ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[Through Time]

This reminds me of a lot of spacy synthwave and new wave pieces I used to listen to. I really like the slow and pensive melody and its interaction with the bass. I think you could center the bass more -- less chorus on it. Actually feel the same about all basses throughout the track -- less reverb on them, less chorus, unless you feel it absolutely necessary, as you have long notes holding out low frequencies throughout, which conflict when you change chords and don't let the track breathe when you have a cutoff.

The drops have a sub bass just kinda hanging out there being muddy. I think it could be turned down and the track feel more clear.

Other than that, I enjoyed your piece. Not bad at all. And much respect always hanging onto that good old idea you had until you're able to execute it. It doesn't have to always be out with the old, in with the new to be good. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

MrSpud8 responds:

Yo thanks so much for the the feedback, I'm still relatively new to this so any and all feedback is appreciated!

[blank.set]

When things finally get moving around 20 seconds, this is pretty lit. I'm not sure exactly what's going on with the drop. Perhaps the bass could use a bit of high mid presence to help it stand out against the mandolins. Kick and snare also need to come out in the mix more if that happens.

That said however the mandolins themselves sound fantastic, and your transitions are positively ethereal. 2:10 is closer to an ideal mix but I still think the mandolins and bells are too high in the mix. Is this house?

I actually think I'm having trouble relating the melody of the bass to the mandolin samples themselves. So perhaps I'm not a huge fan of the writing but the elements are good enough to overlook it for the most part.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

nascene responds:

Thank you for the feedback! really appreciate it :)

Yeah, I agree that the elements kind of feel detached from each other. I like that they sound nice together, but I do have to work on getting them to actually relate to each other. I was noticing while making this that each instrument seemed to take focus at different parts of the drop. The bells, then the mandolin, then the bass, back to the bells, etc.

I will work on keeping my songs more 'glued' together next time (like keeping the sounds consistent and not taking turns being the point of focus, idk how to phrase it)

As for the genre, idk if this is house or not, maybe just general electronica or something ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Dototototo (WIP)]

Your writing is pretty great. I especially enjoy your surprising chord progressions.

I think the mix is okay for what it is. The drums make mixing everything else a bit of a challenge. I think the organ chords on the sides are pushing the rest out of balance. I would take them down, bring the bass up, and bring the lead up.

At times it was hard to understand exactly where transitions were going, and reverb made the melodies a little unintelligible, but I think you did a great job with what you have.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

NicolasPL64 responds:

Thank you so much!
Yeah, I should've mastered the track. At least I know I'm in the good way in terms of composition, sadly I didn't have the time for mastering the track or improving the mixing.

[What's The Use]

I didn't expect your vocals. They add a lot to the otherwise lackluster string and flute synths. I think you would benefit considerably using Spitfire LABs libraries for those applications or techniques on your guitar such as bowing instead. Your live guitar elements are great. I would have been utterly deceived had I just had a peek at the beginning.

Nice work! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!