ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cubiks - Neovitalism]

Very nice, interesting chords in your intro. Sounds like everything is super chorused though so there's this really spread out sound, in a thin way.

Now, I really like the bass notes you've chosen. I would take it down about .4 dB

Really interesting rhythms on your percussion. Reverb or something is making them sound really muddy though. I would say everything but your hihats could stand to have more crisp high end from 8khz up to about 18khz.

This is super trippy but repetition legitimizes.

The only chord I don't particularly like is 2:32. Change a note or two around in there subtly and I think it'll do what you want.

Overall I really enjoyed it. Interesting choices, a fairly pleasing sound design. I would recommend cutting a lot of those reverb sends or choruses down to size some. Your synths already have a very spaced out vibe. Chords are naturally already there. Bassline is the cheese to the cake if you feel me. It's like house meets dnb.

I would like to hear a bit more of your drums. You can try multiband compressors or compressors in general on each individual instrument lane. There are also transient shapers which you can look into, some of which I'm sure are even free.

Anyway great work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

CubiksPlus responds:

Woah, Thanks for your feedback :D

[Soulhates]

I actually like this nice bright sound. Your playing is very musical, lead comes together nicely. I find myself wanting a little less sustain on those pedal notes. They feel almost a little flat.

At 1:20 or so they're starting to feel very chunky due to the left hand notes -- might want a different inversion. You can even do intentional dissonance here. I just find major intervals in those low registers don't often sound good.

But what follows is gorgeous. Very relaxing, very emotional. I might lay off just a little on the rigidity of the tempo -- it sounds like you're really nailing the crap out of those keys there, no offense. It just clashes a tad with the mood we've developed so far. Unless the mood you were going for is forcing love. It would fit that. It's so powerfully pleasant, it's uncomfortable haha.

Very nice job. I always forget what it's like to hear a real musician, haha.

Also, the review below me is Russian. It just says "pretty" or "prettily" likely meaning how you played. an a on the end would mean the song. Песня красива; красивая песня etc :)

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Woe]

Appreciating the unusual (for DnB) rhythms.

Just some mixing critique for up to 0:47 -- hihats could probably stand to come down some. I want a little more 8k hz on your snare. Maybe do some gated reverb on the snare to make it gritty. I sense a love of industrial drums in your sample use and mixing. If you want that nasty super reverbed sound without the muddy tail, try gated reverb, and any normal reverb you have I would take the wet signal down and turn the low cut up to about 280 hz. Those sounds get in the way of a strong kick and especially bass.

I actually am having a hard time hearing your bass throughout the song, so it comes out mostly drums and lead to my ears. Are you mixing with effects on the master channel? Try mixing your track with your computer volume down as you go. You will find you make better mixing decisions -- and make sure master FX are off first. This will go a long way toward helping you with that punchy, clean, aggressive DnB sound.

To get frequencies out of the way for your bass, I would recommend cutting everything below 250 hz on all your leads and other synths, as well as reverb sends liberally. You can also lightly sidechain your kick and bass so that they work in tandem to get that nice gritty punch.

Great work on your track. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Suns3t]

Nice, functional intro. I would say by the first half-repetition of chorus, we should get a bassline going, something like a D, B, F#. Not having that bassline makes me feel like I'm not really going anywhere, despite the rest of the song otherwise being quite well written, if minimal.

That said, take this song, experiment with just adding some quarter note basses, and you will have a great synthwave feel. That DMaj chord just sounds juicy with some bass.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

c0mc1ol responds:

I definitely agree that the song is way better with a bassline and yes, I was going for a minimal type song because I didn't really have much experience in fl studio but I am trying to get better. Thanks for sending some feedback and criticism though!

[BrwGD - Dubstep Reactor]

I was dubious when the percussion intro came in. By 0:38 I'm starting to become more of a believer. The only thing I'm wondering is where is a bassline -- by 1:05 my question is answered.

It kind of sounds like mixed loops from the way the song is quite naked in its structure. I do like the 2:27 lead.

Structure and mixing I think are the weakest parts of this piece. I'm not really feeling a definite okay, here is the main groove, the drop, and these are the builds or verses or w/e that take me there. Don't be afraid to take a song you like, put it in your DAW, mark the sections, delete it... or leave it if you want to use it as a mixing reference -- i.e. take it and listen to how it is mixed versus how your song is sounding as you are making it... I actually recommend that because it's a very good way to train yourself to move levels around and get the volume levels and space you want...

But with the melody, it doesn't seem to me to have connection to the bass. Like one review mentioned, the song feels sometimes like just elements that sound good on their own coming and going, but not building toward or interacting with one another. Some effects for you to look into in that regard are side chain. And maybe look into some risers or how to make builds and breakdowns.

You can even experiment with other genres. Dubstep is actually a pretty hard genre to start out making, point blank. I'm terrible at it, myself, unless I chop samples and create franken basses -- or, actually, there is a VST you might like called CS One that makes some pretty good LFO basslines. You can program the midi to move the LFO for you, and I think it can even make a pretty decent reese bass.

Your drums need to come up in the mix a lot, but I would more so recommend just turning everything else down. And make sure in your mix, you aren't mixing your song with effects in the mastering channel. They sound good on playback but in reality aren't helping you make good mixing and writing choices on individual tracks.

Anyway, thanks for coming out to NGUAC, and keep on chugging. You're off to a good start!

V1ZION responds:

Thank you for this opportunity! :)

I really appreciate your feedback, but I don’t get all those terms like VST, CS and LFO. Maybe you could explain those a little bit?

[Lost Energy]

Interesting effect with the detuning going on here. Feeling good as we bring the intro in. I was expecting a quicker intro, but I'm not complaining by 0:50.

Mix wise, I would bring up your percussion by 2 dB... Or just bring everything else down.

This is a little pleasant sunset driving groove. I really like it.

For your snare, I can't hear if you're using gated reverb or just delay. If you're using just delay, look up gated reverb. It will help the grit of your snare so much. Then you can cut the delay wet signal and feedback down some. I always recommend cutting reverb and delay signals as much as possible due to their tendency to muddy up a track.

I would have skipped that stutter and re-entry into the chorus before 3:13 or so if we were going to fade out and have gradually faded over two choruses or so. Where would that have taken you, maybe 3:30 seconds? That's not bad. So I would either cut the intro and do that, or leave the fade completely off and just let it end on a nice I chord.

Anyway, really enjoyed this little groove. Nice work! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

BrandonTurner responds:

I'll definitely look into gated reverb! Getting the snare to sit right with the delay was a pain and definitely could have been better.

Thanks for the critique, I'll keep all this in mind during future projects! I appreciate it!

[Ji4H3 - Lightning Strike (Original Mix)]

Surprised me with your track coming in after that pickup.

Some mixing critique real quick. That bass needs to come up in the mix a little. The kick and lead are very loud in the first section in regard to it.

I also don't particularly like the synth bass up to 1:18. It sounds either sharp or flat, somewhere in between.

Your structuring is good. I find myself wanting more hi-hats throughout but that might be a preference for music outside of this genre talking.

The synth bass I don't like is handled a little better by 2:32 but I still feel it's a bit loud and not meshing very well with the synth instrumentation. Maybe a ramp would work better?

Nice transition into 3:10.

I just find something is off in the last section of our drop. The snare isn't sticking out too well -- you may try gated reverb on it -- look up the concept. The backing harmonies are sitting low in the mix. There is some clipping at 4:15, watch for that.

The synth bass naked at 4:25 I would have low passed at least so it doesn't sound so flat. Try some different fx on it also. Bass players know what a dry bass sounds like.

Other than that, not bad at all. Enjoyed the listen. The presentation is good, the melody is nice and upbeat. Track holds together. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[AlgoRhythm]

Not bad! Writing wise this is pleasant to listen to. Predictable enough to be groovy, but not enough to be annoying.

My complaints would come in the production area. I can't really hear your percussion over the other instruments. Just turn them down some. Maybe look up gated reverb as a technique for your snare to make it stand out more.

The leads are very loud. I would take them down at least 2 dB.

I would also cut the reverb wet send down by about half what it is and shorten the length or room size/feedback. Depends what settings you have. Too much and it gets very muddy. You can cut your 250 hz and below on the leads and reverbs to save space in the mix for your bass.

But overall I enjoyed the listen. Nice work!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Wait for my Brain]

Wicked tremelo effect. Writing wise, this isn't bad.

I'd like that gated chord synth down about 3 dB, your lead down 2 dB. I can barely hear the percussion over it.

The solo repeating at 2:30 isn't really my cup of tea. I might actually rewrite it so that it doesn't resolve downward but up. Maybe study some leadwriting by ear. It sounds like that is how you write.

Not a whole lot of critique other than that. You might study some producers from the genre you want to emulate and see how they construct their melodies, harmonies, and sound. Always have a reference track with levels close to the ones you want. Solo that track every so often as your mixing and compare the volume levels of all the different instruments to what you hear in your mix. It really helps get the kind of sound you want to achieve.

Anyway, nice work. Hope to see more from you soon! Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Take the Day]

Not bad. My only real gripes with the piece are a lot of repetition with not much build-up, and the variation in individual hits of the sticked instruments could be a lot more obvious. I really would have appreciated were this not a loop and you had gone into a full out chorus with this theme. It's not a bad piece of writing at all. Makes me interested in LABs actually.

Beyond that, I feel the frequencies of each individual instrument could be cleaned up with an EQ or multiband compressor. Especially with naked sections, its common to get a boxy 250 hz and below sound from all the other instruments that gets in the way of your double basses. And those themselves can get gnarly hums in 30 hz and below... we all know they don't play in that range ofc.

Do not be afraid to layer other string libraries or instruments also. I know there are plenty for Kontakt such as wonderharp, egyptian ney (a wonderful flute), Pocket blakus cello, mini Naal, egyptian darabuka, clingfilm frame drums, and many more. You can also use a trick of pitching down an instrument with the kontakt pitch wheel, and transposing a second instance of kontakt with it -- or moving the samples on the keyboard. Go nuts.

And don't forget, raked cymbals are your friend!

Great hearing from you. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!