TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Miami Sunset]

I like the pulsing pads and groovy bass at the beginning. There’s a rich atmosphere, although the reverb and compression may both be a tad excessive at times. I wasn’t a huge fan of your snare sample - it’s a little staticky for my tastes. That said, the cute melodies at 1:02 are keeping me engaged, as well as the rhythmic content and airy sound design. I would’ve liked to see a little more variety later on in this piece. The structure feels pretty cyclical and repetitive after a while, and the melodies in particular could use some variation later on. That said, you still won me over here with the blissful mood, quirky instruments, solid mixing, and fun melodies. Keep at it, OriginalTultraP! :)

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?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.75/10

[Dragon Warrior Modified]

The riser at the beginning sounds cool, if a tad unpolished and out-of-place in the context of the relaxed riffs that follow it. Nice job with the filtering on the synth line at :14. The mix is also pretty clean and well-balanced here, as exemplified by the crisp drums and broad frequency range. The piece is a tad slow to progress after :14, and the chord progression is a bit cliche. My main complaint here is probably that the piece needs more harmonic variety and a richer texture later on. The jumpy riff at 2:33 was good for some variety, but it was short-lived and was playing in a pretty minimal context, which didn’t help give the piece a sense of conclusiveness. This piece has a lot of changes in the energy level and dynamics, which is good, but little overarching sense of direction over the entire piece. As a smaller detail, it’s also bothering me that the drums are a little buried in the mix at 1:23, especially since not much else is going on there. Overall, you have a strong sense of progression, harmony, and mixing and mastering. The composition could be a tad more varied and dynamic here, though. Keep at it, OliRO! :)

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
.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

OliRO responds:

Thank you so much for this in-depth review! I already feel like I won a prize. Getting such good quality reviews on my music is on my top tier list of things that my music could bring me. :D

[Passed the Past]

I like the airy pads at the beginning. There’s a bit of harmonic dissonance in the texture with those electric piano riffs, and the mix is pretty muddy and indistinct. I’d suggest taking some of the reverb off of the pads and doing more with panning and compression. The percussion at 1:19 is a bit cheesy and unpolished, but I like the dreamy melodies at 1:38. The injection of energy at 2:20 was a welcome change to the texture, and the rich atmosphere at 3:20 or so is especially nice. You have a strong sense of progression and harmony, although as a whole the piece seems pretty dragged-out, and the sound design is full of cliche and preset-quality choices. I also would’ve liked to hear more melodic content later in the piece - I felt like the track needed a more distinct climactic section to tie it together. That said, overall the mood, rich texture, and phrasing help sell me on this piece. A tad more attention to mixing and sound design next time could help you move this track into the 8-range or higher. Keep at it, OddaSykes! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7/10

['LOVELY' by SoundVorteX (André C. Kalipke) of NTtHBM]

I like the quirky mood at the beginning, but the dissonance is a little strong for my tastes. I’m enjoying the progression once the texture starts to smooth out at :17. The percussion sounds a tad cliche and dry, although the rest of the sound design is quite enjoyable. After that, the piece gets quite repetitive, and seems like it could use some lyrics and/or melodies to keep the listener engaged. I think the strongest element of the piece for me was probably the production quality, although without a very busy texture it’s not necessarily the most ambitious production job I’ve ever heard. Flesh out the structure and harmonies a tad, and this piece would easily earn another point or two from me. Until then, I’m enjoying the mellow atmosphere and blissful keyboard riffs here. Keep at it, NtTHBM! :)

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

[Grimey Grapple!]

I like the cutesy bass riff at the beginning and the energy. The percussion is nice, and the descending brass line, while a bit cliche, helps add character to the piece as well. The production quality is also solid, and I’m enjoying the rhythmic content throughout. That said, the structure might need some more fleshing out. There isn’t a ton of development in the harmonies or melodies after the initial themes are introduced here, which makes it hard to assess how well-rounded your composition skills are. That said, you’ve easily earned a scout, and I’m going to have this piece stuck in my head for a while. Keep at it, Noudele!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
6.5/10

Noudele responds:

thank you, the criticism is greatly appreciated!! I might apply some of the criticism and rework the song, once im able to again. I'll definitely post more music!

[Sword of Destiny]

I like the airy percussion at the beginning and the quirky orchestral samples. Some of the instruments could’ve sounded a tad more authentic here, especially the strings, but I think a bigger problem is the mixing. The texture sounds pretty muddy and indistinct throughout, and the percussion easily gets buried when there are several other instruments playing at once. I’d suggest toning down the reverb and using some more equalizers to remove the lower-pitched frequencies from some of the non-bass instruments. From there, you could also add some compressors to the percussion to make it pop through the mix more. Compositionally, the piece is solid, although the melodies feel like they could be a bit more dynamic at times. I also would’ve liked to hear more variety later on in the piece. That said, the sound design is cute, and the mood sounds triumphant and adventuresome, which is nice. The modulation at 1:48 also helps keep me engaged later on in the piece. Overall, solid work, NnolokK! Just needs some more attention to detail on the production, and you’re well on your way to an 8-range piece. :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7/10

NnolokK responds:

Thank you for the critique. =)

[HaunT (Progressive house)]

I like the frantic synths and cute melodies towards the beginning. The section at :38 is a little too loud, though - I think overcompression may be a part of it, but the bigger problem is clipping. Most DAWs I’ve used have a meter on the master mixing track that turns red if the audio signal is too overwhelming, and I think that’s exactly what’s happening here. Please watch for that going forward. That said, I think the composition and sound design of this piece are really solid. The lead is nice and quirky, and the dark, powerful pads fit the character of the piece quite well. The snare sample isn’t my favorite, though, and the “WOO!” at :38 is a bit cliche. The arrangement is a little generic, as is the chord progression, but there’s a sufficient amount of variety to keep me engaged. The melodies are super catchy and memorable, too. With some more careful mixing and mastering and maybe one or two instrumentation changes, this piece could easily be 8-range or better. But for now, I’d strongly recommend turning down the volume levels at the drops and then gradually adding limiters as needed to prevent the track from clipping. Keep at it, NeoNVoltz! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
6.5/10

[Entrañas eternas]

I like the airy synths at the beginning and the echo-y drums later on. The piece is a tad slow to progress, and I think you start overusing the snares a bit at around :43. The muted bass at 1:07 and the dry snare that comes in shortly thereafter both seem like odd sound design choices to me that don’t really fit the atmosphere of the piece very well. At the very least, adding some reverb to the snare might make it pop a bit more. Some of the synths later on sound a bit cheesy, like the arpeggios at 1:21. I think it would help keep the listener grounded if you foreshadowed the entrance of some of your instruments more carefully. By 2:00, not all of the individual synth lines mesh very well together harmonically, and the mix feels a bit strained. I’d suggest toning down the reverb on some of the mid-range pads and using some equalizers to remove the bass tones in all of the non-bass instruments. That will make each individual instrument sound clearer and more distinct in the final playback. The flute-like instrument at 3:12 is probably my favorite of the piece - it really cuts through the mix with its triumphant riff. Overall, I think you might need to be careful about making sure that your harmonies are all “in the chord” that you’re playing at a given time. I find it’s helpful to lay out the pitches you want to use first - usually no more than 7, and as few as 5, and play them as “chords with rhythms” before you split them into different instruments. Still, I enjoyed the atmosphere, mood, and progression of this one. Keep at it, MOTOTTREX! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
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
6.25/10

[Plastik Weihnachten - Mojo]

I like the ominous, echo-y bells at the beginning. The piece has a great cinematic appeal and a rich atmosphere, despite the minimal texture. That said, compositionally it’s a bit bland. Even if you’re sticking with a solo instrument track, some more ambitious mixing effects (ping-pong echo, panning, etc.) and some more complex rhythms would help make this piece more engaging over time. Otherwise, it’s very repetitive, and also doesn’t have a strong sense of build-up and resolve over time. The mix is a tad quiet, but otherwise not bad. I’d definitely encourage you to flesh out the structure and harmonies more. Until then, I’ve scouted you because I like the mood, atmosphere, and sound design. Keep at it, Mojo-music! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
4/10

[Toby Fox - Megalovania (Meta Remix)]

I like the catchy synth riff at the beginning and the gritty bass in the background at :20. The harsh drop at :28 was unexpected, but I think works well with the frantic synths and descending piano line. The high-pitched synth riff that plays every 2 bars until :48 sounds a tad jarring in my headphones - it might be worth it to take off some of the treble in the EQ and smooth it over with some wet reverb. That said, I’m enjoying the melodies at :47 and the busy texture later on. The lead synth and some of the drum samples are a tad cliche, but overall I’m impressed with the sound design here. Also docking you on originality a bit was the chord progression. That said, the mix stays intact surprisingly well given how hectic the texture is for most of this piece, and overall I’m just impressed you made this in 6 hours. There are a lot of moving parts to this piece that help keep me engaged. I could’ve asked for a bit more variation between the first and second drop, and also more of a proper outro, but overall this piece has a decent amount of variety and a lot of fun compositional details. My favorite element of the piece was probably the instrumentation, actually, with the production a close second. Keep up the good work, MetaHumanBoi! All of my complaints are minor. :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.75/10