TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Stupor Trooper]

The synths at the beginning are cute, if a little generic. I found the melodies at :16 to be a little too jumpy (as opposed to stepwise). It made them a bit hard-to-follow musically, and also jarring to the listener. If you wanted to orchestrate more of a call-and-response kind of thing, I would’ve at least used different instruments for the higher and lower sections of the melody. The piece has a cool mood and atmosphere, although I think it doesn’t have a lot of coherence. I think you’d be well-advised to flesh out the structure a little more here. The ending is a little abrupt as it is. Also, once the synths are in full swing, the drums are a little weak. I think you need to look into some mixing techniques, like equalization and compression, especially for the drums. The vocal samples are cute here, though, if a little overused. I’ve been tough on you in this review, but I think an important next step for you would be to create more structural contrast - sections that are quieter and less busy amidst the frantic, melodic ones you have here. Do that, and I think the composition of this piece would be really strong. I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece. Keep at it, man. ;)

5.5/10

[VERY NICE]

I like the pensive arpeggios at the beginning as well as the distorted radio effects that slowly fade in. A couple of the synths are a little generic, especially the one that’s prominent in the texture by around :30. It’s really hard to pick up the kick in the mix, though. I think you either need a new sample or a lot of compression and equalization work. Also, the arpeggios don’t exactly satisfy my need for melodic content, even if the texture is pretty rich throughout. I liked the sense of climax into 2:07 and the organ instrument you introduced in the section before. I didn’t hear a ton of variation in the second half of the piece compared to the first half, either. In a way, the strongest melodic material in the piece is at 2:53, and I thought the fade-out ending was a bit lazy. I’ve been tough on you in this review, though. The atmosphere is really strong here, and the instruments blend together really well. Overall pretty solid work. Keep at it, man!

7.25/10

[Hidden Tension]

I like the smooth, atmospheric sound at the beginning. The phasing synths are a little generic, though. It has a good sense of climax into :33. I like the melodic content at :58 too. The bass is really groovy, though, and the mix is pretty clean. The transition at 1:39 was creative, and I appreciate the use of structural relief at 2:01. The section at 2:01 sets up your climax into 2:11 well. The atmospheric bit at 2:56 is also really enjoyable. It’s a bit of a quirky piece mood-wise, alternately cheerful and ominous. I think you could’ve done a bit more to offer some melodic development, too. Otherwise, the latter half of the seems seems comparatively underwhelming to the first half. Overall, I like the piece a lot. The instruments blend well together, the texture is full throughout, and the mixing and mastering are solid. Keep up the good work!

8.75/10

McGorilla42 responds:

Hey. Thanks so much for such a hugely detailed response and criticism. This is the kind of review that I appreciate more than any other since it gives me pointers on what to focus on in future and how to improve :) It means a lot that you took the time to write that and offer your opinion and advice and I'm incredibly grateful for that. Keep well!

[Depredadores]

I like the drama at the beginning. The string samples sound pretty fake - just the timbre and uniform vibrato of the legato instrument immediately gave it away to me. The transition at :39 was a little rough, too, and the mix gets really muddy at around :44. Up until that point, the composition was pretty interesting, though. The mixing and instrumentation seriously detract from my enjoyment of the piece, though. The piano at 2:04 comes in a little suddenly, and also isn’t the best quality sample. I don’t know what DAW (digital audio workstation) you use, but I’m sure you can find a list of plug-ins online whose samples are of better quality than the ones you have here. As for the mixing and mastering, I have a big suggestion: please do some research on something called an equalizer. It’s a tool used for eliminating the frequencies in a given instrument that interfere with those of other instruments. For example, kick drums and basses should only use low frequencies, and snare drums, melodic lines, and pads will probably use mid-range or high frequencies. It’s really important to eliminate the frequencies that the instrument isn’t playing a lot of, because otherwise the instruments all distort each other and the sound quality of your track will turn out really poor and unclear. Hope this helped! Please PM me if you have questions, and good luck! ;)

2/10

[Lethal Soul Parasite]

The synths at the beginning are a little generic, but I like the climax into :11. I think the vocals sound a little nasal and pinched. Perhaps some chorus effects would help give them a broader sound. I really like the drums here, though, as well as the lyrics themselves. Super catchy and refreshing sound, especially with that nice, crisp cymbal at :53 (and other places). I like the atmosphere a lot, too. Unfortunately, this isn’t really a structurally complete piece, even if it has a smooth flow for the first minute. You should keep working on this - flesh out the structure, maybe replace a couple of the more cliche instruments, and this could be a really groovin’ track. Keep at it, man! ;)

7/10

[Nonstop]

I like the relaxed vibe at the beginning. It’s a little slow to develop, and I would’ve liked to hear a smoother transition into 1:00. I also think you could stand to make the drums a little stronger in the mix. The organ overpowers them a bit at times. I like the melodic content at 1:30 a lot, but, again, you really need to foreshadow the big increase in energy at 2:00. Drums are actually a great way to do that, and the drum part you have in your verses is pretty minimalist. I liked the somber outro a lot. Very soulful piece with a cool atmosphere. Well-structured overall, too, and I like the extension of the organ part that starts at 2:30. The piece does sound a little square for a piece like this, though, and you could use a little bit of humanizing (if that’s possible in whatever platform/DAW you use). Samples are pretty good, and I enjoyed the melodic content of this piece a lot too. Keep up the good work!

9/10

[Denial]

I like the ominous mood at the beginning. Good use of atmosphere and reverb too. It is a little slow to progress, but the drop at :56 is worth the wait. Interesting sound design too - a lot of those samples sound like they’re more typical of VGM tracks. The mix is tight. I love how much pop the drums have. Good use of structural relief at 1:54. The piano melody there has a cool somber tone to it. The chord progression from 2:43 to 2:44 sounded a little wonky, but that’s a relatively small detail. The latter half of the piece didn’t have as much of an emotional height as the first half, and I also didn’t hear much melodic development in the piece. That said, overall this is a very enjoyable track with a rich texture throughout. Keep up the great work! :)

9.25/10

KyaniteHeart responds:

Thanks for the review! Chord progression is definitely something i'll pay more attention to from now on.

[Acerb-False]

I like the dark mood at the beginning. The part at :18 hits hard. The distorted vocals at :36 are cool, and somewhat morbid. I love the intensity, although the piece is a little slow to develop. After around 1:30, I think you’ve overdone it a bit with the angry vocals. It seemed nice and climactic up to that point, and I was itching for some melodic content. At 2:35, you seem to switch up the beat a bit and try to take the piece in a different direction structurally, but I think the piece needs a little structural relief at this point. The vocals also cut off pretty suddenly at 4:12, as do the guitars at 4:31. I think you need to give this piece a little more shape. The experimental texture is really cool, but without any instrumental variety I don’t think it can function very well as a stand-alone piece. One thing I do like about the piece is that I can hear everything in the mix clearly throughout. There are a lot of neat ideas here, but I think the arrangement needs some cleaning up here. Keep at it, man!

7/10

[Sepulveda Sunset (Retroman's Overdrive VIP)]

I like the percussion at the beginning. Samples of people applauding may have been a little over-the-top, but didn’t really detract from the piece either. Interesting texture for the rest of the first minute. Interesting use of filtering, too. The melodic content at around the 1-minute mark is really refreshing, and I love the hats at 1:12. They add a lot of pop to the high end of the frequency range. The mix is really clean and atmospheric - everything reverberates really nicely. The rhythmic breaks at 1:58 are nice in their own way, too - it’s like they pushed the “reset” button on the track. I like the part at 2:53 a lot too. The pads at 2:55 sounded a bit generic, but they blended well with the rest of the piece too. I think this piece has a really unique sound design - there’s a diversity of influences you seem to have drawn from here. The claps at 3:59 also seem a bit cliche, though. Smooth transitions and cool structure here. I suppose one issue I had was with the lack of melodic development - there just wasn’t a lot of fresh material during the last ⅓ of the piece or so to offer much of a sense of climax. As relaxed and smooth as the melodic content here is, I think you could’ve taken more risks compositionally with this piece. I also think the melodic content is a bit repetitive. Still, wonderful job with the atmosphere and instrumentation. This is a strong piece. Keep it up, man! ;)

9/10