ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Unstoppable]

Mixing is pretty spot on until around 1:40, the musical content fits the art, and the vocals are a nice touch. Only think they could have been pumped up a bit or panned different in the mix.

Around 1:40, the melodic content of the synths is creating some serious dissonance with the choral sounds. This may be intentional. I don't know. It resolves pretty quickly. The sound actually made me tune in without wincing. I suppose that's a good thing.

Now that I think about it, the gated bass could probably be turned down a bit, and there's a bit of clipping toward the end. Watch for that.

All things considered, I do really enjoy the piece. It's short and sweet, and it's interesting. Beyond that, not much to say.

TIMETRAVL responds:

Thanks for your review:) will keep it in mind if ill write smth like this again:)

[AIM - Dusk of Eternal Night]

I understand what you're going for, although, it seems you're suffering from software lagging behind the creative ambition. Those MIDIs are killing me, especially the pipe organ in the high register and timpani -- as well as the attacks on the strings. Crashes are also written in a way that would be nearly impossible to perform. 2:52 is not too bad, but you're starting to get distortion in the mix.

There is certainly energy here, but I feel percussion and modulation suffered the most here. In 2006, this would be pretty par for the course, and I realize software for this sort of thing is often expensive even if it is sub-optimal.

Vibraphone wrapping up the end was a nice touch.

In short, you are a talented composer, but your instruments are dragging you down. You would have done better to simply have forgone the orchestral template and try deliberate synths, or added some reverb. Volume is also iffy at points. Lots of stabby high volume accents that stick out for just being suddenly loud, not really accented.

Could have done with a lot more percussion buildup, and I don't recall hearing a single snare or concert bass drum hits, which is a big thing in most cinematic music. Bangs and crashes. Lots of them. Cymbals were written weirdly as I mentioned already.

Could have done seriously with some double bass, cello, tuba, etc. It sounds like you wrote for a whole orchestra and sent the meat of them home. The sound pyramid should be a pyramid, not a lady Newt Gingrich silhouette. ;)

Keep writing, though. You'll get there!

Verdusk responds:

Yes. Unfortunately the MIDI tool seems like the best that I have right now and I also don't know anything about playing drums so I can't really tell whether what I write is actually playable or not.

Thing is I like orchestral music, and not using them also means I might have to find samples that may also not be free to use. I think I'll keep using them, but also figure out how to use them better. (Volume control, work more on bass, etc.)

Thanks for review!

[Walkin The Fauchard]

High ends sound a bit dull, but it's not a bad song at all. Transitions are fresh! May want to sidechain your percussion. It isn't sticking out very much relative to the rest of the song when it's in full swing. Hihats are playing lame duck!

BryceSummer responds:

Thanks for the review & advice :).

[Stutter Light (WIP)]

The stabby lead synth you're using isn't my cup of tea, but otherwise, I like it. The octaves in that lead make it sound pretty cheesy, and it sounds just a bit too loud.

Daydream-Anatomy responds:

Thanks, in the final version I did tone it down a bit, and cut off some of the higher end that was a tad ear splitting. I can't remember if the final version's on here or bandcamp only, pretty sure I put it on here. A lot of people noticed the same problem. Actually I probably could've toned it down a LITTLE tiny more. But it's finalized, but it's better, in mine and most opinions, than the lead in the wip version. (which is almost the same lead , only quieter and with some highend cut off.)

Glad you were able to look past that and the 'cheesy' lead and still like the piece overall, I appreciate the review^^

[Onion]

Well, some of the sound effects were nice. Other than that, the longer this drug on, the more annoying certain overused sounds became.

LavaRift responds:

Wow I was going for 1 star.

[Patterns (Orchestral Remix)]

I don't know about you, but an electric piano doesn't belong in a classical setting to me. Neither does an electric bass or rock drums. Sounds better, I suppose, than the original, but it still sounds like literally a midi port of the other song. I assume this is exactly what it is until 2:10, at which point it just becomes ridiculous. Can't really call this classical at all.

The whole song is disjunct. There are no transitions. Sort of just lays there.

LavaRift responds:

I know how bad this is. It is very far in my past, and I didn't know what classical meant.

[{DJ-L} NightBlender]

Doesn't really sound like dubstep at all to me, except your drums, which sound like loops. There really is not much progression going on here, just the same stabs over and over. I would press skip on this.

Also, there isn't much of a drop at all. It just sounds like the same off key melody ported into the bass, which also sounds like a Mixcraft preset.

No offense, just isn't my thing. Definitely would send this one back to the drawing board, at least to fix the phrasing, so it doesn't feel like building up to another build up, to a nothing. Also, where are hats? Crashes?

LavaRift responds:

I know

[{DJ-L} Patterns]

It's interesting, I'll give you that. The drums really aren't doing anything for the mix though, as quiet as they are. I've got to say, I really don't like the electric piano. It just just sounds cliche.

I wouldn't classify this dubstep at all. There's no drop, just some computer noises. I suggest studying your genres more.

LavaRift responds:

Thank you for the feedback.

[Stargenx - The Whale]

The louder you sing, the better it sounds. Otherwise, kind of odd. Your arranging is good, but I would definitely redo your vocals. Could use some finer tuned mixing as well. The instrumental could stick out a bit more and I wouldn't complain.

EDIT 4/16/2024: I don't know what crack I was smoking in 2016. There's a lot of reverb, and that's probably what I was complaining about. And to a degree the vocals sound like they're being performed live on stage vs the studio. You know what I'm talking about. That difference in presence. Anyway, I found you again through @LJCoffee's (the guy who scouted me years ago) scout list. Hope you're well!

Stargenx responds:

Thanks for the review! Very understandable!

[Buzz Word]

This shit makes me happy, period. Literally cannot understand why it hasn't blown up more speakers than the plays tell me it has. Could use just a bit more bass, but that's a bit subjective. Otherwise, pretty perfect, and your writing is impeccable. :)

Hikari responds:

Woah, thank you a lot for your review and time! I completely agree with you. I feel like I could have decreased the dynamics in the sub a hair and increased the volume by a solid db. Happyhardcore is a bit out of my norm but it's been a life long dream to make a song in the style. It's kind of funny, when I started making music when I was 12 all I wanted to do was make rave and hardtrance. So this was kind of a throw back to those days. Another interesting point is that I had originally made this melody to show a friend how to sequence, make a chord progression and how to arrange. I liked the melody but I had no idea what to do with the it so I just threw it in the archive. A few months later I got bored and decided to look through my old project files. When I rediscovered "nice melody.flp" I got instantly inspired. Thank you again for your listen!