ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Krea - Crystal [NGADM 2023]]

I would like a bit less lead and fizz in your intro, a lot more clarity on those intro drums

42 seconds sounds GREAT, might be a slightly off bass note -- can detune bend that a bit into key

1:26, wanting more of that mid range bass

Otherwise, wild track. 2 min is bonkers. I think I want a bit more tonality vs noise there. Any identifiable pitch.

I also would like for the outro, one final luscious 1 chord. Beyond that, amazing :)))

Kreagato responds:

Thank you for the feedback !! I agree with all those suggestions (I think I might have accidentally shifted one of the bass notes up or down a half step and didn't notice ;w; ), and I'm glad you think the drop at 2 mins is cool!! I tried to get a little more tonality in that part but It was my first time doing sound design similar to color bass and was struggling a little bit, so I settled with what I had after working on it for a few hours, but I'll practice more on that in the future

Thank u again for the feedback!! I really hope I end up scoring well overall, being part of a competition like this is rly fun :3

[The Last Warlord]

For the cello articulations, they are quite slow -- back them up so they come in at the same time as the piano and other instruments. Same with the brass where you notice this problem. There is a bit of lack of clarity on the downbeats for what sounds like a death march.

Praise your tasteful mixing of gong

I think the timpanis could have a bit more stereo spread and volume at different points. By the end of the composition, it sounds as you have a better idea what you are doing with articulations and so forth.

2:25 if there is a snare hiding underneath, I would like to hear it brought out, and the jinglies down just a bit. They are coming out of stereo phase with the ensemble.

Choir sounds great, btw, what is it?!?!?!

One last bone of contention, I would like a bit more volume, and if not that, contrast in volume between sections, by making the bigger sections just a bit louder. Great work!

IglicaV responds:

Thanks a lot for the critique, I will definietly keep that in mind next time! For the choir I uesed Oceania by Performance Samples :)

[Trauma]

Lovely experiment and sounds like a lot of fun! I definitely feel your electronic roots in the production. So there are some things I would note if you intend to continue in this direction down the road.

Guitars for heavy metal are typically double tracked, meaning rather than using a chorus on the rhythm guitar to achieve stereo width, 2 different performances of the same guitar line are panned 100% left and 100% right. To achieve this digitally, edit the midi velocities and occasionally articulations and pinches, hand position if applicable, and attack and release times. I will usually use humanize function on only one track.

It sounds like this was not done for your 7 string, and that detracts from the mix for me.

Regarding your approach to drums, I think your drum writing is great. That jingle bell in the right channel I would pull down some volume wise and move a bit more to the left than where it currently sits. More orchestral cymbals would be appreciated. At subtle volumes they add a lot of space.

I think I would put this somewhere in industrial, as it feels very electronic and not so much metal, but definitely a fusion genre (and I am not rating genre anyway)

For your snare, I think I would actually hard or soft clip it and compress it dynamically, as well as add a subtle slapback delay or other FX noise below it with a longer tail. It sits a bit flatly and could use grit -- have you ever heard the bottom of a snare?

Your hihats could probably sit a bit further in the left channel. Sometimes I like to add a subtle delay to them that ping pongs to the right channel.

Some variation to guitar articulations would be appreciated, like diminished chords and dissonance, chuggs, etc.

Otherwise, wonderful piece. Great work!

ESHRR responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Definitely a new style for me so I appreciate it. About the doubling, I had it on in the quarter-time parts since those parts were where the rhythm guitar was the main focus. And yeah, listening back to it I see what you mean about the hats and snare. I’ll work more on that in future projects! I do also agree that to the song could use more variety. I made the song thinking about how a metal song with vocals would be made, but obviously this is instrumental so some parts ended up a bit lacking. Again, thanks so much for the feedback!

[The Threat in the Corner of Your Eye]

I think I actually would like a bit of high end rolled off of your cymbals for this track. They are quite bright for such a dark and brooding dirge.

Some issues with mix early on, lots of wet verb and delay crowding out the finer points of your mix and muddying the dry signals. Bass playing is taking center stage, and it sounds great, but I also want to hear your kick, snare, rhythm guitar, and lead. 2:30 is a point of contention in that regard. 2:48 suffers less so as it is intended to be a big open section without extreme lyricism.

Overall, I find that the verbs could be taken down and or tails shortened as not to take away from your fantastic structure and melodic ideas.

3:44 sounds best. Bass playing is lovely and lyrical. It almost becomes a lead instrument of its own.

Panning on the hihats could stand to be pushed to the left channel and taken down a bit. Snare may benefit from a 3 to 5 percent right panning and the room panned 2% to 4% left.

Love 5:29. This is much cleaner and a great balance.

Synths could use low end rolled off of their wet signals and low mids. The lead guitar chugging in high mids could be pushed up .3 dB and high end rolled off. Ping-pong delay, chorus, or auto panning 15% left and right would help bring that element above the shoegaze subtly enough to be heard.

Mastering compression to be applied after these and other small fixes would do much good! Compositionally I would rate 5/5. In terms of mix, there is just a bit holding it back. Fantastic playing and mood is on point. Great work!

Mischa-head responds:

Thanks for listening and the really detailed feedback!

[Summer Skies]

Vibes intensify

Excellent incorporation of vocal

glissando/portamento working well for those chords

polyrhythms ensue by 1:48

... was that a gun cock sample? moderate discomfort aha

outro works really well

Mauxus responds:

Hahaha no, no gun cock samples were used no :)
Thank you for listening and leaving feedback, I really appreciate it!

[Paradigm Shift (NGADM 2023 Round 1)]

A bit overly reverbed in the intro, but by 38 seconds is coming together nicely. The white noise sweeps are a bit too high up in the mix, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot.

1:06 the over reverb is hurting those tikki tikki digital stabs cutting through properly.

This piece is a lot of intricate moving parts I see. I think at some points this may be hurting intelligibility a bit

Writing wise, great work. Is definitely feeling like Final Fantasy aha.

dnb elements, kick and snare I feel should have some more high end to them and cut through the mix more

Beyond that, really enjoyed the piece. Nice work!

Also speaking of paradigm shift, are we calling back to FF13?!?!

ET16 responds:

YES!!! I can die happy knowing someone caught that!!!! FF13 soundtrack had some of the most hyped battle themes in gaming!!!!

Yeah mixing is def my weakest link and failed to realize how echoey that intro was! So I def agree with your criticisms! Thank you very much for the tips!

["WHEN CALLING"]

20 sec could use a perc on beat 2 to take some attention off the rest of the mix

1:17 the vocal sounds very centered and flat

However this approach is very unique and I quite enjoy what you've done!

Perhaps a different kick at times would serve this piece well. The current one contrasts a lot with the rest of the instrumentation, and I really find myself wanting a snare that sustains -- think an 80s shoegaze snare, an rnb snare, or something in that realm. The current snare could be a backing snare that pans left and right.

Overall, despite some mix issues and inconsistent approach, I love the overall theme, and the idea is very original and alive. Great work!

xxxZigZagxxx responds:

Thank you so much! Appreciate the kind words. It's just nice to have someone speak about your work in general like this, and I'll definitely take your feedback into mind... I'm going to mix this one some more, add some thickness to that line at 1:17, etc., and hopefully release it as part of an EP ^_^

Cheers!

[bad thoughts feel good]

Really interesting beat. I think the kick could come up a bit

The section at 1:08 I think needs some work, that lead up top feels like it's in the wrong key

But overall I really like what you've done with it. Keep it up and don't let anybody stop you no matter what!

Billorusso44 responds:

appreciate it brudda💯

[Finnsfolks - N0VA]

I'm so happy to see how far you've come through the years. You're doing fantastic. Please keep it up!

A couple critiques on mix
Kick prior to the drop could have a bit of 10khz rolled off of it. On sections where snare is not present, it feels a bit top heavy

Otherwise, I think I would like some more sub on your bass

You are doing better and better at showing contrast between drop and builds.

I feel the leads and pads going into 3 minutes have a LOT of hiss on them

Also love the bigroom house snare you snuck in there.

3:40 sounds a bit thin and tinny

Otherwise, really enjoyed it! Fantastic job

Finnsfolks responds:

First off, thank you so so much for your support and feedback, it is incredibly appreciated!

Regarding the kick, yeah, I can see what you mean. Leading up to the drop, I do somewhat feel like it could have been a bit much, I guess I just got used to it, lol.

I'm a little surprised about the sub, I thought I was almost going overboard with it, but I can try and keep this in mind too.

I'm glad you think I'm getting better with contrast, that's something I've definitely been striving to get better at, so your comment on that is appreciated. And I'm glad you liked the snare, I thought it was fitting in that section.

High End is definitely something I feel I'm struggling to balance at the moment, avoiding too much hiss much keeping things sharp. I'm too under the impression, I think, that noise is good for filling the space, especially at the top end, but perhaps that isn't always the case, heh.

Regarding the thin and tinny comment, this is the only thing I'm not entirely sure how to fix. Fullness in mixdowns is the one thing I feel I struggle to find balance in, because when I think the mix needs something, my instinct is to add another layer, which is probably not even necessary, but then removing stuff and instead trying to boost one element just makes it overblown, I feel. Nonetheless, I will continue to practice and hopefully learn over time.

I really appreciate these points of feedback, I'll try and keep them in mind moving forward!

[For The Love Of Tax]

I'm amazed you got miku to sound this good. Holy cow

Production wise, I think the kick could come up a bit, guitar and synths are crowding out miku a bit, and I think her voice could be a bit less dry in the mix. Some chorus, reverb, delays, panning, etc would help contrast the verses and chorus. Harmony is hard to pick out but sounds good as is

Great work!

3xBlast responds:

Cheers! Hope to keep improving this type of sound, so your feedback helps a lot!