ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Power Company]

Interesting soundscape going on here. The super high 15-20khz here is killing me though on those arpeggiating instruments. Watch for that.

Definitely a lot of interesting textures. Gorgeous chords at the 50 sec or so mark. I'd have liked that to continue briefly. But I'm definitely not complaining.

As for speech, it definitely sounds quite human, but I don't know what the hell is going on. If it's not "I'll be back" I am severely disappointed! T_T

Probably the weakest aspect of this piece, if any, is structure. It more ends sounding a noise scape, I mean, no obvious verse, chorus, etc, to keep my reptile brain processing this strange input as super srs music stuff. Drums also had a hard time peeking through the mix. I would turn down a lot of your synths before applying compression so they come to the forefront.

But I enjoyed nonetheless. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Warm Waves]

That third chord you've got, I have mixed feelings about. It resolves nicely into chord 4. I'm not sure about resolving INTO it though. We have 1, 2, 3??, and 4. Repetition legitimizes though. It's becoming more normal as I go on. Actually, it sounds a lot better in the piano. I think I might just be reacting to the instrument choice.

There are a lot of interesting choices going on here musically, some of which I feel are hampered by obviously synthesized real instruments. Uncanny valley.

Now, I really like the subtlety of 2:04 or so.

I'm not completely in love with the chord progression so I'm not really able to get as much into the big groove sections as I'd like, but I will say your lead writing is wonderful.

Any other complaints I have would be reserved for a lot of muddy reverb covering up your drums. I would pare down your reverb wet signals in both volume and tail length/feedback/size. I feel for a 4 to the 4 dance banger, we're lacking a three quarter note, rest, three quarter note, rest bassline slam for your drops. That could give this piece the edge it needs. Without that I feel like the drums might actually be clashing a bit with where the track naturally wants to go with the instrumentation. I.e. drums might be too busy, or bassline might be. I can't decide.

I would take down your accompaniment on the big sections -- the chords, down a dB or two. They're quite loud in comparison to those piano runs you have in the background. That's also distracting me somewhat and covering up the drums.

Beyond that, great work, a nice bold, swagging piece. I enjoyed the listen. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Cubiks - Neovitalism]

Very nice, interesting chords in your intro. Sounds like everything is super chorused though so there's this really spread out sound, in a thin way.

Now, I really like the bass notes you've chosen. I would take it down about .4 dB

Really interesting rhythms on your percussion. Reverb or something is making them sound really muddy though. I would say everything but your hihats could stand to have more crisp high end from 8khz up to about 18khz.

This is super trippy but repetition legitimizes.

The only chord I don't particularly like is 2:32. Change a note or two around in there subtly and I think it'll do what you want.

Overall I really enjoyed it. Interesting choices, a fairly pleasing sound design. I would recommend cutting a lot of those reverb sends or choruses down to size some. Your synths already have a very spaced out vibe. Chords are naturally already there. Bassline is the cheese to the cake if you feel me. It's like house meets dnb.

I would like to hear a bit more of your drums. You can try multiband compressors or compressors in general on each individual instrument lane. There are also transient shapers which you can look into, some of which I'm sure are even free.

Anyway great work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

CubiksPlus responds:

Woah, Thanks for your feedback :D

[Woe]

Appreciating the unusual (for DnB) rhythms.

Just some mixing critique for up to 0:47 -- hihats could probably stand to come down some. I want a little more 8k hz on your snare. Maybe do some gated reverb on the snare to make it gritty. I sense a love of industrial drums in your sample use and mixing. If you want that nasty super reverbed sound without the muddy tail, try gated reverb, and any normal reverb you have I would take the wet signal down and turn the low cut up to about 280 hz. Those sounds get in the way of a strong kick and especially bass.

I actually am having a hard time hearing your bass throughout the song, so it comes out mostly drums and lead to my ears. Are you mixing with effects on the master channel? Try mixing your track with your computer volume down as you go. You will find you make better mixing decisions -- and make sure master FX are off first. This will go a long way toward helping you with that punchy, clean, aggressive DnB sound.

To get frequencies out of the way for your bass, I would recommend cutting everything below 250 hz on all your leads and other synths, as well as reverb sends liberally. You can also lightly sidechain your kick and bass so that they work in tandem to get that nice gritty punch.

Great work on your track. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Suns3t]

Nice, functional intro. I would say by the first half-repetition of chorus, we should get a bassline going, something like a D, B, F#. Not having that bassline makes me feel like I'm not really going anywhere, despite the rest of the song otherwise being quite well written, if minimal.

That said, take this song, experiment with just adding some quarter note basses, and you will have a great synthwave feel. That DMaj chord just sounds juicy with some bass.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

c0mc1ol responds:

I definitely agree that the song is way better with a bassline and yes, I was going for a minimal type song because I didn't really have much experience in fl studio but I am trying to get better. Thanks for sending some feedback and criticism though!

[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!