ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Voices of Shadow (Remastered)]

Right off the bat, I think you can make this track sound a lot cleaner by simplifying your bass elements from the intro, meaning where you have two instruments in the same tonal register, making sure they don't play conflicting notes. You have 2-3 bass instruments playing the tonic/root note of the key on top of each other, and you also have a lot of reverb.

The drums stick out well due to volume, but I actually think they can be turned down somewhat and sidechained harder. They also have a lot of reverb on them, which is fine, but that reverb should be low-cut to around 150-250 hz. You can also use this verb on a send track to more finely control it.

The track is really sausage fattened, so any clashing frequencies and mud are really obvious.

But beyond being muddy, I like the overall idea and mood of this track, as well as the synths used. I'm not sure what genre I'd call it, but it ain't bad at all. Keep doing what you do -- moody synth beats. I would just recommend doing some YT school-time on mixing your preferred genre cleanly!

6.6/10

[May It Remain Untouched - [NGMT '24 WINNER PHASE 1]]

Oh, it's been a while since I heard from you! This may be the most interesting piece I've heard from you over the years.

I would suggest watching the resonances of your verbs from the intro up to the timpani roll and stinger. They're a bit dirty sounding to my ear and sound a bit 80's olskool plate-verby.

The instrument variety of this piece is part of what makes it interesting to listen to, but also part of what makes it hard to nail down a concrete theme -- not scoring based on that criteria, just making a note since you mentioned Reclaimed Land was a theme. This reminds me of Age of Empires and Age of Mythology scores with those movements around 3:48.

I would work to nail down those transitions a bit more -- particularly around 4:31. The ascending shepherd's tone could use to be stereolized either through a second instance at a different part of the scale panned a bit right, and the low cello/double bass part there sounds a bit inauthentic both in soft clipping as well as its articulations. You can lessen this problem by making the low string into an ensemble, rather than what sounds like a single instrument.

The transition from 5:35 to close sounds very much like some Eric Whitacre pieces I love from yesteryear. Love that.

I would handle your percussion and chimes a bit differently. For example, push the chimes back in the space, and bring the percussion to the front and set them at louder volumes, with a relatively short hall verb. The value of the ensemble, even if you must use different instrument instances, is not to be discounted. The chimes to me sounded too in my face, with too much low-mid/mid-mid, and the perc sounded a bit hollow.

But besides that your arrangement and imagination in terms of approaching this piece were phenomenal. Great work!

8.2/10

carboluka responds:

Thanks for the review. I'll admit I've learned a lot from composing this song, including how not to make a reverb feel plate-y or resonant. That's... after I published the song unfortunately 😅

Lack of a clear motif is a fair critique, but I had unfortunately the limitation of using three instruments at a time, which could absolutely kill an orchestral song (of this length no less); just didn't want to make it too stale sonically and thematically, especially since it encompassed the theme of "reclaimed land" which is pretty vague; nonetheless, I tried to make each section long and developed enough to justify its place and existence.

We'll see if that's enough🤞

[Snikio - Sound of Death (AIM 2024)]

INTERESTING string sound in the intro. It sounds somehow organic AND electronic at the same time.

I must admit I'm a tough customer as far as this genre goes, since I also produce trap hip-hop. That 808 is modulated VERY well, however, it's just not hitting as hard as you need it to, potentially because it's too far down in the mix relative to the snare and melodic/non-percussion rhythm instruments. I would turn it up and clip the crap out of that 808, as it doesn't sound like the sample is bad, just a bit flabby in the mix!

Your cinematic elements would 100% melt my face, IF that bass issue were fixed! They are well written and orchestrated, pun intended ;) It's just that the 808 is the foundation of any track and in this case it seems to be lacking a bit of gas. If you can't hear what I'm talking about, let me know what kind of monitors or headphones you're working with. I'd be interested to see if I can replicate what you're hearing.

Now, looking at your waveform, I see it is decently fat, but in this genre, it could probably be fatter. What you want out of this particular genre is an 808 that sounds STUPIDLY loud and clipped, followed by the snare and potentially hi-hat in terms of loudness. The pillowy kick should be subtle, in order not to make the 808 seem smaller than it really is. Lead instruments and other rhythm instruments play second fiddle to 808 and perc in almost every instance.

I also would have widened, chorused, and potentially made an ensemble out of your string lead. It sounds a bit centered and thin on the drop.

Beyond that, great sound design and really interesting to my ears!

7.6/10

Snikio responds:

wow!! thank you for your thoughtful and detailed review.

This is the first time I've ventured into this genre haha. I listened to it on as many different types of speakers as possible and mixed it to what I thought was optimal. But I think my understanding of the genre is not quite there yet. I will take your words to heart and keep them in mind when creating tracks in the future.

I've rarely received such constructive reviews before, so thank you very much. I know how much harder it is to write a review than it looks.

[Chocnoon - Trance Pad Attack (DLXXVIII)]

First off, love Skodwarde icon <3

Second, intro sounds REALLY familiar -- I think I have that fill somewhere lol. I think the drums sort of lay there for the majority of our intro though, same pattern, somewhat predictable transitions using the same fill -- mix it up a bit.

I also think you could sidechain that kick and duck your pads/leads/etc out of the way of the kick, make it more driving.

Interesting choice to have the lead balanced to the right through 1:52.

The track is not bad at all, just sort of lays there to my ears and is a bit flat -- no elements really stick out as overly gripping, the patterns stay about the same throughout. You could have used key changes or some other transitions to induce more drama. I also think that the drums could be pushed harder in terms of compression. The build at 2:52 was the most interesting portion of the song, and that too could have been pushed harder dynamically or in terms of pitch range -- it started off quite well, just didn't quite hang onto the drama!

I also think in terms of mastering, you could mix a bit cleaner in the sub range and push harder with dynamic compression/saturation and so on. Additionally, subtle panning play on percussion and slap-back reverb/delay on perc/claps would have made so much difference for the overall vibe and spatiality of this piece.

Don't get me wrong though, I dig it, or I wouldn't bother writing!

6.7/10

[ADR3-N / 2 / 17 / A200]

@Cyberdevil, actually, it's not on @Aalasteir, it's on me! I ended up house sitting on the days I was supposed to be doing recording in post and TOTALLY FORGOT!

If Aalasteir doesn't mind hastily appending it somewhere inside here with a disclaimer, and you don't mind hearing something I recorded in haste through an AI model of my own voice, it may YET be fixed! Pending a response on that because it's been like 10 minutes since I sent the file *blush*

But anyway, the reason for my 5, aside from the screw up with those questions -- accidents happen! -- it was extremely fun to talk this time around. As before, you came prepared (Aalasteir), and your editing is again very, very natural considering the many side-bars taken and lots that aren't on the record!

Aalasteir responds:

You are super nice! I'm very grateful that you have patience with me.

I acknowledge that I could have done a better job of being better prepared, which would have prevented me from missing your questions, @Nebulate @Cyberdevil super sorry!

@ADR3-N I'm grateful for your help. Stay awesome!

[Szad - Hot16 (Czyszy rmx)]

The vocal mix *could* be a little better -- fuller and a bit more present. I don't speak polish yet, but the vocal has that special attraction Russian used to have for me, before I spoke it. Dope beat reminds me of the early 2000s. <3

Czyszy responds:

Unfortunately, I only had a fully mixed .mp3 acapella to work with. Szad himself had become pretty unhinged at some point and after going apeshit with conspiracy theories, he eventually removed all of his social media. Oh, and then he went to jail for kidnapping.

[Nya]

Барабаны в интро такие классные. Мне нравятся.

Кроме баланса в миксе, критики у меня нет. Мне кажется что кик и малый барабан играют громче чем требуется в данном жанре. Советую их уменьшить значительно -- или по крайне мере делать громче пэды/keys (дай мне пожалуйста слово для keys, спс за ранее, просто забыла) чтобы они соответствовали к громкости основных ритмических элементов))

Сайдчейн придумали именно потому что надо было обмануть мозг, чтобы он воспринимал кик громче чем на самом деле есть в треке. Без него, конфликты между бассом и киком заставляют нас либо применить эквалайзер, либо писать линию басс чтобы не звучал он одновременно с киком, либо делать кик невероятно и даже безумно громким. Используя сайдчейн, мы избавимся от этих проблем и можем значительно уменьшить громкость кика, и кстати малого барабана. В этом хитрость сайдчейна, кик тище чем раньше, но звучит он мощнее.

Басс пожалуйста делай погромче. Мониторы у меня гудят на низких частотах, но басс не казался особо заметным.

Но кроме всего этого, трек просто класс!

G2961 responds:

О, спасибо за отзыв! Я очень ценю это!
(да просто можешь писать keys как "клавишные")

Да я чё-то этого всего не слышал, у меня просто ужасные наушники, к сожалению. Большое спасибо за замечание!

[Website Stuff]

Learn to code, they said
It'll be fun, they said

Me, 5 minutes and a nice headache later:
this song

This song reminds me of the Shoes jam from the mid 00's YT glory days, and in a good way.

OPFX responds:

That has to be the best compliment I've ever received.

[Nightfall]

I can't believe I never left a review on this in all these years. I just want to say, it slapped in '03. It slapped in '06, and even today it leaves an impression. My dad had this on a wakeup playlist back in the day, and I remember it very fondly.

[Paradigm (feat Burn7) - Instrumental]

Came here to drop 5. Stayed for arrangement and lyrics. I was hoping to hear them!

I think the mix could use some revisiting to bring out the rhythm guitars on the sides more, perhaps take some verb off those kicks and toms. Essentially carving out space for bass to exist in the center channel relatively unmolested. I wonder if what could be causing some of the flat feel could be monitors or cans which don't translate that sub noise, and at the same time over accentuate highs. There's something called RealPhones I recently learned about which you can grab to effectively mix on headphones, but it's paid.

3:19 where the mix is less condensed, it sounds more ideal -- the compressor is really clamping down on the mix as a result of those thick bass frequencies. Cutting some verb wet and bringing the kick down will help. You can actually use sidechain to make sure the transient cuts through without harming too much of anything, and adjust it for each individual track so that it isn't very noticeable, then trim down the kick to a more manageable for the compressor volume.

Sorry if I'm writing a book and it seems to be all critique! Just know that I have no other negative comments about anything else. I very much enjoyed it!

FarFromSundown responds:

I always love the critic and feedback! I really do need to get better at sidechain for the exact reason you're describing. I just moved and am still trying to figure out the best Cost effective way to do vocals without disrupting my neighbors (now that I have them lol). But this is the first track to get vox on it when I do!
Thanks for the feedback!