TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[JK - Tranced]

Not bad. The sound design is a little generic, but I like the busy beat and harmonies. The part at :28 sounds like a completely different song, though. If you're going to put several different themes into one piece, it helps to make sure they're tonally related. Then you go back to the original theme at :55, but it's still not so clear to me how that related to the part at :28. The bass is really loud at 1:18. A good rule of thumb is that the loudest instrument in the mix should be the snare. It was also a bit bizarre when the bass got suddenly much quieter at 1:29. I liked the pulsing synths at 1:40, but the pause at 2:24 was so sudden I thought it was the end of the piece. I think you need to add some reverb or a crash or something to smooth over that transition. Stop-start transitions can come across as jarring sometimes if you're not careful. The loop is pretty smooth, although the last 4 notes at 2:36 aren't necessary IMO. Overall, not a bad track. The transitions and balance are the main things to work on, I think. And knowing how to make cool sweeps (as you clearly do) is a good start towards making smooth transitions. Keep it up, man. ;)

[Carol]

Hey man! Haven't reviewed your stuff in a while. I like the gradual proliferation of reverb going into :15, but then I think for the next 30 seconds or so you went too far, because it sounded a little muddy and indistinct. The piece progressed a little slowly, and I can't discern how you changed the arrangement much from the original Carol of the Bells. I appreciated how you finally changed up the texture a bit at 2:15. It was still very dark and murky there. I think this piece needs more of a moment where the tension can be released. Right now it seems like a dark opening to a holiday movie involving a robber sneaking around someone's house on Christmas Eve. I like the sound design, even if the instruments could have come through clearer, but you could've done so much more with this. It's a very repetitive 5-minutes that didn't build on the original much at all. Also, the ending was really anti-climactic. Sorry I've been so tough on you in this review. Maybe I just have high standards because Carol of the Bells is probably my favorite Christmas carol. :) Either way, I'm glad to see you're still so active on here. Are you in college now? How's it going? Or, if not...what are you up to? Hope you're having a nice Christmas. ^^

[BarbozaSounds - Tropical Trouble]

Before the beat came in, it was a little tricky to follow the rhythm, but I think this song has more pressing problems. The transitions (:16, :23, :31, etc.) are all very sudden, and you rapidly flit between themes. I think you should work on fleshing out some of the existing themes you have in the piece before simply moving on. Sometimes harmony is more important than variety. Otherwise, the piece sounds like 5 different songs. I think you should try to use more sweeps or crashes or maybe drum fills to connect the different structural elements of your piece. As it is, this track has no sense of direction and very little melodic content. It's an arbitrary collection of beats that are collected around a "tropical" theme, but little else. I'd suggest choosing one of the beat patterns and focusing on adding more tonality - chords, melodies, harmonies, and bass lines. I can tell you have a good sense of rhythm, and the instruments are cool, but without a melody or pads or - something that's not solely rhythmic - the piece doesn't keep my attention. Sorry man. Hope this review helped. If you have any questions about what I said in this review, please PM me. Happy holidays! ;)

[I Wish You An Epichristmas]

I like the cute instruments and harmonies. It has a good sense of flow, and the overall mood is very relaxed and soothing. I liked the melodies at :40, but I think you could've done more with it as far as rhythm and flair. Right now they seem a bit square and lack-luster. The balance is good in this piece. You might want to incorporate some more percussion to keep it going, though. Also, there were some pretty sudden transitions in there, such as 1:44. I would've liked to see you vary the main melody more later on in the piece. Otherwise, the piece lacks direction a bit. Still, I appreciated the modulation to minor at 2:38 and the subsequent key change at 2:49. The stop-start transition at 3:31 didn't really work for me. It kinda just interrupted the flow. Maybe a crash or some reverb would've helped smooth it over. Personally, I'm not even convinced you need the last minute or so of this piece. It's all just repeated melody. Overall, nice piece. The mood and instruments were my favorite parts of it. It just needs a little more variety later on. Merry Christmas to you too! ^^

Earel responds:

Thanks for advises :)

[charge]

Woah. I love the dreamy synths and the portamentos. The reverb is so luscious and gives the piece a really spacey vibe. The bass groove at 1:10 is enjoyable too. Excellent mixing and mastering as always. That jazzy piano solo at 1:25 was great. Really cool tune, Johnfn. Killer melodies, catchy as hell, instrumentation enhances the mood a lot. I love all the subtle automations on the melody lines, like at 3:17. The pitch bend on that last note was awesome. The track cuts off suddenly, but fixing that is as simple putting in a blank extra measure. Fantastic piece, Johnfn! So nice of you to get me this Christmas present. ^^

johnfn responds:

Thanks TheDoor! Glad you liked it :D

[Cheap Holidays]

I like the atmospheric chords at the beginning, but they sorta crash stylistically with the percussion you add at :05. I think you need to work on your transitions. There was nothing in there that really predicted the bass line's entrance at :46. Same thing with the melody at 1:06. Even a simple sweep or crash would help smooth over those transitions. The piece seems to have a distinct structure, but overall lacks direction. You repeat a lot of the same riffs (like the bass at :46, and the melody at 1:06) over again, but you don't ever vary them enough. The piece has a huge sense of continuity about it, which makes it hard to keep my attention. I'd suggest creating a moment or two of structural relief in the middle of the piece where you lose those pads in the background and shake up the texture a bit. Some more prominent/consistent drums might also help give this piece more direction. Overall, it's not a bad track. It just needs a bit more dynamic shape and flow. Hope this helped! If you have any questions about my comments, please PM me. ;)

kriztendom responds:

Thank you for listening and analysis, for sure I'll follow your guidelines when I'll create a new track. This track was really made to be boring and random lol :))

[Danque]

This is very catchy. I like the dramatic hits on the downbeats of every 4th measure or so for the first 45 seconds. This is a well-structured and smooth-flowing piece. The effect at 2:10 was really amusing. The crunchy, rhythmic section at 3:18 was really cool too. I think it could've used a little more variety with the instrumentation. The breaks are enjoyable, but sometimes it couldn't hurt to focus on harmonizing a tad more. The piece also lacks a lot of melodic content, which I know you weren't really aiming to create, but I find it easier to remember and recognize tracks with strong melodies. Either way, solid work. Keep at it, BoomKitty!

[Greatest Christmas]

Dude, you've just been banging out tracks recently. This track has a really interesting progression. The melodies are a little bland IMO, but the instruments blend well together. I think my favorite part was the somewhat unexpected bridge at 1:23. It's well-structured and smooth-flowing. It sounds a little too square to be jazz, though. I definitely heard some jazz chords in there, but structurally and melodically, this is totally a pop song. The ending is cute, if a little underwhelming, but I think this would make a good loop. Cool track! Keep up the good work. ;)

Everratic responds:

I have been making a lot of tracks, but I haven't spent as much time on them as you might think. New ideas kept coming to me, so in minutes, I made compositions that would otherwise take hours.

I know the melodies are extremely simple and predictable at times, but from what I know, that's what christmas music sounds like. I didn't put effort into making complex melodies, although maybe I should have. It doesn't bother that much because these melodies are extremely memorable. In fact, i made this remake without having listened to the original version for many months –I used the wrong key, though, lol–.

I agree that this song is closer to pop than jazz, but people are more likely to click on a jazz song, lol.

Thanks for the review! happy christmas!

[World at War]

WOAH! Gratz on the all the attention this piece has gotten, man. I love the build-up, and the drop is absolutely filthy (that's a good thing, btw)! I wish the snare was a little more present in conjunction with the gritty synths and industrial effects, but overall the mixing and mastering are fantastic. Also, I'm pretty sure I heard that snare from "Zulrah" in there somewhere. ;) Excellent job with the structuring on this one. The breakdown with the emotional strings adds a great sense of variety to the piece, and the drops bookend it nicely. The vocals add a lot to the piece too. Part of me wished the drops were varied more from one to the other, but they're just so damn good. I swear I was head-banging so hard to this thing I almost got whiplash. I can tell you why this blew up so much: BECAUE IT'S FUCKING AMAZING! :D Keep up the great work, Malifex! :D

[Hollow Wind]

How did I miss this? It's very upbeat and catchy. The mixing and mastering is loud and clear as always. Doesn't seem very Halloween-esque, but it's well past Halloween now anyway. XD I think you could've fleshed out the structure a little more. It gets a little repetitive by the end, but the melodic content is still very strong. I found it a little odd that the atmospheric sections at the beginning and end of the piece are both very ominous, yet the more substantive sections are very cheerful. Having listened to the intro again, the two moods seem very loosely connected. It's as if someone stepped into a crowded house party from a haunted alleyway. I'm not sure this transition quite works for me, but it's still an innovative idea. Keep it up, Garlagan. ;)