ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[endK - Hybrid!]

Very strange piece, and spacey. I feel the percussion gets kind of lost in the mix. Kick is fine, underwatery, maybe. Snare just seems to be laying there. The rest of the track may not be to my particular musical taste and sound a bit preset-y, but that could be owed to the chord structures. I did enjoy the piece. Transitions were good.

endKmusic responds:

I love to experiment with panning and velocity when it comes to hi-hats and percussion in general (not kick and snare). Maybe that's the reason you said it's getting lost in the mix.
I wanted it to, let's say, flow - so it's not too linear.
And yeah, don't know what genre would it be, but was going for the melodies and transitions as the main focus of the song.
Thanks for another review :)

[AIM - Ultra Demon Cannibal Force]

A fantastic idea garbled together with the execution. The vocal filters and mixing are completely muddying the sound and soaring above the rest of the track in an unpleasant way. Generally, I adore screaming, but I can hardly understand it at all. Sometimes it sounds like holding a microphone in a wind tunnel.

TSRBand responds:

Thanks for the tips :D I have lots of practice to do with these vox, will definitely be trying other approaches in the future!

[An Fáinne Nua (The New Ring)]

Composition-wise, this is very solid, dynamic, and quite enjoyable. What I dislike is the mid-range reverb ringing, which is just very unnatural to my ears. No matter how much I enjoy the composition itself, whatever reverb plugin you've got going on is just not doing it for me.

frootza responds:

Thanks for your thoughts EDM. No reverb plugin, just the reverb that comes with Versil's EtherealWindsHarp VST. Composing for playable harp can be challenging, (which this scored composition is, a playable harp composition). At any rate thanks for leaving a review :)

[The Dark Desolater]

While I much prefer the atmospheric portions of the track to the dub elements, this is a whopper of a composition. You took several seemingly contradictory elements, added some malice, and here we are. Stellar job. Tuba synth really threw me off until things came together. That's something that probably could do with a bit less nakedness.

Spadezer responds:

I appreciate the feedback. Thank you. I guess the tuba seems to stick out like a sore thumb (especially when it's pointed out more than once lol). I didn't change it much compared to how it fits in the rest of the song other than maybe the dynamics of it, which I guess goes to show how much blending and mixing can make a difference.

Your first sentence gives me hope on this track being competitive. I don't expect to win this contest now (which isn't as important) but it's good that the composition is noticed.

[AIM - The Lonely Hermit]

I actually think I prefer this to your usual vein of work. It shows a sensitivity and freedom of expression rarely seen. ASMR elements make for an unusual exploration of sound, which I feel very much represents a story. I will say that the eating bit absolutely annoyed the SHIT out of me as a misophone who normally listens to music at obscenely loud volumes in order to ignore eating noises -- eating noises which were currently going on around me. Subtracting half a star as I was supremely disturbed by that part. Very good piece, though. Thoroughly enjoyed.

EctiBot responds:

Dunno if I'll be able to make something like this again, but I certainly hope so :D.
Glad you liked it :D

[AIM - Gravitational Attraction]

This is a very fun piece, but unfortunately buried with less than stellar mixing. The chords are all very relaxing and creepy at the same time. Drums in particular need a little liveliness, both in tone and compression, reverb, etc. They're very... soggy, not crisp.

Bass is buried in the mix. Needs more grit and presence. Everything else I could possibly whinge about has been mentioned, but in short, I enjoyed the piece, but the quality could be much better! If you do ever decide to go back to your old projects and bring one to life, pick this one, please. I'd love to hear it.

Kalviter responds:

Yeah the mixing on this one has been an absolute nightmare, I've definitely gotta try to redo it when I get time. This is what happens when you only learn how to sidechain properly halfway through a song. Glad you like the concept though.

[Whispers of Remembrance]

Excellent writing. The only drawback is overly synthy leads that don't quite mesh with the acoustically realistic accompaniment. This did take me out of my element quite a bit. Regardless, the piece still represents the sense of wonder and perspective conveyed in the artwork, and I enjoyed it enough to download. Spellbinding composition!

ChronoNomad responds:

Thank you for the fine review, EDM364! Yes, I do wish that I had something better to work with, but I do try to squeeze the most out of what I have. Without spending large sums of money, it's really difficult to get a particularly realistic violin sound, whether with a high-priced suite or an actual violin.

Nevertheless, it's always nice to know that the integrity of the composition can still shine through despite inherent flaws. Suffice to say, I am happy to have left you spellbound! As long as the spirit of the artwork is felt through the music, I am content.