ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[GTB ft. Himeko - Tomorrow(Is The Day) [PREVIEW]]

You really love sidechain :P

The piano could really use modulation on those notes. Mainstream music used to think the happy-hulk-plonk was cool but in reality, it dies on the ears once you've heard it a few times in other songs and just sort of sounds generic. Velocity and modulation are your friends when it comes to "classical" keyed synths like the piano.

Vocals aren't really sticking out. Could use some compression, chorus, EQ -- they're really drowning in the (admittedly pleasant) instrumental. It's like trying to listen to a conversation in a club when all of the sudden the crowd's absolute JAM comes on. The end result is struggling to hear what the hell the other person is saying. Would be fantastic if not for that. Make the vocals pop, so the listener doesn't jack the volume until their eardrums do trying to hear them.

Thanks for the review request, and sorry it took me a year to get around to them. Depression is killer, I tell ya. Anyway, hope this gives you some insight for future mixes.

[GTB - Break My Fall (Preview #2)]

Interesting. I like the bass especially. Just wishing the percussion were more prominent in the mix, and the sidechain was not *quite* as heavy as it is. It's leaving a bit of stab on the attack, resulting in a disorienting spike rather than the ducking effect. Bell-like leads are also a bit too loud relative to the rest of the track.

[TheFatRat - Monody (feat. Laura Brehm) [GTB Remix] DEMO]

Responding to your review request from around this time last year.

I have to say, Laura's vocals are probably the focal point of this song for me. Instrumentation could be stronger. I'm not feeling a lot of sub bass. Sort of feels like the high end and the mid chomp up the bass. Hats are pleasant, but I'm not really hearing anything but them, the vocals, and ... It just isn't meshing. Not that it's bad. It just could use some improvement. Probably would back down the hats a db or two and bring up the accompaniment, and maybe drop that bass arp an octave.

Dj-Gonzo responds:

Thanks for all the reviews you made. I respond all of them here because I am finishing this remix at the moment, and I feel that you'll see that "just sidechain" isn't anymore my production skill ;D.

These songs from 2015 are pretty inconsistent in their mixing, I was learning to use compressors, EQs n stuff back then, so yeah, I couldn't agree more with your point there.

Again thanks for reviewing all my requests, so, if you want to see my "evolution" as an amateur producer, I would like you to check out my 2016 songs, specially Alma or, by the end of this week, the final version of this remix.

Hope you enjoyed the songs I made, it's always glad to recieve constructive critizism :)

Thank you, EDM364.

>GTB