ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dreaming ft Hania [DnB Mix]]

Vocal performance is great. I think a bit of de essing and more compression would be nice but otherwise, great.

Production is interesting, a bit sibilant -- perhaps take down those hats a dB or 2. The kick also sounds somewhat muffled and could come up prior to 1:40. By then I really find I want a lot more vocal in the mix, as they are starting to get drowned in the piano, which could use less verb.

Note, on the drop, percussion is fine!

Otherwise, the writing is lovely. Very atmospheric and uplifting. Wonderful work! The only element that I find I can complain about at all is mix, which says a lot!

Thanks for coming out to NGADM!

Trackers responds:

Thanks! The drums before 1:40 are actually filtered on purpose. They only hit full frequency at 1:40. That was on purpose to help build the progression. I wonder if it's a distraction now.

I can revisit mixing the reverb on the piano when the vocals are present and drop down the hats easy enough. Thanks for the tips 😀

[Nebulous Mind - Reimagined, Complete, Mastered]

I'm going to save my drooling over your writing and suffice to say, NUT, and also say my score on this track may differ somewhat from NGADM scoresheet because I love you and want to fiven your everything.

Your structure and flow in this track are precisely on point. There is not one transition I don't appreciate, or even that little clicky noise. Everything sounds intentional, not incidental.

The taps at 3:11 are pretty as fuck.

My only gripes remain with software limitation of player based instruments and yearning for some variance in intonation on repeated notes. This may be able to be achieved through modulation of attack, release, hand positions of related instruments, or as in instruments such as RealEight, variables which will even vary velocity and all of the above.

Great chords and runs throughout, wherever I hear them.

I think I actually would like to hear harder driven distortion and more of the 7k to 8k range on your guitars. Maybe quad track? The 300 hz range on your lower riffs also could be driven a bit harder. Occasionally I will pull a trick with my guitars and use my cymatics diablo percussion processor to bump transients and compress the "body" of the sound, use the "exciter" parameter, to achieve what I'm talking about.

5:00 is a standout section I would have liked to hear repeated.

But I could sit here for 2 to 3 times replaying this track and not get bored. All in all, I think you have done a fantastic job. Thanks for coming out!

Oh, and I forgot, so EDIT here, your cymbals are nice, and your kick is sitting in a great place in the mix, maybe take it down .1 dB at the most. The snare however, I would like a bit more of a wet sound, perhaps a tad more bottom head, tune it down by .3 semitones to .7, and find a way for it to sustain a bit longer, be it a subtle verb or no. It felt a bit dry in comparison to the rest of the kit. I also would like to hear more low end on your toms and more presence in the mix from them (sidechain if needed).

Beyond that, heart eyes.

trunotfals responds:

I KNOW. I made a lot of progress in my mix after this one (I mean, you KNOW what we're working on :P) and i couldnt really work on this one like i wanted I was running into issues. but thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuu Adr3-n :)

[neon drifto]

At the intro and I must say I don't know what to expect. The bass part is subtle and simple. I think I would actually like that bass down a dB or so. 57 is sounding nice, clipped a bit at parts.

I do like how you've written that rather obvious synth guitar. Making the most of its capabilities for a subtle solo and doing what synth guitars were supposed to do. I think there is Junk Guitar for sforzando if you were looking for a more real option for key triggered guitar sounds.

Overall, the track is thematically consistent, if simple. Your melodic writing is what shines as opposed to the instruments used. I think a more aggressive kick would have helped a lot for drive, as well as the snare.

You could also obtain an amp sim, cab sim, etc off the internet, and add FX to that guitar such as chorus, ping pong delay, etc for atmosphere. Otherwise, good work.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Xeveir and Xeron vs. XH (ft. JinoBeats) - Eternal SubconsciencƎ]

I think you've got a great composition with that intro, but the vocal delivery is killing it. Compression on those vocals doesn't match the speedcore/terrorcore vibe going on throughout, or the insanity of this piece in general. Compression and maybe even clipping would be a good fit for the track overall.

1:00 is pleasantly nuts. Yes please, more. The vocal processing here is a bit more fitting.

1:40 is niceeeeee. Could use actually a bit less sub so everything isn't getting muddied out at the master. Could probably cut low end reverb wets around 250 hz to make more room. Also, vocals can be pushed up in the mix and given the boost of sidechain multiband compression against other instruments in the same tonal range, so, from 200 hz to 2500 hz?

At 3:00 again the vocals can be pushed up more to stand out.

In general it sounds as if the track was mixed quite loud before the master to begin with. Rather than doing things that way I generally prefer to clip things BEFORE the master, to have more control over that.

At 4:20, the guitars are a GREAT touch. The blend of genres is appreciated muchly.

Very much enjoying things by the final drop now that everything has melded together. Nice and absolutely nuts.

Great work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Collar]

Glissandos on a piano, now that's interesting! The variety of this piece is at times great, and others, confusing me, as I would like some sections to go on longer than others. I do like your ideas, but think transitions could use work. Or perhaps what I mean is song structure, as I am not always immediately able to understand where we are going with the song.

That synth at 1:48 reminds me of James Bond on the N64 in a very pleasant way.

Overall, with some reworking of structure, I think you have a good composition. I think a shorter piece, so that fretless bass sound does not become stale after the 4 min mark or so, some louder drums (except the hi-hat, that is probably fine volume wise), and keeping up where you are already going with feeling your panning, and this would be such an atmospheric piece.

I would probably put this in videogame music. Drum and Bass is more of an aggressive electronic genre, not literally drum and bass, aha. Don't worry I've done that too and I usually have no idea where to put my stuff.

Keep doing what you're doing, and thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

TVP06 responds:

Thank you for your response and I'll make sure to keep it in mind in my next pieces. Have a good NGUAC!

[Good Trip]

Nice atmospheric sample use! Right off the bat sets the vibe.

I find myself wanting hard mastering compression to push the track, as it sounds fairly clean, perhaps with just a bit of ducking low frequencies of the reverb signals so it doesn't wash out completely in the process. I'm definitely craving more volume and presence in my face, which cranking the volume just doesn't quite do.

Your claps could come a bit more up in the mix, as well as kick and snare.

With just those few changes, I think this would be an absolute banger. It already is very nicely written and A E S T H E T I C.

Nice work! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Mechanical Uprising]

I agree with octopus, the written story is a nice touch. I'm feeling an almost madmax angst coming on. I really appreciate the industrial elements!

I feel this piece could use mastering compression to take full advantage of what sounds like a clean mix you have going on here.

I would like more complimentary panned hihats or subtle delays prior to 1:40. Perhaps even you could pan them a bit less aggressively to hear more of the interplay between cymbals. More crashes would be nice too for accents. I feel like more high end percussion would really sell this track for me.

Great work! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Supermarket Troubles]

Now with a name like that, I have no idea what to expect! Shoplifting? Hmm, who knows.

I think at 20 seconds the reverb low end could stand to come down some.

This is definitely an oddball piece, which isn't afraid to be weird. The out of key melody at 50 sec manages to work, as we are already primed for weirdness. I am pleasantly disoriented. at 1:19 that chord is nice. So dissonant.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[When I Dream of You / あなたの夢を見るとき]

I feel like the writing of this far outshines any technical limitations. My only complaint is I would like less hi-hat presence, less of the fx in the 18 to 24khz as it sounds like my tinnitus (sorry!), and more present kick and snare/clap, with some FX on that clap!

Some things I would like to note, the song is quite long, and the instruments fairly dry. I think that is detracting from the vibe fore me personally, but if that's what you were going for, that's okay!

I think your structure is good, and your writing is imaginative.

Keep doing what you do! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

V1ZION responds:

Thank you so muchhhh!! ^w^

[deconstructing the human ego]

PEAKS SO FUCKING HARD

ORGANIZED CHAOS

I only want louder, more compressed vocals, more pronounced sidechain so they cut through, and more audible kick.

Jesus Christ, so LOUD, but quite obviously that had to be intentional.

I think some more eq before the clips to determine what we want as noise and what we want as melodic content would help. It is hard to determine where the bass is above low reverb wash and where any percussion is beyond kick. More aggressive tremelo also please, for contrast of loud to quiet. Perhaps less reverb in general for more signal to noise lol.

Otherwise, love the idea, even if my ears hurt now lol. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC! Beautiful melodies <3