TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Andy 234 - Electro party]

I like the progression at the beginning. The synth there sounds pretty thin, though. I was hoping you'd open up its frequency range at some point. The melody at :14 is cool. I thought it was a little too busy at first (as in hard to follow because there are too many notes), but once the part at :29 came around, the rhythmic structure fell together quite nicely. I really like the build-up into 1:27. The drop there is pretty catchy. I'd suggest taking a bit of treble off of the "woop" vocals, though. They sounded a bit harsh to my ears. The production quality is generally really good with this track: loud, clear, and well-compressed. I liked the breakdown section at 2:45, too. After that, the piece is largely structurally repetitive, though. I would've liked to hear some more variations on the drop and main melody the second time around. Overall, really solid work here, man. Cool instrumentation, nice melodic content, well-structured and -mastered. Reminds me of DJ Abbic, too. Keep up the good work! ^_^

Andy-234 responds:

Thank you very much, I will continue trying to improve my production and my musical complexity, thank you very much for the comment, then improve yourself more in what you have proposed ^w^!

[Revenge]

I like the full texture and groovy melodic content at the beginning. The piece kinda throws you right into the action, though. It'd be nice if it had more of a proper intro. You killed it with the melody. The breakdown at 1:18 is a nice touch to offer some contrast from the high-energy first minute of the piece. I think it may have dragged on a bit too long without any much of a change in the texture, though. I like how the melody starts to bleed back in at around 2:10, and the transition back to the high-energy section was effective. However, the final climax was relatively short-lived. It seems to me like you nailed pretty much everything in the piece except for the structure. I think the section from the very beginning to 1:17 would make a more fitting last refrain, the piano filler stuff at 3:17 would transition well into the breakdown/bridge section at 1:18, and you could have the shorter climax earlier in the piece. Maybe that's just me, though. I just think the section from 0:00 to 1:17 is the more climactic of the two high-energy sections, so my natural instinct is to put it at the end of the piece. Anyway, really fun track overall, man. Totally ignore my advice about the structure if it doesn't fit your vision for the piece. :P Keep up the good work!

[Intangible]

I like the wonky drums at :05. They're very creative rhythmically. You switch up the texture a lot during the first 30 seconds or so, with at least 3 different instruments playing your (rather cliche) chord progression. I think all the sudden changes ruined the sense of linearity of the track. In fact, you do the same thing at :50 and other places. I'd encourage you to structure your track around a contrast between some sort of melodic content and a secondary idea or theme. Right now, it seems like the main source of variation in your piece is either adding/subtracting instruments without warning, or laying out the chord progression using another instrument. Meanwhile, the piece doesn't really do anything interesting harmonically. I also didn't think the transition at 2:08 worked very well. I would suggest at least smoothing it over with some reverb. I've been tough on you in this review, but most of my complaints boil down to one main idea: you're using a simple, generic 4-chord pattern for the entire piece. I'd encourage you to make a piece that breaks away from such a repetitive harmonic framework at some point. It'll just be a lot more of an engaging experience for your listener. PM me when you've made a piece that you think fits this criteria. I'll leave you another review. Keep at it, man! ;)

[A-001 - Stars (Remake)]

I like the atmospheric vibe at the beginning. Has a dreamy, trance-like quality, and the entrance of the pads at :15 helps amplify that effect. I think I recognize the instrument at :27. Is it from Sakura by any chance? Nice job with the build-up, and the drop felt rather cathartic, albeit slow-paced. The chord progression is a little cliche, and the piece has a lot of repetition during the second intro-buildup-climax cycle. The mixing and mastering is really strong overall, but I think you may have overdone the reverb a bit. I also wish you would've varied the melody a bit more by the end of the piece. It's a satisfying melody, yet pretty simple both harmonically and rhythmically. Overall, this is strong work. My biggest complaints are the lack of variety and the generic compositional choices. Keep up the good work, man! ;)

[Piano King]

I like the sultry piano at the beginning. Instrumentation at :10 triggers a rapid mood shift. I'm honestly not quite sure what you were going for with the cowbell and gong in there. Choices like that kinda seem jarring compared with the jazzy piano. I really liked the melodic direction you started taking at around 1:10, but I think you also needed a stronger transition at 1:29 besides the gong hit. It'd also help cement the jazzy feel in if you humanized the piano a bit more. As far as I can tell on my (admittedly shitty) speakers, you didn't really vary the dynamics or articulation of the piano very much throughout the piece, which is a missed opportunity IMO. I liked the idea of making the piece come full-circle like you did at 2:47, but I think you need a smoother transition there as well. I've been tough on you in this review, though. I like the melodic and harmonic aspects of the piece a lot. I just think you need to work on transitions and sound design a tad more. Keep at it, man! ;)

Hedrix responds:

Thanks. I really rushed this one, meaning bad transitions

[Anamnesis]

Woah! I had no idea you were still making music. Assumed you had left the site until I saw this on someone's favorites page, in fact. Pretty cool stuff here. I like the grouchy bass and progression. Sounds like an alien-themed video game soundtrack. Drums are also pretty creative. I'd love to see you flesh out the structure a little more. Kinda has a wonky start-stop flavor to the overarching form. Also, I don't think that fade-out ending is helping you if you're trying to sell this as a stand-alone piece. Still, nice work with the sound design and thematic elements of the piece. Keep it up, man. ;)

[In Phase]

I like the somewhat pensive mood at the beginning, as well as how the mood becomes much darker after the introduction of the bass at :07. The progression is really cool, too. Has a rather somewhat cinematic vibe, yet the instrumentation is reminiscent of an old-school video game. Melodic content is nice, too. I like how the melody is really exposed at around 1:50. You really told a story with this one, man. Great work.

[Final Transmission]

The whirring at the beginning was cool for some thematic content, but got a little distracting as the piece went on and shifted moods. You had two very different moods here - the jarring, mechanical sounds and the chill texture in the background. I think you needed to find a way to resolve both of those elements of the piece without having them detract from one another. Using some filtering to tone down the harshness of the whirring might be a good start. It also confused my ears because the whirring sounds like a riser, but it doesn't really play a transitory role in the piece. Either way, I like the sound design here, and I don't hear any problems with the mastering. Composition is a bit experimental like I said, but overall solid work. :)

Jacob responds:

Thanks a load for the review! I really appreciate it.
You're right, something needs to give way in order for this track to breathe. I probably will go back and fix it at some point, so I'm thankful for the input. Problem is, the idea is for this to continually swell, even as you're sucked into the swirling ambiance. I think I could probably take the higher parts (the last to be introduced, along with the 808) down considerably, and maybe drag a LPF down over the whole whir as we fall into the trombone, separating the last section a bit, as if it's opened up, and the swirl would fall to background until we swell one last time at the end.
Might also throw some reverb on there, make it sound a bit like we've moved beyond the causes of the whir.

I'm picturing a guy in a space ship, taking off for a lifelong trip to Andromeda, as he says goodbye to his love for the last time.

Thanks again!

[NK - Fracture (Palicraft Remix)]

Not bad! Fun instrumentation and progression. I really like the automation work during the build-up. The drop sounds almost cute in a way. If you want to up the intensity there, I'd suggest changing up the beat pattern to emphasize the off-beats a tad more. Right now, you have a pretty square kick-snare-kick-snare thing going, and that doesn't really feel as cathartic as kick....kicksnare-kick-ki-ki-kSNARE, y'know? Other than that, I just wish you had fleshed out the structure a bit more. This would make for a really nice full-length track. Might need some more fill at some point, but I understand that drops are often pretty minimalistic. Keep at it, man!

Palicraft responds:

Thank you so much for these advices :D

[Violet's Theme]

I like the emotion at the beginning. Might need a bit more reverb. The mix is both quiet and dry, in fact. Some compression would really help this piece feel more full-textured. The progression is good. I like the increase in pace at :40 followed by the strings' entrance. During the middle section, I feel as though there's not much rhythmic variation in the piano part, though. It'd also be nice if the cello had more of a melodic role at some point. Overall, the composition is really strong here. Keep at it, man. ;)