TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Skye]

Right off the bat, I love how full the texture feels and how clean the mix is. Drums have a lot of pop. The melodic content at 1:10 is great, and the piece flows really well back into the familiar riff at 1:32. There seems to be a familiar cycle of 3 mini-sections that repeats twice, and I would’ve liked to see you vary it a little more the second time around. Perhaps if this was a vocal track, that wouldn’t be as much of a problem, as vocal phrases can inherent variety in their lyrics. I did really like the breakdown at 3:02, but you could’ve done even more to contrast the energy and dynamics between that section and the surrounding full-textured content. I do like how how the breakdown evolves into the emotional height at 3:59. The song has a great victorious vibe at the end. Overall, this is a very strong piece, and I’m excited to see what else you’ll produce for the contest. Keep up the good work, man!

9.25/10

JDawg00100 responds:

Thank you for posting a review!

[DunTun]

I like the cute synths at the beginning. They have a cool sense of underlying energy. Catchy beat, but the instrument at :32 feels a little out-of-place. By :50 or so, the texture is really wonky and dissonant. You also completely overhaul the texture very frequently, adding new elements and taking them away without giving the piece an overall sense of direction, which I think is dangerous composition-wise. A lot of the sections of this piece are catchy and fun - I think my favorite was 1:57 - but there isn’t a ton of strong melodic content here, and sometimes the instrumentation can be a bit cheesy. I also want you to find more diverse ways of varying your piece besides adding and subtracting instruments over time - think about dynamics, phrasing and filtering. The drums here could also use more variation. It’s not all bad, though - I didn’t notice any problems with the mixing, and I think you did a good job of creating a full texture and using the entire frequency range when appropriate. I think you should focus on expanding your composition skill set. There are a lot of neat ideas here, so keep working at it! ;)

6.25/10

Fantishow responds:

Thank you so much! This is easily the most helpful feedback I've had on my music. I'll try again next year.

[War [NGADM AUDITION]]

The string synths and punchy beat at the beginning was a good idea. It’s a smooth-flowing piece with a lot of cool riffs. I’d suggest some high-passing or stereo widening to tighten that up. Given the minimalism at 2:16, it felt like a bit of an anti-climax up to that point, and I was really itching for some stronger melodic content at that point. The melody at 2:25 is a little too pizzicato-y and repetitive, and that lead synth at 2:49 is a little too square and stagnant. Nice job offering some structural contrast at 3:34, though. The part at 3:57 has a great ominous mood about it, although you might want to take a little treble off of those high-pitched arpeggios. Overall, the sound quality is very clean and clear in this piece. Nice job with the structuring and transitions too. The piece is a little on the long side, but it keeps me engaged throughout. The ending was a little dragged out if anything. Really solid work overall. Impressive composition. Keep it up, man!

9/10

Adjeye responds:

Thank you very much for the insight :), especially feedback/tips about mixing things differently always help me out a lot.

The basic idea behind the melodies at 2:25 and 2:49 were to give the listener something to hold on to and then startle them with the breakdown shortly after, but I probs have made those parts a little bit too boring for the listener. Ohh well

[Neon Dream]

I like the mood and atmosphere at the beginning. Some of the synths and drum samples are a little cheesy, though, especially the clap and the synth that comes in at :07. The melody at 1:02 is a little square, and needs some rhythmic variety. I’d also prefer the drums to be a little stronger there. Usually, the snare should be the loudest instrument in the mix, and this is no exception. The pitch bending at 1:54 was a little bizarre, but worked strangely well to inject some cute quirkiness into the track. I think my favorite part is at 2:52. It has a great atmosphere and fullness to it. The mixing is overall pretty solid as well. I think you went a little too far with the pitch-bending at the end. It simply didn’t sound conclusive. Also, I’d like to see a little more variety in this in terms of energy. It’s worth taking the time to strip down the drums at some point to give this piece a little more shape. It can be hard to stay engaged with a piece if it sounds uniformly energetic, and this piece is pretty close to being just like that. Still, I think you won me over in the end with the cute synths, upbeat mood, and luscious atmosphere. Solid work!

7.75/10

NoStereo responds:

Thank you very much for the review! I'll keep your criticisms in mind as I work on my future projects! It's a rare thing to get such a complete review.

[Memories in Melodies]

Ah, Larry. It’s been a while. I like the dreamy vibe at the beginning and the sense of climax into :30. The melodic content at around :45 was great. At around 1:30, the drums seem to be a little weak, probably at the hands of that all-consuming lead and pad combo. You have have gone a little overboard on the reverb, but otherwise I’d encourage you to be stricter with the equalization and maybe even employ some stereo widening or panning. The ending is a bit rushed - it almost sounds like you intended to loop it. The texture is full throughout, but perhaps you should’ve given your instruments a little more space at some point. You may have gone a little overboard with the sidechaining, too, but the mix is cleaner because of it. The piece seems to be missing a proper breakdown, and is lacking on dynamic contrast and phrasing. My high structural standards aside, this is a solid piece. The atmosphere and instrumentation in this piece were easily my favorite elements. Keep up the good work!

8.25/10

larrynachos responds:

Hey TL! Thanks for reviewing my track! Haha yeah, the pad/texture might be overbearing, but I was really proud of it because it was a completely custom made patch in serum. Glad to hear that my mix is improving. Maybe I'll be able to finally snag a 5 star rating from you this ngadm. Song structure has always been hard for me (you know how I am with endings lol). I appreciate the feedback!

[NGADM Royal Rumble]

I like the energy and intensity at the beginning. The melodic content at :32 was also quite enjoyable. It seems like the drums get a little strained in the mix at around that point (and also later during the busier sections), though. The constant intensity might warrant some structural relief after a while. If your piece is uniformly energetic, it still makes it hard to stay engaged. Structural variety would seriously help you out here. Stripping away the heavy guitars and drums at some point would help give the piece a little more shape. The riffs themselves are well varied, but I’d encourage you guys to think about varying this along such parameters as energy, dynamics, and instrumentation. These problems are compositional, but the texture always feels full and rich, and I love the portamentos, like at 1:22. You use panning to your advantage here, too, which is nice to see. Overall, it’s an enjoyable piece. Keep at it, guys!

7.75/10

[Speed shard]

I like the guitar riff at the beginning. The snare sample wasn’t my favorite, though. The snare and crash are both incredibly weak compared to the kick, in fact. It’s a catchy and energetic piece, but it lacks strong melodic content and the mix feels a little thin. I think you need to add some reverb and compression to make the texture feel a bit thicker. It also couldn’t hurt to flesh out the structure a bit more, as this is a short piece without a ton of variety. There are some neat ideas here, but the composition is a bit underwhelming. Keep at it, man!

3.5/10