TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Away]

I like the indistinct bass at the beginning and the gradual influx of tonality leading up to :15. Some of the instruments you introduce by :38 are a bit cheesy, including the drum samples and bright pads, but I like the quirky mood and progression here. The tempo automation at :57 was a fun idea, although the texture is pretty minimal until around 1:33. I’d also like to see you find more interesting ways of creating variety in this piece besides adding or subtracting instruments ritualistically every 4 bars. Such a formulaic way of making the piece progress gets very predictable after a while. It’s also a recipe for some rough transitions, which you have in here, especially later in the piece. I like the melodies at 2:45, though - they help the piece come together well. However, I think the mix might be getting a bit overwhelmed at around that point, as the melodies don’t seem as prominent as they could’ve been. I also wanted to see you do more with the drums in this piece. Still, nice job with the harmonic content, mood, texture, and sound design. Keep at it, bassclefff! :)

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
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.25/10

[wrecker]

I like the catchy synth riffs at the beginning and the cool drum samples. The mix sounds a bit over-saturated and harsh at times. I think some of these instruments might be over-compressed. There also aren’t a lot of mid-range or treble tones in the texture at a lot of times, giving the mix a strangely empty feel despite its being very loud. Perhaps it would help if you used some more mixing effects and atmospheric instruments to fill out the texture. I enjoyed the shake-up in the texture at 2:17, although after a time the harmonic content of the piece gets pretty repetitive, and I wish the density of the harmonies were a little richer. Overall, I like the gritty bass, crisp drums, production quality, and mood, but the composition needs stronger melodic content, more variation, and a thicker texture. Keep at it, hirojusa! :)

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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.5/10

[Tolerance]

I like the punchy synths at the beginning and the rhythmic content. The drums are very loud, perhaps to the point of being over-compressed, but I like how you vary the texture with the emotional piano solo at :32. The synths at 1:07 sound a tad over-saturated in the mix, clearly dominant of the claps at 1:23, and I also think the progression of the piece is a bit too slow-paced. The drop at 1:53 is nice, although it doesn’t feel like the harmonic content that came before it is part of the same story. The structure of the piece is a bit disjointed, and the spacey atmosphere, minimal texture, and vocal samples at 2:26 reinforce that idea. You begin to overuse the transitions with the sweeps after a while, and the reverb in the texture - especially on the vocal samples at the 3-minute mark - is pretty excessive. The mix is clearly distorted by the reverb at 3:24, in another example. The riffs here are catchy, and each isolated section of the piece sounds good, but the similarity of the drops is certainly a necessary element to give the piece a sense of cohesion. I’ve been enjoying the sound design, production quality, and rhythmic content of this piece, but the arrangement could use some more fluidity and the mix could be a bit more well-balanced here. Keep at it, Gamerthofr26! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.75/10

Olindel responds:

Yes! Thank you very much!

[Orange Juice]

I like the strong thematic content at the beginning, but the sound effect of the ice cubes falling in the glass sounds a bit harsh in my ears. Nice job with the quirky synths at :12 and the filtering, though. I think you could’ve used a stronger transition into :22, and the block chords at :22 sound a bit clunky and bottom-heavy. The heavily manipulated synth pads and bird noises at 1:12 add to the cool sound design of the piece, and I like arpeggiated synth pattern at 1:29 too. The rhythmic content at 1:46 is a little too dense, although the melodies are nice there. The riser into 2:35 sounds a tad harsh in my ears, although isolating the bass for an extended period of time at 3:15 was a really unique compositional choice that I really liked. The outro shares the rest of the piece’s cool sound design and bold rhythmic content, although I thought the end came on a bit suddenly. The arrangement of the piece could be more cohesive and fluid at times, and I’ve made my complaints about the treble-range sound effects in the piece clear, but overall this is a really creative track with some awesome sound design, solid production quality, and killer melodies. Keep at it, BIG-PUNCH! :)

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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8.5/10

[pawles22 - The Fairy Glade]

I like the relaxing mood at the beginning. The high-pitched chords on the downbeats sound a bit too emphatic given the rest of the texture, and I also thought the sound design could be more polished. The kick at :32 doesn’t do much for me, and I definitely would’ve liked to hear a more prominent rhythm section in this piece given the repetitive harmonic content and slow-paced progression. My main complaint here is how underwhelming the composition is - the texture has very little variation throughout the entire piece, and instead cycles through the same generic chord progression for 4 minutes straight. I think your piece needed to sound much more dynamic than this, my friend. I wanted to hear you add and subtract instruments over time, change up the rhythmic and harmonic content, have different sections with more (or less) energy, and create some more melodic content. Instead, this piece is uber-repetitive and structurally simplistic. Otherwise, the piece isn’t bad. You clearly have a good sense of harmony and atmosphere. Still, it’s hard to assess a lot of my compositional categories here because you just didn’t do much of anything to create variety in your track over time. I hope you’ll keep working on this piece - it has a lot of potential. Keep at it, Pawles22! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
0/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
0/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
4.5/10

pawles22 responds:

I'll consider what you said. Thank you!

The song is technically 2 minutes long, it's just looped. I've already stopped adding these extra loops to my songs though.

I know that this track doesn't have variety, but I actually wanted to keep it simple (my other tracks are probably as simple as this, but here I especially like it). After all, it meant to be a chill, background music (I just couldn't see this variety in this song myself). Maybe it was a bad decision to on my side.

Thanks again!

[Ethereal Plane]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. The piece is a little slow to progress, though, and the grainy percussion at :36 sounds a bit harsh in my ears. You also could’ve had a stronger transition into the melodic content at :54. The production quality is solid, even if the mix is a bit quiet, and the texture seems well-balanced and full for most of the piece. The harmonic transition at 2:07 was interesting, and I certainly liked the new synth that was introduced there. Unfortunately, the piece loses a sense of cohesion when you ended up failing to integrate much of the content of the first 2 minutes into the second half. Still, I actually enjoyed the second half more, with its more vibrant melodic content and quirky instruments. Both parts of the piece have some pretty sudden transitions, and I also thought it was a bit odd when the piece ended in the middle of the melodic phrase at 4:31. Overall, nice work with the harmonies, sound design, mastering, and atmosphere of this one. The arrangement of the piece could be a bit more coherent and fluid, but that’s probably my main issue here. Keep at it, Nerostratos! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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?)
.5/1
Composite score
8/10

[Project Retronica]

I like the atmospheric pads at the beginning, although the bass at :15 is a little too loud. The mix as a whole is very quiet, and the beat at :44 is also very loud relative to the other elements of the mix. There are a lot of harsh clicks in the texture, and the entrance at 1:01 is pretty sudden. The harmonies of the piece are enjoyable, but the piece has a pretty minimal texture throughout and a pretty simplistic overarching structure. I’d suggest using a few more mixing effects to give this piece some more atmosphere - reverb, delay, etc. You could start by using an equalizer to take some of the treble tones off of those stereo clicks. Overall, this is a catchy beat with some cool melodic ideas mixed in, but the production issues and underwhelming composition detract from my enjoyment of it. Keep at it, TheB34R! :)

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
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
3.5/10

[Nycto: Cityscape]

I like the quirky synths and progression here. The rhythm sounds a bit square towards the beginning, and the piano sample sounds a little generic and inauthentic. The production quality is good, although the bass might be a tad too loud at times. The vocals at :30 are nice, and I like the build-up into :45. The drop has some really cool rhythmic content and sound design, especially with that melodic synth, but the thin claps didn’t do much for me, and I think there’s some distortion between the kick and sub-bass. I’d like to hear the bass prioritized more here. The melodies at 1:31 are also refreshing, although the harmonic progression of the piece is a bit generic, and you start overusing the vocal samples by around the 2-minute mark. I would’ve liked to hear a little more variety towards the end, although the different instrumentation at 2:30 did help. This piece could also use another atmospheric section or something to give it more structural contrast. Still, I’m enjoying the sound design, progression, melodies, and mixing overall. Keep at it, Nyctophilia! :)

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
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

[Here We Go! (no vocals)]

I like the powerful string pads at the beginning. The chord progression is a little cliche, and I think you overdid the mixing effects on the synth at :06. The reverb and delay there are a bit much. Still, the bass slide at :27 was pleasing, and the filtering work at :30 is nice. The rhythmic content at 1:10 is cool, although the mix sounds a bit overwhelmed around that point too. The sidechaining might be a bit too heavy. Generally speaking, equalization, filtering, panning, and stereo widening should be doing most of the work of keeping your mix sounding clean, not compression. Compression helps with loudness, but when it’s overused (like this) it can cause distortions of its own, which are audible in the way the pads wash back in my earbuds after the kick plays here. I like the big build-ups in this piece (e.x. 1:10), which added an emotional appeal to a piece that otherwise didn’t have much dynamic melodic content or harmonic variety. Still, you did a good job channeling the energy here and keeping things interesting by regularly switching up the sound design. Keep at it, Naval76! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
6.75/10