ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Soular Order]

This is pretty dope stuff. Probably would fit better in hip-hop though. It sounds like really laid back trap music. No real complaints here except I wish the sub bass were a bit louder and a bit more kick to it. Good work!

AnubisInc responds:

Yeah I understand that. Hip Hop people tell me that this sound isn't Hip Hop enough to be in the genre, and I get the same from EDM people, so I just post it as whatever lol.

[Farewell, Mushroom Man]

Interesting stuff going on here. Bass synth could use a little more modulation/velocity and sticks out a bit, probably just for being so plain and stabby while everything else is relaxed. Nice loop though, and good writing from what I'm hearing. Could just use some fine tuning on the mixing. Drums are totally hiding here, and trumpet lead is sticking out, super synthy and no soul going on there.

[unconventional]

Interesting to start off. Sounds like engines warming up, sirens, etc. at the beginning, then -- woah, such pretty noises at 30 seconds. You won me. This just sounds dirty, filthy... I want to know what went into this, what DAW, what VST, and Christ, if I own them, I want a preset, to see what we're playing with here lol. That sounds like a lot to ask.

1:00 is intriguingly gentle, with those reverse vocals, calming, before returning to that nice gritty, glitchy feel. I really like it. I feel that chorusy (delay?) effect took away from the silky death that was going on here though. Sounded good on headphones but my monitors didn't like it quite as much. Kind of drowned out your perc -- or just sat on top or beneath it.

Interesting stuff!

XEFSketch responds:

Thanks for the feedback!

As far as your questions:

The daw is FLStudio, VST's: mostly harmor and massive. Presets in massive are pretty simple just using band-reject filters on wavetables crude, melofantic, scrap-yard and sonic to get a mouthy-like sound. Growling sounds mainly focus on the midrange when it comes to "articulating" a raw gnarly sound. I also made sounds in massive, recorded them in edison and re-sampled them in harmor using a Hz-unison of 9 to get a liquidy sound. I just play around with resynthesizing a lot. Other effects that add to the mouthy-like sound are phasing and chorus.

The vocals were granualized and stretched out, the reason they sound quiet and displaced is I wanted it to sound like they were being suffocated and trying to speak out through the mess of noise, kinda like the sun peeking thru the clouds after a storm.

[Chocobo Boss Batltle??]

This is really interesting, but there's a ton of distortion in the final mix. Ruins it for me.

[Duality]

I've always been a fan of your overarching melodies. Probably one of the best EDM composers I've come to love in the past decade or so. The mixing on this one could use a bit of a tuneup though.

[Rooftops]

Pretty good stuff. Would have liked if the silence in the beginning were trimmed, or if something were happening during it. Your chord progression is simple but pleasing. A bit of tuning on that guitar would make a big difference. I can't tell if the strings are sharp or flat up top. Watch for slip-ups and notes not quite inside the chord. A little boo-boo can take your audience out of the experience for the rest of the track.

[Magic]

This is really interesting. Mixing could have been better, with a bit less reverb, more velocity and modulation, etc., but I was pretty blown away by the opening. My only problem is it seems not to go much of anywhere. There's just not a lot of dynamics. The string synths aren't really jiving with me. Could be the aforementioned velocity. Horns sound much nicer to me.

With a little cleaning of that reverb, some EQ, and better volume leveling, this could be pretty great. My chief complaint however would be some cluttering of melodic lines with close harmonies that sometimes result in dissonances. Watch for that in your future compositions. Simplicity can work for you if you let it.

[Sunny Day]

Interesting, and fun chord progression, but there's a lot of what sounds like perfect octaves and perfect fifths moving around, which generally doesn't feel great on tracks with leads sounding as if they could be a duet. It's late; not sure how I can better put that into words.

Velocity and modulation really could have brought out your chords here. As is, it sounds like slamming your hands on the MIDI keyboard -- coincidentally with pretty chords. The notes bleed together pretty badly. I would try for shorter decays and releases in addition to velocity and modulation. It kinda sounds like happy-go-lucky ukelele music. I've never been one for that sort of stuff but it has its place.

The kick and claps didn't bother me much, but I feel the leads buried them a bit. Would have been nice to see some hihats and crashes possibly, or even cymbal rolls, reverse cymbals, etc.

Overall, it was a fun listen but could use some serious check-up on the post production. Sounds like a demo in its infancy at this point.

If you've got another review request, I'm finally at the point in my life where I feel myself enough to enjoy that sort of thing. Lay 'em on me. :)

Hallow responds:

Haha, this is AGES old, from back when I had no idea how to produce and was just a former guitarist experimenting in FL Studio's demo. If I revisited it to flesh it out I would certainly have done pretty much everything you mentioned.

The "happy ukulele music" isn't far off - as I said in the description, I originally came up with the chord progression on guitar.

[GTB - Ascending To Heaven (Instrumental Mix)]

Opening, this just sounds fun, and your sweeping sidechain transition does pretty well. Reminds me of something beachy, honestly, like a Wave Race game. It's just got that happy, wind-in-your hair. I really like the keys on those chord stabs, though I feel more could have been done with them.

Transition at 1:00-ish is interesting, into those strings, with chords I don't often hear in this genre, and the bass sweeping into the new progression. I feel the keys should have crept back in at a less intrusive volume, but once there they mix well.

Build up to 2:20 gives us a satisfying bassline and keys, but that lead is a little weird and just feels like it's hanging out on top of everything. Distorted guitar lead also lays on top of the mix. It's sort of crowding out my ears, and the mix begins to distort. This is where the track loses its center for me. Those leads are waaaaay over the top, and everything starts to feel overcompressed, to the point of distortion. They're simply carelessly introduced and too loud. It is here the track loses all of its dynamics, and I feel the happy is being slammed down my throat almost.

Lack of fade-out ruined at good outro for me. Overall however this was a pretty pleasing sit and listen, with just a couple tacks in the chair. You'll get there though. Keep at it, and again, thanks for the requests. Brightened my night.