ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Zenology (NGADM - Round 2)]

I think the loudness is pretty much fine -- yes, it's brick-walled, but the majority of this genre is becoming that way. I think the fact that you established such clarity and balanced mix at this degree of loudness is pretty astounding.

At 1:26 however it is apparent there is just a bit too much compression; the sub is losing a bit of energy to the hard compression. I think just a slight amount less would help with the balance.

The various sections and changes in instrumentation throughout this track keep it interesting to listen to. Great work!

G2961 responds:

Thank you for your feedback! Yes, I totally agree that the mix is not the best, since my headphones broke, I had to use my terrible spare headphones. And sometimes I have such a problem that I hear that I did something wrong, but I can't fix it normally, because either my old laptop lagged so much (now I've built a computer with a Xeon E3 1240), or just bad headphones. It's not in vain that I've been looking for good headphones all this week.
Yes, to be honest, those headphones for $ 5-6 still do not suit me, since they have some kind of flat sound, or simply not enough high frequencies and bass. However, I had a very reduced budget.

[(NGADM Round 2) Paralellism]

Really moody from the jump in your intro! Great spacy sound on the drums. I would take just a bit of reverb off of everything else to give us some breathing room. You have a lot of instruments in the mids.

At 1:08, I love that wobbly chorus on the guitar, super glassy.

I do think that rebalancing the instruments in the sound pyramid so to speak (bass, kick, snare, guitars, leads, pads, cymbals, in order of loudness) and cutting out more low end on non-bass and non-rhythm instruments would lend to more clarity, which is what I feel is lacking here (though not by much!)

Your cymbal samples are sounding pretty good, though I would take them down just a tad few tenths of dBs all around, in favor of making more room for the snare. The body of the snare is getting lost on larger sections.

This composition really pulls you in and keeps you invested through the duration. Great job!

[A Silent Mist]

Compositionally, this is a masterwork. Ranks among some of the best solo piano and vocal pieces I've ever heard.

However I have some similar comments about the vocals to @creeperforce24. They're mixed a bit like modern pop vocals at first, as opposed to, I guess this would be 80s piano ballad.

By that I mean, they could use manual de essing and some gentle treatment to roll off the highs.

It gets better as you go on, perhaps recorded in a different take with different position. Microphones are finnicky creatures.

But in general, the performance was wonderful overall, varied, emotional without sounding insincere. I think that's saying something!

Great song, great modulations, and great poetry. It doesn't get much better than this!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Wow, what amazing praise, thank you very much!

I agree (almost) completely with your points about the vocals. I have to get better at handling the mic for sure, but I suppose that'll come with experience, and following good advice ;)
Actually, I've got a slight lisp, so I'm pretty happy with the result, considering. I know it can be heard a bit in the end result, but I managed to get reasonably decent takes, overall. I did universally de ess a bit, but I probably should've paid more attention to individual lines, as you say!

I suppose the only comment I would have, is that I personally am not too much of a style purist (I know you're not either), so I think it can be okay to have a piece in a style of a certain era, with aspects from another, including in the mix. That said, I think in this case I wasn't able to achieve that smoothly enough! I need to get better at making the vocals sound intentional, both in the recording and mixing phase :)
I'll try some of your tips next time!

Btw, this has nothing to do with this composition, but I happened to notice you said "So I was advised it's best practice to normalize your audio to 0 dB headroom, just to make full use of the sonic space. If you've heard different, let me know." on CloakedSoup's submission. I am not secretly the alt account of CloakedSoup (fun as that conspiracy would be :O), but I thought I'd reply to that here anyway, as I've looked into it quite extensively.

I also agree that the standards that were recommended for different platforms didn't seem to stick so well, and the loudness war does seem to be over, with loud being the victor. All that said, in my understanding, mastering (/normalising) all the way to 0.0dB headroom can and does lead to issues in digital to analogue conversion (DAC), which is to say, especially older systems will produce artefacts and clipping if there is not a bit of headroom in the final version. -0.1dB will already reduce the risk a lot. If the mix is good though, the perceived loudness should already be pretty good even at -1.0dB though, which should be safe in almost any format. For that reason (amongst some other even more technical ones), although a 0.0dB master will indeed be the slightest bit louder, and work on many devices, I think it mightn't be good to expect that from all tracks, as they're at that point essentially guaranteed to sound bad on many systems. If the mix is good, it should work well regardless of that last decibel. Also, if one is listening to professionally produced tracks from many genres in the same sitting, I think the volume knob tends to see some action anyway ;)

Feel free to let me know your thoughts on this, as I secretly quite like to get into the technical aspects of music and sound quite a bit too <3

Thanks again for your uplifting review, it made me happy to read!

[Pirates Interrupted My Dearest Boy's Performance - NGADM]

The easteregg of @Troisnyx as an aristocrat is not something I expected in this piece xD

I think it could have been mixed a tad more consistently across. Just make the fuller voices/mics sound roomier and tinnier, to go with the old-fashioned feel of the dulcimer, then open up those filters and EQs as you approach the body of the piece.

I also would have liked more narration from the pirates or even a swashbuckling poem over this composition; the arrangement is great, but I have the feeling something is missing -- that you wanted to do more with it.

Some of this may be from the very dynamic (quiet) master, with little compression on the larger sections. Additionally, bit MORE dynamic range, from the light and thin dulcimer part, to the entrance of the pirates -- and a bit more fullness as we progress through the day-ruinage, entrance, and romp of the pirates -- would help considerably.

The dulcimer part may need a revisit of individual note velocities, as a period-typical (is that baroque composition?) line is bound to revisit the tonic note many times, and those samples are bound to draw attention. You may also thin out the lower mids and push the dulcimer pack just a tad. A bright, tinny sound at quieter volume, farther from the stage, would introduce another element of transition first and foremost, but add a bit of posh to the sound palette as well.

As we go forward into the composition, these are the only points I find pertinent to mention. Otherwise, your work is harmonious as always, and your overall theme is both funny and original!

[okay for now]

I would love a full version of this. What you have sounds great!

[Ecnelupo [NGUAC]]

Best mix I have heard from you yet. SOLID work.

My only complaint, the overall levels are perfectly dynamic for this genre -- just hit amplify or normalize in audacity and make the most use of the sonic space given for the mp3. Other platforms will naturally squash it anyway -- or pull it up.

Seriously, everything sounds great. I also love the chords chosen and in particular your runs. Crispy drums is also quite interesting to hear. Reminds me of Dimsunk over on YT, who you may also like.

[Whisky and a Saxophone (NGUAC Finals 2024)]

It's a challenge to make anything so funky and groovable with cheaper synth emulations of real instruments. I think you've smashed it out of the park there.

I think due to the instrumentation this may perform better in video-game genre, but I don't have very many comments aside from this -- the master is very quiet, and the hi-hats are a bit loud.

I'd prefer bass in the center channel, not off to the side. It can contribute to a feeling of being off balance. I notice the snare is also off to the right. Lots of interesting panning decisions. The brass panning was quite good.

I'm rambling. Anyway, the piece is swinging. Great job!

[FRACTURED]

Besides being a bit overbalanced IMO toward the ultra high treble frequencies, in part due to clipping and in part due to very fizzy synths and glass samples, I find this piece to be compelling. Particularly the drum solo in the middle. Very nice choice of chords, solid theme, and direction.

The sidechained synths in the final drop are just a tad loud, and I would like more bass/sub/snare presence, but overall, great work!

octaneuro responds:

Thanks for the criticism!
I'm pretty sure the reason for the mixing mistakes is because of my relatively-cheap headphones. I've been meaning to buy proper headphones for a while but I haven't due to being broke AF.

[Overclocked Chip [NGADM + NGUAC 2024]]

I would prefer if this sounded a bit less wet, maybe by a factor of about 10-20%, which isn't a lot. BUT, beyond that, everything is nicely balanced, panned, written, and so on. You've presented an eclectic presentation, and really nailed the complextro aspects of this track.

The master is a bit quiet but looks to be at about appropriate levels of compression. Amplifying in audacity would help -- though I do see the peaks in the beginning and end are louder than the body of the drops. Take a look at that.

Great clarity for such heavy effecting. "color" me impressed ;)

[Mr.Must3rd; ID 3 (NGAUC)]

Says it's over for him. Hooks me from the first chord.

While there are some gripes I know I'm going to have here, like a low master level, I'm excited to hear what you bring to the table as I write.

Things are getting a little sibilant by 50 seconds. I would watch that you don't get too sucked into the "everything must be crispy" bait as you mix. Often without realizing it, we can go ear dead and not realize we are adding too much high end to compensate for levels being off elsewhere. For instance, the sub throughout is quite low imo; I'm not hearing much of it in the center channel, but rather bass synths spread out left and right, which are over balancing it (I know you're there, sub line, because I can hear you at 3:01!)

The kick, bass, and snare should be very present in the mix, in that order. Hi-hats as virtually the only thing in their frequency range can afford to be much quieter than we think. Here, they are louder than the leads and bass at times. This is where having professional references in your genre can really help. Take one and pull it down to the same volume as your finished track. Strive to emulate the balance you hear in every way possible.

Beyond that, this is a great, driving track. I'd put it on a cyberpunk/midtempo playlist in a heartbeat. Keep doing EVERYTHING you are doing in that arena, composition and sound design. You are absolutely on point there. And don't get me twisted. This is a bop!

MrMusterd responds:

heck yeah!!! thank you a lot man! ill keep the sub thing in mind as I mix with VERY bass heavy cans.... though I should have used more reference tracks to compensate. thanks for the advice, as I've said this stuffs gold to me! always good to have another ear! :>