TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Through Time]

I like the mysterious mood at the beginning and the rich atmosphere. The bass at :21 is a little loud, and the chord progression is pretty cliche. The drums also could’ve been a bit sharper in the mix - some more compression couldn’t hurt. You clearly have a good sense of harmony and progression, though. I’m enjoying the sense of build into 1:14. The bass is a bit overpowering at the drop, and again I would’ve liked to see the drums be more up-front in the mix. In general, the loudest instrument at any given time should be the drums. I also would’ve liked to hear some more variation on some of the main riffs later in the piece, just to give it a sense of melodic development. The filtering at the end was a nice touch, though, and you know how to structure a piece pretty well. Overall, you have a good sense of melody, progression, and rhythm, but I would’ve liked to hear some tighter mastering and more variety later on in the piece. Keep at it, MrSpud8! :)

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

MrSpud8 responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated

[[Future House] Modern Landscape]

I like the rhythmic content and quirky pads at the beginning. The drum pattern sounds a tad generic, especially the snare, and overall the piece is a bit slow to progress. The synth riff at 1:00 is a lot of fun, though, with the pitch sliding effects and how it sits so up-front in the mix. The frantic melody at 1:31 was also nice, and the texture takes a bit of a darker turn at 1:45. I like how the mix becomes gradually more chaotic until 2:30. The production quality here is solid overall, although in the lead-up to 2:30 the drums get a tad overpowered. I like how the piece “resets” at 2:30 before working its way back up to the chaos of before. Clearly, you have a great sense of rhythm, harmony, and progression. One thing that bothers me about the piece is that most of the variety comes from adding and subtracting instruments over time, as opposed to more advanced methods like filtering, automation, and dynamic contrast. This piece is also a bit of a slow-burner, but you won me over in the end between the flashy synths, creative melodies, and refreshing atmosphere. Keep at it, MRLinkins! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
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
8/10

[Event Exodus: Slime boss]

I like the quirky percussion at the beginning and the cutesy harmonies. The sound design is really neat, but the mix also sounds a bit dry and unpolished. A little more atmosphere - pads, or maybe just reverb - would help fill out the texture a little more, especially later on in the piece. I also think the composition could use some fleshing out here. The piece sounds thinner and less energetic as it goes on, and in a pretty linear fashion too. Instead of throwing the listener directly into the busiest part of the piece, maybe it would help “sell the narrative” of the piece a little more to build up to it in some way. Otherwise, this piece seems to be missing that big climax or “point of arrival” that makes the story behind the track come alive. That said, the instrumentation, rhythmic content, and harmonies are all really impressive here. I hope you keep working on this; it has a lot of potential! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
6.5/10

Mooman380 responds:

Thanks man

[Static]

I like the catchy synth riff at the beginning, but the synth itself is a bit cheesy. The bass at :23 sounds neat, but the texture at the drop is pretty minimal. I would’ve liked to see you fill in some of the atmosphere around the rhythm section there. The mix here also sounds pretty strained, with the bass seemingly distorting the mid-range synths. The mix is simultaneously pretty dry, with not a lot of reverb or other mixing effects to keep things sounding airy and smooth. If you do add reverb to try to fix that, though, please just fix the distortion problems first, as reverb can make distortion sound worse. The synth at 1:08 sounds really harsh in my headphones, but I do like the harmonies there. The piano solo at the breakdown was a nice touch - sounds like FL Keys though, a bit of an overused plug-in in electronic music in my opinion. The more melancholy tone of that section was nice for some contrast with the earlier part of the piece, and I like the dissonant harmonies leading into the next climactic section at 3:45. The more melodic flair of the piece at the end helps hit it home nicely, but I thought the synth at 4:10 sounded a bit unpolished and grating. Overall, you clearly have a good sense of harmony, rhythm, and progression, but I want to see you spend more time making the mix feel fuller and more well-balanced. Modifying some of the instruments would also be a good next step for you, as a lot of the synths and drum samples here sound pretty generic. Keep at it, MelodicRice! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
5.75/10

Rici-Ellipsis responds:

Thanks so much! This is the first track that I actually started mixing, and very badly at that, at the time I'd only used FL studio for about 2 months. You're right about FL keys, now I would have switched it to maybe Grand Piano or at least some different preset. I wasn't good a serum at the time (still am not) and what was used was the demo version where I had to save what I had with Directwave which made everything I made with it distorted, once I get home from vacation I will fully buy serum. Thanks for the in-depth review, I really appreciate it.

[End Of The Sun]

I like the distorted atmosphere at the beginning and the rhythmic content. I think the intro drags on for a bit too long. By the 1-minute mark or so, I’m really itching for some moving notes. I also think the synth riff that fades in around that time needed a drum pattern or something to give it a stronger sense of drive. I feel like the long intro eroded the momentum of the piece early on. I enjoy the climax into 2:00, but the mix feels a bit distorted there. I’d suggest double-checking the equalizers to make sure you don’t have any bass frequencies in any of the instruments besides the bass and kick. The harmonic content is pretty bland, but I appreciate the changes in energy levels that come with the climactic bit at 2:00 and, later, the breakdown at 3:00. The distorted atmosphere at 3:00 is pretty neat, but it also needed to feel a bit more dynamic to keep me engaged. Once again, I feel like the middle section is very dragged-out here, and frankly you probably could’ve made the pacing of this piece work if it was 3.5 minutes instead of 6.5. I also would’ve liked to see you add more variety to the main riffs later on, although the filtering work at 5:00 or so was a good idea. The clap at 5:00 has way too much reverb on it, though - perhaps excessive reverb is one of the culprits in this track’s indistinct mix. Overall, the rhythmic content here is catchy, and you clearly have a good sense of progression and harmony, but the mastering needs some fine-tuning and, more importantly, the composition is pretty bland. You’re good at constructing an atmosphere for a track. Now you just need to fill out that atmosphere with more compelling harmonic content. Keep at it, Marcos! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
4.75/10

[Volcanic [Lifelight Records Release]]

I like the crisp beats at the beginning and the ominous atmosphere. The rhythmic elements and harmonic dissonance at :25 work well, but thereafter the piece is pretty slow to progress for a while. I’m enjoying the sense of build into 1:40, and the minimal drop there was catchy, if a bit bland. The production quality is good here - the compression is pretty heavy, but not so as to distort the other instruments to an unpleasant extent. You have a great sense of progression and rhythm, as the piece flows smoothly and remains catchy even during the fairly downtempo parts. The sound design is fitting, but unremarkable. The sweeps, drums, and several of the synths strike me as pretty generic. I would’ve liked to hear some more harmonic depth in the piece to keep me engaged after a while. The compositional details are fun, such as the panning at around 4:25 ghostly alarm that sounds at several points, including :14. Overall, the mixing, arrangement, and rhythmic content are all strong here, but the composition and sound design were a tad underwhelming for me. Keep at it, mar234! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
6.75/10

mar234 responds:

Thanks a lot!

[hello world! (nguac tryout)]

I like the catchy beats at the beginning. The synth at :08 is a bit cheesy, and the arrangement feels very choppy and stream-of-conscious here. I’d suggest keeping at least one harmonic instrument constant when you’re transitioning between different sections. At around :50, the harmonies also become pretty dissonant. Individually, the frantic synth riffs and rhythmic content are pretty cool, but they don’t feel connected to each other in a meaningful way. I’d suggest using drum fills (crashes, snare rolls, etc.) or sweeps/white noise to foreshadow all the changes to the texture here before they happen. If the listener is going to buy into the narrative structure of the piece, it needs to flow more smoothly than this. I’d try consolidating some of your ideas, taking one of these riffs and running with it for a while instead of bouncing back and forth between several different ones. It’ll also help if the rhythmic riffs were united by a common chord progression, atmospheric element, or other harmonic element. Maybe that was your goal with the drums, but honestly they kinda fade into the background in this context. Overall, I like the energy, rhythmic elements, and frantic mood of this one, but the composition feels pretty disjointed and the harmonies could use some more fleshing out. Keep at it, MameloIl! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
2.5/10

[Reverie]

I like the ominous sound effects at the beginning, and the light-hearted piano riff shortly thereafter as well, despite the sudden shift in the mood. The airy strings are a nice touch too, although they sound a bit inauthentic (and it’s especially easy to tell when you layer the two lines on top of each other). Manually adjusting the note lengths and “humanizing” them a bit more might help with that. The long pause at 1:02 was a bit awkward, and I was a bit thrown off by the abrupt switch to fully electronic elements, although I like the blissful mood and crisp beats. The clap sample is a bit cheesy and generic, later on at 2:00 you start blending the bass and strings together nicely, and the climactic section at 2:36 has a really rich texture and well-balanced harmonies. The modulation at 3:00 was also a bit on the cheesy side, and I think you also could’ve transitioned into it a bit more smoothly. Stop-start transitions like this can be effective sometimes, but I think you’ve overused them a bit here, and it makes the arrangement come across as a bit choppy. Also, you have a habit of cranking up the volume when you want something to sound intense/climactic, like at 1:02 and 3:35. I think it would sound a bit more natural to automate the knobs on the compressor or reverb plug-in instead. Overall, I really like the sound design, mood, variety, and melodies of this one. I think the arrangement could’ve been a bit more flowing, and some elements of the chord progressions and instrumentation were a tad generic. Still, it’s a cute and catchy piece with some solid mixing overall. Keep at it, Magentanide! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7/10

[Low - Celeste]

I like the cutesy arpeggios and rich atmosphere at the beginning. There’s a good sense of build into :37, and the mix sounds really clear and crisp. The rhythmic content during the drop at :53 was super fun, and the breakdown at 1:30 was good for some structural relief. My main problem with the piece is probably the generic chord progressions and arrangement. You also don’t offer too much variation of the main melody later on, which is especially a turnoff in what was already a pretty predictable piece. That said, I think the strongest element of this song is the production quality. The mixing and mastering is a home run, from the punchy beats to the well-balanced texture to the loud (but not too loud) output. The sound design, atmosphere, rhythmic content, and phrasing are also highlights for me, and overall I’d say this is a really strong track! Keep it up, Low. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.75/10

[Nom - Sexsion Ayt (Inst.)]

I like the cutesy synth at the beginning, although some of the later synths, including the one at :08 and the bongo-like perc sound a bit cheesy. The texture comes together really nicely at :20, and I’m enjoying the rhythmic content and melodic contour there. The mix is clean and well-balanced, but a little quiet. After around the 1-minute mark, though, the composition starts to get a bit bland and repetitive. I think it would’ve been nice to aim for some more structural contrast and ebb-and-flow to the composition here after a while. Overall, I like the sound design, atmosphere, mixing, and beats, but I wanted to see you do more to keep me engaged later on in the piece and sell the narrative aspects of it a bit more. Right now, this feels more like a demo track than a stand-alone piece, and the fade-out ending only makes me feel more confident in saying that. I think you’re a talented producer with a good feel for blending instruments together to create a distinct atmosphere. I just wanted the harmonies and compositional details to go a bit deeper here. Keep at it, Nom! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
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
7/10