ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Exoverse]

Intro is sounding good.

Coming into 20 seconds, I'm wanting a bit less sub on your kick, and some more space on that backing drone. I might actually bring that up about .5 dB or so.

By 1:29 we have fantastic rhythms. But I want more bass. Give me some of that tasty 8khz to 12khz, so I can hear her character.

It actually sounds like the song as a whole may have been clipped off in that range -- through bass boosting and compression. Bass will stand out on its own without boosting. Make sure you have a sound system that accurately represents sound, without artificially boosting or clipping off any ranges of sound.

Also, nice Russian sample. Enjoyed it. I'd like to hear more of your samples over all. They're very quiet in relation to the track itself. Hard to understand.

Here is what I heard -- don't know if you are Russian speaker... перед мной в любой точке земного шара, определенной заранее с большой точности. Excuse whatever the first syllables after pere are, because I know it's not pered mnoj, but that's about what I heard. I know enough Russian to work in professional capacity and the mix has me really working for it, is what I'm saying. Meaning the sample is not doing its job of getting me hype. If you are Russian speaker, lemme know what that first word is please!

Beyond that, great piece, really enjoyed it.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Michamadman responds:

Oh hey thanks for this great review! Fun fact is that I changed this song few times and last one seemed to be best. Who knows maybe in future I will remix this or make something like this but in different genre... For now I dont think Im some great and professional musician. I got some inspiration from other songs and used FL Studio and Audacity to make Exoverse. Also I am not Russian, Im actually Serbian but yeah we are slavs too.

[S1LENT GHO5T - Two (Official Instrumental) [Bi Remastered]]

Never heard the original Bi, but this key sounds like where it wanted to sit all along.

Some comments. The mix as a whole is pretty sub heavy on the kick -- can probably afford to bring it down about .2 to .3 dB and have the rest of the track stand out more from behind it. Sounds like you could also benefit from cutting some reverb and cleaning out the sub 250 hz on any sends, just to keep from sounding bogged down. But this isn't a huge issue.

There are some percussion slapbacks on your final drop that occasionally come to the fore in a very noticeable way, and not necessarily as something the casual listener would intuitively understand as a transition.

Overall the song is good, but I end up feeling something is missing, something like the vocalist you may have mentioned. There's not really a ton of moving lead material to carry us through sections. But overall, good work. The piece is cohesive and flows without having to be forced.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

LJTLegendaryL responds:

To completely transparent, I wasn't able to rerender the new version since I wasn't back in my original set up, so I tried to send the most recent one I had on my phone. In the updated one I did more EQ work to cut out unnecessary frequencies while keeping the mix stable and fixed the issues with the drums so that they don't overpower or collide to keep the synths from delivering their power.

Thanks for the feedback and it was still worth a shot. My vocalist is delivering the vocals soon so once I mix them in, emotions will be felt. The vocalist is also a fantastic artist, we're going to work on making something special with the song altogether.

Lots of concepts and planning. Once it's complete I'll probably post it on here and promote it across as many platforms as possible.

Fun Fact: The original key was 3 semi-tones lower, but I raised it so my vocalist could sing. Though, I think the raise is what perfected the sound.

The song, in the end, will also be a motivator since that's what I felt when I was producing it.

So even if I may not make it through, I still have something I'm really proud of ^^!

Again, thanks for the feedback, have a good day :)!

[copy and shadow]

Interesting polyrhythms going on here. Some comments on mix and structure.

Reverb here is 100% out of control -- tame that low end by throwing low cut up to 250 hz so the instruments aren't all muddying together. Gated reverb will sound better for your snare, btw, than that long tail. Hell, use it on everything if you want. It's a lot cleaner than just point blank reverb. But if you must use reverb, try to cut it down.

Now, I am a big fan of all your elements -- although they all sound panned left. That could be because your drums are mostly all on the left.

Protip, there are a ton of 808 and 909 sets out there that are free. I think 99sounds has one that I regularly use, for instance on my latest track here on NG, Progressing Degrees of Insanity, if you want to hear what I'm talking about.

Unexpected sections here and there, but this piece is already adventurous enough that I just get used to them.

Your drums I will say, are almost totally buried in reverb and just from not being loud enough in the mix. I would turn everything else down. And probably recommend centering that lowpass bass synth.

I don't know what the noise was at 4:35.

Are you by any chance using Trompette paper trumpet synth? I swear I recognize that flappy noise.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC! Really interesting listen :)

lofiskyline15 responds:

thanks a ton for the response!! yeah the storminess kind of started to envelop the mix but I had to pump it out to hit the deadline haha

it'll definitely be hit by a huge remix and all of the constructive criticism about the mix is hugely appreciated! I realized quickly after this that my mixing gear is slightly unbalanced stereo-wise so over time things kinda started to drift which leads to a lot of the leftness (especially in the drums and bass). it's also pretty reassuring that you thought the drums were actually too quiet cause I usually over-boost them and so I probably course-corrected a bit too hard on this one haha

one thing I was/am having a ton of trouble with in this particular track is having a punchy bass drum and it definitely shows in this mix. so I think just across-the-board cutting the low end on a ton of stuff like you said would provide the breathing room necessary for the kick to actually be heard. and I also think that, even though the reverb is pretty dang in your face, clearing the air in the lows-low mids would make the verb a lot less intrusive so i'll definitely jump on that.

what's kind of interesting (and just goes to show that there's a ton of muddiness) is there's almost no reverb on the drums besides a slight slapback delay on the snare so that just ties back in to the overall washy-ness of everything (which I do want to maintain in a shoegaze-y sort of way but not in a sounds-like-hot-garbage one haha)

and the trumpet is surprisingly just from the Spitfire BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover pack! with a ton of reverb (again) and some Izotope Vinyl processing (which definitely enhances the flappiness of it all).

overall, thanks so much and I'd love to be on shortlist for any upcoming music competitions!

[Lil Bear - SGD]

Personally I'm not a huge fan of e-piano chords just sort of moved around. I'm so glad I picked up this was mostly a joke before I almost died trying to tell you how to make the vocals sound better.

Still, compress that shizzle, my guy. Make it the best sounding joke on the internet. As it's mixed, I really struggle to hear your vocals over the percussion :P

Also, why not make trap music about Susie the trap? You could be her trap star. She could be your trap queen <3

But yeah, most of my critique is gonna sit on this could be an epic sounding joke song, if it had more attention poured into aspects of compressing vocals, mixing in a balanced way so that those vocals came to the front, and making sure we know Susie's got a dick, and that's okay <3

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

LilBearMusic responds:

I really appreciate you giving me this criticism. Ill definitely compress the vocals and mix it better. ❤

[Downvote (Single version)]

I can't tell if you're going with a blackmetal aesthetic. But some comments on mix. Drums are buried. Take down those guitars by however many dB it takes for them to become clear, and cut the 250 hz and below on everything that isn't drums or bass. I might even cut up to 28 hz on the bass just in case, to make room for drums to cut through.

Your guitars could use some cleaning with a multiband compressor. I think it's ChernobylStudios, or maybe FakeSmileRevolution that does a great few tutorials on just getting an aggressive guitar tone. Works magic on vst guitars.

Now speaking of your everything, the velocity and expression values are there for a reason! No one wants to hear a double bass roll like Skyrim freezing in the morning. Okay, maybe some crazy people do, but I am not one of them. I for one don't want to hear that. It means I have to go and edit values. I hate editing values.

Anyway Misha Mansoor does a great tutorial on youtube for that. Writing drums.

The velocity on your lead sounded the same throughout. I would change the chord thresh value some, turn on a humanizer. I actually can't tell if that sounds like RealEight or Shreddage II. With Shreddage II you're more likely to have that dead on sound of being locked into the beat just because the way they snap into the DAW, but RealEight is just as bad about sounding shitty if you don't use the keyswitches. Take note, use the keyswitches, set up some funky velocity crap. Figure it out so that it doesn't sound like pitching up and down the same articulation of a different note. Been there, lol.

Otherwise, hardpan your left and right rhythm guitars 100% L and R respectively. Leads I would pan anywhere between 13 and 33 percent L and R, with a pingpong delay between the instances to play into the other channel. Make sure to humanize all of these separately and randomly so that they don't sound the same. Use different amps and cabs for the L and R so they don't sound like you just copied the same track, etc. The lead can be made more compelling by playing with 3rds and 5ths every so often.

Beyond that, not really a whole lot of critique. The song isn't overly long, it's not poorly written. I feel the leads may have been lazy, but maybe you just aren't very familiar with the software like I was when I first started mixing E guitars. Personally, I like to do e guitars and synth leads. But this isn't bad at all. Learn your instruments a little more and see where it takes you! :)

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

413X1NKP responds:

Thank you! I'll try to be better next time :)

[Cataclysm (NGUAC 2020, Outrcy EP)]

Sounds like nice, classically inspired chord progressions here.

Some notes, I know there is a sine bass under what's going on before 38 seconds, but I doubt anyone would be able to hear it. There are a lot of muddy chord intervals -- when you have chords that are down low and the notes spaced closer together, they don't work the same way they do up high. In fact I generally caution against chords where they notes are all spaced together, or using a ton of notes on the same instrument in a chord. For electronic music, it leaves the tendency to copy and paste and throw everything on there.

Also, whatever carillon bell synth you have clanging throughout on the bottom, the reverb on that is completely covering up the melodies you've written. I really feel like by 2:46 we've heard the same melody and chords almost the whole time, and we're going all the way back through for another bout of the same. You've got a chord progression you're in love with, I know, but it sounds like the same 4 chords over and over, for 4 minutes, with almost no melodic development because we move the same melodies into different instruments.

This tells me there is a weakness in structuring songs, not necessarily lead writing. We've just got the 4 chords, and we don't really know where to go with them other than the same big section we built to start off that inspired us to write the song to begin with. So I would recommend some youtube research on structuring music.

Also, throughout there is so much added reverb, more than is necessary -- because really you'll never have enough reverb to convince a human ear that that charang guitar or the piano or the bells are real bells. So cut that reverb down to about half of what you have, and low cut to 250 hz on reverb wet FX sends.

Back to the structure, the way the percussion is laid out tells me we didn't really know where we were going and sort of added it last to hopefully bandaid some naked sections -- I've been there. I still do it sometimes tbh. Finding a song structure you like of say, intro, verse, chorus, verse chorus times two, bridge or solo section, chorus three to four times, fade out or stinger note will help you write more concisely.

You already have in mind what you want to say, just keep in mind as you go along that less is more, and I think that will help you the most. Would love to see what you could do with a nice desktop DAW. I'm amazed you got something like this out of LMMS :)

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

NolamiAmada responds:

thanks for all the feedback, though the excessive reverb to make it distinctly not real was intentional and since i started making this ive figured out how to actually write a melody, this one suffered from the "this is my 500th attempt at a good melody and it finally sounds nice so lets keep going with it" problem many of my songs have, in the 2 months since i started making this song ive learnt a fair bit on music theory but was too lazy to restart this song, hopefully my round 2 submission will have a better structure to it and thanks a ton for all of the feedback

~Lo7

[dubstep thingy lol (old-ish, 2020)]

I'm not gonna have a ton of critique to offer that I know would be useful for FL Studio Mobile, but a lot of things I notice are just overall mix clutter. The idea itself and the fact you were able to write this on a phone or tablet is great though. Shows how far music has gone.

So, on your builds, when the kick is rolling, pull back the sidechain attack and release so we don't just hear the kick. Hearing just the kick and snare is not what the audience came for

Bass wise, there's a sub under there that's kind of interfering with your growl. On the drop I would at least taper the sub with sidechain to the growl so it doesn't sound like an instrument is dropping out when they're not on the same note.

The rest of anything I could say would be reserved for how the mix is sitting. It's very bass and mid heavy, sounds like from 8khz and up we have a gradual rolloff of highs. I'd like to hear more hihat, a little more compression on your growl, less fuzz, more rounded out bass.

I'd love to see what you could do with a full version of FL Studio on PC. :)

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Kierham responds:

Didn't really think about responding until now, but I'm new to mixing and mastering. I never really added sub basses up until SP4C3 R0B0TS because I'm on mobile whenever I make my songs (with the exeption of Jupiter and Breeze, made on FL Studio Trial Mode) and whenever I have new headphones, I always seem to break it after 1 day of usage.

[[DJKB] Into The Depths of The Lair]

Doesn't sound bad. Develops slowly at times and uses some more synthy real instruments. I would shy away from that actually. If you have Kontakt, Spitfire Labs has some nice alternatives to these, but I would honestly use a patch from something like SQ8L or dexed. Particularly on your choir and strings.

Mixing wise, watch out for burying your drums. It's hard to pick them out in places. I would turn everything else down until they are the loudest in the mix, then go from there. Naturally, that is what they should be, since the human brain isn't attuned to listen directly to percussion, as opposed to move with it.

Six minutes is pretty long for a track, but considering this is DnB, and you're usually writing to pitch up to a DJ, longer length makes sense.

Other than that, I would spend some time looking for some free VST libraries and samples. Spitfire LABS has a lot of stuff out for Kontakt, Native Instruments has a whole starter pack out of free and it seems mostly fully functional instruments, Ample Sounds has some good guitars and a cloud drum out for free, there's plenty of good stuff out there. Also Cymatics has some great percussion packs for free.

Try some of those and see what you come up with!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

AlmightyDJKB responds:

Thanks for the advice, and yeah I still have problems with mixing and equalizing all aspects of the audio so that it comes out perfectly nice.

Otherwise, I just use FL Studio mobile to make these songs, but thank you for the pointers in these new samples, because I could really use them. Especially since making my own can be really hard. So I am very grateful for that.

I hope to advance further in NGUAC

[raw!]

Wooooow that lead is loud! I had to turn down really quick. How hard is your compression? I would recommend turning it way down. There's all kinds of distortion by 1:02.

I really like your drops. Mixing is just hard to appreciate the great phrasing and sample usage you had with Gordon Ramsay. I actually can barely hear him.

I would recommend going back through this song, taking off the compression on your master, turning your PC volume to 20, and adjusting the level of every instrument. There's so much distortion, even on quieter sections like before 3:00 that that is distorting. It's so much I really can't comment on anything else.

A good rule of thumb before applying mastering FX is to have -6 dB of headroom on your master channel to work with. So start by turning every instrument down until you're there, mix until you like the way it sounds there -- then apply mastering FX.

And don't worry, you're not alone. The human brain tends to think louder is gooder. And consequently sausage fatten the shit out of everything. Raw. For this track it's absolutely not a hard fix. Just turn it down, THEN fatten, lol.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC, Котик!

K0TiC responds:

yeahh i kinda went overkill in ozone lol, ill take it into account in my future songs, thanks

[2019 New Years]

Cool little piece that sounds like it was a ton of fun to make.

Some comments on mix. Bass is barely audible in the mix. Rhythm sounds a little thin probably as a result. There are points in the beginning where the kick is way too loud. It could probably stand to come down a dB or two. The vocals might sound better panned 24-40% right and left respectively, rather than 100% left and right, and then compress them, cut off 250 hz and below or so. There are points where I can barely hear them as well due to the lack of compression.

There are also parts where the song distorts. Sounds like it was mixed very loud. To combat this you can leave -6 dB of headroom or so, then apply mastering compression. It's not a fix for a bad mix, but it will sound better than clipping, by far. :)

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

johnnyq1233 responds:

I thank you for your review of the entrance piece. While I do strive to get my levels correct and below saturation levels... I fail to hear this in the submission as the guitars are supposed to be saturated...
There was a timing issue that was in the master... but, it didn't seem like a big issue.
The vocals at the beginning are the way they are supposed to be!!!!!
This track was submitted because it was something newer and had some decent traction.
It very well could have been fleshed out to a more clinique version, but some of the spontaneity might have been lost in the process.
I have heard recordings that were great and then destroyed by sterilizing the crap out of them.
I like to leave the liveness in my songs, good or bad, it just means that someone actually played that piece!