ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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

[Doll Bals]

I want a bit less reverb on your piano in the intro, but it's sounding pretty right with those pizzicatos.

Writing wise, this is pretty standard, in a good way! There is nothing that particularly sticks out to me beyond I think you could adjust the midi timing and velocity of that flute line so it isn't so... fweh fweh with a slight delay on each attack relative to the tight pizz's.

Balance wise I think also that the upper pizzicato needs to come down about a half dB for the flute, and the bass approx .2 to .3 dB. The choir could also be stereo widened or doubled and panned a bit more spaciously. Those are really my only gripes.

Is that NST CHOIR also?!?!

Nevermind -- don't let me get distracted. Keep at it you two! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Vanware responds:

ta bien, aunque decir decibeles con decimales igual es un poco penca de sabiduría

Pd: no es ese choir

[Stell]

Writing wise, nice wistful intro. Very much enjoying that. Don't have a lot of critique, beyond perhaps wanting a bit more modulation or atmosphere there, and a bit more sidechain so the percussion doesn't feel as if it's laying over top the rest of the track.

You have really set a mood here with your writing. It's varied and soulful.

I think I would like a louder snare, your hihats panned left, and perhaps a short reverb tail for your snare.

Otherwise, this piece is a nice long chillout. I wouldn't necessarily call it synthwave, but I'm not sure where to put it aside from that. There is probably someone who knows genres better than me to ask.

Good work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[song for ethan to rampage through the streets and slaughter people]

Not 5 seconds in and NUT hahaha. I'm not so hot on the shreddage I hear going on at 15 seconds or so going on. I think lower chords and a bit more varied intonation would give this piece further edge. I also can't really hear if the guitars are double tracked on rhythm or chorused. Drum writing is good though, and I give you an absolute A for effort, as that is a BOLD choice.

1:30 is a nice unexpected drop. I would actually like more center on your bass, a bit less volume on that bass before pushing it (it is losing a bit of the sub due to clipping that hard past the mixer I believe)

And I have that problem myself all the time btw. You can help avoid it with sidechain, cutting out low mid frequencies in your wet signals such as reverb and delay.

The build at 2:55 is sounding pretty good but could use another guitar in the left channel. The chorus or whatever is going on is not doing your writing justice.

also OMG at the very end I was craving another drop, followed by a simple kick/impact and downlifter/fader fx outro.

Overall, fantastic work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Tankmen's Hotrod]

I see you got the old NG splash sound going on, nice

It sounds like this piece is primarily composed of loops and SFX with some synths and other lines added in. One thing I will say is I like the ideas presented a lot, but the mix is VERY low end heavy and hard to hear as a result of lots of reverb low end.

For mix, try to have your kick and snare as the loudest elements in the mix, clearly audible over everything else, slightly quieter than that, your rhythm guitar and bass, and beyond that mix the leads to taste.

This is a short piece, so I don't have much more critique than that, and I wish I could give a higher score because I love the idea and the overall vibe. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!