TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[sad person anthem]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning and the melancholy tone of the piece. The vocals are a little over-processed imo, especially given the down-to-earth and conversational character of the lyrics. The guitar chords at :44 were good for some emotional appeal, yet the texture remains rather minimal throughout this section. I like the “ah”s at around the 1-minute mark and the melodic synth riffs. The kick at 1:32 sounded a bit heavy, and the harmonic shift at 2:20 was a bit sudden. There’s a good sense of climax into 2:52, and I like the sense of arrival and modulation there too. I like the breaks at 3:56 and the drum patterns towards the end. The piece has a good narrative arc and sense of resolve. I think the autotune really detracts from the piece, though. I was getting broadway vibes from the instrumental tracks and storytelling in the song, like the narrator is speaking directly to me, but that was undermined by the vocal effects. That said, the mixing and sound design are otherwise good, and I especially enjoyed the progression here. Keep at it, Johnfn! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

[Light it Up]

I love the fade-in of the frantic line at the beginning and the delivery of the vocals. The content of the lyrics is a bit cliche at times, but the narrative and conversational form of the piece is pleasing nonetheless. You’ve also affirmed to me what a talented vocalist you are with this piece, and your willingness to tackle a genre that you aren’t familiar with for the ADM is rather admirable. The rhyme scheme of the lyrics is really cool, too. The country dance vibe at :26 is super fun, although sometimes the little melodic filler content there is a little heavily panned for my tastes. I like the singing at :29, and the synth solos with the groovy bass at :40 are great. The jazzy vibe at :57 is really neat too. While the breakdown at 1:38 comes on pretty suddenly, you did an effective job of setting up the harmonies to make it sound as fluid as possible. The vocal phrase at 2:22 is a little stumbly in the beginning, and I would’ve liked to hear a little more variety in the string riffs and vocal refrain (“don’t you listen…”), but you’ve certainly taken a bold approach to the composition here as it is. Overall, strong work yet again, LE! ^^

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
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9.25/10

[Neon Gaze]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the luscious atmosphere. I wasn’t a huge fan of the clap sample - it sounded a bit dry, and also didn’t sit very well in the mix at times. Otherwise, the sound design is enjoyable. The harmonic content has a serious lack of variety here, though. I like the transition at 1:08, but otherwise there’s not a lot of variety to keep my attention. Nice use of phrasing and filtering later on, but I’m afraid the composition here is just seriously underwhelming. The mix is also a tad quiet, although it’s still clear and clean. The piece needs some more structuring, melodic content, and variety. I think you’ve set up the mood and thematic content well, though, and I hope you keep working on this. For a short and (admittedly) incomplete piece, it sounds good. Keep at it, AceMantra! :)

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
.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
7/10

AceMantra responds:

Thanks for the review and your hard work. I'll definitely work on this some more.

[Don't Sleep On It]

I like the dreamy quality at the beginning and the instrumentation. There’s a distinct emotional quality in the texture, and I really like the string swells (like at :38). The piece is a little slow to progress, and I was a little thrown off when the texture thins out so suddenly at 1:06. The crisp drums and string harmonies are nice, though, and the production quality here is really sharp overall. I would’ve liked to hear a more dynamic composition here, though. The texture falls together nicely at 1:58, but I think you could’ve done a lot more to give the middle section (1:06-1:57) a more distinct sense of direction. The dreamy mood, sound design, and progression of the piece are all really nice, but I think you needed to do more to hit this piece home. Still, solid work for such a short piece. Keep at it, vocaloutburst! ^_^

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

[Square [WIP]]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning and the bright tone to the synths. The chord progression is a bit cliche, but I’m enjoying the melodic content at :33 and the full, well-balanced texture. I might’ve liked the drums to be a bit punchier in the mix, but overall the production quality is quite strong as well. The harmonic content gets a bit repetitive after a while, and I appreciated the element of structural variety once the breakdown rolls around at 1:28. The melodies at 1:38 are nice, too. At some point, I would’ve liked to see you shake up the instrumental hierarchy of this track a bit. The harmonic content and lead instrument are both very similar for almost the entire piece. I appreciate the variations on the main melody at 2:57, although I think you could’ve done a bit more with them besides the relatively simple layering at 3:16. The dreamy mood and atmosphere of this piece are particularly effective, although I think you could’ve done more with the composition here. The harmonic framework, arrangement, and textural considerations are all pretty generic, and overall it sounded like a piece that was almost entirely free of compositional risk. Still, the sound design and mixing are both really nice, and I commend you for giving the piece a tasteful balance of energy and atmosphere. Keep at it, Blackhole12! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.25/10

[Juxtaposition]

I like the rich strings at the beginning, although the percussion sounds very thin in the mix. The progression is a bit slow-paced at first, although I like the foreboding church bell samples and the mini-swells start at :47. By around the 1-minute mark, I’m a little thrown off of the flow of the piece by the extended church bell phrase, and admittedly the gritty and minimal electronic texture at 1:09 was pretty unexpected. I like the melodic contour of the lead, but I think with the bizarre pacing of the piece and the dual character, you could’ve better integrated the electronic elements into the composition. Other than that, there isn’t a lot of dynamic content to keep me engaged in the piece during the second half, and in fact there’s a lot of repetition later on as well. I think the production quality, mood, and sound design of the piece are are really good, but that the arrangement and composition need some more consideration in order to navigate the pacing and choppy mood change issues. Either way, valiant effort here, WolfgangMiakoda. I’m really enjoying the instrumentation and creepy thematic content. You should keep working on this one and enter the Halloween Spooktacular! ^_^

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

[Above the Clouds, Below the Sea]

I like the waltzy meter and sound design. The strings have a great, warm sound, and there’s a rather satisfying climax into :23. The harmonic shift at :31 is really well done, despite the fast pacing through that section. The mix is a bit quiet here, but otherwise well-balanced and full-textured. I think you could’ve stood to flesh out the composition here a little more. Right now, it bounces back and forth among several distinct sections very quickly, and the sense of cohesion suffers as a result. Still, these are minor complaints that only slightly detract from my enjoyment of the wonderful orchestration, whimsical storytelling, and impressive compositional details of this piece. Keep up the good work, CloakedSoup! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

CloakedSoup responds:

Thanks man! I'm actually going to be updating this pretty soon to extend it/finish mixing it, I've just got to get some other music I'm currently working on out of the way first. The thing that bugged me the most about this mix was the annoying white noise that was coming from the high end of the harp here, but I made sure to fix that for the finalized version. I should be able to get the extended/finished one up sometime this week, so look out for that! :D

[Mortis Imperium]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the tasteful instrumentation. The flute melodies at the beginning are beautiful, and the texture has a rich atmosphere that feed the emotional appeal wonderfully. The warm strings at 1:32 deepen that emotional quality, although I wish the flute came through the mix a bit more strongly over the strings at 1:41. The final climax at 2:42 is beautiful. There could be a little more distinction among the notes in the texture there, but the percussion is still mixed well, and the likely culprit is merely an excess of reverb or relatively loose equalization. I also like the tranquil outro at 3:41, brief though it was. Overall, the composition of this piece is top-notch, and most of my complaints are in the balance of frequencies/mixing. Keep up the great work, Papkee! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
9.25/10

[Folding Screen Monkeys]

I like the frantic string riff at the beginning and the atmospheric details. There’s a good sense of build into :30, but the texture sounds a bit indistinct. I think you could use a high-pass to add some clarity at the low end of the frequency spectrum here. The string melodies at :58 sound nice, but they get a bit buried underneath the harmonies. I like the foreboding mood of the piece, but the balance is a bit off here. The frantic strings and percussion overshadow the rest of the mix. That said, I really like the transition at 1:42, even if it’s a bit sudden. You tie it together well enough with the use of the frantic riffs of either side that it maintains a sense of flow. The piece also comes together well towards the end with the busy texture at 1:56. I still would’ve liked to hear some more variety in the harmonic framework and foregrounding of the melodic elements of the piece, though. The composition comes across as pretty experimental here, although that’s more due to the way the texture is layered than the structure or sound design. I also really like the woodwind mini-solo at 2:26. It was a good mysterious way of wrapping up the boss battle, as if the enemy is going to retreat, but is not quite defeated. Overall, you took some dubious risks with the composition here, but I like the sound design, mood, and flavor of the piece. At the end of the day, it’s mostly the bizarre balance of frequencies that bothers me here. Otherwise, solid work, Mrcoolisimo! :)

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
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
8/10