ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Silver drum]

Interesting play with the stringed instruments. The drums stand out well in the mix, but I would really like to hear a lot more bass. It's almost inaudible until the chorus, and at the chorus it is very busy. Nothing wrong with a busy bassline, but with all instruments busy at the same time, it makes it hard to figure out what to listen to.

The section at 1:30 sounds pretty nice!

I think some study of song structure will do you good. What we have here is intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, slightly different verse, final chorus that feels pretty much the same as all the other choruses. Even 2 choruses there would have done more nicely than the current iteration, the final chorus having one or two more elements.

I like the sound choices and effects here but found the structure hard to follow as I just expected more than was there. Wish I had more nice things to say as the piece as a whole other than that is very creative!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Nom - Sexsion Ayt (Inst.)]

This sounds SO 90's. Takes me back in time.

It's very quiet if I look at the waveform. I want to hear more volume on your toms and lower drums like that tabla or dholak -- cant tell what it is.

Structure wise, for the melodies, it's not boring, I just can't make out where exactly the hook is gonna be at.

I think the bass would do a lot better if it were in the center of the mix, not chorused to both channels like Tupac vocals, if you know what I mean.

If you're looking for samples and free instruments, check my newsposts. I made a pack myself, Adreanaline, and I try to post what I find around the web decent.

Recommend trying a free internet mastering service for the volume. It's pretty quiet.

Definitely a groove. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Low - Celeste]

Fantastically produced. Only think I can ask for is a bit less 18-24khz on the mix.

Very clean drop and transition to 1:28. Holy shit.

I would prefer a change in style or different bridge into your second drop because it feels like I just heard the same thing twice until 2:06. I may skip 2:20 into the final drop. But great work! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Reverie]

The intro up to 20 seconds is almost inaudible to me

Nice writing onto 35 seconds
The string instrument sounds dry and there could be better treatment of it with attention to attack modulation, velocity, and reverb.

1:11 sounds like you got irritated, walked across the room, and picked up your DAW haha

Overall, that's a very interesting approach. Sounds like you heard my critique and went over to do what you do best :P

But for the keychange, it sounds like a lot of the same elements. Nothing is particularly low quality -- I perhaps would prefer less string volume at 3:23. But something is happening, or rather not happening. Think I'd like some swooshy transitions, chimes, or whatever, to solidify transitions. But great shifts in style. That's much appreciated.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[hello world! (nguac tryout)]

Your melodic writing is interesting. Some comments as I have trouble making out what is going on at points -- feels pretty avant garde

Better mixing and some light use of FX at this stage of development would vastly improve your presentation. Drums should be the loudest part of your mix and be clearly audible -- and not cluttered. Kick and snare are particularly important. Hihats and cymbals should be slightly less loud because they're alone in their frequency range for the most part.

I think you have lots of cool ideas in here but would benefit from some study of song structure. I recommend Signals Music Studios on YT as a launching point.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

MameloIlMugna46 responds:

drums are too silent in the program i use.

[Volcanic [Lifelight Records Release]]

Your hihats and claps are really sibilant. I would take them down somewhat. There's also a LOT of reverb and low frequencies that I can't make heads or tails of what exactly they are, leaving me to feel like my head is underwater where there isn't sidechain or some obvious chunky piano.

I think the piece was mixed too loudly before effects were applied to the master. I can't hear a lot of your brass stabs added in for effect properly due to all that reverb.

Your sub bass is audible but isn't really standing out against all the other instruments due to the muddy low end.

I really like the writing of the piano but feel like for the bass portions of it other instruments would have served a better purpose, as it sounds a bit unnatural. Definitely feels like a videogame though. That I do enjoy.

Aside from that, not bad. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

mar234 responds:

Thanks a lot!

[End Of The Sun]

A bit of a long intro for me but reminds me of some recordings of solar wind I've heard.

At the end it looks like you've got almost 2 exact copies of the build into 1:39 on the waveform

I enjoy your chords. I think 2:13 is a long time to wait for kick to come in. I recommend cutting down some of the sub you have on your bass. It's very loud relative to the rest of the bass frequencies and is really all I can hear, which leads to the perception the track is muffled until you pull a low or high pass filter as a transition.

Interesting play with delay at 3:26 I think you could actually cut after that effect and resume right into a drop. Reverb frequencies are muddy throughout. I think you could reduce the reverb wet signal by half at least.

Beyond that, I enjoyed the piece. Nice work!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Static]

I think you have great melodic ideas and are off to a great start. Some study of song structure I think would benefit you greatly. You have what sounds like a lot of intros and bridges and occasional drops. But it's very hard to tell what is a drop and what isn't

Mix at 1:20 is pretty unbalanced. That genesis style bass is LOUD relative to the rest of the song.

I appreciate the incorporation of transition noises.

It feels like this is two separate songs together at 2:00. There is a pretty long intro into 2:40, leaving it to feel pretty empty. I still like all the elements you're bringing together.

I feel 3:00 could be completely cut and lead into a final drop without harming the song any. As I mentioned, it feels like builds, into intros, into builds again -- see 3:40

You have 2 basses fighting for melodic space there. I would separate them out.

Check that you don't have bang and olufsen audio drivers. Those could give the impression that this is a balanced mix. If you do, install the "high definition audio driver" that comes default with your computer instead. Once upon a time I had this issue.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Rici-Ellipsis responds:

I've definitely studied some chord progression so expect that to be much better in future works although that's not quite what you remarked on I know the piano was really cheesy. I so get what you mean about buildups to intros to buildups, I think that's just an issue with this song in particular. I totally agree about cutting that part at 3:00. Thanks a lot, I appreciate these two reviews and I'll definitely put them to use. :)

[Event Exodus: Slime boss]

I agree with nascene. The high end is covering up the other elements of your track.

At 0:20 those guitars would sound nice if they were doubletracked (using different samples ofc to avoid phasing) and not covered up by the reverb of other synths and perhaps if the writing were not muddy. Repeat notes of the same velocity don't sound great.

Beyond that, I do like the ideas presented here and think you have the potential for vast improvement. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[[Future House] Modern Landscape]

This do be heckin bouncy
I would take down your kick in volume somewhat. Very loud
Snare sounds like it's somewhere in the ballpark of right volume. Maybe needs a little quieter

Your lead at 1:00 is a little dry. I think it could come down somewhat and have a chorus or something applied to it for giggles.

I like your stabs

at 1:33 the kick is super loud relative to a dry sounding lead. The writing is interesting

I see why the kick is so loud at 1:54, to support that bass synth. At 2:09 I think we are approaching the limit of loudness the track can handle. By 2:24 there are too many elements and it is cluttered. 2:34 was much needed or that might start to get annoying. Be sure to ensure all elements of the track at any given time are clearly intelligible from each other.

3:05 is nice and clear. I think there is something going on with high frequencies -- getting a lot of fizz. Saturation maybe? Recommend frequency cleaning.

Other than that, nice work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!