TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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

[Invisible Magic]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning, and the chimes were a nice touch. The soothing vibe and warm texture are both huge boons. I think the pacing is a little slow, and you may have overdone the reverb on the vocals a tad. I commend you for avoiding 4/4 time. I think you could’ve done a better job of leading into the section at 1:45. The sudden injection of energy there needed some priming. Nice job creating a sense of climax into 2:24, but I still think the pacing is off a bit. The vocals are delivered really rapidly during the entire second half, whereas the entire first half moved by much slower. Perhaps I would’ve liked to see you integrate these two textural details to give the piece a more interesting shape. That said, I think the devil truly is only in the details with this one. You’ve made another feel-good, well-mastered track here, Finn. Nice work! ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.25/10

FinnMK responds:

Thanks for the tips!

[Osman - "Power! Rushing Burstman!" (NGADM)]

The texture at the beginning feels a little too busy, and the piece kinda throws the listener into the middle of the action without much of a proper intro. I also thought the transition at :31 could’ve been smoother. There are a lot of good ideas here, between the instrumentation, melodies, and rhythmic elements. I just think the pacing could’ve been a bit slower so that all of the rapid changes (1:21, 2:15, 2:25, etc.) didn’t seem as jarring. Between the beat and the frantic melodies, the texture was pretty overwhelming for most of the piece. It’s certainly a fun piece with a lot of creative ideas, but the arrangement could use a little more nuance and shape to keep the listener grounded. Overall solid work! ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
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
8.5/10

[Jealousy]

I like the beat at the beginning. Super catchy stuff. The guitar sounds a little thin, and might need a bit more reverb, but overall the texture is really refreshing and cathartic. I love the bass solo at 1:16, and the vocals are really smooth as always. I appreciated the structural contrast at 2:17, and you lead into the final refrain really well. This is a smooth-flowing, well-produced, well-structured, and catchy piece with a fun, upbeat vibe. I personally didn’t notice any crackles or pops, and I commend you for undergoing the extended time and effort to eliminate them. Really strong work here, man. Keep it up!

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
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.75/10

[-Dark Matter-]

Cool instrumentation and quite catchy from the beginning. I think you overuse the sweeps a bit, especially in the first minute, and the mix has a few too many lows. I was really itching for some melodic content by around 1:30, and those melodies at 1:37 were enjoyable. I think you tried to do a little too much rhythmically during that section - the bass line and melody at 1:37 got it each other’s way a bit. I also think you could’ve done more to give this piece a sense of climax and resolve at the end. You kinda defaulted to those bassy breaks at 2:58, and they didn’t make for a very conclusive coda IMO. Overall, though, this piece is really catchy and enjoyable. As always, your sound design and mastering are really good. Keep it up, ThaPredator! ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
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

[Starry Sky]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. A lot of the instruments are pretty generic, including the drums and arpeggio synths. The wandering arpeggios at the beginning were a nice touch, but the piece really gets engaging with the melodies at :55. I think you overused the reverb at 1:46, and the drums are a little distorted as a result. The anti-climax into 2:02 also threw me off a bit. You’re really good at crafting melodies, though - the one at 2:35 was another favorite of mine. I think you could stand to put a little more effort into the equalizing and the originality (especially in the instrumentation). Usually, it’s a good idea to designate distinctive spots in the frequency range for each instrument from the get-go. It seems a bit strict, but I think that could really help the mastering sounds much crisper here. Overall, it’s a very enjoyable piece compositionally, though. Keep it up, Techmo-X. ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
2/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
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

Teckmo-X responds:

Thank you TaintedLogic! I was actually sup rises myself as well with the reverb parts as SkyeWint mentiond. I only heard the loud on going reverb after I played the song on a pair of speakers I had. I knew it was a bit too late to touch things up so I let it be. I think what happened was I was tweaking everything up as a final precaution and I guess I ended up mixing them all up. With the drums I've always been experimenting with new sounds so this was actually pretty new to my knowledge with percussion parts. Thank you for the review and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Simple (ft. Michelle Kim)]

I like the tranquility at the beginning. Nice warm atmosphere and reassuring mood. I still think you could do a better job at getting out the consonants, especially the first one in each word. Whenever you say “hide,” it sounds like “eye.” I appreciate the structural contrast at the 2-minute mark when you stripped the beat away. The production is also really strong here. I think the pacing of this piece is a little slow. Even during the chorus, there was a lot of space between the vocal lines, although perhaps that fits the character of the piece. I thoroughly enjoyed the call-and-response between the two vocalists at 3:35, which in turn leads into the final refrain really well. This is probably your strongest work yet. I love the warm synths and mastering - everything sits really well in the mix. Keep up the great work, Steelside! ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.75/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.25/10

steelside responds:

Yeah I have a weird habit of dropping certain sounds in my vocals that's really hard to unlearn. Feelsbad.

[Last Hope]

I like the emotion at the beginning and the sense of climax into :18. You threw me off a bit with the slow pace and minimalism of the piece starting at :38, but the heroic vibe starting at 1:10 or so is great. Unfortunately, I don’t think this track is quite structurally complete. It needs to have a bit more of a fleshed-out structure, with some stronger melodic content later on. Also, the percussion at 1:30 is struggling to remain distinct in the mix at around 1:30. Overall, the progression and sound design here are great. A little more effort into the mastering, as well as some more careful pacing, would definitely push this piece into the 9-range. Keep it up, man. ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/2
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