ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[ikitai (feat. 初音ミク)]

This track is very quiet. I think it could benefit from a free online master or amplifying in Audacity.

I really enjoy your pingpong delay.

I think the hihats are a bit loud.

I appreciate the use of Miku and the Japanese. I myself am an occasional vocaloid and Alter Ego user myself.

I don't have much critique as the composition is fairly simple and nothing sticks out to me as dissonant or poorly mixed. It's so quiet that mixing decisions really only matter in so far as I wouldn't be able to hear anything -- but as bare as this piece is, everything is audible.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

wheremakingthishapen responds:

hi, thank you so much for your critique!!! i do have a problem with making my tracks a bit too quiet, as i tend to get worried about them clipping and such, but i'll definitely keep your critique in mind for any future tracks i make and try and work on making them a little louder. i'll also try and work on adding more stuff to my future tracks so they aren't as bare :) again, tysm for your critique, even if you didn't have much to say it was still very helpful!!!

[Ys - Mountain Pass (Windman Remix)]

That ambient intro is wild. Kinda feels like dementia. We lead from that straight into a 4 to the floor kick and a minor chord progression hanging out around the tonic of I.

Your transition was flowing well up until 2:58 or so. I was expecting another chorus, not a quieter section INTO a chorus.

Your melody writing and chords are quite catchy. It's like disco met olskool diva synth rock. The electric guitar synth could probably be subbed out for another instrument that sounds less obviously like it is trying to do a real instrument's job and draw less scrutiny.

The piece keeps plodding on into 6:39, which it should be mentioned is VERY long for a track that is not some kind of symphony. I really think you could have gone without the ambient outro. Just a hint of it would be enough.

Some comments. Your percussion, particularly crashes, feels a little cheap. Kick, snare, and crash are three elements you want to be clean, pristine, and crispy in a mix. I want to hear more of them in both terms of volume and crunch. You may find some free percussion processing plugins to help you in this endeavor such as KSHMR Essentials Kick and Diablo Lite by cymatics

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[rotting.]

Super dirty beets. Me like. I think the cymbals could come down in the mix to improve intelligibility of the harmony.

Personally I would not have gone past 1:36 on the first drop to give time to breathe -- may have chopped elements from the end of the first drop into the first half.

I can't really properly express how much I love this pile of dirt decaying in my ear holes. It feels like what my daily life with a TBI feels like. Forgetting shit constantly, not really knowing where I'm going half the time, and kinda feeling dead inside.

I also have no fucking clue why you're getting zero bombed.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Crazy Cats]

God damn alien seinfeld :'(

[ElevatorMusic]

I would use this as a ringtone

[SuperCynical]

Hey, it could always be worse. You could have no submission at all!

I'm hearing some clipping throughout, especially 54 seconds. I know this is made with LMMS and I have no idea how to ensure clipping does not occur in that DAW, however, I would recommend that you mix at a lower volume (and export at a lower volume), and amplify the track in a separate application or free online mastering platform. At this rate, it is much better than the quality achieved doing anything different.

The piece itself is pretty simplistic. Everything is clearly audible because of that. I think transitions would be the best point to focus on past this point -- after mixing of course. Transition sweeps, cymbals, and a bass line would make a lot of difference in that area.

Beyond that, good effort. LMMS is a hard DAW to work with and I give you props for trying at all!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Ye Olde Potion Seller]

Medieval hip-hop? Me too bro. Me too.

I think your 808, percussion, and string lead are too loud relative to the dulcimerish lead.

Your flute writing slaps though.

By any chance do you use Mixcraft? These percussions sound familiar.

I think there are too many kicks in your main drum loop. It sounds pretty cluttered. Your hihats also don't seem to be all that much varied. It feels as if the piece itself actually is quite busy throughout with no real time to breathe. I would recommend some study of song structure, weak and strong beats, etc., and reparsing out this idea later.

Typically when I write a beat, I start with just 4 measures, copy paste, then change the last 2 measures of the second half. Bingo, one drop. Copy and paste that, repeat the process changing the last 2 bars. Repetition legitimizes. That is then my final drop, or my last 2 drops.

I will then take elements of this and write an intro, one verse, and one bridge if I feel like it, using a lot of the same elements but not all -- otherwise it will again just sound like a big mess of drops/choruses. I typically will have a 4-8 bar intro, half a drop, a verse of 8 or 16 bars, a full drop, a verse, drop repeats, bridge, drop and outro.

I have a list of freebies and samples you might enjoy hiding in my newsposts, for hiphop and electronic music. Be sure to check that out.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Z3rky - 4019]

Very cool sound design in your intro.

I think your 808 and kick are slightly too loud by 20 secs. Sounds like soft clipping at the mixer. I want that riff you have going on to be much louder relative to the 808. I would also take down the very sibilant FX by about a dB or two.

Overall, it's a very nice, simple piece. I dig it.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Fusion]

Slow, pensive piece. I completely was not expecting sweet, chill dubstep beats to occur.

The transition at 0:40 or so was also completely unexpected. Well written and just different enough to be fresh.

The lead at 1:07 is too loud by about .3 dB at least.

I am waiting for dubstep elements beyond percussion but not disappointed.

Transitions again are well done at 1:40, and nice little birdie noises greet me. Pleasant. Except that beep can calm down -- slightly more quietly. Perhaps crescendo into that volume. It feels like a metronome.

The melody throughout this piece is very slow and calm. I think the snare might be just slightly too loud at 2:42.

Another nice transition at 2:52 -- tame that super high squeal though on the end. It sounds like my tinnitus except it kinda hurts :P

A nice chorus and outro.

I don't really have a lot of critique because it's so simple and unobtrusive to the ear. Impressive that FL Studio Mobile is capable of decent compositions now.

Nice work! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Castle Dregs]

I was waiting for some toccata and fugue vibes.

Interesting fusion of elements. I like that reversing shizzle. However I think your 808 is WAY too loud relative to the rest of the track. I can hardly hear your snare over it in any section where it is present.

Could also use some transition FX, crashes, reverse crashes, and etc. just to make transitions clearer. I want to hear some ride cymbals too.

At 1:55 the piece feels muddy, a lot of melodies and stuff going on that could probably be parsed out into other drops.

The song is also SUPER long for hip-hop at 5:40. That tells me some things could probably be cut out, like that section I was just talking out where the choir instrument and strings are being written in a way that doesn't necessarily serve the quality of synth you're using. For instance I might cut the 3:24 section to 4:30, sub in one more drop and leave the rest to 4:54 or so as an outro. A fade out is not needed.

Super, super long!

Beyond that, the ideas you have here are not bad at all. Some places I disagree with execution, like those super hard, super distorted 808s (which don't get me wrong I myself LOVE to spam) with a LOT of other elements on top and complex percussion. Give your ideas a little bit of space to breathe.

Also I have a sample pack you may enjoy -- Adreanaline, made myself, with tons of grimy 808s and percs for you. And a ton of other freebies packed away in my news posts for hip hop and industrial. I would recommend you some plugins right off the bat: kshmr essentials kick (percussion processor), Diablo Lite by cymatics (same), Pocket Blackus cello (a kontakt instrument free), Spitfire LABS (a ton of orchestral and other sample based intruments that are free), cinematic cymbals. If you go through my own audio discography I list a lot of the things I use most of the time. If interested, hmu and I will see what we can find for you.

That's really all I have to say I think on the piece. As we speak it has ended, and it is indeed stuck in my head despite mix issues. Very catchy. Excited to see what else you come up with!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

SednovaNova responds:

I appreciate the feedback. I will take it into consideration most definitely.