TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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

[Rush]

brass samples sound pretty inauthentic. The melodic content here is really strong, and the composition has a great sense of flow and energy. The structure is a bit disjointed at times, as there are a lot of different melodies and motifs to keep track of. I also think you could vary the energy level of the piece a little more here. The texture seems pretty full and engaged throughout. A slower-paced, more atmospheric section would’ve really reset the stage for some more impactful harmonic development later on in the piece. Despite these nit-picky structural complaints, you keep my attention pretty well throughout the piece with the constant barrage of catchy riffs and memorable melodies, and no one transition feels jarring or sudden in particular. It’s just that, as a whole, it’s hard to follow the flow of the piece after only a couple of listens. That said, I like how you saved the most climactic section of the piece for last at 4:23, and there are some elements of structural repetition that help give the listener more of a solid grounding in the arrangement of the track. Production-wise, the piece was also strong, although there were times I wanted the drums to be a lot more prominent in the mix, as they’re pretty much the only constant in the texture throughout the piece. Still, you clearly have a great sense of melody, harmony, progression, and rhythm. Keep at it, Boshydude! ^_^

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
.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

[Flame Tip Soda]

I like the smooth pads at the beginning. The piano at :09 was a little unexpected, and also sounded a tad dry. Maybe some more reverb in the texture there would help fill in the atmosphere? The beat is smooth, though, and the texture really starts coming together at :35. Nice job with the sound design and production here. The progression is a little slow-paced, and I would’ve liked to hear some stronger melodic content earlier. That said, the breakdown melody at 1:10 is nice, and I love the juicy chords and rhythmic content at 1:27. The extended breakdown at 2:02 is good, and feels very reminiscent of the beginning, which contributes to the sense of story behind the piece. More solid melodic content at 2:38, and the extended emotional height at 3:12 helps tie the piece together well. The chord progression sounds really unique in this piece, and by the end the piece has a great, blissful, and victorious feel about it. The end is also a tad sudden, but otherwise this is solid work all around, Colin! Keep it up. ^_^

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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9.5/10