ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[My Personal Hell - Mental State (1/4)]

I feel like the waves in the beginning are really centered and separate from the beat itself.

Piano chords are nice, a little... also centered. Try some sort of spatializing doubler plugin, maybe.

You've got a nice little groove by 49. I like the atmosphere.

I would actually bring up your stabbing chords a bit. Although I think they're a little chunky and disjointed compared to the rest of the atmosphere.

I would probably also like a more audible bass than a sine for most portions here. I have pretty generous monitors and the 1:55 section, your glassy tinkles are very loud in comparision to both the bass and percussion. Percussion imo, at least kick and snare, have to do a lot to stand out in a mix.

By 2:28 we're really out of balance. The lead is standing out not because it's mixed in very well but because it's just very loud.

Also, not sure what's going on at the outro. It feels very abrupt.

Overall though I did enjoy listening to the piece. Here from review request.

Some recommendations you may enjoy looking at are the Reaper series of plugins which you can use to clean up a lot of the low end on your instruments and make them sit better in the mix. A lot of people don't realize how much the 250 hz and below bleed on their synths is covering up their basses and kicks. That may be part of the problem here in being able to hear that low sine.

NoStereo responds:

Thanks for the detailed review! It seems most of my issues are mix related and I can definitely hear a few things you pointed out. Looks like I am gonna need some monitor headphones though. I have tools but I am constantly trying to improve what I can do with them!

Ending is definitely abrupt, but by design. I'd very much love it if you listened to the rest of the EP if you'd like. No pressure of course, but I really value this type of review.

https://nostereo.newgrounds.com/audio

[OMO Presents - Octorok Talk - Formative Video Games Podcast 1]

Came here to drop a 5. The only thing I can say is at some points when you talk a bit more loudly the mic distorts.

There are plugins like ERA-R that can help you eliminate that reverb noise, and applying a compressor could help you get a cleaner sound without really having to put in a lot of effort. :)

oldmanorange responds:

Glad you dug the fun, and dialing in the audio levels will come in the next episodes. Thanks for the little tips.

[Phoenix Rising]

Your crash cymbals in the left channel are distorting noticably. I would pan them less harshly.

Hats are sizzling kind of endlessly. Like the reverb just hasn't been cut. Try a compressor and turn up the theshold and take the release down a bit.

I would bring the drums up more in the mix, as well as the vocals, and take the synths down a little. The snare especially needs to come up.

Vocals end up being a whisper compared to the rest of the mix.

Writing is wonderful. Beautiful solos. Very rhythmically concise and musically interesting. There's a ton of red line peaking going on and that really distracted me from an otherwise gorgeous piece.

DanJohansen responds:

I disagree with most of that, obviously. But glad you enjoyed the track man! This is an instrumental tune, the vocals are supposed to be low in volume, if the vox were too loud it would create an anticipation and take too much attention which wouldn't be a good choice considering how little of it it is.

[[Quarl] Drum Sample Pack]

This pleases my brain meat. We will see what we can do.

Quarl responds:

Woohoo! Don't forget you can tweak the individual kit parts as you see fit. Symbolcymbal used the samples but I felt awkward telling him the samps were too loud in his mix. I felt so hypocritical I just was like "woohoo, thanks for using my samples!!"

Really, you can do anything you want with these few noises :)

[Quiting Music]

This is stressful, relaxing, disconcerting, and somehow dizzily cheerful at the same time. I don't understand, but that weird portamento shit going on with the piano is making my ears wiggle.

As always, your creative approach to sound design makes me feel like a wee babe. I feel your pain with the writer's block.

The only thing I don't like is that LFO around 2:00. And the final section, whiile immensely groovy, feels a bit unfinished. The drums miight be clipping. I can't tell. I'd like some wonky FX on the hats, maybe some stereo play. But now I'm just nit-picking.

Great work! :)

Quarl responds:

Thanks for the review Adr, you the best <3

[Evening Road (v2)]

Dude, you are making absolute fucking magic. No words. Genesis music with nice modern sounding compression applied. Leads could probably come down .1 dB but other than that, perfect.

[Aura (NGRMC 2018)]

Nice slow intro, filter sweeps, etc. Beautiful fill bringing us in, totally unexpected! I had to hear it again.

Now, your "snare" sounds like a clap. Needs some bottom head sound. You can try blending a snare sample, etc., but as is, super thin.

I can also really hear that stereo expander effect. I would advise against using it on an entire track, at least to this wideness. It can start to sound like a cheaply applied verb. I notice it expecially on your chorus. Sounds washed out, like standing a football field away from the main melody, crammed into a gymnasium on PA speakers.

That said, I don't have the same criticisms of your phrasing. I found the change warranted -- I would have gotten bored after hearing the same melody for like, a week tbh -- and you've done some magical things with it.

Great work! Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

ClockbeatAdelony87 responds:

Thanks a lot! <3

[Zophar's Domain (NGRMC Remix)]

Very nice video game. Initially I was thrown off by the entrance of the bass at 0:11. I'm disappointed to find we keep hanging out on that note as it's really dissonant most of the time. Even just moving it between 0:11 and 0:13 would have been better.

It does sound like an old SNES game, which I appreciate. I don't have any real useful critique that you couldn't have guessed on your own. I'd like to hear this piece expanded and developed a bit more. As is, it feels like we're repeating the same idea over and sort of just hanging out there. It's also really short, which I understand to be part of a busy schedule -- I barely had any time for music when I was in college, and I didn't go to an ivy league school if you catch my drift.

Still, definitely revisit this later.

Thanks for coming out to NGRMC!

GFThePlayer responds:

Thank you for your critique, and yeah, this isn't my best work admittedly, as I could've put much more effort into the making.
Thanks again!

[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!