ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Seven Heavens - HalfEvil333.com]

Layering those two drum beats gives the sound a kind of cluttered sound, which is compounded more as we get into 0:57.

Overall, fairly simple track. Manages to make the orchestral and techno elements work together. Transitions are a little weak though, and I'm not sure what's going on structurally since we seem to almost be hanging onto the same chord for a majority of the song. I can't tell if you're just letting that held bass arp define the key for us or what.

2:30's are where the most adventurous part of our tune begins.

3:25 elements over top, I'm not sure where this came from and occurs without any obvious transition, twice. Not even like, wikki-wikki record scratches.

Also, random boom at somewhere around 2:40. Not liking that.

In short, I'm not really able to understand the piece. There were no fills or transitions to make me feel like it was anything beyond some moderately appropriate orchestral samples beat-matched to our drums, key-matched to our other samples. The arping bass also didn't do much for me. I would have rated higher for an olskool sounding bassline somewhere in there and some chop-sampled drums rather than loops.

HalfEvil333DB responds:

Thank you for the feedback. It really helps as I make new tracks. The idea for the song is to create 7 different heavens using similar sounds. Which is why all the sudden changes but similar beats. I will work on better segways in the future. The boom at the end was a thunder sound with rain to go into the next track. I am working on a song called when the Heavens meet the Earth where it will be a thunder storm with metal and beat elements. It's a tough one.

Again thank you your insite helps a lot. I want this new album to sound much better.

[00FF 63]

I'm not sure what's going on here in your intro. Not really liking that glitchy synth with the slow attack. Intro also takes a long way to get anywhere. I could have dealt with a slow low-pass play into the main drive at about 1:00 in.

There's a lot of noise in the way of your bass, keeping me from hearing the attacks and releases cleanly. It could even be reverb. Try cleaning up the EQ of your other elements to get them out of the way in terms of frequency range. You would be surprised that even leads can sometimes get some sub frequencies going, and the more elements your track has, or the more notes are going on, especially with effects like reverb, the more they pile up, resulting in a muddy mix.

Track seems like multiple elements have been mixed too loud and/or compressed. I can't tell really due to the distortion on multiple instruments. Protip, before you apply FX to the master channel, make sure your track peaks no higher than about -6 dB. If your mix sounds good here, it's ready to be mastered. It's hard to squeeze a track under -6 dB when you're used to mixing everything all the way up, but it's worth it.

I'm just not really able to enjoy this track, partly due to, as Kwing mentioned, there doesn't seem to have been much variation or risk taking going on except those really weird key stabs we hear in the beginning. I don't know how to stress how much I didn't like them, and every time they came up I was distracted from the good elements of your track, which I could harmonically understand, versus those stabs, which I could not.

No offense, just not my style. There were some points of the track I did very much like, just not where you involved material from your intro.

geonb responds:

hi ADR3-N thank you for the tips. I have no good mastering tools right now. Just low budget. I also thank you for the advice to mix the track to -6 dB. Do you think tracks should be completely uncompressed or little compressed? I also heard the opposite of that. Next time I will post my tracks completely unmastered just put them in like they are. I belive others can master them much better. If you are interested to listen to the track unmastered tell me and I'll post it as 00FF 63b best geonb
but meanwhile eat this https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/816260 (It's a song that is more likethe issues you responded isn't it ;)

[Fortuna]

Interesting intro with the piano. The sub frequencies on reverb from the key attack is starting to build up in the background and give me that head-swimmy feeling though. Recommend hi-passing your reverbs to somewhere around 400 Hz

0:36, that sidechained piano is distorting, a sure sign of being mixed too loud.

Protip, before you apply FX to the master channel, make sure your track peaks no higher than about -6 dB. If your mix sounds good here, it is ready to be mastered. It's hard to squeeze a track under this when you're used to mixing everything all the way up, but it's worth it.

1:56, I really like this section despite being really low mid heavy and a bit of soft clipping in your bass.

Points for dynamic contrast as well, although I am noticing some of the issues Kwing pointed out. I don't quite know where we are going occasionally. I think the section at 3:12 could have been cut. Still noticing clipping, on that timp. 3:48 synth shines though, and we're back to the groove. I'd have kept that drop going for another repeat or 3, then let 4:18 be our outro for a good 8-16 bars.

Piano outro does bring an interesting texture though. 4:52 would have been the perfect, inquisitive little note to end on. When you kept that phrase going, I was soooo disappointed.

I'd have given a 9/10 if not for some questionable structural decisions in this track overall, not to mention clipping. Arrangement and chord voicing is what's keeping me from rating lower than 8. Overall though, I do see a lot of potential right here. Some tutorials on song structure, mixing, and mastering, and you'll be well on your way to being a successful trance artist!

Fynzyme responds:

Thank you for being so in-depth and for the protip! I understand exactly what you're saying and I really appreciate the advice.

[Trip to Egypt]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say I could rock with the guitar/synth arp if it didn't sound so dry. Could probably also use some more elements before that drop. As is, the mix kinda feels empty.

I also notice you apply distortion to that synth later. Garage Band string and key instruments are just kinda universally terrible for this kind of music. By 2:07, I'm feeling the feel you probably wanted around 1:11.

Outro was not bad, but would have been way better if it didn't cut off abruptly. Not sure what happened there. I know in my DAW this will occasionally happen if you select a section and hit render. I'm not sure if maybe you wanted this to loop or not.

Regardless, this feels incomplete. I'd have liked to see more done with this minor chord progression rather than just two chords with the root a semitone apart. I can't think straight enough to analyze what exact chord each is but it essentially felt like the same 4 measures repeated, with no real variation. I get that this is house, but if you listen to most house, they will also have more instruments, textures, percussion, and sound effects coming in every 8 to 16 bars to keep things fresh. They also will use longer progressions and add more chord tones as they go on. You were starting to do this at 2:14 and I was hoping for the track to go on in that vein.

I recommend looking at some tutorials for the genres you want to produce, studying how they structure their elements, and try to apply some of their principles to your own work. May also want to check out some basic videos on music theory and voice leading. You're off to a good start, but there's always more to learn. :)

There are also free VSTs like SQ8L, Dexxed, and APBL (ample sound bass plugin) and AGML (I think) that can supplement or replace some of Garage Band's crummier synths and help improve your sound.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC. Best of luck with your music. I look forward to seeing you grow!

DustifiedGD responds:

Well honestly now that you point out this stuff I’m really starting to notice it. My newer songs have much better progression and the WIP ones have some nice beats. The outro is very short but the beginning could have been made shorter. I don’t really consider this rock music because of the lack of variety and creativity. I just will keep this here as my first track but I’m pretty sure that bass plugins won’t really be an option because I think GarageBand has quite the variety of basses, but I see what you mean by the melody being dry. Also I don’t really want to focus on one genre, I want some variety in my songs for all listeners but I don’t think that GarageBand is capable of dubstep too much, sad but true. My next song should be more techno than house with nice drums and progression.

[Big City]

Smooth riffs going on here. Track looks compressed to death though, and it shows throughout when the vocals and drums are buried in louder sections. I can hear what almost sounds like clip distortion occasionally.

Vocals really need to come up in the mix, and rather than recommending turning them up, I'd actually turn everything else down. Those rhythm guitars are taking up 80% of the space in the mix.

Distortion is starting to affect the drums around 3:22, I suspect due to the low end on those toms not being reined in. Otherwise, this is perfect bar rock.

Solo section is great. I would recommend double-tracking that 5% left and right respectively, or slapping on a chorus. Right now it sounds very tin-can-y.

Overall, sounds like a fair mix with a bad master on it. Before you master your tracks, recommend having about 6 dB of headroom. Leaves room for compression to do its job. Not to mention, your track won't be clipping, distorting, or pumping in and out after all FX are applied, all three of which are happening here.

Smashing track though. Only other complaint would be first couplet of your verse is kinda wimpy writing, and diction is hard to understand. "Leaving back your own life" doesn't make grammatical sense. "Owning all and stuff" is kinda word salad.

Otherwise, great.

dude2312 responds:

Wow, this was a great critique which I welcome with open arms. It was my third time (ever) recording my own songs. Under no circumstances would I consider myself a professional on this, one thing that I can tell you is that I am going to get better at it!

Thanks ever so much for taking the time to listen to my track.

[Launcher Octopuld (30th Anniversary Edition)]

Drums definitely need to come up in this mix. Lead writing is catchy, but as mentioned, feels very sloppy. Way too much portamento and detune. Also recommend panning bass 0% LR.

Otherwise, this is a fairly catchy piece. Drums are really groovin', I just can't hear 'em over your screaming leads, strings, and bass, leaving this piece sounding floppy. It sounds like there may be some compression issues going on as well.

Shame, because this piece loops really well and has great drive!

RetroCarrot responds:

Spread the word、the new and improved version of the new and improved version of Launcher Octopuld is HERE! ! Also、the new and improved version of the new and improved version of Boomer Kuwanger is on the playlist as well。

[Woah dave!]

Interesting intro with those .. phased synths? I feel like you could have chosen a different drum pattern and gotten a much more groovable result. Those grid-locked snares sound flat until we get those offbeat hats at 1:00 or so. Maybe try a slower pattern before we hit our main attraction.

Also, this mix is suuuuuper sub-heavy, and your percussion is a tad tinny. If you've got any reverb on that sinewave bass, cut it out. It's very muddy. I would recommend hi-passing 28 hz on that bass before you applied any mastering FX.

2:06 section is a great variation, even if preceded by a strange vocal sample imo -- vocal samples are just a bit too quiet and lo-fi btw. Otherwise very surreal. I would recommend swapping to a hardstyle plong-plong bass rather than sub stabs for this section. Bass is pushing your mix out of balance.

It's here also that your perc pattern finally fits, btw. I still think you could prob use a tape saturator to give them some grit.

Abrupt cutoff at 3:50 made me sad. I was hoping for a nice fade on that last note.

Overall, butterscotch and then some! Recommend mixing and mastering tutorials. Your composition is fine, good structure and all. Keep at it!

ganon95 responds:

yea, this song was made on a computer that was dying on me and I feel like it caused the song to sound a little different than intended. I am aware of the bass being too strong but at the time of making it I did not realize because of the way the sound output worked on that computer.

the vocal sample is from the original game so it's not really unfitting to have here.