ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Neurobop]

Right off the bat, I really don't like that piano hammering on the same note. It's obviously synthy. When it drops out, it's also a little excessive feeling. What follows is some pretty lit DnB. This is the style I prefer, honestly. Sax and piano could have gone far, far, away during that drop, and I would have been very happy.

The writing and FX on the piano after are not bad by any means other than a little bit of corny synth business. The piano and sax just feel like they should be much less present in the drop and a lot more ethereal, panned around, or w/e as an effect rather than a center piece.

The more subdued verse is not bad by any means, and they don't stick out here. I had hoped for a 3rd drop. That bass though – a marvel. Superb. Rest needs fine-tuning.

5TanLey responds:

dunno, in this type of music I don't even try to make real instruments sound "humany", it gets lost in the master compression anyway

and piano and sax are really part of the main drop groove, couldn't be very ethereal

thanks for your words :)

[Gravity Slam]

Sounds like there might be some tuning issues here and there. Also, drums sound very thin and synthy. They're panned well enough, but could use some more FX. Solid riffs, but it feels like it's really missing a solo laid overtop at some point. Mixing on the guitars is also really muddy. Also quite hard to hear the bass. At some point it starts to sound really garbled to me. Drums also seem to be hiding in the mix a bit. Compress them harder! The cymbals are only really audible because of the frequencies, I feel.

I can also hear where it sounds like the bass and guitar are mingling and clashing around the 200 Hz range. Need tighter mixing on the guitar.

The whole piece just feels like it's not tidied up. Sounds like a backing track. Ending was well executed though.

TSRBand responds:

Thanks for the tips! Will definitely have to keep them in mind for the future :D

[Endowment]

Strange sound palette here. I can tell that these choir synths aren't organic from the extremely sharp attacks, but when padded, they aren't much of an issue. The violin sounds quite thin and synthy, but it seems to be doing its job. Drum mixing is really hurting you here with these patterns. They're starting to overshadow each other in their pensive droning. Need to be panned out a little more, pushed back in the mix somewhat, given a little more dynamic contrast.

Actually, ignore that for a second. Your instruments are overshadowing your percussion shortly after they come in. I really want to like this piece, but that sudden style change was really unexpected, didn't flow well, and loses the charm of all of the above. It comes off as trying way too hard with the synths, even some wrong notes here and there like at 3:05. The drums are all very dry, soulless, and lacking in punch. Compress those suckers. EQ them well. Bring them up in the mix. They sound like tepid water.

Sax coming in with the piano for a unison solo then fading away struck me as odd. That should have been repeated once, then slooooowly faded into the next phrase. Your brass samples are also abhorrently weird. Better mixing and attention to attack would have helped them sound more natural in relation to – there's that wrong note again at 4:52. Pay attention to your chords and resolutions Ectisity! Would have been so much better if the brass were more muted and pensive. It sounds like you're trying to bring something up that isn't there as is.

Also, that ascending raindrop transition annoyed me. Why so heavy on the right ear? Why not delay and pan it alternately?

This piece is an amalgamation of a lot of instruments, sounds, and styles that just refuse to work together, piling on top until it becomes obnoxious. If you had spent more time on each section rather than trying to cram 4-5 different styles in, it would have been much better. The transitions were weak and forced. Leads were glaringly flat and un-dynamic, sticking out of the mix rather than soaring and flowing. Certain instruments were overly synthy and inauthentic sounding. Wrong notes every couple minutes took me completely out of the jive, and style changes felt so superficial – not to mention the drums were crushed through the EDM genres and magnified to the point of absurdity in the classical/world genres.

A lot of inattention and self-pride went into this piece, and I can feel it the whole way. Humble yourself. I don't want to hear Ectisity's ode to self and skill. I want to hear emotion and movement. Remember the power of FX, panning, reverb, delay, and other simple FX. Also, make sure your leads and harmonies are out of the way of your bass, which I could hardly hear for all the cheese laid up in the heavens – leads.

Key change was fine, but that sax felt so overdone, I had lost my attention by that point. Also, different FX felt like adding more cheese. I just really do not like your leads and harmony. The synths are so flat and distant from the rest of the mix. I could have gone without the guitar tone, really, as well as a lot of the other flourishes in this piece. It's fairly well written, but I just sincerely did not like your execution.

EctiBot responds:

All your comments mixing wise makes sense, and the drums are something several people have pointed.
The "wrong note" you keep pointing out is not a wrong note imo. It's off key, but I added it there for the interest. Might not have worked as well as I thought.
The transitions are a bit too sudden at times, had some trouble getting them to sound good. i'll work on that.
Please, I really, really appreciate the feedback, but be careful when you label others work as "self pride". I tried to be original with this, not feed my own ego. I didn't want to make a dime-a-dozen piece, so I tried to make something special. I respect the score I got, and I really don't care too much about me not getting through, but it's a terrible thing to tell a musician to "humble yourself" instead of respecting that they tried to be themselves. Was this piece overambitious? Absolutely, what I gunned for is something that still beyond my abilities, but that doesn't mean that I'll sit on my arse and make safe "emotional" pieces. Music is more than just emotion and movement. If you feel like this is my "ode to self and skill" then every track I make from now on will be exactly that. Also I guarantee you that no form of "inattention" went into this piece

I'm got to emphasize again that I'm not complaining about the score or the critisism, but telling a musician to humble themselves is something that's just too ridiculous to be written in an elsewise really good and serious review, and I really hope that you won't be telling other people the same.

Thanks for the feedback, I really do appreciate it :).

Ps. Can't stress enough how much I appreciate your detailed review. I ended up writing a lot about the one thing I didn't like about it, but that's only because I felt like it's important to point out for future reviews. I never get offended by feedback, and I really don't want it to come off as you insulted me or anything :/.

[Rushing into Deepness]

Opening textures are interesting, with an olskool feel to them. Breakbeat? Nice. Although that bass feels a little flat in comparison to those strings and highs. Needs more grit. I am appreciating the chord structures, as well as the hi pass play. One of the few instances of where it's tasteful. Unfortunately, there is just so much high and mid going on, the track feels extremely top-heavy, no matter how tastefully arranged.

I'm not really enjoying how we reach the end of our piano phrase to come into such a slow and empty buildup. It does pick up later into some good breakbeat with piano overlays every now and then to accent. I can hear some intense focus here, all centering on our tonal anchor. Still think that piano should have been panned hard left and right rather than so centered. Your bass is your focus, or should be. It's very muted in comparison to the drums and even the occasional percussion panning left and right on beat 3. I felt like the strings and rhodes that came in later were in the space where the piano should have been. Piano just takes up way too much space in the mix. It should sound farther off to blend better with the rest of the track. Rhodes were also a bit too loud.

Enjoyed the track as a whole. Felt shorter than it really was.

Adjeye responds:

I wanted to let the listener feel the emptiness before building the drums back up, so that there would be a dynamic contrast in the build as a whole, it didn't work out that well in the end, but this was my basic idea behind that.

My basses haven't always been that great (which is terrible in DnB, I know, and that's why I like to mix in a lot of instruments, to cover that up. It works most of the time, but I should really be working at my sound design.

[Seres]

Very soothing, with the exception of your lead sort of shrieking at first. I really appreciate the mixing on your drum kit here. However, the lead and everything else overshadow it just a little bit. Remember, the drums must be the loudest offering. Also, got some wicked clashing on your low end caused by that really long note tail.

The glitching made me think my computer was clashing, which was disconcerting. Using it as a transition however was a very nice touch. I really like what you've done here. Still think the drums could stand just a little more punch. Kick could use a bit more high end, but my were those solos satisfying!

Parallel motions here speak to jazz. That lead could come down about .4 Db or just have the mid taken down. Boy, am I on a pensive journey here. This may be my favorite out of all the tracks I've judged so far – not many. The room for thought here is much, and it doesn't hammer me with the same idea over and over. One complaint, the stick click could be a little more organic and perhaps stick out less if it had some delay – a little less high end.

And here we are with the main drag which propels us into another satisfying solo section. This is relaxing, beautiful, and nothing is really sticking out. Mixing could be a bit clearer, but your ideas are well-executed and play nicely together. I'm jealous of your ability to weave all these seemingly contradictory ideas together. I was not ready for the track to be over.

Pros, piano mixing – very organic, solo sections were fluid and progressed the track, harmonies didn't stick out over the lead or the bass. Cons, drum mixing could have been just a little cleaner, more precise, and less jerky at some points, but it never really took away from the piece for me.

Superb! I wish I could keep this one forever.

Onefin responds:

aaaaaaa everyone thought it was shrieking when i don't hear anythinggg

also for the glitching maaaaybe i should have considered only glitching some of the sounds

hey thanks for bringing the train like you said you would wait that sentence should have came first

Dang, that's the best stick click I have. Just got it, thought it was better than all my other ones, used it. Any suggestions for better stick clicks?

Drum mixing, my old friend. Frankly maybe I should have considered sidechain, cuz I don't think I used it. At all. Eh it's probably a crap ton more than that

Pianos are one of my strong points I think. They're actually pretty hard to get wrong

[War and Peace]

Do I hear.. foley sounds and birds? Hmmm... Suddenly plunged into artsy little plucks, nicely panned. Pensive piano. Everything seems to be in about the right place. I think I hear some tapped drums. Singing is surprisingly organic. Reminds me of Final Fantasy in a way, some of the tracks from FFXIII-2. I really like your presentation and the deceptively simple arrangement. Cello line was fantastic, despite minimalism.

Chorus section is quite beautiful and well-mixed. This is going in my favorites. I don't think I have much critique to offer you.

I especially like your 7th chords. Unsure if I hear a 9th chord. Also, not picking up a Celtic vibe. Am picking up a native American vibe. I admire your subtleties through this track. Keep those close at heart.

[Codename: Tom Selleck (NGADM '17)]

Writing was on par. Progressions standard for the genre. Transitions well done, with the exception that I did not like the sudden cliched glitch for coolsies before the last chorus was nailed home.

Mixing on the other hand is subpar.

Guitars are very flat. Rhythm is buried. Lead meshes in with the rhythm so that it's hard to pick out where your melodies are coming from. There's not much use of melodic space note wise.

No soaring highs, crushing lows, or full use of what the sonic space has to offer. Actually, the lead sounds so much more muted than the rhythm, it made it hard to pick out the pick noises! There's practically no treble to your leads, yet the rhythm is hot on the treble. As a result, the leads sound like they're hiding in a dark room while the rhythm does the hard work of driving the track -- rather than the leads soaring above and LEADING.

I also didn't like the section at 2:00. Really showcased the next area of weak mixing/production I'll be discussing.

Drums are totally buried in the mix, ESPECIALLY cymbals, and all the instruments are flat. Also where are the toms? As slow and ponderous as the drums are here, the lack of them for fills REALLY shows how empty the writing is. Snare sounds flat and lifeless too.

Drums need more compression overall. The only instrument I can really pick out is a poorly tuned snare with a serious ringing overtone that clashes with the key of the song.

Kick is also very tinny and lacking in meat. Compress it. Apply EQ. Kicks shouldn't interfere with your bass frequencies much at all, though.

Speaking of bass, it's almost non-existent here. Remember, the purpose of bass is NOT to be replaced by low-tuned baritone guitars, but to beef up the rest of the track and breathe life into it. I can hardly hear the bass at all. No pick noises, no nothing. Don't hide your bass! It's better to have it too loud and have to turn it down later than missing it almost entirely. I can hear it just on the edge of perception, and that really bugs me. Some of the best metal has a prominent bass line, which it sounds like you've shoved into the corner here.

Think about that. It's the same as if you'd made your drums virtually inaudible. You'd rob one of the essentials of the track!

Finally, this piece as a whole does not excite me, move me in any particular way, or impress me. These are things I already know I can expect from you. The song itself has all the excitement of a backing track for an emo band ballad. This is not to say that it's bad or completely boring, or even without merit. It's just missing something.

JDawg00100 responds:

Thank you for the detailed review

[Mi Pasion]

Johnfn summed it up for me, trumpet samples so terrible, they're currently offending me, and this is after an update. Now, they offend me less than the piano, but still not by much. I don't listen to much salsa/latin stuff, so, I'm not the best judge of writing on this front, but nothing stood out to me as wrong, and the mixing was well done.

One thing I don't like is how tinny and synthy absolutely everything sounds. Doesn't sound very humanized or like the velocity was very varied between individual hits. Will say the bass is the best sounding line you've got going for you. The brasses on the right channel harmonizing sound so … gross, I'd be happier to hear something else completely out of place, as long as the sonic integrity were preserved to some degree. That said, writing is very apt and stylistically appropriate. Objections to sound quality aside, this is something I could easily listen to in a stylistically appropriate game, movie, or perhaps even restaurant.

So, to sum up, I hate the brasses and piano, but it's a good piece, if a little short.

[Last Will]

Synth instruments were very tinny and canned sounding, but that's a common problem. Biggest issue was their volume and raw, unpolished sound overpowering the rest of the track. You also share the same problem as most independent producers writing metal. Guitars sound thin. Bass is hiding in the mix. Snare sounds a little dead. Cymbals are also buried. I do like the kick, however.

Writing is well done, and I haven't gotten bored, although I must say that pad and the chords just ported around in the same perfect fifths, etc., and that's pretty boring when it isn't guitars doing it. Makes it obvious, I suppose, because other instruments lack the distorted quality that guitars have. Intro would have been sweet without that pad – or just with a monophonic triangle wave/low-passed saw wave. Glitzy fantasy noises and sweeps are of course all the rage.

What I really wish is your guitars were brought up to the same standing level as those tinny synths, bass was turned up, grittier, given a bit more high end, and those synths were given a little more shape to their sound. As is, it almost sounds like riding on presets. I'm not even sure I can hear an actual bass guitar, which is sad, because bass guitars are just nice. A baritone guitar or 8 string is no replacement for a bass. The synth bass used had a nice tone to it, but I could barely hear it over the other synths and guitar.

Also, the drum mix is one huge problem. They're flat, dead, sound like a metronome, are not compressed well, panned somewhat too extremely, somewhat too dry, and are utterly buried in the mix. The drums are important! Let them drive your track home!

The cymbal roll to start with is very sensitive dynamically, but it's literally the only cymbal part that sounds good, dynamic, and pretty. The rest sound sonically dead. Those multiple hits in the are machine gunning really badly. Snare and bell hits really take me out of my element. Anything 16th notes and faster on your perc honestly is making me cringe. If you can't make it sound good, write around it and avoid it at all costs. Good writing includes accounting for what you're working with, not just mindblowingly awesome ideas. The bestest, most complex song in the world is worthless if no one can do it justice.

I also sincerely hated that pad. This is not jazz, and if you pay attention, you can hear all sorts of notes outside of the chords we're working in here. In terms of turning me off of a musical moment, it was the worst offender. Didn't like the decay or release times on it either. Needs to be tighter, with less bleed-over into the next chord.

Guitars themselves were fine. Although at times they sounded very muted or very crunchy at points where it was dynamically insensitive for them to be so. No, I'm not talking about that low-pass, hi-pass cheat up at the first half of the song. More specifically, the breakdown at around the 3 minute mark, we get the solo we're yearning for, but it's short lived and sounds like your DI box might have swallowed a potato. Your lead guitar sounds like it's hiding behind a pillow made of rainbows and sunshine, as opposed to very bright synths! I can't really comprehend some of your dynamic choices either. As this is metal, guitar should be prominent (although not overpowering), yet even when the guitar has the lead, the synths are EXTREMELY loud in comparison.

So, in essence, reasonably well-written song marred by shoddy mixing, mastering, and questionable dynamics. I enjoyed the listen, but a lot of problems stand out. Also felt the bells and piano at the end were so quiet and short, they may as well not have been there. The song could have just as well ended with one of the classic metal stingers and I'd be unbothered.