ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

["Steppin Along" WiiFit Step Rhythm sample]

SFX in this track are a lot louder than the instrumental. Also sounds a little over-compressed, and 808 bass alternates between way too low for me to hear, to so subby it almost hurts.

I love me some hip-hop though. Really the only thing stopping me from giving a better score is volume levels and a little clumsy compression. Also, even for hip-hop, this track is fairly repetitive. There seems to be no real differentiation between verse and chorus, which is a must if we're writing hip-hop instrumentals.

First thing I recommend, turning that kick down a bit. It's louder in my ears than any other instrument in the track, including the 808, which is a no-no. Your 808 should stand out very clearly and concisely in the mix.

Now, the 808 is well written and tastefully smooth on that portamento. I like that. What it needs is probably some low-cut and EQ. I know, low cut on a bass instrument seems utterly retarded, but you can accomplish it with a multiband compressor and still keep the natural boomy quality if you prefer. The 20-38 Hz range sounds like a wall of noise compared to your 50-80 Hz. You will want to look up some tutorials on mixing 808s, EQ, compression, etc, to mitigate extra sub noise in the mix (too much can push your mix out of balance, which is happening here).

I really like the cutesy videogame theme you've got going on in the background, but it sounds like it was recorded in a K-mart, as flat as it is in the mix. Beef up that high mid range and maybe bus it to a send with some light reverb. Both it and your snare/hats sound very dry.

Also, I notice you could use some brass stabs or something on your chorus sections -- if this track was even structured with them. 1:36 could benefit, perhaps 1:44.

I also see your keys are super loud compared to your backing beat. I would take them and your chime samples down as that clipped at one point. If you mix everything at about 20% volume on your computer, these things will become very clear. Mixing things all the way up has no real benefit, contributes to ear fatigue, and can actually cover up the nasty parts of a dirty mix. Just don't do it.

Note, if your kick wasn't so loud, you wouldn't feel the need to turn up those vocal samples, or your bells, or your leads, for instance. Kick usually hides with the 808s in this genre anyway though.

Pro-tip, if you check out most mastering services today, they will advise you to mix all of your tracks at about -6 dB headroom before you apply ANY FX to the mastering channel, such as compression and EQ. Why? Your mix will sound 100% cleaner -- no peaking from being compressed too hard, etc.

Overall, nice piece. I can definitely see the budding trap producer in you. Continue to nurture your natural talent -- always be seeking out new ideas, new synths, new techniques, and critique, and you'll do great. Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC!

[Covenant]

My only real complaint with this song is the extreme amount of reverb that seems to have been applied. The low end is kind of extreme, so it sounds less like wide open space and more like sitting in a can.

I do feel like you did a good job atmospherically with your sound palette, and this was actually a really interesting listen. Good job!

Would have given an extra half-star for a little more textural variety, maybe some SFX, clanging metal, sparking wires, something, and cleaner mix. You may want to check out some tutorials. Definitely see potential in this piece for you as a sound designer and cinematic composer.

Chickenizer responds:

Thank you so much for this thorough review!

[Clouds (Future Bass) - BB520]

This piece is well written, but the mix sounds in between flat and muddy. As mentioned earlier, no side-chaining, which is probably a big part of that. Part of the future bass sound is super compressed track, side-chaining. I'm going to try not to critique this since you already know about the issue, but it will be a part of my scoring.

Now, the flat sound could probably be fixed by adding some verb to your rain signal -- not too much, and make sure to low-cut because reverb contributes to a muddy sound.

Other instruments such as your percussion -- excepting your kick -- could probably use a light delay or reverb, also to give them space.

Leads could probably use a chorus with modulation, maybe even phasing or flanging. They're laying there right now.

I would recommend a tape saturator to give your clap some grit and presence. Also, at 2:15, I was wondering where this richness was in your drop all along. Sounds good.

As Kwing hinted at, your drums are totally buried in the mix by this point. Watch out for that.

Also, I'm noticing you don't have any hi-hats or crashes/reverse crashes. You'll want to make full use of these, and I suggest tutorials or listening to other works you like and focusing on exactly how they are used in a mix. Really, they're like the breath of life when it comes to music, and the reason is dynamic contrast. Cymbals are loud -- but they're not distracting. Feel me?

I really like your writing. Some synths I would change out or add more velocity/FX/modulation to, piano at 1:31, guitar synth likewise bc it sounds very flat at 1:45.

Also, probably could use a snare.

Otherwise, nice work. Look forward to hearing a more polished version -- glad you were able to get back into your project!

[Peace time]

I find myself agreeing with Kwing, probably a good intro and outro. That said, your chord structure and melody writing are good all the way up to 0:52, where I'm wondering where that synth is going. What comes in is a mid-range melody, real slow, with a counter melody on top. Smart choice there. I see potential in you as a songwriter.

I'm just really not liking your drums. Was expecting something upbeat with that jolly little riff you bring up early on, and again at 1:46. Like, double-time of what you have here. Take that first measure of drums, speed it up by 2x, repeat first measure of that 3x, followed by your 0:39 phrase... That's what I was expecting, complete with perhaps a bassline.

All that said, your mixing is fairly crisp. Just super top-heavy since there is no bass.

Also, watch your chord structures down low, that they don't get too congested, block-chord style. Many people like to chuck as many notes in the low register as they can, forgetting that these notes are all so close in frequency that the notes actually interfere with one another, sounding dissonant and cluttered rather than massive and spacious. 1:54 chord is an example of this, though you've kept your instrumentation clean, so it's not as bad as it could be.

Song is a good start, but overall, it sounds incomplete. I'd like to see you revisit this some day.

[A Tarnished Sky]

Sounds like your piano is all one velocity, and way too much reverb in the mix. Synths stick out as so inauthentic as to betray the composition. I would honestly recommend a switch to electronic instruments only, as it's much easier to get away with cheapo vsts in that vein.

Your drums sound good, surprisingly for me, but at 1:55 your guitar, bass, and other instruments are burying them.

Writing is rough at points. Could probably be better served on different instrumentation. Now, your big rock section is actually pretty interesting, though it sounds copied and pasted. Despite this feel throughout and a lot of progressions sounding either confusing, dissonant, or without direction -- this may be on purpose -- I do see some potential in this piece. 2:36 is a good statement. Wishing it weren't copied and pasted for another two minutes, but it is what it is! The pacing on this section is slow, but not enough to totally screw this section.

Mixing, however, is very rough. At points we have clipping with that big verbed up synth backing your violins. May have mixed better if there were less reverb send, a lot more low cut on 'verb, and less volume on that violin. At 4:40 I see what's causing the problem. That outro synth on its own is way too loud and peaking.

Also would probably like it 5-10 bpm faster. It's turtle speed, and the fastest progression we usually hear is a quarter, quarter, quarter, quarter, half, half. Really easy to lose attention.

Nevertheless, not a bad piece. Just needs a few touchups!

[Hypersonic Speed]

Right off the bad, it sounds like you've got way too much reverb on your mix. I can hear it in those muddy low mids. Make sure you cut the low end in your reverb.

Your writing, bassline, and melody are actually interesting, with good timbre. Transition at 0:40 is super abrupt though. I may have even cut your intro if I were writing this piece. It almost reads like two intros back to back.

That said, I do like your chord progression. So few people just go for the easiest, daintiest sounding progression that sounds decent and leave it at that.

Biggest problem with this piece is mixing. Lots of instruments jumping in all over the place, too loud, etc., others covered up. Becomes especially apparent after 2:06, 2:40, and 3:23. I can deal with a long prog piece taking a while to go somewhere. It's harder when that piece also has instruments jabbing me in the eardrum on occasion. Feel me?

It also sounds like the mix did not have enough headroom before compression was applied. Recommend 3 to 6 dB headroom before you apply anything to your master channel. Might spend some time looking at various mixing and mastering tutorials as well. You've got a relative balance in between your bass and pads, but somewhere, something is happening with those leads, and even your snare sounds a bit too loud at times. Johnfn had a tutorial buried somewhere in his newsposts on using hi-pass and low-pass to get your instruments out of each other's way in the mix, frequency wise; you may want to ask him about it.

3:56, I love the idea of your outro, but that underlying bassy synth is over-reverbed, and it abruptly cuts off.

Like Kwing, I'd recommend condensing the piece, if not by a quarter, a half.

Aelkamal responds:

I concur on it's flaws. Back in the days i was experimenting on sounds, and it's not something i could change for the time being. I thank you for the advice on the tutorial, i'll check it out when i'll have reinstalled VSTs & overall DAW.

[Abendland - Alone I stand]

I'm not noticing the rhythmic issues Kwing pointed out. As I'm classically trained, these are fairly par for the course, and I would probably write my percussion similarly to accent those melodically bare sections.

I will comment that some sentences in the piece sound almost copied and pasted, with the individual notes on the ends of phrases just ported around to different keys. 1:48 is an especially bad offender. Do something with your velocity, slap in a forte piano, sforzando -- something to make that B side of the phrase stick out. This track is almost universally ff intensity, marcatos, accents, and staccatos. Rarely do we see much shifting in the winds.

Otherwise, only complaints are your mix. Somewhat boxy sounding in those low mids. Percussion almost has all the breath sucked out of it as well. This could be your samples, or it could be EQ as a whole. Make sure your percussion has a bit of that 18k+ range in there. You can probably fix most of the EQ issues on them with a multiband compressor such as fabfilter. May see some tutorials.

Because of the mix on the percussion, I see that you've had to turn that slamming tribal-ish rhythm line up, and they're covering up some of your auxiliary percussion. Examples at 0:31, 0:08, etc. Hits like 1:03 sound very muddled and occasionally as if mixed to loud. Coupled with some bad attacks like 0:56, some points just sound like an orchestra that hasn't practiced, if you'll pardon me. Throughout the tribal rhythms are pounding us with very heavy sub 200 Hz that is almost drowning out your melody and counter melody instruments, as well as accompaniment.

All in all, superb writing. Half a star knocked off for the lack of dynamic contrast in those drums. Another half for some sloppy attacks and lack of dynamic contrast in melody/accompaniment. Otherwise, lovely piece! I'm surprised you only have 6 fans -- or should I say... seven. ;)

[A.I.M 2018 - Land.]

Official AIM Review!

10 seconds in, I'm hearing this really subby noise, almost distorting. Could be kick conflicting with bass.

I do think the transition at 29 seconds was a bit goofy. Later hook is pretty catchy. Mix seems a bit muddy though. Reverb and delay getting swept up in the compression may be the culprit. I recommend GComp2. It has a sort of gating feature to mitigate the tendency of insignificant noises getting suuuuper compressed and taking over your mix.

I like the occasional tom fills you've thrown in. Sound good.

I do think ... what sounds like vocoded sweeps during your chorus, are a bit too loud.

Otherwise, enjoyed the piece. Overall structure is strong, and melodic content was good, if not a little safe. Thanks for turning out to this year's AIM!