TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ember Fields - Sleepy Poundcake (Maidens Collection)]

I like the ominous mood at the beginning and the busy drum beat. The harmonies are pretty dissonant starting at around :09, but by :30 or so it clears up, and I love the somber string line at :45 or so. This piece could use some more variety in the energy level and instrumentation, and in general some more distinct structuring. The beat and pads are pretty much a constant for the whole piece. It just needs more narrative appeal. The string melodies are a good start in that regard, but at some point I would’ve liked to see you strip away the beat, or switch up the chord progression more, or at least do more with filtering, automation, velocity level changes, etc. Still, I like the mood, sound design, and production quality of this one. Keep at it, SleepyPoundcake! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7/10

SleepyPoundcake responds:

Okay this is quite a review. Thanks a lot!

I did do this one thinking of a more simple, easy melody to follow without much fireworks, mostly carried by the somewhat somber feeling to it. It's also why the track I posted after this has a lot more variety to it, I was aware of this being simpler that way.

I'll definitely be taking your comments into account for future tracks of this kind.

I'm also glad to see my mastering has improved, because believe me I've had a lot of trouble with that as I learned.

Thanks again!

[Mystery Meat]

I like the frantic, eerie descending synth line at the beginning, and in general the atmosphere of this piece is pretty cool. “Mystery Meat” seems like a fitting title. The percussion at around :35 is nice and airy, although the synth line at :40 sounds pretty dissonant. The mix could also be a bit tighter and less bottom-heavy. I’d double check to make sure you’ve cut off the bass frequencies (<200 Hz) in all of the instruments besides the bass and kick. You can do this using a mixing tool called an equalizer (Garageband doesn’t have the best reputation for mixing capabilities compared to other DAWs, but I know for a fact it has an equalizer, called Visual EQ).

That said, the compositional details here are really enjoyable. Love the gradual cut-out of the beat and harmonies at 1:53 and the transition into 1:56 with the crashes. The ominous effects and rhythmic content here are top-notch, and the harmonic framework even wins me over by the end of this. I’ll definitely be doing some more reading on the Enigmatic Scale after this. Admittedly, it’s rare for experimental pieces like this to get high marks from me in the NGUAC, but the execution on this is just really good. Keep it up, SkullyHop! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.5/10

[Space Space hiphop]

I like the ominous bass line at the beginning. The low-mid synth riff at :21 is also nice, and the reverb helps fill out the atmosphere well. The pause at :53 was a cool idea compositionally, too. By 1:04, the snare is struggling to stay on top of the mix a bit. I’d double-check to make sure the synth harmonies don’t have any low-range frequencies (<200 Hz) in an equalizer. Bass tones in non-bass instruments can really make your mix sound muddy. The snare might also need a tad more compression - make sure the ratio on your compressor is set to 4:1 or even a little higher.

Overall, this piece is catchy, but the composition is pretty bland and generic and a lot of the rhythms are very square. The outro with the “dun-dun-dun-dun” bass every two bars was cool, but the pitch automations at 1:43 were a bit corny. I wanted to hear some more dynamic melodic content and also maybe a switch-up in the sound design at some point. Still, you got my foot tapping and my head nodding with this one. Keep at it, Semmy345! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
6/10

[sovereignty]

I like the powerful piano chords at the beginning, and the chord progression has a great punchy rhythm to it. The string melodies are also a nice touch, although that’s not the most authentic string sample. Admittedly, it’s difficult to create enough ebb and flow to a track when you’re only using a couple of instruments (and especially no rhythm section instruments like drums or bass), but I think you could’ve done much more to create variety here. Other than the furtive breakdown at 2:16, the volume levels are almost at a constant. You’ll need little ebbs and flows in the texture to make this piece more engaging. Try playing more with automation, volume level changes, velocity changes, tempo changes, etc. It helps if you have a MIDI keyboard and you’re able to record the lines yourself, as opposed to using a mousepad and piano roll, which will almost always give you a more rigid and uniform texture. I think that’s what’s needed to really take this piece to the next level.

That said, I enjoyed the upbeat and triumphant mood and the flowing piano riffs of this one. Some of the transitions were a bit sudden, like at 1:04 and 3:20 - maybe you could smooth those over with some reverb. But overall the piece is well-structured. The variations in the harmonic content here are fun, but subtle. I also like how the final verse of the piece (2:41 on) is at a lower register than most of the middle section of the piece - really gives the piece a sense of gravity that it didn’t have before.

Overall, the composition is very good, but I’d like you to use more of the tools available to you in your DAW if you’re going to key this into your piano roll like this. Keep at it, SaturneKx! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.75/10

SaturneKx responds:

thanks for the feedback! right now, i dont use a daw so i cant really change much that you mentioned other than some reverb and a few different instrument options, but when i get one ill be sure to try some stuff out :)

[Good Night]

I like the quirky pads and busy beat at the beginning. The bubbly arpeggios at :14 are really nice. The E-piano at :29 sounds good, but is a bit too loud relative to the other instruments. I like how you switch up the beat at 1:11, but I think you could do a better job of foreshadowing the entrances of different instruments. For example, the transitions at 1:25, 2:08 and a couple other places sound pretty sudden. Even some simple sweeps or crashes would help you smooth over some of these transitions, but ideally there would be a bit more commonality in the instrumentation on either side of the transition. The pads at 1:25 are also just a tad too loud relative to the other instruments, and throughout the piece the bass is very quiet in particular. The dreamy atmosphere of the last minute and a half of the piece is really nice, and the compositional details (like the bass slide at 2:36) are also enjoyable, although starting at 3:24 or so there’s quite a bit of dissonance in the texture. Overall, I really like the sound design and variety in this piece - clearly you have a good sense of harmony and atmosphere. Areas for improvement include the choppy arrangement and somewhat out-of-balance mix, with minor harmonies often much louder than the rest of the texture. Keep at it, Sakita! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.75/10

P.S.: This is my 5,000th audio review on the site, including ones on songs that were later deleted. So that's pretty cool. :)

Sakita responds:

i appreciate the feedback, my headphones are quite bassy and dark so i tend to overcompensate by making them very quiet, same goes for the rest of the instruments really.

[warning chime]

I like the piano arpeggios at the beginning, but the low chords sound really muddy and clunky. It might be that the pitches they play are a little too close together, so the individual notes don’t sound distinct. The entire piano part really ducks under the mix at :17, though - it just sounds much quieter than before. You can fix that by adding an equalizer to each instrument in your DAW’s mixer, and then removing the frequencies below 200 Hz for every instrument except the bass and the kick. It also couldn’t hurt to balance out the frequencies a bit more with some higher-pitched tones, even moving the piano part up the octave if you have to. That said, I like the beat and the rest of the sound design, especially that sultry-sounding instrument at :50. Stripping away the atmosphere at 1:09 was a good idea, although once the harmonies come in at 1:18 it’s hard to hear the sultry lead. Overall, there are a lot of cool individual riffs here, and the instrument selection is pleasant, even if it doesn’t sound like authentic brass, but the composition could use a stronger sense of ebb and flow over time - bolder melodies, more variety later on, and a more fully fleshed-out structure. That said, the biggest problem here is that the mixing needs much more clarity - I need to be able to hear all the instruments clearly throughout. That said, this is a catchy piece with a cool mood and atmosphere and some nice sound design. Keep at it, Ryan! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7/10

rYANCOOPERmx5 responds:

very detailed feedback, thank you :D

[Alice in the Mysterious Circus]

I like the upbeat mood at the beginning, the build-up into :10, and the frantic, jazzy piano line at :11. There’s a major shift in the instrumentation at :30, and the synth there sounds a bit cheesy, but the riff it’s playing is still really catchy and cute. The triumphant tone and full texture at :50 sounds like the winning screen on an old video game. By around 1:20 or so, you start overusing the transition with the rising sweep. Sometimes, it might be nice to foreshadow changes in the instruments in advance, just to make some of the major shifts less jarring, especially in such a fast-paced piece. The modulation at 1:58 was a nice touch, though - really upped the ante towards the end of the piece. The production quality could use a bit of cleaning up in places - the piano sounds particularly muddy during the busy sections - but I know FL Studio Mobile has some constraints in that regard. Overall, this piece is fun, energetic, and full of cool melodies and a lot of variety. Strong work! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.5/10

Ru2Tu2 responds:

Wow I didn't expect such detailed explanation and analysis! As an amateur who is making some melodies and songs just for hobby, it was a super luck to participate this contest. I really appreciate it.

[Can't Get It Right]

The percussive effects at the beginning really set up the experimental nature of the piece well. Even after the first harmonic elements come in at :36, the pacing is very slow, and the mix sounds pretty dry. Some more mixing effects - filtering, automation, reverb, etc. - would really help jazz up the minimal texture early on. By the 1-minute mark or so, I’m enjoying the rich pads. The sudden change in the filtering at 1:47 really threw me off, and the second time it happens at 2:07 doesn’t feel any less jarring. There’s also a bit too much static in the texture, and the compositional details here are a very distinct combination of tranquil, echo-y pads and jumpscares.

Despite the array of distorted effects and rhythmic oddities, this piece is still a bit too minimal to keep me thoroughly engaged throughout from a compositional standpoint. All things considered, I enjoyed the production quality and sound design, but the combination of an experimental texture and not much harmonic depth is, frankly, not doing it for me. I think a piece like this could work a lot better if it had a stronger sense of direction over time. Based on the author’s description, the way you made the piece is very creative, so serious props for that. The PS-25 sounds beautiful, and I like the screaming noises you recorded too. Keep at it, RezDragon! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
0/1
Composite score
5/10

RezDragon responds:

Thank you for your honest and very constructive criticism. I haven't been making music for very long and am always trying to improve my work with each piece/album I put out.

To explain why the track seems unfocused is because... well it is, I'll admit that. All of my music is played entirely freehand and I try to give it focus/purpose/direction in editing. It's why I don't really describe myself as a musician, rather just a sound designer who happens to make music. I guess you could say I focus way more on the producing side than I do the composing side. I've come into making music only recently (since 2021) and I am very much learning as I go, but this also means I haven't really, I guess you could say developed, a skill for composing before playing yet. I describe my creative process as "i make noises and then put them together and hope they sound good."

I don't mean for this to come across as defensive, just basically "i am an idiot who likes cutting up audio just a little too much."

[Fomalhaut, Mouth of the Southern Fish]

I like the powerful chords at the beginning and the quirky synth lead at :26. The pitter-patter bass at :36 isn’t my favorite sound design choice, especially since all you can hear of it until :49 is the very top of its frequency range. The mix sounds a bit strained up until that point, though, with the heavy pads generally distorting the other instruments. I would suggest cutting off their frequency range below 200 Hz with an equalizer. By 1:12, I’m enjoying the busy beat and pulsing atmospheric pad, although the open hat at 1:24 takes up a bit too much space in the mix.

The cute melodies at 1:50 are a nice touch, and you transition back into the heavy mid-range pads smoothly at 2:13. At around 2:30, the delay/sidechain effects on the pads are throwing me off the pattern of emphasis in the rhythm a bit. The minimal bass line at 3:10 is a good switch-up to the texture, but the spacey sound effects shortly thereafter were a bit cheesy. The melodies at 4:12 and 5:00 were also a good way of hitting the piece home towards the end.

Overall, I enjoyed the progression, rhythmic content, and atmosphere of this piece. Cleaning up the production quality and maybe polishing up the sound design a bit would give you back a point or two here. Keep at it, rejd! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
6.75/10

rejd responds:

Thank you very much!! This is my first time trying Psytrance anyway and I appreciate the thorough feedback/criticism!! Glad you enjoyed my silly song about a star hehe!!

[Pride's Reverie // Peiton DS]

I like the eerie mood at the beginning. The beat at :15 is nice and crisp, but also a bit dry - maybe some reverb would help. The production in general is clean and clear, but also a bit over-compressed at times. The vocal delivery is great, although I wanted them to be a bit more up-front in the mix, which might’ve helped me discern the lyrics better. Especially at around 1:10, the harmonies sound a lot louder than the vocals, and otherwise the instrumental tracks are minimal enough that I wanted some depth there at some point.

The chopped vocal section at 2:13 was a neat idea, but like much of the rest of the piece it felt just a bit too minimal. And 2:44 is another section where it’s really hard to discern the vocals. It sounds like you need more compression on the vocals and less on the drums and other harmonies.

By 3:15, I’m really able to fully admire how you’ve gradually switched up the harmonies in a subtle way, even though it’s the same chord progression and rhythm. Love the energy behind the vocals at 3:47, although the length of the vocal phrase, combined with a lack of melodic direction until about 4:40, makes it hard to stay engaged. The lengthy instrumental section at the end also didn’t add much in the way of novel content.

Overall, I really like the sound design, mood, atmosphere, and lyrics here. The composition is very dragged-out and minimal, though. More variety, harmonic depth, and a better-balanced mix would really make this a top-notch track in my view. It would also help to cut down on the filler content between vocal phrases and create more ebb and flow within phrases to maintain interest over the longer vocal sections. Still, this is definitely a unique piece in the competition given how you’re using the vocals, playing with tempo automations, and varying the harmonies over time. Keep at it, reethepeethe! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.25/10