ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[3manon - Brainstorm (Mindscapes EP)]

Nice atmospheric beginning. I would say tone down your reverbs early on, at least the low mids, as they are somewhat distorting at 44 seconds and clipping. I don't think that's what you want in a dnb mix, as you want nice crisp breaks.

At 1:05 your writing is smooth and so are your choices in transition. Lovely chords and smooth leads. Very olskool and pleasant, but throughout your bass is overly present in the 200 hz range, owing to what sounds like reverb.

Section at 2:10 has nice melody and harmony. Great.

2:27 switchup and throat singing is a great choice. Keeps things varied. Mix is also sounding a bit cleaner here, but still really present with the reverb.

I would recommend switching out the strings at 3:08, up high, to something like LABS's free library.

3:30 is sounding good coming in on that hi-pass, notice a lot of the low reverb wash is passed out. Nice key change here as well. Overall I really appreciate the themes presented here in your track. Great work.

I think that guitar could use to be switched out with something that has more varied articulations, same as whatever bass that is. You can certainly find the same sort of tonality and keep that variety.

Beyond that, I don't think I have much left to say. Thanks for coming out to NGADM!

3manonMusic responds:

Thank you for your kind words and feedback! Did you know I recorded my own throatsinging btw?

[Nu Metal Instrumental]

Waiting for Jon to materialize out of thin air on this sick ass track. Niiiiice.

[Metal Up Your Ass]

Saw this out of curiosity, clicked, and proceeded to take an ear break from judging. I most definitely think you should do metal more often. Those harmonics at 2:10 were delicious.

The only thing I could find to complain about is your snare is down in the mix, I personally don't prefer the thin ringy sound of it, and I think your cymbals at 2:50 could come down a bit and potentially be more varied.

Otherwise beautiful in the extreme. Love.

[AIM - Final Frontier]

Definitely feeling the emptiness and vastness of space with this piece. The short bridge at 3:04 is much appreciated, as well as your chords of choice and modulations. Certainly far and away above anything I write these days. So my critiques, the few that I have, will be more relegated to mix.

I would prefer percussion, at least some elements such as the snare or toms that were not so dry. Your writing successfully drives the piece here, so this is a minor gripe. It would be nice if the kick and snare had a bit more presence, say .2 to .6 dB, and the hihats and cymbals had less. I would also appreciate more hihats throughout and various cymbals for transitions. The stepwise and regular shifting of chords at halfnote intervals can get old if the ear is permitted to focus on them for so long!

Speaking of your pads and other instruments, I do believe a more subtle volume or some ebb and flow of volume would assist you there. I found it hard to remain focused on your leads and where they were going between this and the percussion volume, coupled with the regular chord shifts to admittedly interesting places.

Other than that, enjoyed the piece. Thanks for coming out to NGADM!

[Funk You]

Thematically and in terms of writing, this piece has my attention. Some choices of mix are impeding however my full enjoyment of it however. Such as around 1 min I'm having difficulty making out the lead above the very prominent bass and chords on the side. I also struggle to hear the chuckas in the right ear over a heavy reverb wash and the same aforementioned issue.

I think the bassline could stand to have more octave jumps or a sub bass applied to it. It's quite thin for the heavy house drums, which may have benefited from a 70's style snare and less present clap. Otherwise the bass sounds a bit gridlocked for the funk rhythm being played and seems to play almost the same exact octave jump jig throughout. As prominent as it is in the mix, that took away some of my attention from your very pretty writing as well. Some variation there in rhythm or bass reharmonization might help.

I also can't recall any big cymbal transitions, but I did enjoy the sweeps. Something is missing there and I don't know what it is.

Other than that, solid piece. I only wish it were longer! Thanks for coming out to NGADM!

[PartySlaughter (May 2022)]

Sounds a lot like olskool dnb I used to listen to. Nice!

I would pump up the sub on the bass through 40 sec and find a way to stereo widen or chorus the frequencies on it above 500 hz. It's a very organic sound and I really enjoy it but I feel it needs more intensity, more saturation, clipping, something. Otherwise. I enjoy the acid vibes at 1:40 very much.

This track is both relaxing, vibrant, and dynamic. Very much enjoy that.

For the section at 2:18 I would bring down the reverb on your saws and the saws themselves somewhat. Or alternatively you can really pump the kick and snare. But it seems hi-hat and all may be getting buried there by reverb wash.

It does not sound like this has any mastering compression, which it would benefit from. There are several online mastering services, even some for free, which would help in this regard, but I would recommend revisiting to mix prior to attempting that.

Overall, really enjoyed the track. Familiar and comforting in the sense I love the genre, and fresh in the sense it's not 20 years old xD

Thanks for coming out to NGADM!

TheNormalMusic responds:

Woah, that's a long one...
Yeah, it's based a lot on those early 00's tracks, I really like their vibe too. Mastering and stuff like that is not made well, I couldn't make it better back in the days, when I was making this song. Anyway, thank you for that review and that you like this song!

[Song for the Masses]

I think your chords are a bit crowded in the low mid range in your intro, prior to a more aggressive treatment with EQ as you show later on.

Your vocal FX are beautiful bit it's a bit difficult to understand them. I think there should be more compression, perhaps even clipping, transient shaping, stronger chorus, and aggressive EQ to push those vocals into our face. As it is, the shakers are more prominent in the mix than the vocals and that is preventing me from paying them the proper attention!

The same is happening in relation to the bass not having what sounds like a dedicated center -- i.e being too chorused or widened out at the frequencies below 300 hz.

At 3:48 or so I think I hear clipping at the mixer.

Beyond that the song is quite catchy and I enjoyed the listen. Some fixes to the mix such as bringing out your vocals more, a bit more presence for bass, and taking down your shakers slightly should help!

Thanks for coming out to NGADM!

[It's Gonna Be Great]

I would really love if that vinyl noise were much more subtle, about the relative volume it is at 0:15 seconds

Got to say you've got a nice chord progression going on, especially with that unstable bass note for your second chord. Nice leads. Everything with the exception of percussion is sounding really nicely mixed to me. I think I would like your kick and snare up about .2 to .4 dB and the snare clipped, saturated, and widened a bit to fit in with your very wide panned keys a bit better.

Drop/hook is so beautifully soulful. Great work.

I have little critique beyond that. I didn't even notice that guitar was a sample until you pitched it down. Nice work there. That sax solo you have blurs the line between reality and synth instrument, and could use a bit more swing if you were going for more realism.

Outro was simple and not overdone with a pitch and time warp. Nice there.

Overall, really enjoyed it! Thanks for coming out to NGADM

[SeeDs of Pandora - "Existence Still Denied" (Short Edit / Cut Version)]

I'm actually not entirely familiar with this piece but I can appreciate the complexity and work that went into remixing it. There are some aspects of the mix that need improved. For instance, the wide panned, chorused, and spaced out elements are all quite loud relative to bass, kick, snare, and other elements. I think this detracts a lot from the piece and drains energy from what should be super amped and in your face. Mostly the section through 5 minutes suffers from this.

I will probably have to leave time stamps for my remaining critique.

6:15 was a good transition! The following section of rap/poetic delivery was well written but could use just a bit clearer diction, and the following section suffers from the same mixing issues as earlier, very loud pads and leads, and kick/snare/bass very quiet in the mix.

However, I absolutely applaud the ambition and arrangement overall. I think this song is many things at once, at times to its detriment and at times to its strength. A near ten minute mix is a monster of a track. Kudos for having time to finish it at all! Great work!

[Pooo1-Summer wave]

Interesting blend of sounds and offbeat feel (also I like your icon)

I'm not really able to offer much critique beyond I think your drop could use an offbeat bass to hold down the bottom of the track, an octave lower than your top bass, and perhaps a side chain to the kick and snare for any instruments holding long tones there would help as well. There is not a lot of contrast to help delineate where I am supposed to rave my ass off if that makes sense.

Otherwise, cool track! Thanks for coming out!

pooo1 responds:

thanks for the critic