TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[A Little Older, A Little Wiser]

I like the spacey guitar at the beginning. Has a cool retro vibe. I think the sidechaining/compression is a little too heavy - it gives the piece a really unnatural-sounding pulse in the chords that I think could be fixed better by some stricter equalization than the excessive stereo manipulation here. The melodic content of this piece is enjoyable, and it’s very flowing. I just wish you had given it a little more structural variety - it sounds like the background music to a quirky Buzzfeed video, when it could be a really emotional and down-to-earth piece with a little more phrasing and shape. The piano part at :53, for example, could use some note-to-note variety in volume levels to bring out the emotion more. It’s details like that that I really want to see in your pieces more, Logan. I also thought the fade-out ending was a bit lazy. There are so many more creative and conclusive ways of ending a piece. I’ve been really tough on you in this review, but overall this piece is strong. I love the sound design and atmosphere, and I really appreciate how you made something very different than your audition piece. Keep at it, Larrynachos. ;)

8/10

[Quirky Quest]

I like the melodic content at :05 and the cute synths. The section at :39 with the hip-hop influences also sounded really cool, and that post-chorus at 1:35 is also enjoyable. Sometimes, your transitions and chord progressions are a little cliche, although I really like the sound design of the piece. It’s really catchy and refreshing. I think you could use a tad more variation within the phrases of the piece - for example, the sweep/riser combo at :25 is the only thing giving the piece a sense of direction, and you use that combo as a transition a lot in this piece. Still, solid work. Enjoyable melodic content and production quality. Keep it up, MrKoolTrix! ;D

9/10

MrKoolTrix responds:

Thanks for the constructive review! :)

[-Starfight-]

The synths at the beginning are a little cheesy, although I do like the rhythmic elements and the sense of climax into :27. The chord progression is a little cliche, and this piece has several minimalistic sections that could use a little more fill. Overall, it’s smooth-flowing, and the mixing is very strong. The synth at 2:05 was my absolute favorite, as well as 2:18 - really cool combination of rhythmic and melodic elements there. Again, this piece has Waterflame written all over it. Perhaps my main problem with it is that it doesn’t have a ton of structural coherence. You have at least 3-4 different melodies in here, and they aren’t exactly collected around distinct refrains, which can make the structure a bit confusing to follow. That said, this is a very fun and catchy piece with a cool sound design overall. Keep it up, ThaPredator! :)

8.75/10

[Peachymaiden & Javier Anibarro Z - Hidden Lines (Original)]

I like the emotional piano at the beginning, and how you experiment with pacing all throughout the intro. I love the light, airy vocals and progression. I think the vocals could be a little more up-front in the mix, though - the piano seemed to be edging out in front of them sometimes. This is a really well-structured and flowing piece, and the mix is clear overall. I think the instrumentation is a little simplistic, and some drums could really help give this piece more of a sense of drive, especially since the pacing of the lyrics is often rather quick. Overall, this is a beautiful piece, though. Keep up the good work, you two! :)

9/10

Jabicho responds:

Hi TL!
Thanks for checking it out, your words are really helpful! :D

[Desistance (Original Mix)]

The fade-in at the beginning was cool, although the drums are a little generic. You just could’ve done many more creative things with them, and the clap sample itself is pretty cliche. I like the sense of climax into 1:04, although the drop was pretty minimalistic. The melodic content at 1:35 is pretty good, and the mixing and mastering is super strong here. I think you really started overusing the vocal samples by around the 2-minute mark, though. I also would’ve liked to see you add a bit more variety and direction to the piece during the second half. I think the composition needs a bit more work, and this piece largely lacks originality I’m afraid. Clearly, the production quality is high, and it’s very catchy and spacious in the mix with the reverb. Still, it sounds like a very formulaic, “stereotypical” EDM track, and that’s a problem. Keep at it, KaixoMusic! :)

7.75/10  

KaixoMusic responds:

I'm planning on doing some original Future Bass stuff next, so hopefully I'll be able to make it more varied and creative.

[XS - Aurelius (NGADM '17)]

I like the sense of climax into :14, although the chord progression is a little generic. Really cool instrument at :14, but there are also some cliche elements to the sound design, like the mid-range bass at :44. I also wasn’t a huge fan of your piano or drum samples. Sorry - I’m going to talk about things besides the instrumentation now. I like the melodic content, but there’s a lot of minimalism in this piece, which I thought was a bit of a missed opportunity to create some richer textures. The mixing is very clean and well-balanced, and the piece is well-structured too. Unfortunately, the composition is just a little lack-luster, and the piece also could use some more originality. There are a lot of cool ideas here, but I think you just needed to spend some more time on the composition. Keep at it, Jimmypig! ;)

7.75/10

[Neurobop]

The piano and atmospheric synth mesh well together, but I really would’ve liked to see you craft a sense of direction into the first 30 seconds of this piece before the minimalistic drop strikes at :28. You have a good sense of harmony and structure, although I think you needed some more phrasing here. The breakdown at 1:09 with the echo-y piano was enjoyable. The mix is clean as well. My main problem here is that I think you should flesh out the structure more and give this piece some shape. Right now, there are a lot of transitions that rely on drum fills or stop-start changes in energy. Especially for the intro, I think you could do a better job of warming the listener up to the drop and, subsequently, foreshadowing the piano part at 1:09 a bit more. The structure feels a bit overly calculated in that way. That said, the mixing is strong, and I loved the atmosphere and mood of the piece. Keep it up, 5TanLey! :)

8.75/10

5TanLey responds:

song structure and transitions are my long time problems really, gotta work on that

thanks for the review :)

[Gravity Slam]

I love the energy and frantic guitar riffs at the beginning. The snare sounds a bit thin and quiet in the mix. I also thought you could’ve used a smoother transition at 2:19. My main problem with the piece is that it sounds uniformly energetic, which made it hard to keep my attention after a while. I think you should add more distinction to different parts of the structure by doing more creative things with the instrumentation and by trying to play with dynamics and phrasing a bit more. I also don’t think the piece felt very conclusive by the end. You’re clearly a talented guitarist, but at this point the composition really needs to be more than just a compilation of intense riffs. That’s a bit harsh, of course - obviously, there’s a well-thought out arrangement to the piece, but you could really keep the listener grounded in that arrangement more with some variation in the energy and dynamics. Keep at it, TSRBand! :)

8/10

TSRBand responds:

Thanks for the detailed review! Will be sure to keep experimenting :)

[Seres]

I like the relaxed mood and progression towards the beginning. The instrumentation wasn’t my favorite, though. The instrument at the beginning sounds a little generic, and the synth at :14 is very high-pitched and harsh-sounding. It might need a bit more treble taken off in the equalizer, because I think it could sound a lot more smooth and mellow to fit the easygoing vibe of the piece. That said, I did like the rhythmic variety and dense harmonies by around :35. You craft a gradual decrease in energy really well here, but the glitchy content at around 1:20 threw me off a bit - it didn’t seem to vibe well with the smooth-flowing nature of the piece up to that point. The piece sound pretty dark all of a sudden by 1:30 or so, yet 2:07 once again has a cathartic feel. Don’t get me wrong: all of the details in the phrasing and sound design here are fantastic, but the piece just simply has very little coherence. I also thought there were several moments of minimalism here that could be fleshed out a lot more. At the very least, I do recognize 4:28 as a repeated section, and the piece has a good sense of resolve by the end. The thing that bothers me most about this piece is the somewhat patched-together nature of the structure. The melodic content is amazing, and the mix is very clean. We’re both acutely aware that you’re facing Bassfiddlejones, but you should be immensely proud of this piece. Keep up the good work, 1f1n1ty!

8.75/10  

Onefin responds:

Hey TL. Your review covered pretty much all the things I thought it was going to :P

Like there were three big things on my checklist and you just ticked them all, no more no less