ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Solivagant [NGADM] [NGUAC]]

I see you took my words to heart about master comp and bass presence -- I still would mono bass below about 117 hz rather than letting the chorus spread it about.

The overall level of the master is good, but it sounds louder in the right channel than the left toward the end -- actually throughout.

My favorite section is 22 sec to 1:01

I think the bit crush on the keys could be softened with a second layer of analogizer plugin to roll off the highs. I use Cymatics origin for this purpose, occasionally in 2 layers with different sample rates, one harshly bitcrushing and saturating, the second at a gentler bit rate with the pre and post filters turned on to limit harshness and the freq gently rolling off until it's just a bit less shrieky in the high register.

Your treatment of drums in the first half is nigh perfect. There is a bit of a hiccup at 1:30 or so where I'm feeling just a bit few many milliseconds of swing or lack thereof not quite meshing with the other instruments. Do I know these samples? They sound like an old 90s drum sample CD by Dave Ruffy I'm very fond of.

I would recommend bringing kick and snare more to front and backing off saturation/clip very slightly. Alternatively you can turn up transients -- but watch that cymbals don't start acting wild and exotic in terms of volume.

With this level of crunch on the entire mix, you have to watch that your reverbs and pads/strings don't get muddied up. A plugin like Pancz on your drums can shorten and dry up the note bodies for them, pulling them out of the way of the "air" of those synths -- an issue I hear toward the very end. Subtle sidechain also works well for kick and snare against all other aspects of the mix for a crisp, tight sound.

Also, I think the strings and pads could be balanced more left to compensate for the right keys

In terms of experimentation though, this is a great step outside what I typically hear from you and a massive improvement in competitive LUFS/mastering standards.

Overall, I'm torn, but I'll have to settle for an 8.5/10

[Mr.Must3rd; Meowtronica]

That is the most insane transition into midtempo I've ever heard in my entire life.

What stops me from rating 5 is that master is quiet, especially for midtempo and adjacent genres, and the track lacks a strong center channel, particularly for the bass which sounds very spread out. These two factors suck out the power from your drops. A little study of mix/master and some references to test against and it won't be a problem for you for very long.

Great work, seriously :)

MrMusterd responds:

this is actually something I just recently learned to do without COMPLEATLY destroying the mix. this one is Mastered to -14 LUFS, which isn't optimal but I didn't trust myself to push it further because I started noticing some distortion. As a broke 16 year old jit in my bedroom, I don't have any mastering plugins which would be cool, but the Kilohertz limiter is decent enough to use and catches most intrasample peaking, but its not perfect. I was able to push my last song to -13 LUFS which is an improvement, and I'm glad I was able to pull that off! if you have any advice or criticisms, please that stuff is like gold to me! :3

[We'll Meet Again]

Your thoughts sum up my feelings around the same time as I graduated college. I took multiple hiatuses for this reason. I couldn't seem to make the music I liked, or anything that didn't suck. I had a few cool ideas now and then and largely they were ignored. Partly it's my fault for not putting myself out there in the community. Partly it's the songs' fault for being ... mid. I had these infectious melodies and was beginning to grasp structure, but mix, master, instrument quality and so on were just not there.

Now the stuff I make blows my old material out of the water.

Why am I saying all this? It's not because I want to talk about myself -- I'm saying not to give up. Find references in the genres you want to make, and strive to make your songs approach that standard in as many ways as possible. Mix, levels, use of FX, structure, similar sound palettes. All that stuff really helps. And when all else fails, hit the tutorials.

Now to finish this off as a review, there are some things I'm noticing. The waveform is pretty quiet, meaning the track looks unmastered. None of the levels are offensive, but your bass could use a little bit of mids to bring it out of the dark. The kick and clap are driving, but the bass is pretty muted and relaxed.

Melodically, there's nothing wrong with it at all. I might double your lead with a different synth up an octave at times for variety, but it's not bad at all. It just doesn't seem like there are a lot of instruments keeping things spacey, or any real presence in the higher octaves from anything but the hihat.

Just my 2 cents. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Tree of Life]

I can find very few things separating this piece from contemporary filmscore of the last few decades, beyond perhaps a little bit of mix balancing here or there, a bit of panning or stereo-staging. It is suitably ambient without boring the listener, makes great use of various orchestral lead patches and their articulations such that they are almost indistinguishable from live playing, and is emotionally varied with fantastic transitions. Very satisfying listen.

HollandAlbright responds:

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that

[5. Moonflowers Grow From My Skin]

I'm rating 5, because your story made this grown ass woman cry like a little girl. I was teased relentlessly in school too, for being fat, for being ugly. None of these things was actually true. I look back at my photos, and I looked like a normal kid, even a good looking one. I just never wore makeup and was AVERAGE weight, not heroin chic. >.>

My mom unfortunately kind of played into this by telling me whenever my hair was even slightly sweaty, when I had a pimple or three, or if my clothes didn't fit right because, well, I was still growing. She didn't mean to, but she did. And the elderly lady my mom sat with couldn't see too great, so she said, "my, what a handsome young man you've raised," when I went to visit. The teasing at school about whether I was a boy or girl was ridiculous.

But my grandma always told me I was pretty like my mother, and so did my dad. I wish it stuck!

One thing that did stick was this, a verse from the Bible if I'm not mistaken: God is no respecter of persons. Meaning, it doesn't matter how much money you have, how hot you are, or what you can do. God looks at us all as equal.

GlowBoyMusic responds:

My heart is with you. I am glad to see you around here once again, ADR3-N.
Everything you have practically said from your experience, I can charcoal a tick next to in similarity of my own experience. Body image issues start at the most tender root of someones life, and the longer it festers, the worse the resulting damage. And when parents ignore or otherwise escalate the agony, you feel as if you could dissolve into nothing.

Truly, you are not alone. Trauma can be cruel, unrelenting, and unforgiving. but when it comes to putting it into a piece of art, it can be a key to relieving some of that burden from yourself.

This whole album, is an example of me relieving myself from my trauma, forgiving my past regardless of its severity, and sharing with the world a ‘canvas’ made from sound. Colour, texture, tuning, length, and emotional direction will drastically change, and perhaps sound ‘unaudioable’ or even ‘corrupt’ in some songs, and some will sound polished, defined, and almost radio ready-like. All of this is suppose to represent my mind and heart as I grow, each track number is my age, and each description is like the caption of a fine art piece, telling the story about this point of my life in as much detail as my memory can allow.

Just remember, whether someone is spiritual or atheistic matters not, spiritual health means more than just your faith — it means rediscovering yourself through the aftermath, and learning how to walk again, and find peace with yourself inside; and out.

Mad love, and thank you for coming by!
Glow.

[Do Me a Favour - Arctic Monkeys Cover]

I think your vocal volume could come up quite a bit, and perhaps bring the snare down just a little. Otherwise, great!

[Dj Halit - Basil]

That sidechain is actually a bit distractingly sharp and aggressive. Part of that is the kick and snare being a bit too loud at points. I recommend studying some reference tracks of your choice for house and see how to emulate the things you like about them in your own work.

Overall pleasant chord progression and good melodic writing!

DJ-Halit responds:

I'm glad I got some feedback on the sidechain specifically. I'll take your advice on board. Thank you for reviewing my song! :)

[black hole]

This perfectly suits my taste, with the exception that I think the bass could have more impact in the stereo space, had it more presence in mono below 130 hz and were it turned up quite a bit more. My headphones tend to overemphasize bass, so if it sounds a bit underplayed to me, it probably sounds more so on other systems. Double check that and let me know if you feel the same!

cad-mium responds:

yep I did this before I had gotten my hands on a subwoofer for my speakers, and my hd560s doesn't have the best bass response so I used to have a hard time properly mixing the bass. but I can hear what you're talking about now

[BASCUTI - SLEEP PARALYSIS]

Is that Ample Bass I hear, or is it Shreddage II?

BASCUTI responds:

Ample Bass!