TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cosmic battle]

I like the groovy bass riff at the beginning. The pads and harmonies at :16 are really atmospheric and dreamy. I thought it was really creative for the melody to gradually fade in at :55, although I think it’s a bit too loud by the end. One thing I didn’t like about the piece was the drums. They’re really weak, and definitely need more compression or equalization work to stand out in the mix, especially the kick. The piece also has a bit of a long continuity to it, which I think you could’ve solved by adding a proper breakdown section or at least stripping away the drums and bass at some point. That would help give the piece a little more shape and structural variety. The loop was smooth, though, and I think the piece feels conclusive by the end anyway. Some of your instruments are also a little generic, especially the melody synth. That said, there’s a lot of strong melodic content here, and your use of reverb gives the piece a good atmosphere. Keep at it, man!

7/10

Electronox responds:

Thanks for the review! I know I didn't get through to the next round, but I think 7/10 is still good! Could you maybe give me a hand structuring a piece? That is the main problem I have with making a piece of music :P
Hope you can help!

[AIM - NINE]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. Very ominous mood. I think the “my husband” vocal sample worked well once, but I don’t think it was an effective compositional choice to repeat it 3 more times. I like the texture at :32, although I don’t get the sense that the piece has much direction or shape. There’s not much variety or melodic content at all during the first half of the piece. The distorted riff at 1:36 is also enjoyable - the sound design and atmosphere of this piece are spot on. I like how you brought the theme back with more intensity at 1:52. Still, the piece doesn’t have a strong sense of direction or progression during the last ⅓ or so, and the ending almost makes it seem like you intended to loop it. You simply need more variety than this in order to make the piece strong compositionally. The production quality is pretty good, although the excess of reverb and distortion doesn’t make for the cleanest product. The mood is great, but I’d like to see you make better use of phrasing and variety in the future. Keep at it, man!

6.25/10

[AIM - Love In Essence]

I like the relaxed mood at the beginning. Excellent atmosphere - the spacious mix and reverb really help you out here. The vocals at 1:07 are beautiful - very reassuring tone, soulful, and rich. That simply melody in the guitar 1:40 is really effective at channeling the emotion here. I also don’t think the autotune was obnoxious at all - in a way it added to the atmosphere. Mixing-wise, the only complaint I have is that the drums could’ve been a little stronger, and the kick is sometimes hard to make out amidst the spacey ambient patterns. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the way the pad cuts off at 3:54 - the sudden cutoff just didn’t seem to fit the mood of the piece IMO. Perhaps I would’ve liked to see you vary the guitar riffs toward the end a little more, as they did get repetitive. Besides that, the composition is lovely as well. Solid work! Keep it up, man. ;)

9/10

[The Demon]

I like the warm chords at the beginning, and how you quickly incorporate unexpected dissonances. The melody content at around :30 is pretty cool, and it blends in well with the pads. Some of your instruments sound a little generic and also out-of-place for the mood of the piece, like the melody instrument at 1:03. You keep building onto the texture from there, which sounded smooth but also made the mix feel a bit congested. I’d suggest taking away some of the reverb, just to give each instrument some breathing room. The piece is slow to progress after around the 2-minute mark, and at around 2:48 the kick gets a little lost on the downbeats when the piano chords change at the same time. I’m also not sure the one-climax model worked great for you here. The texture is nice and rich, but I think including a breakdown or bridge at some point would’ve helped give this piece a lot more shape. Also, this is picky, but the last note cuts off a little suddenly at 4:28 - I would’ve liked to hear it taper off a bit more before you cut it off, especially since the pacing and style of the piece demands a long-winded dismantling of the texture. Overall, I think the melodic content, mood, and atmosphere are your best assets here. I enjoyed the emotion in the piece, although a little more humanization with some of the repetitive riffs (e.x., 1:03) would’ve enhanced that emotion. It’s an enjoyable piece. Clean up the mixing, and think this would’ve gotten you into the round of 64. Keep at it, man!

7.25/10

Cacola responds:

lol I have a version of this song with a much cleaner mix too, just not on ng, lmao fuck me right? but shit, thanks for the advice man. I don't remember did you guys always leave reviews on the tracks submitted? cause that's way helpful and makes me way more eager to participate next year.
cool shit man, thanks

[The old World]

The synth at the beginning didn’t strike me as being great for establishing the atmosphere or mood of a piece, and the rhythm at :21 is a little wonky. It’s very hard-hitting, arrhythmic and dissonant with having much in the way of substantive melodic content, phrasing, or transitory material. You also didn’t do a great job of using the entire frequency range for much of the beginning. There is a build-up of energy over the course of the piece, but at the end of the day the structure of the piece is little more than an establishment of atmosphere that goes a little over-the-top on the dissonance. It isn’t very conclusive at all, either. Sorry this review is so negative. This piece is an interesting experimental piece, but as a stand-alone composition it doesn’t do much for me. I’d suggest trying to make a piece that focuses on more melodic and harmonic elements. Once you feel like you’ve made a piece with a strong melody, please PM me again and I’ll leave you a review. Until then, keep at it, man. ;)

2.5/10

SlaughterClub responds:

I Had no attacks against me untill i upload to your shitty little contest ...which i have done for the 2nd time in 2 years .( i know their is a lot of EGO with YOU people but i have listen to some of YOUR STUFF & i am NOT impressed AT ALL it sounds you use a lot soft ware snyths with your flys undone .. your contest is a joke & you or ur people should not be even be wasting your time pretending to know what your talking about when it comes to music

[Ondancetron]

Groovy piece. Reminds me of Michael Jackson in a way. I thought the clap sample was a little cliche, but the percussion at the beginning is really cool. I think the kick could be a bit stronger in the mix, though. You might need some more compression, equalization, or stereo widening. The quirky texture at :27 is quite enjoyable. The busy beats at around the 1-minute mark contrast well to the chill, dreamy bit at 1:19, although you may have needed a smoother transition there (even a crash). The vocoder actually works quite well for your purposes here, too. You have a lot of cool rhythms and rich synth patterns here. The piece lacks a proper breakdown, though, and you could’ve done a lot more with phrasing and dynamic contrast. I also don’t think the latter part of the piece ever returns to the emotional height of the first couple of minutes. Still, this is a really cool, catchy, and unique piece. Keep up the good work!

8.75/10

[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