TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Oubliette]

I like the smooth synths at the beginning. The reverberant percussion is a nice touch, although I would’ve liked to hear a more gradual transition into :39. The production is clean, although the piece doesn’t have a lot of harmonic variety. I like the quirky percussion at 1:25 and the strings at 1:36. There’s a good sense of shape and flow in the texture overall. The melodic content at 3:17 is a good way of hitting the piece home, although at this point I wish the rhythmic content of it was a bit more dynamic. The pitch-bending on the pads at 3:43 is nice, and the ominous outro helps this piece feel full-circle. Overall, strong work with the mixing and mastering, harmonic content, sound design, and atmosphere. Most of my complaints feel like missed opportunities more than things that actively bothered me, which is certainly good for you. Keep at it, Burn7! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8.75/10

[York]

I like the energy at the beginning and the crisp drums. The piano sample is a bit generic, although I like the guitars. You overuse the crashes sometimes, and there are a couple of sudden transitions, like :40. The texture sounds pretty rich and full overall, and I like the ominous mood at around the 1-minute mark. The structure of the piece is a bit bizarre. It seems a bit pasted-together, with few gradual transitions and little sense of phrasing or dynamic contrast. Instead, there are little solos and riffs that come in during the “verses,” often using the piano or brass as the melody instrument, and then the riff at 2:36 is almost the backdrop of the entire piece, despite not playing for most of it. I think this piece would be stronger compositionally with more structural contrast - a breakdown or atmospheric bridge would give the piece more shape, and some more gradual transitions would give it a stronger sense of connectivity and flow. In summary, I like the production, sound design, atmosphere, and harmonic content, but the arrangement feels a little choppy and the composition could be more dynamic. Keep at it, ARealGhost! :)

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?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.75/10

[Game Boy]

I like the cute sound effect at the beginning and the rich chords shortly thereafter. The kick drum at :10 sounds a bit over-saturated in the mix, but once the vocals and other drums come in it vibes well with the balance of the texture overall. The artificial vibe of the vocals fits the thematic content well, and I like the rhythmic content too. The riser into 1:17 is a little cheesy, but I like the upbeat feel of the chorus. The way the syllables fall on the “just get up and try again” line is a little clunky rhythmically, but the more I hear it the less unnatural it sounds. I like the added melodic content during the short bridge at 1:50. I liked the variations on the melody at 3:07 during the repetition of the chorus, too. Overall, really strong work here. This piece is well-produced, uplifting, has really cool thematic content, and a great message to boot. Keep up the good work, Karsys! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
9.5/10

[Am i in your mind?]

I like the energy and breathy vocals at the beginning. The drum samples are a little cliche, especially the open hat on the off-beats, and the vocals get a bit repetitive after a while. The piece is pretty slow to progress, and I appreciated the structural contrast you offered at the breakdown at 1:30. I liked your use of the reverse crash in the middle of the atmospheric phrase at 1:52. The pacing is a bit slow here, but there’s a good sense of climax into 2:21, and the heavy bass at 2:36 is a nice touch. There isn’t a lot of dynamic melodic content in this piece, and overall the sound design, arrangement, and chord progression of the piece are pretty generic. That said, I’m really enjoying the sharp production quality, automations, sound design, and rhythmic content here. Keep at it, SASKID! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.75/10

SASKID responds:

Thanks for your kind words!

So mixing is good, but be more original is what I take away from the review here. Very happy you enjoyed the elements and small touches that people usually leave out or don't notice such as the subtle reverse crashes and elements coming together.

Thanks for your score, and thanks for judging!

[Totem]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning and the smooth, jazzy chord progression. I think you needed a stronger transition into :31 (or at least not such an awkward pause), but the harmonic progression is still cool. Sometimes, it sounds like the bass and E-piano are getting in each other’s way a bit. Some more careful equalization might fix that. Also, this piece has very few frequencies in the upper range of the spectrum. That minimal percussion sample that serves as a stand-in for a snare or something is basically the only instrument with treble tones in the piece. I like the rhythmic content at 1:56, and the funky synth bass at 2:14 is fun. My main problem with the piece is probably the lack of a strong sense of direction. There are a lot of good ideas here, but not a lot of melodic development, variation in the instrumental hierarchy, or a cohesive structure. The minimalism also wears on me after a while. I like the piano blips that start at around 4:25 - they contrast nicely with the smooth texture of the E-piano chords. Still, there’s very little variety in the texture throughout this piece, which is tough to make work in a 5.5-minute track. Overall, nice work with the production, harmonies, atmosphere, and sound design. The composition is a little bland, though, and you missed an opportunity to maximize the emotional appeal of this piece imo. Keep at it, G4CEsz-Official! :)

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

[Tune Machine - Excavation]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning and the ominous mood. The sound design is nice, too, although the kick drum doesn’t always come through the mix very well. It also sounds a bit sub-bassy for an atmospheric piece like this. There might be a little too much reverb on that thin-sounding snare, too. That creepy ambient pad at 1:14 is really nice, though. The progression is a little slow-paced, but the rhythmic pattern in the strings at around 1:40 is nice, and the brief pause at 2:06 is a nice touch that resets the texture before the melodic content comes in. The string samples are of good quality, and the composition comes together fairly well by the 3-minute mark or so. I like the subtle dynamics shift into 3:37, and the added ambiance of the airy piano. The fade-out ending came across as a bit lazy, but overall the structural aspects of this piece are quite pleasing. Despite my minor complaints with the production and sound design, the composition of this piece is excellent. Keep up the good work, Aenter! ^_^

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

[BLOOD]

I like the filtering at the beginning and the smooth drums and atmosphere. The reverb in the texture is a little excessive, but I like the sensual lyrics and the variation in intensity. I think you should really flesh out the structure more, though. This is a great sound bite, but it’s almost like the minute-long preview I get before I buy a song on iTunes, not a full piece. My main complaint here is probably that you needed a more complete composition here. There’s a lot of tension and suspense in this piece that never really gets resolved or expanded upon. I was waiting for a beautiful vocal solo that told me the rest of the story, but it never came. Still, beautiful atmosphere, sound design, and emotional appeal. If you ever finish this track, please PM me and I’ll leave you another review. Keep at it, Athanatos! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8/10

[trumpets]

Catchy beats at the beginning. The brass hits sound a little generic and inauthentic, but the drum samples are nice and crisp. I like the synth that starts fading in at around :20. The sweep at :31 was a little drawn-out, and then the texture at :38 is quite different from the one before the transition at :31. I like the sub-bass and new rhythmic content, and the build-up at 1:16 is cool. The drop is pretty catchy, but very minimal, and doesn’t really introduce and novel content into the piece. My main problem with the piece is the lack of originality. It sounds like a very cliche big room house track, given the arrangement, minimalism, use of reverb, and even the snare sample (1:15). Overall, it’s a catchy piece with some appealing rhythmic attributes and solid production quality, but the composition could be much more original and dynamic. Keep at it, vidu3k333!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
6.25/10

[AlieN - Dream Island (House/8-bit/Glitch-Hop)]

The synth riff at the beginning is catchy, although the synths themselves sound a bit harsh in the mix. The background percussion at the beginning also is a bit grating. The harmonic content of the piece is very repetitive, and the mix sounds a bit strained at 1:01. My biggest problem with the piece is how bland the composition is. The entire piece is essentially variations on the same short, simple riff, with little harmonic depth to boot. You have a good sense of rhythm and progression, but I want you to spend more time adding complexity to the composition of your tracks - richer chords, fuller textures, more layers of harmony (chords, melodies, back-up melodies, rhythmic riffs, dynamic bass lines, etc.). It helps to lay out the chords you’re using first, and then build patterns that fit within the notes of those chords. Still, this piece isn’t bad. The composition is just a little underwhelming. It’s still a catchy and flowing piece with some good harmonic ideas. Keep at it, AlienNinjaGD! :)

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
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
5.5/10

AlienNinjaGD responds:

Thanks for your review!
I agree with all the things you wrote here.
Thanks for the advices! I'm gonna follow them.

[Heaven]

I like the breathy atmosphere at the beginning and the pensive guitars at :05. The production is a bit bizarre here. The mixing effects on the vocals are pretty heavy, and the guitars are very reverberant. I really like the lyrics, although sometimes the vocals sound a little thin and strained in the higher register (i.e., 1:10), and I wish the drums were a bit louder during the refrain too. Sometimes the vocals cut off before you really articulate the syllable you’re singing, like at “hand” at 2:04. Without the lyrics in the author’s description, I would have no idea what you’re saying. Overall, the piece is well-structured, although at some point a breakdown or solo would’ve been nice to give the composition a little more shape. The piece also gets a little repetitive by the end, with not enough variety in the instrumental tracks, harmonic content, or structure.

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
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
7/10

JoePimpz responds:

I appreciate you taking the time to really listen and review my work. My forte is songwriting, so I tend to mix strangely. As far as mastering goes, I don't know a ton about it so I use unorthodox methods, which is likely some of what you're hearing. The opening was actually me breathing in as much as I could and uttering "damnit" because I kept running out of air during my first few takes and I was actually bracing for the pass-through lol