TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Still Here - Instrumental]

I like the moody vibe at the beginning and the plucked guitars. Some more reverb or something might’ve been advisable just to fill out the atmosphere there, but once the lead guitar comes in at :27 the texture sounds richer. The mix could’ve been a tad fuller here - adding a bass or drums to give the piece a stronger sense of drive would’ve been welcome, but I really like the tone of the piece by around 1:30. It’s somehow both soothing and melancholic. The guitar at 1:53 is also great to add some extra soul to the piece, but its melody still felt very in-the-chords. At some point, I would’ve liked to hear a more dynamic melody, but maybe that’s what the vocals are for once you get around to them. I like how you switch up the instrumental palette intermittently here - it helps keep the piece interesting despite the slow pacing. Overall, really beautiful atmosphere and sound design and strong recording quality here! The composition could’ve been a tad bolder, but as it is you’ve stitched together a really evocative texture. Keep at it, TentoTheC, and Слава Україні! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8/10

[Exercise in Difficulty]

The bass slide at the beginning was pretty cool, and I like the crisp beats and airy synths. The texture is pretty minimal, but the mixing and mastering are solid. The arpeggios at :45 are nice, too, but at some point I would’ve liked to hear a more dynamic and memorable section where you fully explore some of the harmonic themes of the piece. In other words, during the middle section of the piece, you alternate between a bunch of different short-lived melodies, but they don’t feel very well-connected or flowing, and the result is the piece is pretty disjointed and lacks a strong climax or “point or arrival.” It might help if at some point you had a bridge or breakdown where you strip away the beat, and only after that did you introduce the main melody. But otherwise, I like the sound design, mood, beats, and mixing here. Keep at it, TechnoDrama! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
7.5/10

TechnoDrama responds:

My reaction to this is exactly how I reacted to @ADR3-N earlier, so I'll just be lazy and copy and paste:

Wow. I've been around a long time. I started posted my songs on MP3.COM in the late 1990's. All these years of posting music online and I've never heard anything like this. Ever. This is absolutely, hands down, the best and most constructive feedback I have ever received. I put this stuff out and no one ever talks about the mix and that is the piece I struggle with the most and the part that I always worry about the most. You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I'm going to back and try these suggestions out and see what happens. Thank you so much.

Also, I realize the irony in being around all this time and still not knowing how to mix but I do have a life that, for good or bad, takes precedence over this hobby of mine. By the time I figure it out...well...I'd rather not think about that yet.

[Altiof]

I like the cute synths at the beginning and the subtle white noise in the background. The transition at :13 was a bit cheesy, and it’s a bit hard to follow the rhythm at :16. I’d suggest adding some percussion or something to help keep the listener grounded rhythmically. The riffs at :31 are catchy, too. Overall, I don’t really think the piece was structurally complete, and you may have needed a less abrupt ending too. The composition was pretty disjointed too, with frequent and sudden changes in the instrumental palette in a short amount of time. I think it would make your track sound more cohesive if you tried integrating the different sections more. This could involve layering different harmonies on top of each other, which is one of the hardest aspects of making music in my opinion, or merely just transitioning among them more smoothly. But right now, the transitions at :16 and :29 don’t really feel very connected to the content that comes before, and it makes your piece feel a bit directionless and jarring. I did like a lot of the isolated ideas here, though - the rhythmic elements, cutesy synths, and mood. I just think the arrangement needs to be a fit more fluid. Keep at it, Tarziu! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
3.5/10

[Dialga's Battle until the Finale]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning and the warm strings. The mix is a bit muddy, though. I might suggest cutting back on the reverb and tightening up the equalizers. The piece starts taking a very different direction at :30, with the distorted basses and ominous sound effects. The string solo at :45 blends in nicely with the bass, but some of the other synths are a little irksome, like the one on the downbeat at :56. With another sudden transition at 1:13, the composition starts feeling a bit disjointed. I wanted to see you ground the listener in some more reliable repetition. There are a lot of good ideas here in isolation, but they don’t feel like they’re part of a coherent narrative yet. The spammy percussion riff at 2:49 was also a bit much. Overall, I admire the rhythmic content, harmonies, foreboding mood, and atmosphere of the piece, but the arrangement, mastering, and sound design could all be a bit more polished here. Keep at it, SulfurToast! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.25/10

[[Experimental] TRANQUILITY]

I like the groovy guitar chords at the beginning. You’ve certainly captured the concept of tranquility well. The beat is also really nice from a pacing perspective - it comes on really strong when it first comes in, then gradually mellows out, like the guitar is teaching it how to vibe. There are some faint atmospheric synths that slip into the texture at around :45, which are nice, and I’m also really liking the saxophone solos later on. The piece doesn’t quite feel structurally complete, though. The piece just felt like the full texture was falling together when it ended in a spacey haze. The compositional details I’m hearing here are great, but at the end of the day the piece still feels pretty minimal and repetitive for most of its (short) length. That said, the sound design, atmosphere, and mixing are all plusses for me, and I can’t help but be won over by the blissful, easy-going mood and rhythmic content as well. Keep at it, spicymango002! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8.25/10

[Solaraloe - Takedown [NGUAC 2022]]

I like the groovy synths and heavy compression at the beginning. The drum samples are a bit generic, although until the beat comes in it’s a bit hard to follow the rhythm. I enjoyed the sense of climax into :58, although the drop was a bit minimal and bottom-heavy. I did like the dissonant, pitter-patter synth riff that comes in every 8 bars or so, like at 1:30. The drop felt pretty dragged-out, and the sudden change in the harmonic framework at 2:10 was a bit jarring. At some point, I would’ve liked to hear some more prominent melodic content, more harmonic depth, and/or a fuller texture. You manage to keep the texture interesting with the industrial-sounding snare at 3:26 and vocal effects later on. Overall, I think the mixing, mastering, and rhythmic content are really strong here, but the composition feels both bland and disjointed. You transition between the sections a little too quickly, with the sweeps and risers not really doing much to stitch together the disparate instruments and harmonic patterns. Still, a lot of the isolated ideas here are really neat, like the jazzy pads at 2:10. They just need to be integrated with the earlier sections in a more compelling way. Keep at it, Solaraloe! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
6.5/10

Solaraloe responds:

Thanks for the feedback and encouraging words!

[cafe]

I really like the airy and tranquil vibe at the beginning and the creative use of filtering on the brass instruments. You could even play up the richness of the atmosphere by adding some compression and/or giving the mid-tones a boost in the mix. Otherwise, the composition here could’ve been a lot more dynamic. You set the tone for the piece really well, but you also don’t fully explore or resolve any of the underlying tension here. It’s a really lovely and evocative piece, but I wanted to see more harmonic depth, variety, and structuring here. In terms of structuring, the mini-fade-out at 1:16 was a nice touch, though. Keep at it, Shosha! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
6.5/10

[The Key to the Insanity]

I like the synth riff at the beginning and the busy bass riff at :05. The percussion at :11 feels a tad dry, though - I might try to soften it a bit with some wet reverb and other mixing effects. The harmonic content is pretty repetitive here, but you manage to keep things interesting with the rhythmic content, sound effects, and drum fills. The tempo automation at 1:40 was a good idea, but I might suggest adding some reverb or something just to keep up the flow during the transition at 1:48. I really like the beats and 1:50, though - bubbly synth sound effects, groovy bass, and all. This piece really finds a second wind during the last minute or so in my opinion. The modulation at 2:27 was a welcome escalation in intensity, although the harmonic content could still use some more variety in my opinion. The texture still feels pretty minimal for a lot of the piece - you might add a mid-range pad or something to balance out the mix more. That said, I’m impressed with the rhythmic content, progression, harmonies, and production quality here overall. Solid work, Shikoshib! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.25/10

[Dance of the dead]

I like the eerie mood, quirky synths, and ghostly pads at the beginning. The cute melody at :18 is a nice touch, although the bass that comes in at :35 makes the texture sound pretty muddy. I’d suggest taking some of the reverb off of it and tightening up the equalizers in the other instruments. I think the composition could’ve been more fleshed-out. There’s a lot of tension in this piece that never quite gets fully explored or resolved. The result is that this track seems fitting for a video game loop, but leaves me wanting more as a stand-alone piece. You nailed the sound design and atmosphere here, though. Keep at it, Shabbyjazz! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7/10

CielOuvert responds:

Although irrelevant to this competition, this track started out as background music for a Minecraft mod that I was a part of, the theme itself was that of the undead and their lair underground, so this somber little theme would be played whenever the players wandered the dead cities. Hence why it does sound like a video game loop. Alas, they scrapped the undead entirely so I just made some finishing touches to it and made it a more complete track.

Anyway, thank you for your review, as always it's very in-depth and thorough.