ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[A.I.M - Burning Witches Light My Way]

Fantastic arranging, only the releases on some of the instruments are a bit too short. I actually think the choir could have a bit more high end on the EQ.

Violins at some points have too short of a release as well and stick out just a bit more than they should, especially on shorter notes.

So other than some mixing problems and uncanny valley synth instruments, this was a beautiful listen. Great chord structures as well, and it fits the art perfectly. Salutes to you. :)

Shozi responds:

thank you very much! really glad you enjoyed it :) truely mostly i focused letting the piece harmonize with the artwork as much as i can. i hate mixing and thats why i suck at it. but well...a bit more practice and i should handle the mixing part some day :)

[A.I.M. The Way Home]

I can't hear what RF is saying about hihat. Sounds okay to me, other than sticking out a bit. Maybe it's too loud, or panned too far left. The song does very much sound like going home, but I'm not sure if it reflects the fantasy elements of the art.

Other than the above, the mixing of the song is pretty flawless. Very laid back. I like it. Just the hi-hat threw me off. Mic-ing on them is a little strange -- snare is far away from the hat.

I don't have much to say because I can't find anything wrong with the song. Considering it isn't my kind of staple music listening, that's saying a lot. Good work!

cody104 responds:

Thank you for your awesome review, glad you enjoyed the song. :)

[AIM: ZAZEN]

The panning and wah-wah was nice, but I feel the fuzz is a bit much. It's infecting everything :P

I also can hardly hear the bass for it. 1:06 felt like it should have been a big moment, but it just wasn't. It left me confused and wishing there was something more.

There's a lot of repetition here. It's by no means bad, and it does sort of remind me of a desert on something like Super Nintendo or ... Saturn or something. I can certainly tell you tried with the personal touches all over the synths and the effects. The fuzz just bothered me a bit, and the build up could have been more.. built.

Nice job otherwise!

[AIM - This is War]

Wow, have to say, this surprised me. There are points where it feels flat, or the leads overpower the guitar and drums. But overall, the guitar shines despite that. Lots of variation here. It's really interesting stuff. Sounds like your cymbals are suffering from a lack of high end though. Bass also lags a smidgen behind guitar at some points -- only a little.

Solo was abrupt but it was nice. With a bit more attention to mixing, some more low end, etc., this track would be flawless. Some reverb here and there and a second look at volume levels and compression would fix a lot of the issues here.

Great work!

NahuPyrope responds:

I'm aware of the lag issue, I don't really find what that is, I record in Reaper, and I oftend find, that after recording, I have to move the track like, 7ms, so it's sync'd with the other instruments, Thanks for the review, I'll have in mind what you told me.

Thanks so much!

[AIM - ホーガンのデッド]

I have to say, the synths feel flat to me, and the octaves are killing me. I do like the 7th chords, and it sounds pretty chill, but it just isn't satisfying a lot of the musical needs it brings up. Doesn't feel resolved... Most of this is the octaves of the root and really linear chord resolution. Parallel 5ths are really predictable. Mixing is not bad except for what sounds like distortion in the beginning. Outro isn't bad. I just don't like the overall chord progression, or the way that is written. It feels like being stuck in the same somewhat pleasant rut without ever tasting the carrot dangled in front of you.

[AIM - Unstoppable]

Mixing is pretty spot on until around 1:40, the musical content fits the art, and the vocals are a nice touch. Only think they could have been pumped up a bit or panned different in the mix.

Around 1:40, the melodic content of the synths is creating some serious dissonance with the choral sounds. This may be intentional. I don't know. It resolves pretty quickly. The sound actually made me tune in without wincing. I suppose that's a good thing.

Now that I think about it, the gated bass could probably be turned down a bit, and there's a bit of clipping toward the end. Watch for that.

All things considered, I do really enjoy the piece. It's short and sweet, and it's interesting. Beyond that, not much to say.

TIMETRAVL responds:

Thanks for your review:) will keep it in mind if ill write smth like this again:)

[A.I.M - Entering the Beast]

Your percussion and panning is killing my enjoyment of what would otherwise be a pretty neat track. The drums as a whole sound very cheap, are panned strangely, have points where some hits stick out far more than others, etc. Also, if you're going to pan your drums, pan them to places that make sense. Don't pan your toms all the way to the left channel on a fill when you've got cymbals on both sides! Standard set has the middle toms between the crash and ride and the low tom opposite the snare. Snare is usually to the player's left, therefore the listener's right, although sometimes producers will mirror this as it doesn't make much of a difference.

Make up your mind where you want your sounds! This bugged the ever loving crap out of me. I'd argue you should never pan anything TOTALLY right or left, as this unbalances the mix and just sounds weird, especially on headphones. Also, the kick is weak. Sounds like it's missing a lot of 50-60 hz. No oomph whatsoever.

Arrangement wise, your chords were pretty standard -- heard the exact chord structure more than once across NG, the radio, and my own playing tendency. It's just sort of natural, and it sounds okay. I'm not going to subtract any stars for lack of originality there. There were a lot of noise frequencies in the intro, though -- just idle static creeping in. Melody wasn't too complicated either. Maybe I'm just a music snob, but this is an easy enough key to play in, and eighth notes aren't hard to chug out. It sounds predictable, and not in a good way.

Lead is sticking out a bit too much in places. Note, lead guitar doesn't necessarily mean loudest guitar. Your lead and rhythm are burying the bass and drums completely. Mixing is absurdly muddy on them too.

Long story short, it isn't a bad track, but it isn't great. I did like the sort of trippy feel to it though. Without the panning issues and a little better compression on those drums, I might be inclined to give it a 4, but as is, it's a hard-won 3.