ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fever]

That string instrument is a bit dark and tinny sounding. I think I would like if different portions of it were near hard panned left and right to give the feeling of space. Mixed as is, it feels boxy and centered.

1:03 is a nice, clean drop. I feel the arabic-y guitar could come down in the mix. It is quite loud and there is not a lot in that sonic space.

1:43 I would like to hear more of the backing delay pad effect, in a much louder sweep. About as loud as it is at 2:20 if not more.

Drop 2:30 is a nice switchup

Overall, I find myself yearning for a heavier balance of your house staple instruments, particularly bass, versus your accents and leads. The track stays a bit samey throughout. I think more elements aside from the ... is it a zither? I don't know. The arabic string thing is what I'll continue calling it -- more elements than that could be brought in -- some odd percussion sounds from that part of the world, perhaps a sitar line for a half a beat here or there.

Beyond that, sidechain is nicely done, bass line is catchy, and other house standards are pretty well handled. Good job!

[Lost Island (NGADM '23 R1)]

Those subtle piano chords are really making the piece by 1:00. Oh, those textures! Tasty as hell. Rarely do I hear something as well done as this, or as interesting at a slow pace.

Only thing I'd really change is the volume of the bass drum slash sub. It's quite up there and is the only thing in that space. There also is the ghostly shakers at 2:10. Some more variation in velocities or delay intensity may help. Panning of percs through 3:08 could potentially use some stereo widening, but at this point I am nitpicking.

Fantastic job. Best I've heard so far. Great work!

[Summer Skies]

Vibes intensify

Excellent incorporation of vocal

glissando/portamento working well for those chords

polyrhythms ensue by 1:48

... was that a gun cock sample? moderate discomfort aha

outro works really well

Mauxus responds:

Hahaha no, no gun cock samples were used no :)
Thank you for listening and leaving feedback, I really appreciate it!

[Paradigm Shift (NGADM 2023 Round 1)]

A bit overly reverbed in the intro, but by 38 seconds is coming together nicely. The white noise sweeps are a bit too high up in the mix, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot.

1:06 the over reverb is hurting those tikki tikki digital stabs cutting through properly.

This piece is a lot of intricate moving parts I see. I think at some points this may be hurting intelligibility a bit

Writing wise, great work. Is definitely feeling like Final Fantasy aha.

dnb elements, kick and snare I feel should have some more high end to them and cut through the mix more

Beyond that, really enjoyed the piece. Nice work!

Also speaking of paradigm shift, are we calling back to FF13?!?!

ET16 responds:

YES!!! I can die happy knowing someone caught that!!!! FF13 soundtrack had some of the most hyped battle themes in gaming!!!!

Yeah mixing is def my weakest link and failed to realize how echoey that intro was! So I def agree with your criticisms! Thank you very much for the tips!

[Floating]

I find myself wanting a bit more variety from this piece, not in rhythm so much as melodic themes. There is a certain... I don't know what that is missing. But beyond that it's well mixed. There are some elements I question, such as multiple instances of the same funk guitar sample either so hard chorused they are entirely different notes, or pitched on top of one another, that give a queasy psychedelic feel. But otherwise, enjoyed!

[Ryzmik - "Time Lapse" (NGADM)]

Clogged with reverb? I wouldn't say that. However I'd back the verbs off by about 10 to 15% on sections of whole notes and barring accents. Modulating reverb wet pays off (says the person who rarely does that, or uses delay to do what verb is supposed to do)

I find myself in general wanting about .2 to .3 dB more out of your basses

You've done a lot of sexy gating throughout. great work!

["WHEN CALLING"]

20 sec could use a perc on beat 2 to take some attention off the rest of the mix

1:17 the vocal sounds very centered and flat

However this approach is very unique and I quite enjoy what you've done!

Perhaps a different kick at times would serve this piece well. The current one contrasts a lot with the rest of the instrumentation, and I really find myself wanting a snare that sustains -- think an 80s shoegaze snare, an rnb snare, or something in that realm. The current snare could be a backing snare that pans left and right.

Overall, despite some mix issues and inconsistent approach, I love the overall theme, and the idea is very original and alive. Great work!

xxxZigZagxxx responds:

Thank you so much! Appreciate the kind words. It's just nice to have someone speak about your work in general like this, and I'll definitely take your feedback into mind... I'm going to mix this one some more, add some thickness to that line at 1:17, etc., and hopefully release it as part of an EP ^_^

Cheers!

[Lordant - Eönwë]

Intro legitimately sounds like it's straight out of a film. Actually, the whole thing

Mix-

shaker is WAY up. Could come down as there is nothing in that sound space

I think at points reverb gets to be a bit much, such as on the gong, and on your horns. Tin whistle can come down just a bit before 2:15

The FX at 2:22 abruptly cuts off. Can be taken down as well, and potentially a small reverb slap back after the cut off to fit in the space better.

The voice at 3 min as well as the lead doubling that line can be thinned out in the low-mids, shaker again is too loud. I want to hear a bit more of the 1000 dB bass drum on beat 1 and some low end.

Great work otherwise!

[bad thoughts feel good]

Really interesting beat. I think the kick could come up a bit

The section at 1:08 I think needs some work, that lead up top feels like it's in the wrong key

But overall I really like what you've done with it. Keep it up and don't let anybody stop you no matter what!

Billorusso44 responds:

appreciate it brudda💯

[Finnsfolks - N0VA]

I'm so happy to see how far you've come through the years. You're doing fantastic. Please keep it up!

A couple critiques on mix
Kick prior to the drop could have a bit of 10khz rolled off of it. On sections where snare is not present, it feels a bit top heavy

Otherwise, I think I would like some more sub on your bass

You are doing better and better at showing contrast between drop and builds.

I feel the leads and pads going into 3 minutes have a LOT of hiss on them

Also love the bigroom house snare you snuck in there.

3:40 sounds a bit thin and tinny

Otherwise, really enjoyed it! Fantastic job

Finnsfolks responds:

First off, thank you so so much for your support and feedback, it is incredibly appreciated!

Regarding the kick, yeah, I can see what you mean. Leading up to the drop, I do somewhat feel like it could have been a bit much, I guess I just got used to it, lol.

I'm a little surprised about the sub, I thought I was almost going overboard with it, but I can try and keep this in mind too.

I'm glad you think I'm getting better with contrast, that's something I've definitely been striving to get better at, so your comment on that is appreciated. And I'm glad you liked the snare, I thought it was fitting in that section.

High End is definitely something I feel I'm struggling to balance at the moment, avoiding too much hiss much keeping things sharp. I'm too under the impression, I think, that noise is good for filling the space, especially at the top end, but perhaps that isn't always the case, heh.

Regarding the thin and tinny comment, this is the only thing I'm not entirely sure how to fix. Fullness in mixdowns is the one thing I feel I struggle to find balance in, because when I think the mix needs something, my instinct is to add another layer, which is probably not even necessary, but then removing stuff and instead trying to boost one element just makes it overblown, I feel. Nonetheless, I will continue to practice and hopefully learn over time.

I really appreciate these points of feedback, I'll try and keep them in mind moving forward!