TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Bio - OblivioN]

I like the powerful piano chords at the beginning, despite my instant recognition of FL Keys. The melodic line at :08 has some fun harmonies in it, to the point that it almost sounds atonal. The build-up was rather short-lived, and the mid-range bass quickly takes over the mix at the drop. It also sounds a bit harsh in my ears. The chords at :59 were nice for some structural relief, but the pacing of the piece seems a little fast. I also would’ve liked to see more harmonic variety in a piece that changes up its instrumentation a lot more than anything else. The cello sample at 1:22 sounds rather inauthentic, and you might be better off replacing it with something that’s meant to sound synthetic. After that, there’s very little novel content in the piece, although I enjoyed the atonality in the last chord that you created with the reverb. Keep at it, BioHexagon!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7/10

[Beyond Gravity - Digital Hope]

I like the ominous mood at the beginning. The synth at :09 was a bit thin and cheesy imo. I like the drums, pads, and bass, though. The progression was rather slow-paced, although the melody at 1:16 is pretty engaging. That said, I think the balance is off a bit in the texture there, with the melodic instrument completely overwhelming everything else. Elements of the composition also feels a bit formulaic after that point, with the same end-of-phrase transitions employed over and over again, like that 3-note descending riff at :37 (and other places). After a time, it also seemed like the melodies had too many notes to effectively provide the most memorable content. For example, there’s a period of about 10 seconds between 2:15 and 2:25 where I thought the melody was coming to a proper cadence several times. In other words, it’s easy for the listener to get lost in the complexity of the melody. My main complaint might actually be that you never quite reach a distinct moment of climax. Rather, the piece has a sense of continuity that is simultaneously soothing for an ambient aesthetic and frustrating for its lack of emotional height. Still, I think the production in this piece is really strong. There’s a good sense of balance of frequencies, clarity, and full textures throughout. The percussion fills also come through the mix rather well. The strongest element of the piece is the atmosphere, although I appreciate the sound design, flow, and rhythmic elements of the piece as well. Solid work overall, BeyondGravity!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
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
8.5/10

[REPEAT]

The vocals at the beginning sound pretty haunting, and really set the tone for the rest of the track. The distortion and vocal layering here is really nice, and I like the moment of contrast when the vocals finally ascend to earth from Satan’s cradle at :17. It almost has a sugary pop sound all of a sudden, and your voice gives a simultaneously innocent, inquisitive, and intelligent angle to the subject matter of the lyrics. The crisp drums and instrumental breaks are also valuable additions to the texture, and I love how you manage to make the theremin (the ultimate creepy, haunting instrument) sound just as sweet and sing-songy as the persona the narrator has taken on in the chorus. At around 1:20, the syllables in the lyrics don’t quite fit the beat pattern all that well, especially at “happen from the start.” The combination of the atmosphere and re-introduction of the horror elements at the 2-minute mark are great. The key change at 2:20 could’ve been a bit more subtle, but overall I love the flowing aspect of that section, and you transition back into the last refrain quite effectively. Great job with incorporating the distortion into the refrain at the end. The coda felt a tad drawn out, but I really like how the piece comes together with the emotional appeal of the piano there. Overall, this piece is fantastic. Strong production quality, structuring, compositional details, thematic elements, sound design, and atmosphere.

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
9.75/10

BeoWeapon responds:

I'M SO BLESSED THAT YOU GAVE ME A REALLY POSITIVE REVIEW! THANK YOU SO MUCH
I have the song on youtube if you're interested of supporting my channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sSEr4_uTxc

[Summer is coming]

I like the blissful mood at the beginning. The synths are cute, if a little cheesy, and the underlying pulse to the piece really helps drive it forward. At the end of your little 2-bar mini-phrases at the beginning, the piece occasionally descends into atonality, if only for a split second. I also think the melodic content doesn’t feel very dynamic. Rather, you’re repeating 2-bar mini-phrases with slight variations at the end, which makes for a predictable arc to the overarching refrain. That’s a little detail-oriented of me, though. I like the filtering work at :38, and it leads well into another more climactic melodic section around the 1-minute mark. The change of instrumentation at 1:16 was a little sudden, but the tempo changes at 1:29 breathed new life into the piece. The minimal section helped push the reset button on the track a bit, which was refreshing after a rather fast pace of progression for the first couple of minutes. The piece came full-circle by the end, although I think a final climax like that of 1:00 would’ve hit the piece home more. Still, there are some really creative and appealing compositional details of this piece. One gripe I have with the production, however, is that at times the mix feels really thin and dry. I think the drums could’ve used some more reverb/delay effects, and I would suggest some more advanced techniques like stereo widening to get a thicker texture out of your existing instruments. The mix is still loud and generally clear, although I think the clap was fighting to push its way to the front at 1:30 a bit. Overall, solid work with the composition, sound design, and atmosphere. A lot of my complaints are more “missed opportunities” than things that actively bothered me, which is a good sign. Keep it up, BBouthillette!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.25/10

BBouthillette responds:

Thank you for your feedback! In fact, the tempo increase gradually from 1:16 to 1:40 if you look my LMMS project. After that, the tempo decrease until 1:46.

[DMT]

I like the soothing instruments at the beginning and the eastern-inspired theme. I like the transition into :14, and the beat there was also rather enjoyable. I think the bass might’ve been a little too heavy, though. The song has a strong sense of atmosphere, and the panning on the hi-hats helps the spread of the stereo feel nice and full. Harmonically, there isn’t a lot of variety in this piece, and the brief moments of structural relief (like 1:35 and 3:05) needed more fleshing out and gradual transitions. I like how you slightly shake up the hierarchy of the instruments in the second half, with more emphasis on the airy pads. That said, I don’t think you went quite far enough in providing a proper amount of memorable or dynamic content here, especially in terms of melodies. The strongest element of this piece is probably the mixing. The instruments are quite well-balanced, clear, and loud, but there’s never an excess of compression or limiting. The high-pitched instruments have been properly filtered to avoid any excessive harshness. Even my initial gripe with the bass seems less relevant as the piece goes on. That said, the composition here is underwhelming at times, and the piece feels like more of a background track than something that tells me a story. Otherwise, solid work here. Keep at it, Attackofthetroy! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8/10

[An Experiment With Strings]

I like the emotional appeal of the strings at the beginning and the militaristic percussion. The top line at :35 is when the samples start to sound noticeably fake, given the textbook uniform vibrato and slight pauses simulating bow direction changes. That said, I really like the contrapuntal nature of the melodic content and the tasteful, smooth transition at 2:02. There’s a lot of cohesion in the harmonic content, and you did a good job with incorporating subtle elements of phrasing and dynamic contrast. I wasn’t sure how much the top melody line was supposed to blend into the rest of the texture, but sometimes I thought you would do a better job of channeling the emotion here if you had only made it stick out so much towards the very end, instead of its vacillating prominence throughout the piece. Production-wise, I thought the percussion should’ve been a lot stronger to keep the mix balanced and the energy of the piece alive. The drums really faded into the background after a while, which changed the character of the piece hugely, as during the first 20 seconds or so of the piece, it sounded like the prelude to a great battle scene. Despite these details, overall you have really strong work here. You found a way to make a very niche instrumental palette simultaneously accessible and inspiring. Still, there’s some room for you to do more with a piece like this, and (if the other judges cooperate) I’ll look forward to hearing it in the next round. Keep up the good work, AriothXerril! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

[Stand Up, Devil Kid!]

I like the smooth piano at the beginning. It really contrasts with that gritty synth bass, which I’m not sure I like at first, but the piece comes together quite well by :11. The melodic content here is really nice, and the sound design really reminds me of a retro animated action hero show or something. One thing that could be a bit smoother in this piece is the sudden mood change at around 30 seconds in. Maybe it’s meant to follow the arc of a story, but the sudden ominous mood at :35 and the different instruments present a jarring contrast to the beginning that might feel smoother with more of a gradual transition there. The melody at 1:22 served as a good transition back into the blissful refrain, though. I also like how you stacked up the notes of the chords in succession at the end. That painted a vivid picture in my mind of the clan of protagonists putting their hands into the middle of a table in a “go team!” kind of gesture. Anyway, mixing-wise things are pretty strong as well, although sometimes I wanted the drums to be a bit more prominent. Overall, this is a really strong piece with a lot of cool thematic content and variety. The pacing is a little on the fast side, but I commend you for covering a lot of compositional ground in a short 2.5 minutes, with good mixing and sound design to boot. Keep up the good work, aRho! ^_^

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

[Road Trippin']

I like the quirky instruments at the beginning and the sense of build-up ingrained in the ascending chord progression. That said, there’s a lot of distortion in the mix between the kick and chords, whether because of a limiter on the master track, over-compression, or some other mixing effect. The result is that, while the mix sounds loud and has a rich, bassy kick, it’s pretty unbalanced and feels like there’s a fight between different instruments in an otherwise cute and uplifting piece. I also thought you could stand to add some more instruments to the texture to keep things interesting throughout. There’s very few treble tones in this piece, and also very little melodic content. Right now, it sounds like the skeleton of a track, with the main chords and rhythmic contour in place, but the supporting harmonies, variation, and other memorable content absent. In terms of moving notes, it’s almost a solo instrument piece, minus the dynamic contrast and phrasing details that make piano solos (for example) engaging and inspiring. Honestly, it just feels like there’s not a lot of content for me to review here. The drum beat is nice, and for what it is it seems like it’s going in the right direction, but the texture just needs a lot more fill and variety to keep my attention. This piece has a lot of potential, but for now the underwhelming composition just doesn’t strike my fancy. Keep at it, AnosmiaInsomnia!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.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?)
.5/1
Composite score
4.5/10

[Miracle Days]

I like the smooth bass at the beginning, even if the progression is a bit cliche. The beat has some cool rhythmic elements, although I think the particular samples you chose sound a bit harsh at times. The drums are also pretty dry, which is a pretty easy fix with a little reverb. The string samples at :24 and beyond sound really fake. You’re probably better off replacing them with something that’s meant to sound synthetic. I like the melodic content and the emotional appeal of the guitar at :43. The stop-start transition at 1:23 was a good idea, and the piece comes together a lot more after that. I think some of the high-pitched strings you have at 1:24 sound a tad grating in my headphones, which you can fix by removing some of the higher tones with an equalizer or other filtering tool. The overarching progression of this piece is nice, and I like how you saved the most climactic section for the end, but I think sometimes the phrases felt a little pasted-together, as opposed to using a gradual build-up, dynamics change, or subtle harmony shift to bridge the gap. My main problems with the piece are probably the inauthentic and to some extent generic-sounding instruments, as well as the lack of originality in the chord progression and arrangement. That said, there are a lot of compositional strengths here. You clearly have a good sense of harmony and structuring, and you channel the emotion really well with elements of the sound design and transitions. Keep at it, Aecis!

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
.25/1
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

Aecis responds:

THANK YOU SO MUCH! THIS IS SO DETAILED! I will read this many many times over