TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Anemoia]

Wow, this is great. I love the atmosphere and the sound design. The synths at :23 are super cute and dreamy, and there's a great sense of climax into :45. The production quality is solid, even if the compression is a little heavy for my tastes, and the flow of the piece is really smooth. I like the chopped vocals at 1:30 and the extended breakdown at 2:40. The harmonic content can get a tad repetitive after a while, and I would've liked to see some more engaging melodies towards the end to really hit the piece home. Still, it's a really chill track with a great mood and strong instrumentation and progression. Keep at it, DrayxMusic, and congrats on the front-page! ^_^

DrayxMusic responds:

Oh snap you're right, another frontpage. Always awesome to see! :)

I agree that the piece ended up a bit more repetitive than I'd have liked, even if I was going for a more ambient/chill vibe. There was definitely some untapped potential here that I want to get better at fulfilling, especially for longer tracks like this. And yeah, as for compression still have a bit to learn. Anyways thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed it! :D

(Btw next year for NGUAC I'll have to submit a stronger piece. I was a bit complacent this year with my audition choice, after my placement last year in the finals) xD

[[NGADM] 夜明けの風 ( Dawn Wind )]

I really like the emotional appeal and atmosphere of the piece. The mix is a little quiet, but also clean and well-balanced. The melodies are beautiful, and the piece alternately has a feeling of nostalgia and blissfulness. I also like the rhythmic variations at around 1:40. The somewhat ambiguous ending and ambient sound effects at the end also work well. Lovely piece overall! Best of luck in the ADM. ^^

L-Mity responds:

Thanks!

[Leise Sein (Stillness)]

I like the emotional appeal and atmosphere at the beginning. The breathy vocals are cool, but I would've liked to hear a little more fill in the texture around them. Otherwise, it's easy to lose the sense of the progression. The lyrics themselves are really neat, though, and the furtive outro with the echo-y piano is nice. Overall, I think the arrangement could use a little more fleshing out, and the texture is pretty minimal for my tastes, but you guys nailed the sound design and atmosphere. Keep at it! ^_^

[Lost Valley of Wycloff]

I like the tranquil guitars at the beginning and the rich atmosphere. It has a great, haunting cinematic vibe, and the echo-y guitars at :45 (and again at :53) are really cool. I’m thoroughly enjoying the melodic content and the progression, and you do a wonderful job of slowly escalating the intensity by gradually making the atmosphere richer. By the time you start absolutely shredding at 1:47, I’m completely sold on the composition - favorited this piece before it was halfway through. The return of the bass-heavy riffs at 2:25 served as a really fun re-intro, and the production quality is as wonderful as the composition tbh. The melodic content doesn’t stop being awe-inspiring in the second half, and I also thoroughly enjoyed the heavy, distorted final chord at 4:21. Hell, that lead guitar could convince me to leave my family and join a religious cult if it wanted to. This piece is awesome and you should feel awesome. Have I done enough ass-kissing yet? Probably. Keep up the great work, man! :^)

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?)
1/1
Composite score
10/10

Mechanical-Head responds:

Woah, thanks for the review dude! I'm glad you liked it :). Seeing people liking this track has been great and unexpected. I really don't know what to say, i'm so happy :D

[XTechno - Frozen Solid]

I like the cute arpeggios at the beginning and the harmonies at :10. The sound design is really great here, from the heavy bass to the piano. The mix is a little dry, and could probably use some reverb or other mixing effects to create more of a sense of atmosphere. That said, the bass does a lot of that work in its place, and you clearly have a good sense of harmony and progression. The composition could use a little more ebb and flow over time, as opposed to the relatively sudden transitions and the fact that the instrumental changes are the main sources of variety (as opposed to dynamic contrast, phrasing, filtering, automation, etc.). I’m liking the slower pace at 1:40 and the organ at 1:51 - it’s nice how you rebuild the texture with different instruments during the second half of the piece. Overall, solid work here, XTechno! The sound design is awesome, the mixing is solid, the composition is well-organized if a little square, and the harmonic framework and progression work well for me. Keep it up! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
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

XTechnoMusic responds:

Thank you for the in-depth review :)

[Legacy]

I like the sense of build at the beginning into :04 and the bright synth melodies thereafter. The drum samples and synths are a bit cheesy, and I think there may have been a tad too much reverb in the texture. Still, the melodic content is really enjoyable, especially at :38 and beyond. The kick drum at 1:27 is very heavy and has a bit too much treble, but the drop at 1:45 is well-balanced and continues your run of solid melodies, including some neat variations on the earlier content. The high notes at 2:33 were haunting, and overall I’m loving the victorious vibe this piece has. The cutoff at 2:52 was a bit sudden given the lengthy legato section before it, and I wasn’t a huge fan of the percussive element that first appears on the off-beats at 3:04. That breakdown section works well towards the goal of providing some structural contrast, and I like some of the sound design variations that come afterwards, even if the brass synths at 4:03 or so are a bit cheesy and inauthentic. The outro is a little lengthy, but the bare piano towards the end was a nice choice at capitalizing on the emotional quality of the rest of the piece. Overall, solid work here. I wasn’t a huge fan of all of your sound design choices, but the production quality is solid, the progression is smooth, and the atmosphere is rich and well-balanced. Honestly some of the most beautiful melodies I’ve come across thus far in the competition. Keep up the good work, Xrus! ^_^

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

Xrus responds:

Thanks for your feedback. I appreciate it! The kicks I use are just my own personal preference. I just like a heavy kick. XD

[Picture Yourself]

I like the jazzy chords at :22 and the overall pensive mood. There’s a bit of dissonance between the chords and the drone at the beginning, though, and the pace of progression is very slow here. Production-wise, the mix is also very quiet, and the sound design could use more variety and flavor. If you’re going to use one instrument for 3+ minutes, I’d suggest at least doing more with varying the volume levels and using automation and other mixing effects to make the texture more interesting. The piece settles into a pretty nice groove by around the 2-minute mark, but it still could use a bit more variety and a stronger sense of ebb and flow over time. The drums at 3:25 have a bit of the opposite problem as the first half of the piece in that they have way too much reverb and completely hijack the mix. The ambient pads during this section are pretty cool, but they also get a little drowned out by the drums and piano. I’d also suggest using equalizers to get rid of the bass tones in the non-rhythm-section instruments, which should reduce the amount of distortion that comes from using a lot of reverb in the first place. The strings at 4:50 sound really dissonant with the other elements of the texture, but perhaps a bigger problem is how distorted they are in the mix. I appreciated the somewhat blissful resolution of the piece at 6:17, but I think you could’ve at least foreshadowed that sudden change in the texture in some way, maybe with a variation to the drum pattern or a slow reverse crash. Overall, the composition is a bit experimental for my tastes here, and I think the mixing and mastering could use some cleaning up. That said, the sound design and atmosphere of the piece were pretty cool, and the piano riffs were catchy once the texture filled out at around 2 minutes in. Keep at it, Windman03! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
4/10

Windman03 responds:

Damn. Then I guess I didn't progress into the contest. Of course, I'm still glad to get an honest review. Obviously, I have to work on mastering!

[Spasmodic]

I like the majestic tone and rich atmosphere at the beginning. It contrasts nicely with the heavy mid-range bass and ominous swells (like at :25). The sound design is really well-done here, and the progression is intriguing between the rhythmic content, phrasing, and apprehensive mood. The drop at 1:00 was pretty minimal, but also full of variety in the sound design. The distorted vocals are a great touch, too. Nice job with the dynamic contrast at 1:21, and the tempo automations work well at 1:30. Pretty sure Nintendo might have something to say about you using the samples at 1:37, 2:06, and 2:31, but admittedly they work well in the piece. The sub-bass at 1:43 was a little loud, but otherwise the mixing and mastering here is really strong. The ominous synth riffs starting at 1:55 really help hit the piece home, and you kept the texture full and engaging until the very end. Nice work here overall! Keep it up, Walpang. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.25/10

Walpang responds:

Thanks for this, it means a lot! I remember last year when I entered I only got like a 6/10 so it's nice to see that I've improved for real.

[Cyberpunk Soundtrack]

I like the groovy bass at the beginning, even if it is just a stock Apple loop. The synth patterns at :31 are nice, but the drums get a little lost in the mix once the texture fills out later in the piece. This piece is catchy and has some decent progression and sound design, but the harmonic content gets a little dissonant after a while and could also use some more variety. I’d like to see some more melodic development later on in the piece, and the lead synth at around 1:20 sounds a bit unpolished and cheesy in its upper range. Overall, the strongest elements of the piece are probably the cool rhythmic content and ominous mood. Keep at it, VoytekPavlik! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
6.5/10