TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[GEOD1M - HELLRAZER]

I like the grouchy bass at the beginning and the eerie, industrial-sounding percussion. The mix sounds a bit strained at :21 - I think the white noise there is taking up a bit too much space. The synth riff at :48 is nice and catchy, and I like the gradual build-up into 1:10. You’ve done a lot to create variety in the energy level and phrasing here, but at some point I also would’ve liked to see some more variety and depth in the harmonies. The guitar riff at 2:22 is good, although the drums don’t pop through the mix quite how I want them to there. I also think this piece has a very bottom-heavy frequency range overall, so some more upper-mids would help balance it out if you get around to adding more harmonic depth. Still, this is a catchy piece with a great ominous mood and neat sound design. Keep at it, geodim! ^_^

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

[Ghouta chemical attack]

I like the melancholic mood at the beginning. The violin at the beginning could’ve been a tad louder relative to the guitar, but I like the ballad-like structure and the back-and-forth between the heavier guitar riffs and more downtempo sections in between. The glissandos at the very beginning (and at 2:18) took my ears a while to warm up to, but the violin solo at 1:10 is especially good. A lot of the transitions here are a bit abrupt, but I like the more gradual build-up into 1:43. For such a busy texture, the production quality holds up really well, too. The “last hurrah” at 2:36 was a good idea compositionally, and really tied the piece together nicely. Overall, this is strong work, Electrotatary. My main complaint is the sometimes-choppy arrangement, which is mostly a problem during the first half of the piece. Keep up the good work! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.5/10

[BeepBox-Song 73]

I like the bass-y groove at the beginning. There are some catchy rhythms and cute sound design throughout, with some rich harmonies starting at around :20. The transition at 1:00 is pretty abrupt, though, and the part at 1:03 sounds very different from the rest of the piece up to that point. Maybe it would be less jarring if you had transitioned gradually into that part. I also think the claps and snares could be a bit louder - try adding a compressor to them. The structure of the piece could use some more fleshing out, too - right now, the arrangement feels a bit choppy, and there isn’t really a stand-out melody here, just some catchy and mostly rhythmic riffs. Still, I enjoyed this piece for the instrumentation, upbeat mood, harmonic content, and danceability. Keep at it, DoTeRqwe! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.25/10

DoTeRqwe responds:

Thank you for the detailed description of what you liked and didn’t like!
Usually people don’t mention what exactly they liked and what would be better to change (probably so as not to offend), so it’s quite useful to find out in more detail what would be better to change in the future. Thanks for listening and nice words :D

[Four Manhorses]

I like the rhythmic content at the beginning. The bass sounds a bit unpolished, and also a tad loud compared to the harmonic instruments later on. The quirky texture of the piece is really nice, but the instruments don’t blend very well together. Some more reverb might help accomplish that, but first I’d suggest using some equalizers to eliminate the low-end frequencies on all of these harmonic instruments. Otherwise, the mix sounds really distorted, and I can barely hear the drums. The drums could use some compression, too.

Composition-wise, the piece sounds really unique and flowing, almost contrapuntal. But because the energy level and thickness of the texture are almost constant throughout, I think you’re missing an opportunity to create some variety here. Try playing with the volume levels and filtering effects a bit more - the piece already has a bit of a cinematic flair, so it might be a good idea to play that up with some automation and a larger range of volumes.

Overall, I love the mood and overall structure, but the sound design, mixing, and phrasing could use some polish. Definitely a unique-sounding piece, though. Keep at it, dogsinmrimachines! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
6.75/10

[CheeseSteak]

The frantic arpeggiated line at the beginning is cool, but I think you wore off the sheen of it by playing it for a full 15 seconds. The quirky beats at :16 are really nice, although the snare could use a bit of a boost in the mix, and the frequency range is missing both some upper-mid tones and bass. The piece could use a bit more harmonic depth and variety too, although it’s short enough that that doesn’t bother me too much. The production quality holds up pretty well, but also sounds a bit overly contained, like you high-passed everything with the threshold just a bit too high. That said, the rhythmic content and sound design here are really creative. Solid work, DJPickleFingers! ^_^

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

[Kołbasa - CIRCULAR [phonk]]

I like the eerie mood at the beginning. The vocal delivery is good, but the mixing makes it hard to discern the lyrics - specifically, the pads are almost as loud as the vocals are, which seems like an odd choice to me. The lead riff at :22 also has a LOT of reverb on it - I think you would be better off filling out the atmosphere with some more harmonies instead. The rest of the piece is pretty repetitive, and needs more harmonic depth in a lot of places. The sound design and rhythmic content are both good, though, and despite my complaints with the balance of the different instruments in the mix, the production quality holds up pretty well. Overall, some more variety in the structure and harmonies could go a long way towards improving this piece, but there are a lot of good ideas in here to build on. Keep at it, Kolbasa! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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?)
.5/1
Composite score
6.25/10

[apocalypse keeper]

I like the pacing and the gradual fade-in of the strings at the beginning. The chord progression is a bit generic, but the melodies at :33 are nice. In terms of arrangement, the piece is smooth-flowing and well-structured. The instruments are a bit cheesy-sounding - the strings in particular sound pretty fake, and the synth bass line is a tad undecorated. That said, I like the synth arpeggios at 1:08. Clearly, you have a great sense of harmony, rhythm, and progression. Some more variety in the main melody and a longer, more expressive final refrain at 1:30 might’ve made the composition stronger. Otherwise, my main complaints are with the sound design and mixing, but I know MuseScore has a lot of constraints in that regard. Still, this is a catchy, cute, and upbeat tune with some strong melodies. Keep at it, detalexip! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
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

detalexip responds:

thank u

[D4 - Aerodynamix]

I like the gritty bass at the beginning and the edgy guitar at :19. The texture is a bit thin, with a lot of missing upper-mid-range frequencies, and a pretty staccato-y articulation to the notes that could use some contrast at some point for variety and to fill out the mix. You clearly have a great sense of rhythm, progression, and sound design, though. Also, the mix is nice and punchy, even if the drums don’t quite always stay on top of the guitar the way I want them to (I can especially hear them struggling to come through at around 1:30). After a while, the harmonic content of the piece is pretty repetitive, and I appreciated the thicker-sounding bass you added at 2:30, although the squeaky harmonics there sound a bit harsh. The outro at 3:06 really threw me off - the transition was sudden, and having a light, airy piano introduced after 3 minutes of frantic guitar music made it seem really out-of-place. Overall, I like the energy, rhythmic content, sound design, and progression of this one. The production and, especially, the harmonic aspects of the composition could use a little more teasing out. Otherwise, solid work here, D4W1LL! Keep at it. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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?)
1/1
Composite score
7.5/10

D4W1LL13 responds:

dully noted. thanks a lot!

[Ev]

The static at the beginning sounds a tad unpolished, but I like it when the textures smoothes out a bit and the bass comes in by around :15. By the time the lead synth comes in at :43, you’ve got a solid groove going. The mix is a little quiet and indistinct, though. The drums would sound a lot punchier with some more compression, and I’d also suggest using an equalizer to make sure the harmonic instruments don’t have any frequencies below 200 Hz, which will help add some clarity to the texture. The sound design is cute, but sometimes would benefit from some more reverb or other mixing effects to help the different instruments blend better and add some atmosphere. The static on either end still sounds a bit out-of-place to me - you’re probably better off looping the piece. Overall solid work, Cutterion! The mixing and mastering could use a bit more attention, but you clearly have a good sense of harmony, rhythm, and progression. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
6.5/10

[Contact]

I like the furtive atmosphere at the beginning and the bass-y synth groove at :15. I like the bright-sounding pads at :45, but they also take up a tad too much space in the mix. The drums don’t quite sound sharp enough at times, especially the snare, which could probably use some more compression. I like the revolving spate of melodies, but after a while the piece lacks an overarching sense of direction - the synth brass at 2:33 sounds especially out-of-place. The transition at 2:16 is really smooth, and in general the piece has a nice sense of flow about it. The breakdown at 3:01 was a nice way of creating some variety in the energy level and thickness of the texture, and the slower pace of the melodies that follow was a nice way of wrapping up the piece. The arrangement feels a bit formulaic here, with the same drum roll used for most transitions, and major changes to the texture occurring at very regular intervals. That said, the melody-writing and sound design are both enjoyable overall, and despite some minor complaints of mine, the production quality holds up pretty well. Solid work, CosmoSynth! Keep at it. ^_^

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
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.5/10

CosmoSynth responds:

Thanks for the thorough feedback buddy :D