ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[NGRMC 2018 - King Krab]

Digging the use of vocal chops throughout, though I feel they might be a bit overused in your buildups, so that the chorus is missing a bit of that wow factor.

Some things I'd adjust with the mix -- vocal chops, down about .5 dB, background melody, up 1-2 dB, guitar solo, up .5 dB with some sort of fx, maybe a flanger. With the remix melody down so far, it feels like you're almost trying to hide it because it might not match up so well with your arrangement. That's probably not your actual purpose but this is what people will do in live ensembles when they're not sure what they're doing, au naturale.

It's also super short. I'd have probably liked a cliche fadeout chorus instead of a stinger there. Would be more DJ friendly too.

[Energical morning (NGRMC-2018) [Remastered]]

Is that a glockenspiel?

Most of my compositional comments could be summed up with Troisnyx's review. I'm going to reserve most of this space to technical comments, and since you're working with synth guitars I may as well drop some tips related to metal making.

1.) You'll want one rhythm guitar panned 100% right, another one panned 100% left, playing the same rhythm backing; to avoid phasing, one or both tracks are humanized in both attack/release milliseconds and velocity. Otherwise you end up with one centered guitar, like we see here, and that doesn't really convey the shreddage inside our brains, begging to get out into the real world.

Normally, guitarists just play through the song/licks twice and pan the recordings separately, but since we're working with synths, we don't have that luxury. There are some free electric guitar libraries out there like Junk Guitar, Ample Sounds AGML (acoustic), etc. You definitely want these. They will beat FL Slayer into the dirt. You will want to also find Emissary Amp and NadIR Cab. They are both free. Impulses for NadIR cab can also be found free. I was recommended these by Chernobyl studios on YT and have never looked back.

2.) Your drums should be the loudest part of your mix, and they need to stand out. Good writing like you've laid down here is not enough to accomplish that. It's all about what you're working with and how you treat it.

There are tons of free drum kits out there, not to mention samples; you could even forgo true drum kits all together and make like Blue Stahli with electronic drums, as I see you doing here to some degree.

Make sure to pan your drums. 0% panned drums sound boring. If you need inspiration, imagine yourself at a drum kit and think about where the actual pieces of kit would be in relation to your body. This is how I pan my drums. Also, don't be afraid to apply FX like gated reverb to your snares, or panned delay/chorus to your cymbals.

I recommend processing most of your drums on separate send channels btw or this can get really muddy.

And don't forget, our brains are not focusing on the drums when we're listening to songs. To get that big punchy sound, they need to be LOUD. Or to put it better, everything else needs to be quieter. We only have so much mix space to work with. In that regard, you can make really crappy drums sound powerful, if you treat them right. I definitely recommend a kit swap though. FL drums aren't known for playing nice with velocity.

I'm pretty sure I came across a free metal kit called Perfect Drums that had a good kick/snare set-up. You could probably cop (also free) Cymbalistic, which I used to use back in the day, especially for hi-hat grooves. Then there are lots of free samples lying around. I've been experimenting with (free) Saudade Kit for a while just loading up all the samples into Acoustica Mixcraft's Omni Sampler. It's not optimal, but it's a fun experiment.

My go to drum kit is non-free. The Metal Factory Drums, mostly for toms and cymbals, which, as I mentioned, are not very hard to come by. There are pleeeenty of kits to choose from, and I definitely recommend you checking out Chernobyl Studios since you do synth metal.

3. Modulation is important. I don't really think there's a huge deal here with this tune since it sounds super videogamey, largely because of the synth instruments. If you really want to make your leads sing though, definitely work some vibrato in there. Whether that means heavy whammy-esque pitch modulation or what. I really felt like that was what your leads were missing here.

But before I wax too lyrical, let me just stop and say I did enjoy the tune. There's just only so far FL slayer and other stock instruments can carry you. Beyond new electronic doodads to play with, I think you could definitely benefit from some basic study of mixing, mastering, and music theory. You've shown a strong sense of rhythm and an adventurous approach to composing here. Study your craft, and I have no doubt you'll come back even stronger.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

[[Xepho] NGRMC 2018 Submission [Edit]]

Pretty standard house/disco drums again. I think my comments for your bass and percussion can be passed over in favor of the previous review. I do notice the mix and overall feng shui of your lead seems much better. Panning still seems pretty centered, and I think I hear a bit of clipping every so often.

Build up at 1:20-ish seems a bit too long for my tastes but it is definitely ratcheting the tension up. I was expecting a little more from that final chorus once we hit the thrust; feels kind of anticlimactic. No crash at the top of the rollercoaster, no insane dive or ludicrous speed. Feel me?

So, traded one small shortcoming for another. Overall, still probably the smokinest lead I've heard over the course of the competition. Smooth and all business. I dig it.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

[Think Fast (NGRMC Remix)]

Right off the bat, I'm seeing brick-wall, sausage-casing mixing -- leave more headroom before mastering.

Drop is freaking fire. Had to stop what I was writing (I did this review on paper in a coffee shop) to comment.

Really interesting take on the tune; just too over-compressed for me to enjoy properly. Drums between drops are also a bit too loud, another symptom of heavy compression, and the mix lends itself to almost white-noise levels most of the piece. Despite that, it actually feels shorter than it is, which should speak to you about your phrasing: you're doing something right.

Fix the EQ/Compression issues, and this is a solid 9/10 for me.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

Hippokopter responds:

First of all, it really means a lot to me that you wrote this review by hand in a freaking coffee shop first, just so that you could tell me about what you think of this song! Thanks so much!

About the premaster - most artists actually mix to 0dB just because that's easier to think about. To clarify, by most artists, I mean the ones with millions of fans and thousands of producers imitating their styles: VR, Panda Eyes, etc. Not that I don't get what you're saying, but it's not like I'm sending my songs off to a mastering engineer - heck, I do every song in just one project file! All I'm saying is that headroom is something that this genre doesn't need too much of. :)

As for master EQ, yeah, point taken. I just got a book on mastering, and boy does my mindset for EQ need work. xD

Finally, I really appreciate your comment about phrasing, I've never known what good phrasing is, and so it's nice to know that I'm doing okay on that front.

Again, thanks for leaving such a detailed review! :P

[Joyride to Space (NGRMC Remix)]

Diggin' the intro. Could definitely do with more low cut on that reverb though.

0:45 our chords are starting to sound harmonically condensed and chunky. Careful not to cram too many low frequencies down there or you'll start to get that choked timbre. Intervals between lower notes are way more dissonant than intervals between higher notes. If I'm not crazy, search up lower interval limits and you'll see what I mean.

Sounds like your sub may not be on the root of each chord. This gives an interesting but not necessarily satisfying tonality, as we again have that chunky feeling.

1:36, nice big open section, but your sub isn't enough to hold it up on its own. Prop up that nice, spacy, synthy goodness with a grittier bass on top of that sub, nice and clean. Growls may do nicely.

You've taken an adventurous approach both stylistically and instrumentally, but it really feels like a lot of the same stated in different timbres, definitely enough that 4:48 minutes is a lot of time to kill.

Probably your best section is 2:45. Most balanced, best growth. That said, it does grow on me the longer I listen.

Watch out for clipping. 2:53 I thought I heard some straight up overdrive on that transition. In short, instrumentation was fine but I'd have loved to hear some new material on this. As is, it sounds like a lot of the same for a really long time -- a classic symptom of overly long tracks.

Still, enjoyed the piece. Look forward to seeing you next year!

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

[Burning Synthesizer (NGRMC Remix)]

Interesting chord progression. Considering I've heard the same melody/key for the past few days and haven't heard these 4 chords yet, huge plus.

I can see you're going for a synthwave vibe. One thing I'll get out of the way right now, this track is brick-wall sausage-tube compressed; the longer and louder it goes on, the more it resembles a cacophony of birds. I'd recommend about -6 dB headroom before applying any such compression to the master. This track is almost totally relying on said compression to keep it from peaking over 0 dB and clipping. A quick fix to ensure this never happens is to mix in 32 bit floating point, but you should never really have this problem to begin with.

A track should already be sounding balanced before you touch the master; if it isn't, fool with the individual track levels until it sounds nice and pretty. As is, it's so loud, I can hardly hear individual elements like the snare in the mix. Why? The snare was already not quite set strong in the mix before compression was applied, pushing levels even further out of balance. Definitely recommend some time studying mixing and mastering.

Also, on the subject of 80's vibes, you'll want to check out gated reverb. Gated reverb snares are massive, strong, powerful. I feel this is the sound you wanted on your snare.

Beyond that, the mix, was very tinny and mid heavy. Watch your spectrum so that you aren't peaking so bad in those talk-radio fizzy frequencies. If you naturally have problems in this aspect as I do, first, check that you are not mixing on consumer-grade equipment, most of which has bass or treble boosting "enhancements" that give a false representation of sound.

Secondly, there are mastering help aids like TB Euphonia which can help with frequency management on your masters. Simply create curves from the music you like and TB Euphonia will process your songs with it.

Thirdly, if you use Win 10, make sure you aren't using Bang & Olufsen or Realtek Audio drivers. They used to be the best in the business, but now they horribly compress and EQ output like a cheap Beats knockoff, making it impossible to get a good impression of your mix.

Beyond that, great composition, just some minor gripes.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

[To the Rythm(NGRMC 2018)]

Pardon the brevity of this review; I wrote it out in a notebook in a coffee shop!

Bell synth is super sibilant in that 18-22k range. Watch that in your EQ.

Absolutely did not expect the olskool dance hall/club touches throughout this piece. Huge and very pleasant surprise. Particularly loved the sample you chose. Nice, punchy, and makes me wanna dance. You've also sliced it well.

Your verse sections by contrast are a bit empty/tinny with that lead synth. Although the writing is fantastic, the mixing -- needs more bass, less volume on the sample, and could probably benefit from side-chain.

Overall, enjoyed the piece. Better, more balanced mix, and I'd give a solid 4. As is, it still stands on its own pretty well, just needs a bit more cohesion; look at the waveform. See how the choruses are huge and the build peaks don't even touch that for the majority of the piece? That's what I'm talking about. The structure of a song is always obvious, but your verses need to stand out in their own right.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

[NiTi - I.N.F.1.N.I.T.Y (NGRMC Remix)]

Nice long chord progression -- I respect you haven't taken the easy way out with this piece and just slapped on some 4 chord sauce, especially with the atonal portions to follow.

0:28-0:59, this lead section is a bit long for my tastes, and said lead is both screaming loud and lacks a lot of modulation to give it that breath of life.

Overall, lot of atonal elements, and it often uses samples which have become so cliche, I've deleted them from my library -- like that lex luger riser. There just doesn't seem to be any case where it sounds good anymore. Making your own risers is going to impress a whole lot more tbh. Though, these sounds are memetic; people like them because they're safe, so I don't blame you for popping 'em out every so often.

The only thing I really feel this piece is lacking is some sub to give your drops much needed oomph, and perhaps harder mastering compression. If there is a sub on your drops, while I was first listening, I couldn't tell it apart from some mild background noise in the coffee shop I was in at the time of writing this review. I tried turning it up some more to hear but the snare was uncomfortably loud in comparison to the rest of the track, so I turned it back down.

One thing I do like is hanging out on that major I chord. Gives an otherwise roaming piece a sense of home.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

TodukenMusic responds:

Tbanks for your review <3

But, i didn't used a Lex Luger riser, i used a riser from Vengeance Dubstep Sample Pack Vol.1

And yes, I need to make my own risers for more originallity hehe

[Make it Hard (NGRMC Remix)]

Forgive the relative brevity/incoherence of this review; I did it on paper in a coffee shop slash book store, and now I'm rewriting/adding to it, lol.

Starting out, kick drum is too loud during your intro; perc in general is much too loud until the chorus. This sounds to me like your vocals haven't been properly compressed, along with your guitars.

Listening on speakers, they sound less thin than they had on my monitor headphones, but watch those high notes; I can feel you really reaching at points, sometimes overshooting or going flat. May check out some voice training by Ken Tamplin. Every issue you're having, intonation, overall volume, pitchy head voice/falsetto, his singing course addresses (and most of it can be found on YT, albeit more sparsely than in the DVD/online materials).

I can't tell if you're sitting or standing, but if you're sitting, definitely recommend standing to sing. It will make a huge difference in your air stream. Another few tips from the series -- you know how you laugh? From your belly, right? Breathe from there. Let your diaphragm, not your chest, drive your singing. Practice good posture, good tongue posture -- open up like the doc has you in his office with a tongue suppressor, so your singing resonates off of your palate -- if you're doing it right, it should make you feel like yawning -- and if you practice with scales, and I recommend you do, the staccato HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH method is the way to go.

This alone improved my singing in a single session, enough I feel the need to re-do every piece I've ever sung on tbh. You've got a good voice hiding under there. I can hear it peeking out. May be something to look into.

Now, writing here is pretty good; good chord progression, steady pacing, good variation of texture. Never too soft, never too hard. Guitars overall could stand to come up in the mix except for the naked section before 3:00.

Final chorus ends abruptly, bringing all the instrumentation back. I would have slowly pared it down to another naked vocal/guitar section. Bringing everything back is a signal, "We're going to have one last, long chorus," and then poof.

I will say the vocals, both written and delivered, sound very non-native to my ear -- BUT your chorus itself is viral. It's the verses that need more of a natural touch. As I was writing this review out, long after the song ended, it still hung in my head.

Overall, some minor gelling issues between synths and guitars, but otherwise I dig it.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

TheMoebiusProject responds:

Thanks! Very helpful! This was done in only a day so yeah it is pretty rough. You are right about the vocals, Could have been better had I given it a little more detail and practice jaja I practically made it and recorded it as I went. Anyways, thanks for the review. Gonna make some adjustments and make it a full on song. Wish it does go viral :P.

[[Xepho] NGRMC 2018 Submission]

Forgive the brevity; I did this on paper. If I'm correct, this is the first iteration of your submission -- great, will make a good baseline for evaluating the next piece.

Opening house beat had me primed for some super chill disco, and that looks like what we've got here. One of my favorite genres. Synth lead feels like a modern EDM fusion. Chord progression satisfies -- one of those infinite loop progressions. Smooth as glass. Extra half star.

Obvious synth bass is obvious. I'd have liked some more modulations with that and sharper articulations. Slap bass is super punchy. Synth bass has the proclivity for just laying there in a mix if you don't really watch it.

You may appreciate the free bass synth ABPL from Ample Sounds. Massaged the right way, it does funk and other non-low-tuning genres flawlessly. If you decide to check it out, do also pick up AGML; I haven't used it in a long time, but if I remember correctly, it's a nice Taylor Acoustic.

Now, your arrangement does feel a bit empty with just bass, lead, and drums -- what feels like a drum loop at that. Pretty cool that you whipped it up in a few hours though; efficiency is a thing to be prized in the music business.