TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[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.

[Desertion - Japillow]

I'm so glad I found this! A remix of this has been in my iTunes library for years. The main riff is so catchy, and I love the progression and filtering work, which gives the piece a really smooth flow. The part at 1:28 is probably my favorite. Nice job with the production, too, but I think it's really the sound design that sells this piece. That organ-like main melody synth is just so captivating. My only complaint is that the piece doesn't quite get back to the same energy level in the second half of the piece as was present during the first half. Relatedly, I'm not a huge fan of fade-out endings in general. Still, impressive work overall. :)

[[Dubstep] Falkuma]

I like the distorted atmospheric part at the beginning. The percussive thing that plays on every off beat starting at :13 was a little much. It basically functions like a snare, yet sounds more like a transitory effect. The build-up wasn't bad, but the drop at :53 sounds really distorted. You may have used a bit too much reverb there. Despite all the reverb, the drop is also quite minimal from a harmonic standpoint. I like the mechanical sound effects at 1:54, though. I appreciate the variations on the second drop, but in general this piece has very little in the way of harmonic depth, which is probably my main complaint. It's a well-structured and smooth-flowing piece with some unique sound design, but I think you need more moving notes in there to offer the listener a more memorable harmonic framework. Keep at it, man!

Delerium responds:

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback. The snare sound you talked about was a risk i was taking for some interesting percussion. In general my music is minimal melodically and harmonically, and I think I could improve that. However, I feel like the lack of harmonic depth is what draws people to the focal point of this piece, which is the drop.
Did you notice that some of the percussion and foley pan? I was hoping that would add some effect.
:)