TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Perseverance]

I like the bright piano riff at the beginning and the stereo clicks in the background for most of the intro. The melodies are cute, although some of the lead synths are a bit cheesy. I like the drop at 1:22, and the production quality holds up well. I think the bass was a bit too loud at times, and you might want to rein in some of the other volume levels during the climactic parts of the piece too. I appreciate the frantic variations on the main melody at 2:37, and I like how you brought the piece back full-circle by the end. Perhaps my biggest problem with the piece is that it sounds a bit generic at times, from the sound design to the progression and compositional details. Some of the individual sections also feel a bit dragged-out, especially the section from 2:37-3:28. That said, I really enjoyed the melodic content, mixing, atmosphere, and upbeat mood of this one overall. Keep at it, Joe, and thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.5/10

[Self-taught Dementia]

I like the distorted texture at the beginning. Some of the synths, especially the one at :13, sound a bit cheesy and unpolished - reminds me of an Autogun preset. The texture also remains rather minimal throughout, and is pretty bottom-heavy at times. The rhythmic content is enjoyable, and the progression is decent, but the lack of harmonic depth and other compositional details to maintain interest is concerning. The somewhat experimental sound design is pretty nice, and the production quality is solid. I think you overuse the slidey synth at 2:22 that sounds like a tea kettle boiling over. Overall, while the composition is pretty bland, it’s still a catchy piece with some neat instrumentation, solid mixing, and fun build-ups. Keep at it, JaThu, and thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.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?)
.75/1
Composite score
6/10

JaThu responds:

Its always a pleasure to read your feedback! Thankyou sooo much TL

[Divine Ultimacy]

I like the cute piano melodies at the beginning and the crisp drums at :13. In fact, the drums might even be a bit too loud compared to the instrumental track. I like the more relaxed tone at :36 and the build-up into :57. The drop is neat, but also doesn’t add much in the way of novel harmonic content. The piano bridge at 1:44 was a good idea, and also helps contrast the gritty synths of the drop with something more organic-sounding. The production quality here is solid throughout, although occasionally the mix sounds a bit thin, especially during some of the more minimal sections like at :36. Perhaps my biggest problem here is the lack of originality in the sound design and arrangement, but I also feel like you could’ve used some more variety, especially later on in the piece. That said, I really enjoyed the mixing and mastering, rhythmic content, instrumentation, and melodies. Keep at it, IndexatioN, and thanks for coming out the NGUAC this year! ^_^

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
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
8/10

[Dance No. 1]

I like the furtive mood at the beginning and the quirky sound design. The piano at :32 sounds a bit unpolished, and the different brass instruments at :52 could probably blend better. I like the vocals, though. The slow pace at which they’re delivered is rather haunting, and the lyrics themselves are also really good. The brass melodies starting at 1:46 are really great, and together with the drums, strings, and mallets I’m really enjoying the authentic sound design of this piece. The syncopations at 2:15 or so are great, too. At 2:55, I think the vocals could’ve been a bit more up-front in the mix, especially since it seems like the “conclusion” of the lyrics arc throughout the piece. The electric piano and generous use of percussion at 3:45 were also neat - great use of structural variety there. The percussion gets a tad buried underneath the brass at 4:10, but the section at 4:41 ties the piece together well. Overall, the structure feels a tad drawn-out here, but the flow is smooth and the sound design and mood are great. Rich textures and solid production quality throughout, despite my occasional complaints with the balance/mixing. Compositionally, the piece is a home run, and you really captured the emotional quality to the lyrics in your vocals. Strong work, Glassedhouse! Thanks for coming out again to the NGUAC this year. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
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
8.75/10

Glassedhouse responds:

Yeah, the section at 2:15 is my favourite bit of the entire piece. Syncopation go crazy. I do agree with the mixing/mastering likely being the weakest aspect of the track, but that probably had something to do with the amount of time it took to construct a brass band, as well as the sheer amount of Audio/MIDI tracks playing at once. I'm definitely going to rework this song in those aspects later in the near future. Thank you for appreciating the compositional aspects! Those were what most of my work and time went into, and is my favourite aspect!

[NGUAC2021 Finals]

I like the dreamy synths at the beginning, although the compression and reverb both seem a little too heavy. The build-up into :47 is cool, and the synth melodies there are really upbeat and catchy. Some of the synths here are a bit cheesy, including the lead, and the chord progression at 1:25 is pretty cliche. That said, I’m enjoying the strong beats and variations at 1:56. You start to overuse the transition with the rising percussion by the third time at 3:00, but I appreciated the variation on the main melody during the final refrain. The production quality, progression, mood, and melodies are all really solid here. The sound design isn’t my favorite, but my biggest problem is probably how generic the harmonic structure, arrangement, and compositional details are. Still, you’ve earned a lot of credit here for the rich, well-balanced textures and catchy melodies. Keep at it, Fumijena, and thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.25/10

Fumijena responds:

thank you so much for the feedback ! thanks for the opportunity as well ! see you next year :D

[FD - Biosignatures]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the strings at :26. The progression is a bit slow-paced, although the sound design and atmosphere are really neat. The texture is well balanced and the mix is full, if a tad quiet. The piece has a good sense of ebb-and-flow, although the composition could’ve been a tad bolder. There’s a lot of pent-up tension in the piece that never quite gets resolved. The production quality is quite strong, and the mood and soundscape are rather engrossing. Overall, really solid work here! I’m still waiting for the killer melody/climax towards the end to blow me away, but the cinematic appeal of this track is undeniably really good. Keep at it, ForgottenDawn, and thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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?)
1/1
Composite score
8.5/10

ForgottenDawn responds:

Thanks for inviting me! It was a lot of fun and the leaderboard-style scoring was pretty neat to follow all the way through. See you across the 'grounds

[Paradigm Shift]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the nature sound effects. The mix is pretty quiet, and the progression a tad slow-paced, but the emotional appeal of the piece is really nice. I like the accelerando at around the 1-minute mark and the mirroring ritardando about 10 seconds later. Really nice use of phrasing here, too - the composition seems simple, but there’s a lot of musicality and ebb-and-flow in your playing. The minimal breakdown at 1:58 was a nice touch, and it sets up the climactic section at 2:50 or so really well. There are a couple of tiny recording/mixing issues, like the reverb wash-back at 3:12 and 3:16 on some of the more powerful chords. I might suggest gradually toning down the reverb a bit going into that section, or otherwise finding a way of absorbing some of the natural reverb in your recording space. Still, this piece is mesmerizing and beautiful. The composition could’ve been a tad bolder, and I love how you brought back the motif from the beginning at the end - gives the piece a nice full-circle feel. Overall, you’re clearly a talented pianist and composer.

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

[Free Stardust]

I like the dreamy texture at the beginning and the crisp drums at :10. The production quality is really solid, and the texture, while pretty minimal, is also pretty well balanced. The progression is pretty slow-paced, though, and overall the composition is pretty underwhelming. I like the prominent hi-hats in the drum beat, but that’s not really enough to keep me engaged after a while. The cutesy synth riff at 1:29 works well, but I would’ve liked to see a smoother transition there. The riff seems like it’s building towards something, but it ends up being a bit anticlimactic by 2:09. The outro at 2:51 was nice and dreamy, but overall a bit bland. The atmosphere and sound design here are really cool, and the mixing is solid as well, but the composition could’ve been a lot bolder here. Still, you’re clearly a talented producer. Layering on a more dynamic melody would go a long way towards improving this piece. Until then, keep at it, Equinaga, and thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
6.25/10

Equinaga responds:

really, thanks for the feedback! what's cool about owning the music, is you can always go back to a song that could've been, and make it the best it can possibly be

[Embyeee - Propugno]

I like the nature sound effects at the beginning and the murky sound design. It’s a bit hard to follow the rhythm once that eerie synth at :28 starts fading in, and the progression is pretty choppy. By :57, the sound design begins to sound a bit grating, and the minimal texture throughout is also not a draw. The rhythmic content is pretty catchy, and overall the instrumentation is pretty cool, but the composition could’ve been a tad more developed, especially harmonically. I know the abrupt transitions are on purpose, but combined with the experimental sound design and minimalism the piece just came across as a tad too experimental imo. Creating some more well-balanced harmonies during the drops and smoothing over the arrangement would go a long way towards improving this piece imo. Until then, thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year, Embyeee, and congrats on getting this far! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
6/10

[WorldAnvil - NGUAC Final]

I like the dark atmosphere at the beginning and the dramatic orchestral/vocal hits at :25. The vocals at 1:04 are absolutely haunting, and you’ve certainly done an excellent job with the pacing here. The triumphant mood at 1:34 is thrilling, and I love how you implement the orchestral hits into the energetic Celtic melodies at 2:15. The bass slide at 2:28 (and again at 2:45) were nice touches as well. And you slide seamlessly into another beautiful, captivating atmosphere at 2:52. The bridge at 3:48 with the horn stabs had another strong progression with some excellent phrasing. The percussion during that section sounds a bit bottom-heavy and unnatural somehow. Also, the vocals seem to be “washing back” in the mix a bit at around 4:25, such that the body of the sound is just slightly behind the beat - and the same thing may be happening to the strings at 1:55, but it’s hard to tell with so much going on in the texture. Otherwise, the mixing here is really strong, though. The final climax at 5:25 totally earned its title, although you may have overused the bass slides a tad by the end. Overall, all of my complaints are tiny details. The progression of the piece is probably my favorite part. Seriously, let me call up George Lucas and ask him to make a movie based on this piece. :D Keep it up, Elias!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9.75/10

Santi-Montali responds:

Thank you very much tl, I agree to everything you said and I'm going to improve it and repost it! Thanks for the encouragement