TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Hide the Light]

I love the ambiance here. Reverb is beautiful, especially combined with the haunting pads. Definitely has a celestial vibe about it, and I absolutely love the collage of instruments on display later in the piece, from the cello to the electric guitars to the piano. My only complaint is that the piece needs to be at least 3 times as long to satisfy my craving for ambient music. Fantastic work, Ale. Your production skills have improved a lot recently, too. Looking forward to hearing more from you soon! ^^

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I'm glad you liked it! I just got a new reverb plugin, which makes the sound a lot less muddy, even if you use a lot of it. I had fun picking out the instruments. You're right about most of them, but there is actually no cello, the Joshua Bell Violin just hits some pretty low notes ^____^

I know! It totally should be longer. Alas, it's time to move back to Finland tomorrow :3
Thank you for the review :D

[Flee]

I like the frantic, eastern-sounding instrument and the creative rhythms here. Gets a tad repetitive after a while, but there's some novel content at around 1:20. Sounds like it would work great for a GD level indeed. I'm glad the "boing" sound effect comes back before the end, too (1:47). Keep it up, man! ^^

[Peril and Providence]

This one's really cute! I like the cheesy sound design and cheerful melodies. The "oom-pah" in the background is a great touch too. The mastering is solid, too. My only complaint here is that I thought the mood change at 1:06 was very sudden. I would've liked to see you do more to smooth that transition over. I also think you didn't quite complete the ABA form of the song towards the end. I'd love to see an expanded version of this with a fuller A-section at the end. Still, nice work! Fun instrumentation and mood, as always. :)

[Phantom at the Exhibit]

I like the classic rock organ and groovy electric bass. Sound design here is killer, and the rhythmic elements add a lot to the texture. Drums are bangin', and the piece has a soothing sense of continuity despite the decent amount of variety. I love the rhodes solo at :47 and the heavy use of ride cymbals. The bass solo at 1:30 almost functions like a breakdown, and I like how it comes full-circle by the end. I didn't know you had such a knack for jazz, CG! Keep up the good work! ^^

[Hollow Knight Main Theme Remix]

The beat is a little simplistic, but moves the piece along nicely. The ominous melody is cool, but it would've been nice to have some additional harmonies in there - bass, back-up melody, etc. - before 1:26 or so. I think the main riff sounds really indistinct in the mix, which is probably my main problem with the piece. I'd suggest removing some of the reverb and delay effects to add clarity. It's possible that they come with the instrument you used, but I think having fewer mastering effects in the texture would add some clarity to the mix. I hope you continue to work on this, though! It's a catchy tune with a cool atmosphere. Keep at it, man! ^^

DaVaP responds:

Oh damn, thanks. This was made in a bit of a rush to have something done for the game's anniversary, but that doesn't excuse it being as not-well-made as it is. Thanks for all the tips, means a lot. This was made in FL Studio Mobile which isn't quite as versatile as its PC counterpart, and I'm new to making music. I'll definitely try to do better on my next song/s as I'll be getting a laptop fairly soon, so look forward to that. Thanks again for the review!

[Etherscape]

I like the atmospheric style and soothing instrumentation. The pulsing of the pads at :47 was refreshing, but overall the piece is a tad slow to develop, and just when it seems to be coming together and building towards a climax, you launch into the breakdown at 1:24. The huge build-up of reverb into 2:05 was fun, and I like how it suddenly gives way to the frantic synth line and drums at 2:06. In fact, that last minute and a half or so is probably my favorite part of the piece. The mood and harmonies just come together more in that section. Overall solid work! Looking forward to those DnB tracks, too. ;)

Alloud responds:

Hey thanks for listening! Your review is very appreciated I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Whirlwind]

I like the strings at the beginning. Love the fusion orchestral-breakbeat style. Reminds me of some of Waterflame's old tracks. You have a great knack for creating catchy, energetic riffs that progress well over the course of the song. I especially like how one section bleeds into the next, like at 2:37. The piece gets a tad repetitive towards the end, but the energy is certainly maintained and the mastering is great throughout. Keep up the good work!

P.S. Where do you get your string samples from?

ErikMcClure responds:

Pretty much everything here is EWQL

[yeah, this is pretty uh]

Catchy stuff! I like the gritty synths and the "pop" sound effect at :12. You earned yourself a scout, my friend. ^^

[Digital Crystals]

I like the bright synths at the beginning and the atmospheric flair. The mix is really loud and clear too. The piece took a little while to progress, but I like the crisp drums and catchy riffs at around the 1-minute mark. Nice job with the structuring overall, but after a time I tired of the transitions where the drums cut out after a short sweep and later re-entered (:15, :53, 1:30, 1:49, 2:08, 2:27, etc.). I like the filtering at the end, but I think you missed an opportunity to hit this piece home with a final climax or something. Either way, this is really strong work overall, and I hope you'll participate in the NGADM this year. ^_^

[Excentrique Unfinished]

I like the experimental vibe of this one. Interesting harmonies and a distinct ascending line on the piano. Combine that with the blissful flute melody, and the overall texture is rather atonal, but still feels dynamic and refreshing. Mastering is solid. I can hear all of the instruments clearly throughout. I especially like when the rhythmic pacing of the melody slows down at around 1:40 and you start experimenting with its range a little more. There are a lot of cool and unique melodic ideas here, but it still maintains a good deal of cohesion. In fact, it might even need more structural variety via a break in the frantic underlying patterns. The tranquil outro at 4:08 was a bit unexpected, but I liked it nonetheless. Really creative work here, guys! I hope you finish this one day. :)