ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[amp chant / orange dance]

This piece is a bit short to properly comment, but from what I can hear, it is utterly filthy in a good way. You have a talent for creating alien textures and a clear eye for rhythm. I am imagining that you did this with audacity as well, which is an achievement. Horror composers make soundscapes like these all the time for shows like American Horror Story and its discombobulated intros.

The repeating cronenberged section sounds like an auto-filter or gate, and I appreciate the organic horror, as well as how if I zone out hard enough, the sensation between psychosis, washing dishes in the back of a restaurant, and at 0:15 in particular, a surfer rock drum loop through a cochlear implant. It would be a treasure trove for sampling and BGM.

What I feel this lacks is a driving beat, structure, and cohesion between sections and phrases. As a loop, it DOES function well due to the buzzing in the left channel and throughout. This can be remedied to a degree as I mentioned earlier with creating the mangled samples in Audacity and exporting them to your DAW of choice.

I can see this as background to a dystopian animation like as Salad Fingers, owing to its atonal nature and ambient noise.

I’m actually in awe at the way you destroy these samples. I would have never guessed until the outro what you could have used to create these textures. 30 seconds literally sounded like spraying down a sink drain, and the rhythmic buzzing was an excellent choice for the outro. I have genuinely enjoyed the listen, the longer I have gone on, and as someone who doesn’t often consume this kind of music, that is surprising!

This one also could use a bit of a boost volume wise, and perhaps compression of the overall result, but it’s easy listening as is. Consider me a fan from this point on!

JimmyTheCaterpillar responds:

tbh i remember when I was making this track i was in a big ol funk and i was kinda just pushing through building it to keep my mind off of other shit, but the other shit would creep in intermittently with jabs like "wtf are you even making rn" "where is this going" "yo this shit is ass" but I was kinda just like shut up!! to myself. i am really glad i saw the effort through and this review does a lot in helping me see the value i saw innately in the process, so thank you -- sincerely!

[Ginger Cranberry / guitar knots piece I]

There is a haunting quality to the intro of this piece. It has a very avant-garde feel and an ambient style I enjoy. Reminds me of a lot of music I used to make years ago. Weird, unapologetic, and it is what it says on the tin.

Employing various effects throughout lends a familiar and alien feeling at once. Modulating the amount of noise in the recording through what sounds like low-pass further contributes to the atmosphere.

If you were to improve upon this work or continue in this vein, I think the samples would be best edited in audacity first, exported, and arranged in another DAW where you have more control, such as Reaper.

There are some concerns I have such as mic quality, position, and room noise, which are difficult to overcome in more conventional styles but work pretty well for you here, minus where sharp fades of treble hiss are noticeable. I won’t go into detail, given that you don’t seem to be going for a “pristine” sound, but these are worth watching some tutorials on for whenever you decide to branch out and explore.

If you were to record as is, the ever present noise probably should be removed and added in post where you feel it will provide the most effect. I notice your penchant for texturizing, as you have already employed this to some effect with native FX.

Typically this is how it is done professionally. A sample of pure noise will sit vertically atop the processed recordings, to be modulted in and out at will. This will provide a cleaner result and potentially aid in structuring the piece – coupled with having a beat grid, snap functions, and many more options for modulating parameters.

As is, it is difficult to ascertain tempo. Audacity has a beat overlay feature that I am aware of, but it is difficult to work with due to the nature of how its tracks function -- generating silence early or cutting it to get a track starting on beat. It is also hard to crossfade, which is a basic feature in most DAWs, one I personally take for granted but I think would be most useful around 1 minute of your piece, or anywhere you have multiple entrances.

I particularly enjoy 1:25 and beyond where we delve into downpitched and reversed, glitching tones. 1:56 in particular caught my attention, as did 2:11. You've almost turned it into a rhode, and I would love to hear the production process on that.

In conclusion, this piece has quite a few stops and starts, but it contains many worthwhile, very weird ideas. Despite this not being my genre of choice, I really enjoyed the listen, and the parts I highlighted in particular!

JimmyTheCaterpillar responds:

you're the best and this audio review commission was such a worthwhile expenditure!!! everyone should hit you up for structured thoughts!

[Walk Away]

You know, I don't remember if I was actually the one who frontpaged this or not. That was the first thing I noticed when I recognized your song.

I think you've got a great structure for contemporary EDM going on here. The square was a fantastic choice at 1:30 approx, and I enjoyed your writing. I think the sidechain actually could stand to be a bit less aggressive, with a little more clarity in the mix for this section -- we can bring back the dreamy quality with lots of reverb and pads later, for contrast. Though it's worth noting that I think you've done a good job contrasting sections already.

The only element I'm not sure about is the short, loud, chopped snare for your builds. I think something with a longer tail as you neared the drops would further build tension. That one sounds a bit dry.

The switchup around 3 min and something was unexpected and had me checking to make sure a measure had not been deleted. However, it was neither a detriment to the track as a whole, nor a complete side-bar. I think you could have developed that further in some way to perhaps a more varied drop, but it's not bad as is.

The final drop is quite relaxing and really gives that feeling of bebopping around space. Sincerely hope it's seen some good use in GD, because it deserves it!

OVERSCORE responds:

Ah, yes, an actual review!
If you were the one who frontpaged this, thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the writing and structure. Yeah I do think I could have improved on the buildups, I see what you’re saying about the snare. The switchup was definitely supposed to have that kind of slap in the face surprise element to it, there was no measure deleted, just some weird rhythms.
There hasn’t been very many GD levels with it yet, a bunch of recent tab junk and one rated level. I hope that changes soon!
Thank you for all the advice! I’m shocked that you didn’t have anything to say about my mixing, I guess I’ve improved there a lot!

[Real problems]

I think this might be closer to house than hip-hop -- as phonk does fall under two umbrellas depending on arrangement. Real pleasant chord progression!

Vosh responds:

ok, i was changed

[Silver Phoenix]

Lapland... Finland? My geography is pretty American and it shows aha. I can feel the cold in this piece, in contrast to fiery :P

I always appreciate the dynamics and brooding air to your work. That's fire indeed. The balance of this piece is feeling spot on throughout. Perhaps I'd like a bit less long tail 1000 dB bass drum and a modern punctuated decay there. Bringing it up so it isn't hiding as much underneath may assist some, or perhaps more variation in velocity.

The only thing that holds me back from giving a higher score for this piece is that after a certain point I don't feel we progress much, until 3:09 which feels more like a build than an outro. I think some degree of this is the percussion remains at about the same intensity throughout the remainder of the track. The result is that we start strong and I feel sit at the same level. Perhaps the intro and first half can be made quieter to make it feel more as if we have room to grow.

Beyond that, I'm stunned with your ability to push out banger after banger thus far. Great work!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hii! Sorry for the super late reply. As you can imagine, life has been very busy. I really appreciate that you've taken the time to review so many tracks; thank you for that!

Yes, it was indeed Lapland in Finland (but Lapland is also covering parts of Sweden, Norway and Russia). I hear what you mean about hearing the cold, too! I appreciate your tips on the percussion; I'll certainly bear that in mind :)

I also hear your point about the progression. I was trying to go for something a little bit like Revelations, by Veigar Morgeirsson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNWTOsmnRcE, but I do feel like I fell a bit short. Naturally, I had many other inspirations as well!
As you mention, I think the energy is indeed a bit high early on in the piece, leaving less room for growth. I think I've pulled off the energy-balance a bit better in my last two compositions, thankfully ^____^

Thanks again! I hope you'll consider my last piece for this year's NGADM a banger as well; I've tried not to disappoint.

[Bewitched]

I love what you've done with that loop. I like to do it myself -- sentence mixing, changing the melody. I'm always wowed with the weirdness of your compositions. You're a real character in the DAW!

I think the mix of this could use some more refinement, but it has a very olskool chill vibe to it that I appreciate so much. Takes me back in time almost. I will sum up mix critique in short

The blips, bleeps and anything off majority in one channel could stand to come down in the mix a bit, while snare could use pushing up and perhaps some gated reverb feel to it. Your hihats could probably use a bit of transient shaping and stereo play. Sidechain more obvious than any that has been applied would help for big sections. I'd also like to see even more dynamic contrast between verse and drop. The build at 3 min is a perfect example of what I mean -- it's well done and brings us to a satisfying chorus.

I think a more aggressive, centered bass with more pronounced high mid and sub would really tie this together, as well as a kick with a bit of grit. By the end, this is well and truly stuck in my head. Beautiful work. Thank you!

LordAndiso responds:

I find this melody catchy aswell :D It got stuck in my head too!! Although when I listened to this on my earbuds.. I really heard the bleep in my right ear.. it was very annoying.. I have no idea how i didn't hear it in my headphone monitors.. I will probably invest in monitors soon.
As always, thank you soo much! I am very happy that you liked it :)

[Wonder Of Heavens]

I don't really know how to critique jazz despite having played in a jazz ensemble, but let me just say that I sincerely enjoyed this. There are some minor critiques -- mix related, as I think you've actually done an excellent job with articulations this time around. Woah.

I think the brass is actually a bit too loud to be sustained by the rest of the composition, and the low mids have been sucked out it seems from the piece. A more balanced, centered low brass section would fill this out. A bit more centered kick and snare would help as well. Strings also could be pushed a bit further into the back with the exception of 1st/2nd violin

I find I wanted this piece to go on forever. It's spicy

FJOB responds:

Thank you for the constructive criticism of the composition, I will take into account all the points you have specified to improve it soon

[Lordant - Rain Elegy]

Lovely cinematic piece with very tasteful composition. I think my only gripes are that one, it's fairly short, some of the dynamic contrast is just slightly too loud here, or not loud enough there. At 1:20 I was sincerely hoping for a further development of the themes at 37 seconds, or a big blasting chorus. It really felt as if that was where we were going.

at 1:01, I felt there could have been a more dramatic swell into this moment, as well as dynamic contrast after, to follow into the build at 1:28

Overall, lovely composition, just wanted more punch! I always have the greatest expectations from you. Keep on doing what you do!

Lordant responds:

Thank you! The compositional aspects were a bit rushed, and I'm personally not totally satisfied with them, but I'm glad you liked the piece overall :)

[A New Discovery]

I'm loving this. Only a very few complaints. I would love to hear actually just a tad less sub throughout and more bright mids on guitar and bass. There is also a really, really high pitched squeal that I think is intentional, but could be reduced in volume.

As far as chord progression, the harmonic minor section works fantastically. Here I think that rhythm guitar needs to come out some more. Throughout, crashes and china could come down by as much as .4 dB, or be treated with an EQ to reduce just a bit of the mids and supra treble frequencies.

2:25 there is that sparkly chime with the high resonant squeal I was talking about.

Some of my mixing critique may be related to the level of compression used over or under emphasizing certain frequencies.

The gated chucka SFX in the outro/breakdown I think could use doubling, a bit more lo-mid, or perhaps even some stereo play. Overall though I think you've done a beautiful contemporary metal track. It djents!

BeyondOurEyes responds:

Greatly appreciate the love and feedback as always man! I've still got some tweaking I wanted to do on this one so I'll keep all this in mind when I revisit! \m/