TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Willow Wasteland: Fantasia]

I like the dreamy strings and atmosphere at the beginning. The pause at :15 actually worked pretty well (usually I don’t like transitions that disrupt the flow of a piece). The melodies at :28 were beautiful. Excellent pacing and atmosphere throughout. The production quality is also really impressive. Glad I inspired the “lack of continuity” here so-to-speak - not exactly what I meant, but this piece is still rather impressive. I would’ve liked to see you wear down the first movement a little more - it just didn’t have quite as much shape at the end as I would’ve liked. The second movement is beautiful in its own way. The mood is just engrossing, and I love the synthetic elements that bleed in at around 3:30. Another surprise in the instrumentation at 4:28, but wow those melodies are beautiful. I appreciated how the 2nd movement flowed a bit better into the 3rd, even if the climax at 5:58 didn’t quite reach the level of energy at 5:59 on its own (is that hypocritical, given my request for breaks in continuity? Maybe…) I also thought the very ending was a little underwhelming and came on too suddenly. Overall, amazing work, of course. You’ve taken some huge risks here with the composition and sound design, and they paid off very well. Instant favorite and DL. I was thoroughly entertained throughout these 7 minutes. You being paired up with Garlagan was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. XD  Keep up the great work, Phono! ;)

9.5/10

Phonometrologist responds:

Hey TL, I appreciate the thorough review. I don't disagree with any of it as the points you make are well-taken. This has given me ideas for what to do in the future, so thank you.

[Vaeltaja]

I love the tranquil moods and harmonies. Strong progression, too. A couple of the transitions here could’ve been smoother, like :37 and 3:21. The melodic content is great, and you do a good job of balancing the frequencies. Your orchestral samples are pretty good, but the uniform vibrato stills gives away their inauthenticity. I enjoyed the modulation at 2:10, too. Your mastering skills have improved considerably since “Tenebrarius,” although some of the string notes could sound a bit more distinct at 1:45.  Overall, the piece is very flowing, but lacks coherence (you knew that was coming). Make sure to let Jordi know that the vocals at 3:24 were great, btw. Tiny detail: I think the piano at the beginning is just a tad too strong - I thought I heard a little distortion, but it could just be an excess of reverb. At any rate, I think it would help you add a tad more shape at the beginning to fade it in more. How’s that for grossly specific, huh? All the same, this is a really strong piece. Keep it up, guys! ;)

8.75/10

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thank you for the very fast review!

I agree with the transition at 0:37 to some extent. I think maybe we should've incorporated a short break there?

As for 3:21, I think the transition is quite good. Especially if you don't read the description before the piece; the vocals are meant to come as an added bonus at the end. So the fact that the transition isn't entirely predictable and smooth and might catch the listeners attention, is a good thing.

I do think that SnowTeddy's mastering and mixing has improved indeed! The only part that I, LSD, mixed, is the part with the vocals at the end, and some atmospheric additions there and there. That said, we did talk about things, and agree upon the mix and what should be changed and all that. Collaborations can take a bit longer because of it, but it's also a great learning opportunity :D

There is no distortion nor clipping at the start; perhaps the piano sample just doesn't sound entirely right to you? It's a felt piano, so there could be some unexpected resonances here and there.

As for coherence, I have one long winded critique for all judges (even more so reviewers). Please bear with me.
It's easy to say that something lacks coherency, but if you're going to, do specify what it means to you, in that particular instance. Coherence can be interpreted in many ways. Is it the structure? The mixing? The instrumentation? The arrangement? The chord choises? The progression? The atmosphere? Something else? All of it?

Coherence in what, when, where, why? By definition, everything both lacks coherence, and has it. The word coherence is related to the words understand and interpret, or could even be connected to not being able to place something in a common formula, meaning one mentally has to create a new one. Is this bad, or good, and why? Breaking it down further, coherence is related to the goal or aim of something. Does that mean that the incoherent thing in question deviates from the set goal?

If that is the case, the person feeling that somemthing is incoherent has already defined (internally) what they feel the objective of that something was, and that the thing that's critiqued does in fact not follow suit, in regards to that objective.

Especially because said objective might not be the same for the composer and listener, when it comes to something as subjective as music, I wish you would specify exactly what you in particular feel when you essentially say, you don't feel the track is logical and consistent (the definition of coherence); you could exemplify what it is or isn't logical and consistent, to you.

Otherwise, it's about as helpful as saying you like something, or don't like it. Which by all means, already is somewhat helpful.

Sorry about the rant! But I keep seeing that word (which really means next to nothing on its own) in reviews all over the place, and I thought it could be interesting to have a discussion about it!

Thank you a lot for so actively judging everything in multiple competitions, while taking the time to write reviews as well. That's strongly done.

[Dust Sweeper]

All of the hits during the first 10 seconds are a little cheesy, although I did enjoy the rhythmic elements at :10. I LOVE the lyrics - they have an air of mystery about them, yet they feel so relatable. I’m curious as to what exactly they refer to, but if you don’t want to share that’s fine. I commend you for trying something so new to you stylistically. Your voice is great - the vibrato is amazing, and it has a cool retro vibe. Sometimes the vocals feel a little strained, though, like you ran out of breath. I think the mix might need a little cleaning up here, too. The drums need a bit more pop, and lose some distinction during the refrain at the 1-minute mark. I also wasn’t really sure the synth at :47 had a place in the texture here. The instrumental was a bit of a hodgepodge in general, actually, but again, I commend you for taking some risks in that regard. I think you could also use more bass in the piece, especially during the verses. After not much textural variety for the first couple of minutes, the pace changes almost without warning at 2:45. That drum fill didn’t quite do enough to foreshadow it IMO. I did enjoy the frantic melodies there, though. The tempo automations at 3:40 or so are amusing, but I would’ve liked to hear you do a little more with that final refrain at 3:55, just to give the piece a stronger sense of development. You’ve clearly put a lot of effort into this piece, but unfortunately I don’t think a lot of the risks you took here paid off for you. I think my favorite elements of the piece are actually the rhythmic elements, most notably the creative drum part and pulsing solo at 2:45. Overall solid work. Keep at it, LunacyEcho! ;)

8/10    

LunacyEcho responds:

=> first 10 seconds =>

Haha that was inspired by "404", an NGADM '14 track by SkyeWint and camoshark!

=> lyrics =>

Your interpretation is up to you ;)

=> mix =>

Yeah I think that's the biggest downside to the track—I mixed with 1. terrible earphones and 2. no knowledge on how to do a good mixing :P

=> changes without warning 2:45 =>

I was wondering whether to lead into that more, or just to jump into it. I eventually settled on this because I was modeling it off of prog rock bands like Rush or Dream Theater, who do this kinda thing rather frequently.

=> final refrain =>

That's another thing I was considering doing! I was going back and forth about whether or not to play the chorus one more time with some variations, but eventually decided the song had dragged on enough as it was.

Thanks for the review, and apologies for responding a month late! :) And keep up the great work you're doing for NGADM :D

[Colossal Encounter]

I like the drama at the beginning, and the vocals fit the texture well. The progression is a little slow, and I think you needed some stronger transitions at some points (1:11, 2:13, etc.). The melodic content was enjoyable, but overall I think you could’ve done a lot more compositionally with this piece. It has a great cinematic vibe, but the harmonic work is a little underwhelming for the first minute and a half or so. I also thought the percussion could sound a bit more distinct and powerful in the mix. Overall, it’s a cool track that could use a lot more shape and flavor. Keep at it, AceMantra! ;)

8/10

AceMantra responds:

I agree with all your points. The mindset I had with this piece was more "get it done" rather than "make it the best I possibly can" and it shows. While they are both important, a healthy balance of both is ideal.
Thanks for the review! I will certainly keep your feedback in mind for future compositions. :)

[Slowing Down]

I like the quirky atmosphere at the beginning and the blissful mood. Stellar sound design. The vocals are really smooth, and I love the breaks at :45. The production quality is superb. Sometimes the articulation on the vocals could be clearer, but the cutesy nature of the vocals at 1:02 really won me over. Well-structured and smooth-flowing piece. I love the percussion at 2:05, and the chant-like vocals at 2:27 fit in really well too. You might’ve needed a smoother transition into 2:45, but overall the progression is great. Honestly, this piece probably has the best mood of any piece I’ve reviewed for the ADM so far this year. It actually made me laugh out loud because it was so cheerful and quirky. Really strong work here, Garlagan! ;)

9.5/10

garlagan responds:

thanks for the feedback tl!

[Gottcha]

Catchy piece. The chord progression is a little cliche, as are several of the synths. The descending synth pattern at :55 was a little absurd, and the (drop?) at 1:24 was very minimalistic, and could’ve used some more high frequency tones to fill out the texture. You also needed a stronger transition at 1:49. The production quality is strong, although I really needed to hear some stronger melodic content and more development in the 2nd half of this piece. It has a bit of a stagnant structure, and overall is rather generic. There are some strong attributes of the atmosphere and rhythmic components, but I think this piece needed a lot more effort put into the composition. Keep at it, JaThu! :)

6.25/10

JaThu responds:

First of all thanks, and yes, it's mostly a basic piece with not much love. That's all in fact, thanks for the review and ofcourse I'm going to expand this later, make it more "songish"

[Stardust]

The piece is pretty catchy. I think your synths are a little generic, and the high-pitched one could blend in a little better - a little more reverb, equalizing out some of the treble tones, and a slight decrease in volume might help. I like the atmosphere at around :25, but the stop-start transition at :44 threw me off a bit. Your drum samples are also cliche, although the production quality here is strong. I think you could use a smoother transition at 1:30, and also some more coherence with the structure of the piece. The piece is very flowing, but I would’ve liked to see you keep the listener grounded in a more cohesive structural pattern. The repetition of the pizzicato-y lead at 2:50 or so helped, but overall this piece is rather variation for my tastes. Overall, it’s a strong piece. My main problem with it is the lack of originality in the instrumentation and chord progression. Keep at it, Techmo-X! ;)

8.25/10

Teckmo-X responds:

Thank you TaintedLogic. Allow me to explain the song or so. So I was going for a spacey theme with a bit of melodic sounds. It has been a while since I've worked on music due to work and errands so not enough time to make music but I try. With the song I did want to add more and make it a masterpiece of sorts but I've thought to myself that I didn't want to go all out on adding too much as I have a habit of stretching things more and more. When it comes to instruments used here I didn't know what I was doing to be honest and just chose what went right with my ears. Now it's true that I don't have much experience with percussion's and instead I try to improvise with my synthetic and bass parts. I've been pretty rusty lately but I'll try harder and aim to do my best. Thank you for the review!

[Go away]

I like the heavy (though groovy) bass riff at the beginning, and the distorted vocals. The mix is really clean, and the piece is rather catchy overall. The drums are a little dry, and I think the vocals could use some more reverb on the chorus, too. I also think you could use some stronger transitions between the verses and the chorus, like at 1:58 for example. The guitar solo at 2:56 is really strong, though. I also liked the atmospheric outro. Overall, this is a strong piece. Good job with the structuring, instrumentation, and mood. Keep it up, DivoFST! ;)

9/10

DivoFST responds:

Yeah i had massive trouble with the transitions in this one... :S
Thanks for the kind words ^^

[toil]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. I’m enjoying the sense of climax into :55. The vocals are really clean, and give a lot of character to the piece. I wasn’t a huge fan of some of your instrument choices, like the generic-sounding percussion at 1:34. This piece has a lot of shape and passion, but I’m not always a fan of the one-climax model: the pacing is very slow, and the structure could use a little more fleshing out. I also recognize many of your synths, drum samples, and risers from your previous work - while I don’t think it’s quite fair to take off points for that, I do encourage you to expand your horizons a bit stylistically. The production quality is fantastic here, though. There’s a really rich and full texture throughout, and the instruments all blend really well together. Great atmosphere and mood too. Keep at it, Midimachine! ;)

9.25/10

midimachine responds:

i'm literally just gonna delete all the sequences and automation from this and re-use the project file as a template for the rest of the competition

haha nah jk

or am i?

:v

[Carpe Diem]

I like the flowy piano at the beginning. This might be a little picky, but I wasn’t a fan of the rhythm/articulation in the strings - it just gave the texture a bit of a stumbly vibe that didn’t aid the flow very well, and they were also just a little too distracting. Perhaps it would’ve been a little better if the staccatos were shorter, so that the strings were a little bit out-of-the-way. How’s that for grossly specific criticism, huh? I like the little fake-climax into :22. The melodic content at :37 is great, and the quality of your samples is really high, as is your production. I really like the injection of intensity at :59. I really like the bright and energetic vibe of the piece, too. I think you could’ve had a bridge or breakdown section in the middle for dynamic contrast and variety, but the additional melodic section at 2:16 really hit this piece home IMO. Thrilling and beautiful work overall. Keep it up, CloakedSoup (awesome username, I might add). ;)

9.5/10

CloakedSoup responds:

Thanks for judging! I've been working hard to improve both my compositional and mixing abilities this summer, and I'm glad it's starting to pay off!