ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[For The Love Of Tax]

I'm amazed you got miku to sound this good. Holy cow

Production wise, I think the kick could come up a bit, guitar and synths are crowding out miku a bit, and I think her voice could be a bit less dry in the mix. Some chorus, reverb, delays, panning, etc would help contrast the verses and chorus. Harmony is hard to pick out but sounds good as is

Great work!

3xBlast responds:

Cheers! Hope to keep improving this type of sound, so your feedback helps a lot!

[Toy Soldiers]

So many moving parts!

There are at times bits which jump to the fore a bit too loudly, and others when I wish you had a more present bass. But holy cow the variety of this piece is staggering. Also, I love that it isn't reverbed to death, as a lot of layered songs are.

Great work!

[Battle of Mind]

I can hear the utter frustration with one's apathy throughout. As usual, compositionally superb. Great transitions. pleasant djenty noises

giving 5 because heart eyes. NGADM score will differ

Mix-
hihats about .4 db higher than I would put them, and at points 1 dB
snare could potentially use dynamic compression to bring out bottom head, and in general needs to be louder in the low mid
china cymbal, a bit loud, by .2 dB
I think actually cymbals for the most part could be either pitched down in kontakt, as some of them are tinny

Kick sounds pretty high tuned to me, which may not serve this piece. Maybe distort it some??? I like to use multiple kick samples sometimes on different pitches, because who cares if a kick only realistically detunes like that with heat and cold and otherwise takes half and hour to move two semitones LOL, kick go duddit-duddit-DUD.

Guitars, I want more low mid, especially on your fade out. Oh wait, that was a hi pass. Perhaps you can pare down chords somewhat but double track so the notes are still represented, just in different channels. I do this occasionally when I want extra dissonance but also clarity.

3:48 approaches perfect mix for guitars.

Section at middle of song, utterly godly work, and better mix overall (2:38)

3:18 it sounds a bit centered, but I think that is reverbs interacting in the center. Perhaps thinning the low end off the choir and pushing it up might help some. Without the solo, it sounds just fine however. So if you ever re-render and touch that, be sure to back off the cut for the next section.

As usual, fantastic work. Loved it in its totality, and always more than a sum of its parts. If you want me to write something to this some time, let me know.