ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Be Dancin' (Extended Cut)]

That intro is way louder than the rest of your track. I recommend turning it down some.

You've got some interesting textures here. One thing I notice is that that snare is really loud compared to everything else in the track, at least until the kick comes in. I would recommend turning it and the kick down somewhat. Also watch those boxy low mids.

My other critiques could probably be best summed with what Kwing said. As more elements come into the track, volume starts kind of pumping, and because everything sticks relatively to the same progression, I never really feel any anticipation moving from section to section. A lot of this is the relatively flat drums and lack of overarching melody.

There are also long sections without a bassline, and if you study music theory, you will notice the bass colors the feel of chords more than any other instrument. Going without it leaves people feeling confused. I definitely recommend studying some principles of chord progression, lead writing, and song structure. There are a multitude of tutorials I would recommend, such as those by Signals Music Studio, Ben Levin, etc.

As for mixing and mastering, there are a lot of places where this mix just stabs me in the ear, like 4:45. Watch out for that. Recommend some tutorials in that area too.

That said, there is nothing particularly bad about the writing of this piece. It's a bit samey, but if the volume were somewhat normalized, it'd make a decent theme for like, moping around in your room in a Pokemon game, if you get my meaning. It's not exciting, but it's not distractingly awful or annoying. With some hard work and study, I have no doubt you've got it in you to blow this thing out of the water, so keep at it.

Lemme know if you're interested in any free music production resources, too. There's plenty of 'em to go around!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Fyoriosity - Musicboxmaniacs (G4CE'sz Remix)]

This may be one of the more creative things I've seen done with music box music. Like that portamento bass, although I think the kick is just a tad loud. I can see about where the bass is sitting in the mix, and the kick is peaking way over that. It also sounds like we may have a little too much reverb here.

Watch the volume on those sidechained synths. Way louder than your melody.

I feel like this song may have been just a bit too long, by the time we introduce that porty lead, I'm getting a little bored. Also, it's a little bit too loud.

I'm not liking the glitchy bit at 3:05. It sounds like a computer crashing trying to render the track.

Outro is nice and smooth. Would have liked a cut off right around 3:48.

3:54 elements probably could have been brought on earlier. They almost sound like a completely different song. I like that progression though, so Imma tip ya a download.

[Adrenaline]

Interesting opening melody. Sort of as Kwing mentioned sounds like a sound showcase.

There are a lot of interesting textures, but transitions are nowhere to be spoken of, so I end up having absolutely no idea what's going on. That said, a lot of interesting sounds, but no overarching melody, no idea when different elements will appear. Sort of leaves a bad taste in my mouth for that reason.

I will say that your growl bass is mixed somewhat too loudly to be sustained by your drum loop.

At 2:51 there's a lot going on and I can't understand what you're trying to show to us. I'm also unsure if this song is composed entirely of loops?

[Genesis]

Interesting delay texture at 0:13. It does start to hurt around 0:15. Please limit that and turn the signal down on that track there.

Now, you've got some cool little runs going on at 0:22 with those cool SFX textures. I see potential in that sound. I would recommend taking off most of your reverb. It's super muddy at 1:03 where I can hear the attack of the kick twice, once for the kick and twice for the room. Turn down that 'verb and cut the low frequencies in it.

I can't give a great score because this piece is so short, only about 50 seconds of melody, per 20 seconds or so of intro.

I will say melody was kinda buried in that muddy reverb texture and needs to come up in the mix.

I find myself agreeing with Timothy's review. Would be much better if we came into your melody poco a poco, so to speak, because it ends so sharply, there's really no time to appreciate the piece as a whole.

[Jeffbeard - The Other Thing]

This sounds like bug wings against a lightbulb. I'd like it a lot more if it were more consistently mixed. It gets so loud at points that it gives me a bit of a headache. I'm not really sure what is going on other than some rhythms all on the same note with a couple overtones. I can't hear drums for most of the piece, if there are any at all. Just not really my thing. Sorry.

[ElderlyKite - The Excentrism]

Nice intro here -- but I feel that big reverse cymbal needs some reverb and delay not to just... be super dry and anticlimactic.

Your drums are all over the place here. I can't tell where things are going, or why certain things are placed where they are.

Your chord progression is fine, but your piano attacks all sound the same velocity, and when you have those low chords, they're very congested sounding. Recommend some inversions. This has the potential to be very pretty.

0:21 feels like you started to do something and totally changed your mind. Could have probably done without that fast break. 0:39 chorus probably could have been repeated again.

0:52 texture and piano also probably could have done with a repeat before those interesting vocal sounding synths.

Really this piece sounds like a lot of disjointed ideas put together. I would recommend studying song structuring. This composition is pretty hard to follow, even though it has some pretty cool ideas going on. I would have rated a lot higher if I could understand the structure of the track better, where you were going compositionally, etc.

2:02, that lead is really, really loud. I had to turn the song down a bit and resume listening. It has been pretty loud throughout and pumping in and out volume wise. Not sure what's going on there.

Also not sure why the ride cymbal bell at the very end.

0:40 is probably the strongest section of your track. More like that. With less volume on that lead and probably a little less low-mids on your drums. They're a bit boomy. It's kind of like DnB, but I can't hear a bassline. That would probably be another thing to work on.

Definitely recommend checking out some tutorials for the genres you want to produce, specifically song structure, mixing, and mastering. Would love to see you revisit it someday once you've got a little more experience under your belt. 'Til then, keep at it! :)

[Trip to Egypt]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say I could rock with the guitar/synth arp if it didn't sound so dry. Could probably also use some more elements before that drop. As is, the mix kinda feels empty.

I also notice you apply distortion to that synth later. Garage Band string and key instruments are just kinda universally terrible for this kind of music. By 2:07, I'm feeling the feel you probably wanted around 1:11.

Outro was not bad, but would have been way better if it didn't cut off abruptly. Not sure what happened there. I know in my DAW this will occasionally happen if you select a section and hit render. I'm not sure if maybe you wanted this to loop or not.

Regardless, this feels incomplete. I'd have liked to see more done with this minor chord progression rather than just two chords with the root a semitone apart. I can't think straight enough to analyze what exact chord each is but it essentially felt like the same 4 measures repeated, with no real variation. I get that this is house, but if you listen to most house, they will also have more instruments, textures, percussion, and sound effects coming in every 8 to 16 bars to keep things fresh. They also will use longer progressions and add more chord tones as they go on. You were starting to do this at 2:14 and I was hoping for the track to go on in that vein.

I recommend looking at some tutorials for the genres you want to produce, studying how they structure their elements, and try to apply some of their principles to your own work. May also want to check out some basic videos on music theory and voice leading. You're off to a good start, but there's always more to learn. :)

There are also free VSTs like SQ8L, Dexxed, and APBL (ample sound bass plugin) and AGML (I think) that can supplement or replace some of Garage Band's crummier synths and help improve your sound.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC. Best of luck with your music. I look forward to seeing you grow!

DustifiedGD responds:

Well honestly now that you point out this stuff I’m really starting to notice it. My newer songs have much better progression and the WIP ones have some nice beats. The outro is very short but the beginning could have been made shorter. I don’t really consider this rock music because of the lack of variety and creativity. I just will keep this here as my first track but I’m pretty sure that bass plugins won’t really be an option because I think GarageBand has quite the variety of basses, but I see what you mean by the melody being dry. Also I don’t really want to focus on one genre, I want some variety in my songs for all listeners but I don’t think that GarageBand is capable of dubstep too much, sad but true. My next song should be more techno than house with nice drums and progression.

[Big City]

Smooth riffs going on here. Track looks compressed to death though, and it shows throughout when the vocals and drums are buried in louder sections. I can hear what almost sounds like clip distortion occasionally.

Vocals really need to come up in the mix, and rather than recommending turning them up, I'd actually turn everything else down. Those rhythm guitars are taking up 80% of the space in the mix.

Distortion is starting to affect the drums around 3:22, I suspect due to the low end on those toms not being reined in. Otherwise, this is perfect bar rock.

Solo section is great. I would recommend double-tracking that 5% left and right respectively, or slapping on a chorus. Right now it sounds very tin-can-y.

Overall, sounds like a fair mix with a bad master on it. Before you master your tracks, recommend having about 6 dB of headroom. Leaves room for compression to do its job. Not to mention, your track won't be clipping, distorting, or pumping in and out after all FX are applied, all three of which are happening here.

Smashing track though. Only other complaint would be first couplet of your verse is kinda wimpy writing, and diction is hard to understand. "Leaving back your own life" doesn't make grammatical sense. "Owning all and stuff" is kinda word salad.

Otherwise, great.

dude2312 responds:

Wow, this was a great critique which I welcome with open arms. It was my third time (ever) recording my own songs. Under no circumstances would I consider myself a professional on this, one thing that I can tell you is that I am going to get better at it!

Thanks ever so much for taking the time to listen to my track.