ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM-Changing Our Fate]

While this is a good song, it seems you skipped the rules for the AIM contest. Art must be from Newgrounds, so please remove the tag!

It seems a lot of parts of the song are hard-panned, like the drums. That takes away from the listening experience for me quite a lot. After all, even if I'm sitting on one side of a set, both ears will hear the sound!

[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 - Your Masquerade]

I find myself wanting to parrot Real's review. If the opening were dropped with the arp already present, I feel the song would have been stronger for it. You're not really dropping anything new with the synth is why it sounds so strange.

Now, 00:58, we see some of your real intent, which is good, but I feel the percussion is laying down just a bit much. Needs side-chaining or... something. You've got an interesting piece going here, with a lot of elements that alternately clash and gel. Minimize where they start clashing, work on velocity and transitions, and you'll find success follows you.

DarkHorseOrchestra responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, definitely needa work on all that. No excuses, was very minimal(lazy) on mixing.

[AIM - Breathe]

This somehow manages to creep me out and soothe me at the same time. I'm not sure if this is the intent. The instrumentation could use a bit more attention, especially to velocity. Filter effects are nice though. I'm just not quite able to get into it as I feel I should. Writing makes for a very busy piece where not all quite goes together. The 808 in particular clashes very badly with the chords you're trying to represent.

DarkHorseOrchestra responds:

"I'm not sure if this is the intent." Pretty much my intent, glad that part worked out lol. Yeah had messed with the pitch of the previous 808 while tuning it, then swapped it out for the current... and well.. fudged it up. Thanks again for the feedback, yall really helping me narrow down faults!

[AIM - The bunny crew]

I did enjoy the piece, but I can't possibly turn it up as loud as it needs to be for me to be able to hear each little intricacy you've got going. That's a compression issue, not a speaker problem, if you catch my drift. Everything you have going on here is all very relaxing, but at this volume level, everything is a bit buried by the drums. Although I very much enjoy them, it feels as if each new element introduced is over before it begins.

[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.

[AIM - NINE]

Agree with RealFaction. This isn't dubstep. Closer to trip hop. Also forgot to mention in my review of "Drowing" that the title was mispelled. Should be "Drowning". But back to "NINE", I'm not sure what significance the number holds to the woman depicted, or this very trippy, grimy "My Husband" you've got going on. I do appreciate the vibe. I wonder, are the snakes representative of her husband, in your mind? Certainly a darkly beautiful piece.

[AIM - Drowing]

The very muted, deep noises perfectly emulate what I've heard of music underwater. Quite an interesting experience. When the song hits its crest, the bass is heavy and emotive, but not overbearing, which is an achievement. Very enjoyable, very artistic piece. I love what you've done with it.

[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.

[AIM - Enchanted Forest]

I'm reminded of the forests in Dragon's Dogma. I'd say you definitely represented the artwork well. The abrupt cut at the end is what takes me out of the experience. Anything else I could say has already been mentioned. Good work!