ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[STAR POWER]

I know you can get more crisp on that mix this day and age! The one drawback of 90s rap is the vocal mix spread, lack of thump, and layering of samples.

I'd like to hear more of that string loop in the back as you hear at 2:43, a louder master, more of that bass, and more punch on the kick and snare -- can make that happen in Pancz (free percussion processor)

The vocal mixes sound like they're done with dynamic cardiod mics -- the kind you see on a karaoke bar. The mix on them is pretty dirty, heavy on the 150 hz range, and could use cleaning in something like RX10 before processing through the vox chain. All 3 vocals suffer from this muddy quality and could use stronger, more impassioned performance. However, I will say you got the vibe of the 90s right with this. It just happens to be one of my least favorite things about 90s rap LOL.

The bass at times clashes with another element in the organs or guitars, I can't tell which, but it could be fixed surgically by hi-passing other elements to sit just-so on top of it.

Flow sounds like a freestyle in terms of delivery and as such can be hard to follow, but lyrically it is witty on all accounts. "Vanilla off the balcony" is a particularly hard OOF that jumps out if you know your artist history.

All in all I'd give a 8.2/10, but for personal preference I'm voting 4.5 ;)

HvCMiniRayzor responds:

love and appreciate da feed back and honesty, but also thanks for lending an ear. we defiently wanted a more raw feel, like listenin to a fucked up cassette from that time but I for sure feel u when it comes wanting a better mix 💀, and im surprised u understood the mindset of the sound for da time as well.☮♥🎴

[AIM - The Bean Bee Meets Another Bee]

This sounds like a bee infiltrating a bunker more so than meeting another bee, but the ideas overall are cool.

I think you've really outgrown the real-instrument synths here. Worth doing some window shopping somewhere like piano-book for more. The instrument quality is just not really there for the synth instruments, unless the intent was to sound very, very retro on those strings. If that was the case, it sounds a bit too crisp on the other instruments, actually, and I would have instead used a soundfont.

Mix wise, the drums are not standing out very well against the bass and other elements. Needs more volume on the kick and snare.

Composition wise, zero complaints. Piece knows what it is, where it's going, and has good transitions between sections :)

7.4/10

[The King]

That intro feels like we stepped into the 70s for a sec, and then into reggae lol.

Recommendations -- more kick volume, mono-ize and center bass, applying uniform compression to it. It sounds like compression is a bit hard on the master, causing the leads and other instruments to blow out of proportion when there is no bass or other elements. Very little dynamic contrast to this piece.

Interesting FX however. That's probably the best part of this piece.

I would swap to a more dynamic ride cymbal. The attack is machinegunning a bit and not quite breathing with the rest of this psychedelic piece. Alternatively you can apply filters or modulations to it, gates and etc to approximate hit variation.

Other than that, cool piece!

6.8/10

CielOuvert responds:

Thank you. There are terms mentioned here I have absolutely no idea what is. Mono-ize? Dynamic contrast?

But I'll look into them, always looking to become better.

[May 2024 (Moderato)]

Really sibilant in the intro, had to turn it down a bit for comfort for that big transition, BUT the shaping on your white noise throughout here is very tasteful and nicely panned. I want to steal some of these ideas :P

I think the mix is a bit unbalanced toward the lead and keys, with very heavy reverb glaze. I would recommend bringing up the bass, kick, and rhythm elements, and perhaps investigating if the frequencies I'm talking about are artificially boosted or misrepresented in your own setup. At 2:08 that hi-hat in particular is modulated beautifully but much too loud.

At 2:39 I feel like we have two clashing keys. Something is just not right with that top loop against the pads, and I feel it's in the accidentals. One feels very major, and another feels ... I'm not sure which mode, maybe even dorian. But either way, the modes are clashing a bit there. This continues into 3:43, where the problem shifts to mix -- the keys and synths are a bit loud for the bass to sustain, shaker is loud enough to be a lead, and the kick/snare are hidden in the mix. Otherwise, this section is well written, but it's hard to feel the big finale when the mix is off kilter!

I do enjoy your style and the instruments chosen however. The Juno series are all classics <3

7.6/10

[SUMMER BREEZE]

Really busy, super deep, and a little unpredictable! I can also see from the waveform we aren't taking up the fullest amount of possible space in the master channel -- but the level of compression sounds good.

What I like: BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM on that tonal kick. Yay. Sound selection and sound design. Micro-grooves

What could use improvement -- development in the intro; the kick comes in so early, I had to doublecheck I wasn't listening to two songs at once. Give some time to develop that atmosphere!

The entire track is super sub heavy and lo-mid heavy. So make sure to get individual freqs, note tails, and so on of instruments in similar spaces out of each other's way. That lead could probably be cut down to size and so on.

Besides that, issa bop. Cool little bass fill too uwu

7.7/10

[Replay]

Quality is very rough. If not for the great melodic and sample ideas complete with an actual flow I would rate 1 star.

It's audible, which is a plus, but it's loud in the wrong places. That triangle is way up in volume for instance. Other elements are louder than the kick and snare, which shouldn't be the case. I also don't hear a clear bass instrument/808 which detracts from the groove.

It also sounds like the majority of instruments are centered, not panned left of right.

I think some study of mix and production will do you a lot of good. After a while, even with the mix defects, the melody is infectious.

Making music is the coolest thing people on earth can do, tbh. Don't let anyone tell you to stop. Keep creating, practicing, and improving your craft, and maybe switch genre to nerdcore. I can hear your passion in your rhymes. There's not another feeling quite like getting those ideas in the DAW, so keep at it!

5.1/10

[Monochrome]

The problems you're mentioning about the volume sounding different in the mix/master compared to export sound like some kind of issue with your audio driver. I would check and make sure no enhancements are on, especially if you have a Realtek driver. I used to have to reinstall HD Audio driver for Windows and Reaktek alternately in order to get a clean, uncompressed output.

The good news is despite this frustration your mix sounds pretty darn good to my ears. The sub is nice and thicc. Could be louder at points due the open nature of your mix (and I think my headphones emphasize bass frequencies just slightly.

Things I would see after -- this mix is so close to perfect and yet also so minimal that little things like the panning of your aux elements and leads become very noticeable. Even the dryness of different instruments is front and center. So I would just take some time to adjust FX/pan here and there and make things a little more dynamic. Beyond that, great work!

9.1/10

[0i00 - 1.5life]

No issue with the title. A title is a title :)

Nice transition into 46 seconds

Mix is a bit boomy/гудит немножко. Думаю, из-за слишком много реверберации. Надо резать низкие частоты ревера чтобы сохранять баланс.

Мелодическая основа трека очень приятная. Драма есть, четкие темы и конкретные идеи, and excellent choice of leimotifs. Very well written.

The only aspect where this track falls short are mix and master, which are best studied by one's self and not from a NG review -- but I have a channel I found which you may appreciate, in Russian no less -- Звукарь Бомбит. Канал очень хорошо описивает обычные проблемы в мастеринге/смешивании на русском яызке. Думаю что поможет))

Извини за то, что много раз сменила язык в процессе писания отзыва. Я чувствовала себя как будто английский и русский физически боролись за место в мозге, пока я обдумывала комментарий.

7.6/10

zeroizerozero responds:

Спасибо огромнейшее за полезный отзыв и рекомендации! Полагаю, этот канал как раз то что мне очень поможет

В тебе боролись два волка... хаха)

[The Sorrowful Prince]

Piece is wild, and deceptively simple -- there's a lot going on under the hood here. One thing I would adjust however is the overall level of wet signals such as reverb and delay (and low-cut them up to 150 hz or so). There is a sort of muddy wash brought out by the mastering compression that makes it hard to hear finer details of the mix through the wall of noise

I feel like that was a giant run-on sentence, but essentially, your mix is nice and full. I would be looking for places to cut and create space for various elements, especially those indistinct vocal samples -- they serve a purpose throughout as a motif for the listener to latch onto in the distance. If they're almost impossible to make out through the rest of the noise, particularly hihats, side-chained pads and so on, this detracts from the groove.

The story behind this track is fascinating to read as I listen. Really nice piece!

8.6

[Celestial dream]

Holy shit that's a gorgeous backgorund image. Nut.

Idk what people are complaining about -- taking a long time to get to the drop. TikTok has seriously lowered the standard for what counts as an attention span. The transition into the drop is great, and the bass sounds great.

The only thing I'd improve on this song is mix. At points the wet signals of the delay and reverb are so loud, high-feedback, and not sufficiently low cut that they crowd out the kick and snare a bit.

Writing wise, very smooth piece that is somehow both relaxing and driving at the same time.

2:55 is unexpected. I think I actually would have liked these drum samples but in a typical double-time dnb rhythm as opposed to the half-time. Similarly the kick and snare are hiding in the mix a bit due to not being as sibilant as every other mix element, particularly the hihats and rides -- which could come down slightly. Again on the 2nd drop the pads and reverbs are crowding the mix, leading to the track not feeling quite as driving as it should.

Overall though, beautiful transitions and tasteful management of that bass in particular. Great atmosphere. Love it!

8.5