ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[Experimental] TRANQUILITY]

Opening sample -- fire. I was expecting hiphop

I think the drums don't entirely match. They're very sibilant. That snare is okay but the ride is what is throwing me off. Take it down in the mix by a dB or more until 1:18.

Your bass sounds perfect with the chords.

Sax addition is fire.

I would add an additional half a star to a full star for a longer arrangement with full choruses and perhaps a sax solo.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

spicymango002 responds:

First off- thanks for the comment! I wish I could get back sooner, but they took phones at camp last week. I'd like to address this quick- I'd like to change the drums to be a bit more quiet in the first part, but that requires another channel to set the drums on, and I already had 30+ different things going on at once and it was a mess to keep organized as it was. I would take the drums down a bit, but you wouldn't be able to hear them in the last part of the song. So (just going to be honest) took the lazy route and kept it on the same channel for the song. And yes, I made a longer version, not by a lot, but I'm always open to improving my work. I appreciate your feedback and I'll get to work on that!
Have a great day :)

[Dialga's Battle until the Finale]

Reverse piano is a very nice touch. I think it could come down slightly in the mix.

30 seconds is an interesting noise. I think that needs more sub and less reverb or chorus -- or perhaps more dramatic chorus to push it out of the center.

1:14 is where the piece shines. That mix right there.

I would prefer less bit crush actually for 1:30. That's what it sounds like is happening. The high frequencies make it kind of hard to hear your choir and orchestral hits.

1:53 sounds nice but give me more of that bass please

2:05 isn't bad. I myself am not a huge fan of high sub and that style in general so I will reserve my comments. Your transitions are good but there are so many shifts in style that I feel you don't get much opportunity to play to your strengths.

Overall the track comes as what should have been epic but instead is a (very listenable) wall of noise that I find it hard to pay attention to -- in the finer details at least. Great remix though. As a transformative work it really stands out!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Exercise in Difficulty]

I think this would fall somewhere between techno and synthwave.

I appreciate the simplicity. And wow, I think I recognize some of those fluttery high frequencies from instruments I used to use back in the day.

I would first of all bring up your bass and take down your hihat in the mix. Your leads and harmonies I would also take down so that they did not sit too high above the snare in volume.

for your snare, I recommend a transient shaper vst and/or saturation. Kshmr Essentials Kick and Diablo Lite are free and may be fun to play with.

Nice arrangement overall and a spacy piece. I like it. You may potentially shift the genre to dance for a better reception -- or videogame.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

TechnoDrama responds:

Wow. I've been around a long time. I started posted my songs on MP3.COM in the late 1990's. All these years of posting music online and I've never heard anything like this. Ever. This is absolutely, hands down, the best and most constructive feedback I have ever received. I put this stuff out and no one ever talks about the mix and that is the piece I struggle with the most and the part that I always worry about the most. You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I'm going to back and try these suggestions out and see what happens. Thank you so much.

Also, I realize the irony in being around all this time and still not knowing how to mix but I do have a life that, for good or bad, takes precedence over this hobby of mine. By the time I figure it out...well...I'd rather not think about that yet.

[Altiof]

This sounds like a minigame from a videogame.

I think your lead is slightly too loud. Your percussion could be louder. I would recommend possibly finding different instruments and samples -- and if you can't do that, avoid instruments that claim to sound like the real thing but sound instead to be cheap.

If you can use samples or a sampler, check out my news posts. I have my own pack that I've made Adreanaline, as well as tons of other freebies that I found across the web.

I don't have a whole lot to say about this piece other than that the basics of structure and melodic forethought is there. I would recommend to you some study of song structure and basic music theory (beyond the basics, the rest is breaking the rules you learn anyway) just to get you off the ground, and be sure to check out demos of any free synths you see in places like bedroom producer's blog. Thanks to them and Signals Music Studios on YouTube, I am where I am today -- not perfect, but much better than in the dark.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Still Here - Instrumental]

Glad you're still alive. I read Russian news about what's going on there every day. Hang in there. I'm sorry to hear.

I don't have a whole lot to say as live arrangements aren't exactly my thing, however, I would tune your instruments to each other more attentively. The bass is either sharp or flat. Can't tell.

The effect at 1;00 or so is nice and very spacy.

I would add reverb or delay to the lead at 1:30

The bridge is gorgeous at 1:50. I would take off some reverb from your lead guitar and increase the tail length. It is also too loud by a small margin.

The key change at 2:36 is great.

Despite being raw and not having a lot going on, I really enjoyed the listen. Great work!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Sasayaki]

Nice treatment of bells in your intro. I think they can come down by 26 seconds somewhat to make room for the timpani.

I think much more sparing use of reverb here would sincerely help the intelligibility of your section before 50 seconds. Also be mindful of not using the same velocity.

Your runs at 1 minute in percussion are quite nice but the reverb from them covers up your melodies. I would turn the reverb values down by 1/2 or more their current settings, specifically wetness. I think the tail is okay.

The piece itself is slow and pensive. I'm not sure what emotion is supposed to be evoked, but the writing is good. I would like to hear more of your orchestral horns throughout and much less reverb so that I hear them well. I would turn them up above the bells especially for the section right before 3 minutes.

Beyond that, nice piece. You have a great selection of synths that I envy and the will to use them hehe.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Tetrahedrix responds:

Thanks for the feedback glad to be back in one of these NGUAC. Fair critique is great for me since this all a hobby nonetheless. I hear you on the reverb, I was worried about it having too much reverb initially. Velocity and automation are an area that is utilized a lot less. I suppose I could start trying to incorporate that more now.

In terms of emotions well that kind of is bipolar for me, I've always struggled with song progression, expression and structure. This song was one of my better ones with better writing so to speak. I've had people who usually say (its a no from me, its missing something). Then somehow I nail it with this track and got good family feedback). The song kind of started out one way, then I named the track and it got molded by the name if that makes sense. Sasayaki is just Japanese for *Shhh*

I suppose I molded it from there to be some sort of emotional tom and jerry calm styled battle over who can Hush the other better. Hence, the 3 horn sections each a tad more powerful than the other.

Thanks for the feedback, the next track that I begin for the competition and even if I don't get through will still utilize this feedback. In the next track my recent ideas are going to puddle around possible hints of similar styles from the track that plays from from Legend of Zelda Wind Waker when your on a boat or in the fortress and or maybe faster paced video game boss battle unsure yet.

[Holy Omnipresence]

Already liking your chords and arrangement up to 12 seconds in. Would place less reverb on virtually everything by a factor of 1/4 to 1/2 the current values.

Your drums are cutting through wonderfully at 45 seconds. There actually could be more reverb on toms and snare. Some points the velocities sound the exact same. Watch for that. Can add humanization to the note heads.

Your guitars are suffering the same way. They also should be double tracked, if you are aware of what that means, and brought up in the mix much louder, by probably about 2 to 3 dB at least -- except for 2:06. The level there doesn't sound bad.

At 2:15, guitars should be IN MY FACE.

You have a great synth line at 2:30 that would be wonderfully supported by those guitars.

I also forgot to add nice use of choirs and transitions throughout. My only complaints are related to metal mixing, and when it comes to your current ability, I think you should have no problem mastering that. Wonderful and touching work.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[ThunderFrank - Apocalyptic Destruction [NGUAC]]

I think the track may be too loud before it hits the effects on the master channel -- compression, etc.

The percussion is no issue to hear but is VERY loud relative to the rest of the instrumental and occasionally hurts my ears on quieter sections of the track, where the other instruments aren't as loud.

1:33 sounds like an explosion of static. That one hurt.

Now I will say you take a lot of elements that sound atonal and make them seem as if they belong together. I appreciate that part of your track.

I would like to hear a growling bass underneath the synth bass at 2:26.

Other than that I don't have much critique. It's a simple piece with a good arrangement. The mix is what makes it difficult for me to listen to. Less snare volume, whatever that loud sample is on your outro could be changed out or dropped in volume, more kick volume, a sidechain if possible on kick and snare, more volume on bass, less reverb on the lead.

That's all I got. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

ThunderFrankMusic responds:

the one at 2:26 is the subass, bro, thanks for rating my song :D

[=If I made Stereo Cloud now=]

15 seconds, you have a chord completely out of the tonic of your melody. A minor against F I'm not sure what chord that is. Going to the G against that A is gnarly. The next chord doesn't really feel it fits either.

All the chords are parallel movements with no inversions -- some study of music theory would be helpful.

Your percussion is VERY loud relative to the rest of the piece and kind of hurts to listen to, no offense, just because it's loud and repetitive at 1:17.

I'm not sure what to really make of it, but it certainly is not just noise, and that I appreciate. There's room for improvement, and I think you'll find that if you look up songwriting, song structure, and music theory tutorials for a while, practicing and releasing as you go. I highly recommend Signals Music Studios on YT. They helped me get to where I am today. I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to do the same. My first music submissions were not even this decent -- I was submitting crap I made in punkomatic or online browser DAWs with loops at the time.

Wishing you the best in future submissions and all of your endeavors. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

TimeWarpKnight responds:

I not very skillful, but thx for VERY big comment with critic