TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[JuLn - Anion]

I like the mellow synth arpeggios at the beginning. The drums sound both weak in the mix and a bit generic, especially the snare. There’s a good sense of build-up into 1:09, and you made good use of filtering during that first minute or so. I think some of the synths still sound too restricted in the EQ up until that point, though. The texture sounds a tad thin, and some of the harmonic content lacks depth. The jazzy bridge at 1:55 was a cool idea, but it also doesn’t help curb the minimalism of much of the rest of the piece. The piece comes together pretty well at 3:03, and the additional harmonies there give the piece a nice sense of triumph and conclusiveness. Overall, you have a strong sense of progression, and the production quality is solid at the end of the day. The composition felt a tad underwhelming, though, and I think some of your sound design choices, like the generic pads and drums, didn’t help you in that regard. Still, the atmosphere, phrasing, and transitions are all really strong attributes of this piece that I look forward to seeing you build on in the future. Keep at it, JuLn! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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?)
1/1
Composite score
7.25/10

[Blossom]

I like the bright tone at the beginning and the chimes. The echo-y synths at :14 and the build-up :27 are both enjoyable. The drums are a bit over-compressed, and the samples themselves sound pretty generic and overpowering. The drop at 1:09 was enjoyable - I like the funky mid-range bass and rhythmic content. The texture remains pretty thin throughout the piece, and the chord progression is pretty cliche. The vocal samples are a nice touch, and help keep the texture feeling fresh and varied. The filtering before the second drop at 2:45 was a fun detail, and I appreciate the variety in the second drop compared to the first. I still would’ve liked to hear some stronger melodic content and a fuller texture for a lot of the piece, as well as more of a proper outro, but as it is the piece keeps me engaged pretty well. The mixing, sound design, mood, and rhythmic content are probably my favorite elements of the piece. Keep at it, Joe Stasi! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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
8/10

[Train of Thought]

I like the quirky synths at the beginning. The fade-in could’ve been a bit more creative, but those airy pads and bubbly arpeggios really mesh well together. The piece is a little slow to progress at times, and the piece started sounding a bit anticlimactic by the chord change at :55 or so. The percussion at 1:17 is a little bizarre, and I think you especially overused the hat. The kick sounds pretty weak and hollow, and the piano sample at 1:27 is a bit inauthentic. By around the 2-minute mark, I’m enjoying the quirky harmonies and the cool synth that plays those ascending arpeggios. The structure of this piece feels a bit disjointed at times, with, for example, a sudden transition at 2:14 and mini-fadeout turning into a new riff at 2:19 that doesn’t seem harmonically related to the one preceding it. I don’t think you can just use fade-ins and fade-outs as glue to hold together an otherwise choppy arrangement. I’d suggest consolidating your ideas a bit more and focusing on the depth of harmonies and sense of progression and storytelling rather than on creating a lot of variety with the different riffs, instruments, and rhythmic motifs. Many of the sound design choices in here are also questionable, like the heavy kick at 3:52 during an otherwise mellow part of the piece. Overall, I enjoyed the quirky mood, mixing, and a lot of the isolated patterns and harmonies in this piece. The composition just feels a little thrown-together here, which you can remedy with some more gradual and smooth transitions, as well as a stronger sense of overarching structure and narrative. Keep at it, Jeffbeard! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
5.75/10

[Eah O o o o]

I like the furtive pads at the beginning and the way the atmosphere slowly opens up over the first minute or so. The sound design is great - super quirky and refreshing. The texture remains a bit thin throughout, and the piece is pretty slow to develop. That said, I’m enjoying the quirky harmonies at 1:06 and the strong production quality. The composition could’ve been a bit more varied and dynamic, though, and at some point I think some stronger melodic content would’ve really helped tie this piece together. As an alternative, you might’ve done more to sell the atmosphere here with some bolder reverb/delay effects, automations, or other mixing effects. Still, you get full credit from me for both instrumentation and originality, and the mixing and mastering is also exceptionally good, if a little quiet. Composition is where you could really make up some ground IMO - I wanted to hear a gorgeous melody really capitalizing on the “point of arrival” at some point, and also more luscious atmospheric details to keep my attention later on. Until then, this is already a strong piece. Keep at it, Jedo15! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.5/10

[A world full of fairy tales]

I like the bright piano instrument at the beginning. The stop-start nature of the chords threw me off a bit, though. The strings at :21 sound pretty inauthentic, but I like the cute melodies at :41 and the upbeat mood. The progression could’ve been a bit more creative - the main source of variety in this piece seems to be the addition and subtraction of notes over time. Volume changes, automation, filtering, phrasing, and more elaborate transitions might have helped make the texture more varied and interesting, especially since the second half didn’t have much harmonic variety compared to the first half. You clearly have a good sense of melody and harmony, and also a good sense of how to structure a piece. I think getting some higher-quality samples and finding some more creative ways of adding variety and flair to your piece are important next steps for you. Keep at it, InsertNameHere0! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
6.25/10

insertNameHere0 responds:

Thanks, I'll definitely admit that I was a bit lazy with this song as I after creating the main part basically said that's enough. Same with the samples as I just worked with what I could find in the FLEX plugin.

[Tokyo Trouble]

I like the frantic bass guitar riff at the beginning and the jazzy piano layered on top of it. There’s a bit of dissonance in the texture at around :25, but the blissful melodies at :31 and energetic drums help tie things together nicely. The arrangement is a bit choppy at times, especially given the sudden transitions like at 1:36. You also have a habit of introducing and subtracting instruments with little warning, which can be jarring. That said, I like the jazzy harmonies and blissful mood here. The texture, while full and rich, gets a little repetitive after a while, and at some point some more dynamic melodies beyond the main riff at :31 (and other places) would be nice. That said, the cute riff at the bridge at 2:31 was a great touch, even if the rhythms sounded a bit square. This piece is really well-mastered, even if the mix is a tad quiet. I also like the sound design overall - the acoustic and electronic elements blend together really well, and combined with the upbeat mood it reminds me of music they would play in a quirky clothing store. The heavier guitar riffs at 4:45 help give the piece a strong sense of conclusion towards the end. Overall, I really like the creative drum riffs, instrumentation, mood, atmosphere, and mixing of the piece. The transitions could be a bit smoother, though, and at times I feel like the piece would benefit from a consolidation of ideas. The pacing is very fast, and it’s hard to get an overarching sense of direction when the texture changes so many times in a short time frame. That said, I really enjoyed this piece overall. It has a fun, jazzy, and blissful tone with full, rich textures and solid mixing. Keep at it, IkermlgYT! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.25/10

[Resurrection 2]

I like the creepy mood at the beginning. The synths sound a bit unpolished and muddy, though. I like the beat, although the reverb is a bit excessive and compromises the quality of the mix. The mix sounds especially distorted at around 1:13. I’d suggest toning down the compression a bit, and also making sure that bass instruments (kick drum, synth bass, etc.) have as little reverb on them as possible - reverb can make the entire mix sound really muddy when it’s applied to the bass frequency range.

Compositionally, the piece is a bit bland, with little in the way of harmonic variety or a sense of development over time. Some stronger melodic content, or at the very least some contrast in the texture (a section that’s more atmospheric, for example), would likely help you out here. The sound design is fittingly ominous and apprehensive-sounding, but nothing too unique or especially engaging. Overall, my favorite element of the piece is probably the mood and atmosphere.

Priority number one for you going forward should be reining in those volume levels at 1:13 - I’m hearing some clipping there, which means there are distortions in the audio signal because the piece is just too loud. Listen to how staticky the texture sounds there, especially when the kick plays on the downbeats. Dialing back the compression, or just the volume levels as a whole, can help limit that distortion. Most DAWs have some sort of bar or gauge in the built-in mixer that will light up in red during playback when your piece is clipping. Ideally, your piece would never go into the red. If you use FL Studio or Logic Pro, PM me and I can give you some more particular advice about dealing with clipping.

Sorry if this review sounds really negative - you have a solid start on the emotional appeal, catchiness, and progression of this piece. But more attention to detail on the mixing and mastering will make your piece sound a lot cleaner, clearer, and well-balanced while making those ominous synth riffs really pop. Keep at it, Harry107! :)

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

[Helios Rio]

I like the tranquil mood at the beginning and the cute instruments. The piece is a tad slow to progress, but I like the crisp beats at :55. In fact, the drums might even be a bit too loud and sharp-sounding compared to the pads and ambiance, as is the bass at 1:21. At some point, some stronger melodic content would’ve been welcome. I also think it would’ve been nice to create some variety in this piece in more ways than just by adding and subtracting instruments over time - phrasing, dynamics, automation, filtering, etc. all pull more emotional weight than just creating a new instrument track after every 4 or 8 bars. In that way, the arrangement felt pretty generic and predictable. Still, the compositional details here - like the way the secondary snare echoes at 2:47 (and other places) and the slight pitch bend at the very end - do help keep me engaged. My favorite elements of the piece by far are the sound design and the mood, although the production quality is pretty clean at the end of the day, despite the balance issues I mentioned earlier. Overall, it’s a solid piece, but it could’ve been a lot more compositionally adventurous. Keep at it, GrahamFr! :)

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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
7.5/10

GrahamFr responds:

Very thorough and helpful :)