TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cs - 'Mirage']

I like the victorious vibe at the beginning and the gradual fade-in. The tempo felt a little slow (and the texture a little dreamy) for a dance song, but maybe all it needs is a drum beat to give it some drive. I appreciated the changes in dynamics, but they seemed occasionally haphazard to me, as opposed to reflecting the harmonic direction to the piece. The synths are a bit cheesy, but they fit the cutesy mood well. Solid piece overall. I can tell you're improving. This one is particular has a smooth flow a well-balanced mix to it. Keep it up, Csucskos! ^_^

Csucskos responds:

Thank you. I was in big dilemma when I had to choose the genre. I thought, the dance was the closest to the mood of the song.
The drum is a good idea, maybe only the bass kicking is not enough for keeping the tempo "feel".
I know the second melody just jumps out of nowhere, but I feel like this song needs that really bad. I may have a solution though: I'll repeat the main melody a few more times, giving the listener the opportunity to familiarize with that and only than will change to the second melody.
Thank you for your feedback again, I'll definitely improve on them in the next iteration of this song.

[DJ-Draconum - The Armory(472 Remix)]

Nice filtering work at the beginning. Synths are a bit generic, and the reverb is a tad excessive. Catchy beats, and I like the pizzicato-y synths that play on the off beats. The piece doesn't quite feel structurally complete, though, and also needs a bit more memorable melodic content. Overall, it's a good start, but I can tell it's rushed. You should finish it sometime! Keep at it, man.

[Spiritual Hunger]

I like the gritty bass synths and ominous mood at the beginning. The vocal samples were integrated well, and the progression is solid, if a bit slow to develop. The production is strong, too, although I'm not sure you needed all of the treble end in some of the synths. The breaks at the 1-minute mark felt like a bit of an anti-climax after the long intro, and after a while I was itching for some more melodic content. The frantic synths at around 1:20 are fun, and you continue to use the vocal samples well. There are a lot of stop-start moments in this piece, though - be careful not to overuse them. The organ-like riff at 1:59 has a fun vibe. It serves well as a sort of breakdown/bridge section. Overall, the piece feels a tad disjointed structurally, but the sound design, mood, and mastering are all really cool. Nice work! Keep at it, HeyJellyBear. ^_^

HeyJellyBear responds:

Thanks for the in depth words! Super appreciate you taking time to listen! :3

[DJT & Rusyd Rosman - Breathing Space (Shuffle Horse Remix)]

Hey, sorry for the slow response, man! I like the energy and the vocals. In fact, I think the vocals may be a little too quiet relative to the instrumental at times. Nice job chopping them up at 1:18, too. The synths are really crisp and catchy, too. The sound design is also pretty cool here. The one exception may be the piano at the beginning, in fact - I'd suggest taking some treble off of it to add some more emotional appeal. I also think there are a lot of moments in this track that don't quite have a sufficiently full texture. Even the post-chorus thing at 1:16 is kinda missing a legato element, for example. Otherwise, great job with this track. The production is really strong - I'm particularly impressed by that. Keep at it, man! Good luck with your new account. ^_^

ShuffleHorse responds:

Thanks a lot man :D, really Thanks

[Internal Joy]

I like the mysterious mood at the beginning and the phasing effects. Sound design is fun, even if these aren't the most polished synths. The progression is a little slow-paced. I think some drums would've really helped it move along. Clearly, you have a good sense of harmony, and I'm loving all the syncopations. Production quality is strong too. Transition into 2:09 is pretty smooth, and I enjoyed the breakdown overall. The second half of the piece felt pretty repetitive, though. Not sure it added much novel content. I think a great next step for you would be adding some stronger melodic content in the piece. Right now, the texture is pretty dense, especially around the 2-minute mark, but none of the riffs stand out as particularly memorable, except for maybe that atmospheric phasing synth that's heard throughout. The ending also doesn't quite reach the point of climax that the 2-minute mark did, which kinda bothered me. Still, really cool track. Instrumentation, mood, and mastering are all really strong here. Keep at it, DamjanRI!

[T.E.O.M. - Grustler (Produced By TheEyeOFMusiK)]

Hey! Sorry for the slow response, man. I like the crisp beats at the beginning. Production is really clean, and the guitars give the track a cool western feel. The progression is a little slow to pick up, though, and I think some of the synths were a little generic. I'm digging the crisp hi-hats and ebb-and-flow in the texture. The sub-bass was a nice touch too. After a while, the track loses its momentum a bit. There wasn't much melodic content at all, and eventually it started feeling repetitive and even a tad minimalistic. I'd love to see this fleshed out with some richer harmonies and vocals, but right now it still has a cool anticipatory vibe. Based on your description, looks like you should be releasing a new track soon too. I'll keep my eyes peeled. Keep at it, EyeOfMusiK! ^_^

[Starbarians 3 Suite]

Excellent work! I love all the swells and the cinematic style. You remind me of Dan Schneidemesser. The dark brass at around the 1-minute mark is one of my favorite parts of the piece, and I love how the theme is woven into the rest of the piece too (e.x., 1:26). Production quality is very high, and the composition has a great sense of phrasing and direction throughout. Very strong work. I'm looking forward to hearing more of your work, whether in Starbarians or otherwise. ^_^

[Count Me In]

I like the funky vibe at the beginning and the creative rhythmic elements. That said, it was a bit hard to follow the rhythm at times, especially during moments like the descending scale at :08. Your brass and wind samples are a bit lacking imo, but the crisp mix helps make up for it. The directionality of the piece seems a bit unclear for a while. There are a couple of prolonged transitory moments (like :58-1:16), and also some frantic riffs that seemed off-kilter harmonically (like :48-:50). You also really threw me off with the suddenly soothing section at 1:52. The underlying energy of the piece is great. There are clearly a lot of creative thematic things going on. Full credit for satisfying the bingo requirement (and going above and beyond with it, at that). One of my main worries with this piece is that it’s really hard to stay grounded in the structure because the texture has so many different layers with relatively independent lines. There’s a good amount of repetition overall, of course, given the underlying 5-note riff, but generally it’s the parts that are moving around that riff that define the structural elements of the piece best imo. I didn’t take off too many points for it anyway because it gets a lot easier to observe the cohesive elements of the piece after listening to it 2-3 times. The strongest element of the piece is the mixing imo. Super clean, loud, and clear throughout. I also liked the melodic content, even though I think of this piece as being more rhythmically driven. Keep at it, LE!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Satisfies bingo requirement?
1/1
Composite score
8.75/10