ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Utopia]

Gorgeous intro arp -- I think it would benefit from less low end on your reverb, if you can cut around 300 hz on that wet and below.

Your lead intro at 30 seconds is tastefully done

Sidechain at 40 seconds is also quite tasteful. I'm appreciating your panning work as well.

Overall, I don't think I have much in the way of critique. The mix sounds fantastic, and the piece glides smoothly from start to... 1:30

Chords tremeloing at 1:50 are absolute saaaaauce. Crashes nicely placed at 2:00. Chord progression is complex but not overly so, and very reminiscent of RNB.

Only detractor is there is not a smooth finish. I'm unsure if you meant this to loop or not. A fade out or a final chord would do more justice.

Excellent work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Xyrul23 responds:

TYSM for the feedback!

[Blaze Of Beheaded Fungi]

I think I would have chosen a different snare for this piece. As a whole, you have a pensive, dark mood and fairly heavy drums. Perhaps even pitching it down and adding some digital or analog clipping a la Slam Pup or Cymatics Diablo would help push it a bit harder.

I'm enjoying the bassline quite a bit. It drives the piece forward well. A bit more presence for your string pads would work wonders. You can use a slight sidechain to duck them down on the kick and snare for further drive. Modulating the amount of reverb in places would also help, as there are some sections that do benefit from the shoegaze wash I'm hearing and others which could use more clarity.

Additionally, I was so disappointed not to hear a final chorus. That is where this piece really shines.

Great work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Imperfecto]

I enjoy your lead writing, however the swing against the straight 4 cowbell is a bit distracting. Something feels a bit off.

I would also remove the 250 hz reverb wet by about 50% as that is taking up the majority of the low end spectrum and will resonate on speaker systems such as soundbars and bluetooth devices. It is not so noticeable on headphones but still takes a lot of presence on the soundstage, where your lead should be.

Mastering compression would help this mix a lot. It appears to be relatively quiet.

Aside from that, the piece is thematically consistent and does not have many distractions from the main melody. Nice work!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Barriers]

Wow, smooth and very interesting mix on that percussion. Sounds strikingly original. It feels very much as if coming out of a mono TV speaker, which I don't know how to feel about!

I think I would like your keys around 30 sec to pan 20% or so left to leave space for the lead to sit roughly center.

The marimba/xylo in the right channel is quite present throughout. I'm unsure if at points it is meant to be the lead. If so I would bring it closer to center.

One thing I do not entirely know if I like is the bass is quite muted. I think I would like to hear more of the 4k range or some fizz/string noise like sounds.

Composition wise however this is wonderfully varied despite holding much the same style and instrumentation throughout. I think it's beautiful. Guiro accents also are tasty. I would like to hear those pan left to right across the soundstage, like a call and response (quarter note/half note left, then right a piece)

Wonderful work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Enemy Territory]

Sirens are a great touch. Composition is driving and thematically consistent.

I would like less volume on the crashes to compensate for how quiet the rest of the piece is. Kick could have a shorter tail and accentuate the piece much more.

I very much like your arrangement and the energy of this piece. It feels like a march preparing for battle.

You could use more varied crash samples as well and pan them in various spots around the piece.

outro is short and cuts off early.

Some great things going on here in terms of theme and concise ideas. There is not too much going on, in a good way, no distractions. I would like a bit more clarity and some mastering compression to bring out the energy of this piece, and potentially side chain of the kick to the bass.

Overall, nice work! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[The Land of Illusion]

Interesting effects going on with the pingpong delay in the beginning. I'm definitely tripping on the lead sounding like it's reversed and glitched at 0:40. Nice beep boops in the left channel

Definitely feeling like some sort of mystical iDnB I don't quite understand but do appreciate. It's both chill and driving in the same instance. I would like a more present, gritty bass and your pads on the sides down just a bit in the mix to compensate.

I also find myself wanting a crispier snare and boxier, digital clipped kick.

Nice liquid quality to the synths in the outro with the pitch drift and glitching.

Overall great work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Far From Home]

Nicely done! Absolutely feels like an anime opening, lyrical composition and all.

I would appreciate pushing the vocals up by about 1 to 2 dB. The drums are nicely present, but they and the vocal should be about equally in your face, otherwise, it is difficult to separate the well thought and performed vocal lines from the "lead snare"

Fantastic work, however. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC! I can't wait to hear what you do next!

Zip-Zap-Official responds:

Thank you so much! Funny that you mention anime, because we have been working on a Japanese version :)

[Zoftle x Tokzick - Hellfire]

Getting some mad hype with that intro. Feeling very olskool trap there, lots of bass to go around.

Around 1 minute, that vocal sample could use a bit more push to the front, perhaps a bit less overall compression on the song itself, or back down some reverb in the 250 hz range.

In terms of arrangement, this is top tier ear destruction. Kudos to varied drops, tactful buildups, and thoughtful melody/counter melody. My complaints are very few barring aforementioned slight overcompression and a little mud from wet channels.

I think the snare around 3 min could be pushed a bit harder with clipping and widening, and very slight ducking of the bass volume down by .2 dB max. That is such nice formant manipulation. Well done.

Brass around 4 min could use stereo doubling with a different synth, slightly louder, and I was yearning for just one more drop.

Fantastic work overall. I look forward to hearing more from you!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

edit: oops, wrong acronym, NGADM. LOL, but you should totally hit up NGUAC too if you haven't already!

Zoftle responds:

Thank you so much for the amazing feedback!!! This is the first time i've ever entered into a NGUAC and I'm so excited!

[Snowballs]

Interesting choice of chords for the intro. The slow arpeggios are sounding good. I feel the string pad could be doubled, chorused, or widened to good effect, and perhaps delayed rather than reverbed. Ping pong is lit.

I do like the languid feel of this piece a lot. However I feel it is a bit over compressed for the arrangement. Not bad at all. Wish it were longer! I was really enjoying the development of your drop.

At the very end chord, something is clipping in the right channel.

Either way, definitely something to be proud of. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Angry boy 4ever]

Interesting pitch shift vocals in the intro. I think the higher pitch in the right could come down some to match the lower pitch ones. Appreciating the modulations there as we gradually increase in pitch.

I also really enjoy your writing and fast paced drums. What I find lacking however, is the snare and kick are not cutting through the mix well. The drums should be the loudest in the mix, meaning snare and kick respectively. Manually ducking the volume of bass and other instruments (or sidechain) will help a lot in this regard!

The metal drum section at 1:40 is a vibe! I really like that.

Your melodies are quite interesting and hectic. Nice work there.

One detraction is that the sub bass is loud, but it is not necessarily audible. I recommend taking it down a notch and doubling with a more audible bass instrument. You may even find something like CS Bass One (free) to do the job there.

Arrangement wise, I really think you are onto something. This was an experience to listen to despite issues of mix, including a bit of muddy reverb.

One additional thing, mastering compression would really help the volume of this track out. There are several free online mastering services if you do not have the money for plugins or time to get that down. Personally I like to use emastered for those situations (not a paid advertisement, definitely costs money)

Overall, enjoyed the piece a lot. Keep at it!

Thanks for coming out to NGADM!