TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The End is Year]

I like the dreamy fade-in at the beginning. Really soothing atmosphere there. The transitions at :32, 2:21, and 1:49 could’ve been a tad smoother, and the texture is pretty minimal throughout. The descending line at 1:41 is gorgeous. I think you successfully have the mood and directionality of the piece mapped out, but the piece still feels really empty until the solo at the end. During the last section, the drums don’t quite pop through the mix like I want them to. Otherwise, everything sounds loud and well-balanced. Overall, I think this piece has a ton of potential, but you didn’t quite hit it home for me. The atmospheric sections of this piece are gorgeous, and the solo at the end sounds great. What I’m not hearing is cohesion between these elements of the song. If it weren’t for the solo, I’d be tempted to say this is just a skeleton of what it could be. That’s overly harsh, though. The sound design, mood, and atmosphere of this track are all excellent. I’m not sure you fulfilled the bingo requirement, but you clearly made some effort to do so, which counts for partial credit in my book. Please finish this piece, though. It’ll definitely be worth it. :) Keep it up, MFT!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Satisfies bingo requirement?
.25/1
Composite score
8.25/10

[Fraxo & Whales - Dead To Me (feat. Lox Chatterbox) [Spitfya Remix]]

I like the crisp beats at the beginning and the chopped vocals during the intro. The shimmering effect on some of the synths is a really nice touch, too. The vocals are a bit repetitive, and this song has a lot of minimalistic sections with not a lot of climactic ones. Otherwise, I like it a lot. The production quality is strong, and I appreciated the subtle variations in the refrain starting at 2:40 or so. Nice work! Here's to 2019. ^_^

[-Daybreaker-]

Great! There's a really bubbly sense of anticipation from the beginning, and I love the frantic synths at :22 that kinda serve as a build-up into the next section. That organ synth that forms the foregrounded riff is really fun, especially when it gets the slightly distorted texture like at :40. This is a really rhythmically dense piece, but the pacing isn't so fast that it's disorienting. The vocal samples interact really well here, and I really like it when the bass becomes more exposed at around 2:40. I also thought the spacey outro at 3:38 was a great touch - almost gives the piece a house vibe, and the filtering at the very end is scrumptious. You've really outdone yourself here, Waterflame! Fitting conclusion to 2018. Happy new year!

Waterflame responds:

Always a pleasure when you review one of my tracks! Thank you for the detailed kind words. This really goes to show for me that taking that extra workday of polish is really worth it! Excited to make more tracks in 2019! :)

[-Atom Sampler-]

Ooo...I love the eerie vibes at the beginning and the old-timey piano that comes in shortly thereafter. The vocal samples add a bit of a cinematic flair, but I think you overdid them after a while. I was a little uncertain as to the directionality of the piece during the second minute, and pretty soon it's evolved into a more danceable, rhythmic piece. Kinda reminds me of a more rushed "Sinking Feeling." I like when you bring back the atmospheric elements towards the end. Really creative work overall. Not sure it's come together for me quite yet as a coherent whole, but I'll listen to it a couple more times and see what happens. :D Keep up the good work, WF!

Waterflame responds:

Thanks! I will agree that the middle of the track could use more direction. But I wanted it to be a bit..floating. the hook was supposed to be the vocals themselves and the choppy guitar. I guess I never had a clear direction with this to begin with so thats why it came off a bit like a stitched together thing. Appreciate the pointers!

[-Grain-]

Cool! Must've missed this one. Love the nature FX mixed with the industrial flair. Rest of the track is really relaxing and more organic, if not quite as pastoral as the title implies. Chord progression is nice, and the more melodic elements that bleed in at around 1:05 really help shape the mood of the piece. The mini-breakdown at 1:47 was a nice touch. I've been enjoying the more downtempo tracks you've been posting recently. Keep up the good work, WF!

Waterflame responds:

Glad to hear it! Happy the slow styles are well received too. Its nice to know I can do both without scaring away people, hehe.

[Rather Have Pizza Then Hentai]

Very amusing title. The fade-in at the beginning could've been more creative, but I like the quirky instrumentation and rhythmic aspects. The drums were a little loud, and seemed to strike just slightly before the beat. The bridge section at :47 was nice for some variety in a piece that otherwise certainly lacked it. Needs some vocals over it and maybe some more melodic content, but it's got a fun, jazzy feel. Keep at it, man!

KingSandy responds:

i dont put that much effort into my beats on Newgrounds cause this site has weird taste in music anyways

[song #9]

Ayyyy! I'd recognize FL Keys anywhere. :'D I like the emotional quality of the strings and the right hand of the piano. Might've been nice with some more gradual volume changes, though, just to maximize the climactic appeal during the first 1.5 minutes. Harmonies are a bit simplistic and repetitive, but the structure is pretty nice. Might need some stronger melodic content too, now that I think of it. Things start coming together pretty well by around 2:15. I think another area you could work on is the transitions. The abrupt changes at 1:26 and 2:31 were a bit too much. Adding some drums or something might help smooth over those parts. I like how you brought it full-circle by the end with the bare-bones piano chords. Pretty slick track! Keep at it, man.

[Krowe - GHOSTS]

I like the quirky sound design and atmosphere at the beginning. The vocals are cool, if a bit overly-processed imo. I like the crisp drums and the build-up into :40. Nice subtle hip hop influence between the sub-bass and beat. The piece has a nice flow and underlying energy. I guess I would've liked to hear some stronger melodic content, even if this is an ambient track. It got a little repetitive by the end, and I think you could've hit it home with some more variety towards the end. Overall, though, I really like the atmosphere and instrumentation. Keep at it, man!

KroweMusic responds:

Definitely agree about the repetitiveness. I actually lost the project file to this and couldn't find any substantial backups for it, so I was unable to make any changes past this version.

Thanks for listening!

[Onward Refresh]

Ooo...very different from a lot of your other tracks. Glad to see you're branching out a bit. I like the ambiance and the sense of climax into :40. Pretty melodies, although I think some of the melody instruments didn't sound quite as soulful as the rest of the texture. If you were going for maximum impact here emotion-wise, maybe that would involve some different sound design choices. Also feels like you overused the build-ups after a while. Still, the melodies themselves are really nice, and I like the arpeggiated synths that come in in the background at 2:45 (and other places). I think 3:15 was probably my favorite part - now THAT'S a maximum-impact synth right there. Fitting that you saved the best for last. ;) Keep it up, MKT!

MrKoolTrix responds:

Thanks for the constructive review, TL! :)