TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[My Firefly]

I thought the cascading synth at the beginning was a bit of a lazy way to start the piece, but by :05 the piece has a really smooth, refreshing vibe. The vocals at :35 are enjoyable, although I thought the lyrics were pretty generic. The melodies in the middle section of the piece are great, and I thought the slap bass was a nice touch. You overuse the crashes a bit, though. At 2:11, the vocals seem a bit strained, and then come in a lot louder at 2:13, which was a tad jarring. The chopped vocals at 3:05 constituted my favorite part of the piece. The ending might’ve been a bit rushed, and I suppose I would’ve liked to see you vary the vocals a bit more. Overall, it’s quite an enjoyable piece, and I think the mastering is cleaner than in your last track. Good job, guys! ^^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.75/2
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

johnfn responds:

thanks TL! cu next year ;-)

.. THO HOW IS A XYLO SOLO NOT ORIGINAL WTF

[Gladiolus]

I like the emotion at the beginning. The intro dragged on for a bit long, but the vocals are hauntingly beautiful as always. The lyrics themselves are also good, but something about their pacing threw me off a bit. The delivery of “my love” at 1:25 and “does she even notice me” both felt a little rushed, especially in the context of the long melisma on “I wonder.” That’s a pretty small detail in context, though. I thought the interlocking vocal lines at 1:39 was a fantastic idea, although admittedly it was a little hard-to-follow without staring at the lyrics on the page. I absolutely love how the lyrics tell a story, while at the same time the structure of the piece seems a bit too meandering. I also thought that your voice sounded a little too breathy at times, like at “you are” (2:30) and “man” (3:23). Still, this content is beautiful and refreshing. You’ve really capitalized on the simplicity here to give the piece a lot of emotional appeal. Keep it up, Jordi! ;)

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
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

[A Dude Named Grant]

Hey, I know that dude! I love the sound design, spacey mix, and crisp drums. The rhythm is a little hard-to-follow, though, and the harmonic patterns come in these frantic bursts for the first 45 seconds or so that make it a little hard to channel the energy. I was also a little thrown off by the sudden change in energy level at the 1-minute mark. You do a great job of using the entire frequency range throughout, and I think the melodies at around 1:45 are really strong. The transition at 1:59 is still not quite so smooth as I would’ve liked. I think the production is especially clean and clear here, but the somewhat thrown-together arrangement seriously detracts from the piece IMO. I think you knew that was coming too. Overall, it’s a cool piece with some nice melodies, sound design, and mixing. Keep at it, 1f1n1ty. ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
9/10

Onefin responds:

Ah TL how I may never satisfy you :P

[Circutronics - NGADM]

The synth at the beginning was cool, but had a tad too much reverb. Between :30 and 1:30 or so, the pacing is really fast. It seems like you change up the texture a lot every 10 seconds, and quite predictably every 4 bars at that. I think you’d be better off gradually leading up to the chorus at 1:31. I also thought the clap at 1:31 sounded a bit too thin, with not quite enough low-mids. Some layering or perhaps just different EQ’ing could really help give the beat a little more punch there. Overall, the arrangement just needs a little more connectivity. Crossfading could potentially help you a lot here. There are just a few too many moments where the instrumentation is very different on either side of a transition, and that bothered me. That said, I’ve been tough on you in this review. The sound design is really cool, and I love the tension and apprehension that pervade this piece. Well-crafted mood, atmosphere, and melodies, too. Keep at it, Spadezer! ;)

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

Spadezer responds:

Thanks TaintedLogic. It sounds like you enjoyed which is good enough for me. It's not to say I'm ignoring your observations, they're things I haven't thought about.

Thanks alot and godspeed with the rest of the judging.

[Just a Little Improv]

Whew! It's about time I check out some of your personal work again. This is beautiful, of course. I especially like the suddenly tranquil mood at 1:07 and the contrast between the ascending and descending lines, both of which you feature a lot in the piece (beginning, 1:02, 1:32, 4:12, etc.). I also thought the call-and-response technique you use at around 2:10 was excellent. The spacious melodies at 3:15 are another highlight. The more energetic section at around 4:00 helped give the piece a "last hurrah," so-to-speak. I was a little thrown off when you cut off the chord at 5:42. I always think it sounds more conclusive if you let it ring, especially in a relatively spacious piece like this one. I also don't think you thought through the piece thematically quite as much as with some of your other improvs, but it's hard to say that detracted from my enjoyment of it. I'm always impressed with your improvs, Ale, and this is no exception. Great work! :)

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I like 1:07 too, just happened by accident, as most things in this improv :D
This one is more major based than most of my other music, so that might be a refreshing fact :)
The call-response thing isone of the most common techniques that almost never goes wrong. Kind of like descending basslines!

As for the ending cutting of, I get what you mean. At the same time, it's just a realistic element there to show it's a performance. I didn't hold down the pedal anymore, and raised my fingers :p
I'm more unhappy about the chord I decided to end with, as that's the natural choice, and I should've done something more unexpected xD

Nice catch with the lack of a theme. For some improvs, I start with a simple theme or idea. For this one, I really just played whatever, from start to finish; no planning.
Thanks a lot for the review, as always! :D

Good luck with judging this round (oooo.OOOO) (It's a spider)!

[mistmurk + 3MBER - Utopia]

I like the spacious mix and synths. The snare sample wasn't my favorite, though. The progression is a little slow, but the vocal samples at around 1:05 set the mood nicely. Good job with the atmosphere and sound design here. I'm liking the sense of climax into 2:12. Could've used some stronger melodic content throughout, especially earlier in the piece. The transition at 2:47 seemed a bit jarring, but overall the piece has a nice flow and shape. Mastering is probably my favorite element of the piece. Everything just sounds really clean, and you do a good job of using the whole frequency range for most of the piece. Structure felt a little dragged-out, but the atmosphere makes up for that. Overall solid work, guys. ;)

[HEY! [Glitch Hop]]

I like the blissful mood and melodies. The lead might have a tad too much treble, but overall the frequencies are really well-balanced in the piece. The chopped vocals at :37 were well-done, and I like the sense of climax into 1:10. The chord progression is a little cliche, and the first minute or so does seem a tad dragged out, but the upbeat vibe of the piece is really engrossing. The melodies during the breakdown at 2:10 were enjoyable, and the production quality is really strong. The variations on the melody at 3:12 are really refreshing, although the piece is a tad repetitive overall. I liked the tempo automations at the very end, and the piece comes together really well. This is a really strong track, guys! Keep up the good work. ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.75/2
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

Zelgeon responds:

Thanks for the review! In the updated version of this track we've fixed many things, we made sure to lower the high end of the leads. What do you mean with "the first minute or so does seem a tad dragged out"?
We made the song repetitive on purpose because we wanted to make a really catchy song this time :D
That thing at the final wasn't automations, it was made manually in the piano roll! ;)

Thanks for not disqualifying us again c:

_Adrián, Zelgeon member #2/2

[Shell]

I like the distorted puttering at the beginning and the tranquil guitar at :06. The vocals are powerful, but a little too dry. I’d suggest using some more reverb and chorus effects. The lyrics themselves are also rather powerful and entertaining. I think you would’ve been well-advised to add a little more to the instrumentation, though - it lacks variety and direction until around the 2-minute mark, and could use some drums, bass, and other harmonies to give it some more drive and contrast. I like the new direction the piece is taking by around 2:47, but at the same time I think you could’ve integrated the two halves of this piece a little better. Your production quality has improved a lot since last year, but I still wish the drums and acoustic guitar came through a little clearer at 3:33. The solo at the end was very well done - intense, soulful, and climactic. Overall, this is really strong work. I love the energy and the 90s rock vibe. Despite the slow pace and dry vocals, the piece comes together well. Keep it up, Verbicidemusic. ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
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
9/10