ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Hors la loi (NGRMC)]

Man, I'm just as anti-government (hello, has anyone noticed how we've gone from 0 to socialist tyranny in... less than a century?) as anyone else, and I have to say I do not appreciate the lottery crap at all.

I also recognize that these governments, for some reason, are more interested in copping economic migrants who will vote socialist (for free stuff they can't get at home -- bankrupting the government and destroying the culture, shooting themselves in the foot), than giving asylum to honest people such as yourself who actually WANT the freedoms and judeo-christian values that have quite literally given birth to the western nations as we know them (and thus might not vote socialist when they realize, oh crap, socialism leads to communism, and communism persecutes everyone equally for the benefit of the government).

We also have a lottery in the US, and it's equally stupid. If anything, people should not be judged from the country they're coming from; there's probably a reason they want out, just like there's a reason I'd rather stay here in the US! Their individual qualifications, aspirations, principles, and intent to assimilate into the culture they're moving into should be the only considerations we take into account -- something Europe is totally failing at right now, btw. Basically, the main reason there is so much suffering and animosity toward otherwise innocent immigrants fleeing persecution such as yourself -- people who DON'T mean well and actively seek the destruction of the host culture over their own assimilation are ruining it for everyone involved, and the government is complicit.

In that sense, I totally identify with your lyrical presentation, albeit entirely in the third person. The solution is not to abolish law entirely but to change it and make it truly equitable -- equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. The govt unfortunately right now is socialist, so the latter looks pretty.

I will say, this is lyrically the song I've felt you were the most in your own skin about. This is who you are. This is what you perceive, your voice. I haven't even begun to listen just yet. I think I will now. I've been typing out this paragraph hoping it will load, hehe.

-----

Structurally, this may be one of your strongest pieces yet. Sections are clearly outlined, constant sense of progression. Your sense of melody and phrasing, lots of soaring lead work, clear themes, chord progression belying struggle, angst, with a faint glimmer of hope.

FX wise, I would probably dial back the reverb considerably or try gated reverb, since you seem to be a fan of that huge, spacy sound. I would probably also apply some crunchy distortion to those ... are they 16th notes? 4:46 is a good snapshot reference. I can't help but hear a snappy palm muted guitar.

I'm also hearing a bit of À cause de l'ombre -- slowed down a bit and pitched down ofc, on your choruses. You might try mashing the two together in the future. ;)

Now, your verses I have a bit of a hard time picking out diction somewhat. It could be FX -- I'm not sure if you've pitched them up. They may also sound better split even between L and R. Rappers do this a lot with a center track.

Vocals wise, sounds like you're singing out a lot more, more comfortable in your skin -- or larynx. I also appreciate the slightly lo-fi bit at 4:00. Big technical improvement there. I'd still like to hear a little more resonating back against your soft palate. It sounds like you may have a little bit of obstruction back there. Recently I've been taking some lessons from Ken Tamplin. I've noticed just a couple things, tongue-depression (although it almost always makes me yawn), standing up straight, wide open vowels, and diaphragmatic breathing usually helps me get that good resonance and avoid that flat, no-vibrato talk singing I'm really wont to do.

Drum wise, I like those little bounces and bobbles on the snare. That's my favorite thing. You've structured your clicking very naturally here. I think the only thing I don't like is the panning and the hi-hat sample itself. I would love to hear the snare more centered, perhaps some saturation on it or gated reverb, and the hat swapped out for a lower, grittier hss-tss than the teeh-teeh sound the one I'm hearing has. You might try something like Cymbalistic out for a test run. It's got a pretty nice range, plus bell sounds.

I'm noticing your composition improving by leaps and bounds lately, not to mention more consistent. Diggin' it.

My remaining critiques are probably just the compression of vocal lines in general. I think that may be contributing to a little bit of the verse unintelligibility, particularly on "Fuck you." You could even try a bit of saturation on your choruses.

Anyway, overall, I was most impressed with your pacing. Great freaking work!

Oh, and I almost forgot, thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

Troisnyx responds:

The irony in Britain at least is that the government doing this IS conservative, and it got worse during Theresa May's time as Home Secretary and as premier. Both left and right have been responsible for the ill-treatment of *even those who want to assimilate in Britain* -- but it worsened over the last seven years in particular, and I could certainly feel inwardly the shift in people's sentiments as this happened. I told one of my rampant Tory friends that if conservatism is about individual liberties, I certainly do not see it *at all*, certainly not here. Personally: I lean liberal, I wouldn't call myself a socialist. My ideal is centre -- seeing good in left and right and learning lessons from them, providing for the good of all as a civic or even state duty, but endeavouring to guarantee those individual freedoms that are so often trampled upon. Guaranteeing the right to life, the understanding of each person's mind, the spending on public services that has been so badly cut to the bone, and I feel that's only scratching the surface. Somehow I don't know if there is a middle ground, something that is based on common sense and understanding and compassion and heartfelt civic duty, but I want to believe it's there.

But there are the lotteries you mention, but also fractures in the way people think -- that it's practically frowned upon everywhere to lean centre. I feel like in a lot of political matters, I (and perhaps others) have to trade 50% of my soul for a vote either way -- bearing in mind where Britain's history has led her, and the divisions that still haven't healed. And that has immense, bad ramifications for human welfare as a whole. Coming from someone who has read law and understands how the law needs to correct itself with twists and turns, I'm still yet to see the kind of twist and turn that will restore dignity and compassion to people *regardless of*.

With regards to the song -- I'm glad you enjoyed it. Your critique is thorough; I wouldn't have it any other way. 4:46~ Yeah, they're 16th notes. 4:47 is 16th note triplets. I'd appreciate any help you can lend with making guitars sound crunchier, more distorted when the song calls for it -- I'd tried lots of things but couldn't get the mix right hhhh ;;

I haven't pitched up the verses AFAIK -- I think all that was EQ, but it may have been a bit nasal. I took some advice that MetalRenard had given me in the past about turning down the 900-1000Hz range and I did that, but it sounded tinny to my ears. Also someone gave me a tip of tripling that track so you have a strong centre track, but softer L and R of the same thing. Now, I realise I don't need to do this -- iZotope has released a vocal doubler for free; I found this out today -- so I might want to see if I can't put that to good use and achieve a more solid kind of panning.

I'll certainly check out Ken Tamplin; there is a place for vibrato-less singing and vibrato-rich singing, and I think this isn't necessarily the place for cantor-like singing. Agreed on the drums -- I wonder if I EQed them too high and cut out the crashing mids that cymbals ordinarily have.

Huge props and thanks for your review. Lots of love to you as always -- we ought to catch up after this is over!

[X3ll3n - Believe (NGRMC 2018)]

Triplet drums. Nice!

0:06, that wooden-ish sample is a bit distorted. Check your levels.

0:27-0:40 we're having a lot of out of key elements. When you transpose that melody, make sure you also transpose individual notes in the melody back into the key of the song -- which I think is G#/Ab dorian.

I'm noticing a lot of distortion throughout like what I already mentioned. I would first recommend mixing your tracks in 32 bit floating point, and secondly, leave about -6 dB headroom before mastering -- i.e. before you apply the compression and soundgoodizers.

1:49 looks like the track cuts off pretty much immediately. I'm guessing you didn't have time to finish with RL stuff. Nw, I feel you.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

X3LL3N responds:

Thank you for taking some of your time writing a complete review :D
I always have some distortion problems and I don't really know keys and stuff.
Hope I'll be able to learn somehow :)

[Think Fast (NGRMC Remix)]

Right off the bat, I'm seeing brick-wall, sausage-casing mixing -- leave more headroom before mastering.

Drop is freaking fire. Had to stop what I was writing (I did this review on paper in a coffee shop) to comment.

Really interesting take on the tune; just too over-compressed for me to enjoy properly. Drums between drops are also a bit too loud, another symptom of heavy compression, and the mix lends itself to almost white-noise levels most of the piece. Despite that, it actually feels shorter than it is, which should speak to you about your phrasing: you're doing something right.

Fix the EQ/Compression issues, and this is a solid 9/10 for me.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

Hippokopter responds:

First of all, it really means a lot to me that you wrote this review by hand in a freaking coffee shop first, just so that you could tell me about what you think of this song! Thanks so much!

About the premaster - most artists actually mix to 0dB just because that's easier to think about. To clarify, by most artists, I mean the ones with millions of fans and thousands of producers imitating their styles: VR, Panda Eyes, etc. Not that I don't get what you're saying, but it's not like I'm sending my songs off to a mastering engineer - heck, I do every song in just one project file! All I'm saying is that headroom is something that this genre doesn't need too much of. :)

As for master EQ, yeah, point taken. I just got a book on mastering, and boy does my mindset for EQ need work. xD

Finally, I really appreciate your comment about phrasing, I've never known what good phrasing is, and so it's nice to know that I'm doing okay on that front.

Again, thanks for leaving such a detailed review! :P

[NiTi - I.N.F.1.N.I.T.Y (NGRMC Remix)]

Nice long chord progression -- I respect you haven't taken the easy way out with this piece and just slapped on some 4 chord sauce, especially with the atonal portions to follow.

0:28-0:59, this lead section is a bit long for my tastes, and said lead is both screaming loud and lacks a lot of modulation to give it that breath of life.

Overall, lot of atonal elements, and it often uses samples which have become so cliche, I've deleted them from my library -- like that lex luger riser. There just doesn't seem to be any case where it sounds good anymore. Making your own risers is going to impress a whole lot more tbh. Though, these sounds are memetic; people like them because they're safe, so I don't blame you for popping 'em out every so often.

The only thing I really feel this piece is lacking is some sub to give your drops much needed oomph, and perhaps harder mastering compression. If there is a sub on your drops, while I was first listening, I couldn't tell it apart from some mild background noise in the coffee shop I was in at the time of writing this review. I tried turning it up some more to hear but the snare was uncomfortably loud in comparison to the rest of the track, so I turned it back down.

One thing I do like is hanging out on that major I chord. Gives an otherwise roaming piece a sense of home.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

TodukenMusic responds:

Tbanks for your review <3

But, i didn't used a Lex Luger riser, i used a riser from Vengeance Dubstep Sample Pack Vol.1

And yes, I need to make my own risers for more originallity hehe

[Make it Hard (NGRMC Remix)]

Forgive the relative brevity/incoherence of this review; I did it on paper in a coffee shop slash book store, and now I'm rewriting/adding to it, lol.

Starting out, kick drum is too loud during your intro; perc in general is much too loud until the chorus. This sounds to me like your vocals haven't been properly compressed, along with your guitars.

Listening on speakers, they sound less thin than they had on my monitor headphones, but watch those high notes; I can feel you really reaching at points, sometimes overshooting or going flat. May check out some voice training by Ken Tamplin. Every issue you're having, intonation, overall volume, pitchy head voice/falsetto, his singing course addresses (and most of it can be found on YT, albeit more sparsely than in the DVD/online materials).

I can't tell if you're sitting or standing, but if you're sitting, definitely recommend standing to sing. It will make a huge difference in your air stream. Another few tips from the series -- you know how you laugh? From your belly, right? Breathe from there. Let your diaphragm, not your chest, drive your singing. Practice good posture, good tongue posture -- open up like the doc has you in his office with a tongue suppressor, so your singing resonates off of your palate -- if you're doing it right, it should make you feel like yawning -- and if you practice with scales, and I recommend you do, the staccato HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH method is the way to go.

This alone improved my singing in a single session, enough I feel the need to re-do every piece I've ever sung on tbh. You've got a good voice hiding under there. I can hear it peeking out. May be something to look into.

Now, writing here is pretty good; good chord progression, steady pacing, good variation of texture. Never too soft, never too hard. Guitars overall could stand to come up in the mix except for the naked section before 3:00.

Final chorus ends abruptly, bringing all the instrumentation back. I would have slowly pared it down to another naked vocal/guitar section. Bringing everything back is a signal, "We're going to have one last, long chorus," and then poof.

I will say the vocals, both written and delivered, sound very non-native to my ear -- BUT your chorus itself is viral. It's the verses that need more of a natural touch. As I was writing this review out, long after the song ended, it still hung in my head.

Overall, some minor gelling issues between synths and guitars, but otherwise I dig it.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

TheMoebiusProject responds:

Thanks! Very helpful! This was done in only a day so yeah it is pretty rough. You are right about the vocals, Could have been better had I given it a little more detail and practice jaja I practically made it and recorded it as I went. Anyways, thanks for the review. Gonna make some adjustments and make it a full on song. Wish it does go viral :P.

[For Them (NGRMC Remix)]

That initial fantasia-ish pike reminds me of a song I used to listen to -- swear I can't remember the name, but it was a remix of some Tinashe song. You'll know it if you've ever heard it.

Now, our intro is quite long, 2 minutes. Not a huge issue, except it gives me a lot of time to focus on the articulations and rather centered panning of lots of your orchestral synths. At 2:16 I'm confronted with this airy timpani; there's so much reverb on it, that's just about all I hear.

With better libraries, this could be a banger. Do note there are tons of free libraries out there if you're willing to spring for Kontakt, and if not, there are also tons of samplers/romplers out there for you to make these libraries yourself. As is, the strings at 1:16 sound extremely washed out, depending almost entirely on reverb for any sense of breath; this leaves them sounding muddy, also.

3:15, that lead is up way too high in the mix, and too dry. The rest of the instruments themselves are far too reverbed to pick out clearly.

Rubito piano sounds fine to me. Perhaps a hair late, but one could always drag that first bit out a little more to cope.

Overall, very imaginative take on the piece. Changing the time signature and genre, twice? Who'd'a thunk. :P I was also very pleased by your chord progressions in general, especially 3:00 to close.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

SplatterDash responds:

Hey, thanks so much for taking the time to to judge my piece! I really enjoyed getting your feedback on this, especially since this was the first time that I tested out a couple of free VSTs, including DSK Overture and Orpheus. Because this is the first time I used them, some of the sounds (mainly the strings and timpani) may have sounded a bit off. I'm hoping I can get a better sound someday with this.

I can honestly agree, 3:15 was a challenge with the lead. I wanted the melody to stick out, since the glass piano was being drowned out by everything else, but the device I used made it stick out either too much or, when I tweaked it, too little. I actually had the same problem at 3:27, and that of course didn't work out as well :p

I've been getting tons of comments about the intro being too long, and listening to it I can understand why. The reason why I made it as long as I did was because I was inspired by a piece called Atlas, which can be found here: https://youtu.be/Bw2Up2BRRII I know how I could improve that intro in the future, though, so hopefully I can improve that easily.

Thank you again for the review! Decided to take a different route and do something different with the melody, so I figured an Eb melody in 7/8 would do. Really glad that you enjoyed this, and I'm hoping that I can get used to more VSTs. Maybe I will even come back to this and make it better :D

[Dynamisis (NGRMC)]

I'm thinking your kick needs some more 808. As is it sounds almost like a low tuned snare bottom mic. It's also a bit too loud in the beginning and hard for me to differentiate with the other elements.

What little else I think I have to say about your perc could probably be best summed up in Quarl's comments about samples, particularly how that clap-snare sounds good, but doesn't quite cut it as a snare itself. It'd make a better top layer.

Compositionally, this is a very interesting take on the melody itself, largely aided by an almost otherly chord progression. I'm a bit confused by the choruses such as 2:23 where it doesn't really feel like we're in our home key, and the overarching melody itself is just a visitor from another dimension.

I'm also pretty sure this is somewhere in the realm of house rather than synthwave. Synthwave is fairly 80's-ish in its presentation. This is much more modern.

That said, not bad. I dig it.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

MRM3 responds:

Oh. My. Goodness.
I'm so sorry for the late reply!!!
I had a whole responce typed out 3 times, no less, and apparently the tab got closed or something, and it didn't register.
There are those things in life that make you want to kick yourself repeatedly, and then keep on kicking yourself.
I totally agree with the "needs more 808" part, wow, this would be so much different if I had made it now. xd
I changed it to "house" after you had said that.
The clap snare could definitely be added to.
On the subject of the Chord progression, I am vastly inexperienced.
Thank you so much for the review!!
And I will definitely be participating next year (given that NGRMC is still around next year)
:3

[H4D_2_G0 (NGRMC Remix)]

Sounds kind of like an RnB instrumental to me, minus the glitches, which are occasionally too frequent for my tastes. Initially I didn't like the super slowed down tempo with the obvious artefacts, but it slowly grew on me. I would have preferred you recorded this with your own instruments or synthesized it yourself -- sounds much better and more organic.

Also, there is a loooot of low rumble reverb going on, which makes it very hard to hear the tonality of each individual instrument. Other than this, the mix is fairly clear, but the sample itself is up fairly high relative to the other elements, and I can hardly hear the bass. Solution, low-cut your reverb.

1:42 feels almost like a filler, or outro, though 2:02 does sound pretty nice to my ears. Much better than the main section actually. I was somewhat sad not to have heard the theme continued to the end with the re-introduction of the RnB elements.

Also, the track itself looks like it's un-mastered. No compression, etc. Not a huge complaint since I myself am not a fan of the loudness wars, but can't argue compression itself is the magic mix glue.

That said, nice chillout piece. It actually made me sleepy, haha.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

GoodL responds:

Thanks so much! I totally feel where you're coming from on all points. I appreciate it!