ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Taste Again]

27 sec, wrong note that repeats when this section does. I can also hear when this section appears to be copy pasted.

Otherwise, love the performance and pretty good mix -- perhaps take down hihat and ride just a bit. Something is going on with the low end on the guitars on the chorus. Feels like my head is full listening to it, probably a lot of reverb and low mids ringing out. Maybe check the sub as well.

Great lyrics that are difficult to take apart, angsty and grungy. Good vocal performance. Overall, only thing that'd make a massive difference to me is applying some mastering compression so it is satisfactorily loud and angry as its peers on the radio. :)

Mischa-head responds:

Thanks for listening and commenting!
I think your feedback on my last track helped me mix this one a bit better.
Hopefully they just keep getting better and better!

[Fight for the Future! - NGUAC Knockout 2023]

There is some unidentifiable noise clicking above the mix prior to 30 seconds. It could be some sort of reverb. Speaking of reverb, it is hard to hear anything going on due to lots of low end noise coming from reverb through this piece. Rolling off some of the low end i.e. 250 hz and below can help. Alternatively, manage reverb smartly by applying it where you want it to be heard -- think about how people don't leave the sustain pedal on a piano when they change chords, unless those chords go together -- it causes things to sound muddy.

The kick is very hard to hear throughout the song. Snare could come up throughout. Hihats potentially also. Levels are just in general all over the place. Perhaps not for a chip tune song, but this is not chip.

I am having trouble hearing the bass through the reverb shoegaze and over the amount of sustaining bells, as well as the quite loud leads.

Based on your panning, I think it is part of the reverb on the snare in your beginning I was hearing. Oh no, it was the instrument at 2:14. Rolling off the high end on that delay will help a bit. Due to muddy mix, it was sounding like clipping to me in your intro.

But I would like to say beyond all that that compositionally, this is a great piece, which I really enjoyed. All mix issues aside, it's lively, energetic, and driven. Kind of reminds me of mario kart, tbh. Good work!

CommanderJersey responds:

Thank you for the review, I have been working your feedback into the song to make it better!

[Crystal Zero (Lite)]

I think there is overuse of reverb throughout creating a low-mid hum throughout -- perhaps roll off some of that as you incorporate more instruments.

Mix at 1:17 is sounding great on your bass, but I think the cello could be thinned out a bit and made into an ensemble at the same volume. I think it actually needs a wetter, crispier sound.

Structure wise, going great into 2 min. Liking that drop. Wanting actually more low mid and high mid here, and a bit drier tint here, especially at 2:15.

At 2:35, I think the low piano chords could be thinned out note wise or replaced with saws. Also, the attacks on each note all sounding at the same time is a bit grating for that naked section. A natural hand roll as it would be played might sound better.

3:42 is way over compressed, more than 3:24 even. It is losing the natural character of the synths and the transition sweep is getting lost as soda fizz on top of any reverbs there. The side chain is also almost totally lost in terms of actual contrast it is providing.

At 3:59, same issue as 2:35. Changing the velocity to be softer here, as it's the outro, may help.

Otherwise, I think you've done a fabulous job at sound design and made a good composition. Great work!

Question, does Nexus 4 still have the keys from the original Nexus? That piano sounds so familiar!

CloudNinja responds:

Nexus 4 is the same, it just changes the UI and adds extra buttons. Thx for the feedback! I didn't have enough time to really make it as good as I want so hopefully the full version would be better (IE "Lite" in the name)

[Sadistic Blood]

chord progression in intro is fire, as is the fx used.

I think the synths at 30 sec could be a bit quieter, as well as drums

Overall the weak point of this piece is production and instruments used -- i.e. mix levels and particularly that soundfont piano. I think a synth would have been much better suited there.

At 1:34, the instrumentation is sounding thin and under developed, and there is not a lot of contrast between it and the intro beyond some percussion parts coming in and a synth violin, which I think also would be better replaced with a synth. Still the ideas presented here are fantastic.

I do praise that I can hear your sine bass!

I think if you were to take this piece exactly as is written and with the same instruments, I would roll some high end off of your drums as a whole, i.e. low pass, apply reverb to the snare and a subtle pingpong delay to hihats and cymbals, and apply dynamic compression to them. Hihats and cymbals should be lower in volume. Snare and kick should be the loudest element of a piece and be balanced sonically -- listen to some references as you mix, chosen from the genres you most want to emulate, and try to approximate the sounds

Compositionally, I think there are some weaknesses in structure, not in terms of actual melodies written, but layering and choice of instruments, such that drops don't quite feel like drops. More contrast needs to be apparent in terms of volume and individual parts entering and exiting the stage per new phrase.

I hope you keep going in this direction however and that you don't lose your writing as you improve aspects of mix and instruments available to you. This is great :)

ClitBait responds:

thx you for the review, i'll keep in mind!!!

[Half Sure]

Before I've even listened, I love your lyrics and lyrical theme. It's endemic to the human experience. Anyone who hasn't felt this, hasn't felt the feeling of being alive: loss, aimlessness, apathy, joy and its absence. I feel you, and I'm there with you now. Hang in there <3

In your intro, I would like more stereo width on your breaks and perhaps a more thinned out sound. They are having trouble cutting through the mix throughout.

Enjoy the vocals. Perhaps could thin out the low mid and bump the frequencies around your s's, in exchange for a manual de-ess. FX on them are pretty smooth, as well as transitions. They could potentially come down by .3 to .4 in the final mix/master.

Bass also could use a bit more high mid and presence in the center channel. It feels as if your sub has been stereo spread.

The guitars feel disjointed in the stereo space and a bit dry, as well as somewhat loud on clean lines. The rhythm/chords in the left are hard to make out due to fuzz. Perhaps a bit more careful eq before hitting the head will assist.

Otherwise, beautiful composition and flow. I found myself wanting one more chorus after the outro, honestly. I like it a lot!

SkankyMojo responds:

Thank you very much, I really appreciate the detailed feedback and kind words.

[Something's Wrong]

Well enjoyed with lights off, for sure! But I need to type or I'll lose my place

Where the brass comes in, controlling those attacks is imperative, lest they twah twah. Think I would appreciate a thicker ensemble there -- moving individual midi notes back so that they begin to sound where it suits your down beats will do the trick for the first problem -- see 1:10

Insane sound design

I think this would fit great in cinematic, as it very much sounds like a film score

Only wish it were longer. I could listen to this for ... 8 minutes single play. Realistically speaking, for an entire movie

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Sorry for the late reply! I've had a crazy year. Thanks for listening with the lights off <3

I agree 100% about the brass. I also think it should be a bit less quantized. What I normlly like to do is delay compensate so that the instruments hit in the beat! I won't be too hard on myself though, as I wrote this during my honeymoon, on a laptop xD

I'm so happy you appreciated the sound design! That's definitely where I placed most of my effort for this piece :3

[Waiting For You (WIP) NGADM 2023]

A lot of great ideas here, and that vocal sounds great

I can sort of hear the unfinishedness in that beyond the vocal, the mix sounds a bit flat -- in the sense kick and snare are not at the front of the mix, there appears to be no side chain or synths on the side beyond the keys with which we initially began.

However, it is not by any means bad at all, and is worth listening to, for sure! I think you should revisit this piece and update at a later date. I really like it! The minor touch at the end was a nice move as well which I feel added new depth to the rest of the track.

Some things you can do to tentatively add a "finished" sound is to implement subtle crashes and reverse crashes, and the occasional percussion, rhythmic textures, etc. That will do a lot for that finished sound, even if it only takes half an hour to figure out where to put all of them. Crashes is the big thing, as I noticed the lack of them upon further listening. They add a sense of going places, and no one knows why, but they work.

Tbh I'm giving you the cheatcodes I use when I myself can't figure out how to finish a song, hehehe

MusicSashik responds:

Thank you so much for writing this review. It's always a bit "scary" to be judged, but I'm so glad to receive feedback. If it weren't for you, I'm not sure I would have received any tips. Having constructive feedback is very beneficial, and I completely agree with what you're saying. Thanks!

[Quantize My Heartbeat (NGADM 2023)]

Definitely very, very punk. Love it.

could use some more attentive de-essing of vocals -- simple enough with manually ducking the s's, t's, sh if needed.

There are some issues of clarity -- kick, snare should be up a bit more in the mix, guitars down perhaps a little, bass up on bigger sections, crashes down by a bit as well

throughout, guitars are a bit loud to be sustained by the rest of the mix

Otherwise, cute, catchy, punky. I dig it!

CrossCarrasco responds:

Thanks for the feedback!

[LIVE THIS WAY (internet addiction)]

Banging lyrics. I think the vocals could use a bit less crisp, could use a bit of pingpong delay. At times they are too loud, but not offensively so.

Mix wise, it is hard to make out finer points of the instrumental -- bass doesn't pop, potentially needs more drive/clip, and more hi mid

Due to volume of vocals, is hard to make out side synths. Recommend dynamic compression on them and abusing sidechain tbh

the kick sounds pretty high. No one is forcing you to use a typical hyperpop kick. You can dig in your sample box for a lower, grittier kick

Snare seems to lay flat in the mix, recommend a sneaky delay slapback for space or tasteful reverb.

Otherwise, great song, and really catchy!

Ackee39 responds:

Thank you so much for the incredibly detailed mixing advice!! I wanted to revisit this submission when i get back from vacation to polish it more in the mixing department, so this was really helpful :D

[Eclipse [NGADM 2023]]

This is about as good as house sound design gets! Excellent. My complaints are reserved to mix and volume level for various sections, as transitions.

Loudness at 1st drop is GREAT, but I am struggling to hear finer points of mix, particularly your clap is becoming buried (and I know, who gives a fuck about the clap as far as listening to it intently, but it's there for balance!) Also that perc that sounds like a low tuned guiro is mid heavy and sounds like it's sitting directly above my head like a ceiling fan. I might chorus that and spread it left and right respectively to about 25% left/right pan.

Now what is causing this apparent burying is not that your clap is too quiet, it sounds, but that the basses and side synths are too loud by perhaps up to 2 dB. I might also take down hihat by .2 dB.

Mix at 1:19 is approaching perfect. The gated chords/synths could come down somewhat and be autopanned slightly for more illusion of space. At 1:55 I want to hear more of them, with some creative filtering.

1:34 sounds a bit too oud for the preceding section. I would pull a gradual crescendo through here or make the preceding section louder.

that hey prior the final drop I would have loved to hear much louder

2:42 nearly nails the mix problems I was talking about earlier. They're better here. Not quite perfect but much improved.

I would have liked a longer final drop to pull off that breakdown you inserted at 2:48.

And with those nitpicks out of the way, I'd like to say what a grand slam of a track this is otherwise. Fantastic and driving piece. Great work!

Benji-G responds:

Thank you so much ADR3-N!