ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - out of order]

Strong use of SFX and ... what almost sounds like a computerized barbershop quartet. Compositionally, this piece is quite a journey -- from insular forcibly sanitary, possibly insane computer land to freedom in our dream and later escape into the outside world.

It's not often I hear such a diverse piece, 2:10 section rivaling what I've heard from major studios. I'd probably recommend a different clarinet synth such as Synful Orchestra. It handles runs and swift articulations much more naturally in my experience. You can also hand-tool jerkier, computery articulations out by hand if you prefer with key and breath samples.

2:38 transition was extremely abrupt. Would have liked some SFX leading up to that.

Jesus, though. You've crammed so many styles in here, with such quality, it almost reads to my ears like one of those promo/demo reels. For technical skill alone, this piece comes as close as any I think I've ever encountered to a perfect score. 9.9/10. Would be a perfect 10 for somewhat smoother transitions.

I would really appreciate a sort of walkthrough or howto video on your creative process, even if it's just a podcast with pictures. Lots of artists like myself on NG are curious creatures. Inspiring work.

Thanks for turning out to this year's AIM competition!

Miyolophone responds:

Thank you so much, ADR3-N! I'm really happy that the piece was such a success in your eyes.

Transitions were the hardest part and I know I didn't nail all of them so I appreciate the feedback on those. The solution is probably to not put every genre in one song (the prospect of using this as a demo reel did not escape me while I was making it haha). And thank you for the tips on the clarinet, I'll look into it!

I think a how-to/podcast on my creative process would be kind of a mess but I would certainly consider it if people were interested. Maybe on a less ridiculous and hard-to-explain track though :P

[endK - Cotton Glade]

Official AIM Review!

Man, super cheery cotton-candy progression. Imaginative textures.

00:58 is where things finally gel together cohesively, largely on part of your bass. I really feel like the flowery keys and other leads aren't meshing exceptionally well with your D&B drums. However, points for taking an adventurous approach to the piece as a whole. Your modulation on your leads throughout is wonderful.

Piece is well written but feels pretty top heavy to me. Perhaps a bit too much reverb on some of your synths. 00:35 onward is where I really start feeling the thin -- perhaps too open -- quality of the piece. It diminishes some on a second listen. Those background string swells could do with being brought out a lot more on bigger sections and perhaps voiced differently. I'm really missing low mids throughout the whole piece!

2:57, brass seems to be farting in and out on that attack. Outro was totally unexpected. I was ready for a second run of the chorus. Last minute key change? Second listen I was a little more prepared.

Overall, pretty solid piece. Thanks again for turning out to this year's AIM!

endKmusic responds:

Hey!
Thanks for one more in-depth review!
This one was full of build-ups and intros to main sections, and in those build-ups there was lack of bass, but it was intentional. I could've lowered the highs however, brought up the mids / low mids in those parts or somehow managed to mix it more properly.
Certainly not my best work, but the image looked 'airy'. It does sound open - as you said, I kinda went for that, but the realization certainly could've been better.
Thanks for both of the reviews, I totally get what you're saying and I'm grateful for the advices.
Much thanks once more! :)

[AIM - Hurricane]

Official AIM Review!

This feels very 70's jam band-y. Lots of different phrases. Very hard to follow what's going on due to the seemingly improvised nature of the entire piece as a whole. 1:46 was your strongest section.

2:25 was also pretty interesting and I was hoping that progression would go on a bit longer before devolving completely by 2:49.

3:00 was also a nice section.

Essentially, this piece sounds like several different compositions stitched together. Can't really tell what's happening and thus can't give good critique.

I will say the bass was up far too high in the mix, drums were hiding behind your piano, except for your toms. Do like the FX on your piano. Gave a nice texture to the piece. If I had to say this piece needed anything, definitely a little more instrumentation. Between drums, piano, and bass, there's just not a lot of options you have musically to convey your ideas. Even if it's just adding a lead, rhythm guitar, or some strings for some riffs, unless you're writing a solo instrument piece, probably best to give yourself a little more room to play.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

rockossss responds:

Thanks for the review. Lot of advice here to look into. Would have loved to add a mellotron section, but technical issues got in my way. Better add vocals and mellotron in a new version. Remixing too, thanks again.

[AIM - Electric Nectar]

Official AIM Review!

Sweet riff in that intro. Hats are WAY too loud though. About 2 dB at least.

Feels like sweet southern heat on top of robots.

Only real detractor, mix is kinda muddy and feels a bit over FX'ed, especially reverb/delay. Lots of boxy low mids. Got some pretty sick solo sections in here I can't really say much about. Actually, I wish I had more to say. Drawing blanks from vibing a little too hard, haha.

Would have been stronger without that fade out. Could have gradually subtracted elements all the way down to our intro guitars, ended on the last note of that phrase, and had a little tail end reverb and I'd be happy.

Otherwise, slick piece!

VortexVisionz responds:

Thanks for the review! I definitely agree with everything.. I probably should’ve worked on the sound production a bit more, but then again I only made the song in a few hours lol

[AIM - Nostalgia goggles]

Oh snap! Super nostalgic from the first note.

My only real complaint other than a few mix issues is that pesky crash cymbal. It sounds just too tinny for some reason.

I've really got to complement your arrangement here. Aside from some elements of the mix pumping out between sections, a lot more headroom than is probably necessary, and drums hiding in the mix a bit, this song is everything I could ask for in a peppy videogame themed rock track. Fits the art to a T.

Onto criticisms, I can't tell if the bass is too loud or the guitar and drums are hiding. Snare drum could probably use some tape saturation to give it some stage presence. Right now, it's kinda flat. Kick sounds like it needs a little bit of mid and a low cut right around 38 hz. I also can't hear your hats very well closed. I didn't even notice them on first listen.

Chorus also gets super loud compared to the rest of this song, almost to the point of overwhelming your leads -- which is crazy since videogame leads are very hard to cover up with rock instrumentation. This section actually is what has me suspecting the bass is a bit too loud. Guitars are kind of inaudible at points until chorus, especially on those soft chugs. Recommend compressing them with something like GComp2.

2:09 transition lives up to your username. Fantastic writing throughout. Also rare to hear a bass solo.

Really enjoyed this piece. Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

8-bitheroes responds:

Thanks for taking the time to give a solid review! You made some pretty good points. The reason the chorus is louder is because i automated the level on it to give it a bit more energy in contrast to the verse sections, however i may of overcooked it a little. Which crash do you mean... im using two different crashes so it may just be a case of swapping one out. When you listen to something so much you just accept it as normal lol.

[A.I.M. - Don't Look Down]

Official AIM Review!

Right away from the waveform, looks like an unmastered piece.

Compositionally, I like that opening melody. Bass is a little bit boxy for my tastes. Percussion comes in a tad too loud for the bass/melody to sustain. Recommend taking down about a dB. Also sounds very dry.

Bassline also seems never to change beyond a few warbles and monster noises, which are tasteful -- but kinda leaves the track feeling like a lot of copypaste with a very long series of transitions. Feels pretty empty by 2:50, and the novelty of the main theme has worn off.

As is the best thing that can be done for this song is give that percussion some reverb/delay -- something to give it life. I'm also noticing a distinct lack of cymbals/hats. Bass could use some modulation play, like formants, lfos, just anything to switch things up, frfr. Also would try writing some sort of counter-melody to our main theme because it does lose my attention after being repeated over and over. Sounds like a riff more than a melody imo.

Now, I absolutely love your deconstruction into lo-fi at the end. I was wondering where we began in the art before I realized things were slowly devolving -- maybe didn't pick up on the swingset scene because the music is ... well, depressing. But nevermind that. I'm trying to brag on ya. Great decisionmaking in the outro.

Also, did not even notice the song was in an odd meter until I re-read your descrip. Speaks for the composition itself. I'm also impressed you used no external plugins. Sounds like I need to check out Audiotool for myself!

Anyway, enjoyed the piece, despite technical issues and unmastered state. You might benefit from some YouTube time researching mixing and mastering for your preferred genres -- or online mastering sites, given the massive amount of headroom you've got going here and the time it takes to master a track by hand. PM me if the latter interests you. I have some resources you might dig.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition! Until next time!

JAXXN responds:

Thanks for the constructive criticism, it's really appreciated! The mastering is definitely weak on my part, I've never really been able to get a good grasp of it.
I do highly suggest you check out Audiotool, though! It's a free no-download online DAW, but it has no access to external plugins or samples. Despite that, it's still a great DAW.

[AIM - Jagged]

Official AIM Review!

Like that 808 in the beginning.

Mixing isn't great, but I've never heard rapping robots before. Extra star for that. Now if that vocal track were compressed more tightly, 808 were pulled down a bit so as not to drown them out...

I'm really liking the mix of what feels like R&B and synthwave. Unique in the extreme. I disagree with TL on one point -- composition. Your chord progression was memorable, strong, and far from most music theory safe-spaces. Bassline did what it was supposed to do, centering the piece. I don't think your writing is weak here, just weird, which was the point.

I used to experiment with TTS rap back in the day. It's a pain to make them musical. If you're looking to take them to the next level and can't or won't use Melodyne, I'd recommend iZotope Vocal Synth.

One thing I didn't like was the hard panning on the vocals. Combined with mix issues, they became somewhat hard to dial in on and pay enough attention to make sense of the lyrics.

Nailed the art, of course. If I hadn't known better, I'd think you'd been commissioned to make the piece. :)

Thanks for turning out to this year's AIM!

Kalviter responds:

Thanks very much for the feedback! I'll definitely look at something like Melodyne or iZotope (The method this time was to use balabolka and chop lmao)

[AIM - Waves of Life]

Official AIM2018 Review!

Atmospheric SFX in the beginning threw me off a bit. Sounds like distant girders knocking into one another, with enough reverb it was almost confusing when I realized they were drums. Perc almost sounds like it's in a really big can. Attacks are really muddy as a result.

I like the idea of this track a lot, actually. Some elements are totally overshadowing others in the mix though -- like that bass. WAAAAAY too loud over top of your drums, which already sound far away thanks to the experimental FX throughout. 1:14+ for timestamp.

However, I do complement your writing. Mixed better, missing most of that reverb, and with a more obvious transition at 3:05, this could and would be a banger. You might even try having the reverb for kick and snare on a separate send channel and using a compressor to duck it out of the way of their respective attacks.

3:05 transition is very chopped to my ear. Where is the downbeat slam signaling the climax of our journey?! However the mixing is closer to what I think you were going for throughout. Good writing with the sudden departure from prior theme but I feel this should have been done earlier -- or more subtle parts of the track replaced with that face-melting bass-laden chorus.

Other issues like slight cheese on the choral or string synths have been mentioned. I don't feel like they're serious enough to merit more than a passing comment. What's killing this piece is a few iffy transitions and possibly compression issues, not your instrumentation. Keyboard choir and Lindsey Stirling 2.0 were fine on the other hand; they just needed a little more velocity modulation and EQ to sound more natural. I recommend cutting those boxy low mids some more and minding those airy highs too.

At some points, choir was so mid heavy I cringed a bit. May have used something more subtle. Either a different but still very vocal-ish instrument with formant shifting/wah-pedal or a different choir patch. Maybe even a low-pass filtered instance of the same patch. It's just kinda shrill at points.

Drums were not standing out very well in this piece and sounded in between muffled (kick, snare) and way too sibilant (crashes, hats). Steam chugging highs were a nice touch though. I also appreciate that you tried to do something with dubstep drums other than side-chain and pump.

Tasteful piano was A1.

I've probably said so already, but thanks for turning out to this year's competition. Times two, for that matter! Keep at it!

5TanLey responds:

alrightyyy, frankly, I had no idea what to do with this mixdown, never tried to make anything like this before, no excuses though, could've spent more time on this for sure

Thanks for your review!

[AIM - Sunken Streets]

Official AIM Review!

Last year someone selected this piece -- and wow have you taken it into a totally different direction. May be some of the finest olskool-y triphop I've heard in a while.

That said, I got some beefs. I need a little more of that snare, a little bit more crisp on that mix. Hi mids seem to have been cut down a bit, which leaves the bass standing out a little more than I'm quite comfortable with.

Extra points for sampling your hood. Indeed does sound like waves lapping at the shore.

Wanting a little more of that rim sound on the snare. Goes nice with your texture.

I also like the adventurous, avante-garde feel on that bass. You're not afraid to make things fit the way you want them to. Super jazzy.

Piece could have ended at 3:56 and I'd be happy. Might condense that down a bit or cut out a repeat or two from earlier sections.

I'd also tame that low sub a bit. It does take over the rest of the song a bit. Maybe cut 30 hz and under from everything but the kick.

SFX outro came out strong. Extra points for representing the artwork well.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

sro responds:

Thanks my man, the snare is definitely something I've been told to give more love to; so right now I'm learning more about parallel compression. Looking back on it, I feel you on the sub being a bit too much. Could definitely condense it a bit, but some part of me just wanted to wallow in that vibe longer.

Thanks again for the detailed review and for having me, first time making music to reflect art. Also had no idea someone else used the same art piece, goes to show how different interpretations can be.

Your compliments really boosted my artistic confidence and I hope to hear more from you in the future!

[Forsaken Reality]

Official AIM Review!

Really not liking that violin synth. It's a bit sharp and almost out of character in comparison to that beautifully written piano riff. I might even recommend a saw synth instead, since ears seem to be much more forgiving of these.

Now, your percussion isn't mixed perfectly, but it sounds pretty good. I'd recommend chopping that loop instead of running it over and over.

Transition at 1:39 feels like it should have happened much earlier in the piece.

After that point, we've got a catchy chorus. Your string swells sound pretty good. Mix is a bit cluttered though. Feel that brass pulse should have been brought WAY up in the mix. This is the most vibrant part of your piece.

As mentioned, I feel most of this progression relies on the adding and subtracting of elements, rather than progressing the theme. You've got a good range of sounds together, but not a lot of variety.

Note, on your mix, that low end is so muddy, it's starting to distort. I'd recommend checking out johnfn's tutorial. Don't have a link here but you can PM him and he could probably find it for you in his newsposts. Basic idea is cutting low end aggressively in your solo instruments, harmonies, and even basses, not so much that it changes the timbre of the instrument, but so that unchained low frequencies are not interfering with one another in your mix when you have those big, bombastic sections. You would be surprised just how much low end is hiding in your pianos, strings, saws, etc., until you actually look at them on a spectrograph.

Anything else I have to say could probably best be summed up by TL's review.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

CrystaluxX responds:

Thank you so much for this nice review! I thought that a saw synth would'nt fit the mood. I wanted to put the focus on more classical instruments. And in my next tracks I will probably improve my mixing.