounds like you've got a distorted guitar with no cab applied to it. I recommend 2 things -- Emissary amp to replace whatever amp you've got already, and NadIR cab. Both are free and freaking awesome.

3:33 to close is your strongest area of composition. I really like that synth guitar. It sounds like FL Slayer. I still might recommend a replacement -- free ofc -- Junk Guitar.

Compositionally, this song could really benefit from some basic study of song structuring. I feel like we're a little bit all over the place -- although you did wrap up your closer pretty well. Some study of mixing and mastering would also help eliminate the drum balance issues you mentioned, too.

Overall, enjoyed the piece. Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

[NGRMC 2018: Jazz Reharm]

I'm not a fan of the extreme panning but this is a convention of oldies so I'm willing to excuse it for the most part. It literally sounds like I've got my left ear on the bass drum listening to the rest of the track.

I hear what may be phasing between your cymbals occasionally, and I probably would have a lot of trouble trying to play that drum beat. Sounds like I'd need 3 hands from the way you've got your cymbals panned. I can't really tell if you've got 2 rides hitting at the same time and a snare on the same beat -- I'd have to listen a lot closer/slower.

Chord progression and structure-wise, yeah, this is about right for jazz. Could probably use a little stereotypical big brass here and there just so it doesn't feel empty -- and probably a walking bass line on a fretless/cello.

Great arrangement though otherwise. Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

[Contested (Remix)]

Interesting -- no one has straight taken the melody out of the key it was already in. I do like your chord choices. I'm hearing musical things going on despite the cluttered mix and all over the place instrumentation.

For starters that opening chord is really chunky sounding. I recommend Adam Neely's talk on lower interval limits for when you're thinking about chord writing. The lower you go, the more dissonant the intervals between a triad will sound. This is because the difference in Hz is smaller between adjacent lower notes AND we're no longer using Just Temperament, so everything sounds even worse, lol.

I can sense a bit of structure here but it's a little hard to find. You seem to have somewhat of an idea of music theory -- otherwise your chords would have been gobbledegook. I recommend a study of songwriting, specifically structure.

Beyond that, mixing and mastering, but these concerns are secondary to the music making process. Study them, but don't get lost, pretty much.

Still, really adventurous piece. Enjoyed it.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

[X3ll3n - Believe (NGRMC 2018)]

Triplet drums. Nice!

0:06, that wooden-ish sample is a bit distorted. Check your levels.

0:27-0:40 we're having a lot of out of key elements. When you transpose that melody, make sure you also transpose individual notes in the melody back into the key of the song -- which I think is G#/Ab dorian.

I'm noticing a lot of distortion throughout like what I already mentioned. I would first recommend mixing your tracks in 32 bit floating point, and secondly, leave about -6 dB headroom before mastering -- i.e. before you apply the compression and soundgoodizers.

1:49 looks like the track cuts off pretty much immediately. I'm guessing you didn't have time to finish with RL stuff. Nw, I feel you.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

X3LL3N responds:

Thank you for taking some of your time writing a complete review :D
I always have some distortion problems and I don't really know keys and stuff.
Hope I'll be able to learn somehow :)