TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The rise of the machine]

I like the tranquil mood at the beginning, as well as the ominous tint. The progression with the heavy guitars is enjoyable. I like how you contrasted the energy and passion throughout the piece, although the slower part at :58 lacks a strong sense of direction IMO, and also drags on a bit long. Much of the piece is pretty minimalistic, despite the appeal of the atmosphere and mood. The rhythmic elements of the piece are good, but I definitely think you needed another melodic section towards the end to hit the piece home. The repetition of the riff at the beginning wears on me after a while, and the piece doesn’t really feel climactic or conclusive by the end. Strong start, but this needed more effort put into the composition. Keep at it, InYourDreams! ;)

8/10

[Dust Sweeper]

All of the hits during the first 10 seconds are a little cheesy, although I did enjoy the rhythmic elements at :10. I LOVE the lyrics - they have an air of mystery about them, yet they feel so relatable. I’m curious as to what exactly they refer to, but if you don’t want to share that’s fine. I commend you for trying something so new to you stylistically. Your voice is great - the vibrato is amazing, and it has a cool retro vibe. Sometimes the vocals feel a little strained, though, like you ran out of breath. I think the mix might need a little cleaning up here, too. The drums need a bit more pop, and lose some distinction during the refrain at the 1-minute mark. I also wasn’t really sure the synth at :47 had a place in the texture here. The instrumental was a bit of a hodgepodge in general, actually, but again, I commend you for taking some risks in that regard. I think you could also use more bass in the piece, especially during the verses. After not much textural variety for the first couple of minutes, the pace changes almost without warning at 2:45. That drum fill didn’t quite do enough to foreshadow it IMO. I did enjoy the frantic melodies there, though. The tempo automations at 3:40 or so are amusing, but I would’ve liked to hear you do a little more with that final refrain at 3:55, just to give the piece a stronger sense of development. You’ve clearly put a lot of effort into this piece, but unfortunately I don’t think a lot of the risks you took here paid off for you. I think my favorite elements of the piece are actually the rhythmic elements, most notably the creative drum part and pulsing solo at 2:45. Overall solid work. Keep at it, LunacyEcho! ;)

8/10    

LunacyEcho responds:

=> first 10 seconds =>

Haha that was inspired by "404", an NGADM '14 track by SkyeWint and camoshark!

=> lyrics =>

Your interpretation is up to you ;)

=> mix =>

Yeah I think that's the biggest downside to the track—I mixed with 1. terrible earphones and 2. no knowledge on how to do a good mixing :P

=> changes without warning 2:45 =>

I was wondering whether to lead into that more, or just to jump into it. I eventually settled on this because I was modeling it off of prog rock bands like Rush or Dream Theater, who do this kinda thing rather frequently.

=> final refrain =>

That's another thing I was considering doing! I was going back and forth about whether or not to play the chorus one more time with some variations, but eventually decided the song had dragged on enough as it was.

Thanks for the review, and apologies for responding a month late! :) And keep up the great work you're doing for NGADM :D

[Getting Started]

I like the sense of climax into :13 and the sound design. Good use of the entire frequency range here. The piece has a dreamy, atmospheric quality that works well with the upbeat mood. I like the way the riff at 1:08 gradually climbs up the scale. Still, I really think this piece needed to be fleshed out more. Some stronger melodic content would also have helped a lot. Despite the atmosphere, it has a lot of pizzicato-y elements without many legato sounds for contrast. The loop is smooth, although overall I think this piece is lacking compositionally. The production quality is high, but the structural and arranging elements needed some more effort. Keep at it, Noisysundae. ;)

7.75/10

[War and Peace]

The nature FX at the beginning was pretty quiet, and I think the (electric piano?) at :20 has a bit too much attack. The tranquil mood and atmosphere were great, though. The vocals were amazing, of course. Very smooth and reassuring - they fit the mood well. The thematic elements of the piece are really enjoyable, too - avoiding conflict in a deathmatch, while getting samples from your opponents. :)  The minimalism adds to the emotional quality of the piece, yet by around the 2-minute mark I was itching for a little more textural fill. The lyrics themselves are quite strong, though, and I love the melodic content in the piece. I think the part at 4:20 is my favorite (no marijuana reference intended). The vocal riffs there were just really calming and flowy. I did think that there were a couple of transitions that might’ve needed a little smoothing over in the piece, such as 4:45. The sense of climax, however subtle, the piece has at 4:45 is great, though. I think you could’ve done more to add some more emotional heights and energy to the piece at times, especially since it’s so long, but overall this is stunning work. Great job with the atmosphere, mood, and instrumentation. I couldn’t help but admire the production quality as well. Keep it up, Etherealwinds! ;)

9/10

[Colossal Encounter]

I like the drama at the beginning, and the vocals fit the texture well. The progression is a little slow, and I think you needed some stronger transitions at some points (1:11, 2:13, etc.). The melodic content was enjoyable, but overall I think you could’ve done a lot more compositionally with this piece. It has a great cinematic vibe, but the harmonic work is a little underwhelming for the first minute and a half or so. I also thought the percussion could sound a bit more distinct and powerful in the mix. Overall, it’s a cool track that could use a lot more shape and flavor. Keep at it, AceMantra! ;)

8/10

AceMantra responds:

I agree with all your points. The mindset I had with this piece was more "get it done" rather than "make it the best I possibly can" and it shows. While they are both important, a healthy balance of both is ideal.
Thanks for the review! I will certainly keep your feedback in mind for future compositions. :)

[Slowing Down]

I like the quirky atmosphere at the beginning and the blissful mood. Stellar sound design. The vocals are really smooth, and I love the breaks at :45. The production quality is superb. Sometimes the articulation on the vocals could be clearer, but the cutesy nature of the vocals at 1:02 really won me over. Well-structured and smooth-flowing piece. I love the percussion at 2:05, and the chant-like vocals at 2:27 fit in really well too. You might’ve needed a smoother transition into 2:45, but overall the progression is great. Honestly, this piece probably has the best mood of any piece I’ve reviewed for the ADM so far this year. It actually made me laugh out loud because it was so cheerful and quirky. Really strong work here, Garlagan! ;)

9.5/10

garlagan responds:

thanks for the feedback tl!

[Gottcha]

Catchy piece. The chord progression is a little cliche, as are several of the synths. The descending synth pattern at :55 was a little absurd, and the (drop?) at 1:24 was very minimalistic, and could’ve used some more high frequency tones to fill out the texture. You also needed a stronger transition at 1:49. The production quality is strong, although I really needed to hear some stronger melodic content and more development in the 2nd half of this piece. It has a bit of a stagnant structure, and overall is rather generic. There are some strong attributes of the atmosphere and rhythmic components, but I think this piece needed a lot more effort put into the composition. Keep at it, JaThu! :)

6.25/10

JaThu responds:

First of all thanks, and yes, it's mostly a basic piece with not much love. That's all in fact, thanks for the review and ofcourse I'm going to expand this later, make it more "songish"

[A Whisper From The Heart.]

I like the emotion at the beginning, especially with the floaty piano synth arpeggios. It certainly has a simplistic texture, but the simplistic texture gives it a lot of emotion too. The melodic content is strong here, and it’s very flowing and structurally coherent, which is good. I think you could’ve put more effort into the composition, despite the emotionally driven simplicity, but overall you won me over with this won. Keep at it, ColinMuir. ;)

8.5/10

[Till We Fall Again]

I like the groovy guitar riff at the beginning. The drums are crisp and well reverberated. The vocals have a lot of character, and a great frantic energy. My only complaint about the vocals is that they weren’t loud enough in the mix, in fact. The production quality of the piece is strong, but I also thought the drums could be louder, especially during the chorus. I like the lyrics themselves a lot too. I also really enjoyed the breakdown at 2:50 - added some nice structural relief amidst the frantic energy of much of the rest of the piece. Nice job with the structuring, melodic content, and guitar work. Really strong work overall here. Keep it up, JacobCadmus! ;)

9/10

[Chordive]

I like the smooth synths at :03, but I was a little confused as to the role of the vocal sample at the very beginning. The progression is a tad slow, and the clap sample is a little cliche. I like the prominent role of the hi-hats here, but I wanted to hear a few more moving notes than I did. By around 1:30, I was really itching for some melodic content. I appreciated how you broke down the drum beat at the 2-minute mark or so, but it really didn’t help fill out the texture, which you badly needed. That said, I’m impressed with the production quality and rhythmic elements of this piece. I also liked the subtle chopped vocals at 3:37 (and other places). The composition is just very lack-luster, which is a significant problem. Good job with the sound design overall, though. Keep at it, Waidmann! ;)

6.75/10