ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Phunk]

Lovely fusion of genres!

At 1:00 and so far my only complaint is stereo image and presence of bass. On stereo image, perhaps could be helped with subtle slapback delays ping-ponged to the opposite channel to which a track is panned for side instruments. Wider panning and perhaps stereo imaging plugins to give width there on individual tracks would help. I like to cheat and use cymatics diablo or KSHMR's free kick plugin for that.

At 2:00 we have a slightly over present bass. But the track is bumping along. Not bothering me much at all.

3:11, I think I have that snare! LOL. Love what you're doing with it. I think you could potentially modulate a rubberized turntable effect on the -2/3 semitone snare to simulate a different intonation, as the lower snare does stick out a bit. Perhaps even pitch bend it so that the lower note is exactly in tune. That can also make a difference.

I would like wetter top snares.

Your brass samples are placed perfectly, and vocals sound good.

That dinging -- it sounds like metal pipes clanking together, could have some low end rolled off of it.

Otherwise, fire. Great work!

[Aster - Imoistar 6]

Right off the bat, I want a sub below those growls, right center, probably a square wave for presence.

Otherwise, loving the chaotic noise going on here, and how the snare blends with the reesy rhythmic drones in the intro.

By the time the 2nd snare enters, the high frequencies are a bit overwhelming. The ring on that snare is right in the frequencies of my tinnitus and could probably be rolled off slightly without losing any edge to the track as a whole.

What I do love is your play with distortion and saturation throughout. Beautiful. However, I do feel there could be more contrast in arrangement, like say dnb drops with more fancy noises, as opposed to the slower dubstep like dirge we have for the second drop. To explain what I mean, "verse" sections with percussion arranged as you have for your second drop, and drops as dnb. Perhaps implement more obvious builds as well.

Mix feels like at points it is too wide, very high mid and treble heavy, with not enough low mid and sub to feel pushed. Could potentially be suffering from over reverberation and a very loud mix prior to compression -- that will lead to this issue very quickly, sucking energy from your bass as low mid and sub frequencies on your wet reverb push your bass out of the way.

Due to over reverb and delay, as well as some eq choices, I am having a hard time hearing your cymbals and hybrid cymbal percussion. Panning play, transient shaping, and simply moving things out of the way to make room for the cymbals will help that.

I still really enjoyed it though. Great work, and love the cover art.

[Half Sure]

Before I've even listened, I love your lyrics and lyrical theme. It's endemic to the human experience. Anyone who hasn't felt this, hasn't felt the feeling of being alive: loss, aimlessness, apathy, joy and its absence. I feel you, and I'm there with you now. Hang in there <3

In your intro, I would like more stereo width on your breaks and perhaps a more thinned out sound. They are having trouble cutting through the mix throughout.

Enjoy the vocals. Perhaps could thin out the low mid and bump the frequencies around your s's, in exchange for a manual de-ess. FX on them are pretty smooth, as well as transitions. They could potentially come down by .3 to .4 in the final mix/master.

Bass also could use a bit more high mid and presence in the center channel. It feels as if your sub has been stereo spread.

The guitars feel disjointed in the stereo space and a bit dry, as well as somewhat loud on clean lines. The rhythm/chords in the left are hard to make out due to fuzz. Perhaps a bit more careful eq before hitting the head will assist.

Otherwise, beautiful composition and flow. I found myself wanting one more chorus after the outro, honestly. I like it a lot!

SkankyMojo responds:

Thank you very much, I really appreciate the detailed feedback and kind words.

[Something's Wrong]

Well enjoyed with lights off, for sure! But I need to type or I'll lose my place

Where the brass comes in, controlling those attacks is imperative, lest they twah twah. Think I would appreciate a thicker ensemble there -- moving individual midi notes back so that they begin to sound where it suits your down beats will do the trick for the first problem -- see 1:10

Insane sound design

I think this would fit great in cinematic, as it very much sounds like a film score

Only wish it were longer. I could listen to this for ... 8 minutes single play. Realistically speaking, for an entire movie

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Sorry for the late reply! I've had a crazy year. Thanks for listening with the lights off <3

I agree 100% about the brass. I also think it should be a bit less quantized. What I normlly like to do is delay compensate so that the instruments hit in the beat! I won't be too hard on myself though, as I wrote this during my honeymoon, on a laptop xD

I'm so happy you appreciated the sound design! That's definitely where I placed most of my effort for this piece :3

[The Big Band Theory]

Some of the best music is made in fighting that damnable depression. I'm with you <3

I have to say, swinging piece. My few complaints are reserved for articulations of repeated staccatos, a bit of excess reverb on big sections, the double bass could use just a bit more string noise imo as it doesn't sound as bright as the rest of the ensemble, and some instruments sound a bit more centered than I feel would convey a big band setting. Aside from hihats, the rest of the ensemble sounds a little dark, and I think the hihats could conversely come down a bit in the mix as a result.

Writing wise however, you utterly destroyed that drum solo. Holy shit was I not expecting that. Beautiful. And your writing otherwise is standout as always. I envy you in the most positive sense of that word. Great work. This one was a treat!

[FACUNDO GARDIOL - One More Time ( Slap House )]

I think that clap in the beginning as well as transition noise (at least the white noise sweep) could be softer

Same at the drop -- want softer cymbals, softer clap, just slightly (or alternatively vary volume/velocity of 1st clap)

I think I would like less of the low octave double to that acapella, more high mid on the upper octave, and a bit of tremelo panning 17% left and right, if not an obvious delay/chorus/widening effect. as is it sounds a bit dry.

The length of this track is a bit of a detractor for me. I wanted one more drop. But otherwise fabulous house track. Great work!

[Following]

the intro is straight nostalgic NUT

at 29 I think your clappish sample could come down a bit, and bring up the break snare

I think your structure and transitions are great in terms of filtering. Maybe a bit off in terms of mix, as your sub is pretty loud, and growls are a bit down initially. At the drop prior to 1:30, I feel the basses and growls are spread a bit far in the stereo field. Yearning for more center and clipping/drive in the mids. Dropping a baby sub underneath them might help.

The transition at 2:11 was unexpected. Section is good there but would have liked a bit more obvious tip we were going to change genre for a sec!

I think the mix at 2:55 is suffering from over compression. It sounds pretty full in my ears with lots of verb that is muddying the clarity

At 3:18 the hihat is WAY loud

But otherwise, I think you've done a FANTASTIC job. Nice and varied piece with good themes and pretty solid structure. Great work! Don't be so hard on yourself <3

[Waiting For You (WIP) NGADM 2023]

A lot of great ideas here, and that vocal sounds great

I can sort of hear the unfinishedness in that beyond the vocal, the mix sounds a bit flat -- in the sense kick and snare are not at the front of the mix, there appears to be no side chain or synths on the side beyond the keys with which we initially began.

However, it is not by any means bad at all, and is worth listening to, for sure! I think you should revisit this piece and update at a later date. I really like it! The minor touch at the end was a nice move as well which I feel added new depth to the rest of the track.

Some things you can do to tentatively add a "finished" sound is to implement subtle crashes and reverse crashes, and the occasional percussion, rhythmic textures, etc. That will do a lot for that finished sound, even if it only takes half an hour to figure out where to put all of them. Crashes is the big thing, as I noticed the lack of them upon further listening. They add a sense of going places, and no one knows why, but they work.

Tbh I'm giving you the cheatcodes I use when I myself can't figure out how to finish a song, hehehe

MusicSashik responds:

Thank you so much for writing this review. It's always a bit "scary" to be judged, but I'm so glad to receive feedback. If it weren't for you, I'm not sure I would have received any tips. Having constructive feedback is very beneficial, and I completely agree with what you're saying. Thanks!

[Quantize My Heartbeat (NGADM 2023)]

Definitely very, very punk. Love it.

could use some more attentive de-essing of vocals -- simple enough with manually ducking the s's, t's, sh if needed.

There are some issues of clarity -- kick, snare should be up a bit more in the mix, guitars down perhaps a little, bass up on bigger sections, crashes down by a bit as well

throughout, guitars are a bit loud to be sustained by the rest of the mix

Otherwise, cute, catchy, punky. I dig it!

CrossCarrasco responds:

Thanks for the feedback!

[anxiety]

While I may not necessarily be in love with the intro to first bit of verse in terms of performance (I feel they could have been a bit more confident is all!) as soon as all comes together with the two of you singing proud, song is gold!

There are a few issues where on multiple takes I can hear dead mic noise. Noise reduction in RX7 or another softwhere which will allow you to learn deadnoise pattern and intelligently remove it from the signal will usually do the trick without damaging the takes as EQ or multiband might. I experimented with my own airconditioner ruined takes, and 2 passes did it, learning the silent portions between for each. The worry prone such as myself will do well to save a copy prior and save over the file with the noiseless version thereafter.

I actually think the balance toward Trois' choral portions could be a bit more open. At present she is hiding in the mix on the bigger vocal sections, when I would really love to hear that free, breathy quality there hiding in the mix. Potentially bring Chris and the guitars down just a tad to make room for her? Hmm..

Beyond that on larger sections the dead noise does come into play where there are multiple takes and cuts, but again you are working with TONS of them in the project so this is understandable. You're doing an older chorus method, overdubs and so on, so there is going to be lots of noise, and it's hard to be rid of all of it!

In terms of instrumentation, composition, and lyrics, and all elements brought to the fore save what I have already mentioned, you two have brought to the table something so, so special. Working absolute magic over there across the pond. Fantastic work, and as always, lovely to hear from you <3