TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Runnin' Loose]

I like the grouchy bass at the beginning and the ominous-sound chord progression and sound design. There’s a good sense of build into :37, and despite the minimal texture, the quirky instruments keep things engaging. The bass is a tad heavy, and overall the texture feels a little bottom-heavy, with not a lot of frequencies in the mid-high range. I kept waiting for the texture to develop a little more, but instead you devolve into this minimalistic, contained-sounding beat at 1:18. I still like the sound design and compositional details, but the harmonies are pretty underwhelming in this piece. The production quality is also strong, despite my complaints about the bass-heavy mix. There’s a bit of a sudden transition at 2:26, but the atmosphere during that section is pretty nice. The racecar sound effect was a nice touch, too, and I like how you chop it up at around the 3-minute mark. This track has some really fun rhythmic ideas, but I also think you needed a bit more fill in the texture sometimes to keep me engaged. The effects are top-notch, but the harmonic aspects of the piece are very bland, and the piece doesn’t have a strong sense of climax, resolve, or conclusion by the end. I’m pretty torn about this piece because it has a lot of potential with the atmosphere and synths, but the execution on the composition wasn’t quite there for me. Even some sort of melodic bridge and a little more emotion towards the end would win you back a lot of these points. Until then, I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece. Provocative stuff here, SroSocial! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
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

sro responds:

Thanks for the critique my guy. You're definitely right my structure and textures are lacking big time. I've recently been working more on improving them and I gotta say it makes a HUGE difference.

[i9incher - Space Fighter (NGADM Version)]

I like the intensity at the beginning. The chord progression and harmonies are pretty good, too. Despite some heavy bass, the mix holds up pretty well. Some of the synths in the piece sound a bit cheesy, like the lead at :32. The mix is a bit over-compressed, but doesn’t have a particular point that’s overly harsh or distorted. I like the dark mood, progression, and atmosphere overall, but I think my main problem with the piece is that it lacks dynamism in the composition. The melodic content could’ve been stronger, and you don’t ever really vary the main riffs at all. Harmonically, the piece is a bit underwhelming, with the moving notes mostly consisting of some grouchy pads and repetitive bass riffs. It’s a short piece right now, so I think it’s worth it to try fleshing out the composition a little more and adding depth to your harmonies. I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece. Keep at it, i9incher! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.25/10

[The Frizz (Radio Edit)]

The minimal bass line at the beginning and string drone at the beginning helped set the mood pretty well. The vocals were a good idea, although I think the recording quality could be better. I liked the minimal beat at :29. It was catchy, and the filtering helped keep things engaging. The open hat at :52 is a little generic, but the texture starts filling out a little more during the 2nd minute. Some of the synths are pretty cliche, but the production is clean and crisp. I also liked the atmospheric bridge at 1:29. The ABA structure of the piece between the rhythmic and atmospheric sections was effective, although I think you could’ve fleshed out the composition a lot more here. The harmonic progression isn’t very original, the texture is thin throughout, and the piece has almost no melodic content, sense of storytelling, or directionality. Strong work overall with the production quality, fun vocal samples, and rhythmic content, but the lack of creativity in the arrangement and harmonies hurt you a bit here. Keep at it, JohnnyFrizz! :)

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

[Zenith]

I like the apprehensive mood at the beginning and the haunting sound design. The chord progression at :13 is a little generic, but the texture is well-balanced and there’s a good sense of climax for the first minute of the piece. The intro might’ve been a tad dragged-out, but I like the pensive synths at 1:05 and the energy of the build-up into 1:29. The drop is pretty sweet, with a gritty bass, solid rhythmic content, and the little synth pluck on the off-beats was a nice touch. The second build-up and drop cycle came pretty quickly relative to the slow pace set by the intro, but the atmosphere and strong mixing and mastering keep me engaged here pretty well. The second major drop at 3:24 also seemed a little long, and at this point I really would’ve liked to hear more variety in the main chord progression and harmonic content. This piece doesn’t really have any truly dynamic melodic content, and with all the energy and flashy synths I would’ve liked to hear a more emotional or atmospheric bridge or breakdown. The more dreamy content at the end was close to it, in fact. Overall, top-notch work with the production quality, sound design, and atmosphere. Some of the compositional details might need a bit of work, including the pretty generic arrangement. Either way, you’re clearly a well-respected musician on the site, and deservedly so imo. Keep up the good work, WhiscasKaat! :)

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

[Technicolour]

Interesting chord progression at the beginning. The rhythm is a little hard-to-follow at the beginning, but it gets easier once the kick comes in at :14. The synth at :22 sounds pretty cheesy, and also drowns out the piano in the mix a bit. I like the groovy vibe at :37, although the clap sample is pretty generic. The smooth bass is a valuable addition to the texture, and I admire your sense of harmony and progression. The guitar solo at 1:06 sounds really quirky and cool, although it could’ve used a little more reverb or other mixing effects. In general, the melodic content here is really good, but you introduced a lot of new instruments throughout this piece, almost like a traditional jazz arrangement where each melodic instrument has a solo in turn. The texture comes together pretty well by around 1:50, but I wished you had a little more dynamic contrast and shape to the composition here. The energy level, especially with the underlying harmonies, is near-constant. Also, despite what I said about that one guitar sample, I think in general there’s actually a little too much reverb in the texture in some places. The piano and pads get really drowned out at times because of it. Some more careful equalizing and compression might also be in order, even if the mix is already pretty loud. I really like the dreamy, atmospheric breakdown at 2:50, and the melancholy synth at 3:07 is a great touch. I also like how you gradually transition back into the more energetic parts of the piece, with a refreshing new section at 4:18 to boot. Overall, I think you could’ve switched up some of the harmonies, repeated melodies, and chord progressions, after a while for variety. I think the piano harmonies at 4:48 were an attempt at creating that variety, but the melodies get in each other’s way a bit, which comes across as distracting. Overall, though, this is a solid piece with a lot of great melodic content, atmospheric details, and sound design. Mixing is my main concern here. Keep at it, NeighbourhoodVandal! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8/10

[MUSH]

I like the bass guitar near the beginning and the dreamy pads that come in shortly thereafter. The drum samples sound a bit cheesy, dry, and sometimes harsh in the mix, though. The hi-hats and static-y claps were too loud, and probably needed a little more equalization to remove the higher-pitched tones. The entire texture is also pretty dry, meaning it needs more mixing effects like reverb, delay, etc. I also think the quirky guitar sample you used wasn’t the best for making into the most melodic instrument of the song. This piece is missing a lot of high-mid frequencies in general, and most elements of the texture sound pretty staccato-y and thin. It’s not a bad beat, but I wanted to see you flesh out the composition more here and add some harmonic depth to this piece. There are also some moments that seem pretty atonal here between the bass and lead guitar. The composition has very little shape and structural contrast, and the energy/volume/intensity levels are pretty much constant throughout the piece. Overall, I like the quirky mood, instruments, and rhythmic content here. I just think the composition and arrangement is a bit underwhelming, and the mix too thin to keep me very engaged. Keep at it, GrimJimmy! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
4.75/10

GrimJimmy responds:

Hey thanks, TaintedLogic! I appreciate your honest critique.
I'll try to make a better one next time around.

[Sunset MotorBork]

I like the smooth guitars at the beginning and the harmonic content. The roll at :12 is really sweet, and the picked bass at :16 is really groovy. The clap at :16 sounds really generic, but I like the rhythmic content and drums otherwise. There’s a solid sense of progression by around :30, and overall this piece has a solid sense of direction and build. Smooth transition into the dreamier section at :49, too. I really liked the sound design, atmosphere, and composition here. That said, I wanted to see you do a lot more with this piece, structurally speaking. I felt like it needed a greater sense of climax and resolve over time, and fleshing out the composition more would help in that regard. This piece is super short right now, but I love the mood, sound design, and atmosphere. Keep it up, James! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

Jumbs responds:

I’ll take everything into consideration. Thank you so much! It really means a lot :)

[Chaos]

I like the relaxed guitars at the beginning. The texture is really smooth, but the abrupt transition at :28 actually works well in this context. I like how the energy starts to pick up by around :45, and the production quality seems solid too despite a relatively quiet mix. The texture is still a tad thin at around the 1-minute mark, and I thought it was a bit jarring when you took the piece in a completely different direction after another stop-start transition at 1:18. The sense of phrasing between 1:40 and 2:00 is nice, although I was still waiting for some more dynamic melodic content at that point, and a lot of the piece is made up of some rhythmic filler stuff, like at 2:12. The riff at 2:27 sounds nice, and in general the second half of the piece has a stronger sense of flow than the first half. That said, there isn’t a ton of cohesion here harmonically. You definitely take the piece in more of a distinct direction by the end of the piece, but the choppy arrangement early on and stop-start transitions make it a little hard to follow the structure at times. Overall, nice work with the melodies, production, and rhythmic content. Some more gradual transitions, fuller textures, and careful phrasing would help out the composition here, though. Keep at it, RageKaje! :)

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

[smøl]

The distorted ambiance at the beginning sounds really nice, and despite the relatively slow pace of progression here, I’m really enjoying the sound design, including the warm pads at :29 and the reverberated hi-hats towards the beginning. The intro is very dragged-out, and I was itching for a few more moving notes by around the 1-minute mark. The texture is pretty thin, albeit well-balanced. I like the bass and the quirky atmosphere at around 1:30. The bells at 1:57 are nice, and the (banjo?) in the background adds some value to the texture as well. As always, the production quality is top-notch here, although the snail’s pace of the progression is pretty torturous tbh. There’s a distinct underlying tension to this piece, and I would’ve liked to hear some broader sense of resolve in the texture earlier. That said, I like how you juxtapose some contrasting moods in the texture at once. The cute bells sound really bright and even uplifting, while many of the background phasing synths are downright creepy. It seems that the bells win by around 3:56, with the cascade of chimes at the 4-minute mark adding to the dreamy vibe. This section serves as a nice breakdown for what is already a very chill piece overall. As much as I love chill-out tracks, I can’t help but feel like you could’ve done more to show off some of your compositional talents here, Skye. The piece starts coming together well when the banjo comes back at 5:42. That said, I’m not sure the sudden ending fits the character of the piece very well. Overall, I like the arrangement of this piece, I just wish there was a little more contrast in the dynamics and energy level. Still, you won me over with the mood, sound design, and clean production here. Keep up the good work, SkyeWint! ^_^

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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.25/10

SkyeWint responds:

Hey there!

Appreciate the review. The flat energy level was actually one of the main points of this piece, primarily inspired by the artist Chrome Sparks. It's meant to be very progressive and gradual, slowly tipping its hand over time. Something you can space out to. I know that's not impressive in the style of something for NGADM, but it was my most recent track I've finished so I thought it was pretty appropriate!