ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Getting Started]

Oh, so much good-natured fun going on here. Lots of spacy synths, cute bass, good structures and fun flourishes. Mix is a bit muddy though. Bass could use a little more presence. Reverb and those super long note tails on your pads are bleeding pretty hard. Percussion is sort of buried under the entire composition, especially your leads.

Good writing, so-so mixing and mastering. Enjoyed.

Noisysundae responds:

Short but very useful for me! I regret reading this so late. I should've paid more attention on whatever is going on in the background. Many thanks.

Although you didn't complain about the composition, most of the time, I can't point out the flaw in the mix by myself when I don't have the clear final image of the track in my head. Not sure if this can be called the writer's block, but I can only think about one really catchy melody and nothing else lately, hence the repetitive pad, arps, and lead synths after 0:42.

[Dust Sweeper]

Oh, some kooky drum solos and arps here. Must be fun ahead. Although, I can't say I'm a fan of your instrumentation, or at least how dry it sounds. Vocals are also muffled and a little hard to pick out. Kinda pitchy too. The song honestly probably would have done better without them. They sound kinda meandering, muffled, and just don't sound great. I would probably chorus the harmony. The vocals are sitting in the middle of the mix like a sad sack, making everything else also feel sad and sick.

You may just need a better mic, but it sounds like you're singing through a bunch of socks rather than with a windscreen or something.

Key change at the very least provides some fresh interest. You've got good melodic offerings, but that one thing makes the whole thing fall apart like a wet paper bag in places. The vocals don't cut off at the same times as the instrumental, kind of drag in places, and then FX make the release even muddier!

The song does grow on me, though. You'll get there. Just look up some vocal mixing tutorials to help you. You may benefit from ReaEQ from Reaper's free plugins. Compression and EQ would eliminate a lot of that wavering volume you have going on here.

[The rise of the machine]

Some clipping in the right ear, digital artefacts. Not sure what from. Later on in the track I hear more artefacts in the left.

Other than that, writing is good. Mixing is kinda off. Your guitars are lacking that searing 7-12k edge. They bleed a little bit into your bass which needs to be fixed on EQ. Your bass could use a bit more compression and more attention to the attack and release. Sometimes it stops short and sounds less organic for it.

This kinda reminds me of Korn and some old djent. Good sound. Lacking a little vision, but not bad by any means. I do like your guitar tone outside of the muffled sound. That could be coming from any EQ on the master even.

Outro was waaaaay too short and sounded kinda lazy. Should have at least been another repeat of that phrase.

[Vaeltaja]

I was almost thrown off by the extremely audible attacks in the right ear, but once things get going, this is a very emotional, evocative atmosphere. Especially enjoying the suspended strings and gong, and then you've got your driving rhythm. Key change caught me off guard. The audible attacks in the right ear continue to confound me for the lengthy of the track, although I'm appreciating the horn rips traveling from left to right, as if given actual sonic space.

This is a very pensive piece which almost lacks direction, but it keeps the same theme throughout, so I can't really discount that. Using your competitors vocals? I'm not even sure if that should count as a disqualification or not! Lol. Although, that is quite kind of him.

Good piece.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hey, thanks for leaving a review! It's a shame that most judges this year lacked the time to do it, since it's one of the main points and benefits of the competition. With attacks in the right ear, I assume you're referring to the piano. The mix might be a bit odd, I suppose! We kinda liked it that way :)

As for horn rips, there is no brass in the piece.

Well, the piece may lack a conventional structure. The title means "wanderer", so it's supposed to feel more as an adventurous journey! The thematic elements indeed are the ones that are intended to keep the balance in the piece.

As for using our competitor's vocals, we also provided elements to his track. Outside performances are allowed in the rules . And we ended up losing anyway, so no harm done! Naturally, we're back in because of the high score and some dropouts though.

Once again, thanks for reviewing!

[Willow Wasteland: Fantasia]

A very thoughtful, inspired piece. You're quite talented at portraying emotions and textures. This is coming very near the ten mark for me, and I really have no useful critique to offer.

Phonometrologist responds:

Oh, it took me a while to figure out who you were due to the name change. I'm just glad people enjoy it, and thank you for letting me know.

[After the Rain]

Just doesn't get old. Although those vocal samples are so strange to me, really. As usual, solo sections are satisfying. Strange bits are the key changes, as they come when I'm never actually expecting them. This keeps me on my toes, and the scat singing is interesting, but quite hard to get into. This is an interesting style piece, but I think it speaks more to you and ethansight than it does me. Still a good listen.

johnfn responds:

A LIL LATE EDM lol jk yea tbh this is like my favorite track i've done =D

[Xtrullor - Catharsis]

NGADM judging review. Better late than never!

Okay, foley sounds, street, rain, footsteps, what appears to be some sort of lounge, breathing, then some nice wubbys and glitches. The triangle sound made me almost giggle, and the piano reminds me of “What Does The Fox Say?!”, y'know, the horse speaking morse. Now, introducing guitar into your cinematic style drop was fun. I would have appreciated more high end on that guitar, choir about 1 Db down, etc. Great writing and brainstorming on your ideas, guys, even if the structure is just a little off and some of the stops and starts are underwhelming in places. Would have loved to hear these ideas expanded. Fun listen.

[F-777 - Super Duper]

Right off the bat, sounds super happy. Interesting. That lead sounds very muted until it comes in, which I understand must be a stylistic choice. I'm just left wondering where is your low end on this track? That lead is so ding dang darn loud, I don't know where your bass is at! Sounds like the track could also be compressed to death.

That said, drop is interesting. I probably would not notice any of this were I listening on a phone speaker, but on headphones, the highs are almost screeching. Sounds like your chords may be distorting around 2:05 or so. I just glanced at the time... And, waiting – yes, definitely some distortion from over compression. I feel had you had more time to go over this track, improvements could have been made.

[All the Shades Between]

Definitely a ton of ideas stitched together, but your textures are so nice! Name is quite apt. That you managed to essentially pull this out of your arse is a testament to your ability. Only thing I didn't like was the dryness of the bass guitar. Reminds me of Age of Mythology in some places.