ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Serenity of the Forest]

Official AIM 2018 Review!

Mixing on your percussion is good. Perhaps somewhat boxy in the low mids but strong. As TL mentioned, the abrupt about-face from sinister sounding drums to jolly good fun absolutely knocked my preconceptions cold, more than once in fact. Very exciting tune.

Piece as a whole is well written. A bit bass heavy, lacking some clarity in the highs. Minus half a star for some tracks sounding mixed too loud/muddy low end.

Compositionally, I have no complaints. What a journey! Complements the art perfectly. I waited a few hours in between viewing and hearing your piece -- experienced an almost synesthesia -- the cat, the flowers, hummingbirds, big, soulful eyes. Instrumentation made the magic happen. Nice work!

Thanks for turning out to this year's AIM!

[See You]

Simple and effective. My only complaint, sub bass is just a bit too much. Sounds almost boxy in the mix. Try cutting the lo-mids on your lead and vocal SFX too. They're contributing to that boxy sound.

Takes me back to the 90's, yo.

[AIM - Waves of Life]

Official AIM2018 Review!

Atmospheric SFX in the beginning threw me off a bit. Sounds like distant girders knocking into one another, with enough reverb it was almost confusing when I realized they were drums. Perc almost sounds like it's in a really big can. Attacks are really muddy as a result.

I like the idea of this track a lot, actually. Some elements are totally overshadowing others in the mix though -- like that bass. WAAAAAY too loud over top of your drums, which already sound far away thanks to the experimental FX throughout. 1:14+ for timestamp.

However, I do complement your writing. Mixed better, missing most of that reverb, and with a more obvious transition at 3:05, this could and would be a banger. You might even try having the reverb for kick and snare on a separate send channel and using a compressor to duck it out of the way of their respective attacks.

3:05 transition is very chopped to my ear. Where is the downbeat slam signaling the climax of our journey?! However the mixing is closer to what I think you were going for throughout. Good writing with the sudden departure from prior theme but I feel this should have been done earlier -- or more subtle parts of the track replaced with that face-melting bass-laden chorus.

Other issues like slight cheese on the choral or string synths have been mentioned. I don't feel like they're serious enough to merit more than a passing comment. What's killing this piece is a few iffy transitions and possibly compression issues, not your instrumentation. Keyboard choir and Lindsey Stirling 2.0 were fine on the other hand; they just needed a little more velocity modulation and EQ to sound more natural. I recommend cutting those boxy low mids some more and minding those airy highs too.

At some points, choir was so mid heavy I cringed a bit. May have used something more subtle. Either a different but still very vocal-ish instrument with formant shifting/wah-pedal or a different choir patch. Maybe even a low-pass filtered instance of the same patch. It's just kinda shrill at points.

Drums were not standing out very well in this piece and sounded in between muffled (kick, snare) and way too sibilant (crashes, hats). Steam chugging highs were a nice touch though. I also appreciate that you tried to do something with dubstep drums other than side-chain and pump.

Tasteful piano was A1.

I've probably said so already, but thanks for turning out to this year's competition. Times two, for that matter! Keep at it!

5TanLey responds:

alrightyyy, frankly, I had no idea what to do with this mixdown, never tried to make anything like this before, no excuses though, could've spent more time on this for sure

Thanks for your review!

[AIM - Sunken Streets]

Official AIM Review!

Last year someone selected this piece -- and wow have you taken it into a totally different direction. May be some of the finest olskool-y triphop I've heard in a while.

That said, I got some beefs. I need a little more of that snare, a little bit more crisp on that mix. Hi mids seem to have been cut down a bit, which leaves the bass standing out a little more than I'm quite comfortable with.

Extra points for sampling your hood. Indeed does sound like waves lapping at the shore.

Wanting a little more of that rim sound on the snare. Goes nice with your texture.

I also like the adventurous, avante-garde feel on that bass. You're not afraid to make things fit the way you want them to. Super jazzy.

Piece could have ended at 3:56 and I'd be happy. Might condense that down a bit or cut out a repeat or two from earlier sections.

I'd also tame that low sub a bit. It does take over the rest of the song a bit. Maybe cut 30 hz and under from everything but the kick.

SFX outro came out strong. Extra points for representing the artwork well.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

sro responds:

Thanks my man, the snare is definitely something I've been told to give more love to; so right now I'm learning more about parallel compression. Looking back on it, I feel you on the sub being a bit too much. Could definitely condense it a bit, but some part of me just wanted to wallow in that vibe longer.

Thanks again for the detailed review and for having me, first time making music to reflect art. Also had no idea someone else used the same art piece, goes to show how different interpretations can be.

Your compliments really boosted my artistic confidence and I hope to hear more from you in the future!

[Forsaken Reality]

Official AIM Review!

Really not liking that violin synth. It's a bit sharp and almost out of character in comparison to that beautifully written piano riff. I might even recommend a saw synth instead, since ears seem to be much more forgiving of these.

Now, your percussion isn't mixed perfectly, but it sounds pretty good. I'd recommend chopping that loop instead of running it over and over.

Transition at 1:39 feels like it should have happened much earlier in the piece.

After that point, we've got a catchy chorus. Your string swells sound pretty good. Mix is a bit cluttered though. Feel that brass pulse should have been brought WAY up in the mix. This is the most vibrant part of your piece.

As mentioned, I feel most of this progression relies on the adding and subtracting of elements, rather than progressing the theme. You've got a good range of sounds together, but not a lot of variety.

Note, on your mix, that low end is so muddy, it's starting to distort. I'd recommend checking out johnfn's tutorial. Don't have a link here but you can PM him and he could probably find it for you in his newsposts. Basic idea is cutting low end aggressively in your solo instruments, harmonies, and even basses, not so much that it changes the timbre of the instrument, but so that unchained low frequencies are not interfering with one another in your mix when you have those big, bombastic sections. You would be surprised just how much low end is hiding in your pianos, strings, saws, etc., until you actually look at them on a spectrograph.

Anything else I have to say could probably best be summed up by TL's review.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

CrystaluxX responds:

Thank you so much for this nice review! I thought that a saw synth would'nt fit the mood. I wanted to put the focus on more classical instruments. And in my next tracks I will probably improve my mixing.

[AIM - The Loneliest Astronaut]

Official AIM Review!

Intro sounds like 70's and 80's space movie music. Very synthwave. Mix is super harsh on those highs though. Watch out for that.

Also don't really like that piano synth. Could have better stood in the mix as a saw or triangle.

You've done a really good job crafting an atmosphere around your basses. What's killing this piece for me is a lot of volume fluctuation and very harsh highs and mids.

I especially like the switchup in the bass between verse and chorus. Really brought the track together and kept progression going even when I wasn't sure where you were going melodically.

Also liked your lead writing.

I disagree with TL. I found myself wanting more bass, less lead.

Also, what's with the long tail of silence on the end of the piece? Might trim that.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

[The Fallen]

Official AIM2018 Review!

Intro is a bit muddy with what sounds like either delay, reverb, or long-tail release. Really like that lead at 00:26 seconds, despite the somewhat gritty, seemingly clipping mix.

Your writing is solid. I find myself wanting a bit more of an overarching melody rather than the theme repeating.

I feel the synth bass at 1:25 is a bit too loud and possibly unnecessary for the track to maintain flow. Perhaps it would be best placed at other sections, as it is at 1:47, where there isn't much going on.

What this track is really suffering from is weak or otherwise occluded transitions. Try risers/reverse crashes.

Entrance of drums around 2:10 was super fizzy and unexpected, not to mention ended abruptly. I'd recommend a stronger snare on that kit, taking down the hats a bit, etc.

There are lots of elements in this track that sound like they were mixed waaaaay too loud, with no headroom before FX was applied. I recommend going through some tutorials on mixing. There's tons of them online. Maybe a few on structuring your songs as well.

Anyway, despite hiccups, track did communicate the distress, hopelessness, and urgency of our falling man in question.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

[AIM - Music Identified]

Official AIM Review!

Points for appropriate SFX, tasteful risers, and overall interesting presentation. Those chord stabs provide a sense of alarm, an illusory chaos, and a nice drone for a later major I chord development. Although I /did/ hate your string synth. Something obviously synthy or even low quality may have blended better.

After a while, it did feel suuuuuper repetitive, so despite those sick ass breaks, I did start to wonder what I was listening for. Solution may have been changing up some instruments, maybe tribal drum break, industrial noise, metal chairs... I can't quite nail any critique beyond hoping for a shift of the root somewhere along the line. Maybe some dirty wubs in a section to spice things up. Love my drone music, and I could totally zone out to this though.

Production quality was ace. Levels were where they needed to be. More points for that.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

Quarl responds:

Much love Andrea :D

[AIM - Calling]

Official AIM Review!

Nice cinematic style opening, FX play... I find myself wanting a little less white noise at 0:35.

Chord progression is definitely giving me that night sky feel, stars dropping out of the sky.

Mixing at 1:04 is a little weak on those filtered drums. I'd like a fuller impression of that bass drum, a little more room. It sounds like some parts of your mix have been run through a lo-fi FX, saturated a bit much, or may have been mixed with a little less headroom than needed prior to compression.

Synth at 3:47 is a bit too loud in the melody. I don't think the bass and drums can quite sustain it.

Your outro is pretty strong. Vocals are just a bit too loud for accompaniment also.

Compositionally, however, this piece is great. I give a solid 8 out of 10 on that alone. Minor mix issues and some possible clipping aside, I'd give a 8.8.

Always love your tunes. Thanks for turning out to this year's AIM!

[AIM - Signpost Symbole]

Official AIM2018 review!

Liking the intro with the lo-fi drum loop. Wish it were just a bit shorter or had a transition into that bassline. Maybe swooshy reverse cymbals. I love those.

Bassline itself is par for the course with the genre. Not bad. Actually interesting chord progression!

The synths are appropriately off key, representing the sexual depravity of our art subject.

Your snare and bass drum are hiding really badly in the mix. Bring 'em up!

I do like what you've done with those moaning distorted feedback shrieks. They totally overwhelm the track though. Pull those down. They're very pretty, but not so pretty I only want to hear them.

Your weakest point is your transitions. Stops and starts between sections, etc. Make your transitions obvious, say, with risers, filter sweeps, reverse cymbals, and crashes.

Outro is the strongest portion of your song. I really feel like that should have been your choruses. Sounds like 80's basement prog. Still, I see a lot of potential in you just hearing this track.

Check out some tutorials for your genre, particularly mixing, song structure, and finally mastering, and you'll take off in no time. You've got what it takes!

Thanks for turning out for this year's competition!