TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Final Fight!]

I like the drum fill at the beginning. The melodies are catchy, although the harmonies are a bit too loud and occasionally have some dissonances. The mixing could also use a bit of help - the drums in particular could be a lot punchier, with a tad bit more compression and probably some more careful equalization of the harmonic instruments.

The main melodic phrase (the one that first appears at :04) gets a tad repetitive after a while, and the transitions could have a bit more shape to them here. For example, subtle volume and filtering automations can really help signal to the listener what the “B” melody (:20) or breakdown (1:54) is and make the main melody sound that much more impactful when it comes back in. It would also help to foreshadow the transition at 2:12 a bit more, maybe by fading in some of the instruments or having an intervening rhythmic/atmospheric phrase.

Nitpicking aside, I liked the guitar solo at 1:36 (another effective drum fill transition!), and the breakdown at 1:54 was good for some structural variety. Later on, it would’ve been nice to hear some variation on the main melody, or perhaps the introduction of a new instrument or something, just to give this piece a stronger sense of overarching development. Still, I like the rhythmic content, sound design, and melodies of this piece a lot. Keep at it, New-Milestale, and thanks for coming out to the NGUAC! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

[Love Get!]

I like the heavily filtered groove at the beginning and how it opens up nicely with some more bass and atmosphere at :15. The sound design is airy and pleasant, and the rhythmic content rocks. It gets a tad repetitive after a while, but the group vocals fit in really well, as do the party crowd recordings. The guitar solo at 1:35 is nice, but could’ve sounded a bit more dynamic. I also thought the transition at 2:02 could’ve used a bit more pizzazz, especially given how drawn-out it is. After that, the piece is fairly repetitive. I’d love to hear a bit more harmonic variety at some point, but as you say in the description, working with a vocalist would be a great idea. I like the solos at 3:18 a bit better - they have a bit more movement to them, and they transition into the outro smoothly. Overall, this is a really catchy and well-produced track that could use a tad more variety to maintain interest throughout. Killer sound design though. Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC, Lilithpad! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.5/10

[apeaderos]

I like the heartfelt vocals and the mellow E-piano in the background. The pulsating chords at :26 are nice for some atmosphere, and the piece is coming together reasonably well by around :40. I Google Translate’d the lyrics, and they seem really poetic and beautiful. I can definitely relate to waiting for late trains. :) Would love to hear a fleshed-out version of this. Hope you’re able to keep working on it. It could use a texture that continues to grow richer and culminates in some more dynamic melodies. But for now, I’m liking the sound design, vocal delivery, and harmonies that are here. Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC, kiiri! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.5/10

kiiri responds:

thanks for having me :)

[Don't Let Me Down]

I like the creative use of the police siren sound effect at the beginning. The “copy my skill” vocals are cool, but get repetitive pretty quickly. The transition at :29 was a bit abrupt, and the drop at :57 was catchy, but a bit minimal. I like it when you add a bit more variety to the texture for the second drop at 1:38, and I also like the use of the guitar at 2:07 - it’s probably the most prominent melodic content in the entire piece. The rhythmic syncopations at 2:47 work well, and the smooth outro at 3:15 was also a good compositional choice.

Overall, the production quality and sound design are solid here, but the composition is a bit bland at times. I would’ve liked to see some more harmonic depth and variety, especially during the first half of the piece. That said, it’s clear you’re a talented producer with a strong sense of rhythm and progression. Hope you can polish up this track sometime soon and turn it into the certified banger it has the potential to be. In the meantime, thanks for coming out to the NGUAC, IreadysuckS! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

[Computar dude]

I like the echo-y synths at the beginning and the warm pads that pulse in and out. The piece is a bit slow to progress, but I like the added harmonies and the crisp beat at :44. Just when it felt like the piece was starting to develop a bit more at 1:15, the texture got scaled back into something more minimal. I like the lead riff at 1:36, but I think the piece could cover a bit more ground harmonically and also frequency-wise at times. The breakdown at 3:28 was good for some structural variety, and I like the more prominent bass at 3:36. The two-note riff at around 4:40 that plays just slightly off-beat is a nice touch too. I also like the percussion at 6:00 and the dreamy outro thereafter, even if it was a bit dragged-out.

Overall, there are a lot of great compositional ideas here, but the piece could use some more dynamic melodies and a stronger sense of overarching direction. Still, the production quality is strong, and I really like the rich atmosphere and slow-burning “wave of sound” approach to the texture here. Keep at it, Intikus! I’m glad you came out to the NGUAC, even if it took an email. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8.25/10

[Gilded Ashes]

I like the militaristic drums at the beginning. The brass doesn’t sound very authentic, but the beat is catchy. The mixing could use a tad bit of polishing - once the texture gets a bit busier, the drums start sounding pretty indistinct. Make sure you’ve removed the low-end frequencies in the harmonic instruments with an equalizer. Otherwise, the harmonic content is a bit repetitive, although I like the panning on the high-pitched “responses” to the lead riff at 2:06. The fairly low-pitched melody at 2:40 was a neat compositional choice, but that’s an area where the drums get particularly lost in the mix.

The part at 3:24 sounds a bit minimal, although I like the eerie descending vocal chords and the tempo automation at 3:55. The following minute or so has a nice, high-octane and dramatic vibe, although by 5:05 I would’ve liked to hear some more atmosphere to add some interest during an otherwise very minimal section. At 5:52, I like the low-register melodies, and layering on the higher-pitched ones at 6:23 was a good way of hitting the piece home.

Overall, this piece might benefit from some consolidation of ideas, faster pacing at times, and more melodic variety during some of the longer phrases. Longer pieces like this often either lack cohesion or are overly repetitive, and this one is on the overly repetitive side. I also think the mixing could use a bit of cleaning up in places, as I mentioned above. That said, the sound design won me over by the end, and I really like the rich harmonic content when it does show up. Solid work overall! I can tell you put a lot of effort into this. Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC, InfraredFire! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7/10

[Kingdom of Valoria]

I like the sound design right off the bat. It’s a bit hard to follow the rhythm at first, and the pacing is very fast - it seems like you switch up the texture every 10 or 15 seconds, with slightly different melodic motifs playing each time. The section with the vocals at 1:22 is certainly a highlight - sounds very triumphant and energetic. You also use panning well throughout.

The somewhat somber string section at 2:18 was good for some structural variety, and the injection of drama at 2:42 really channels the emotion well. At 2:58, I wanted to hear the low-register, staccato string line a bit clearer in the mix. At around 3:15, I enjoyed the return of the vocals, and also the prominent brass melodies at 3:40. I wanted to hear a tad more of the drums in the mix during the final climax, but otherwise the mixing holds up pretty well here. The tranquil outro at 3:59 feels a tad out-of-place right after the dramatic flourish immediately beforehand.

Overall, there are a lot of good isolated compositional ideas here, but the piece doesn’t feel very cohesive and, as mentioned earlier, the pacing is very fast. I think it would help if you would consolidate some of your ideas and keep your listener grounded in some core motifs. Otherwise, it’s just a little hard to follow the progression at times. Still, the sound design and melodies are strong here, as is the mixing (outside of a couple of details I pointed out). Keep at it, GDRyuHayabusa1988! Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8/10

[Rising Peaks [NGADM + NGUAC 2025]]

I like the piano arpeggios at the beginning. The transition at :08 felt a tad abrupt, but I like the orchestral sound design and the call-and-response action between the different lead instruments. The texture could use a bit more bass at times, but otherwise the mixing is good too. The vinyl scratch at 1:07 was a fun idea for a transition, although it was still a bit sudden. Might help smooth over that transition if you had introduced the brass at 1:08 earlier. That said, I really like the languid and tranquil feel of that section. The drum fill at 1:50 is cool, and the melodic section at 1:54 fits the flow of the piece nicely, even if it’s a lot of copy-paste from the first melodic section. The vocal chords at 2:45 are nice, and I love how you brought the trumpets back with more energy this time. Not sure the vinyl scratch fits well at 3:36 - something that goofy in a piece like this should probably be a one-off compositional detail in my opinion. Also, the echo-y crash there is a bit much for a transition into such a majestic outro.

Overall, great use of melody and orchestral sound design. The production quality is solid, and the piece has a decent amount of variety to boot. The one thing that really bothers me here is the transitions. The entire arrangement just feels a bit disjointed - more gradual transitions, with “foreshadowing” of instruments that are about to become prominent in the texture, would really help take this piece to the next level. Some of the rough transitions could use a simple crash to help smooth them over, like at 2:45. That said, otherwise the composition here is great - lovely, triumphant-sound adventure music. Keep at it, Fox4567! Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

[FD - Radiant Waters]

I like the pensive vibe at the beginning. Definitely has an ethereal atmosphere. It’s also a bit slow to develop, although the compositional details are enjoyable (like the piano on the downbeat at :16 and the bass slide at :53). At some point, the piece needed some more “foregrounded” content beyond the synth arpeggios to really sell the narrative arc. It’s lovely and well-produced, but it doesn’t quite capture my attention as a stand-alone track should after a while. The vocals at 2:58 are nice, but short-lived, and overall the latter half of the piece feels like it’s missing a big “point of arrival” to either resolve the tension or up the ante. Ultimately, the composition is effective in an understated way, but it could still be bolder, with some dynamic melodies and a thicker texture in places. That said, the production quality is quite good, as are the sound design and atmosphere. Keep at it, ForgottenDawn! Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.5/10

[Under Water (ft. Estrella red)]

I like the cute, dreamy melodies at the beginning. You definitely captured the underwater theme well. Strong vocals at :18 - really soothing, with great vibrato, and I love how they grow more powerful as the piece develops. The crisp drums at 1:11 are nice - the piece really starts to come together there. The breakdown at 1:27 is good for some structural variety, between the synth arpeggios and ghostly pads. Great layering on the vocals at 1:45 - they blend together so well, and once again, the phrasing is great - they lead into the guitar solo at 2:40 very smoothly. Even the guitar seems to gain confidence the longer it plays. Having both vocalists join in for the final phrase was a great way of hitting the piece home. If I had to complain about one thing, it’s that the main melodies in the vocal phrases could use a tad more variety towards the end. But seriously, great work from top to bottom, FireKlaud. This is going to be hard to beat. Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.75/10