TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AIM - A delicate cycle]

---Official AIM review---

I like the tranquil mood at the beginning and the cute synth riffs. The vocal sample at :13 works pretty well, too. The entry of the beat at :32 was a tad sudden. I think you could use a riser or something to smooth over that transition. I also think the mix could be a lot louder in the piece. I might suggest some harder compression. The beat itself at :32 is really creative rhythmically and features some great sound design choices, notably the hi-hats. The spacey, lower-energy bit at 1:03 is also a plus. I like the camera FX at around 1:20. Just be careful not to overuse it (same goes for the phone alarm at 2:44). Hi-hats really stand out as driving the piece rhythmically. Again, I’d like to hear a stronger transition into 1:52. Despite the patchwork of very harmonically sound riffs here, I think you could still have some stronger melodic content. You don’t really develop a lot of the riffs (like the one at the very beginning) much as the piece goes on, and the climactic sections (:32 and 1:52) feel heavily chordal in nature. Still, you clearly have a great sense of harmony and rhythm. Overall, this piece is strong. Keep at it, DarkHorseOrchestra!

8.5/10

[Misshapen Pearl]

Beautiful minimalist strings at the beginning. I love the contrapuntal nature of it too. The intricate rhythm of the flute at 1:05 didn't suit the texture entirely well imo, and the next minute or so is largely characterized by rapidly shifting foreground textures (first flute, then strings, flute again, then organ, vocals, etc.). I just thought the piece lost its sense of directionality a tad in the middle section there. That said, the piece comes together really well by around the 2-minute mark, and I love the dark answer by the cello and bass at the very end. Overall very strong stuff. I think your style has changed quite a bit since 2007 judging by this, but this piece still has a great dramatic and organic vibe. Keep it up, Phonometrologist!

Phonometrologist responds:

Hey TL, you're quick. I agree with you on the criticism. If this piece that I were to conjure up was purely without any prior influences, I probably wouldn't choose to add the flute part. But since it was part of the original, it's married to the music and I'm not about to object now to the odd pairing. Originally I used one of Bach's flute sonata's as a guideline since Whirlguy wanted a snippet of music inspired by the Baroque period. Hence the title.
Thanks for stopping by once more.

[Entirely Elated]

I like the upbeat vibe at the beginning and the hi-hat rolls at :09. The quirky chopped vocals at :22 suit the texture well, and really contribute a lot to the climax into :34. One criticism I have is that the snare sounds a little thin, with a lot of top-end frequencies and not much else. Excellent job with the melodies at around the 1-minute mark, and the saxophone at 1:34 was really refreshing. The drops are really cool. Very refreshing sound design and intricate rhythmic design. During the middle section of the piece (1:00 to 1:53 or so), I think you tried to cram in just one too many melodic ideas. Consolidating some of your melodic ideas in this piece could help give it a bit more cohesion. Production quality is really solid here, though, and I like the dreamy ending of the piece a lot. Overall great work! Fave'd.

MrKoolTrix responds:

Thanks for the feedback, TaintedLogic! :)

[See What Sticks]

I like the busy beat at the beginning. The instrument that comes in at :05 at the top of the frequency range sounds a bit harsh, and its pitch pattern is pretty intricate for what seems to be a more percussive instrument. I'd suggest decreasing its presence in the mix a bit at the very least. The bass fill at :44 works quite well as a transition. Once you get to 1:04, I think the bass is distorting the drums a bit, though. The beat just isn't as crisp and present as before. I'd suggest looking into some equalization methods to fix this. I'm glad you tried something new at 1:39. Harmonically speaking, it could've felt a bit more connected to the previous section, but the synth fill at 1:37 helps smooth the transition over a little bit. Overall, I really like the instrumentation here, and the melody at 1:51 is really fun and cute. Nice job making the piece feel climactic once you get to 2:02. I thought the part at 2:16 was a little overwhelming, especially given how suddenly you increase the energy and thicken the texture. It's good that you made some effort to write a climactic and conclusive ending, but I think the vocals could've been a bit more polished, and they also compete for attention with a lot of the other elements too much. Still, the panning at the end is enjoyable, and you really show off your good sense of rhythm in this track. Overall, this piece is clearly a lot stronger than the last piece of yours I reviewed. I'm glad you were able to put so much effort into it. It really paid off. Keep up the good work, man! :')

[Soulbreaker]

I like the gritty texture and fun melodic riffs at the beginning. The rhythm at :13 was a little hard to follow, but it came together a bit better at :24. It still sounds rather dissonant until :48, though. The piece also could've used some percussion or something to add some texture. I think 1:15 is my favorite part. The arpeggios there just feel right, and the subtle variation at 1:40 was a nice touch. You're right that the quality isn't great, but I still appreciate the composition. Keep at it, man!

[Welcome to the Creepy]

The little oom-pah pattern at the beginning is nice. Feels almost melancholy in a way. The reverb helps emphasize a kind of sadness here. The rhythm is very square, yet the piece has a real human quality to it in the progression. I would've liked to see you use some more dynamics, phrasing, and humanization on the instruments to amplify the emotional appeal. It's a simple piece as it is, and so probably needs a bit more variation along such parameters to keep my attention. Still, nice work with the harmonies and atmosphere. Ritardando at the end was also a plus. Keep up the good work!

LumpyDumpyBuuu responds:

Thank you very much for commenting and all comments will be helpful.

[Virtual Riot - Stargarden (Aelon Remix)]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. The quirky lead is also a big plus. The "reset" at :28 was a nice touch structurally. The build-up at :45 is good, but you have gone a bit too far with the reverb there. The drop at :56 is pretty amazing. That bass is absolutely scrumptious, and you got really creative with the rhythms and automations there. My main complaint here is that the second half of the piece is very similar to the first half of the piece, save for the drop. I really would've liked to see you vary that melody in the subtle, cute lead at 1:32 instead of just repeating it from the first half. I also would've liked to hear another point of climax towards the end that mirrored the level of catharsis of the first drop. Still, hard to complain about much here. Excellent atmosphere, instrumentation, and structuring. Production is solid as well. Keep up the good work!

Aelon responds:

Thanks!

[KChG - Phosphorescent]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the synths. Good sense of atmosphere and direction. The transition at :13 was neat, yet didn't disrupt the flow too much. Nice work with the crisp hi-hats and overall instrumentation, too. The mix is pretty clean, and the snare really packs some punch. The quirky, hollow-sounding snare at 1:24 is especially cool. The transition at 1:52 was a bit lazier with the generic 4-snare roll, but overall I thought this piece was rather smooth-flowing. Nice job with the automations too. The section at 2:33 has a really ominous vibe, but a couple of great details with the clicks in the beat and the atmosphere. It might've dragged on for a bit too long, but overall that section really gave the piece some shape and helped you gear up for the final section. The piece never really reached the emotional height I expected at the end, but you certainly kept up the excellent mood and atmosphere of the song 'til the end. Great work overall. Really fun stuff with the sound design. Keep it up!

KChG responds:

Thanks dude! I appreciate the criticism. I wanted to craft the end into a space feel kind of like you’re stranded in a ship or something

[Ra's Wrath]

The "ding" at the beginning was a good idea, and I like the automation at :04 too. The two riffs playing at :06 kinda clash with each other, and in general the sound design is pretty stale and lacks variety. The return of the "ding" at :54 wasn't anticipated very well. The main pads you use at 1:06 (and throughout) sound pretty muddy in the lower frequency range, yet at the same time the texture is both minimal and dry for most of the piece. Some reverb might help, but I think the main problem is that you need instruments that blend well together and sit better in the mix. The transition at 2:12 was good, although by that point the overarching structure is beginning to feel quite repetitive (i.e., ding, then automated fade-in, then the introduction of another new riff). I also thought 2:40 sounded straight-up dissonant harmonically, and I'm not sure that's what you were going for. You have a lot of different riffs and patterns sprinkled throughout this piece, and tbh it's not immediately clear to me how they're related harmonically. I'd suggest consolidating some of these riffs and fleshing out the ones you think are the best. Right now, you have a boatload of ideas bridged by the "ding" transitions, and I think it's a bit overwhelming from a structural standpoint, despite the minimalism in the texture for most of this piece. I've been really tough on you in this review, but I think my criticisms have two main points: 1) the instrumentation doesn't really accomplish much. It's a generic, gritty-sounding synth that doesn't really help channel the mood or anything. You might want to experiment with simply using more instruments in your piece with the same notes before anything else. AND 2) The structure doesn't feel very cohesive. You've tried to take the piece in a lot of different directions, and all your ideas are simply separated by dings. The piece would be more effective if you had some more repetition and phrasing instead of sudden changes. Don't get me wrong: the piece isn't all bad. I like the ominous descending line at 2:01 and the low percussion that's in the background for much of the piece (e.x., 1:04). Hope this review helped you! Keep at it, man.