ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Lordant - Rain Elegy]

Lovely cinematic piece with very tasteful composition. I think my only gripes are that one, it's fairly short, some of the dynamic contrast is just slightly too loud here, or not loud enough there. At 1:20 I was sincerely hoping for a further development of the themes at 37 seconds, or a big blasting chorus. It really felt as if that was where we were going.

at 1:01, I felt there could have been a more dramatic swell into this moment, as well as dynamic contrast after, to follow into the build at 1:28

Overall, lovely composition, just wanted more punch! I always have the greatest expectations from you. Keep on doing what you do!

Lordant responds:

Thank you! The compositional aspects were a bit rushed, and I'm personally not totally satisfied with them, but I'm glad you liked the piece overall :)

[A New Discovery]

I'm loving this. Only a very few complaints. I would love to hear actually just a tad less sub throughout and more bright mids on guitar and bass. There is also a really, really high pitched squeal that I think is intentional, but could be reduced in volume.

As far as chord progression, the harmonic minor section works fantastically. Here I think that rhythm guitar needs to come out some more. Throughout, crashes and china could come down by as much as .4 dB, or be treated with an EQ to reduce just a bit of the mids and supra treble frequencies.

2:25 there is that sparkly chime with the high resonant squeal I was talking about.

Some of my mixing critique may be related to the level of compression used over or under emphasizing certain frequencies.

The gated chucka SFX in the outro/breakdown I think could use doubling, a bit more lo-mid, or perhaps even some stereo play. Overall though I think you've done a beautiful contemporary metal track. It djents!

BeyondOurEyes responds:

Greatly appreciate the love and feedback as always man! I've still got some tweaking I wanted to do on this one so I'll keep all this in mind when I revisit! \m/

[New World Order]

This reminds me of the good old days on NG. I think there could be more melodies sprinkled throughout, pads, and so forth. However, this is definitely a track to revisit at some point. Those drum fills you peppered in really keep the track going.

Also, the bass could use centering from 320 hz and below. It sounds quite wide in the stereo field and a bit pushed back by FX.

Other than that, nice work! You're quite a variety pack of styles. Kudos

WolfSystemStudio responds:

Yeah, it was a bit of a labour of love this one. Not really my bag usually but I like to try and branch out.

I kind of went for a Payday 2 sorta soundtrack since thats my only point of reference.

[Jazzy Intro]

I think the trumpets might be a bit too cluttered, but this does sound pretty cool! The writing is not bad at all -- just recommend some other instruments besides trumpets to hide those synthy articulations (or different types of trumpets represented, with different FX)

and by that I don't mean swap all of them out, just some!

WolfSystemStudio responds:

Yeah, the trumpets are difficult to get sounding right. Yet to find a half decent sounding brass sound.

I keep going back and giving it a tweak but it never sounds right haha

[Miracle]

Great vocal mix. I think performance could be more enthusiastic in some sections, a bit more technically wonky technique if that makes sense. Study various singers' techniques.

The lyrics of this are hilarious and onpoint. Being addicted to being online and videogames, you have painted it perfectly, how it affects your life trajectory. You're depressed and will likely never know love. Never allowed to mature! Not all gamers go through this, and you may find a lady who loves you and them, but it's rare for most, especially the basement dwelling stereotypes that made this song so relatable.

The overall mix and master is pretty clear with the exception there is a bit much sub on the bass and I think it could use emphasis on the high mids. Snare could also use to be brought out just a bit, potentially have an under snare or clap at times.

[Common Area]

The mix on this is somewhat inconsistent, but I like the melodic ideas you're presenting here. It's also refreshing to hear an audible sub sine. But I do think that it could have some elements of excitement applied to it such as distortion, saturation. I think the thing that is doing this track the least favors is the obvious synth instruments used. In general, if it's a synth guitar or other noticable synth instrument, replacing it with a synthy SYNTH is almost always the better option for your listener. But aside from that this is really groovy!

[Stuck with me]

I think vocal mix leaves a bit to be desired for the lead -- it's quiet in relation to the rest of the track, and for intelligibility it needs not to be hidden. Given a wetter treatment and bumped up in the mix it would fix any of my other gripes, such as the BG vocals being louder than the lead. Great composition overall!

[X3ll3n - Bring Out the Flame (NGUAC Finals 2023)]

I think remastering this song later is well worth it, as at present the mix is screaming hot to the touch. Look at the waveform

As for your writing, as always it is stellar

You seem to point out other items of critique I would have in your description, so I will leave that here and say I agree with what you have already pointed out. Again, it doesn't all sound bad, the build prior to your final drop was actually clean because it was minimal, so perhaps dialing back compression for other sections and upping select levels may get you the sound you want. EQ wise I think it's just fine.

X3LL3N responds:

I'm glad you like this !

This song is both a huge win and a big disappointment on my book. I think it's more creative and interesting than what I usually make, but the mix is one of the worst I've ever had to deal with and the song really underperformed due to when I posted it.

I'm not sure how I'd be able to mix it better, so
I'll probably ask peeps from the audio pub for help :)

[Aag Ka Gola]

Utterly wild foray into a style you aren't used to. I quite appreciate the melody and shift in sound design from you!

I will say the drop could be much harder compressed to get more out of those vocals, and perhaps things could be a bit wetter, keeping to that same gated approach. Also, the percussion would sound better treated in a percussion processor such as diablo for width and clip. Toward the end, it sounds like I think it should, but the perc can safely come down to make room for the kick and 808.

808 always can use more clipped, screaming high mid for character. You could also add a brass stab or two here and there for drops.

Also, I would like to hear more cymbals. I felt them distinctly missing throughout.

Otherwise, loved it

[Dragonslayer]

I'm not the biggest fan of the effects on the vocals prior to 49. They manage to sound unclear and centered. However, if those extra distortions and frequencies were spread out somewhat in each channel, I think it would work.

The drop is heavily over distorting at the mixer level. This is a bit muddy and not typical of what I am used to hearing from this relatively new genre. I however do really appreciate what sound design elements I hear, and the song overall structure is great.

We are clipping again before the second drop, which I think shouldn't be happening. I think mixing at a quieter volume would help.

Other than these gripes however, the song is well done. The basses and sidechain elements are probably best done.

veryfakeguest responds:

Thank you for the feedback! Unfortunate to hear these issues arising as I don't think they have been a problem for me before. Nevertheless, I'll take note of your comments and watch out in future projects, thanks!