ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Bell of Death - NGUAC]

Very interesting sounds going on here. It reminds me of the old days of listening to techno on Newgrounds.

One thing throughout, I enjoy your writing, but I think you could stand to shorten or drop the volume on your reverb wet signal. On big sections, it gets pretty muddy, in contrast to the overly crisp highs of your percussion.

I would like: more volume on the kick, less on the hihats and anything that sounds like tsssss, a bassline more clearly audible under your bass arps -- could even be on offbeats to contrast against the kick. This would make a huge difference in the DRAMA for drops.

As a whole, the piece holds together well and I really enjoyed it. Great work.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

amishpimp responds:

thanks for the feedback, i really appreciate it! drops have been very difficult for me in general so i will take this into account going forward.

[AlphezoPlay - Overcharged (Dubstep)]

Nice intro. I hear something going on in the intro on your bass. It sounds like clipping. I think a lot of the mix problems I hear early on could be solved with MUCH less reverb on all instruments, and where you MUST have it, a low cut on the wet to 250 hz. The whole track seems to suffer from this.

That said, I love your arranging and writing all the way to 1:20. Your drop is positively chaotic, in a good way, excepting the issues of mix, the growls being too loud, and a bit less bass than I prefer. Literally just taking the reverb down will fix the majority of these issues.

The choir at 2:40 sounds really familiar, and although it is very clearly a synth I think works pretty well. Very daring choices.

Wonderful guitar solo at 3:26. This is like dubstep meets videogame, blues, and jazz at the same time.

Transition at 4:26 is good, again excepting the reverb issue throughout.

4:44 the drop is really tinny at the top. I think part of this is trying to ensure that it is heard above the MASSIVE reverb on the percussion and your pads.

Very interesting outro at 5:40. Total change of mood.

Again, thanks for coming out to NGUAC! What a journey!

AlphezGD responds:

So i just have to lower the reverb right? noted 👍

And also thanks to you!!

[Dolph Infinity]

2 seconds in and I already know this is going to be a wild ass, tripping experience

Very interesting ideas throughout and feeling as if I'm trapped in a factory. That's also underwater.

I'd like to hear more of your kick and snare throughout -- less hi-hat volume. The detuned piano is ... detuned. I'm not sure what is happening, what is a drop, what is a verse. There is clipping or perceived clipping on louder sections. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it, just that it gives me anxiety in a kind of good way.

Some more differentiation between verses and drops in their density of instruments would help this track a lot. I also think you could stand do turn down reverb and delay wet signals. That would greatly help the clarity of the cacophony.

If it is indeed clipping I'm hearing, I recommend mixing at a quieter volume before anything hits the master channel and only then applying compression.

Nice work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

dogsinmrimachines responds:

Hi ADR3-N, thanks for the detailed critique! I have a few minor follow-up points to it:

* Mixing at a quieter volume and then applying compression and gain definitely makes sense, my issue with this in the past is that it either doesn't prevent volume spikes or it does but then the whole thing is entirely too quiet. Maybe some kind of targeted compression would work here?

* Turning down the reverb and delay wet signals is highly tricky because of the way the instruments are built. There's always been a balance between getting the sound I want and making that sound crisp. Adding the noisier effects to the effect chain (or even the master) doesn't work because the effects are actually working with the feedback directly to give a richer sound. Is there a way of reducing reverb on an already-reverbed track? I mean I guess that would depend on the DAW but do you know any of the theory behind it if it's a real thing?

Your other comments are on point and are things I've worked on with newer releases. Overall though, a very helpful review!

[A new Chapter]

Great utilization of music theory in your chord modulations. Superbly and thoughtfully written. By 1:50 I'm waiting for a bit more to be said, wondering if we will see the incorporation of different instruments or lead lines. I think the ideas sold here would be best brought out into a full orchestra or a classic rock ballad. For a solo instrument piece, great work!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

GeminiGemini responds:

Thank you

[Electronic danger]

UwU that opening is noice. Please tell me what that creaking sound is. It's a little too loud but I like it.

39 seconds I'm starting to feel like the intro is going on just a bit too long. 50 seconds, I've accepted it

I like your arrangement but think there is WAY too much reverb and the drums are too far down in the mix.

VERY NICE drum fill writing

I want to hear more bass throughout. The lead at 1:27 is much too loud without it.

Splendid writing.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

idimension responds:

Thanks !
In this mix, i use Hybrid synth to make the riffs, i find theses on the bells and leads presets.

[[NGUAC] Underground]

Your hihats are REALLY LOUD

I appreciate your writing and ideas throughout. I think it would sound a lot better with less reverb, a bit more variation in what instruments were playing at a time.

I appreciate that you play with half-time throughout.

Reminds me of olskool videogames.

Unfortunately the very loud hihat makes it hard for me to enjoy throughout. You really get a lot of use out of that thing!

The kick is also almost inaudible.

Splendid melody and structure however.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

juanthecrack5 responds:

Thank u for the feedback!, I rlly will try to improve some of that points u mention.

[Depressed but Groovy]

Props for entering with a piece from 2007. Nostalgia <3

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Muzak4LikE responds:

Nostalgia? funny, even Chopin and Bach didnt released some stuff longe ago - would u call their music nostalgic?! ;) ( i wouldnt dare 2 compare myself with these geniuses - but u get my point) Music, my friend - is timeless!

[hello world! (nguac tryout)]

Your melodic writing is interesting. Some comments as I have trouble making out what is going on at points -- feels pretty avant garde

Better mixing and some light use of FX at this stage of development would vastly improve your presentation. Drums should be the loudest part of your mix and be clearly audible -- and not cluttered. Kick and snare are particularly important. Hihats and cymbals should be slightly less loud because they're alone in their frequency range for the most part.

I think you have lots of cool ideas in here but would benefit from some study of song structure. I recommend Signals Music Studios on YT as a launching point.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

MameloIlMugna46 responds:

drums are too silent in the program i use.

[Volcanic [Lifelight Records Release]]

Your hihats and claps are really sibilant. I would take them down somewhat. There's also a LOT of reverb and low frequencies that I can't make heads or tails of what exactly they are, leaving me to feel like my head is underwater where there isn't sidechain or some obvious chunky piano.

I think the piece was mixed too loudly before effects were applied to the master. I can't hear a lot of your brass stabs added in for effect properly due to all that reverb.

Your sub bass is audible but isn't really standing out against all the other instruments due to the muddy low end.

I really like the writing of the piano but feel like for the bass portions of it other instruments would have served a better purpose, as it sounds a bit unnatural. Definitely feels like a videogame though. That I do enjoy.

Aside from that, not bad. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

mar234 responds:

Thanks a lot!

[Static]

I think you have great melodic ideas and are off to a great start. Some study of song structure I think would benefit you greatly. You have what sounds like a lot of intros and bridges and occasional drops. But it's very hard to tell what is a drop and what isn't

Mix at 1:20 is pretty unbalanced. That genesis style bass is LOUD relative to the rest of the song.

I appreciate the incorporation of transition noises.

It feels like this is two separate songs together at 2:00. There is a pretty long intro into 2:40, leaving it to feel pretty empty. I still like all the elements you're bringing together.

I feel 3:00 could be completely cut and lead into a final drop without harming the song any. As I mentioned, it feels like builds, into intros, into builds again -- see 3:40

You have 2 basses fighting for melodic space there. I would separate them out.

Check that you don't have bang and olufsen audio drivers. Those could give the impression that this is a balanced mix. If you do, install the "high definition audio driver" that comes default with your computer instead. Once upon a time I had this issue.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Rici-Ellipsis responds:

I've definitely studied some chord progression so expect that to be much better in future works although that's not quite what you remarked on I know the piano was really cheesy. I so get what you mean about buildups to intros to buildups, I think that's just an issue with this song in particular. I totally agree about cutting that part at 3:00. Thanks a lot, I appreciate these two reviews and I'll definitely put them to use. :)