TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[JUMBO HEART XL (FULL ALBUM)]

Awesome, man! I've had this playing in the background while I clean out my home office, and I'm really impressed with the musical variety - equal parts danceable, edgy/dramatic, soulful, and mellow. I think Volty's Quest is still my favorite, but the track at 19:26 was also quite easy to hum along to. Part of me wanted the transitions between the tracks to be a bit smoother, but I know that most of them were made to loop in-game. I also like the (purposeful?) choice to put the beautiful, dreamy piece at 33:00 smack dab in the middle of the album. It really feels like a grand intermission of sorts. :) Anyway, looking forward to hearing more from you in 2022 and 2023! Cheers. ^^

ConnorGrail responds:

Thanks for listening! Funny thing, that track at 19:26 is also Volty's Quest, just the second track I made for it. So you might just have a favourite game haha. I'm also glad you enjoyed the quiet little intermission, no better place for a little break than halfway if you ask me 🙂

(Edit: just realized 19:26 is the first track of Volty, the one directly after is the second)

[God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen]

Awesome! You really made this your own, Connor. It has a nice, punchy vibe between the crisp drums and heavy down beats. The rest of the sound design is really top-notch too, and the vocals feel really dynamic between the more subdued tone at the beginning and the more passionate flair towards the end. Your mixing and mastering has really improved over the past year or two as well. Keep at it, man! Happy holidays. ^_^

ConnorGrail responds:

Thanks! glad you liked the dynamics and style of this one, I had fun contrasting the typical holiday music sound. Nice to see your name pop up for another review, happy holidays to you as well

[Stellar]

Oh man, you're back! :D I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the somewhat improvisational flair. The piano could probably be "humanized" a bit more, at least before the beat comes in, but the crisp drums and rumbling bass help fill out the texture and shape the flow. For a lot of the piece, there isn't a strong sense that it's building towards something, but the piece really starts falling together once you take the sound design in a more synth-heavy direction at the 3-minute mark or so. The dreamy plucked synths at 4:15 or so really tie the piece back into the "stellar" theme. :) Some of the transitions are a tad choppy here, notably at 5:03, but the melodies at 5:45 tie the piece together well towards the end. Overall, I'm really glad you're back! This track has some great sound design and top-notch production quality, and I'm looking forward to hearing what else is in store for your followers in the near future. ^_^ Hope you're doing well otherwise, too. Have a great holiday season, Lockyn!

Lockyn responds:

Yo I totally missed this, glad to see you TL! Thank you as always for the detailed review. Hope your holidays was great, and here's to a better 2022!

[-Melody Salad-]

I like the crisp beats at the beginning and the punchy synths. Your mixing and mastering skills have definitely improved in the last few years. I like the slide-y melody at 1:04 and the funky sound design. The track feels very dynamic, but also solidly rooted in some core melodic patterns that give it a strong sense of cohesion. The synth that kinda sounds like a flute in the background at 2:50 is a really nice touch, too. Later on in the piece, there are several melodies playing at once, but it feels like I can still separate them out from each other because of the strong production quality and distinct instrumentation. This is my favorite track of yours in a while! Keep it up, WF. ^_^

[-Dormant-]

Ooohh, I've missed your dark ambient tracks. The pulsing texture towards the beginning sets the scene nicely, and the airy percussion that pops in at around :35 is super nice for a more rhythmic appeal. The pacing remains a bit slow until the second half, and I thought the transition at 1:53 could've been a tad more creative. That said, the distorted percussion at 1:57 is really neat, and the more intricate rhythmic elements during the second half help keep me engaged. The composition could've used a tad more ebb-and-flow at times, but the atmosphere, rhythmic components, and production are all on point here. Keep it up, WF! ^^

[The Forbidden T Word (poem)]

I too found these article titles unnerving when I first heard you talk about them. But I think you're missing the forest for the trees here.

The central argument of the Slate article is that the media's obsession with "fact-checking" isn't going to change anyone's beliefs. Appealing to shared values, however, is more likely to do so. Zimmerman gives the example of someone who believes that "all terrorists are Muslim." Pointing out the many examples of terrorism conducted by people of other religions isn't that helpful if the person's fear of Muslims runs deeper than that. But having a conversation about the deeper issues at heart (i.e., subjective things like what makes a person feel safe, etc.) is more likely to leave the anti-Muslim person with a more open and nuanced perspective, and also help them find common ground with others who they may otherwise disagree with. And btw, Zimmerman's article is categorized as "Science" because there's credible academic research showing that this "feelings-based" method of persuasion works: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282668982_From_Gulf_to_Bridge_When_Do_Moral_Arguments_Facilitate_Political_Influence

The point is that judging the articles by their titles alone isn't really helpful. I don't appreciate Slate's use of overly-provocative clickbait as a headline either, but these articles are worthy of more thoughtful discussion than just "see how ridiculous the MSM is being".

Nevertheless, your poem was amusing.

SilverFoxJams responds:

Thanks for your honest feedback.

[Move [Rap/Metal] (Extended Version)]

You certainly doubled down on the eerie mood and energetic elements here compared to the original. The intro works well for setting up the apprehensive tone of the piece, although you may have gone a tad overboard with the chopped-up vocals, and the shift in the instrumentation at :44 could've been a bit smoother. The drums definitely sound louder, but I also think they're distorting the rest of the texture a bit now. In a piece like this with a lot of attack on the guitars, I'm not sure you need a kick this heavy/prominent. The vocals sound like they're ducking in and out of the mix sometimes, though, which is probably my main concern. I like the change-of-pace in the instrumental track at 2:41 - adds a touch of variety towards the end. I'm honestly not sure this edit would've changed my score enough to justify the 5% "late tax," though. Maybe that's just me confirming my own bias against encouraging people to take the tax, but that's my opinion. :) Still, listening to this piece for a third and fourth time only reassures me that the flow in the rap is top-notch and the sound design is stellar here. It's a really captivating piece - the challenge remains how to have each of the competing elements (guitar, vocals, drums) sit well in the mix. But hey, if you're doing any more rap/metal hybrids, send me a PM! This is stuff I don't see a lot of on Newgrounds, so it's refreshing. Until then, cheers! ^_^

ProjectSoary responds:

Thank you! That's all I wanted to know. That 5% is pretty brutal. Thanks again for going the extra mile and writing this 2nd review! Much appreciated. See you in NGUAC 2022!

[Temporal]

Right off the bat, I’m liking the energy and the rhythmic elements of the vocals. The production quality is great, although the lyrics are a bit cheesy. The pitch-shifted vocals at :37 work really well, but that section also felt a tad over-compressed. By 1:22, the vocals seem a bit repetitive, but the synth melodies at the second drop at 1:50ish are really refreshing. The arrangement and some of the chord progressions are a little generic, but I also like the change-of-pace to the beat at 2:50. Overall, you nailed the mixing, sound design, atmosphere, melodies, and arrangement. A little more variety and originality would’ve been ideal, but this is a strong effort. Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year, Veryfakeguest! It’s been a blast. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
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
8.5/10

[Sleepmarching]

I like the twittering synth at the beginning and the rich atmosphere. The sound design is great, perhaps with the exception of the vocaloid. It sounds pretty realistic for a vocoder output, but admittedly that’s a pretty low bar. The production is strong, and I especially like the rhythmic “t’s” toward the end starting at around 1:45. It’s a great subtle way of using the vocoder that makes it impossible to tell it’s a vocoder. The lyrics themselves are also really good, and the theremin melodies at :45 hit the spot too. The composition could have a little more ebb-and-flow over time - right now the energy level is pretty constant, although the piece flows smoothly and seems really cohesive, but also well-varied harmonically. Overall, I’m really enjoying the bright mood, mixing, and rhythmic elements here. The vocaloid strikes me as low-hanging fruit for improvement, but I like the other vocal samples you included here at around 1:30. Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year, Vermeen! It’s been a blast. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

vermeen responds:

It's been quite the ride! Yeah, I defs agree with the voice, didn't mold it out enough and the arrangement was done in one go (I made it on the same day the song got published lmao)! This song went through so many drafts like it was making me lose my mind but I'm glad I still finished it and didn't tap out. I've learned so much through participating. Thank you so much for your invaluable words and for setting up the contest!