TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cave Siren]

I like the water sound effects and relaxed atmosphere at the beginning. The drum beat and twittery synths at :34 come together nicely, and there's a good sense of climax into :44. There's a bit of dissonance in the harmonies by :45-:50 or so, and some of the riffs end up tripping over each other a bit. The drop was a little more straight-forward harmonically, and had some cool rhythmic syncopations to boot. The sound design and mixing are both pretty good here. The piano line at the breakdown at 2:05 or so seems a bit generic and stale, but the synth guitar thereafter helps thicken up the texture and make that section feel a tad more dynamic. The re-entry of the vocals at 3:15 or so was well done, and the added harmonies at the second drop at 4:03 fit in nicely. Overall, I'm enjoying the upbeat mood, instrumentation, and production quality here. Some of the compositional details could use some more fleshing out, especially the melodic elements. I also think that the structure felt a bit dragged-out at times. That said, overall it's a strong, memorable, and catchy piece! Keep at it, Ziondiac. ^_^

Ziondiac responds:

Thanks for the feedback and vote.

[Get to the Checkpoint]

I like the murky harmonies and crisp drums at the beginning. The mid-range bass in the foreground is a little dry and overly harsh-sounding, and the part at :40 seemed a bit aimless. I like the production - the mix is loud and well-balanced throughout. The rhythmic content at 1:01 is enjoyable, although much like the rest of the piece that section also doesn't feel very dynamic. For most of the piece, the texture is very thin and the frequency range is pretty limited to the mid-bass range. There are a lot of cool isolated ideas here, but the arrangement is a tad choppy. Some smoother transitions might help tie the piece together a bit more, but that's hard to accomplish when most of the variety in the piece comes from fairly sudden additions or subtractions of instruments (e.x., 1:32, 2:26). It might help if you had some consistent elements of the texture, like drums or pads, that played throughout. It might also help to consolidate some of your ideas here - the piece feels like it's going in a bunch of different directions at once, especially with the unexpected drop at 3:04. One thing you could do is analyze the structure of a track you really like and try to emulate it as closely as possible, even if it ends up sounding like a pretty generic verse-chorus-verse-chorus-breakdown-chorus-outro. Other than that, I'm enjoying the sound design (especially that ghostly melody synth at 1:55), drum beat, and mixing. Keep at it, CJspellsfish! :)

[loopd ft dr funkenstien]

I like the chill electric piano and guitar melodies. This is another example where the rhythmic intricacies in the drums kinda clash with the rest of the texture, though. You clearly have a great sense of harmony, but I think you're trying to do a bit too much with the rhythm in this track. At some point, some variety in the underlying instrumental tracks/chord progression would've been a welcome change. The guitar solo really does make the piece special, but I think it would be more effective if it was a little more broken up, as opposed to just a meandering 2-minute-long musing. Overall, though, this is really enjoyable. Once again, the mixing is strong, and the sound design and melodies in particular are really nice here. Keep at it, Desiel391! ^^

[Obito The Great]

I like the somber, pensive mood at the beginning and the dreamy guitars. The strings sound a bit inauthentic, but also help enhance the emotional quality of the piece. The rhythm is a little hard to follow with the beat at :20 - seems like it has a very different pattern of rhythmic emphasis than the rest of the texture. The mixing is pretty good, though - it's loud, clear, and well-balanced throughout. It's also a bit hard to follow the structure after a while - there are a couple of sudden transitions, like at 1:23, that make the arrangement feel a bit choppy. It might help to think a little more about "storytelling" here - the progression feels a little formulaic after a while. It was smoother in the beginning with the strings, but after a while they fade away and don't come back. Overall, there are a lot of cool guitar riffs and some creative percussion in here to keep me engaged. The arrangement could flow a bit better, but the production quality is solid. Keep at it, Desiel391! :)

[bad party]

I like the vehicle revving sound effects at the beginning and the airy pads. The sample of someone opening a soda can was a bit too loud, but the rest of the sound design is pretty fun and groovy. That said, the synth bass is a tad cheesy, and the drums could use some more reverb or other mixing effects. The more melodic content at 1:13 was a nice touch, although I think the synth bass/harmonies were a bit too loud by comparison. The texture really starts coming together at 1:54, although by that point it also feels a tad repetitive. An atmospheric bridge or melodic solo somewhere in here would’ve been a welcome change to the texture. That said, the production is pretty strong, and the sound design grows on me the more I listen. The composition might need a tad more attention to detail in the future, but I’m definitely scouting you. Keep at it, Zzox! ^^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.5/10

[Wings II]

I like the rich atmosphere and crisp beats at the beginning. The pulsing on those pads at :07 is really nice, and the relaxing mood and neat sound design help keep me engaged despite the slow progression. The re-intro at 1:22 seemed a bit dragged-out, but I liked the sense of build into 2:35 and the more melodic flair there. The mixing and mastering is also pretty solid here. Later on, I would’ve liked to see a tad more variety. The dreamy mood and cool synths only go so far to keep me entertained. A secondary melody, modulation, or sound design switch-up would be quite welcome by around the 4-minute mark. That said, you’re clearly a talented producer with a strong sense of progression, harmony, and production. I also really like a lot of the risers in this piece. The somewhat eerie outro was a fun surprise, too. Keep at it, Ziondiac! :)

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
.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
8/10

Ziondiac responds:

Thanks for the feedback and vote

[MADNESS (VIP/REMAKE)]

I like the furtive intro and the crisp beats at :17. The percussion is a bit generic, but the synth bass riffs are really catchy. After a while, it would be nice to hear some more frequencies at the top end of the texture, and also some more dynamic riffs or melodies. Despite the energy and powerful instruments, it’s a little hard to stay engaged with a texture that just cycles through variations of a very similar bass riff. The breakdown at 2:45 was a welcome change, although there still isn’t really much variety to the harmonies here. My favorite element of the piece is probably the production quality. Everything is loud and clear in the mix, although the bottom-heavy texture doesn’t quite work for me. The rhythmic elements at around 3:40 are really neat, though, and overall the structure of the piece comes together well by the end. It just needs a tad more fill in the top end and a stronger sense of development over the course of the piece. Also, the frantic, distorted bass bomb at 3:10 is a bit much. Otherwise, I enjoyed the sound design, mixing and mastering, mood, rhythmic elements, and atmosphere. Keep at it, Xlizikk! :)

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
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
6/10

[WhoAmI - Fresh Opportunity]

The fade-in at the beginning was pretty cool, and I like the groovy synths and ominous mood. The percussion is pretty cliche, especially the snare sample, but the melodies at :46 help keep me engaged. The production quality is pretty good, too. I can hear everything in the mix pretty clearly. In my opinion, what this piece really needs is some more structuring. The first melodic section goes on for a full minute and a half, with the same instruments, a similar energy level, and the same key. That’s a long time to go without a meaningful change to the texture, even if the melody itself is really fun and dynamic. For that reason, I wish the breakdown/bridge section at 2:21 with the pensive synth arpeggios at 2:30 happened earlier in the piece. It also might’ve made the melodies more memorable if there was a more prominent “main melody,” with the others occurring either in separate instruments or with a distinct transition before them. Otherwise, it’s a little hard to follow the “storyline” of the piece, as it were. After listening a couple of time, I now see that the melody at 2:48 is closely related to the one at :46, but ideally the listener would do as little work as possible to “dissect” your piece like that. Anyway, overall I enjoyed the production, mood, melodies, and atmosphere. Some of the compositional details just might need a little more teasing out here. Keep at it, WhoAmI8332!

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
.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
7.25/10

[super]

I like the smooth, jazzy beats and saxophone. The mix is a little quiet, but otherwise well-balanced and clear. The guitar at :22 doesn’t quite come through well, though - it almost sounds like there’s a bit of delay on the sample that’s making it sound like it’s tripping over the beat a bit. That said, my biggest concern is probably the lack of structuring. You have a couple of rough transitions, notably 1:05, and otherwise the arrangement feels a bit stale. Some more solos, a bridge, or a change in the harmonic pattern would all be welcome here. That said, the mood, sound design, production, and rhythmic content are all quite enjoyable here. Keep at it, Vioyoyo! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
7.5/10