TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Juicy]

I like the crisp percussion at the beginning. The synth at :15 has a nice atmosphere to it. You have a good sense of harmony and rhythm, although I think the melody synths are a bit generic. Also, I think varying the rhythm in those synths would help build a stronger melody. I also think the piece needs way more variety and shape - I’d encourage you to try experimenting more with dynamics, phrasing, and more innovative transitions, as well as making the structure of your piece a little more complex, with elements like bridges, breakdowns, build-ups and solos. Some pads might also help thicken the texture at times. My main problem with the piece is that the composition is underwhelming. Keep at it, man. ;)

6.5/10

[Constellar]

Cool mood at the beginning. A couple of the synths here are a little generic, but I do like the drop at :28. The pulse the melody has (I’m assuming it’s because of a sidechain) really emphasizes the heavy contrast between the 1st and 3rd beats. The texture has a cool stop-start kind of flow. I think the kick was struggling to come through the mix during most of the piece. Don’t be afraid to leave some more mid-range frequencies in there. The chord progression is a little cliche, although I like the mood and atmosphere of the piece a lot, and I also think it’s well-structured and well-varied overall. Overall solid work! Keep it up. ;)

8.5/10

FrontBut responds:

Thank you so much! Any feedback is appreciated and I totally agree on the kick mastering. :)

[Abyssal Dance ~ Dragged Down By Her Charm]

The guitar at the beginning sounds pretty inauthentic. The progression is pretty good, although I think the piano melodies and guitars occasionally clash. The open hats are pretty cliche, and I think you really needed some structural relief in here after a while. In a way, this comes at 2:35, but I think it should’ve come sooner. Eight minutes is a LONG piece, and as I see it you have the melodies at 1:00 - 2:30 segmented into 3 or 4 parts with transitions, and you only really need 1 or 2 in there. The piece has a constant frantic energy until 4:25, and I think that energy needed to yield to some structural relief sooner. That said, 4:32 sounds like a very different piece, especially with the ocean wave samples. I would’ve liked to see you foreshadow that part by introducing those instruments or themes earlier in the piece. The panning at 5:15 is a neat idea, although I think you have overdone it a bit. That kind of extreme panning to one side should only really be used in transitional moments. Also, at 6:37, it sounds like the open hats are getting distorted by the other instruments in the mix, and I can barely hear the kick either. This piece really doesn’t have enough structural variety to justify its being this long, though. I think that’s my best problem with it, although I also think you could’ve made your melodies a lot more memorable by slowing down the pacing and varying the rhythm a bit more. On the other hand, my favorite elements of the piece were the rich texture and catchy riffs throughout the piece. Keep at it, man. ;)

6.25/10

[Dragon Prince]

I like the filtering work at the beginning. The melodic content is quite enjoyable, although I would’ve liked the drums to be more upfront in the mix. Usually, the snare should be the loudest instrument in the mix, and this is not exception. Also, I didn’t hear you use a kick at any point in the piece, but I think a kick could add a lot of drive and intensity to the piece. I think my favorite aspect of the piece was the instrumentation - the guitars and synths blended together really well. The loop is smooth, but the transition into the loop was a bit awkward. I’m not sure this is a structurally complete piece, and it doesn’t seem to have much coherence either. It was very smooth-flowing and full-textured throughout, which are big advantages. Overall solid work here. This song is fitting for a videogame indeed! ;)

8.25/10

[flap]

The kick has a bit too much treble IMO, and comes on really strong at the beginning. The rhythm is also a bit hard to follow without anything keeping the beat, and I think you need to remove some treble tones from that hat at :09 too. The silence at :12 is really awkward, and when it’s finally broken at :17, the texture is a little jarring. At the very least, you need a stronger transition into :17, but I also think you need to equalize out the harsh frequencies in some of those instruments. By 1:10, the piece sounds like a completely different piece altogether, and I even recognized one of the stock vocal samples in FL Studio at 1:20. You have a lot of clashing harmonies here, and way too many ideas going on at once to form a coherent piece. I’d strongly suggest that you try to structure your harmonies around chords and (most if not all of the time) have only notes in that chord playing at a time. When you feel like you’ve made a piece that has some cohesive harmonies with a strong basis in chordal patterns, please PM me and I’ll leave you another review. Until then, keep at it, man. ;)

2.5/10

xxxZigZagxxx responds:

Yeah, true. Thanks for this review. Your point on the random silence at the beginning is noted. I intended for it to subvert expectation to make the sudden crashing of treble noises to be all that much more terrifying, but insteaf it may be too pretentious. 1:10 was supposed to be a transition into an unexpected mode, and the stock samples were supposed to generate an eerie and uncanny feeling. I wasn't really aiming for cohesion in this one, if anything, it was supposed to be the opposite. Most of the time I "obey music"... most of the time. This was supposed to be something weird and different and I thought it was cool but I suppose it's annoying to everyone but me. All good

Thanks for the review... I'll probably try to keep the chaotic mood pieces to myself from now on and just focus on publishing beats that resonate with others. The truth is that I'll still listen to this in private willingly and enjoy it for some reason.

Thank you for your review and I hope I didn't sound too salty. I appreciate your hard work and effort as a judge. All the best!

[ClockWorks]

I like the smooth synths at the beginning and the melodic content. This piece has a great sense of atmosphere, and the texture feels rich and full. The mixing and mastering are really clean, too. However, there are long sections of this piece where the energy level and texture don’t really change that much, like :50 - 1:40. In the future, I’d love to see your pieces have a bit more structural variety. I suppose you do offer a breakdown without the drums at 3:23, but with such a long piece, I would’ve liked it to have a little more shape. Still, this is a really strong piece. Beautiful melodies, really cool sound design, and a killer atmosphere. Keep up the great work! :D

9.5/10

Teckmo-X responds:

Thank you for the thorough review TaintedLogic!

[Fugue in a minor]

Hmm...this is quite different from almost all of the other submissions stylistically. The progression is certainly interesting, although the ornaments starting at about :10 seemed a bit excessive, especially considering the layering of the fugues made it so that at least one part was playing an ornament on almost every measure for a while. For a lot of the piece, it seemed like the lower frequencies don’t come out as well as the higher ones. Adding some reverb might also help fill in the texture a bit. I also think the rhythm sounds very square for a lot of the piece, and I’d encourage you to take more liberties with the rhythm and humanize it a bit. The piece has a long sense of continuity with much clear sense of dynamic changes or other progression. Just because your piece is a solo instrument track doesn’t exempt you from giving it some structural variety. I liked the cadence at the end, though. You clearly have a great sense of harmony and a mind for classical music. Keep at it, man. ;)

7.5/10

[Oceanside]

I like the relaxed mood at the beginning. The bright piano and the smooth sub-bass were huge pluses sound design-wise. I like the tempo automations and sense of climax into :56. The melodic content there is fantastic, and the mix feels full, well-balanced, crisp, and clear. Nice job varying the energy and dynamic levels throughout this piece. This piece has a great, upbeat mood and a smooth-flowing structure. The ending felt conclusive, and there was a great sense of climax during the final refrain. Personally, I find this piece very hard to criticize, but I will say that based on what I’ve heard from you in the past, this piece is very much in your comfort zone. For now, however, it’s more than enough for you to advance in the competition. Keep up the great work! :)

9.75/10

[What I See]

I like the relaxed atmosphere at the beginning. The vocals are really breathy and conversational, and sit really well in the mix. I also like the lyrics a lot themselves. The instrumentals are pretty minimalistic through the first chorus, though - I think you missed a bit of an opportunity to enhance the texture and creativity of this piece there. I like the melody at 1:14, but the instrument itself is a little cliche. You have a habit of failing to enunciate some of the consonants here - 2:09 sticks out to me as sounding like “appen” instead of “happen,” but there are other examples too. I think that the chorus needs a little more substance and drive that identifies it as the chorus - some drums and secondary melodies could really help there. The coda was really enjoyable, though. I like the theme of the piece a lot. The mixing and mastering is also really well done, btw. Solid work overall! Earned a spot in my favorites, in fact. ;)

8.75/10