TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Past Midnight (Unpolished)]

The atmospheric intro and sound design already have me engaged. I like the pacing a lot too with the spacious pauses. Sounds like furtive footsteps in a reflecting pool. I wish you had brought out the melodic content at :50 a little more clearly - it sounded very distorted and buried in the mix. I thought the generic open hat you had thrown in with the percussion was a bit of a questionable choice tbh, but it’s still rather subtle and not too distracting. I think you could’ve done more to prime the listener for 1:12 besides the reverse crash, but the melodic content there is strong. The reverb is pretty heavy throughout the piece, although overall the mastering is stronger than you made it out to be in the forums. The tempo changes and/or rhythmic elements were a little disorienting at 1:50, but I really liked the vocal manipulations at 3:00. Overall, my main problem remains the lack of connectivity in the structure. You made an attempt to bring it full-circle towards the end with another refrain and the ascending arps of the beginning, but it came off as a bit desperate in my opinion. This is still really admirable work, though - you deserve a lot of credit for the atmosphere and sound design, and certainly more credit than you give yourself. Keep at it, 1f1n1ty! ^^

Mixing, mastering, and balance

1.75/2

Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety

1.25/2

Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture

2/2

Instrumentation and sound design

1/1

Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness

1/1

Originality and uniqueness

1/1

Overall (how do the above elements interact?)

.75/1

Composite score

8.75/10

[-Mainspring-]

I really like the atmosphere towards the beginning. The breaks at around :30 threw me off a bit, but the progression and rhythmic elements are really interesting. The sound design is really cool in this one. I especially like the melodies at around 2:05. The pacing of the piece feels a little slower than usual for you, and sometimes it can even be pretty minimalistic (around 3:30, for instance). I love the retro-sounding vocal samples and the melodic content, though. Really cool piece overall. The structure feels a bit disjointed, although it comes together pretty well by the end. Keep it up! ;)

Waterflame responds:

Thank you :) Glad to hear it!

[Microcosm]

The warm pads and cute synths at the beginning interact really well with each other. The melodies at :44 are nice, but I think the pulsing chords overpower them a bit. The snare also sounded a bit too thin and hollow somehow - perhaps that's fitting for the character of the piece, but it still bothered me. I also would've liked you to do a little more with the second half of the piece. There isn't much new content after 2:30 or so, and without much variation in the energy it wasn't as engaging as I would've liked. Overall, it's still a really strong piece, though. Nice job with the sound design, atmosphere, and production! :)

[Geoplex - Chimera]

I like the smooth, trance-ish vibe at the beginning. Sound design is very warm and airy, and the melodic content is great too. Nice sense of climax into :57. The drop was certainly engaging, but not overly heavy. The first drop also provides a good segue to the heavier drop that follows at around 1:20. As always, the production quality is really strong. I think you might've needed a stronger transition into 2:41, though, and I also thought the drum part could've been more creative. The atmospheric part at 3:20 (and the melodic section at 3:35) was probably my favorite section of the track. It just had a very soothing and refreshing sound design. Even with the drop later on in the piece, the piece maintains its blissful character, and the outro at 5:15 was good for adding a little more emotional appeal. Fantastic work overall! Insta-fave and download. Keep up the good work, man! ;)

Geoplex responds:

Thanks man! Really appreciate the detailed feedback :) I don't disagree about the transition at 2:41, while it feels fine to me it was definitely something i was thinking might be problematic while making this :p

[Psybot - Enhanced]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the atmospheric ornaments. The first minute or so is a little generic, and the beat could use a little more creativity. I liked it better after the synths started to fade in at :50 or so. The melodic content at 1:00 is enjoyable, and the tranquil section at 1:35 was really smooth and pretty. I wasn't a huge fan of your clap sample - sounded a bit cliché - but you did a good job of transition back into the melodic section at 2:45. One of the strongest elements of the piece is the mastering, though - everything blends really well, and sounds clear and crisp in the mix. The piece comes together really well with the final melodies at 4:05. I think the composition here is a fair bit stronger than the last piece I reviewed. Keep up the good work, Psybot! ^^

Psybot responds:

Wow! Thanks alot for the review! I think I went for the cliche style because I wanted to get a better grip on the mastering of the song. Hopefully I will get a better touch of my own style at the next project. I love these reviews! I would really love to hear what you think of my next piece. :)

[Psybot - first trial]

I like the tranquil mood at the beginning and the sense of climax into :20. I think your mixing has improved a lot since when you posted more regularly. The chord progression is a little cliché, as is the sound design, despite the refreshing mood and atmosphere. The breakdown at 1:45 was good for some structural relief, but I think there could be a lot more variety in the composition overall. The track has a good sense of finality by around 2:30. Cool track! ;)

[NGADM 2017 Quarterfinals Podcast]

Aha! Instantly recognized Finn's piece from last round. The vocals got a little distracting, though. I think it would've been best to ask him to send you a version without the vocals. Thanks again for the shout-out, haha. Well-produced podcast, though. Good balance between the music and talking, despite the distracting vocals. The other piece that pops in at about 4:40 was also a good fit for the podcast. Also, tiny detail: I suspect McGorilla is pronounced "emcee gorilla," but I'm not entirely sure. I'd certainly be curious to see @McGorilla42 clarify this. Regardless, happy to see these podcasts live on! Looking forward to the next round of pieces. ^^

ChronoNomad responds:

Aw, yeah! Well, this continues to be a rather spur of the moment thing, and getting it all nailed down in a single sitting is my goal. That said, just sitting and waiting for a response, let alone any actual music just isn't my style.

Interestingly enough, my initial thought was actually to use Battle Born by bassfiddlejones & joshgawaldomusic, mostly because it has a really nice Audio Deathmatch vibe, but since that's not even available for download and I don't feel like waiting for goodness knows how long for a possible green-light, I figured I'd just move ahead with another amazing track that actually WAS available!

So I took Finn's Lavender Air Balloon track and relegated the volume to what I believe is a very doable 20%. While I know just what you're saying about the vocals being a bit distracting, hey--maybe it will inspire people to listen more than once to get the full effect! Nothing wrong with that.

Oh, and regarding the pronunciation of McGorilla42, I asked him about that over Discord a while back. Rather surprisingly, it's not actually "emcee," which gives him something of an edge when there are already so many folks named MC this and DJ that in the Audio Portal. Fun little factoid.

Thanks again for listening, and I really appreciate your feedback! I personally feel that this is my best podcast yet, but finding that elusive "perfect balance" between talk and music is an ongoing journey. Also really happy to hear that you enjoyed my little podcast filler jam and found it to be a good fit.

Viva la Podcast!

[Anki & Kabuki - Come Alive]

I love the relaxed vibes at the beginning and the vocals at around :18 - the intro sets the mood really nicely. Great sense of atmosphere, and I like the cute melodies at around :35. Nice job with the climax into 1:17, even if the intro was a bit dragged out. Production quality is really strong here, and the melodies are quite enjoyable as well. I liked the fun breaks at around the 3-minute mark, but I think you overdid them a bit to the point that the piece lost its flow. Overall, really solid track though. Keep up the good work! ^^

[Creo - Dimension]

Fun sax solo, which in turn blends well with the pensive synth patterns. Like the pulsing texture at :36. I think you could've done a little more to highlight the melodies in the sax at around the 1-minute mark, but you certainly kept the energy up. Composition could've been a bit more creative too, but overall I like it. Pretty cool sound design and solid production quality. Keep at it, man! ^^

[Colour in Greyness]

I like the mysterious mood at the beginning, and the rain FX is a plus. The thin-sounding synths at around :35 were a nice touch. By around 1:15, the mix doesn’t feel quite as spacious as it could. You might want some stricter equalizing or perhaps just reworked volume levels, because the pads and FX overwhelm the moving notes until around 1:45, and I think you could’ve done more with the melodies at that. There are some cool rhythmic elements to the piece at around the 2-minute mark, and the minimalism there works well to offer some structural relief. It’s a really cool piece overall. The sound design and atmosphere are amazing, and overall the structure and flow are good too. I think my main problem here is that you could’ve done a bit more with the composition - there’s a lot of tension built up in this piece, and it never really has an emotional height to hit it home. That said, I thought your combination of ambient and DnB was really creative. Definitely gets full credit for atmosphere and originality. Keep it up, Adjeye. ;)

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