TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Break Me]

I love the atmosphere at the beginning. The rhythm is a tad difficult to follow until the beat comes in, but the heavy sidechaining at :38 and the sound design in general are really nice. The chord progression is a bit cliche, but I like the melodies a lot, especially the one at the breakdown at 1:51. During the build-up at 2:46, I don't hear quite as much of the drums as I want to in the mix, but otherwise the production quality here is really strong. The last couple of minutes or so sound a tad repetitive - some more variations on the main melody, or even a switch-up to the harmonic framework, would really help take this piece in a bolder direction compositionally. That said, I really like the spacey atmosphere, melodies, progression, and instrumentation of this piece. Keep up the good work, OVERSCORE! ^_^

OVERSCORE responds:

Thanks for such a thorough review, TL! I understand why you call it repetitive, there’s definitely more I could have done at the end to keep it interesting compositionally. Glad you liked it, thanks again for the review!

[-Aurora-]

I like the rhythmic synth at :01 and the added harmonies at :13. This piece is really catchy, but also a bit minimal. The mixing and mastering is really clean, and I love the descending mallet line at :52 and the bridge with the strings at :57. The pace of the piece is pretty fast - the texture seems to abruptly change every 15-20 seconds, with just a brief riser or drum fill to smooth things over. I think you've gotten really good at production, sound design, and creating dense rhythmic patterns. A good next step for you would be working on the arrangement of the piece - give it a cohesive, overarching "story." Right now, this piece sounds like a string of different ideas playing in succession, with not a lot tying those ideas together. Some more gradual transitions might help in that regard, but a little more repetition of some of the core motifs from the first minute or so could also help. You already do that in a subtle way with the low-register piano line at 1:30, but the instruments you're using have changed so much in the preceding minute or so that the piece still doesn't sound very coherent. Does that make sense?

I'd also encourage you to reach out for feedback to the judges who actually scored your piece in the competition, if you haven't already. Cheers! ^_^

Creeperforce24 responds:

Help, waterflame turned me into a fridge
(Thank you lol!)

[shattered]

I like the murky sub-bass at the beginning. The synth on top of that sounds a bit squeaky and grating, though - maybe some wet reverb and equalization to remove some of the treble tones would help soften it a bit. The arpeggios at :17 are nice, though, and the piece is coming together nicely by :32. The transition at 1:00 is pretty abrupt, and within a given section this piece doesn’t sound very dynamic. Some more filtering and automation could really help maintain interest within a given phrase and maintain a sense of momentum throughout the piece. That said, the injection of energy at 1:36 helps tie the piece together nicely towards the end. You clearly have a great sense of harmony and rhythm, and the sound design here is really enjoyable. That said, the choppy arrangement detracts from my enjoyment of the piece. I’d suggest creating some more gradual transitions into 1:00 and 1:36 at the very least, even if it’s just with a riser or drum fill. Still, this is a catchy and fun track with a solid production quality. Keep at it, zynth-music! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.25/10

[Big Gigantic - The Little Things Ft. Angela McCluskey [Zerky Dubstep Remix]]

I like the bouncy piano riff at the beginning and the powerful chords and vocals at :08. The mix sounds a bit overwhelmed there, though, and neither the piano nor drums come through very well. There was a good sense of build-up into 1:12, and I really like the drop at 1:14. It’s really catchy, and has some refreshing sound design and melodies too. I also like the fast turnaround to get to the second drop at 1:54 - you really channeled the momentum of the piece well in that regard. Overall, this is a really fun track. I love the instruments, energy, mood, and progression of it. The mixing isn’t perfectly clean, but it is very loud and punchy, and while at times the piece could use more variety, it comes together well by the end. Keep at it, Z3RKON! ^_^

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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.75/10

[xandex - PSYCHO]

I like the quirky atmosphere at the beginning, although the sub-bass at :09 is seriously distorting the other instruments. I think you need to separate out the frequencies in the sub-bass and the harmonies with an equalizer. To be clear, that means putting an equalizer on each instrument besides the bass and kick and removing all the pitches below around 200 Hz. Right now, the mix is distorted enough that, for most of the piece, I can barely hear anything besides the sub and the drums.

Composition-wise, the piece also needs a lot more depth and variety. That said, I like the atmospheric bridge at 1:36, and also how you switched up the snare at 1:56. The sweep at 2:32 also sounds pretty cool. Otherwise, the entire piece is just very bland and repetitive. I’d encourage you to keep working on this, though. It has a lot of potential between the dark mood, sound design, and rich atmosphere. It just needs a thicker texture, a more well-balanced mix, and more variation in the harmonies. Keep at it, xvndex! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
4.5/10

xvndex responds:

ty for the feedback, the track is about a year old and i’m not suprised it wasn’t that highly scored. i will most likely be making a remade version.

[XCRIZ - On the waves]

I like the rapid fade-in at the beginning and the pensive-sounding synth line at :02. There’s a good sense of build-up starting at :32, too. The drop at :46 is both airy and punchy, if a tad over-compressed and generic. I like the nature sound effects and dynamic contrast at 1:20, and the build-up into 1:47 was also pretty neat. Some more variety in the harmonic content here would be nice at some point, but you keep things interesting by playing a lot with the energy level and using different instruments to play the main riffs. One thing that I think definitely could use some more variation is the second drop at 2:32 - you go up the octave at 2:54, and use some filtering at 3:02, but frankly I wanted to hear some bolder compositional details here. Still, overall you’ve put together a catchy, evocative, and well-produced track here, XCRIZ! Keep it up. ^_^

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
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8/10

[Remnants]

I like the bass-y groove at the beginning. The percussion is really nice, but it could also come through sharper in the mix with a bit more compression. The organ riff at :14 is really catchy, but the mix sounds a bit muddy there. I suspect some of the lower-end frequencies in the organ, synths, and other harmonies are interfering with those of the bass and drums. You can fix that by adding an equalizer to each instrument besides the bass and kick in the mixer, and then removing the frequencies below 200 Hz or so.

Otherwise, I really like the sound design and melodies here. You clearly have a great sense of harmony, rhythm, and progression. That said, the piece could use a bit more variety in terms of the energy level and dynamics. Right now, the beat and bass line are playing for almost the whole piece, which makes the piece sound more like a demo track instead of a compelling narrative. That said, I liked how you stripped away most of the harmonies at 2:02 and then “reset” the piece with the mellow melody at 2:31. By 3:25, the rhythmic syncopations and atmosphere are really coming together again, but the mix also sounds really strained. I’ll also say that this piece could use some more memorable melodies that make themselves more distinct from the rest of the atmospheric harmonies.

Overall, the instrumentation, mood, danceability, and flow of this piece are all highlights, but aspects of the composition could’ve been a lot bolder and, perhaps more importantly, the mixing could use some cleaning up throughout. Keep at it, X2scepten! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.75/2
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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
7.75/10

[Down drop]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning, but the bass is a little too loud relative to the synths. There’s a good sense of build-up into :32, although the drum kit there is a bit generic, and the mix is pretty muddy. The texture is very bottom-heavy here, with a lot of bass-range instruments competing for attention. I would suggest both transposing one or two of the harmonies up an octave, maybe the staccato-y bass line, and then using equalizers to remove frequencies below 200 Hz in all but one of the bass instruments. The drop at 1:28 is pretty cool, but also drags on for a bit too long while being fairly repetitive.

One thing I really like about this piece is how full and rich the texture is throughout. I also think the mellow breakdown at 2:18 is a nice change-of-pace from the rest of the track. You transition nicely into the second drop at 3:35, and I like the added harmonies there as a way of creating variety later in the piece. Overall, the mixing could use a tad more polish, and the composition here could use a bit more ebb and flow within phrases, but I like the sound design, foreboding mood, and rhythmic content of this one. Keep at it, X-Irus! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
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?)
.5/1
Composite score
7/10

X-Irus responds:

Thank you for the criticism and lenghty comment! I'll use this feedback for future tracks. :)

[Sax at N1ght]

I like the airy synth at the beginning and the crisp beats that come in shortly thereafter. This piece is seriously catchy, but also fairly slow to progress and minimal at first. The chord progression at :56 is a bit bizarre, but I love the solo at sax 1:04. It’s refreshing and organic, but also blends well into the beat with the reverb and other mixing effects. Just when I think it’s petering out, the sax also gets a second wind at around 2:00, which is a cool way of structuring a solo (and also pulling off a really smooth modulation). The return to the synth riffs at 2:40 felt a tad superfluous, actually. In sum, I like the composition a lot, even if the arrangement feels a tad choppy between the first minute, sax solo, and outro. The production quality here is also really good - lots of luscious, well-balanced harmonies and a clean mix. My favorite element is definitely the sound design, though. Strong work overall! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8.5/10

[never let Ü go (feat. GUMI)]

I like the synth bass and crisp beats at the beginning, but the chord progression is a bit cliche. I’m not a big fan of the super processed-sounding vocaloid at :27, and the lyrics themselves are also a tad cheesy. The instrumental tracks could use some more harmonic depth and variety. That said, the production quality holds up well - I can hear all the instruments clearly throughout. That said, there’s also more room for filling out the atmosphere of the piece more with mixing effects like reverb, and adding interest with filtering and automation and the like. Overall, I like the instruments (other than the vocals), rhythmic content, and production of this one, but the composition is very bland and repetitive. Keep at it, wheremakingthishapen! ^_^

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