TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Concept Delay]

I like the rhythm at the beginning. Some of the percussion sounds a bit harsh in my ears. I think you either went overboard on the panning, or maybe it's just that the stereo shaping is too wide. Still, cool beat. Very refreshing sound design and killer mood/atmosphere. I'd highly encourage you to flesh out the structure a bit more. Chopped vocals were probably my favorite element of the texture. Keep at it, man!

DJDureagon responds:

I think that i didn't put it through a de esser. Sorry about that. I didn't want to inflict pain with the beat. Thanks for the feedback ill surely take it all to heart.

[Soaring]

I like the bouncy piano at the beginning, but the echo effect on it really makes it hard to follow the rhythm at the beginning. The dreamy pads at :05 were nice, but they sound like a generic Nexus preset. Also, the intricate rhythm of the underlying riff at :16 kinda clashes with the dreamy pads. Seems to me like you could stand to flesh out some of these ideas a little more. If you're going to try to make :16 work, I'd suggest at least layering some drums on top there to keep the rhythm a bit more grounded. Intro could use some toning down of the echoing, but otherwise I like the ascending arpeggios. Hope you keep working on this, man! It has potential.

[Some Bass Funk Shit]

Good sense of rhythm and harmony here. A couple of the instruments sound really dry. In fact, that dreamy guitar riff at :36 is the only one that's noticeably reverberated. A lot of the intervals you play with the piano are pretty dissonant, too. I'd suggest at least changing the voicing of the piano notes to mask the dissonance a little more. Other than that, my main concern is that the piece doesn't have a lot of direction structurally. The underlying piano, bass, and drum patterns never change beyond the addition of some hats midway through. I think you missed a big opportunity to do some more storytelling with this track. Regardless, fun instrumentation and groovy vibe. Keep up the good work!

[[SkiT] Night Bloom]

The bass at the beginning has the tone of a sub-bass, yet I think it's an octave too high to function as such. The bell-like synths at :11 work well, despite a few harsh frequencies in the upper range. The entry of the pads at :33 wasn't foreshadowed very well, and in general I think the texture of this piece is pretty thin and dry. You could use some more reverb, especially on the drums and more atmospheric synths. The pads at 1:27 seem to be distorting the mix a little. I'd suggest being a little stricter with the equalization there. The piano at 1:50 sound pretty dissonant - I think the bassline and the chord progression clash a bit harmonically. Also, up until that point the piece has a sort of ever-evolving texture that isn't very well-grounded. The repetitive nature of the last 1.5 minutes or so of the piece helps on this front, but I think you could still do better to shape your progressions a bit more. Try experimenting more with automation, dynamics, and the like. Overall, there are a lot of cool ideas here - I mentioned the bell-like synths and the impressive drum work - but I think the composition could be a bit stronger. Keep at it, man!

DaMastrofSkiTsees responds:

Thank you so much for your input! I'm not gonna lie, I'm still new to FL so I didn't find a way to further polish the synth. I can't believe I didn't think about adding reverb to the drums. The pad was just a tweaked preset as I spent way too long trying to produce the sound I originally wanted. The dissonance for the piano was intentional but I feel like everything got drowned out at that part :)

[Disco time]

Catchy riff at the beginning. A lot of the drum samples sound really generic, but the kick is really strong and drives the beat forward well. The bass that comes in at :13 kinda clashes with the riff at the beginning, too, and then the chord progression at :30 is a textbook cliché. The melodic riff at :41 is cute, but I think you went way overboard on the reverb there. Despite my issues with the progression, this piece was going in a good direction by the end. I wish you had fleshed out the structure a little more. It doesn't really feel complete. Also, I'd suggest that you leave a little more room in the mix at the top end for those hats. That's another reason why it'll help to tone down the reverb. Overall, not a bad track. Could use a bit more effort composition-wise, but still a fun piece.

[Slowly]

Cute riff at the beginning. The instrument at :09 sounds a bit harsh in my ears, and after :18 the texture gets a little dissonant. That sample at :19 sounds percussive, yet you use it as a pitched instrument here, which I think is a questionable call. After that, you kinda just oscillate between a few patterns to form the entire structural basis for your piece. The result is that the track doesn't have a strong sense of direction, climax, or resolve. I think in the future you should focus on building your track around a more melodic pattern. Right now, it sounds like you have a lot of ideas for riffs that aren't really developed beyond their minimal, staccato-y form, and I think that's a big problem. Still, a lot of the individual riffs are pretty catchy and interesting. It's just the arrangement and composition that's seriously lacking. Keep at it, man!

Gougou responds:

You are right

[Honor Within]

I like the orchestral hits at the beginning and the suspenseful mood they imply. The string instruments sound pretty fake, but overall the melodic content at :17 is well-composed. The snare sounds like you went a little overboard on the high-pass, and I'm also not a huge fan of the instrumentation by around 1:23. Also, when the strings come back in at around 1:40, the mix sounds a bit overly compressed. The source of the distortion there might be something else, though - some more careful equalizing may be in order. Despite the cool mood of the track, I feel like you didn't really do too much with the composition. After the beat comes in, the energy level is very uniform, and the piece was lacking a section of climax or resolve towards the end. Overall, solid work, but I'd love to see you do more with the composition going forward. Keep at it, man!

TenodiBoris responds:

Thank you very much for the review, I needed a skilled ear to hear this, and now I got one :) I have very humble studio, and sometimes I just hit the bottom up of what I think I can do, but, you proved me wrong, yes I could do more on dynamics of the song, some better lift up, and better ending... Again, thank you :)

[Rewind Once Forward]

Cute melody at the beginning. The transition at :44 could've been a tad smoother. You seemed to make a ritardando into it, which can work, but I think the timing could've been a bit better, perhaps with a big up-bow crescendo or something. That said, the section with the violins sounded absolutely beautiful. I also love when the oboe comes in at 1:34. The transition at 2:31 isn't particularly smooth either, but I appreciate the change-of-pace. Up until that point, the piece had gone quite a long time without much of a change in energy. The melody at 3:35 is probably my favorite part of the piece. The ending was well done, too. Nice job making it come full-circle. :) Keep up the good work!

Veneox responds:

I love in depth reviews like this, I will surely work on the transitions to evolve more smoothly. Hope you can review some of my early works as well, thanks. ;)

[JesúsRotela - Lighting]

I love the cutesy synths and the bouncy beat. Reverb is pretty excessive, though. The mix is still rather clean regardless, but I'd be careful about overdoing it if I were you. I like the build-up into 1:03, and how you re-tool the main progression during the section at 1:18. You might've needed a smoother transition at 2:04. The reverb helps smooth it over a lot as it is, but it still felt pretty sudden from a structural standpoint. I also wish you had varied the refrain the second time around, just to give the piece a stronger sense of direction. Overall, though, this is really strong work. I really like the atmosphere, instrumentation, and structuring. Keep up the good work.