TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - Quirky Little Circuit Girl]

---Official AIM review---

I like the suspenseful beginning. The mood is a little ominous at first, but eventually a more upbeat vibe takes over. I wasn’t a huge fan of some of the instruments, including the kick, which was a little heavy on high-frequency tones. Overall, the sound design is quite refreshing, though. The smooth bass, cute staccato-y synths, and warm pads set the mood quite well. I think you could’ve foreshadowed the major structural change at 1:52 a bit better. That said, I like how that section functions structurally within the context of the rest of the piece. You do a great job of creating a huge variety of textures in this piece. If I had to criticize something about the composition, it’d probably be that the most memorable melodic content in the piece is a little back-loaded until 3:06, whereas the beginning ⅔ or so of the piece has a lot of downtempo sections. Still, I also commend you for making the ending seem really climactic by having the most prominent emotional height at the end. Overall, the composition here is really good. The mix is also pretty clean. There were a couple of moments when I wanted the kick to be a bit stronger (1:45, 3:30) but overall the drums were really crisp, strong, and well-varied. There aren’t a lot of things that jump out at me as being hugely problematic with this piece. It’s just a lot of little things. Keep up the good work, TheOneAfromaster!

9.25/10

TheOneAfromaster responds:

Wow, great review! I see where you're coming from in reference to the melody at 1:29, I guess I wanted it to be more of a sneak peak than the main idea (perhaps if I just made it repeat?). As for the section at 1:52, I did hide many segments of that new melody throughout (:25, :35, :58 in the harp) but I can see now that a subtle reference to a large mood change probably wasn't the best strategy, so I'll work on that. Thanks, TL!

[AIM - Ichor Valley]

---Official AIM review---

I like the ominous beginning and the sound design. The textures are somewhat indistinct, with few discernable notes besides the creepy violins in the first minute. There’s little in the way of progression besides a few swells until 1:15, in fact. I really like the vocals, even if they sound a tad robotic in their low register (probably because of the sample, I’m guessing). You certainly nailed the mood and atmosphere. This piece has a lot of suspense, but at some point I wanted to see that suspense released. The song doesn’t quite feel structurally complete otherwise. Similarly, the ending feels a bit sudden. It’s neither a dramatic flourish nor a gradual taming of the Wyverns. Instead, it’s quite ambiguous. Overall, though, this piece is truly captivating. Engrossing mood, haunting vocals, and easily vivid scenery. Piece really puts an image in my head. That’s a good sign. Keep up the good work, SmokeAvery!

8.75/10

SmokeAvery responds:

Hey thanks alot for the review, every year you guys help me improve and i'm thankful for that!

[AIM - out of order]

---Official AIM review---

I like the retro FX and the sing-songy harmonic riff at the beginning. The glitchiness that follows at :10 was a good idea, but I think it would’ve preserved the flow of the piece better if it had a stronger rhythmic pulse. Nice use of thematic elements here (the vocal backing is reminiscent of doo-wop, for example). The lyrics are vastly entertaining, and also have an element of humor. The vocals themselves are also quite strong, and the foreboding dystopian elements of the piece are integrated well into the rest of the texture. I suppose I would’ve liked there to be a bit more connectivity between the first minute and the section at 1:09. The pause at 1:07 was a bit awkward. That said, the piece has a great element of storytelling and even a cinematic flair. That said, the rest of the piece feels a bit disjointed, and the transitions remain rough during the instrumental part (e.x., 2:10, 2:39). You have a lot of cool isolated riffs and harmonic sections that display a range of talents, but the cohesion of the piece as a whole just isn’t there. There was a brief, perfunctory attempt at 3:22 to tie the piece back into the thematic elements of the first minute, but instead it evolves into a blissful synth-heavy part at 4:15. Overall, this is really stimulating work. The mixing and mastering are fantastic. The instrumentation is very well-utilized, even though the orchestral instruments clearly aren’t real. My main concern with this piece is that you left a bit too much for the listener in terms of filling in the story. There are a lot of rough transitions, and a huge variety of textures that don’t quite come together as a coherent whole for me by the end of the piece. The piece has a strong thematic flair, but the execution of that strong character is compromised by the disjointed structure of the piece. Still, this track is a big accomplishment. Keep up the good work, Miyolophone!

9/10

Miyolophone responds:

Thank you for the review, TL! I went into this track understanding that I was taking a massive risk and I understand that it won't pay off for everyone.

I'm not usually one to defend my ideas against reviews, because it usually just makes the creator look like a defensive jerk, but I'd like to note a couple of important things about your criticisms.

The piece is meant to be largely surreal, dreamlike, slowly unraveling. I don't think I would be doing the original art justice if it weren't— it has "surreal" in the tags and you can literally see the figure disintegrating into pixels, becoming formless and incoherent. Also, one of the rough transitions you mentioned was meant to be a bit of a joke— 2:39 is literally the sound of an elevator dropping in, followed by elevator music, but that may not have been communicated effectively enough, haha. If you feel like the piece was too disjointed then that's still fair but I would at least like to eliminate doubt that it was accidental.

In terms of filling in the story, there's not really much to fill in, and in fact you literally filled in more than I provided in the description by noting a "dystopian atmosphere." I never said there was anything dystopian about this situation— it could be an entirely isolated incident involving this character alone, it could be a metaphor for addiction, it could be any number of things— and yet you inferred it without question. II didn't intend for the listener to get anything out of the piece other than what I spelled out above, but you actually went beyond that haha

Anyway, I think I'm edging into defensive jerk territory here, but I appreciate the criticism and I'll certainly keep it in mind for the future. And I'm glad you found the lyrics funny, I was starting to think I was the only one :P

Edit: Sorry about this review response, I've been thinking about it a lot lately and this was a pretty lame thing for me to do lol. All your criticisms were totally valid and I am so thankful that you took time out of your day to give feedback on my track!

[A.I.M 2018 - Kingdom.]

---Official AIM review---

I like the smooth pads at the beginning and the sense of climax into :21. I think you went a little overboard with the reverb at :21 - some of the notes sound a little indistinct as a result. I thought the drums could’ve come through the mix a lot clearer, too. The piece has a very repetitive chord progression, and all of the other harmonic elements, including the “melody” at :50 (which is really just an square, arpeggiated riff) are heavily grounded in those chords with little harmonic variety. The drums get especially lost in the mix during the build-ups (listen at around 1:50), and I think scaling back the reverb and being more careful with the equalization would be a great way of addressing that. As I see it, the first instance of memorable melodic content of the piece is at 1:57. You did a good job of facilitating the dynamism and directionality of the piece in that regard, but I still think the composition is lacking creativity and originality. The mellow coda at 2:20 was a nice touch, though. The structure and transitions are solid for the most part. It’s just that, harmonically, the piece is a little underwhelming, and betrays a lack of complexity. Overall, it’s a catchy and cute piece. It just isn’t particularly unique from a theorist’s perspective, and the mixing and mastering could stand to be cleaned up a bit. Keep at it, ClockbeatAdelony87. ;)

6.5/10

[AIM - across the water]

---Official AIM review---

Very creative intro. The distorted nature FX and somewhat gritty beat mesh well together sound design-wise, yet portray incredibly different moods simultaneously. To be honest, I think you need a stronger transition into :25. I also think the rhodes/pads there take over the mix a bit too much. I’d consider scaling back the reverb, and perhaps considering less sustain. The smooth E-piano at :58 is a nice touch. Instrumentation is really cool here, but most of the piece is quite minimalistic and also has quite the meandering structure. The portamento effects on the pads at 2:25 are really cool, and I love the camera sound effects at around 2:40. I think the mix, while loud, is far from perfect. The drums could’ve been a lot crisper, and you don’t do a great job of using a variety of frequencies in the piece (it’s very mid/bass heavy). Overall, you got full credit for the atmosphere/mood, instrumentation, and originality. I think that some more careful mastering, more melodic content, and more textural fill are needed to get this piece a higher score on my end. Overall amusing piece. Keep at it, DoctaBGL!

7.5/10

[endK - Cotton Glade]

---Official AIM review---

I like the cutesy, upbeat vibe at the beginning and the melodic content that begins shortly thereafter. Bass is especially prominent in this one, too. The texture is a little thin at times, but I love the call-and-response style that occurs between several of the melodic instruments. They just mesh together really well, both rhythmically and harmonically. There’s also quite a lot of structural variety between the sections at 1:17 and 1:51. Production quality is top-notch as usual. Everything sounds really crisp and clear in the mix. The final refrain at 2:35 did a great job of hitting the piece home. I especially like the quirky descending line at 2:51. The sound design is really fun, btw. I think I have to take issue with the ending, though. It came on a bit too suddenly. I think it would’ve been cool to create a slightly more downtempo rendition of the main melody (an echo effect, in a way) as a coda, although that’s just one idea. Overall, strong work yet again. Keep it up, EndK! :)

9.5/10

endKmusic responds:

I was actually quite happy how the ending turned out, since, at first, it was supposed to be 10x worse. >.<
But I do agree that it could've used some more air in between or that I could've slowed down in some way, as you said, to get you kinda more prepared, eventhough I'm pretty satisfied with the result.
It kinda sudden and not sudden at the same time.
That 2:51 lick was my favorite part too!
Thanks for the kind words and nice in-depth review Andrew! :)

[4:18am]

Really moody and distorted texture. The sudden pauses in the piano riff (:17, :34, etc.) don't quite work for me. Otherwise, it's a really flowy piece, but those bits interrupt that flow. Vocals have a lot of passion, and the lyrics themselves are also really good. Sounds more like a one-sided conversation than anything else, which I really like. I guess my only major complaint is that it's not structurally complete. Could also use some additions to the texture to show a little more directionality. Still, I especially like what you've done with the piano and vocals here. Keep up the great work, Steelside!