ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Contender]

Caustic DAW -- heard that one is notoriously problematic to work with. I would turn down the wet signal on your reverb and increase the low cut. It's creating a very muddy texture across virtually all elements of your track. Listen to the cutoff at the end and you can hear all that low frequency mud it's adding over top.

This piece is interesting. Harmonic minor. I'm having a little bit of a hard time hearing a lot of what's going on due to the volume. You might try rendering your projects first with Caustic, if it is your only option, then amplifying them in Audacity, which is free and will not allow you to amplify tracks to the point of clipping without doing so intentionally.

If you do have a computer, Traction DAW is free. I have several free VST recommendations, also, in case that's up your alley.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

YHTFLKC responds:

Thanks for the review yo!! Yea caustic can be a pain to work around sometimes I definitely need to get something more professional but Im just kind of making music as a hobby right now cause some or all of the time my phone is all I have at my disposal lol need to get my PC back asap and start trying other programs maybe get some better headphones or at least stop using my phone speaker for making music when I'm in a hurry, bad call on that one, woops..!

[Author wind - Future]

Intro sounds good... may have too much reverb. Turn down that wet signal and increase low cut. By 0:31 I'm noticing it muddying up your mix on every instrument you've applied it to. 0:56 it seems to happen to that pluck as well.

1:18 drop is simple but gets the job done. I would pull down your fizzy ... saws?

By 1:57 I can hear your reverb on that lead over your stabs. That's not good. It starts sounding like we're in a tin can.

Arrangement wise, this piece is structurally sound but fairly repetitive. I start to lose attention before 2:47. Perhaps factor in a key change or another lead some time at or before this section.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Authorwind responds:

Thx ;)

[And Falling]

5/4 -- initially it sounds like 4/4 with some pauses for effect. I'll have to try this some time.

Your chord changes are great. I could do without so much reverb, especially with that low rumble -- would prefer a straight low timpani roll. Too much verb sounds really dirty. Notice by 1:45 how the low rumble is almost distorting in the mix, pumping in and out? It sounds like improperly managed side chain, and the melody/accompaniment is having problems sticking out through the noise?

Turn your reverb wet signal down and increase low cut. It sounds wonderful all the way up on solo instruments, but so dirty on big sections. I'm getting a hardcore tin-can feel.

I also notice throughout your big section there is constant distortion every few seconds. This tells me the track has been mixed too loud before any mastering FX were applied -- if they were applied. I can't tell due to the severe crackling.

It's a shame. This is a great piece otherwise!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

SplatterDash responds:

Hey thanks for reviewing and judging my NGADM piece! This actually reminded me I have yet to reply to Tainted's review on a different song of mine so it makes this all the more needed lol

I think you're the first person to mention anything about the reverb at the beginning. I've heard about the original chords in this being a bit wonky when this was on Chips Compo (which was fixed here), but I never got the reverb being too much. Still, I can see how a timpani roll - or maybe even a single hit - could do better in the long run than the reverb.

I listened again to 1:45, and I'm gonna say it now and get it out of the way: this is only the second time I actually did reverb in something, the first being Running Back, so I am pretty much a complete noob to the process. In the piece I did go 5 dB below the regular volume during bass kicks and bring it back up to original... but that meant "everything" and not "everything BUT the melody" (I felt it was off to do it like that when I did it in Running Back). So that's most likely why the melody never came out during then, it was because the melody went down with the other parts and I was a complete dummy with sidechaining lol

I went back and checked the reverb, and I found out that the reverb I was using came with the instrument, and it's just a dial that goes from 0 to 127 (ableton lite is like baseline on that stuff lol). But it honestly taught me something, that using audio effects instead of instrument effects can help out quite a bit.

I've never noticed distortion on the big section - I don't even hear crackling or anything. I think it may be the drums that you're hearing, but I don't hear any crackling or clipping on my end, and nor did the other people who saw this on Chips Compo. In truth, I did apply some mastering volume, but I don't know if that may be the issue here. I could be completely wrong, and nobody has told me except for you, but yeah, I don't hear clipping or crackling on my end, and it may just simply be drums going.

Thank you again for the review! I'm hoping that I move on, but seeing the competition I don't think I have much of a chance. Still, thank you for reviewing this and other fellow NGUAC entries :D

[Partially Surdo]

Interesting intro. Your piano seems to be distorting in the left channel. Possibly mixed too loudly. Louder sections are distorting in both channels. Unsure why it's tremeloed.

0:55 section has a great progression, but sub frequencies are too loud.

Actually sounds like the entirety of the track has been mixed too loud, especially the sub, and the bass is overdriving excessively.

1:55 guitar needs to be double-tracked 100% left and right.

Guitar solo is great, but there's so much sub noise, the track seems cluttered. A large part of the problem seems to be reverb or chorus on your bass, perhaps artificial stereo expanding. I would take all of your reverbs, turn down the wet signal, and increase low cut to about 300-500 Hz, depending on the instrument. I feel a heavy tin-can vibe.

By 3:03 your piano is distorting noticably.

I recommend taking a moment to look at some mixing tutorials for your chosen genres, metal, d&b, and trance respectively, as well as Ben Levin's "How to Hear Compression."

Were the mix problems in this piece fixed, I'd give a solid 5. Compositionally, this is gold. I have no further comments. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

spectronoid97 responds:

Thanks so much for the feedback!

I still have to train my ear to this type of problems, but when you mentioned it, I did really notice them. Definetely going to take a look at these recommendations you made and I hope to improve my mixing skills. Thanks a lot! :D

[Kirefyx - Season 6 (NGUAC entry)]

Great writing with this piece, but your synths, velocity, and modulation are squashing whatever musicality you could have had with that intro. I will note there are plenty of free harps, strings, etc. in the free Kontakt library thread in the audio forum. Do go check it out.

Velocity wise, at 1:03, do you hear how each note on that harp/koto sounds exactly the same, machine gun? Try to vary the velocity of your notes on most everything, but especially instruments that are supposed to sound any degree of real.

0:49, this may be the most interesting instrument I've heard used for a drop. I'm not liking those high plinky notes. As a music producer, that's the sound I try to avoid. That said, these orchestral runs are taking me back to better days, haha.

I don't like your ride cymbal. It sounds like an old china being used in the place of a ride. Velocity is also the same on each hit. Protip, you could probably use a quarter-note ping-pong delay panned to the left to make that sound way cooler.

I also notice you have a ton of reverb on your keys and low strings. I would caution against that. Solo'ed, that sounds fine, but in an ensemble, the reverb is always there, tossing tin-can sounding mud on your mix, getting in the way of compression and other master FX. Using reverb is fine, but whenever you do use it, try to keep a relatively short release time, a high low cut value, and a fairly low wet value. I'm a fan of only using it on certain send tracks when I can get away with it, rather than putting it on each individual instrument.

1:25, this is an example of reverb rumble clouding your mix. Another at 1:32 and 1:40... and 1:48.

I would definitely take a look at some tutorials for your DAW on mixing/mastering. I can't quite tell by the waveform, but this track looks relatively uncompressed, like very little side-chain is used, and I think your growl may not even have a sub underneath it... Wait, I hear it -- it's just up high. That, or it's low strings. I actually would cut or sidechain those from my drops.

Anyway, you've got the basic structure of your track down, and I can see you've been progressing. Tackle this and you'll be on your way to producing professionally. It shouldn't take too long. :)

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Kirefyx responds:

Thanks for the constructive criticism. I don't think I can do side chaining with my software.

[blue, like the sky]

Cheerful little tune with lots of jazzy influence, sounds like. Maybe even gospel chords. Progression works well, and levels are all where they sound like they should be.

My one gripe may be a bit of almost artificial sounding stereo-widening/reverb. I would probably cut the wets down on most FX by 10% or so. That, and one of your samples sounds eerily like a metronome. Only part that took me out of the moment. This almost reminds me of a Perfume instrumental with how poppy and sweet it is.

This piece is just plain pleasant to listen to. I'm surprised you managed it without proper monitors or headphones. Maybe you should leave 'em. :P

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

icantpronouncethis responds:

Thank you for your critique. It took me a great deal of effort just to get the mix to the way it is. Had to listen to the song in many different sources; car, ipod, earphones, headphones, etc. I was going for a clock ticking sample in the beginning but ended up changing my mind. It does sound like a metronome a bit too much. Maybe I should've lower the pitch or something. I'll take a note of what you wrote and apply in on my next track. Thank you again for dropping by.

[Somewhere In The Future]

Made with one plugin? This beautiful? Instant 5.

AvizuraNG responds:

Thank you =)

[Something New (Original Mix)]

Interesting opening here. Mix seems a little sparse and over-reverbed though. If you ever notice the tin-can sound going on, turn down your reverb wet signals, decrease release time a bit, and cut low frequencies.

Structure of this song is fine, so I'll reserve my critique for mix issues.

Your leads and pads are far too loud for your mix to sustain. Standard big room snare is not even cutting through the mix by comparison, and your samples are drowned out on bigger sections. This signals to me a compression issue.

Protip, before you apply FX to the master channel, make sure your track peaks no higher than about -6 dB. Mastering services almost universally recommend this because it allows you the freedom to shape the end result as you please without sacrificing clarity. If your mix sounds good here, it will sound good at any volume, and most importantly BETTER when properly mastered. Bar none, I've found this to be the one technique that will force you to mix your songs better.

Beyond that, I would cut feedbacks and wet signals on most of your FX. Most of the space in a mix, contrary to popular belief, does not come from 'verbed up synths. It's from your percussion. Side-chain also is not going to sound good on super muddy tracks.

Notice how muddy and overdriven 1:15 drop sounds in comparison to the rest of the track. This is because it is compressed so hard, the leads and pads are mixed too loud, so that even the hi-hats are almost inaudible. Your pads also have an insane high fizz on them. Cut those frequencies. They are as loud as your swoosh transition noises.

Other than that, smooth big room. I'd just love to hear that clean offbeat bass on your drops clearly!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

dukebartje responds:

Thank you for the feedback! Mixing and mastering is not my strong suit. I need a lot of work on that. The feedback really helps me improve.

Thank you!