ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Online Musician - Rock Instrumental (Demo)]

It sounds like you have multiple melodies on the same shreddage instance -- there's some low string getting triggered occasionally that shouldn't be there

I love shreddage so much. so common sense. sounds good what you have, but I wish there was more!

Some things I recommend
less reverb on your rhythm guitar, and double track them
more volume on kick and snare
more volume on counter melody, chorus FX????
experiment with panning and try to maintain a bit cleaner sound
experiment with FX on drums such as gentle verb on snare

carbonlad responds:

Thanks.

[CaliberKat - Nobody Else (ft. Drezzz)]

Ouch, I felt the fuck out of those lyrics. My heart is with you

I think the sections of "breaking up mentally" are mixed pretty well on vocals

the hihat at 1:07 is LOUD. Please turn it down some -- snare/kick should be the loudest elements in the drop, followed by vocal, lead, and bass turned up to push the track.

Your synths on the side at the drop are also quite loud. I want more bass, much more vocal, more clap. Actually a lot more clap. Less reverb will help clarity.

You know, I think just taking down the synths on the side and pumping the center vocal will fix a lot of issues. Also turning down the lead on non-drop sections. The mix is just top heavy and the hihats are partly to blame there.

But writing wise, this is classic house and I adore it.

[Ranwinddom]

Well, I sort of like the strange intervals in your melodies in the beginning, but once in a while something in key would sound nice! I may not know what's going on, but I can hear you arranging and building some ideas here. You're on the right track. Keep it up with your variety of instruments and phrasing. I can hear the intentionality there. Where this piece is hard for me to really understand is what is supposed to harmonize with what, is that intentional dissonance, etc. While it may not be my cup of tea, I'm sure someone would like it somewhere.

I also see you have a lot of other pieces. This is good. The more you practice, the better you will become. Take some time to learn about scales and musical theory/songwriting. Some basics there will do you good!

ALSO, I APPLAUD THE FACT THAT NOTHING IS OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD, GRATING TO MY EARS, AND EVERYTHING IS ACTUALLY MIXED FAIRLY WELL. all caps because this is a huge plus

[Livewire]

Wow, that reverb or whatever the hell you got in your intro is WILD. I think your synth is a bit loud in the intro to 42 sec though

The track sounds a bit empty at 50 sec, but the things you're doing here are more complex than they sound. I think I'd like a few percs or other melodic elements to distract from that empty space there.

Very cool ideas here and I really enjoy your play with FX

The piece is a bit short but I think you pushed it as far as you could without it becoming stale. Great work -- a few more ideas and I feel it would be complete

BigTWONeli responds:

Thank you for the criticism, Nobody ever gives me any so I 100% appreciate it

[B!aku - Love u no More]

There's some grammar errors in english that don't make sense to me because the correct grammar would sound just as good -- taked instead of took -- but I'm going to completely ignore that because it doesn't matter

This song would BANG fantastically if the mix was better. It sounds like each instrument, including the vocal is mixed too loudly or distorting somehow, and the mix is crowded. The low-mid and bass range is especially crowded it sounds. I notice this most around 1:09 on the backing vocal.

However at this time I'll say that I LOVE your writing. I would just prefer less distortion.

I would also like the acoustic guitar to be mixed to sound more thin and perhaps pick a side to pan to.

I would remove a lot of reverb from the keys and other instruments for bigger sections, as acoustic guitar is getting lost in that.

Otherwise, I listened twice! Nice work!

Biakuu responds:

Thank u so much for your observations!! i really apreciate them a lot.
sorry for the grammar, english is not my native lenguage as you can tell, but i try to learn along the way.

I know i could have mixed better, If I had given myself the time to, maybe it was the hype to upload the song, it's a pretty experimental piece as well, so i'll be working on that point the next one!!

im so glad u liked my lyrics, it's a little tedious to capture the feelings i want to project, and being so, I am very encouraged by the fact that they seems to hit the bullseye!!

again, thank u so much for giving yourself the time to analyze my work, i promise i will keep it in mind for my next songs, witch i would love that you hear, see u next time, hope you're having great day!!

[XVII - The Star]

Really enjoying the idea and the vibe of this piece, however my least favorite part is actually where things get going at 3:30 or so minutes in (the typical length of a radio song, wow)

I feel the slow drums are not quite the right fit in terms of timbre. Could use some more FX, maybe, glitching, saturation, distortion, modulation... something as they feel flat to me

Careful with your filter sweeps -- the 15khz plus is pretty loud! There is nothing in that range so you are safe to take it down just a tad and roll that off without fear of losing it!

Sonically, this is quite the journey. The keys and melodic sections are very relaxing. Nice work!

[Calamity]

I find that I want a lot more volume out of your kick and snare, and less on your cymbals. They're a bit muted and don't cut through the guitars quite as much as I'd like. On softer sections it's not as noticeable. That hihat is really up there though.

Bass could also use some hi-mid and potentially a volume boost on bigger sections.

As TL mentioned, transitions can be a bit abrupt, but I think it's fine.

Those strings are a bit thin sounding, and I think they could be fleshed out with either several other key instances in the background, or potentially tremelo pan.

2:50 is a great section. Strings there in the left are a bit too loud. Choir sounding good. I find myself wanting it to be a bit more centered, as well as the strings.

It appears this is unmastered to my eyes. A quick run through an internet mastering service might help here.

But your writing is FANTASTIC.

Overall really enjoyed it!

[It's Back]

There are some great sections here and good composition, as well as chords, however it feels like a mash of a lot of elements that just don't quite go together, or are going together against their will.

Lots of bass notes that don't fit well in the chord, the reverb on the chords is so strong that I am having a hard time differentiating them from pads at louder points. Even for ambient I feel at times it is excessive.

Autopan and tremelo/gate effect at times sounds great, but it also persists throughout. My favorite section is probably the one between 3:40 and 4:35. I also feel the bass that pans back and forth right to left, if it can be called bass, is too loud relative to the other instruments, and there is a lot of high end distortion or saturation that permeates the piece like tape noise.

Just in general I am not quite able to appreciate what is going on due to wrong notes and some mixing choices, regretfully, as the overall idea is really cool, and I like the chords you chose for your pads and keys!!!

I wish I had more good things to say. But no matter what, I want you to continue pushing the boundaries you want to push. You will find what works for you and what doesn't, and it ultimately doesn't matter who likes it, or who does it better. The only person you should seek to be better than is who you were yesterday. Don't let anyone tell you different. This is probably the most original piece I heard all month, with daring sound design. Keep it up, and I know you will kill it. I'm excited to see what you come up with next!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[I Get It]

I didn't get to review this when I heard it for NGADM, and here you are again. Being as I have already scored it once and using the same rubric, nitpicking a second time would not be fair.

Suffice to say, my only critiques were, sonically, this sounds unmastered, and would benefit from compression to be radio ready. Vocals are catchy, so is writing. It actually does not sound angry at all. Disappointed, but not angry. Vocal performance could have just a tad more edge for the chorus, or on I get it. It sounds as if we are holding back a bit.

Guitar performance, great solo. Could have just a bit more stereo play in the left channel with that delay, perhaps wider chorus or a light tremolo pan. The delay backslap at the outro could pan harder left at a quieter volume.

Beyond that, real treat!