TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Silver drum]

I like the airy guitar at the beginning and the rather ominous atmosphere. The heavy echo effects on the guitars are a bit overwhelming at first, but as the rest of the instruments fill in I don’t notice it too much. The synths that come in at :17 are a bit cheesy, but I like the E-piano. The texture starts sounding much fuller and moree well-balanced once the beat comes in at :32. Overall, the cutesy sound design is great here, and I appreciate the liberties you took with the harmonic framework, like with the riff at 1:02. I might’ve liked to see you switch up the main melodies and riffs a bit more towards the end, but I like how the piece ends on a pretty dissonant chord. The composition here felt a tad stiff at times, with a lot of repetition later on a variety created mostly through adding and subtracting instruments over time, as opposed to more advanced methods like dynamic contrast, filtering, and automation. But overall, this is a cute and fun piece with some neat instrumentation and solid mixing. Keep at it, LeanLean! :)

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?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.75/10

LeanLean responds:

@TaintedLogic
@ADR3-N
Thank you for inviting me to the contest and thanks for giving me constructive criticism that I can use to be a better person, its appreciated. Thanks.

[bolt]

I like melancholy piano chords and distorted vocals at the beginning. The staticky texture to the instrumental palette sounds a bit harsh in the mix, but I’m enjoying the sense of climax into :25 and the vocal samples there too. The riff that comes in at :38 clashes a bit with the rest of the harmonies, but over time I warm up to it more and more. I like the more atmospheric flair the piece has by around 1:17, but over time it begins to feel a bit stagnant and repetitive compositionally, with a lot of the same riffs and instruments dominating the texture for long stretches of time. At some point, I would’ve liked to see an extended breakdown or melodic bridge or something to add some structural contrast to the otherwise near-constant energy level and repetitive riffs in the piece. I also would’ve liked to see you end the piece in a more creative way than the fade-out in there now. Overall, there are a lot of good ideas here, from the rich atmosphere to the quirky harmonies to the rhythmic content, and the production quality is also really good throughout. A little more attention to the compositional details would really turn this into a top-tier piece. Keep at it, korolika! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.25/10

[Depressed but Groovy]

I like the quirky synths at the beginning. The pads at :12 are a bit cheesy, but the James Bond-like riff at :24 was a nice touch. The organic drum kit was enjoyable too, and the rhythmic elements get high marks from me too. I think my main problem with the piece is that the composition could’ve been a lot more fleshed-out. You add and subtract some instruments over time, but after a while the piece doesn’t have much of a strong sense of direction - no resolution of the track’s underlying tension or a “point of arrival” to bring it to a head. Still, the sound design here is really fun, and the mysterious mood and atmosphere are pretty captivating. Keep at it, Kinupsi! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
5.25/10

[(KhjjnOffical) - O,P, Q]

I like the distorted guitars at the beginning, although the piece takes a very different direction starting at :14. I like the groovy pads at :22, but the distorted rhythmic counterpart at :25 sounds pretty muddy and distorted in the mix. The riser at :52 is pretty cool, but the blissful descending synth line at :58 sounded a bit cheesy. I like the synth riff that starts fading in at around 1:28 more, but the texture remains pretty minimal and thin there. In this piece, you cycle through a lot of riffs and ideas that, in isolation, are pretty good, but don’t really contribute to a cohesive track when combined together. I’d like to see you focus more on adding harmonic depth and a greater balance of frequencies (including some legato/atmospheric/melodic elements to complement the staccato/dry/rhythmic elements here) to your compositions going forward. I also understand that mixing is really tough in Garageband, but with all the reverb and distortion in the texture, the mix just doesn’t sound clean. Overall, I really admire the rhythmic elements of the piece, and a lot of the transitions are strong (like 1:58 and 2:12), but the composition overall feels a bit incoherent to me. Still, a lot of the individual riffs here are going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Keep at it, Khjjn! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
5.25/10

[Summer Adventure]

I like the dissonant pads at the beginning and the creepy piano riffs. The build-up into :44 was really nice, and I enjoyed how you used the samples of the child’s voice too. The texture still feels pretty minimal, though, and I think there’s some more room in the mix for some additional atmospheric elements or richer harmonic content. The transition at 1:19 was a bit sudden, and later on the piece gets a bit repetitive. The stuttering transition at 2:12 was a good idea, though, and I thought the ending where the child’s voice suddenly cuts off was also well-executed. Overall, the mood and atmosphere of this piece win the day, and the production quality is strong too, but I can’t help but feel like you could’ve done more with the composition here. Still, I’ll be hearing the vocals in my nightmares for quite a while now, so mission accomplished on your part. :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8/10

[surreal grove]

I like the jazzy harmonies and creative meter at the beginning. The mix is clean and well-balanced, although there’s a bit of dissonance in the texture once the quirky sitar-sounding instrument comes in at around :25. The composition also feels a bit stagnant after a while with a near-constant energy level and a lot of repetition in the core harmonic riffs. That E-piano riff in the treble range at 2:40 was a nice touch, though, and the production quality is really strong throughout. My main complaint here is that the composition needs more of a sense of ebb and flow over time to keep things interesting. It might help if you aimed to create variety in this piece in more advanced ways besides just adding and subtracting instruments over time - things like dynamic contrast, automation, filtering, etc. That said, this piece has a really unique and fun sound design, mood, and rhythmic component, and clearly loops very well too. Keep at it, Kam! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

[[NGUAC] Underground]

I like the upbeat mood at the beginning. The synth lead is a bit cheesy, though, and also gets pretty buried in the mix by around :12. I’d suggest tightening up the equalizers and toning down the reverb here, especially on the pads. The harmonies also start clashing after a while, with that initial synth lead the main culprit in my opinion. At the same time, the composition gets very repetitive after a while, with a near-constant energy level and a lot of repeated riffs for more than a minute on end. The mini-breakdown at 1:25 was a welcome change, but it was also short-lived. I want you to double-check that all of the notes that are playing in the harmonies are actually in the chords playing at the same time, especially around 2:38. There are a lot of good ideas here, like the ghostly pad riffs and the “oh, yeah” vocal samples that add a strong rhythmic appeal to the piece, but overall the texture seemed a bit too busy to really keep the listener grounded here. You’re doing a lot of ambitious things harmonically that you don’t quite pull off, and the mix, while loud, is very strained and distorted during the busy sections. The piece has a lot of potential, though - you nailed the rhythmic content and transitions, and a lot of your sound design choices are really creative and fun. Keep at it, juanthecrack5! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.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?)
.5/1
Composite score
5.25/10

[Midnight Perceptions]

I like the pensive chord progression at the beginning, although the synth pads themselves sound a tad cheesy. The piece is a bit slow to progress at first, but I like the plucked arpeggios and the string pads that come in later. The tone is distinctly melancholy for most of the rest of the piece, and the composition also sounds pretty stagnant and repetitive. The mixing is pretty good, although with a relatively minimal texture I’m not sure that’s too meaningful. The white noise in the background later on was a nice touch, but I still would’ve liked to see a more dynamic composition here. Some drums might help give the piece a stronger sense of drive, and a melody or solo at some point could’ve given the piece more of a narrative appeal. You nailed the atmosphere, mood, and production quality, but the rhythm is a bit square here and the composition a bit bland at the end of the day. The piece certainly isn’t bad, but it felt a little safe and unambitious when all’s said and done. I’d encourage you to keep working on it, though. Some harmonic depth and more variety in the texture would go a long way towards making this track an 8 out of 10 or higher. Keep at it, jeffbeard! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
5/10

[Electronic danger]

I like the ominous synth riffs at the beginning. That lead sounds a bit harsh in the high end of the frequency range, maybe because of the stereo clicks, but after more of the atmosphere fills in around it, it starts to sound more well-balanced. The crisp drums and melodies at 1:05 are really nice, and the piece takes on a more heroic and triumphant feel after a while. You clearly have a great sense of melody, progression, and sound design, and the production quality is strong overall as well. Sometimes, I wanted the drums to sound a bit punchier in the mix, but only really during the busier parts of the piece later on. Overall, really strong work here, idimension! Keep it up. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9/10

[Dream]

I like the quirky synths, slap bass, and warm pads at the beginning. Some of the synths that come in later sound a bit cheesy, though, like the one at :22. I think the mix can come across as a bit indistinct at times. The drums aren’t quite as front-and-center as I want them to be, and some of the lower-pitched synths sound pretty murky. The vocal samples at :47 are pretty cool, but after a while you start to overuse them a bit. The rhythmic content here is really nice, although I’m not quite sold on the composition, as the texture is pretty minimal and bottom-heavy during much of the middle section, and there isn’t much in the way of melodic content or structural variety to keep me engaged. I also think a lot of the drum samples here sound pretty generic. Later on, the piece sounds pretty repetitive, although I like the injection on energy at 2:54 and the rhythmic content during the last minute or so. Overall, you have a good sense of rhythm, progression, and harmony, but the mix could be tightened up a bit, and I would’ve liked to see a stronger sense of ebb and flow in the composition. Still, this is going to be stuck in my head for a while. Keep at it, HG-HL! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
5.5/10

HG-HL responds:

Thank you so much for the analysis! Over time I’ll hopefully get out of my looping phase lol. I’ll also try to get some plugins to get some different sounds into my songs :)