TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[Ásum - Black Dog [Dance/Dubstep]]

I like the catchy synths and rhythmic content at the beginning. The drums are pretty overpowering, especially early in the piece when there isn’t much else going on in the texture. The mix is overall pretty strong, but you may have used a tad too much reverb. The melodic content at :55 is cool, and I like the sound design in this piece a lot. I think it’s missing a climactic melodic section or drop, though. It has a strong sense of continuity and flow, but not a lot of shape in the composition. The breakdown at 1:53 was good for some structural contrast, but after that you don’t do a lot with the harmonic development in this piece. The section from 2:11 to the end feels relatively bland and thin-textured, which was a pretty big disappointment to be honest. The piece doesn’t really come together to resolve some of the underlying tension, or at least offer an emotional height and/or moment of catharsis. The riser at 3:38 was a little melodramatic, and didn’t really lead much of anywhere. The synth at 4:17 sounded both unnecessary and harsh in the mix. Overall, you nailed the production quality, mood, atmosphere, and sound design, but the composition was a bit lacking, especially towards the end. Keep at it, DarkInRed! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.75/10

DarkInRed responds:

Thanks for review!

[Hide & Seek]

I like the beat at the beginning. The synth at :03 seems a little undecorated and simplistic, as if it’s made of only a couple of oscillators. The vocals are certainly interesting. Really quirky and experimental vibe here. I’m enjoying the atmosphere and the delay effects on the vocal samples, and the guitar riff that comes in intermittently starting at :42 fits the somewhat uncertain-sounding nature of the texture well. The texture feels somewhat minimal at times, lacking bass tones when the one lower-frequency riff cuts off. That said, I like the thicker feel of the mix by around 1:36, and the production quality is clean here throughout. The melodic content in the vocals is really cool, but I wish you hit the piece home a little more towards the end a little more with another emotional height. This one-climax model here seems a bit compositionally risky, although the quaint atmosphere does keep me engaged here until the end. This is by far the most unique-sounding piece I’ve reviewed so far for this composition. Rather haunting tune overall, my friend. Really sweet sound design, production value, and rich atmosphere. May I ask what the lyrics? The reverb makes them a little hard to make out. Either way, I sincerely hope the other judges will agree that you deserve a spot in the next round. Really provocative piece, man. Keep up the good work! ^_^

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?)
1/1
Composite score
9.75/10

[Experimental Sound Test #26.3]

I like the pensive atmosphere at the beginning and the dreamy synths. The warm pads at :33 are a nice touch, too, but completely drown out the other instrument. Maybe you could try using some stereo widening to keep the lower-pitched rhythmic elements of the texture front-and-center here? Either way, the progression of this piece is very slow-paced. I like the synth at 1:50 too, but the entire track is very slow to build up to any sort of climax. The synth at 2:13 sounds a little harsh in my ears, and might benefit from a little more reverb to blend in with the rest of the sound design. The kick drum at 2:37 sounds really muted (or maybe just doesn’t have a lot of space in the mix to fully operate), but I’m loving the groovy vibe at around 2:46. The texture sounds a lot fuller all of a sudden, and the composition is coming together in a more well-balanced way than it had before. I think the beat could’ve been a tad more creative given the repetitive instrumental content, though. I like the quirky pads at 3:28 and the melody synth at 3:36, too, but I’m not sure you quite kept my attention for the 3.5 minutes it took you to arrive at some melodic content. You clearly have a good sense of harmony, progression, sound design, and rhythm, but the pacing of the piece is a bit off. I wanted to see you do more with the structuring here. A one-directional arrangement is a pretty risky move. If I can describe how the energy levels in your piece change over time with one word (in this case, it might be “ramp” or something), then it should probably be a little more complex than that. Even a simple breakdown in the middle would’ve helped to keep the listener engaged, but I think shortening the drawn-out buildup here and then doing more with fleshing out the composition later is an equally valid approach to improving the simplistic arrangement of this piece. The mix is also a bit quiet throughout here, although my main concern is still the structural details. That said, I think you’ve done a good job overall with the sound design, atmosphere, and harmonies here. Keep at it, IchigoChamploo! :)

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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
6.5/10

[Prismatic I (Intro)]

I like the quirky synths at the beginning and the creative rhythmic content. The piece was a little slow to progress for a while, but the somewhat dissonant ambiance really helped give the track a stronger sense of direction. By around the 1-minute mark, you went beyond the point of creating a meaningful progression and the piece started sounding a little anti-climactic as my sense of expectation waned. The production and sound design here are really cool, but by 1:40 or so the fading texture loses all sense of momentum and completely shifts moods into a tranquil, pensive haze. Both halves of this piece sound pretty and well-constructed, but there isn’t a strong sense of connectivity between them. I can tell you’re a talented producer, but the composition here just ends up sounding pretty underwhelming at the end of the day. I wanted to hear some more complex structuring to the piece and some dynamic melodic content. Still, you managed to pull off a pretty ambitious transformation of the piece that unites two very different characters in one track. It’s like the entire piece was reborn as I was listening to it. Unfortunately, the experience was still a little jarring for me as a listener, like my pre-teen daughter died in my arms and then got reincarnated as a 40-year-old man. This is one of those pieces that really tears me up, because I really love some aspects of it (the mixing and mastering, instrumentation, atmosphere) but others really rub me the wrong way (arrangement, lack of cohesion, lack of melodic content). Overall, I’m going to be pretty generous here because I’m still impressed that you managed to wed two very different harmonic ideas with such a sense of flow. Damn. It’s these kinds of pieces that make me really start to question the structural standards I use to judge this competition. Anyway, keep up the good work, man! :)

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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.25/10