ADR3-N's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Vanguard]

Other than the guitars and drums, I feel mix is done quite well. I'm having a hard time picking out bass. It sounds like guitars were not double tracked but a chorus applied. Rhythm guitar has a pretty heavy cab noise/room sound to it which I feel it would sound so much better without. It's a bit muddy. The low mids are rumbly in the wrong way imo.

However, writing is GREAT

Snare is suffering from the same over-reverb sound as the snare. I want to hear more high mid on it

Great work otherwise!

TheUnnamedPlayer responds:

listen to the new song i made (the system is flawed)
i fixed a lot of those mixing issues, was compressing everything too much so i just dialed back the compression and everything became a lot clearer
my guess is that because of the level of compression everything was getting squashed together too much, especially the drums with the high-frequency cymbals and low-frequency bass kick trying to be evened out
similarly with the bass, there was two compressors on it, one before and then after the distortion, just turned off the one before it recently and it gets a lot cleaner and more authentic/human sound (very open, roomy, mid/high-mid heavy)
i will take into account these criticisms even through, however, but the reason i chose this song was simply that this song was done before the newer one (otherwise i would have chosen the newer one because its millions times better)

tldr: listen to newer song, i was compressing everything too much and squashing the sounds together making it all sound same-y and indifferent to each other

[Alright, Alright]

I really enjoy the lyrics, but I feel the vocals can come up quite a bit. Don't hide them under the instrumental! Delivery is getting better in time, and the composition stands on its own

It's odd to hear what sounds like a love song to God and hear slap me down, aha, but the world needs more good christian music. Keep it up!

SoulSecure responds:

Really? The vocals are too quiet? I've worked to get them where they are, I hate obnoxiously loud vox, but I'm really out of my mixing game and I don't have the ear for it I did a few years ago. I know there's couple spots in the first verse I can hear what you're sayin' and in the chorus when the backing vocals aren't present. I'll have to tweak it. Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate it!

[PHONK+++]

Love the arrangement and this genre in general but the cowbell in the intro is quite dry, and when the 808 comes in the entire beat distorts. I love distortion, but I also like to be able to hear the 808 note!

Otherwise, keep doing what you do. I think your ideas are solid, and you have a lot of room to grow into your style!

Skymine123official responds:

Can u comment on my new one

[Elskan mín ;) (My love)]

Ah that good good viking language -- took me back to Age of Empires, age of kings xD

It sounds like everything rhymes, so, not knowing the language, I can't comment on that

I will say I can hear the room noise on your mix can it sounds relatively centered. Could use some improvement on vocal mix which can be learned with online tutorials. Language sounds like sweet silk to me though.

The sax part is a plus

Sub is way up in this mix, as is the hi-hat -- take that hihat down please if you get the chance later! Clap could come up. I also struggle to hear walking bass part over the piano parts. Reverb also sounds overdone on your keys. It sounds cool as an effect on your vocals though.

Not bad! Keep it up!

Quippic8 responds:

Finally, after over a month I come around to finishing it.

[PRGX - Memories]

at 17 seconds the mix is hipassed it almost sounds like to a pretty big degree. It is very sibilant. I recommend turning down 15 khz plus for such sections

The mix is also pretty high-mid heavy

However this problem lessens to a degree as time goes on, especially on drops

Crazy drop composition. very nice! Still sounding very overdriven at 1:27

I actually think the problem could be overly compressing there the master. I cannot clearly hear your sub and low-mids. Wanting more bass!

Otherwise, great work in sound design and your panning is sounding pretty good on second drop.

I recommend somewhat less reverb throughout for more clarity and less tendency to push up highs uneccessarily

Lead at 2:26 is VERY loud, could come down some, as well as your pads, but it is not extremely bothering me

Enjoyed it a lot!

PRGX responds:

Oh thank you very much for the feedback, I'll try to avoid these problems next time

[Love-God Kobold]

So sad that people drop low scores because of a silly thing like disabled API. Rating usability in a game is not part of NG review process. I will drop a 5 because I hate to see it! My NGUAC score will differ.

For what it's worth, this is a great composition, with tons of great melodies

mix issues
- hihat is WAY up in the mix and I have a problem hearing kick and snare. thank you for not making crashes overly loud. hihat needs to come down a lot where it is holding notes -- the ghosts are fine

- reverb is all over the place which is interfering with my ability to hear your low strings and pads -- since your pads and strings have slow attacks, move the note beginnings before the downbeats, so that they come in cleaner and you can hear the chord before the beat ends!

instruments such as saxes have this issue too. You can modulate velocity and expression on these so they don't sound so cheapo synth. I actually recommend not using them at all most of the time -- but you can try the now free synful orchestra as a replacer and see how that sounds if you ever revisit this piece

Otherwise, good work. Enjoyed it!

Pheanir responds:

Thank you really much for your feedback! =)

I instantly got the synful orchestra plugin to try and see how it sounds but, unfortunately, the software I (have to) use is too old to recognize VST3, so I cannot use it for my music for the time being. :(
Nevertheless, thanks for the tipps and the advice! ♪

[System Eta - Mind Rush]

Loving the vibe as we come in through 23 seconds but your hihats and your fantasia like lead are SO loud in the 15khz and up that it is almost painful. I think if you want to keep that timbre for them, you can turn them down by quite a lot and not lose anything valuable in the piece

This problem persists throughout so I am not going to mention more on it

Your bass has a good sound

Samples at 2:14 are not quite cutting through well due to excess reverb or lack of sidechain. They could be panned harder to the left and right for texture. It may even be delays covering them up

I want to hear more volume on the kick and snare to cut through more, especially kick

Otherwise, great!

MorphingThruTime responds:

Thanks for the detailed feedback. I agree with many points.
As for Kick and Snare, I can only say that I did not specifically single them out, so that the drums sounded all mixed up, so that the music would not look like drum and bass.

[Mikaiah - Hesitation]

Just a few items of critique here for this monster of a song!

I find myself wanting more bass in the sub range throughout, occasionally a bit less sibilance on bit crushed instruments, the kick and snare to cut through more audibly, less reverb overall -- or shorter tails (especially on big sections where it can wash out the low-mids and bass)

Your lead writing is good, but I would potentially cut sections here and there, as the song is LONG and maintains the same feel overall. Ear fatigue is real. Such a long song is also easy to listen to over and over, want to get to the good part, and give up on mixing and writing new parts.

But beyond that you've done a great job!

Mikaiah responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed it regardless, and i'll try to keep all of those things in mind!

[Divine Mother]

You have a wrong accidental note in your sine bass octave jumps. It's the 3rd chord shift. The top octave should come up or down one semi tone or be detuned slightly to fit into the chord.

The breaks are utterly insane btw. noice. I think the kick and snare could come up in the mix. The pads and strings are burying it, especially with the lots of reverb on them.

The final drop is sounding good

I really feel with as similar as the song is throughout that 7:49 is a long time to keep the song going. Perhaps you could cut some sections, or change up the bass instrument/line

The insanity of the drums is appreciated however could cut through the mix a lot better either with sidechain on the kick and snare frequencies to reverbs, or something along those lines.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

MangleDark responds:

thank you very much for doing such a well structured review. would love to receive more comments like this

[DreamStory]

I'm unsure why people are harassing you with these low ball scoring reviews. Going to leave a 5 here because F that noise. My actual NGUAC score will differ.

There are some issues -- the leads are VERY loud on drops and throughout. I clearly hear kick and snare, but also, I want to hear your pads too! 1:42, the bass is almost inaudible relative to the leads and counter leads.

In general, the longer a note is held, the less it needs to be in your face

Compositionally, I did enjoy the piece

2:20, the sub is almost inaudible. I hear it mostly because of a resonant ring in the 20khz range which should not be that loud. Bit crush noise?

3:07 is starting to sound closer to a good mix. Try turning those leads down if you ever revisit this, and bring the bass up overall. Perhaps low pass the bass to eliminate that heavy resonance, audible even at 4:16. See what happens!

LtFS responds:

Apparently, this year I won’t go beyond tryout... Thank you for your feedback!