ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[DOF - Waiting For Frad Chicken]

I'm not sure what's going on, but this is pretty insane. I can't understand the vocals at all with the distortion on the guitars, and the mix is pretty cluttered, but I managed to enjoy it. Would give a solid 4 to a clearer mix. As is, it's nice rhythmic noise.

[Viet Cong - Satan Hates You]

This trash rock thing is pretty cool. I sincerely hope you aren't worshiping Satan though. It's bad enough people say "God hates fags." Now Satan hates fags too? Tough break, gays.

Doesn't sound half bad.

[Bounce For Love!!!!!!!]

Interesting idea, but the execution... I'm also not sure this is techno but I know genres have been totally inept for a long time. I also understand you were high. It does get better as it loops. You may be onto something, but rn I'm not feeling it.

[Powerless]

Overall I like the idea, as well as the olskool vibe I've always gotten from your pieces, but I have to say, the reverb is killing the clarity of this mix. Drop that wet signal, cut the low end, and...

Definitely lose the fade out with the clipped ending, unless this is intended to loop. That's a full half star for me because I know personally I only do this as a lazy way to end unfinished work. If you respond back it's a loop, I can probably have this review deleted and write up another one.

But yeah, that verb on your opening synth is insane and tin-can-y, on top of an already tin-can metallic synth. The low end on it is hanging around throughout, cluttering the mix. I would also recommend side-chaining your bass to that kick so your sub there doesn't have to push through a wall of low end, resulting in an unpleasant kind of throb rather than a strong pulse. If you're already doing this, increase the amount of side-chain and possibly decrease the kick volume. This sounded really out of balance to me throughout.

Otherwise, cute little tune. Enjoyed it. :)

[Lion King]

I'm not even sure what's happening. I was digging that intro though.

[Viet Cong - Vaseline Sand]

This is so bad, it's good.

[Fore]

That piano in the beginning just doesn't sound good to me -- could be better served by even square waves.

I can definitely hear the race against the clock here. Mix has suffered a bit because of it. I think I hear distortion here and there -- probably overdrive, since it looks like this has been brick wall limited.

That said, that bass is fat, your pads sweet, and your leads syrupy.

Still, I am hearing what sounds like copy-pasting going on. Can't give extra points. Style switch-up may have me holding my tongue here.

By 2:26, yeah, I'm definitely hearing what sounds like overdrive. Try to leave more headroom before you apply any master FX.

Overall, track sounds very rushed, which is of course natural for these types of competitions, but the style switchups do redeem the piece overall. Pretty sick chord progression, and rock solid bassline. Enjoyed it a lot!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Sea of Love Tears 「恋水の海」]

That opening chord tho. Also, synths sound great there.

I could do without a lot of the reverb here -- cut low end, reduce wet signal, etc.

I'm impressed you managed to emulate the koto relatively convincingly. With a bit more humanization, modulation, and a less rigid gridded attack on each note, you might have me fooled. As is, it sounds like a pretty cool soundfont. You should definitely release a little preset file for us broke kiddos who can't afford giant sample libraries, heheh.

Compositionally, this is beautiful VGM/anime-grade music. Modulations in all the right places. Traditional flourishes. Dynamic contrast. It's great. The only real complaint I have is the slight lack of contrast between sections.

Otherwise, right up my alley, but I can definitely hear the time constraint in this piece. I was hoping for a solid B section in here. Still, gorgeous piece nonetheless.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Tennon responds:

Thanks for the review, will consider those in my VIP track

[Niko - Out Of Control]

Interesting opening lead. Not really my cup of tea, but the progression maintains my attention.

Lead is a bit too loud over your bass throughout.

1:16 break is ironically more intense than your drop. Take down those vocal samples and your lead, and bring up the bass/wobbles. Otherwise, steady flow on your drop.

2:20 section feels almost copy pasted. I could have gone without it entirely and gone straight into 2:31. In fact, I probably could have taken if you hacked this B drop into the second half of your A drop. This song is really long for the repetition of elements it has; you've also got a nice C drop that I prefer over both A and B, and your outro finishes strong.

Overall, not much else to say. I did enjoy the piece, but the length wore on me a bit. Fix all of the above and I'd drop a solid 9/10, if not more. Riff is so catchy.

Thanks again for coming out to NGUAC!

[Miston Music - Bombs All Over The Place]

Right off the bat, cool acid vibe, but that super loud reverb is doing you no favors. I almost always recommend against reverbing kicks; even when you cut the low end on the wet, damp it good, and lower the wet signal, you always get this low rumbly tin can hangover. It just doesn't sound good.

Super cool that you've gone out of the box and made your own sounds in Harmor rather than relying on samples. I just can't really make out a lot of what's going on with that reverb. If I'm not crazy, either, I hear some distorting in the right channel around 2:12.

Six minutes is also a lot of time to develop a piece. I'm unsure if this is intended to sound like a really long house set in which the DJ deliberately avoids touching anything for most of the goings on, but that's kind of what I'm hearing in between a lot of the same elements being repeated, no real deviation from the same home key, etc.

In short, I'm not really sure what you're trying to do, the super loud kick and reverb is covering up a lot of the good things you are doing, and though I actually like a lot of aspects of your sound design, it takes so long to develop, I can't enjoy it. By 4:33 I'm actually starting to get a bit of a headache from the heavy low mids.

I also feel like the melodic development there could have easily been cropped once you realized its potential, and the track condensed into the standard verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, etc structure.

I wish I had nicer things to say about this piece other than enjoying 4:33 to the outro. This piece did eventually get my toe tapping, but mix issues made it very hard to enjoy properly. Recommend taking a bit of time to study mixing, FX, best practices, etc. for your DAW. You've clearly got an idea of what you're doing -- otherwise, you wouldn't be bold enough to design your own perc -- just need that extra nudge in the right direction. :)

Also, congrats on making it this far in the competition!

Miston responds:

Thanks for the feedback.