ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Porter Robinson - Natural Light // Remix]

Very interesting chords in the beginning and lo-fi ish sounds. I like that. You aren't quite using the entirety of the sound space here though. Do you have a master limiter on any of your tracks, including the master?

One of your transitions clipped like crazy. Just didn't sound good. Around 1:15-1:16. Other than that, interesting track. Watch for that high and low end clipping especially. Very unique style. Reminds me somewhat of Zomby.

[Porter Robinson - Flicker // Remix]

Really could use a master limiter. The volume is not consistent at all throughout. Vocal samples are interesting, but it really doesn't get anywhere until around 1:30. A lot of people will not be willing to listen quite that long before they hit the skip! Really like the idea of the track though, so plus half a star for that.

Mixing wise, watch your low frequencies. See how they interact, interfere, cancel each other out, or resonate. This is your biggest problem. Watch for redlining on the mixers too. I always masterlimit tracks approaching that upper volume limit. It eliminates unintentional clipping.

You could really benefit from more hi-hats and crashes, maybe some sidechaining. Without it, there seems to be very little flow in the high sound registers, if much at all. Keep at it though!

[AIM - It's Not You, She's Dead]

AIM Judging Review
------------------
I'll keep this short for the sake of leaving you a digestible critique.

Sounds very 80's, not quite unlike something I'd expect to hear from this genre, especially with the arps and gates. Also clearly represents the artistic subject matter, an endless horde of zombies to kill. Props for that. Very relevant.

My main complaint is that, though darkwave typically doesn't have much diversity in its melodic matter, the percussion fell a bit flat. You may want to look at compression, EQ, and reverb there -- perhaps even some panning. The track as a whole could have done with a master limiter on top. It isn't making the most of the soundspace volume wise, sitting around 80% peaks.

Most professional studios abuse master limiters, but the appeal to the human ear cannot be denied -- the louder it is, the more pleasant it is perceived, and compression can create that illusion of loudness. Side-chaining, another form of compression, could be used to great effect to bring out those drums. I feel like they're fighting to come through the lower frequencies a bit. Some of your other arps are suffering in this vein too, and it's hurting your builds. Other than that, the mixing is on point.

Composition wise, there could be a little more variation. It feels like listening to the same track loop prematurely. Fade out is also abrupt. On the flip side, I don't see much you could have done besides dropping in a few drum fills to keep things fresh. Darkwave doesn't really lend itself to compositional insanity.

Keep plugging at that DAW! Definitely enjoyed this one.

[Onion]

Well, some of the sound effects were nice. Other than that, the longer this drug on, the more annoying certain overused sounds became.

LavaRift responds:

Wow I was going for 1 star.

[Patterns (Orchestral Remix)]

I don't know about you, but an electric piano doesn't belong in a classical setting to me. Neither does an electric bass or rock drums. Sounds better, I suppose, than the original, but it still sounds like literally a midi port of the other song. I assume this is exactly what it is until 2:10, at which point it just becomes ridiculous. Can't really call this classical at all.

The whole song is disjunct. There are no transitions. Sort of just lays there.

LavaRift responds:

I know how bad this is. It is very far in my past, and I didn't know what classical meant.

[{DJ-L} NightBlender]

Doesn't really sound like dubstep at all to me, except your drums, which sound like loops. There really is not much progression going on here, just the same stabs over and over. I would press skip on this.

Also, there isn't much of a drop at all. It just sounds like the same off key melody ported into the bass, which also sounds like a Mixcraft preset.

No offense, just isn't my thing. Definitely would send this one back to the drawing board, at least to fix the phrasing, so it doesn't feel like building up to another build up, to a nothing. Also, where are hats? Crashes?

LavaRift responds:

I know

[{DJ-L} Patterns]

It's interesting, I'll give you that. The drums really aren't doing anything for the mix though, as quiet as they are. I've got to say, I really don't like the electric piano. It just just sounds cliche.

I wouldn't classify this dubstep at all. There's no drop, just some computer noises. I suggest studying your genres more.

LavaRift responds:

Thank you for the feedback.

[Stargenx - The Whale]

The louder you sing, the better it sounds. Otherwise, kind of odd. Your arranging is good, but I would definitely redo your vocals. Could use some finer tuned mixing as well. The instrumental could stick out a bit more and I wouldn't complain.

EDIT 4/16/2024: I don't know what crack I was smoking in 2016. There's a lot of reverb, and that's probably what I was complaining about. And to a degree the vocals sound like they're being performed live on stage vs the studio. You know what I'm talking about. That difference in presence. Anyway, I found you again through @LJCoffee's (the guy who scouted me years ago) scout list. Hope you're well!

Stargenx responds:

Thanks for the review! Very understandable!

[Buzz Word]

This shit makes me happy, period. Literally cannot understand why it hasn't blown up more speakers than the plays tell me it has. Could use just a bit more bass, but that's a bit subjective. Otherwise, pretty perfect, and your writing is impeccable. :)

Hikari responds:

Woah, thank you a lot for your review and time! I completely agree with you. I feel like I could have decreased the dynamics in the sub a hair and increased the volume by a solid db. Happyhardcore is a bit out of my norm but it's been a life long dream to make a song in the style. It's kind of funny, when I started making music when I was 12 all I wanted to do was make rave and hardtrance. So this was kind of a throw back to those days. Another interesting point is that I had originally made this melody to show a friend how to sequence, make a chord progression and how to arrange. I liked the melody but I had no idea what to do with the it so I just threw it in the archive. A few months later I got bored and decided to look through my old project files. When I rediscovered "nice melody.flp" I got instantly inspired. Thank you again for your listen!