TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Barb(Fold)/M0K10]

I like the quirky synths at the beginning. It’s a cool beat, and I like the rolled rhythmic percussive element that gradually fades in at :30. There are a lot of gradual, subtle changes to the texture here that are pretty cool. But harmonically and otherwise, it’s not really enough variety for 3.5+ minutes. The transition at 2:05 was a bit sudden, and while the added harmonic elements thereafter were cool, the texture sounds a tad dissonant while that mid-range pad is still prominent at around 2:10. I think the different elements of the texture would sound more distinct from each other if they covered a wider frequency range - right now, it seems that 4-6 different harmonic instruments are all competing for the middle third of the frequency range. The grating ping-pong effect at 3:34 felt a tad out-of-place.

The upshot is that the piece needed a stronger sense of ebb and flow over time, and ideally some more prominent melodic content. It’s a catchy groove with some neat sound design, but it lacks variety, especially in the energy level. Still, you got my foot tapping and, despite the over-representation of mid-range frequencies, the production quality holds up pretty well. Keep at it, rafaelnithamix! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.25/10

[Dance The Night (To The Beat)]

I like the ominous, distorted synth at the beginning. The vocals and alarm effect are also pretty cool, but you quickly start overusing them. One alarm after another just ends up feeling anticlimactic. When the bass comes in at :34, it sounds a bit muddy, perhaps in part because the intro riff is so close to it in pitch, and likely shares many of the same frequencies. In general, the mix here is very bottom-heavy. Ideally, each harmonic instrument would have a clear “lane” in the frequency range that other instruments don’t occupy. It might also help if you transpose some of the harmonic instruments up an octave to begin with. But at the very least, use the equalizers to make sure that none of the harmonic instruments have any frequencies below about 200 Hz. Those sub-bass frequencies are often where the real muddy quality comes in.

Otherwise, the harmonic content here is very repetitive, and some of the instruments you introduce later, like the synth at 1:47, don’t do much to give the piece a sense of direction. That’s especially true of the repeated vocal phrases (“don’t stop” at 3:03 and 5:16). The build-up into 3:50 was pretty good, but ended up being another anticlimax. At some point, there should be much more variety in the texture. More mid-range and treble-range frequencies, ideally a memorable melody or two, and some more distinct structuring (an atmospheric bridge, or a breakdown with a “B” melody, for example). I’d encourage you to continue working on this piece by exploring some of these ideas.

But for now, it’s a pretty catchy piece with some neat sound design. It just needs more depth and variety, and secondarily a more crisp and well-balanced mix. Keep at it, Polyphase! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
5.5/10

[Creature Things]

I like the mellow, jazzy pads at the beginning. The bouncy bass and crisp beats at :20 are really neat, although the pause at :40 disrupted the flow unnecessarily. The chord progression at :41 is a bit odd - maybe it would help if you had spaced the notes a little wider, so that the chords sounded more open. The cute woodwind solo at :52 is a nice touch. The frantic drums at 1:01 feel a bit out-of-place, and the hats really get lost in the mix there. The stop-start beat at 1:14 feels a little disorienting, catchy though it is.

Not to be mean, but this piece makes me feel like I’m in one of those cartoons where the characters can jolt back and forth between worlds with the push of a button. There are a lot of good compositional ideas here, but you never really play any of them out to be fully realized. The arrangement is too choppy for the listener to hang his hat on any of the sections in isolation.

I’d encourage you to flesh out the structure with slower pacing, and maybe consolidate some of your ideas as needed. The sound design, rhythmic content, and jazzy harmonies are too good for the arrangement to be this thrown-together. If you ever get around to turning this into a full-length track, send me a PM. I want to hear this piece with its full narrative arc.

Keep at it, Pokinyoko! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
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?)
.5/1
Composite score
8/10

Pokinyoko-here responds:

I'll make sure to keep that in mind, I don't really know how to make music all that great yet so Im glad I could get the criticism I need lol

[FNF vs Secret Boy - Flying Eye]

I like the mellow chords at the beginning, but they get a tad drowned out among the other effects and vocals and the like. I like the energetic plucked bass riff at :12 and the solemn organ at :24. The section at :45 also sounds very distorted, and I feel like the build-up into 1:08 could’ve had a bit of a wider dynamic range. At 1:30, there’s a lot of mud in the mix as well. Later on in the piece, I was also looking for more harmonic variety - more variation on the main riffs, or a prominent melody to really hit the piece home. The higher pitched vocals at 2:30 are nice, but in general this piece is also missing a lot of treble-range frequencies for long stretches of time.

Still, my biggest concern is the mixing. It simply could be much cleaner. I’d suggest getting stricter with how you’re using equalizers on the harmonic instruments - ideally, each harmonic instrument would have a clear “lane” in the frequency range that other instruments don’t occupy. It might also help if you transpose some of the harmonic instruments up an octave to begin with. But at the very least, use the equalizers to make sure that none of the harmonic instruments have any frequencies below about 200 Hz. Those sub-bass frequencies are often where the real muddy quality comes in.

Overall, I really like the sound design, compositional details, and adventuresome mood here. A tighter mix and some more variety in the second half would easily earn you another point or two from me. Keep at it, PocketBoy84Retro! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
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
7.5/10

PocketBoy84Retro responds:

I'll use your tips for the rest of my life! Thanks for the help, comments like this help me improve as an artist, but about the audio part, it seems stuffy and messy, unfortunately it's a fl studio mobile thing, unfortunately I can't change that :(

[Daggers & Feathers]

I like the graceful counterpoint at the beginning. I especially like the ornamentation at :02 - really captured my attention very early in this piece. You cover a lot of ground harmonically in a short time - it might be advisable to slow the pacing down a bit, and also maybe add some reverb for atmosphere. I feel like it should sound like this is being performed in a concert hall. :D That said, I think the choppy arrangement detracts from this piece. It seems like every 10 seconds or so, there’s a pause that’s either too long or too short to help the piece flow well. This deserves to be a 3-minute track with some more gradual changes in motifs - it’s hard to tell a complete story in 61 seconds. Still, I don’t doubt your skills as a pianist and your knack for voicing and harmony. Nice work! Just needs to be fleshed out a bit more for me to assess how well-rounded your skills are as a composer. Keep at it, pianorama! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
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
7.5/10

[The Undertakers]

I like the guitars at :15 and the organic-sounding percussion at :30. The piece is a little slow to progress, but the mix holds up nicely. The mellow lead guitar line is a little bare-bones, and in general this piece could use some more fill in the texture, especially in the treble range. The piece starts to have a great rhythmic appeal at around 1:30, but it still feels like it’s just getting going when the final drum fill hits at 1:58. I’d encourage you to flesh out the structure of this more and maybe add some vocals or a bolder guitar solo. The sound design, laid-back mood, and smooth progression are all very commendable, but I’m not sure you fully capitalized on any of them. Even the author’s description implies that the story isn’t quite finished. A bolder composition would certainly get a higher score from me, but this is a great start. You’ve set the scene nicely, and I can even envision the “plot” of the story in the author’s description playing out in real time with the piece. Evocative work. Keep at it, Pentocarrion! You’ve earned a scout. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8/10

[Contrast]

I like the gentle piano riff at the beginning, although the crackly sounds are a bit lo-fi for a piece like this. The synth at :24 is a nice touch, but the instruments don’t really blend well together until :49. The melody that comes in at 1:13 sounds a bit indistinct - there may be a tad too much reverb in the texture. I would also suggest making sure that the harmonic instruments don’t have any frequencies below around 200 Hz - you can cut them out with an equalizer if they do. That might also make your drums sound a bit sharper, especially during the busier sections of the piece.

In general, I would prefer the brass melody at 1:13 to be more front-and-center in the mix than the main riff that has been in the piano from the beginning - the brass melody is just more dynamic, and also “new” to the piece at that point. It’s also nice to see someone using an actual recorded brass line in one of their tracks on NG. :D I like how you brought the composition back full-circle towards the end, although the outro (2:31 onward) dragged on for a bit too long, and the transition at 2:53 was pretty abrupt. You also overuse the stop-start transitions in this piece, like at :48 and 1:34-1:40.

That said, I enjoyed the melodies, rhythmic content, and most of the sound design. Make the arrangement a tad less choppy and polish up the mix and you would easily get a point or two back from me. Keep at it, P1con! You’ve earned a scout. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
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
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7/10

P1con responds:

wow this is super helpful! Surely have improved since this song so im excited to make something far better for the knockout round!

[The Portal of Amethyst]

I like the mysterious mood at the beginning and the crisp drums at :11. The open hat wasn’t my favorite, though - felt like it needed a bit more sustain and release, although maybe some reverb could handle that. The brass instrument at :36 sounds pretty inauthentic, and also the hat gets a little buried in the mix at around that time. It’s probably worth adding a compressor to the hat and, other than the equalization, mixing it more similarly to how the snare and kick are.

The mellow breakdown at 1:28 was good for some structural contrast, and I love the longer hat cymbal at 1:46. The transition back into the energetic section at 2:47 was a bit drawn-out, but flowed smoothly. I appreciated the variations on the main melody at 3:05, but I still think you could’ve done more to create an overarching sense of melodic development here. The melodic section at 3:35 seems to be taking the piece in a fun new direction, but it was also pretty short-lived.

I’d challenge you to make this track feel a bit looser structurally, and more well-varied in terms of the harmonies and instrumental palette. It might also help to replace the fake brass with something that’s meant to sound synthetic. I’d encourage you to join the NG Audio Pub on Discord - the “resource” tab will help you find some better brass VSTs. PM me if you need an invite link.

Overall, though, you clearly have a good sense of melody, harmony, and progression. The piece just needs a tad more variety and a more polished-sounding melody instrument. Keep at it, Overlavalord! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7/10

Overlavalord responds:

Thank you!
I did always think the brass was a bit off, and any other excuse I have is a weak one but the feedback is greatly appreciated and I hope I can make it to finals :)

[Orpheus]

I like the wave-like pad at the beginning and the crisp beats that come in shortly thereafter. The sultry saxophone and smooth bass at :15 were some more good sound design choices, and I also like the bongos at :31, even though that section was a bit minimal. After that, the piece gets a bit repetitive, and I would’ve liked to hear some more prominent melodic content at some point. The saxophone could have a really dynamic solo where it goes off into the stratosphere, or even a bass solo or something would have sufficed. That said, the atmosphere of this piece is still really engrossing, and I also enjoyed the sound design and production quality. A bolder composition and this easily gets a point or so back from me. Keep at it, OrbitalRuin! ^_^

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?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.25/10

OrbitalRuin responds:

Thank you very much! I will absolutely keep your points in mind when i make my next track, I didnt think i was gonna make it to the next round.

[idk2131456763567686654]

I like the bouncy piano riff at the beginning. The drums don’t really come through the mix very clearly, especially the snare. I’d suggest adding a bit of compression to the drums, and also making sure that you’ve removed the frequencies below around 200 Hz from the piano, which should help the kick pop a bit more. The piano lead should probably be dialed back a bit volume-wise, especially since you’ve got so much reverb on there. The transition effect at :17 sounds a bit grating, especially in the upper end of the frequency range. The breakdown harmonies at :34 are nice, and the transition back into the more energetic section at 1:06 was really smooth.

In general, the melodic content in this piece is great, and I love the lively jazzy harmonies too. My biggest complaint is with the mixing/balance of the frequencies. Rein in the lead piano and transition effects a bit and add some punch to the drums, and this would be a top-tier track. It also couldn’t hurt to flesh out the structure a bit more, maybe with an expanded instrumental palette in the middle of the piece, but that’s of secondary concern for me. Really cool rhythmic content and strong sense of narrative with this one - I like it a lot. Keep at it, octopuswindow! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
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?)
1/1
Composite score
8.25/10