ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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 :)

[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!