ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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

[It Does Not Die]

Writing wise, this is great!

In terms of drums and guitar synths, I would say you've 100% outgrown the ones you currently have. Today there are free alternatives for drums you can use such as Krimh (free ver), although if you don't have Kontakt and you're willing to work with a multisampler, I released a free metal drum kit or two called Take My Cymbals and Saudade Drums Remastered respectively. I also write a magazine for free production resources every month.

Now back to the song itself, the cymbals are quite loud relative to the mix. The kick and snare, as well as bass, could all come up substantially. The rhythm guitar should be properly double-tracked left and right, and you could do with a better sounding amp on it as well. There are free ones available such as Liver6, Stevie T Amped, and Grindmachine -- the 1.0 and 2.0 should be somewhere lying around on the internet.

Now, to double track that guitar you'll need a different synth instance playing the same or similiar midi. Otherwise it'll sound jank. But the idea is 2 guitars playing the same line, one perhaps humanized/quantized just slightly off -- and each hardpanned one to the left 100% and one to the right 100%.

Regarding bass, it doesn't really matter that much whether you use a synth bass or something free like Ample Metal Ray. What does matter is that it is supporting the guitar part excellently and just a little quieter than them so as not to stick out like a sore thumb. There are some free amps for these as well but they are hard to find in my experience.

Beyond mix, stellar work. This reminds me a lot of the work of @Lashmush in his early years -- an amazing talent at the time only limited by his tech. He was one of my favorite artists years ago (still is), and gave me an appreciation for this kind of sound. I have high hopes for your development in the years to come. Keep it up!

6.7/10

TrandafirTeodora responds:

Thank you very much for the review!
This is my first time trying to mix properly, so the feedback is appreciated!

[Night City Lights]

I was nervous when I heard that N64 WaveRace sounding slap bass, but this is interesting for sure. I think something is going on with your perc. The beat wants to swing, but the perc doesn't sound like it's on board.

If you want to make Vaporwave, I recommend studying Nu Jack Swing or 90s pop R&B production. Will make a big difference.

This beat sounds a bit cluttered to me, and at points that brass synth is going out of key. Recommend simplifying the arrangement a bit and refining the volume levels of each instrument such that the kick and snare stick out appropriately.

I do like your transitions and choice of vocal sample :)

6.5/10

Lunar48 responds:

Thanks you for your recommendations :3333333333333

[Marigold Tomato (feat. Morgan U.)]

Instrument quality is really hurting this one for me, but your arrangement is wonderful. I would also caution against using so much reverb on your guitars as in 36 seconds. On each pick attack I hear un-cut reverb in the 100-200 hz range running WILD. This continues through 1:12 on what appears to be a double bass.

Besides that, the track is not very dynamic in terms of volume, but the arrangement itself keeps things interesting.

1:55 that reverb again is fouling up an otherwise great moment through 2:24. Could use a second look! Happens again at 3:28 and exceptionally so at 4:05

6.4/10

[Delayed Decay]

Some of those sounds sound like what I do when I'm bored -- flicking my teeth to play random melodies xD

Color bass is one of the coolest genres to come out in the past decade, I'll say.

I think if you were to make those colored wets more subtle in the mix, this would sound perfect. You've got a lot of rhythmic variation and a lot of reverb, necessitating a bit more of a deft hand with them, considering colorization typically leads to that tin-can sound and a sucked out center.

Around 3 min beautiful chord progression and drop rhythmic structure.

I would like if the stereo image were pulled a bit back in and everything were just a bit more dry, and the bass a tad more audible. It actually sounds as if the drums are slightly too in my face there, with the exception of the following amen -- which you could potentially clean up in something like Pancz to reduce the body of note tails (for a punchier, almost gated sound)

Essentially, throughout, the contrast between loud-soft, colored-dry is at times hard to make out, a bit dirty. I think if you were to revisit this exact project and do spot cleaning, it would hit like a mack truck. I love the overall ideas and the experimentation I hear. Otherwise beautiful work :)

8.3/10

[othersider]

I would bring your drums up substantially in this mix. With them almost inaudible, it doesn't help the driving nature of the piece!

Besides that, writing isn't too bad. Particularly, the olskool trumpet sound is nice. The guitar in the right channel can get a but muddy when combined with other elements in the same key range near or in the same channel.

6.2/10

ciralincixx responds:

yooo thanks for the feedback! i hardly have any idea what im doing but this advice makes sense

[fckjamesy x cabbage x die4reese - cant_stop]

Songwriting and arrangement is GREAT

Mix and master needs a revisit

1:05 there's some clipping caused by zero-crossover issues

Overall, vocals need compression, de-ess, and in general to be much louder. The mix in general sounds very lo-fi, so perhaps some of this is purposeful. The vocals also sound for the most part very centered.

Extra reverb and delay could be tamed. Low end on all wet signals should be cut in order to make room for the 808 and keys.

At 38 the 808 is so loud, it almost sounds like the entire instrumental is clipping. There is so much reverb and all the elements are so loud, when the compression kicks in, everything gets quiet and distorted due to the limiter/comp hardly being able to contain the volume. This is similar to what happens when you run audio too hot in the club, and it probably shouldn't be happening on your garden variety mix.

That said, the writing and vocal performances are strong enough that they overcome some of this. Just a little study of mix and you can safely incorporate some of this aesthetic without going totally overboard and into clipping territory.

7.3/10