ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Burn (dubstep)]

Decent bass is had. I'm enjoying the presentation, but the vocal chops and samples are too gained up for my liking, and a bit sibilant.

[Ambient step (1:00)]

Oh, I like that bass. Percussion isn't great -- sound palette doesn't totally fit what you've got going on here.

Bass needs to come up more. Hats need to come down somewhat and maybe have some kind of panned delay and 'verb to 'em. As is it sounds very dry in contrast to your bass.

You should expand on this!

[Supersaw House]

I'm a sucker for saws. This is a simple track. My only complaint is the snare.

Well, I take that back. It's super repetitive, even for house. I'm not really feeling a resolution in these big chords you've pulled up, so they kinda end up being noise to me. Kick needs more presence.

Also not liking the dubstep pattern that comes in at 1:11 or so. I'm just guessing at timing since I wasn't looking. That snare there was garbo for house.

Overall, this track has some very nice moments, but that's overshadowed by heavy percussion over thin instrumentation and those non-resolving chords sorta just hanging out there.

A little music theory may go a long way there. I feel like this one is just a bit thrown together -- not to say that it was a waste of 4 hours. Just think you could have used a bit more time on the perc and trying to get those chords to play nice. :)

[Newgrounds TankBuster (2:32)]

Intro sounds like a videogame, so when the kicks came in I was confused for a second.

For some reason, this kinda sounds a little aimless to me with the formant octave bass. Then again I just don't like this trend of the-lead-and-the-bass-are-the-same-note choruses that bled from big room house to other genres of EDM.

That kick is a bit too loud and subby. Sounds boxy on the rest of the beat. Recommend hi-passing out some of the 20-50 hz or using a multiband compressor on it to get a fuller sound. It's lacking any hi mid punch to it, so it kinda feels like headbutting something unintentionally.

Also, your cymbal samples are... really flat and gross sounding, no offense. They sound like stock mixcraft cymbals. I know you used FL and Ableton, ofc.

Imo, hats could use some panning and variation. Snare is laying flat in the mix with too much low end on it, and your fills need panning to stick out.

Cymbals need to come way up in the beginning.

Overall none of your synths sound ugly, but those harmonies need to come up in the mix. Actually, the bass/lead could probably do with coming down a db or two.

It sounds like most of this mix's punch came out of the master channel with hard compression and sausage fattening, just judging by how the kick loses presence later in the track. If you want to compress hard and keep the kick all-in, side-chain a little harder.

I also was disturbed by the abrupt outro and overall felt the track was pretty dry, just sitting right there, flat. Part of that is listening on ATH m40x's, which are flat studio monitors. You might want to invest in a pair. They don't make everything sound hideous, but they reveal a lot of things your average sound system or pair of casual listening headphones plaster bandaids over.

Overall, good work, and a nice creative endeavor. :)

bdog705 responds:

now this is a review and i thank you very much for writing such an in depth one, it helps in many more ways than you think
thanks for the other reviews too, very well structured and worded, thanks!

[Brief sample on shit mic]

I'm not sure why I like it. Sounds moderately insane, but not gonna lie, you've got a nice voice.

[I See People And They Say Hi]

The dankest dank meme. But more terrible. I'm not sure why this has 400+ downloads.

[Week 23 2017 (Acapella)]

I'm hearing these weekly verses and being quite rightly reminded of how sub-par my own lyrical skills are. Nice work :)

Cyberdevil responds:

Well you know what they say about practice. :) I know I have a long way to go too but... one week at a time! Thanks for listening!

[Week 27 2017 (Acapella)]

It's rare I hear a dry track that's listenable. I'm having a hard time picking out an overarching meaning, but the flow is good enough my brain just stops working. Nice work.

Cyberdevil responds:

It's an ode to the summer I suppose, self-reflection and travel melancholy all intermeshed... though does get a bit more random towards the end. :) Many thanks!

[Downtown Beatdown (METALCORE)]

Sounds like the mix is clipping in a lot of places. Guitar tone is nice though, and I really appreciate you listing your software. Podfarm is now on my list of things to find.

As for your bass, I can barely hear it. Sounds like just the guitar doubled and down an octave.

Your drum samples sound good, but the mix itself sounds so bass heavy and mid-stomped, it's hard to enjoy them. The cymbals are very weak in the mix, sound all the same velocity, and the kick is hiding underneath your bass. A low cut will probably help you out there.

Siren is also way down in the mix. So are your synths. Let them soar above but not sublimate the rest of the mix. Balance is the key.

Cymbals I feel need to come up, and your toms are panned a little strange for me.

Somewhere there is a mastering tutorial I found useful... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amN1EmZv4Uo&list=PLi8lPSZQQxxZEvqcLWu-XNh2D4E1tNl35&index=4

I think this is the one. ReaEQ is probably the best plugin I've ever used for EQing out unecessary frequencies before compression, FX, and mastering.

DHansen90 responds:

Thanks for all the tips! Im actually going to try some things and reupload if you wouldnt mind hearing it! UPDATE: New mix and master

[XERO feat. Jeff Waters (Annihilator) - Savior]

Sounds really ... tinny to me. Leaves lots of room for the vocals, but the drums are buried, particularly the snare. Also sounds almost sidechained which feels like a symptom of overcompression to me.

Basically, I would compress your drums a bit less. They sound very hot, especially those hats. I would also pan them a bit wider. Snare needs to come way up in the mix. Totally buried.

I'd cut a little more low out of those guitars. Bass could, ironically, use a little more mid and high end, a little less ... that sub range is thumping in and out, making it feel like a case of over-EQ.

Overall the mids in this mix feel just crushed to me, and the low-end is pretty muddy. Playing and technique sounds great though. And good songwriting. Kudos.

Note I do have ATHm40's so any warts in the mix are gonna naturally sound worse to me. It may sound better on typical commercial headphones. Those hats are really killing me though.