TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[Spitfya - Adventure (Original Mix)]

I like the sense of action that the beginning insights. Fun synth riffs in the mid-high range again. The vocals fit into the texture of the piece well while also adding some flavor. My favorite part of the piece was the dense rhythmic texture at 2:05. I also liked how you thickened the vocals for the second rendition of when the guy says "NOW!" That was quite a thematically tasteful touch. This piece sounds especially bouncy and fun. Something about that lead synth makes it seem like I'm about to enter into the ring to fight that mutant narrator. XD

Anyway, so glad you decided to join Newgrounds, man. I probably wouldn't have found you otherwise. I will be buying several of your tracks and also recommending your music to my friends. Keep up the great work!

[Spitfya - Left Behind (Original Mix)]

I like the ominous, wavering, atmospheric synths towards the beginning. Once again, the piece has a really ethnic vibe, yet also a strong sense of climax and intensity. In this piece, I think you could've been a bit more creative with the drop. The texture was completely dominated by that one mid-range instrument. The vocals during the bridge (1:50 or so) add a lot to the piece, though. I also appreciated how you highlighted that weird, jittery effect during the calmer section at 2:20. Piece has more straight-forward structuring than a lot of your other piece, but I really thought the variations at around the 3-minute mark added a lot to the sense of variety. Ending was amusing, too, despite the overly harsh note at 3:48. Great production again. ^_^

[Spitfya - Apocalypse (Original Mix)]

Nice start. More of a regular rhythmic pattern than the other tracks of yours I've reviewed tonight. The distorted vocals are a nice touch too. The texture sounds somewhat exotic, especially with the odd intervals/jumps between notes in the section at :48. I like the more contained, measured sound at 1:27 too. I really like the melodic content in the vocals at 1:36. I think that's one of things that your pieces in general seriously lack: strong melodic content. The glitchy content at 2:42 probably constitutes my favorite part of the piece. The vocals at 3:02 just sound terrifying. You've got the sound design of this piece like a puppet on your strings, man. Compared to a lot of your other tracks, this piece also has a much greater variety of textures, moods, and energy levels, which I applaud. I also really like the synth riff at 4:09. In a way, the ending of this piece was really dragged out, especially with the ping-pong panning and repetition of "you can hear-", but overall the piece comes together really well as the "bridge" of the album between songs that are more uniformly intense and punchy, even if it is the title track. Nice work yet again!