ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - BattleStorm]

Composition-wise, this is very nice, but the highs are completely drowning out all the bass frequencies. Also, some serious tuning issues on your guitars. It could be a consequence of downtuning, in which case I'd recommend heavier string gauges on the offending strings. Your intonation is suffering. Also not liking the chord structure on full bar chords. Leads to a lazy feeling and some notes are just dissonant.

Also, the reverb on that classical sounding snare needs taming. It sounds quite unnatural. In short, playing and composition, good. Mixing is really stealing the emotive power of this piece. Even got a bit of clipping here and there, unless my ears are tricking me.

NahuPyrope responds:

Thanks so much for the review!, my guitar... is actually broken, I can't intonate it at all, I have to change the floyd rose on it because of that problem, I'm using .74-.09, It's actually pretty impressive you noticed it!, I don't know about the clipping, I really took care of it.

I have to get a lot better at mixing tho!, or get someone that can mix for me, thanks so much again!

[Penderecki's Dream]

This piece makes me sick, in a good way. Like looking at burnt, blackened skin. I can offer no critique, but I can say I wish to all hell I knew where you got hands on a string library to accomplish this piece! Very nice.

Phonometrologist responds:

>>This piece makes me sick
I laughed so hard when I read this.
The string libraries represented here are these two:
8Dio's CASE Solo String FX and 8Dio's CAGE Strings

Thank you for commenting.

[AIM - Fugue in c minor]

Personally, the piece was not really to my taste, and it hangs a bit over the 6 minute mark, but the composition was not necessarily bad, just a bit monotone and sort of a wall of noise to me. It should be said that fugues are not my favorite things on earth. The lack of relative velocity differences between notes made this not very fun to listen to, and I can't seem to find the art. You may have linked it in the thread and I just can't find it. Oh well. Cheers for the writing.

[endK - Hybrid!]

Very strange piece, and spacey. I feel the percussion gets kind of lost in the mix. Kick is fine, underwatery, maybe. Snare just seems to be laying there. The rest of the track may not be to my particular musical taste and sound a bit preset-y, but that could be owed to the chord structures. I did enjoy the piece. Transitions were good.

endKmusic responds:

I love to experiment with panning and velocity when it comes to hi-hats and percussion in general (not kick and snare). Maybe that's the reason you said it's getting lost in the mix.
I wanted it to, let's say, flow - so it's not too linear.
And yeah, don't know what genre would it be, but was going for the melodies and transitions as the main focus of the song.
Thanks for another review :)

[AIM - Ultra Demon Cannibal Force]

A fantastic idea garbled together with the execution. The vocal filters and mixing are completely muddying the sound and soaring above the rest of the track in an unpleasant way. Generally, I adore screaming, but I can hardly understand it at all. Sometimes it sounds like holding a microphone in a wind tunnel.

TSRBand responds:

Thanks for the tips :D I have lots of practice to do with these vox, will definitely be trying other approaches in the future!

[AIM - Morgiana Dance]

Some elements are overly repetitive and synthetic, but overall, I enjoy this piece. Background percussion and that simple bass groove really steal the show and keep things moving. The rest I could say has already been said. Enjoyed the song thoroughly, and the art was well-represented. Good work!

[LL (Old) - Enslaved To The Pain]

This gives me a very keen, uncomfortable feeling. Probably stems from a lot of abuse in my life, suicide, etc. The double vocoder stack is not so much a bad idea as one that could have been taken better advantage of melodically, rather than in drone. Transitions are well done here, and poetry is quite evocative. It's just hard to get behind without an overarching melody in those vocals that cover up the hopeless atmosphere you've crafted.

Lich responds:

Ayyy, the stack was a weird one to control, very sensitive to even the slightest of changes. Pushing it through different notes via a carrier makes the stack sound wildly different and in many cases, worse. Keeping it as a monotone throughout the track and slapping extra chorus on ended up being the safest compromise in this case. I wish I was doing this through a hardware vocoder, much easier to do then haha. I'm usually used to doing Power Fry-Styled Aggrotech vocal processing on my pieces so this was a gamble I was willing to go for in the end.

[AIM - WANT]

The praises and complaints I have to offer have already been said, aside from a slightly dry piano. Atmospherically, this is a very pleasing piece. I could have gone with a little more happening around 2:10 than simply restating the same melodic idea. It feels almost artificially drawn out, even with that feel of wonderment and exploration. What's going on at 2:57 should have been going on an entire phrase ago! Very nice work, however. I thoroughly enjoyed.

[AIM - Nostalgic Recollection]

Good piece. Sonically reminds me of Pachelbel Canon, which while rudimentary, is pleasing. The atmospheric elements and delicate touch are what separates this track from a children's piece. Represents the artwork well, with a few nice surprises. There are some places where it really feels the melody is hammering down on some harmonies, though.