TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[It Will Blow Over]

I applaud your change in style for this round. I think the clap sample is really generic, and could also be a bit stronger in the mix. Luckily, you layer in a snare later on that makes the off beats stronger. More so than your other pieces for the competition, the autotune was rather noticeable here, but it actually seems pretty fitting for the piece IMO. I also like the lyrics themselves. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is one of your better mixes. The synths especially could’ve had a bit more room to breathe, most noticeably the low chords during the refrain. I appreciated your efforts at trying some glitch effects at 2:40 or so, but they came across as a tad cheesy. The piece comes together pretty well, though. The outro is conclusive, and overall the sound design (while occasionally marked by cliches) has a cool, retro vibe. Keep at it, McGorilla42! ;)

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

McGorilla42 responds:

Thanks, TaintedLogic!

Absolutely agree with everything you had to say and I appreciate the criticism. You actually nailed pretty much every issue I felt this track had, so it almost feels good to know that what I thought was wrong, was actually wrong (if that makes sense?).

I wanted this to be more spacious but I ended up cluttering it a fair amount and the mix became a bit confused. I actually really struggled with many of the synths and the section at 2:40 was WAY out of my comfort zone, but I learned a lot doing it :) Surprised you enjoyed the lyrics -- funnily enough, I didn't get around to writing any proper lyrics, so these were a scratch take that I intended on replacing, but I had an idea in mind when improvising the words.

[Make It Easy]

I like the pads at the beginning, along with the little clicks that seem to be build into the sample. The mastering is strong, and the piece has a good sense of atmosphere and progression throughout. The vocals sound rather breathy, to the extent that it started to bother me at around :38 and a couple of other places. I know you’re trying to express some degree of exasperation with the vocals, but I think it’s a little over-the-top when it sounds like you’re sighing after each note. Perhaps that’s a bit harsh, though. You’re certainly not doing that for most of the piece. Anyway, I liked the lyrics themselves, even if the emphasis on “I’m only human” seemed a little cliche. The drop at 1:32 was enjoyable - very spacey and more full-textured than some of your earlier pieces for the competition. I thought you could’ve done a bit more with the drums, though, and that the snare sample had a tad too much treble for my tastes. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed with the lack of new content during the second half of the piece, as well as the underwhelming ending. Still, the melodies are really enjoyable here, and the piece is quite catchy and well-mastered too. Keep at it, Steelside! ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.5/10

steelside responds:

I didn't have time to finish the track the way I wanted to and will be going back to do so. The pads aren't samples, and the clicks are what happens when you have a tight attack with a gated delay and a high pass, as far as my singing, I've always been producer first, lyricist second, and vocalist third, it's just so impossible to get other people to record for you without paying them, feelsbadman.

[Manifest Chaos]

Wow! I love the engaging mood and killer melodies, especially the horns at :35. The texture is a little overwhelming at the beginning, though. I think you would’ve been well-advised to have a bit more of a proper intro in there. The suddenly thin texture at :55, as well as the rushed ending, really didn’t help sell this piece IMO. I think you need to flesh out the structure a lot more here. Instead of overwhelming the listener with a lot of different ideas jammed together in succession, I’d suggest introducing them at a slower pace to keep your listener grounded in a more cohesive structure. I know I’ve said these things before to you, but at this stage of the competition they’re really noticeable. I have a challenge for you: make a piece that you think sounds repetitive and slow-paced. Barring overcorrection, I think that’ll help get you where you need to be. I still enjoyed your piece very much, though. I like your style a lot: it’s engaging, dramatic, and well-orchestrated. Keep at it, CloakedSoup! ^^

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

CloakedSoup responds:

Thanks for the review once again! I'll probably be taking a little break from NG to work on some 'concert' style music; (i.e. stuff to be played by live musicians), so I may not post new music on here for at least a month or two, but I'll be sure to look at that for my next piece I wrote for here! Hell I may just go out and write a Hans Zimmer-esque minimalist piece. Who knows?

[That Feeling (When I'm With You)]

I appreciate that you went for a bit of a different sound with the guitars this time. Perhaps it’s something about the amp? Anyway, I love the climax into :22. The vocals are seriously strong as always. Perhaps the instrumentation changes a tad suddenly at 1:02, but that’s a small detail. I really liked the rhythmic elements and energy of the post-chorus at 1:40, but I think you didn’t quite spit out some of the syllables there (“something” sounds like it got cut off). The instrumentation is a tad wonky, admittedly, but I actually really like the structure. It’s not a long piece, but I feel like you did a lot with the form. I’m hugely impressed that you continue to bang out these fun, energetic, strongly-mastered pieces every 2 weeks, Finn. By all means, keep up the great work!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
2/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.5/10

[Elysium]

I like the warm, rich textures at the beginning. The chord progression is rather interesting. The darker tone the piece develops by :28 attests to that. The intro may have been a bit dragged-out, though. I found myself struggling to identify the direction the piece was heading in until around the 1-minute mark. The harmonic work here is amazing, and the mastering quality is really strong throughout. My main problem with the first 2.5 minutes is that it could use more shape. I’m getting a bit of a sense of climax into 2:30, but I still think you could’ve done more with the dynamics. The mood shift at 2:30 was a bit jarring, but it’s still my favorite part of the piece. I like the percussion and the ominous tone a lot. Still, the structure feels a bit disjointed big-picture. The melodies at 2:37 themselves were enjoyable, but I couldn’t help but think you could do more with the phrasing there. Overall, this piece is clearly excellent. I’ve been nitpicking a lot. Very memorable atmosphere, mood, and sound design. Keep it up, Jordi!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2

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
9/10

[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