TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[NGUAC2024 - Elimination]

I like the pads and quirky drums at the beginning. Once the main beat comes in at :25, the mix sounds seriously distorted, though. The drums and bass get a lot quieter than they were before, and the whole texture sounds muddy and indistinct. You can fix that by adding an equalizer to each instrument in your DAW’s mixer, and then removing the frequencies below 200 Hz for every instrument except the bass and the kick. It might also help add clarity and sharpness to the mix if you put some compression on the drums.

That said, the lead synth riff at :37 is cute, and I like how you have a built-in “B” melody at :50 too. The chord changes at 1:15 are a bit abrupt, and the faller at 1:40 is just a bit too loud relative to the harmonies, especially since it’s repeated so often for the following 30 seconds. The minimal synth arpeggio bridge at 2:04 was a nice touch, although at some point I would’ve liked to see you shake up the energy level of the piece for an extended period of time. Believe it or not, it’s hard to keep most listeners engaged when the energy level is constantly high for more than a minute or two. The “reset” at 2:48 helped bridge the gap before the new melody comes in at 3:00, and I like the build-up into 3:38. This piece has a ton of bold key changes, which in general you pull off quite well in the context of a given transitory moment, although having so many of them still makes the arrangement seem a tad disjointed.

Overall, the composition is really dynamic and creative, if not as cohesive as it could be. The sound design is good, but the mix could be a lot more polished and sharp. Serious props for submitting such an ambitious project as your NGUAC tryout! Keep at it, MutatedBacon. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

MutatedBacon responds:

Thank you so much for your feedback!

[Feel The Voltage]

The vocal sample at the beginning was a creative way of introducing the piece, and I love the slap bass groove at :16. By around :33, the chopped vocals start to become a bit dissonant with the main harmonic riffs, but the sound design and production quality are both great. I love the E-piano solo at 1:04. Just be careful not to overuse the vocal samples - after a while, they’re both playing too often and taking up a lot of the mix, especially at parts like 1:41 where they’re played in close succession. Some of the transitions in here could be a bit smoother, like 1:52. The piece could also use some more dynamic melodic content and some variation in the energy levels at some point. The breakdown with the vinyl scratches and vocal samples at 2:56 helps in that regard, but it also comes after almost 3 straight minutes of higher-octane content with a busy beat. That’s just a bit too long to maintain a consistent energy level while maintaining listener engagement IMO.

Amidst a long piece with a lot of repetition, shaking up the texture with fresh chords towards the end was a good idea, but the pads at 4:32 clash a bit with some of the other harmonies. You may have tried to do a bit too much with the harmonic depth here at times - the harmonic framework here feels very loose, even for jazz. That said, the mixing and mastering are top-notch, and I really enjoyed the sound design and rhythmic content of this one. Keep at it, Feisty Fennekin! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.75/10

[Mr.Must3rd; Meowtronica]

The frantic synth riff at the beginning was a pretty cool idea for an intro, but admittedly it threw me off a bit when the pace of the pads at :12 was so much slower. The synth rolls at :38 are a little overused, and overpower the other harmonies in the mix. The texture also sounds very dissonant early on, and the mood shifts quickly from spacey to eerie. By 1:20, the texture is very minimal, although I like the crisp drums and staticky atmospheric details. By 2:20, you’re back to the introspective-sounding ambient content with another pretty sudden twist, but the transition back into the more industrial-sounding beats starting at around 3:20 was more smooth and gradual, which is good. Overall, the arrangement of the piece feels a bit disjointed, and it could use more melodic content and variety. The production quality and sound design are enjoyable, though, and if you integrate the disparate harmonic motifs of the piece a bit more, the variety in the moods here would give this track a great narrative appeal. I’d encourage you to keep working on it for that reason. Keep at it, MrMusterd! ^_^

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
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
7.5/10

[OXYGENE]

I like the cute, frantic synth riff at the beginning. The bass riff at :13 sounds a bit clunky, with a couple of notes in the lower range that are very close together in pitch (which usually creates a muddy texture). There are a lot of sudden transitions here, and the pace of change is also very fast, making for a bit of a disorienting arrangement. A lot of the individual riffs and compositional details are cool - I think the pattern at :58 is particularly catchy. That said, I wanted to see you flesh out the structure of this piece with some more gradual transitions and maybe some more polished-sounding instruments (the bass in particular sounds like a raw square wave). I’d encourage you to revisit this piece with largely the same structure, but double the length of time between each major section and more elements in common between adjacent sections (it could be the same drum riff, bass line, or otherwise). Crashes, sweeps, and drum fills are also a good way of foreshadowing that a major change in the texture is about to occur before it does, which might make some of these transitions less jarring. All of that said, I really enjoyed the rhythmic content, upbeat mood, and energy of this piece. Keep at it, MorictoMusicia! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
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
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
5/10

MorictoMusicia responds:

ty! ye, i think the 0:58 melody's pretty catchy. Tysm for the constructive critic!

[The Struggle]

I like the somber mood at the beginning and the warm strings that come in shortly thereafter. There’s a huge contrast between that and the upbeat electronic beat at :27 - maybe a more gradual transition between the two would help bridge that gap. Love the frantic synth melodies at :41 and the filtering work at around 1:05. This piece also has nice and crisp drums and a full, well-balanced mix. The variations in the main melody at 1:40 really hit the spot, and overall I’m really loving the energy and rhythmic content of this one too. All things considered, the intro almost feels out-of-place by the end. Still, if I had to complain about one thing, it might be that the arrangement and aspects of the sound design here are a bit generic. That said, you nailed the mixing and mastering, melody writing, emotion, danceability, sound design, and transitions. Keep it up, MiniMusicPieces! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.25/10

[Llightt]

I like the quirky pads at the beginning. The piece is very slow to progress - at the very least, some mixing effects or automations could help spice it up. I like the added energy at 1:50. It might be advisable to foreshadow the introduction of the new pads there, just like you foreshadowed the melodic contour with the harmonies that start fading in at around 1:15. The bass line at 1:50 is a bit dissonant at times with the pads. The piano line at 2:22 has a nice emotional appeal, but also feels a bit undecorated, with a square rhythm and constant velocities. The higher register of the melody at 2:58 gives the second refrain a bit of a sense of evolution, which is nice. Overall, the composition is pretty minimal and bland. Bare-bones ambient pieces can work well sometimes, but you’ll need to put more effort into phrasing first - little ebbs and flows in the texture to make longer sections more engaging. Try playing more with filtering, automation, volume level changes, velocity changes, etc. It helps if you have a MIDI keyboard and you’re able to record the lines yourself, as opposed to using a mousepad and piano roll, which will almost always give you a more rigid and uniform texture. That said, I like the sound design, and I also enjoyed the airy atmosphere of the piece and a lot of the individual riffs and melodies. Keep at it, MeowMusicStudios! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
5.5/10

MeowMusicStudios responds:

Thanks a lot for the feedback!!! :D I really appreciate mentioning all of the things i can improve in!

[Macaroni - The Path to Victory]

I like the bouncy beat at the beginning. The chord progression is a bit generic. The mix is full and well-balanced, but could be a bit sharper at times - specifically, it’s hard to hear the drums and bass at around 1:00 or so. I’d double check that only the bass and kick have frequencies below 200 Hz in the equalizer. Some of the synths are a bit cheesy, and at :30 I found it a bit odd that the main melody is pitched below the pads. The piece is smooth-flowing, but some more contrast between the phrases in terms of energy level and instrumentation would’ve been welcome for some variety. The arrangement itself is also fairly cliche, and during the final refrain at 2:42 I also would’ve liked to see a shake-up in some of the lead riffs. Still, you clearly have a good sense of rhythm, harmony, and progression. The piece just needs a tad more originality and variety in the sound design and arrangement. Keep at it, MacaroniAndGames! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
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
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.25/10

[Night City Lights]

I like the jazzy hits at the beginning and the bass-y groove shortly thereafter. The filtering starting at around :12 threw me off a bit - kinda disrupts the flow. The reconstituted beat at :18 sounded a bit too busy and even dissonant between the bass, lead, and pads, and also had some rhythmic oddities with some elements of the drums that weren’t perfectly calibrated. You add some cool new elements later on, like the vocals at 1:18 and the brass at 1:24, although the brass is a bit too far back in the mix to be as expressive as it could’ve been. I also think the high-energy section of this piece drags on for way too long without a major change to the texture, like a bridge or breakdown.

Overall, there are a lot of good ideas in here, but you also tried to do too much with this piece, both rhythmically and harmonically. There are a lot of clashing frequencies playing at once during the busier sections, and the vinyl scratches and snare rolls towards the ends of phrases don’t line up very well with the syncopations in the harmonic instruments. I’d challenge you to make a piece with just 5 notes: C, D, E, G, and A (you can repeat these notes any number of times and have multiple playing at the same time in different instruments, but no B, no F#, etc.). The spacing of those 5 notes will make it relatively easy to avoid dissonances. Then, try not to overdo the rhythmic “density” of the piece either - one trick could be to only have rhythmic instruments (bass, drums, and effects) play at the same time as notes are playing in a harmonic instrument (chords, melodies, vocals, etc.).

That said, I really like the sound design and production quality of this piece. There are a lot of good individual ideas in here, like the catchy brass line at 2:12, but taken together the piece just sounds like sensory overload. Happy to leave you another review once you make that 5-note piece - feel free to notify me when it’s done via PM. Until then, keep at it, Lunar48! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
6/10

Lunar48 responds:

Very glad for your inspiration words i know i have to improve my composing skills and i feel really happy cuz u liked my work, im gonna prepare a better piece for the next deathmatch and this helps me to catch my errors at making music, thanks you so much :3

[Tinnitus]

I like the fade-in at the beginning and the quirky mid-range bass instrument. The chord progression and arrangement are a bit cliche, but the rhythmic content here is nice and catchy, and I like crisp drums too. The mix is pretty quiet and also a little bottom-heavy. The main melodies could use a boost in the upper-mids with an equalizer, and you could potentially recalibrate some of the volume levels with a soft, adaptive limiter. Just be careful to avoid clipping. That said, the composition is strong, with some memorable melodies and a thick texture throughout, and I also like the sound design, as the instruments blend together well. Solid work, LeanLean! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8/10

LeanLean responds:

Thanks for the feedback! It's much appreciated. It seems I've gotten myself onto the next round, so I'll keep these things in mind. Thanks!