TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Bingo, Honey]

I like the guitar tuning sounds at the beginning. It was a fun quirk. The instrumentation of this piece is really creative, but occasionally a little harsh. The synth at :24 (almost sounds like a radio effect) can be a bit grating. The piece also takes a while to develop, but I enjoyed the tempo change at 1:08 and the corresponding uptick in energy. I like how much you’ve emphasized the ride cymbal in the mix, and the rhythmic elements of the piece are really fun. That said, there’s not a lot of harmonic depth or variety in this piece. I would’ve liked to see some more melodic elements and a stronger sense of direction later in the piece. You definitely went all out with fulfilling the bingo requirements; full credit there. I also think the production quality in this piece is excellent. All of the instruments sound crisp, clear, and full, if a tad over-compressed. Overall pretty strong work, albeit a little lacking on some compositional elements. Keep at it, Quarl!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Satisfies bingo requirement?
1/1
Composite score
7.5/10

[Unusually Complex Understanding]

The tone of the piece is very sensual and romantic. I think the string samples could be a bit more authentic, and the rhythm in the beginning was a little hard-to-follow. The soft percussion is nice, and the piece has a great sense of flow. I think the piece might need some more variety in the texture. The cello and piano were dominating the texture for almost the entire piece, although occasionally their “relationship” (in terms of foregrounding) changes. Normally this wouldn’t bother me so much, but I think the quality of the cello sample detracts from my enjoyment of the piece, especially when it’s playing the main melody for most of the track. I also think the pacing of the piece is a little fast sometimes, as it’s hard to discern the distinct structural elements of the piece through the first couple of listens. Overall, though, the mood of the piece is more than enough to keep my attention. I also think the production quality is rather good here. Keep it up, AzulJazz!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Satisfies bingo requirement?
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

AzulJazz responds:

Thanks !!

[done to death (ngap bingo contest 2k18)]

I like the atmospheric vibe at the beginning. The texture doesn’t sound very distinct, especially in the upper register, but the shimmering effect is quite soothing. I think my main problem with the piece is that compositionally it’s a bit underwhelming. There are a couple of jarring transitions (1:03, 1:27), and there isn’t a lot of harmonic variety in the piece at all. By around 1:45, I’m confused about the directionality of the piece. You’ve introduced a couple of electronic elements rather close to the end of the piece without much foreshadowing. There are a lot of cool riffs and melodic ideas here, but to be honest the piece feels a little thrown-together. I’d suggest spending a bit more time on the arrangement and adding some more memorable melodic content, perhaps via a guitar solo or dreamy bridge. Otherwise, I like the mood and sound design. The quality of the texture sounds really unique. Keep at it, Yoshiii343!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Satisfies bingo requirement?
.75/1
Composite score
6.25/10

[Beacons In The Void]

I like the dramatic flair this has. The drums are well done - definitely gives me a modern rock vibe. The cello sample was not my favorite, though. It’s pretty inauthentic, and the melody it was playing was a little too jumpy (as opposed to stepwise) and hard-to-follow. There are also a several jarring changes in the mood of the piece (:40, 1:07, etc.). I generally like the guitar parts a lot more than the string-heavy parts, likely because of the sample quality. The mix is certainly loud, but sometimes a couple of the string and piano lines get a little lost amidst the busy texture (3:53, for example). My main problem with the piece is that it’s extremely disjointed. I think you need to keep the listener grounded in some more structural repetition, or at the very least slow down the pacing so that the piece feels a little more flowing. Right now, the piece feels like a bunch of independent ideas that were thrown together, which is hard to pull off in my experience. Overall, there are a lot of good ideas here. There are a bunch of different sections (:40, 1:07, 3:48) that all sound like they would make great separate pieces, but the arrangement of the piece leaves me feeling a little overwhelmed with how variational the texture is. Otherwise, fun track and nice job doing the double-bingo. Keep at it, Nekro-Kitty!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Satisfies bingo requirement?
1/1
Composite score
7.5/10

[Lighting Another]

I like the powerful guitars and frantic riffs. The vocals are pretty haunting, if hard to discern solely from listening to the piece. The production quality is generally good, although there were times when I thought the drums could be a tad louder, especially during the vocal sections. The lyrics themselves are also quite good. It seems like the tone of the content is rather different between the two verses, at least from reading it. Compositionally, the piece is a tad repetitive and also lacking on melodic content. The piece’s constant sense of energy and drive comes at the expense of structural variety and dynamic contrast. I understand that this is a metal song, but I think it’s hard to maximize the emotional appeal of a track if the level of emotion is so similar throughout. Overall, though, electrifying piece. The guitar work is really strong, and the vocal content is quite memorable. Keep at it, TSRBand!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Satisfies bingo requirement?
1/1
Composite score
8.5/10

TSRBand responds:

Thanks so much for the detailed review :) Really glad you liked it overall, and your tips are always invaluable!

[The Proud Orchestra of Many Origins]

I like the warm strings and atmosphere at the beginning. The progression is a tad slow, and I think the bells at :26 were a little overused. They kinda rammed the chords down the listener’s throat in a way that didn’t fit the mysterious mood of the rest of the piece. I also think that once the texture gets a little thicker, some of the background elements of the piece (notably the timpani) get a bit lost in the mix. The sound design itself is rather enjoyable, though. I commend you for your realistic orchestral samples and good use of blending. My main problem with the piece is that it’s harmonically quite underwhelming. Much of the piece is pretty minimalistic, and simply has several layers of instruments playing the same chord progression at a time. The piece flows nicely, but needed more melodic content and harmonic fill to truly capture my attention. Most of the harmonies are just extended descending sequences. You do a good job of varying the dynamics and energy levels, which maintains the cinematic style of the piece. That said, the composition is seriously lack-luster in most other regards. I think working with harmonies should be your major focus going forward. Most of the other elements of the piece are quite strong, especially the instrumentation, atmosphere, and flow. I also see you went above and beyond with the bingo requirement, which is great to see. Keep at it, JordanKyser!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Satisfies bingo requirement?
1/1
Composite score
6.75/10

[Agente.001 - Starsprite]

I like the angry fade-in and arpeggiated line shortly thereafter. The stop-start transition at :06 didn’t really work for me, though. Sounds like you fleshed out two different ways of starting the piece and then just left them both in there. At the very least, I’d suggest drawing out the arpeggio build-up a little more before a big dramatic pause like that. The production is really loud and clear, if a bit over-compressed. I like the blissful melodies, mood, and atmosphere, but some of your samples sounded a bit cheesy and generic. Some of the more experimental elements of the texture are pretty cool. I like what you did with the transition at 1:36, even if it felt a bit too drawn-out. It was a nice way of warming the listener up to that tempo change. Good sense of build into 2:17 too. I think you didn’t quite hit this piece home, though. I liked the second drop, but I think the ending of the piece felt a bit rushed. I would’ve liked to hear some more melodic content towards the end to tie the piece together more. Maybe you could’ve brought back the melody at :36 with some subtle variations or something. I also think you didn’t incorporate some of your bingo board elements very well. I wasn’t able to pick out that ride cymbal until I saw you mentioned it in a forum post, and the E-guitar is also not easily identifiable. Overall, though, I think this is a pretty strong piece. Plenty of fun variety, rich harmonies, and a full atmosphere. Keep at it, Tomhson!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Satisfies bingo requirement?
.5/1
Composite score
8.25/10

[Clear The Board (NGAPBC 2018)]

I like the ominous mood at the beginning. The percussion that comes in at :08 is pretty cool, but you seriously overdid the wet reverb on it. Some of your synths and pads thereafter are a little cheesy, but I like the melodies at :54 and the rich atmosphere. The element of the song that clearly needs the most work is the production. There are a lot of places where you use way too much reverb to the point that it seriously undermines the clarity of the mix. The mix is also very quiet. Try to be careful about how you set up your volume levels when you’re first working on your piece. Louder is certainly not always better, but compression will help you out a lot. I like the catchy bass riff at 1:32. It made for a good re-intro, and the trumpet that came in after, while not a very realistic sample, blended into the texture well. The mood changes a little suddenly at 2:17, but I do like the eerie piano and cello parts there. By around 3:40, I’m starting to feel that this piece is pretty disjointed. There’s a long stretch in the middle of the piece with several distinct sections that have little harmonic relation to each other. The most jarring transition is at 5:04 imo, where you go from a huge cinematic climax straight into light orchestral fare. While I commend you for going above and beyond with the bingo requirement, I seriously think this piece should be five different pieces. It just loses its integrity after a while. Otherwise, I think there are a lot of great individual ideas here, from the graceful ending with the piano to the well-executed climax at 4:38. Keep at it, SplatterDash!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Satisfies bingo requirement?
1/1
Composite score
7/10

[I Wish You Were A Bird]

I like the cute melodies and blissful mood at the beginning. Some of the synths were pretty cheesy, and a couple of the transitions could’ve been smoother (especially :10). The synth at the very beginning even sounded a bit too harsh in my ears. My main problem with the piece is the production quality, though. The pads and melody/harmony synths are seriously distorting each other. It’s especially noticeable after the transition at :10. Later in the piece, I’d also like to see a little more structural variety. There’s a constant sense of energy, and the texture just doesn’t change that much (same arrangement of instruments, same cutesy melodic flair, etc.). The ending also could’ve been a lot more creative than a fade-out. That said, you clearly have a great sense of harmony and rhythm, and you nailed the cute VGM vibe here. Catchy piece. It’s going to be stuck in my head for a while. Also probably my favorite title of the competition. Keep at it, Garydos!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
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
Satisfies bingo requirement?
.75/1
Composite score
7.25/10