TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sainthood]

Hey! Sorry I haven't been keeping up with your stuff lately. School is to blame. :'( I love the relaxing atmosphere you created here, and the drums and melodies are cool. However, I think some of the instruments, especially the drums, don't come in so clearly. Do you know what side-chaining is? That might help. Also, a little more Equalizing couldn't hurt. It's well-structured and smooth-flowing. It has a rather innocent and happy vibe to it. Good job! ;)

adieuwinter responds:

Thanks for the comments! I'll look into side-chaining, no Idea what that is at the moment. School is to blame for everything ;)

[Right]

No reviews yet? Well, let's fix that! It's a little simplistic, although I like the chord progression and the eerie mood at :40. The reverb was a nice touch, btw. It has a good sense of climax and progression. The mixing might need a bit of work, though, and all that reverb and/or other effects kind of make it seem unnatural. I'm not sure if that's what you were going for or not, though...Overall, nice work. This game sounds pretty cool, so good luck with that. ;)

oswald responds:

That is what I was going for, so I'm glad you noticed!
(Also, my reply is extremely late, and I apologize.)
The game itself has changed a lot though, so I'm not sure if I'll be using this song in the future.

[Adel's Theme (Menu)]

Why are you so awesome? This is beautiful. Those strings sound amazing, and the climactic nature of this piece is really eye-catching. It has a bit of a hushed and furtive quality, though. I would've loved to see a little more contrast. It's well-structured and very smooth-flowing, and also loops well. Good job! Looking forward to the full-length version. :)

Step responds:

I really did want to add more contrast and dynamics and I totally agree with you that this piece lacks them. However, don't forget that this is a menu theme for a menu that doesn't even have much going on apart from a few buttons and a pretty background! The developer specified that she wanted it to be very low-key, and I tried to hold back as much as I could (even though 0:32 was kind of pushing it in terms of "low-key" haha).

Anyway, perfectly valid criticism. Super glad you liked this. Thanks for dropping by, mate.

[Heavenly Waterfall]

I like the melodies a lot. It has a very bright and bouncy vibe to it. It is fast-paced as you mentioned in the description, but that gives it a sort of childish and innocent energy which I like a lot. It is a bit simplistic in a way, but that sort of adds to the innocent quality. You have an excellent sense of melody (and you made this when you were much younger than I am now!). I think it's great for a first piece. Sorry I haven't really been keeping up with your productions lately, btw. There is a light at the end of the long, LONG tunnel of high school at which (hopefully) I will have more time. XD Nice work, LSD!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Why hello!

I'm glad you like the melodies, as they are my favorite part of this song (and the only thing that's really worth anything at all :p).
I like your use of the word "innocent", and I have to agree with it; this composition, if anything, has a pretty innocent vibe to it XD
Maybe it's because the production was so innocent too. I simply sat down and thought "hey, time to make a song", and made one :3

I might have a good sense of melody, but as you notice, at the time I had a horrile sense of rhythm and tempo :'D

Don't worry about not having kept up; I know you have a lot to do! But I'll only forgive you if you forgive me for not taking enough time to respond to your message this weekend (nor read your story, but I will do so asap [next weekend I'll get an extra day free from the army, so hopefully then])! >:)

Thanks!

[Party Cycle]

I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with what you're producing as much recently. It's catchy and cool, but I'm not sure that melody instrument at the beginning suits my tastes...it's very high-pitched and harsh-sounding. Good melodies and mixing as usual. I see what you mean by "halved" the bassline...are you referring to the part at 2:07? I think that melody instrument sounds really cool when it's down the octave at 2:33. The ending is a little sudden, though, and, as you hinted at, it could use a little more support in the bass. Have you ever tried using sub-basses? They're a ton of fun to work with, and they sound awesome if you know how to mix them well (and you definitely would). They're also pretty easy to make in 3xOsc. Anyway, I like it overall. It may be a little bland at times, but most of your tracks are pretty "mild-mannered," if you know what I mean. Keep it up, BO! ;D

Everratic responds:

"It's catchy and cool, but I'm not sure that melody instrument at the beginning suits my tastes..."
I actually love those types of synths, but I understand that it's too high pitched for some people.

I have used sub basses before, but I didn't think this song needed it. Also, I went back and increased the overall bass of this song. If you clicked on this song before I updated it, then you'll hear the older version.

Thank you for the review!

[Plus One]

Aww...this one's cute. :3 I love the melodies and simplicity...I can SEE the toddler crawling around on the carpet...a commercial for Swiffer or Huggies or something...Anyway, it's pretty well-structured, even though it's short, and the piano has this really great bright tone quality. The ending is a little sudden. A ritardando would've been fitting. Other than that, nice work LE! ;D

LunacyEcho responds:

Cool, you changed your name! That's awesome! TaintedLogic... Well, "TD6" doesn't work anymore, which was always cool, but at least this name doesn't seem inspired by a haphazard look through your bedroom. :)

=> I can SEE the toddler =>

You sure your visualizations in the audio player aren't set to "commercial"? :P

=> piano tone quality =>

I used a different piano from "In Search for Asphodel" because I was trying out Logic, which I think has better instrument choices. Rest assured, I'll be using it more often in the future.

=> ritardando =>

Ooh, that's an interesting thought! Sadly, tempo modulation is something I haven't really figured out yet. I wanted to have the second part of the song sped up a bit as well, but that didn't work either.

Thanks for the review! I wish you the best in school!

[There]

I love those beats. The glitchiness really added a lot to it. That melody at 1:05 is awesome, and I just love the instruments you always use, Garlagan. Excellent job creating this thick texture with all the reverb and stuff. It's hard to make out the lyrics at times, but that doesn't really bother me too much. May I ask what they are, though? The structure was well done. I really enjoyed that breakdown around 2:30. Sometimes it changes a little quickly for my tastes. For example, I don't think the transition at :50 was very effective. I love the breaks at 3:44, and the last part was really cool. The ending was a little sudden, though. You could've used another clap at the very end just to smooth it out a bit. Overall, awesome work! Good luck in the NGADM! ^^

garlagan responds:

Thanks Andrew!
I get what you mean by changes kinda quickly. I'm kinda impatient regarding song structure/pace.
Added the lyrics in the description!

[~SW~ Magnet Subway]

Dude, this is freaking awesome! I love the instruments and mood! You pull off this rather daring combination of emotions extremely well. It's pensive and relaxing at times, yet also energetic and in-your-face at others. Sometimes, it was a little too busy for my tastes, though, like at 2:23. I love the constant sense of direction, and the voices at the beginning and around 3:10 were a nice touch. I can totally see how you were inspired by Johnfn. It's very surrealistic and atmospheric...creepy in a way. I love your style, man. You and Camoshark are going to go far in this competition. Also, thanks for back-up judging in my competition. ;D

SkyeWint responds:

Hahahaha, 2:23 (and that entire area) was directly inspired by Thwekz, by Mr Bill (which I HIGHLY recommend).

The voices were part of what inspired the subway part of the title, they just fit almost perfectly.

No problem with the judging. Hope to see you again :D

[2019]

Okay, I like the melodies and instruments, but your balance is a little off. The bass at :19 is too loud, and I think the kick drum isn't bassy enough. Structurally, it's not bad, and it flows pretty smoothly, but I think you also need to work on your mixing. Here's some specific advice on that I give a lot of beginners:

First of all, press F9 in FL Studio. The window that just came up is called a mixer. If you click on the "master" tab, there will probably be a box on the right side of the window that says "Fruity Limiter." Please click on the arrow next to that box, and then click "none." You NEVER want there to be a limiter on the master channel. EVER.

Also, mixing gets screwed up when you actually don't have a limiter in there at all, but instead just didn't lower the volume levels. You should do this too, even after you get rid of the limiter. First, you need to link your instruments to channels in the mixer. Make sure that you have highlighted an instrument in the Step Sequencer (that's the window where you make all your patterns) and right click on a mixer tab (start with "Insert 1"). Then press "link selected channels > to this track." Do this for each instrument until they all have their own mixer tabs. Then, you have to lower the volume levels on each tab (the big sliding square knob below the inserts). In this particular piece, I would suggest lowering the volume level of the bass A LOT. You should lower the volume levels until the Peak Meter (top center of your screen) never turns red when you're playing your piece.

Another great thing you can do to limit distortion is called Equalizing, or EQ'ing, for short. I won't delve too deep into this now, as it's pretty complicated, but I will give you one basic tip which should really help you out. In each mixer tab (that is, for each instrument you have), click on the arrow next to the box that says "1," on the right-hand side of the mixer window. Then scroll down to "Parametric EQ 2." You can experiment with this more on your own or consult YouTube tutorials on how to use it best. For now, though, a little will go a long way: drag the knobs below 200 Hz (there's a scale at the bottom of the EQ window) all the way down to zero for EVERY instrument EXCEPT the bass and kick. Okay...hope all this helped. ^^

In addition, the fade-out ending seemed a little lazy. I'd challenge you to do something more creative with the ending! However, I do like the futuristic theme, and it's not bad for an early work of yours. Keep working at it, man! ;D

Joshster21 responds:

Ok then, I'm only 13 but I'll see what I can do. Working on an update based on your advice. I'l also sort out the EQ, I rushed that part a bit, I only made this over 1 day.

[Underdogs Rise!]

I love the combination of instruments, especially with the guitars and atmospheric fade-in. The sense of climax at the beginning and also through the verses was incredible. The lyrics and awesome, and I love the breathy yet powerful vocals. The solo at 1:52 was also pretty empowering, and overall I love the theme of underdogs and how well-integrated it is with the contest - very creative! The mixing is solid, and that riff at the beginning is really catchy and cool. Structurally, it's well-done, and overall it's very smooth-flowing. Nice work, MetalRenard! I can tell that you took a number of risks with this one, and I think they really paid off. That said, I think it couldn't have hurt to add some more instruments to it for increased intensity/variation, as you sort of stick to the guitar-bass-drums-vocals standard of modern rock throughout. It's also a bit short, and the effects of these potential other instruments might be better received if you extended this a bit. However, you have an excellent sense of harmony as well as melodic development. Despite it being relatively short, it feels structurally complete. Great work! I wish you success with your future projects my friend! ;D

9.25/10

MetalRenard responds:

Thanks for the lengthy review!
I'm glad you liked the song, it gets me worked up (in a good, adrenaline fuelled way) whenever I listen, but that's probably because I wrote it! :P
It's a shame you feel that way about the instruments, variation and song length. I did originally write my thoughts on that but I don't think it's worth disagreeing in a public place like a review. Don't worry, I won't PM you the stuff either, I'm not like that. :P
Honestly, I would have felt awkward if I'd won the contest, being a NGADM judge too, I guess you guys should have kicked me out at the start anyway. Haha

Thanks Mr Door!