ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Liquid]

Interesting stuff. It's a lot more sonically tight than your older stuff and a lot less clashing chords. It's lacking definite progression and hi-hats in some places. I wouldn't necessarily say this is techno though. Techno is usually around the 120's to 130's in BPM. Certainly doesn't grate on my ears though. Keep at it!

[Crystal]

Oh here come those old disco perc samples! lol. That's a small fondness for me. This is interesting. Sounds like String Thing or M-Theory synth. I see you found dubstep drums. This is kinda nice. Sounds like the intro to an album.

Suggest studying common chord structures and playing with those.

LavaRift responds:

Thank you. I think that this is one of my best tracks. I don't exactly remember the chords I used but it started with C.

[Drop It Hard]

Interesting beginning. Still not dubstep, but I do sort of dig it. Drums could use more prominence in the mix.

That could have been a sick drop, but take a look at most dubstep drum patterns and the bpm, which should be at or near 140, not 120, not 170, etc.

LavaRift responds:

Thank you for the feedback.

[Zelda II Palace Theme (DJ-L Remix)]

Sounds like you ran the leads through a distortion pedal. A bit obnoxious at the beginning. Not awful but not really my thing. Sounds like a midi port. I would suggest toning down that screaming lead. A lot.

LavaRift responds:

Thank You for the feedback. I realized that I forgot to mix/master this once I had exported it.

[Acidized]

Overall, sort of going nowhere and annoying, but it seems as if you did put time looping everything and writing the scaling notes.

There's some progression, but this is just weird for me. I'm not really sure what's going on. The instrument change at 1:35 wasn't bad. It sounds like you're using Adonis synth a lot.

Watch your low register. The bass frequencies are conflicting and not resonating well together.

LavaRift responds:

Thank you for the feedback! I actually used sytrus and harmor to construct this song.

[AIM - The Power of the Dark Side]

The weakest part of this song is its panning and reverb. Too much reverb on lower frequencies, but good transitions. This is otherwise pretty alright, but the panning is murdering me. Good growls. I would like to see what bass synth you use.

Could use more harsh leads. As is, they are kinda laying there.

I would have loved it if the bass were more or less panned center, same with some of the drums not auto panning to left. Also, hi-hats are almost grossly ignored in some parts. Use them to your advantage!

Other than that, not a bad track. It had moments that hooked me despite its weak points. Really needs more hi-hat. Panning is taking all that extra hi-hat goodness away from the ear and confusing the brain. Would prob sound better on a stereo system than my dj headphones, but it's leaving a lot to be desired while still being listenable. Very repetitive, but that's the nature of a lot of DnB.

Just watch your reverb, don't pan so harsh, and remember hi-hats. Very fitting for the art, so props for that at least.

[High Voltage Funk]

Sounds really cheesy and is mixed kind of off. Needs a master limiter and some better volume leveling. Phrasing isn't bad, but your synths are killing your sound. They just don't really mesh well together, and there isn't much keeping what is supposed to feel like a high energy song... energized. I'm just not really feeling it. Needs more perc and maybe some side-chaining.

[Gentle Groove]

Not bad, but a bit short -- which isn't necessarily a detractor. I'd say this is sorta olskool.

[Against]

Pretty good arrangement, and didn't sound bad except some panning. It's kind of unbalanced, especially on headphones, which makes the drums stick out for, well, not sticking out.

Kick isn't as punchy as it probably should be. It sounds almost like slowly slapping your thigh -- kind of wet and meaty. Either that, or the rhythm and lead are all drowning it out in the mix.

Kind of feels like a loop. Not much variation. Also lead isn't sticking out at all and could certainly use a lot more variation. There just wasn't much differentiation in the lead between phrases, or any feeling of progression. You would've done well to perhaps have a solo section over this.

LexRodent responds:

Thanks a lot for the heads-up on the sound of drums. I did some tweaks to the drums recently, (to give them more presence ironically) and modified the overall drums volume. Also the guitars could use some additional cut on the lows.

The lack of variation is because this used to have vocals, and the voice track was a big part of it, sadly those vocal files are now lost forever. I'll try taking the whole rhythm guitar out, and add some overdrive to the bass to compensate, I'm sure this will give it a different and not so repetitive feel, while I can figure something else, a synth line maybe.