TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[O Mysterium]

I like the air of mystery at the beginning. The high-pitched percussion sounded a tiny bit harsh. I’d suggest toning down the treble a bit. Overall, the sound design is really cool, though. The piece is a little slow to progress, but the melodic content at :33 is really refreshing and smooth. I wasn’t a huge fan of the vocals, tbh. They sounded really unnatural, and the pronunciation really betrays that (e.x.: “watuuuurr” at 1:17). The piece has a soothing flow, but I think you could’ve done a lot more to give it some shape and also flesh out the structure. The lyrics themselves are really good, and I love the melodies at 2:06. The atmosphere and sound design are probably your strongest assets here. The composition just needed a bit more variety in the energy and dynamics to keep me engaged. Keep at it, SleepFacingWest! ;)

8.25/10

[The Pursuit (NGUAC 2017)]

I like the funky vibe. The mix is a little quiet, but you clearly have your good sense of rhythm on display. The composition is what’s really lacking here, though. It just needed a stronger sense of direction, as well as some melodic content. You have some melodic content in there at the 1-minute mark, but it was so quiet - that’s a balancing problem that really constituted a missed opportunity IMO. I also thought you could’ve done a better job throughout the piece of using the higher end of the frequency range. Good start with the refreshing mood and instruments, but the underwhelming composition is really holding this piece back. Keep at it, Rekuiem! ;)

6.75/10

Rekuiem responds:

Thanks so much for the review and yea I totally agree with everything you say there, and well, not that I have an excuse but I really could have done a lot more with this. I'm glad that the underlying efforts were able to shine through despite many of the things that fell short on my end. I actually really wanted to lay down a lot more with it but I think I got too worked up into starting several different pieces at once that I deservedly missed the mark with this piece.

I plan to use all the feedback and overwhelmingly encouraging results of the contest and what I learned about time management as well as my strengths and weaknesses to begin producing some of the best content I have to date. Thank you so much for having me be a part of this experience.

1 love,
rek

[Unfinished NGUAC track]

I like the tranquil mood. Cool use of rhythm in the drums. The sound design is enjoyable, too. I loved the puttering sound at 1:22. Naturally, it needs a bit more of a sense of direction and progression, as well as some melodic content. Makes for a good mood-setting ambient piece, but as a stand-alone track more is to be desired in the composition. Keep at it, Rahmemhotep! ;)

6/10

SoulSecure responds:

Yeah, it ain't done, but I figured it'd be better to submit what I had than to just drop out.

[Identity wash away]

The experimental sound design and mixing elements at the beginning get mixed results from me. They establish a cool sense of atmosphere, yet are very hard to follow rhythmically. By :25 or so, the piece feels like a series of rough transitions in an ever-meandering texture. At the same time, the piece is pretty minimalistic, and is still rhythmically all-over-the-place until around :50. At the very least, I’d suggest some more prominent drums to tie the whole thing together. It’s hard to keep track of any predominant or memorable melodies. I like the vocal samples at 2:35 and the phasing effects - they add a sense of regularity to what is often a very chaotic texture. The section at 3:44 is one of the best examples of coherent melodic content in the entire piece. Overall, though, this piece has very little cohesion. It’s really hard to keep the listener grounded in any sense of regularity in the structure with this piece. I think you just went too experimental with the composition here. There are a lot of neat ideas here, but I think you need to consolidate them a bit and give this piece more flow and connectivity. Keep at it, Midnights-Ocean. ;)

7.75/10

Midnights-Ocean responds:

I appreciate the feedback. I'd be the first to warn, this flavor of composition is more akin to art rock than the predictable EDM we are all fond of these days. It's really an acquired taste. When I create works like this, there are no genre boundaries or slave to rhythmic support. The time is solid and there. I know this because I can see the matrix when composing in Logic Pro, but it's not emphasized to the level of EDM. I understand that can be off putting. It is what it is.

I would have made a more genre appropriate piece for the competition but I basically did all I wanted to do with EDM years ago, so all those tracks were out, as far as the competition was concerned. I may post some of my older EDM works on newgrounds but I tend to shy away from doing so, because it's a super saturated genre already. Which is part of why I just don't make much of it any more. On any given site, there are a million people doing it and doing it well.

You've probably noticed my focus is a bit on the atmospheric esoteric side. Glad you liked the vocals. I was hoping to get the intro done in time too but I didn't, so I just now added it, since the competition is over for me. I wanted to have the vocal parts balanced. One upfront, one half way through and then one at the very end.

The minimalistic parts were not all intentional. I didn't have time to add more character to the sparse sections. I did so in the update. If you feel like listening again, I'd be interested if you liked the additions I made (as simple as they might be).

Thanks again for taking the time to write.

[Lose Control [Connected Sounds Release]]

I like the hard-hitting vibe at the beginning, and the atmospheric elements that start to fade in soon after. I think the drop at :25 really overused those police siren samples, and underused the higher end of the frequency range, in addition to dragging on for a little too long. The addition of atmospheric elements at :54 again felt like a bit of a jarring transition, and the subsequent build-up is very similar to the first. The drop is different at the very least, but I think the minimalism, combined with your lack of utilization of the entire frequency range, really detract from my enjoyment of the piece overall. The composition simply needs more melodic content, and is also full of cliches (police sirens, build-ups that gradually raise the pitch, etc.). The mix is clean and clear throughout. It’s a catchy piece with a cool atmospheric element, but I think you needed more textural fill and a fleshed-out, well-varied structure to hit it home. Keep at it, GobSmacked! ;)

6.5/10

[A Gate to Nowhere]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. The arpeggiated synth at :02 and the synth bass at :12 are both pretty generic, though. The progression is also a little slow at the beginning. I would encourage you to do more with the drums to give this piece a little more drive. The transitions at :53 and 2:36 are a little rough, too. I liked the breakdown at 1:36, but I think most of this piece needs more textural fill. Perhaps the mix could tolerate that fill better if you toned down the reverb. Stronger melodic content is also in order, as the melodies at :53 are a little simplistic and repetitive. Also, the snare at 2:15 sounds a little weak - you might need some more repetition. The ending also cuts off suddenly, as if you intended on looping the piece. The strongest elements of this piece are definitely in the mood and atmosphere. Overall, I wasn’t very impressed with the composition, though. It just doesn’t feel very flowing, and could use some more phrasing and dynamic contrast to give it a better sense of direction. Sewing up the various sections of this piece with rough transitions really hurts it, especially since it’s such a short track. These are relatively easy fixes, but they seriously detracted from my enjoyment of the piece. I’d encourage you to keep working on this, though. Keep at it, EdKempeper. ;) 

6.5/10

EdKempeper responds:

Hi !

Thank you very much for this very precise and constructive review and for the time you took to judge this track.
Yes, the transitions are really rough, that's because I made the second part of my track first, than I composed the first part. Yes, there's also a lack of coherence in this work.
Anyway, thanks again for your review !
Ed

[Bring Back the Light of this World]

I like the harmonies near the beginning. I still think the drums could be a bit louder - the snare really should be the loudest instrument in the mix at all times. You also could’ve done a lot more with the drums creativity-wise. The melodic content during the first minute or so is pretty strong, but then the transition into the quieter part at 1:08 was a little sudden. I appreciated your attempt to offer some structural relief there, though. I really want you to focus on finding ways of creating variety besides adding and subtracting instruments over time. Phrasing, dynamic contrast, filtering, and automation will also help you smooth over some of these transitions - 2:26 was another particularly rough one. I think you need to slow down the pacing a bit here and work on giving the piece more connectivity. It can be jarring to the listener if the texture is overhauled every 15 seconds. Try to work your way up to changes in the texture with subtle drum fills, crossfading, or filtering. You’ve done a bit of that here, but not nearly enough. I’ve nit-picked a lot at the composition here, but I really enjoyed the mood and melodies here. Keep at it, DreyLand! ;)

7.75/10

[Dovax - Childhood VIP]

I like the bouncy synths and the sense of climax into :30. I like the melodic content at 1:20, but the minimalistic drop at the 1-minute mark came across as a bit cliche and underwhelming. The drum samples were a bit generic, and I’d caution you not to overuse the transition at 1:30 with the reverberated clap. I didn’t notice any particular problems with the mixing or mastering, though. I just think the composition is a bit formulaic, and the piece needs more originality. It also couldn’t hurt to vary the melodies a bit more towards the end. Otherwise, solid work. Keep at it, Dovax. ;)

8/10

Dovax responds:

Thank you very much for the review. im ok with everything you said, but i disagree on the mixing and mastering, for me it sounds quite dirty and compressed, some sounds dont stand out how they need to, or at least for me i need to have the mixing as perfect as posible. but thank you for the good review :)

[Dalux - Hello Hi (Old Version)]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. I like the warm piano and floaty synths. The texture is nice and full. The arpeggios get a little buried when the chords come in at :52, though. Part of the problem may be that the reverb is a little excessive. I’m loving the refreshing mood and synths, though. The melodies at 1:22 were great. I would’ve liked to see you vary them a bit more the second time around (3:05), but overall the piece comes together really nicely. Really smooth yet energetic style - reminds me of Lockyn. Great work overall, guys! ;)

9.25/10

[The Eastern Westerlands]

I like the catchy melodies at the beginning and the cool counterpoint at :18. The pacing is pretty fast here, and I think it needs a bit more cohesion. The sound design is neat, and overall it’s pretty smooth flowing, but I think the composition would be stronger if you consolidated your ideas more. The ending felt rushed, and overall the structuring is overly convoluted IMO. Still, the mastering was solid, and the quirky mood and instruments hit this piece home. Keep at it, ConnorGrail! ;)

8.5/10