ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dreamin]

Piano could use a lot more modulation. Track as a whole could use less wet reverbing. Everything is sort of bleeding together. Writing isn't bad, but instrumentation -- the non 8-bit stuff -- needs some serious help. Also, some of the higher frequencies are giving me a bit of a headache. Could be because the mix is so busy, but on the cleaner parts -- where the reverb isn't so obvious, mysteriously, my head doesn't hurt so much.

You really could use some more high end on your drums. Maybe more hats. And some compression. Just watch your leveling in general, and master compression. The high frequency instruments are really sticking out, and your lower frequencies are getting muddied and cancelled out by each other.

Other than that, pretty nice, harmonic piece. There's just a lot taking away from it, particularly generic non-8-bit synths, lack of hi-hats, too much 'verb, and wonky leveling.

Veenomn responds:

Thanks for the review!

[the yes song]

Honestly, I don't know how anyone could sit through this, let alone download. Half-star for effort, though. Sounds like an MLG parody.

NoveDeht responds:

you are the fuck of the nation

[The Chrono Trigger (Orchestrated)]

This is fantastic, especially the harp. That really brought it for me. Leveling could be a bit better in places though, give it a bit more dynamic range. A bit of distortion at 1:26, and again later. Watch that. Also, could fade out better. It clicks a bit.

SuperTonic64 responds:

Hey EDM364! Thanks so much for the review. :) I definitely agree with some of the points you made, especially about watching for balance, peeking, and clipping. Man, this post-production stuff is hard haha. I may go back and do some adjustments to see if I can improve the balance and quality a little bit more.

Thanks again for the great feedback!
SP

[Crystal]

Oh here come those old disco perc samples! lol. That's a small fondness for me. This is interesting. Sounds like String Thing or M-Theory synth. I see you found dubstep drums. This is kinda nice. Sounds like the intro to an album.

Suggest studying common chord structures and playing with those.

LavaRift responds:

Thank you. I think that this is one of my best tracks. I don't exactly remember the chords I used but it started with C.

[Drop It Hard]

Interesting beginning. Still not dubstep, but I do sort of dig it. Drums could use more prominence in the mix.

That could have been a sick drop, but take a look at most dubstep drum patterns and the bpm, which should be at or near 140, not 120, not 170, etc.

LavaRift responds:

Thank you for the feedback.

[Zelda II Palace Theme (DJ-L Remix)]

Sounds like you ran the leads through a distortion pedal. A bit obnoxious at the beginning. Not awful but not really my thing. Sounds like a midi port. I would suggest toning down that screaming lead. A lot.

LavaRift responds:

Thank You for the feedback. I realized that I forgot to mix/master this once I had exported it.

[Acidized]

Overall, sort of going nowhere and annoying, but it seems as if you did put time looping everything and writing the scaling notes.

There's some progression, but this is just weird for me. I'm not really sure what's going on. The instrument change at 1:35 wasn't bad. It sounds like you're using Adonis synth a lot.

Watch your low register. The bass frequencies are conflicting and not resonating well together.

LavaRift responds:

Thank you for the feedback! I actually used sytrus and harmor to construct this song.

[Against]

Pretty good arrangement, and didn't sound bad except some panning. It's kind of unbalanced, especially on headphones, which makes the drums stick out for, well, not sticking out.

Kick isn't as punchy as it probably should be. It sounds almost like slowly slapping your thigh -- kind of wet and meaty. Either that, or the rhythm and lead are all drowning it out in the mix.

Kind of feels like a loop. Not much variation. Also lead isn't sticking out at all and could certainly use a lot more variation. There just wasn't much differentiation in the lead between phrases, or any feeling of progression. You would've done well to perhaps have a solo section over this.

LexRodent responds:

Thanks a lot for the heads-up on the sound of drums. I did some tweaks to the drums recently, (to give them more presence ironically) and modified the overall drums volume. Also the guitars could use some additional cut on the lows.

The lack of variation is because this used to have vocals, and the voice track was a big part of it, sadly those vocal files are now lost forever. I'll try taking the whole rhythm guitar out, and add some overdrive to the bass to compensate, I'm sure this will give it a different and not so repetitive feel, while I can figure something else, a synth line maybe.

[A.I.M - Burning Witches Light My Way]

Fantastic arranging, only the releases on some of the instruments are a bit too short. I actually think the choir could have a bit more high end on the EQ.

Violins at some points have too short of a release as well and stick out just a bit more than they should, especially on shorter notes.

So other than some mixing problems and uncanny valley synth instruments, this was a beautiful listen. Great chord structures as well, and it fits the art perfectly. Salutes to you. :)

Shozi responds:

thank you very much! really glad you enjoyed it :) truely mostly i focused letting the piece harmonize with the artwork as much as i can. i hate mixing and thats why i suck at it. but well...a bit more practice and i should handle the mixing part some day :)