ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[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. :)

[Through Time]

This reminds me of a lot of spacy synthwave and new wave pieces I used to listen to. I really like the slow and pensive melody and its interaction with the bass. I think you could center the bass more -- less chorus on it. Actually feel the same about all basses throughout the track -- less reverb on them, less chorus, unless you feel it absolutely necessary, as you have long notes holding out low frequencies throughout, which conflict when you change chords and don't let the track breathe when you have a cutoff.

The drops have a sub bass just kinda hanging out there being muddy. I think it could be turned down and the track feel more clear.

Other than that, I enjoyed your piece. Not bad at all. And much respect always hanging onto that good old idea you had until you're able to execute it. It doesn't have to always be out with the old, in with the new to be good. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

MrSpud8 responds:

Yo thanks so much for the the feedback, I'm still relatively new to this so any and all feedback is appreciated!

[blank.set]

When things finally get moving around 20 seconds, this is pretty lit. I'm not sure exactly what's going on with the drop. Perhaps the bass could use a bit of high mid presence to help it stand out against the mandolins. Kick and snare also need to come out in the mix more if that happens.

That said however the mandolins themselves sound fantastic, and your transitions are positively ethereal. 2:10 is closer to an ideal mix but I still think the mandolins and bells are too high in the mix. Is this house?

I actually think I'm having trouble relating the melody of the bass to the mandolin samples themselves. So perhaps I'm not a huge fan of the writing but the elements are good enough to overlook it for the most part.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

nascene responds:

Thank you for the feedback! really appreciate it :)

Yeah, I agree that the elements kind of feel detached from each other. I like that they sound nice together, but I do have to work on getting them to actually relate to each other. I was noticing while making this that each instrument seemed to take focus at different parts of the drop. The bells, then the mandolin, then the bass, back to the bells, etc.

I will work on keeping my songs more 'glued' together next time (like keeping the sounds consistent and not taking turns being the point of focus, idk how to phrase it)

As for the genre, idk if this is house or not, maybe just general electronica or something ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Dototototo (WIP)]

Your writing is pretty great. I especially enjoy your surprising chord progressions.

I think the mix is okay for what it is. The drums make mixing everything else a bit of a challenge. I think the organ chords on the sides are pushing the rest out of balance. I would take them down, bring the bass up, and bring the lead up.

At times it was hard to understand exactly where transitions were going, and reverb made the melodies a little unintelligible, but I think you did a great job with what you have.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

NicolasPL64 responds:

Thank you so much!
Yeah, I should've mastered the track. At least I know I'm in the good way in terms of composition, sadly I didn't have the time for mastering the track or improving the mixing.

[Tavern Song]

Congratulations that none of your instruments sound rough or forced on their face -- you have great libraries. I recommend a lot more sensitive handling of velocities, as it sounds like the same exact attack on each instrument for every repeated note. I really appreciate your outro.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

OliRO responds:

Thank you for the comment, it is really appreciated! I will definitely work on my velocity game, you brought up something very interesting. I never thought about changing velocities for recurrent notes, it's very smart.

[PEEL THE SCAB]

SCAB

Only complaints, high frequency elements of percussion are slightly too loud. Lead could come down somewhat. Wants more bass.

At 52 seconds the high frequency elements and mid highs are again quite high in the mix. I think this is actually due to compression after hearing the rest of the piece. 1:46 is closer to ideal levels but I still think there is a lot more room for bass frequencies in your piece, and the leads could come down ever so slightly.

Nice work. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

OneBigParadox responds:

Appreciate the feedback alot! Thank you!