TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Arise and Fight]

I like the warm strings at the beginning. I think there are more creative ways of beginning a piece than that subtle fade-in, but at least it fits the character of the track here. The piece is also a little slow to progress, but I like the vocals at :36 and the sense of climax into 1:05. The horns were a nice touch, too, and the increased energy at 1:10 was really nice. You left a lot of space for contrast here, which is nice. The bell sample at 1:22 sounds a bit clunky. Perhaps it could be equalized or modified differently to remove some of the jittery “aftertaste” it has? That said, I like the brass melodies at 1:41 a lot, although I would’ve preferred a more gradual build into a climactic section like that. There’s a great feeling of catharsis when the strings come in at 2:15, and overall the composition here comes together really well. During the last section, I wish the string harmonies came through the mix a bit better, but overall the production quality is solid here as well. Nice job with maximizing the emotional quality of this piece, AceMantra! I think the sound design and inspiring mood here are my favorite elements of it. Keep up the good work. ^_^

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

AceMantra responds:

Hey, thank you so much for the in depth review! I know you had a lot to cover and still more to come.

Cheers!

[exist love?]

I like the furtive ambiance at the beginning. The synth at :17 sounds a little unpolished and cheesy, and the kick drum at :34 is way too loud, to the point that it severely distorts the mix. Do you hear how indistinct the other instruments sound during the rolls at :44? You can fix that by reining in the volume levels (turn down the knobs on the kick), and by using limiters/compressors to take some of the distortion off. Otherwise, the composition is bland and minimal, and the piece lacks a sense of overarching shape. Most of the variation in the texture comes from adding and subtracting instruments, which is a pretty remedial way of creating variety (more advanced ways: volume changes, automation, filtering, phrasing, etc.). That said, I liked the added atmospheric synth during the last part with the beat. I think you clearly have a good idea of how to create moods and harmonies, but unfortunately you don’t really capitalize on those talents with the bland composition here. Overall, it’s a catchy piece with some cool sound design and atmosphere, but it needed a little more depth to the harmonies to keep me engaged. Keep at it, paulinhudj! :)

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
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
4/10

[Glowing Beach]

I like the quirky, distorted synths at the beginning, although I think the drums at :10 are a little over-compressed, especially the clap. The harmonies come together well by :30 or so, but the short-lived piano riff at :21 confused me a bit as to the direction of this piece. There are a lot of different compositional ideas here, joined by jarring, sudden transitions. The arrangement overall sounds really choppy, and while I like the mood and harmonies overall, the sound design can be a tad cheesy at times and the composition feels very thrown-together. The sudden ending doesn’t help with that concept, either. Overall, this is a good start. You’ve got a number of fun harmonic ideas here, but you needed a stronger sense of flow and direction in the texture in order for this to feel like a cohesive piece. Keep at it, HoneyNutCheerios! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
6/10

TheOGGriper responds:

Thank you, I truly appreciate the feedback

[Mary Anne]

Really cute sound design and feel-good lyrics here. The chord progression seems a tad generic, but the additional backing vocals at :53 were a nice touch. The lower-register vocals at 1:25 sounded like they would make a great breakdown/bridge, but then the piece ended. I think it’s worth your while to try to flesh out the texture a little more here. The overall structure of the piece is pretty flat, and I think it could use some more dynamic contrast, phrasing, and maybe an escalation of intensity (guitar solo?) at some point. I also think the lead vocals are quite as strong as I want them to be in the mix. Some more compression and other mixing effects might do the trick there. Overall, I love the thematic content of the piece, the sound design, and the vocals. You could’ve done a little more with the progression and arrangement here, though. Keep at it, JackBliss! :)

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?)
1/1
Composite score
8/10

jackbliss responds:

Wow thanks for the great detailed review :)

[Nightwave]

I like the angry bass riff at the beginning and the haunting vocals at :14 and :20. The funky guitar at :29 was really nice, and despite the slow progression at the beginning everything falls together very quickly. I like the conversational tone of the vocals and the content of the lyrics. The progression is solid, although there isn’t a lot of emotional contrast between the verses. The additional vocal samples at 1:37 were a nice touch, but at 1:43 it sounded like the vocals weren’t synced to the beat that well. It might be that you’re trying to squeeze a few too many syllables in your vocal lines there. Despite the engaging nature of the vocals, I wish you had done a little more with the instrumental tracks earlier in the track, but the minimal breakdown and following epic solo at 2:29 somewhat makes up for that. I think your production is really solid overall, but at 2:30 the snare sounds a bit over-saturated in the mix, likely because of the reverb. I also would’ve liked to hear some more variation on the final vocal section to really hit this piece home. Still, solid work here, Dude2312! I really like the instrumentation, atmosphere, energy, and vocals here. Keep it up! ^_^

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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

[Iori Licea - Deception 3]

I like the atmosphere and beat at the beginning, and also the sense of climax into :12. The synth line at :12 seemed a little dissonant with the underlying chord progression, but I appreciate the filtering work at around :40. The piece is a tad slow to progress for the first minute, but there’s a good sense of build into 1:00. The piece still doesn’t have much in the way of strong melodic content, and the arpeggios at 1:25 don’t feel dynamic enough to count. The production quality is pretty strong. While very atmospheric, the mix is really tight and the drums and lead synths come through the texture very clearly. Towards the end, this piece begins to feel very harmonically repetitive, and I wanted to see you do more with some of the compositional aspects of the track - phrasing, variety, structural contrast, etc. Overall, strong work with the atmosphere, mixing, and sound design. I think elements of the composition, tonality, and uniqueness of the track might need some more work. Keep at it, Iorilicea! :)

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
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
6.75/10

[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