TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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. :)

[The Fell Of Rezuri (instumental beat)]

I like the pensive guitar riff at the beginning and the ghostly pads that come in at :20 or so. The drum beat is also pretty catchy, and helps move the song forward despite the large amount of repetition. I was a little confused when the beat cut out suddenly at :55 and then rejoined at 1:12. In fact, this happens several more times throughout the piece with very few other changes to the texture. I would've liked to see you do more with the harmonies here, including giving some more shape to the overarching structure (dynamic contrast, phrasing, etc.) and adding some stronger melodic content. Right now, it sounds a bit like an ambient drone for a videogame or something instead of a stand-alone piece. Still, solid work with the sound design and mixing, and the short outro was a nice touch too. Keep at it, man!

[Muse - Madness (One Man Band Cover)]

Beautiful cover! I love the original, and you totally do it justice. You even preserve the rhythm of the kick drum, which is one of my favorite subtle elements of the original. The more atmospheric instrumental track in this one is really nice, too, from that spacey piano at the 1-minute mark to the cute synth at around 4:50 to the bright vocal pads throughout. The explosion of sound at 1:20 was a little sudden. Just the volume discrepancy between that section and the previous one was a bit much. But I also really like how you layer the vocals at the "come to me, just in a dream" part. There's also some fun structuring differences between this version and the original, notably that the part from 1:20-3:00 is actually at the end of the original. That choice makes the repetition of the "come to me" part later on all the more effective. Really great work here overall! Newgrounds is stronger for your presence, my friend. Welcome.

[[Drum & Bass/Hip Hop] Bulldozer]

I like the minimalist beat towards the beginning and the ominous tone of the piece. A lot of the synths and drum samples were a bit cheesy, though, and the piece gets pretty repetitive after a while. I liked the overarching structure. The piece comes together at 1:46 quite well shortly after the breakdown at 1:26, which I think is a really effective way of channeling the energy. I think my main complaint with the piece is the mixing, though. The sound visualization makes it clear that the piece is very loud, to the point that the output sounds pretty distorted. I'd suggest dialing back the volume knobs on several of your instruments, and also learning to balance your frequencies a bit better. Equalization is a great tool for doing that. I don't know what digital audio workstation (FL Studio, Ableton, Logic, etc.) you use, but I'd suggest you Google how to equalize instruments in your program. The basic idea is to eliminate the muddy lower frequencies in pretty much every instrument except for the bass and kick. That'll make the sound quality of the final product sound a lot cleaner. Otherwise, you're going to have multiple instruments competing for the same space in the pitch spectrum, which generates audible distortions. For example, by the time the pace of the drum pattern picks up in your piece at around 2:10, you can barely hear the pads underneath. Contrast that to how well they come through the mix at 1:27, and the difference is huge. Hope you found that helpful! And if you happen to use FL Studio like me, I can probably give you some more pointers on equalizing and other mixing tricks too. Feel free to PM me. Good luck with your future projects, man! I hope you'll keep working on this one, though. It's a catchy tune with some cool drums. You just need to get a stronger feel for working with the software. :)

[zildox revised]

It is indeed better! Filtering at the beginning is cool, and I think the texture feels a lot more cohesive harmonically at :40 than the original. The section at 1:10 is still a bit rhythmically dense, but it gets easier to follow with repetition. I also like the heavy kick at 2:19, which I didn't notice before in the original. The ending was really cool. Nice work with the panning there. Much smoother track, Echowave! I think the next step might be adding a bit more shape to the overarching structure. Right now, it feels like there's only one direction to the piece as the texture gradually thickens. It could use a bridge or breakdown somewhere in there to add some more contrast and variety. Still, this is a big improvement. Great to see you're so committed to improving your music! ^_^