TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dovax - Deep Jungle]

I liked the dramatic crash at the beginning. The synth lead is pretty cool, although I thought the drum samples were a little generic. The transition at :30 seemed to take the piece in a new direction really suddenly, though. I’d suggest smoothing that over a bit. The drop at :38 was pretty cool. I especially liked when you started using those cool effects at :53 that altered the timbre of the instruments. You then switch back to using that other lead with a pretty lazy fade-in at 1:10. I’d suggest using cross-fading or another more creative technique to connect the two characters I’m seeing in the piece. The mixing and mastering is solid here, although I would’ve liked to hear more structural variety - stripping away the beat at a non-transitional moment might be a good way to achieve that. Overall, the structure of the piece relies on the switch-off between the drop and the build-up without much to bridge the gap. I’d like to see you add some more complexity to the structure next time, and maybe even some more memorable (i.e., non-transitional) melodic content. Otherwise, it’s a catchy piece with some cool sound design. Put a little more effort into the composition, and you’d have a really solid track on your hands. Keep at it, man!

7.75/10

[Somewhere We'll Remember]

I like the somber guitar riff at the beginning, and the flute is a nice touch. The melodic content is beautiful, and the piece has a good sense of climax into around the 1-minute mark. The vocals and strings also fit into the texture nicely. The melody at 1:58 is probably my favorite part of the piece - quirky, yet beautiful. The piece never quite outdoes the emotional height of the first minute or so, but nevertheless has a neat structure and is engaging throughout. It’s a smooth-flowing, tranquil, and also well-mastered track. Sometimes, the pizzicatos sound a little indistinct when they’re playing low notes, but that’s the only mixing issue I noticed. Nice work!

9/10

Veneox responds:

Very glad you enjoyed it ;)

[March of the Wicked Beasts]

I like the mood at the beginning. Seems very apprehensive, but also grandiose, like you’ve discovered the lair of the evil clown army. The mixing and mastering might need some attention, though. The bass drum at :03 sounds very indistinct and muddy, and it’s hard to make out the harmony brass and strings for large chunks of this piece. Equalization and compression are your best friends, and panning and stereo widening can also help a lot. The instrumentation is fantastic, though, and there’s so much drama and emotion packed into this short 2 minutes. Excellent melodies, too. Perhaps the melody could’ve been varied a little more the second time around, but honestly that doesn’t bother me too much. The composition of this piece is fantastic, but the mixing and mastering is where it falls through for me. Please educate yourself on equalizers and dynamics manipulation tools like compressors and expanders. You have the potential to be Newgrounds’ next great cinematic composer (and you seem to have already garnered a lot of attention to your content), but production quality is still important. Keep it up, man!

8.25/10

[Azure Rei - Star Crush]

I like the mood at the beginning. It has a lot of underlying tension, yet also seems upbeat in a way. I think the mix could have a lot more room to breathe, though. The harmonies never sound entirely distinct in this piece. Toning down the reverb a bit might help, but I think you’ve just got to be a little stricter with what you equalize out. Also, the kick is struggling to come through a bit at around 1:10. I’m also not hearing a lot of strong melodic content in this piece. The riff at 1:08 is a bit too fleeting to truly be a memorable melody. The fade-out ending also came across as a bit lazy. One thing that would really help you out compositionally is using some more phrasing/dynamic contrast. Switching up the energy levels in your track can really help keep your audience engaged, and there’s not a lot of structural variety here. The drum beat is playing for almost the entire time, giving the piece a feeling of continuity when you could be taking the piece in a new or interesting direction. In that way, the composition is a little underwhelming here. I’d suggest focusing on adding more variety in your pieces across a wide variety of parameters, and also maybe some stronger melodic content. If you do, you could have a really solid piece here. Keep at it, man!

6.5/10

[Sheepish]

I like the energy and off-beat pulse at the beginning. The melody at :14 is catchy and cool. The instrumentation is really interesting. The vocal samples sound like they could’ve sat at a better place in the mix - they were a little dry and the recording quality didn’t seem to be the best. You also may have overused them a bit. I like the bridge at 2:04 a lot, though. You did a pretty good job of varying the pace and energy of the piece throughout, although I would’ve liked to see you strip away the beat for a significant period of time. The drums also could’ve been a lot more creative. The mixing and mastering were pretty solid, though. The issue with the vocal blending was the only problem I noticed. Nice job keeping the texture full and active, too! Keep it up, man. Solid work, all things considered. ;)

8.25/10

MrKoolTrix responds:

Thanks for the constructive review, TaintedLogic! :D

[Nuka Goo]

I like the vocal sample at the beginning. Very clever filtering at :04, making the music sound distant. I liked the drop at :39 and how you wove the video game theme throughout. The drop dragged on for a little long, though. Nice job with the structural contrast at 1:30, although I think you waited a little too long to open the mix back up to a broader frequency range again, and overall the transition into 1:56 just took a little too long. The mixing is rather strong, though. I can hear all the instruments clearly, and I didn’t notice any distortion problems at any point in the piece. I wish you had varied the drop a little more the second time around. The piece also lacks a lot of melodic content, which is a problem. It does have some comedic value, but I wish you had focused more on the composition than incorporating the memes and vocal samples at every twist and turn. The pacing of the piece also seems a little off - instead of the cutesy, thin videogame texture (1:30) being used in brief transitory moments, it seemed to simply kill the mood that resulted from the drop. Maybe that’s a little picky, but I think if you were a little more focused on making a well-arranged, melody-driven piece, the jarring changes between the drops and the cute 8-bit content wouldn’t quite happen as they did. I have mixed feelings about the composition and themes of the piece, but overall it was pretty amusing. Keep at it, man!

7.25/10

GobSmacked responds:

It wasnt the best idea to send this in but atleast I was able to amuse ya! Imma try to improve on the flaws!

[XS - Aetheron [WIP]]

I like the intro a lot. At first it’s mysterious, yet has a rapid climax with some cool instruments. The chopped vocals are especially cool, and the drums sound nice and crisp. It’s a little slow to develop, but I like how you strip away the beat at :45. The mix is really spacious, yet utilizes the entire frequency range pretty well. The drop at 1:14 was pretty cool, although I think the synth you used sounded a bit thin. Perhaps I’d suggest some stereo widening techniques if you thought adding some low frequencies onto it would cause the mixing to go south. There’s a lot of tension in this piece, as evidenced by parts like 2:43. I think it’s parts like that needed a bit more fill in the texture. The ending also feels pretty rushed. There’s also not a ton of strong melodic content here, despite the excellent harmonizing with the chopped vocals and the quirky synths. The atmosphere and mood of the piece are killer, though, especially at 2:14. The instrumentation and mixing is really what carried this piece IMO. Overall strong work. Keep it up, man!

8.5/10

Jimmypig responds:

Thanks for the review! :) Yeah I have trouble filling out some parts because I don't want to clutter the sound, but being too careful makes it boring..

music hard