ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Crossroads]

Here from Discord. Ooh, nice vocal line in your intro. I'd like to hear a finished take on this, perhaps with a little bit more volume on that line. The strings that come in at 0:48 or so almost drown ya girl out.

I'm sensing a bit of repetition in this piece, maybe for dramatic effect. Minus a star for abrupt cutoff though, and that's pretty much it.

AceMantra responds:

Hey! Thanks for the input! ;)
Out of all of the old songs I sifted through, I might actually pick this one up again and continue to work on it.
I agree with what you mentioned at 0:48. I initially used a full choir, but decided to stick with a soloist to hopefully project loneliness.
Thanks again for dropping by. :)

[À cause de l'ombre]

I'm not sure what's happening with those videogame stabs, and this is quite out of the norm for your usual production -- caught me off guard, in a good way when things came together!

Your vocals are delivered well. My only complaint is slight low-mid overhang in your reverb. The release is good. I would apply a multiband compressor, take down the 200-500 Hz range somewhat, bring up 13 khz to 18 khz, a little bit more rasp. Can also try applying light tape saturation.

You really have done a great job with the vocals here. Best yet imo. Very expressive. Using the full potential of the vocals in the sound space. At times the reverb does present problems with muddy mix or certain frequencies building up in the sound-space, but this is outweighed by far in your judicious pacing. I could listen to that outro for a week straight.

Phrasing wise, this piece is great. There are some instances where videogame instrumentation distracts me like 1:50 or so before our first chorus, later through it, BUT this is mostly because they're more sibilant than the vocals, which are subtle. Lo-pass filter fun maybe? You've used them to great effect in crafting a soundspace, which I appreciate.

Also, extra points for French language because I grew up listening to Alizee and I don't think that love will ever leave me, haha. I'm a sucker for vocals that are both French and female, aha. That I can occasionally understand a few phrases as I listen is telling -- and looking at those lyrics and English -- quite profound.

Like ChronoNomad, I think you did a great job keeping the rhythmic center of this piece together with your synths. I was waiting for a bombastic finale with some old fashioned percussion though. It's not even an issue though. Loved this piece to bits. Wish I could smash a download button!

[Piano]

I'm not sure why this piece loops -- after a fade-out, no less. I'd rate it a 3, but it seems to mostly be the same chords moving around on the piano. Maybe same inversion. If there were more elements I would rate higher. The piano sounds surprisingly good for GarageBand.

[Aloof]

From the waveform, looks a bit over-compressed to me. Listening at 0:30, yeah, I'm really feeling that. It's almost distorting.

I've probably said this way too many times in the past week of judging this competition, but 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 would probably also ditch the vinyl popping once things get going.

Beyond that and the bass being mixed a bit too loud and sibilant, this track would be a solid 9.5 for me. Chords are gold, and daaaamn is that post-bed-squeak section fiiiiiiiirrreeeeee. Great work. I'm definitely picking up what you're laying down.

And that wraps up my round of judging. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[[ Thunderstruck ]]

Your first project? :o

I like the blend of various elements here. Could probably do with a fade in for that under-water sounding SFX.

I'm fairly sure that, had you had better material to work with, this track would be a banger. Compositionally, I've got zero complaints.

Mix wise, lot of lo-mid noise on your reverbs. Try turning down the FX wet and hi-passing it. These frequencies tend to gradually build up and muddy your mix. There's also a lot of hi-fizz and sub noise. I can't tell if some parts of the track are clipping.

FL studio's default synths generally are terrible. I recommend some free synths like ABPL bass, AGML guitar, Headroom/Intimate Piano in the free kontakt thread, SQ8L -- I think ABPL can be loaded with your own samples if you wish, as well. Emissary amp and NadIR/kefIR cabs are free as well. Personally, I use (non-free) plugins like RealEight, Kontakt 5 with Metal Factory Drums, Ample Sound AMR2 (same company as the bass and guitar I recommended), and GrindMachine/Dominator amps, which have built in cabs.

This track was quite a journey, even despite technical issues. Liked it a lot. If you get those mix issues under your belt, I see a long path of success ahead of you!

[Sodium]

Didn't expect guitar tracks with this instrumentation.

I would have liked more modulation on your synths in that intro. Not sure what's going on at 0:35 but that lead is not meshing very well with those guitars.

Structure of this song is good -- but that drop, something is missing. Sounds like the sub bass there needs to be sidechained to the 1:11 bass wobbles. As is they're competing for the same sound space and the sub is winning, resulting in a muddy mix.

1:36, had I not looked, I would have thought this was a premature end to the song. Actually, that could have worked. I feel like you really just bring back the same elements we've heard earlier around for round two here aside from the swung perc. 2nd drop could have gone to the 1st or 2nd half of the first drop and made a much more cohesive song.

Also, perc is hiding in the mix. I wouldn't bring them up though. I would bring everything else down until they shine!

Walpang responds:

Good to know 👍

[lchavasse - Lunar Abyss (Ummabeats Remix)]

I don't think I've ever heard the original to this song.

This mix is a bit sibilant, lacking in the low mid range, and your percussion is too loud -- sounds side-chained and too loud at the same time.

Other than that, your transitions are great.

1:05 sample is too loud. Volume levels as a whole feel inconsistent throughout, like those drop wobbles. Interesting approach with the short brass section. I was hoping that would be more developed.

The mix as a whole on your drops feels very empty for some reason, other than that really loud growl. Probably could have used some offbeat or backbeat chord stabs.

Did like the piano outro.

UmmabeatsMusic responds:

Thank you for your detailed review.
I can understand everything and hope that I'll do better stuff in the future.

[Beyond Reality]

Interesting soundscape in your intro. That was tastefully done. At 0:24, I'm intrigued but not sure I like the parallel motions going on. Also, your reverb is killing the clarity of your mix. Try hi-passing it and turning down the wet signal.

The volume on your percs seems to be peaking -- or you've applied some sort of lfo panning mod to it. I'm not really liking it as fast as it is. A square wave may have performed better.

1:43, that perc line does not feel very exciting. Try some poly rhythms instead of those pesky downbeats, offbeats, and back beats.

I can't say I'm a fan of these drums. That snare is kinda laying there, machine gun attack. Tape saturator could give it some life.

This track has a lot of variation, which I appreciate, but some sections I could probably do without, like 3:15. It's a really long build-up, which seems to lead into another build-up. One of those could stand to go. The question is which.

4:57 seemed an abrupt transition.

I'm noticing a tendency to just transpose pieces around. I recommend studying some music theory, particularly melody writing, voice leading, and chord progression.

5:37 transition was probably not called for. I'd have taken that build right there and held onto the top note -- the one you touch on for 2 little runs -- for a final half note, followed by a quarter note staccato stinger.

Also, is that Rez bass I hear?

[Random Trap Track]

Let's see. We've got a 2 chord progression until 0:30. Definitely a laid back trap piece. Sounds almost like trap and one of the bass music genres. At 0:30 there's some muddiness in your transition. Watch out for that.

Mix is not clipping which makes me happy. I have noticed bass is too loud relative to the rest of the track and the drums are buried though. Drums should always be the loudest in the mix. Our brains are not usually paying them any mind, so they sound quieter in a mix than do even the most faintly melodic instruments we can play with.

Your mix is sitting about where it needs to be to be ready for mastering, which reminds me, before you apply FX to the master channel, make sure your track peaks no higher than about -6 dB. Mastering services recommend this because it allows youto shape mix without sacrificing clarity. If your mix sounds good here, it will sound good at any volume, and most importantly BETTER when properly mastered.

Deffo recommend studying tutorials on the genres you intend to mix in the future, as well as music theory, mixing, and mastering tutorials. Electronic genres are very technically demanding, especially when it comes to mastering, and it's important to tackle these things as early on as you can in order to get on the radar. The more you know, the easier things will become, the more your workflow will come together, and your tracks will start sounding smooth like butter.

Keep at it!

[NeroExpress - 2006 Style]

Like the acid vibe. By 0:26 I notice this is not an intro and is instead a muddy mix. It sounds almost as if it's like 96kbps. My complaint is more so rooted in the fact that this leaves us with buried drums, no discernible highs, and a very quiet track. I actually really like this. The sound quality is just not there, so the track, even though otherwise quality, has been rendered to almost noise. I'm a bit rate snob though, so please don't take this personally.