ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dark Void - D4RKPR0J3C7]

That bass is clicking and popping on attack. Really unpleasant sound. It could be a latency issue.

That said, for a super samey progression, you did pick your chords well.

Not liking the drum pattern at 1:10 at all. Does not really fit your progression.

Now, as long as that clicking bass attack is covered up, I can tolerate things a little better, and between 1:40 and 2:20 things liven up. 2:26 is a great riff. This is what I would have liked to hear more of throughout, and where it really shines.

As Kwing mentioned, this really didn't need to be 5 minutes long, as the melodic content remains mostly the same throughout.

Mixing is relatively good. I would just prefer a chord progression longer than two measures -- great for a chorus, but not for the whole song. Recommend studying chord progressions, song structure, and phrasing, as well as maybe a little theory. You're adventurous enough with your instrumentation I think you may particularly enjoy some Ben Levin instructionals.

First note of your outro was a refreshing change that I wish I had heard more of.

DarkProject16 responds:

Wow, thanks! I'll keep those things in mind

[- Vortex -]

Right off, those piano chords are really condensed. I would try not to chunk chords like that unless you arpeggiate them as you have in your later progression.

This sounds like a classical piece I used to dig as a kid. Probably Beethoven, and now I'm sad at myself for not being able to remember it.

I will say the mix is absolutely killing the virtuosity of this piece. Bass is super loud, piece is overcompressed, and sounds like all your master FX were applied with virtually no headroom. As a result, we have this head pounding pulsing of that side-chained bass, and your leads are buried under them. Try to mix your tracks at -6 dB headroom before applying mastering FX.

2:03 reminded me of Zombie Nation.

I really would swap that 100% velocity piano out for another synth or something at some points -- unless you edit/humanize, modify the velocity.

2:45 section shows a lot of promise, and I like that bass -- if it weren't so loud that it was distorting here I would give an extra star, full stop. More instrumentation like this though.

I recommend some general mixing tutorials for techno/dance. This piece has the potential to be an absolute banger but is harried by the mix pretty badly. It could potentially have something to do with your headphones or speakers not giving a true-to-sound representation on playback, but honestly, it sounds like some tracks were just mixed too loud, period.

Otherwise, great work. I'm excited to see how you grow as a producer over the next years to come. This piece has got some spunk, yo.

rat9352 responds:

first off, yes, i'm aware, my mixing is garbage lol... i will bear in mind what you said though - especially about the bass etc (i'll do what i can to change it in time for future tracks, but it's touch and go at this point, so, we'll see how that goes). secondly, thanks for the review - i'll start mixing as you suggested. velocity isn't something i've currently found out how to change on FLmobile but as soon as i do i'll be using it. i'll probably also try find a tutorial/tutorials (as you also suggested) on the genre - never actually have looked at one so it could do me some good i suppose. thanks again for the review - i appreciate your honesty :)

[Steam Leaper (Remix)]

I find myself agreeing totally with Kwing's review, but trying to keep things concise.

Overall, Hinkik's Time Leaper is just a good piece, with a catchy melody. I feel like more could have been done other than simply take the melody and port it to different instruments. Why not do a reharmonization instead? This is a very interesting way to spice up melodies you know well, not to mention a fun writing exercise.

I do like the offbeat percussion, but I do feel like the instrumentation of this track is so sparse, you really do yourself a disservice, especially as you gradually pare things down to draw the outro out. It ends up sounding less like a song on its own and more like a really simple karaoke track.

Also this isn't techno. I will try to correct the genre to mitigate some of the low scores I see you getting.

I think you would really benefit from just studying tutorials on your favorite genres on YouTube, as well as some basic songwriting. I see potential in your ability to arrange music, and you managed to create an ok-sounding mix on your own, which is an accomplishment. Keep at it, and maybe one of these days we'll be remixing one of your pieces. :)

CreeperX3sssBOOM responds:

1: Thanks for the Review, I will be sure to listen to the Advice

2: I don't know what most of them are so I just put it into the "Techno" Category. Once I know what each of the Categories sound like I will be fixing that right up.

[Unreal Reality]

Interesting progression. Sounds eerily familiar.

I feel like your lead should probably be taken down just a bit so as not to lay on top of the rest of the track.

Since this is lo-fi videogame, I can't really comment on sound quality a lot, but unlike Kwing, I do like your writing. With a little more structure, perhaps some more structure, this would feel more complete, vibrant. The main problem, the bassline stays roughly the same throughout, and that's where your lack of progression is coming from. Not to mention, percussion feels looped throughout.

Otherwise, not bad. I enjoyed the piece. If revisited with more attention to structure and progression -- there are lots of great song-writing tutorials on YouTube for this -- I see the potential for a great videogame soundtrack. Seriously, great lead writing. :)

colorsCrimsonTears responds:

I appreciate you giving me such a long review!
I'm glad that even if not executed perfectly, you still had parts you liked about this. :)
I know for certain that I need more practice with my variation, it's something that I have
trouble with atm...
Again, thank you for your kind and helpful review!

[Awaiting Inlake]

Wow, really interesting FX from the jump.

I'm really not liking those string synths. Would swap it for a less obvious synth. And by that I mean ... like a saw or something.

Now, your chord progression is certainly unique, but those strings are trampling over it, and that synth that enters at 27 secs isn't helping it any. It's sort of rather obviously and dissonantly pointing out how simple your progression is. By 1:12, those strings have become stale and almost annoying.

Your drop is quieter than your build, which threw me off. I'm just not really feeling things gel together here. Your percussion at least sounds good. I'd have liked to hear that bass synth used in your drop compressed or tape saturated. Your strings are louder than it is. What you've done at 2:26 is more tasteful than their earlier application though.

Like Kwing, I'm also a harsh samples fan, but I'm not really feeling like your trash cymbals before 3 minutes in are adding much to the track.

That 3:06 build doesn't sound bad.

3:11, that bass is about the volume your first drop should have been, and I find myself wanting more of that dirty bass stab here. Extra half star for sounding WAY better here. I still feel like a lot of your elements were copy pasted, dragged, or stretched into place. 3:52 I was hoping you would gradually add percussion back in, but instead we went back into the main theme again, which has already become fairly stale.

Also, it sounds like you're using Mixcraft crash samples. I would probably recommend a different sample library bc most of them suck honestly.

By 4:50 I'm hearing a lot of distortion on those stabs.

Overall, not the worst dubstep piece I've heard, but I certainly recommend taking some time out to go over tutorials by your favorite producers, listening to what others in your chosen genre are doing, and trying to imitate it in some form or fashion -- not because you'll never get good pushing your "own" sound and personal techniques, but because you may find you learn some tips and tricks that take you higher. I do see a lot of potential in you, just hearing that bass on your drop, as well as how adventurous you're willing to be with your production and structure. Keep at it!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

CodebreakerS responds:

I appreciate it man!

Ive watched plenty of tutorials so I'm reasy to make the my best dubstep song yet!

[Space Cat]

Kwing is right, nothing terrible adventurous here, but not a LOT to critique other than perhaps some leveling and compression, maybe structure. It sounds like low end on this song needs a lot of tightening up to sound truly clean when you aren't making use of sidechain. If you haven't cut low end off of all of your reverbs, I would do so.

Also, make sure to clean up any errant releases and/or use EQ/multiband compressors to make sure and cut low frequencies on your leads and pads so that they do not get in the way of your bass. These freqs make the instruments sound rich when played solo, but in an ensemble, you would be surprised how much of that low end interferes with your bass. A good policy is to mop up these frequencies with a multiband rather than an EQ so that 1, you don't entirely change the timbre of the instrument, but 2, you don't have them taking more space in your mix than they need to, and they stay consistent.

There are plenty of tutorials online I recommend you check out. My favorite is by Chernobyl Studios, a metal producer, but the principles come in handy for all genres of music. Johnfn also wrote a tutorial on this a while back, so you may send him a pm for that.

1:40 is a fantastic chorus. Very clean. I want a little more bass here, not quite as heavy on the sub frequencies, because you honestly have those covered.

I'm not a fan of 2:53's super high sub bass. I would switch to something with a little more grit. The in and out side-chain effect is making my head swim a bit. Also, your drums were totally hiding in the mix.

3:29, the sidechain is also excessively loud on those high freqs, and at some points I think I hear a little clipping.

I feel like there have been a few too many style switchups here and could have benefited from just being very consistent with your dubstep sound. It leaves me not really knowing where you're going.

I've also noticed that as we've progressed, your other instruments have gradually gotten louder and louder than your bass, and you seem to be writing occasionally in an area where your bass will be inaudible to anyone who doesn't have A, monitor headphones, B, bass headphones, or C, a sub woofer. I recommend staying away from those frequencies unless you are willing to back them up on something other than a sine wave sub. Sines are so hard to hear in that range.

Overall, good presentation. I can see a lot of room for growth, but if you keep at it, I have confidence that in no time you will be a fine EDM producer. Look forward to hearing more from you!

CloudNinja responds:

Thanks for the feedback man! I learned a lot from this comment alone, and I'm glad it was enjoyable! I am hoping to improve more for future competitions and stuff like that, and I'll check those tutorials out. Since my worst aspect of music producing is mixing haha.

Still, Thanks again!

[Covenant]

My only real complaint with this song is the extreme amount of reverb that seems to have been applied. The low end is kind of extreme, so it sounds less like wide open space and more like sitting in a can.

I do feel like you did a good job atmospherically with your sound palette, and this was actually a really interesting listen. Good job!

Would have given an extra half-star for a little more textural variety, maybe some SFX, clanging metal, sparking wires, something, and cleaner mix. You may want to check out some tutorials. Definitely see potential in this piece for you as a sound designer and cinematic composer.

Chickenizer responds:

Thank you so much for this thorough review!

[Hypersonic Speed]

Right off the bad, it sounds like you've got way too much reverb on your mix. I can hear it in those muddy low mids. Make sure you cut the low end in your reverb.

Your writing, bassline, and melody are actually interesting, with good timbre. Transition at 0:40 is super abrupt though. I may have even cut your intro if I were writing this piece. It almost reads like two intros back to back.

That said, I do like your chord progression. So few people just go for the easiest, daintiest sounding progression that sounds decent and leave it at that.

Biggest problem with this piece is mixing. Lots of instruments jumping in all over the place, too loud, etc., others covered up. Becomes especially apparent after 2:06, 2:40, and 3:23. I can deal with a long prog piece taking a while to go somewhere. It's harder when that piece also has instruments jabbing me in the eardrum on occasion. Feel me?

It also sounds like the mix did not have enough headroom before compression was applied. Recommend 3 to 6 dB headroom before you apply anything to your master channel. Might spend some time looking at various mixing and mastering tutorials as well. You've got a relative balance in between your bass and pads, but somewhere, something is happening with those leads, and even your snare sounds a bit too loud at times. Johnfn had a tutorial buried somewhere in his newsposts on using hi-pass and low-pass to get your instruments out of each other's way in the mix, frequency wise; you may want to ask him about it.

3:56, I love the idea of your outro, but that underlying bassy synth is over-reverbed, and it abruptly cuts off.

Like Kwing, I'd recommend condensing the piece, if not by a quarter, a half.

Aelkamal responds:

I concur on it's flaws. Back in the days i was experimenting on sounds, and it's not something i could change for the time being. I thank you for the advice on the tutorial, i'll check it out when i'll have reinstalled VSTs & overall DAW.

[To Save You]

Official AIM Review!

Oh, trepid little violin -- perfect intro, fitting of such a broad and varied presentation. I found myself wanting a little more volume on the trumpet stabs at 00:36, maybe a bit more panning.

00:48 transition seemed just a little abrupt, as do some other transitions into other motifs and themes. At some points it seems almost as if two or three fantastical compositions are being spliced together! Of course, the artwork has several panels, and these must be conveyed, but at times I did find myself wanting a smoother transition.

Trumpet hard-panned right at 52 seconds enters a little over the top.

Loving the solo violin throughout. Just fantastically written, and fantastic synth.

01:21, not sure what oboe synth you're using there but you may try Synful Orchestra for a more natural sound. It's one of the few I've found to do any woodwinds convincingly.

2:13 choir synth stands out in a very positive way on those first 2 notes. Third could probably have used a bit more velocity play as it's a little more naked.

Fantastic dynamic range. 2:21 sub drop was perfectly executed. Felt like traversing a chasm.

This piece is an absolute journey. Really appreciated what sounds like an ocarina or irish tin whistle solo over the outro -- transitioning in to piano.

Overall, stunning piece. Great work you two!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thanks for the detailed review!

We still can't get over how nice that violin VST is. That said, the brass instruments we own, while decent, aren't the best out there. We tried to do what we could with the mix, and we can try some improvements after the competition. In the future, maybe Cinebrass or something like that could be a nice alternative (once our wallets makes that possible, haha)!

As for transitions, we don't particularly mind them being abrupt, as long as they tell the story. While we think our piece does work as one, it's not fully meant as a standalone work. Sometimes it's nice to hint transitions so the listener is prepared; at other times it's fun to surprise the listener! :D

Nice catch at 0:52. It's probably part of the articulation, but it can sound a bit thin, especially in the mp3.

The solo violin is Embertone's Joshua Bell Violin. It's a Stradivari played by a classical violinist, and it's fantastically programmed. Highly recommended (in fact, probably the best digital instrument on the market)!

At 1:21, we used Native Instruments' Woodwind Essentials. It's alright, but there are certainly better oboes out there.

Another nice catch at 2:13! Maybe the note could start a few milliseconds earlier, as there is the slightest amount of emptiness there.

As for the sub drop, it's one of maybe 2 or so electronic-ish elements we used in the piece. It works well, but we wanted to keep the electronic additions to a minimum. It's great that the drop seems to have done its job!

The wooden flute is indeed an old Irish instrument, from ERA Medieval Legends I (not sold under normal circumstances at this point). It has a nice sound! A bit different from the rest of the orchestra, but we didn't want to be sticklers for traditionality; we focused more on conveying the art.

Thanks again for taking the time to listen to all the parts so carefully!