ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[DatCat11 - Frozen Over]

I'm not a huge fan of the steel guitar synth, and I think it's a bit loud over your accompaniment, but the melody writing is great. Recommend doing something, applying reverb/delay to it so it doesn't sound so naked overtop the rest of the ensemble.

I really enjoy your chord at 2:11. I forgot what to call it :')

I think you have a great chord progression. I think it would be even better if you were to use inversions.

The sub bass sounds REALLY detuned and at points is clashing pretty hard on lower notes with the tonic of the chord it is underscoring, giving a mean head throbbing experience.

That said I enjoyed the section through onto 4 minutes. I was expecting a louder, harder drop than was received. Think a different bass would achieved that for you. I actually think using a saw bass or pulse bass would have been a better choice at points.

I really like your lead melody, and this will be stuck in my head for a while. Nice work, despite the head throb. Working with sines is rough in general. I respect that.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[Talking Tracy]

That melody is catchy. I'm tapping along unconsciously. I think despite the poor quality of instruments, this song manages to stand on the merit of its melodic writing.

also is that M-Theory?!!! <3 memories

What I would do in the absence of better instruments is make the best mixing and FX choices you possibly can. Meaning use reverb sparingly, and when you do use it, clean those low mid frequencies -- and by that I mean eliminate them. Make use of transition wooshes, find some cinematic cymbals, or make your own reverse cymbals for transitions. Find some good free instruments such as Junk Guitar for sforzando, a free amp that's half decent, and as many nice free drum samples as you can get. I have tons of them in my news posts if you can be bothered to sift through them and some FX no longer available on the web if you'd like to PM me some time.

Despite being a relatively simple piece and being severely limited by lower quality instruments like FL slayer which I think I hear, I really enjoyed the piece. Your writing is a huge strongpoint here. Looking forward to hearing from you as you expand your horizons over time.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

damnhurt responds:

Thanks man, I appreciate that.
I'm just learning about mixing, so I will try to fix it as soon as I learn.

P.S. And what is M-Theory?

[Phase - Corruption Part II (Paradox LP)]

Very nice spacy FX in our intro, cinematic muted kick heartbeat going on.

I think I would like a bit softer hihat when the drums come in, by a dB or less. I would also take down pad and bassy lead slightly. until we reach a more developed part of the song.

It's quite hard to hear the sub bass. I feel it in my lower jaw on headphones and can hear it interacting with the compressor. It's so low and there is no harmonics or etc, it ends up sounding like detuned low frequency noise to me.

The low frequency lead is so pensive and slow I'm having trouble processing it as a lead instrument and not a bare harmony.

However your outro around 3:00 is GORGEOUS with those ghostly chords.

Sound quality wise this is great, even if I'm not sure about the chords or where we're going. I think I would simply have brought out more of your ghostly harmonies and used a different bass than the sub for portions of the song.

The arpeggiations are very nice and interesting to listen to. I think I would like to hear more variation in percussion, particularly cymbals and snare, as well as a grungier kick. The low frequency end almost sounds monotone, eaten up with so much sub.

But nevermind my nitpicking. It's a very interesting approach all around, and were I not focusing in on it for listening for composition, in the absence of any other stimuli, I would have highly praised your sound design. Nice job!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[rain.]

Nice panning on your ocean FX. I would like to hear some chorus and more volume on those leads in the beginning.

At 35 seconds, that 808 is simply too loud and is blowing the rest of the track completely out. Bring it and the kick down a few DB. I can hear almost nothing else. I think I would bring the water FX down also to make room for your tinny melodies.

Writing wise I really enjoy this. It's almost olskool.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Crysstal712 responds:

Thanks :), i didn't really have time to do this because i had school and stuff like that, and I'm also not really good at trap. But I'm always trying my best so thank you a lot for the feedback =)

[Thistle]

I would like to hear a bit more of your low strings -- although being careful to watch harder attacks with long releases, as they sound a bit gnarly in your intro.

Beyond that, fantastic piece, great sound quality.

I would take the violins chugging into 1:20 down by about a half dB and push them to the background.

Throughout I find that I want just a bit less reverb than is there.

Windchimes at 2:00 could also come down in volume. They're quite strong.

Your chords are confoundingly complex. Much love.

I languish that my orchestral instruments sound like trash in comparison to yours, as does my capability of using them.

2:56 you could certainly use a better orchestral brass. Those attacks are a bit poo-poo compared to the rest of this GORGEOUS work. I recommend Spitfire Brass. I've also used their Albion library. Then there's a few nice freebies like carpenter trombone that can be fooled into becoming an ensemble with enough beating kontakt to death with transposing.

Beautiful, beautiful piece. I have little if anything to actually critique. Stellar composition.

Cresince responds:

Thank you so much for your detailed feedback!

I do agree that my mixing could use some work, I mostly mix on headphones but I believe if I used some studio monitors or even just speakers I could iron out some of those stand out instruments that don't sound as harsh on the set up I use now.

Also one thing to mention on this piece is that I used the fantastic VST Arkhis. It is good for preset orchestral textures that can really uplift a piece, I recommend it.

I will have to check out your VST recommendations so thank you for making me aware of them, and also thank you for the kind words! Glad you liked it. <3

[Gorgeous Fantasy]

Nice album cover!

I'm not a huge fan of your piano, just because over-reverbed and delayed pianos are so ... overused. I'm not sure what to make of your string synth in the intro either.

I think I would like to hear less static and grime on the high end of your bass, and a more centered sound for 250 and below hz.

Your snare could use more low mid, and your kick could use perhaps some soft clipping.

There is something about the chords that bothers me. I think it's the parallel motion of 5ths. parallel 5ths can sound grating -- it's in the keys for me.

The shakers/hats are a bit loud.

But back to parallel motion -- you can make this piece a lot more interesting by using inversions in your keys and pads.

I also am not sure about the final chord in your progression. I can't put a finger on it, but it doesn't seem resolved to me. I would actually probably use it as your first chord, not your last!

I'm not sure what else to say about this piece, except that all the elements of a song I would like are there, but something has happened with the density (chunkiness with notes close together) and dissonance of chords that otherwise should probably sound energized and motivated, and as you titled, gorgeous and fantastical, to make them sound a little depressed. I don't mean that in a foul or derogatory way. Just think a brief bit of music theory would help translate your vision. I hear a lot of the root note of chords and occasionally notes that don't seem to go in a chord, or notes that don't resolve in a melody.

Anyway, in terms of structure and songwriting, you're ahead of the curve. Your structure is clear and easy to follow. You have ideas that obviously belong to the same song and logically flow. At no point is the song boring, even if I am confused by some choices of note. You clearly know how to use your instruments to their potential, which is more than a lot of people can say, and the mix is not half bad.

Beyond that, I can't complain. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

CrazyKryz13 responds:

Thank you! I will try more techniques as the time goes on and develop my senses further. Glad you enjoyed!

[Restless]

Very interesting vocal samples in your beginning.

I think you have some pretty nice, quirky melodies. There's a lot of variation in melody and the track certainly doesn't feel like it's the same thing over and over, however, it's a bit of a tough mesh.

I recommend some study of overall song structure, as you have a lot of great ideas, but I feel like it's lots of choruses and bridges/outros put together, as opposed to a clearer organization of ideas in verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, or etc.

There are some issues with mix. The bass is very thin relative to the rest of the track, and it's very high mid heavy. The percussion cuts through perfectly, but the rest of the track is thin and centered relative to it. I think the kick could be louder, the snare come down by 0.2 dB, and the hihats and shakers be spread out/ping pong delayed in the panning.

It feels like some instruments are very heavily chorused, but because they don't really move around and have a lot of reverb, no instruments seem to have a ping pong delay, it feels all very centered.

About 4 minutes to 4:57 you have some really high screaming leads. They hurt my ears a little bit. I think they could come down substantially in the mix without losing clarity, because nothing else is sitting in that high space.

I feel like the 8th note bass staying with the same riff has me sitting in the same place. For a song that's 5 minutes and 17 seconds, that's a LONG time to be hearing the same or similar beats. You could probably shorten this and have a much better result.

For your female vocal samples, those could probably benefit from being chorused, having different parts of the riff in different ears, etc. For your leads, there should be a strong center and perhaps some hints of delay in each ear to give the illusion of space.

Other than that, not bad at all. I think based on your drums you might even be able to put this in Nerdcore.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

cookie-group responds:

Well, i can only agree with every critical point. Thanks for the rating.

[The Goblin Slayer]

Very interesting tone in your intro. I like it.

I think your kick and snare are very phased out and need centering. This is a very interesting choice for percussion. I would recommend not 100% chorus/phasing any percussive instruments and indeed probably not doing that at all, as you need something to hold your piece together.

I would also recommend against overly reverbing kick and snare. I want to hear more volume on snare and clap

Your sub bass sounds nice but is quite loud throughout. Nice tone though. Really like it.

I think you could stand to use different instruments between your drops and verses/bridges. The arpeggios slap, but I can't tell when we are transitioning very well without any other cues such as cymbals and transitional noises. If you plan to make a very minimal track, keep in mind that using the same leads and accompaniment throughout the whole track can contribute to a feeling of stagnation.

Other than that, nice, dark, brooding piece. Takes me back to the days of olskool techno on NG.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

[A Chaotic Hero Enters!]

I think a better instrument could be used than the organ for those stabs all together, and perhaps the humanization function for your keys.

Your writing and phrasing is great. It's held back only by a lack of percussion in the first half, bass, transition FX, etc., and of course the cheesy real instrument synths. I would recommend using ... synthier instruments to attract less scrutiny of the ear, or spending some time looking through places like Bedroom Producer's Blog for better synths.

I also have a tutorial for importing Muse Score sfz instruments, which are actually quite nice quality, into sforzando the free sfz player for use in other DAWs. May be of use to you. You can find it in my news posts along with a lot of other free and low cost resources.

Your final chorus is nicely balanced relative to the rest of the song.

I also notice the mix itself feels very centered and dry, particularly when there isn't a lot going on. Your accordion could easily be spread out with a melody and harmony in both channels, etc. The organ might better be replaced by a lower octave piano or something like Pocket Blakus Cello

I can't really hear a snare if there is one at 2:30. I think that's a shaker, but it's drowned out by piano/key parts that aren't the main melody.

Beyond that, sweet piece. As your knowledge of your software and breadth and width of options increase over time, I see a great future for you in music. Already you're creating moving works, with a clear knowledge of what they are and where they are meant to go. I think you did splendid work, and I'll be happy to see you keeping on doing the same! I can only hope my comments be of some help to you and spur you onward to bigger and better things. Keep at it!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

ChaoticBou responds:

Thank you so much for the feedback!

I agree with your criticism, and I'm aware that the part I mostly need to work on currently is improving my instruments, as well as my mixing, so these suggestions really do help me out, seeing as I'm kind of at a loss as to where to look for info and tutorials on it.

So yeah, thanks! Hope you'll enjoy judging the other works!

[Daffodils]

It's a bit hard for me to make out the percussion with the compression and reverb so high, as well as the arpeggios supporting the main melody so loud relative to the drums and bass.

I'm not able to pick out a main melody really. Instead it seems to be a lot of, granted quite pleasant, chords. I do like the way your bass sounds and your writing of short pulses on 1 and 3.

Strong points, chords and bass writing. Weak points, structure -- I can't tell one section from another either by sight on the waveform or by listening through. It doesn't seem to develop much if at all. There is a LOT of reverb on each instrument. If you want to do this I would suggest cleaning your lower frequencies up and shortening the tails. Alternatively you can do a nice ping pong reverb on a lower setting and achieve the same effect -- increased perception of space.

I'm not sure what the high pitched percussion heard throughout is but occasionally it is off beat. I believe it is bit crushed. Sounds like a clave or something. It hurts my ears a little and I think I would like to hear more clarity on it. As crushed as it is, it's peaking I think somewhere around 8k if I'm not mistaken. It has been some time since I looked at frequencies by number. May even be 5khz.

The piece itself is not very short but I feel there isn't a lot for me to differentiate so I suppose my biggest recommendation is to study song structure -- there are plenty of online resources for this -- and use what knowledge you gain to take great ideas like this and parse them out into full compositions.

Also, there is a cut off at 2:20. Did you mean to do that?

Anyway, please don't take what I said too harshly. All in all, I enjoyed your work, and I think you have vast potential, if you just break through this wall of disorganization. Many of my own projects, truth be told, are at this stage, where I have a wonderful idea I have no idea what to do with. What you have here I would have probably relegated to an outro, as it's so full, and pulled other elements from it to make choruses, then written an intro based on your outro, some verses and bridges and called it a day. Making music is hard. So frustrating, not knowing what to add or take away. I feel that when I listen to this piece, great elements, and confusion.

But anyway, keep doing what you do, and don't let anyone stop you, least of all me. Happy to see whatever you come up with next!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

CassArtzz responds:

thank you for your critique, the cut off was and issue with ableton, i think my main issue is my mixing and how my mixing isn’t on point for the type of music i was going for on this, i mainly do rock and metal, but i wanted to try something new out. if you have any other criticism feel free to pm me :) - cass