ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Key to the Insanity]

My comments will be mostly about mix, as I think the composition isn't bad. The high frequencies are overwhelmingly loud - hihat, etc., and the bass is very quiet relative to the rest of the track.

The bass should sit in the center of the track and support the rest of the composition. I think switching out for a different bass instrument would help tremendously.

Спасибо что пришли на NGUAC!

[cafe]

Such a nice treatment throughout this piece. The only think I could ask is a brighter snare.

Other than that the beat is simple as pie, and I can't give any more critique than that.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Solaraloe - Takedown [NGUAC 2022]]

I'm appreciating the strange rhythms but think you may be dealing with soft clipping from looking at the waveform and listening to your high frequencies in the very beginning.

Watch those very high frequencies on your risers. They are pretty piercing and loud.

Your rhythms and writing are wonderful. I think I'm only going to take issue with the mix and perhaps some choices in percussion -- and perhaps that the song does not let up even for a second volume wise for a transition. I end up having the very full head feeling.

2:35 is a wonderful melodic progression.

Mix wise I would leave at least 250 hz and below on your bass alone in the center channel.

Beyond that I don't have much to say. Hihats are a bit high in the mix. Snare could use more volume and transient shaping. Kick is doing okay thanks to sidechain. You may try tuning it.

I recommend less sausage fattening for effect and cleaning up frequencies, long reverb tails or too much reverb, and any noise that doesn't need to be there in your mix. It's causing the compression to sound like a wall.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Solaraloe responds:

Thanks so much for the review! I really appreciate it.

[[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.