ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Gemini]

Official AIM 2018 Review!

From the jump, I like that first chord. Second could probably use an inversion. Third and fourth resolve well together. This is an improvement from your first entry; the chords aren't laying down flat but instead sway in the sound space a bit. This is good.

I like the general premise of this theme, and it certainly has the spacey feel you were going for. However, I do notice a definite structure and still feel like some elements have been copied and pasted throughout. Rather than applying variants to this structure (since there are no lyrics, we must strive to say something different with each phrase while holding onto the nuances of the theme) it feels like you've kept most of the elements the same, without applying an overarching melody. This is great for an instrumental to rap over or a background piece, not so much as a thematic statement. It ends up feeling incomplete.

You might try experimenting with overarching melodies in your choruses -- with sustains, not stabs. I hear what you're doing with those bells, but it sounds less like melody and more like harmony.

I would also say that this piece fits more into synthwave than it does modern hip-hop; that suped up reverb on your percussion, the straight hats, toms, and etc. until your chorus lends so strongly to an 80's vibe, I can't shake it.

I would also like to say I do appreciate this contrast of styles. It lends to a more living, breathing piece.

Now, onto instruments and mixing.

Mix wise, this piece is very quiet, and it feels almost as if the high 15-22khz has been severely chopped off, seemingly for each instrument. Looking at the spectrograph, I can also see that mastering compression has not been applied to the track as a whole. The peaks are all sitting about where they should for pre-mastering. This is taking a lot of polish off your mix, alone.

Also, it sounds like a LOT of reverb has been applied, perhaps a bit clumsily, to give individual instruments a very roomy sound. I'm hearing so much 'verb at points, I can hardly pick out different percussion instruments, where they're supposed to lay in the mix -- kind of like being closed up in a shipping crate with a bunch of rocks rolling down the side of a mountain. I can hear the metallic attack, pre and post delay, and decay. Either bring that big 'verb signal down a tad or dampen and EQ it. As is, your perc is sounding less spacey and more muddy.

Delays, for the most part, those are sounding good. I'd like to hear them panned a bit harder, but that's probably my personal taste.

Transitions for this piece were mixed in fairly well. I'd have liked them a bit more obvious, perhaps longer.

At 1:01, this drum loop is loud enough, it almost sounds like it's being treated as the melody. I would have appreciated more variation on this. 30+ seconds of the same drums? No matter how good they are, they become too predictable to be enjoyable; this section is longer than your chorus!

I also don't like that triangle; it's sounding pretty dry. It comes in better context in the outro.

808's could have been louder. Percussion as a whole is lacking the high fizz edge around 16-19k and in general needs compressed to stand out in the mix without laying over it.

I would have appreciated more variations and fills in hi-hats and toms rather than simple overlays alongside the track. Using a structure is fine, but remember to use your percussion to accent what your melody and harmony are saying.

Also, I'm noticing in both of your pieces, you tend to use bells to convey your melodic content. Bells have a great attack, and if sustained can be good vehicles for melodic content, but I'm noticing you tend to use them as background harmonies with a few accents over the main theme. If you're going to use them melodically, remember to bring them up in the mix at the appropriate times (and bring other instruments down if necessary). Upon listening to your song a fifth time, I noticed some melodic content that had been buried in the mix.

Throughout, I'm noticing the melodies at some points do feel rehashed. I realize this is a convention of trap music, since the primary focus of trap is not the melody but its ability to carry lyrical content consistently.

Also, at your choruses, I would have appreciated a crash or something at the first measure. Having your riser cut off right there with no fizzy overhang -- afterglow of some kind, almost makes it feel like a non-sequitur.

Other than that, good work. I enjoyed the piece. My top recommendation would be to study mixing and mastering from here on out. You've got the basics of songwriting down pat. Now you just need the secret sauce. :)

Anything else I could have mentioned has already been covered in TL's review. Lemme know if you've got any questions or comments.

DarkHorseOrchestra responds:

Thought it was a good idea turned down the master volume on both tracks for some reason, don't ask why. About genre, idk I just put that one most of the time. Thanks for the review!

[AIM - A delicate cycle]

AIM 2018 Review -- and happy to see you out here representing!

Starting off, I'm not really liking those dense chords so deep in the register. They're sorta discordant and chunky down there.

Trimming the chord voices (say, you have a 4 note chord and strip it down to bare bones for the intro) or inverting them (see chord inversions, music theory term) could improve their effectiveness. You could also apply panning to different voices of the chords. It sounds very flat and centered as is -- actually, most of the piece sounds very centered but especially the keys. Closed-voicing chord progressions in lower registers tend to sound a bit cluttered, too, whereas closed-voiced high chords sound less so.

You may offset this muddy, centered sound with FX. A lo-fi filter with a fade in/fade out on those naked sections of keys would probably have distracted me enough not to notice how flat sounding the intro is and may have even made good use of that tight, low chord voicing.

Chord voicing is not quite optimal throughout; I'm hearing a lot of hanging around on the root notes of chords, parallel motion (music theory term for parallel 5ths or octaves), etc., and I think it would be worth your while to study a bit of theory to help you make better use of your sound palette here.

Percussion is actually what shines in this piece, despite somewhat laying on top of all the other elements. I particularly enjoy your choice of samples and hi-hat writing. Would have liked to have heard some panning, perhaps a little FX play (delay or panned reverb), a riser or two, and a little more consistent mixing on the kit. Harder compression and/or side chain would massively improve this piece. It's very quiet; even its loudest, hardest hitting points are missing that extra oomph. The peaks here resemble an uncompressed, unmastered demo.

Structurally the song is quite uniform, and though there was a definite direction, I found myself wanting a bit more melody -- although it did convey the cyclical nature of the art. I at times felt as if some elements had been copied and pasted.

FX use was rather sparing, which I appreciated. However, the camera in particular sat on top of the mix and it seemingly came out of nowhere. I would have liked a gradual use of FX throughout as a warmup. Things like switches flipping, sinks running, covers ruffling, lamps clunking on, etc., if you wanted to convey more of a life cycle.

I also really recommend using velocity and modulation on those bell-ish sounding synths that come in at 48 secs. I don't particularly like that sound hanging around in the high register, doubling your other bell arps, probably because it's so centered.

Bass could probably do with coming up one to two dB. Kick as well. Snap sample could come down. It lays on top of the rest of the track.

Other than that, pretty solid work. I enjoyed it enough to listen more than once, and it fits the art. I think that's about all I have to say on the topic. Let me know if you have any questions, or if you'd like pointers to some free music theory/software resources.

Ciao!

DarkHorseOrchestra responds:

Thanks for your review! Will definitely come back to this time to time and drill these tips into my head. Point away to them music theory resources

Thanks again for the review, appreciate it!

[Panoramic fly vision]

Reminds me of Paragon-X9, although to be fair, DnB back in the day was always a fairly insular sounding genre. I'm surprised this song is rated as low as it is, not to mention that it has so few views. The mix is a bit tinny, and the bass could use more presence, but it's not as if any one particular aspect o the track is buried under another; I also recall this is the era where mastering compression and sausage fattening hadn't infiltrated 99% of music as a whole, so it's not bothering me much. Breakbeats are sweet. I'll be adding it to my favorites. Hashtag A E S T H E T I C.

[The Lost Tapes: Rebirth]

Lost tape, you say? I can easily identify most of these instrument patches, but I have to say, the arrangement, while odd, is more than just the sum of its parts. While seemingly wonky, it retains a cohesive theme -- enough repetition to retain legitimacy without being skull-numbingly boring. It'd probably have better served your piece to have the melody outside of the mallets for such slow lines, though, or at least supported with another instrument. Who knows, maybe even a harmony with a second clarinet.

Overall, not a bad piece. Crazy to think it's been sitting here unmolested in misc for over a year. I'm going to move it to the proper genre.

Ps, come back yo.

[DJ_XBrav Ultimate Shortey]

Sounds like FL Slayer and some generic key presets. I actually like it. Short and sweet. Chord progression leaves a little to be desired though, and the drums are pretty buried in the mix.

[The First]

I'm not really getting a trap vibe from this at all. Can't really hear the bass. Kick kind of sounds like "Shots" mixed with a couple other tracks. That snare is laying there. It's also lacking any backing pads to give those cute runs any feel to them. Makes the whole track feel empty. It feels like being lost in a PVC pipe.

[DJ Cat - Bloodlust]

This song is ridiculously loud and dissonant but seems to have had some effort put into it, at least. Pull those individual instruments down and clap a limiter on it or something.

[SkyDome - Music Nation]

Ahh finally something that's not clipping. This isn't half bad. Kick could come up a little, and so could your snare. It also kind of feels the same throughout.

Also, those claps you're laying down around 1:30 don't lay in with the beat at all really. It sounds like those awkward white people claps in church. Yes, we know the ones.

On a slow beat like this, you're gonna want that relaxed clap on beat 3, or if you're adventurous, on the "and" of 3. Or follow the 3 clap in the next measure by one on 3 and one on the "and" of 4. This is kind of verging on hip-hop territory.

SkyDomeOfficial responds:

I dont know what you mean when you say that my claps at 1:30 doesnt lay in. And I used my tablet so its normal if its not that good... But thanks for the advice!