TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Photon]

I like the frantic synths at the beginning. The clap sample at :15 is pretty generic, as is the sweep into :27. The kick could’ve been stronger too - I’d suggest giving the middle frequencies a boost and making sure it’s compressed well. The piece is going in a neat new direction by around 2:15. I’d still like to hear some more melodic content, though. I also would’ve liked to see you break down the frantic synths at some point in the piece, just to create a little structural relief, which would help channel the energy in the piece a little more. The melodic content comes a little late (4:25), but I’ll take it. It’s a strong melody that definitely fits the atmosphere of the piece well. I wasn’t a huge fan of the instrument at 4:52, though - had some annoying clicks on the attack, and didn’t really share the dream vibe of the rest of the piece very well. The piece doesn’t need to be 6 minutes long, either, although I did like the outro. Overall, it’s a pretty neat piece. My main problems with it are elements of the sound design and that it can come across as a bit generic at times. Otherwise, keep it up!

7.5/10

Teckmo-X responds:

I actually see what you mean by the sounds used in this piece so I definitely understand. As for the length of the song I decided it should have been longer since it fell on the Trance genre. I do appreciate you taking time to give me a thorough review. Thank you so much!

[War]

The distorted bass at the beginning sets up the mood pretty well. The punchy brass and violin work well together. To my ears, :45 gives away that the violin is fake - the sustain and articulation and expression are entirely uniform during those four notes. That said, the climax that follows is extraordinary. The part at 1:20 has a dense sense of chaos, yet the tempo of the piece is not that fast. I think the distortion works quite well. I suppose I would’ve liked you to dial back the energy and drive this piece has at some point, just to offer some structural relief. In a way, you do that at 3:28, but it’s both short-lived and still has quite a lot of moving notes there. I couldn’t help but notice that the pizzicatos get a little lost in the mix during the final climax at 4:10. Same with the violin riff at 4:33. That said, the composition here is fantastic overall. You’ve done an effective job of maximizing the drama. Cool piece!

8.5/10

Jmagnum responds:

Oh man that's really informative :D

I never actually noticed how the strings sounded at :45. Never listened to it that way before, but I can totally see that. I'm pretty bad at the sound engineering side of things, but I'll try to work on fixing stuff like that in the future.

As far as notes being lost at the end, I noticed that, but decided I preferred it that way. Sort of gives a sense of drowning. Not sure if that is technically/musically a bad decision or not. It might have been :S

Overall, thank you very much :)

[Shake Well]

Catchy content here. The percussion is nice and crisp and well-varied. The melodies are enjoyable, although I think this piece has a little too much variety for its own good. The pacing is very fast, and that makes it a little hard to follow the structure at times. Sometimes (:52, for example) I would’ve liked the percussion to be a bit stronger. I’d suggest some compression, stereo widening, etc. My favorite part of the piece was the mood - very upbeat and energetic. Overall solid work! Fun piece for sure. :)

8.25/10

[Topsy Turvy]

I like the riff at the beginning. The piece is catchy, albeit a little slow to develop. The texture is minimalistic throughout. You really needed some more harmonies or pads or something to keep me engaged. It’s also very repetitive, and the percussion doesn’t quite sound polished. If I were you, I’d especially focus on getting comfortable working with chords and their relation to melodies. If you don’t have a lot of music theory background, this can be challenging, but chords can provide a lot of fill and really make your piece sound richer and more interesting. Hope this helped! Keep at it, my friend.

4/10

["Rising Dreams"]

I like the bright piano at the beginning and the snare pattern at :26. The mood is uplifting and vaguely cinematic. The strings at :50 fit the texture well, but the melody there is a little square. The kick also gets a little lost when it’s competing with the bass. I like the punchier direction you took it in at 2:05. I like the warm, cute ending, although I don’t think it makes a very good loop. Solid piece. It’s well-structured and smooth-flowing, and overall the instruments blend together pretty well. You can kinda tell the strings aren’t real strings, but they’re also better than most string samples. Keep it up, man!

8.75/10

[Don't Need Love]

I like the tranquil vibe at the beginning. The vocals are great - super smooth and conversational tone. You scoop up to a few of the notes at the beginning of phrases, but unfortunately that seems to be a trademark of pop. The lyrics themselves are very amusing as well. Again, your style reminds me of something out of a musical or something, probably because it’s a piece that clearly has a story attached. :) The first verse dragged on a little long, though, and the refrain doesn’t do much to resolve the tension there. I did like how you have a constant build-up ingrained in the texture, though - the pizzicatos at the second verse were a nice touch. The instruments blend well together in general, and the production quality is very high. The injection of passion at 1:45 was much-appreciated. The guitars at 2:30 really helped give the piece a sense of direction as well. The layered vocals at 3:46 are great. Overall, this is another excellent composition. It feels a little long-winded, but perhaps that’s suitable for a broadway musical anyway. ;) Keep it up, FinnMK!

9.75/10

FinnMK responds:

Your tips are always appreciated mi amigo!

[Rika]

Majestic and uplifting vibe at the beginning. The injection of energy at :26 was a little sudden, and the melodies were a little square, and you could’ve done a lot more creative things with the drums during that section. I liked the vocal samples at :55, though. The melodies and textures are quite enjoyable, though. I appreciate the structural relief at 1:34. Good sense of atmosphere in that section, too. I would’ve liked you to lead up to the drop at 2:00 a little more, but I liked the drop itself. Certainly served as a cool bridge to the latter half of the piece. The melodic section at 2:35 is nice too. This piece has a lot of variety, yet maintains a lot of coherence as well. Variety and coherence are often very difficult to balance, but you’ve done a good job of that here. Given the second drop later in the piece, the structure of the piece is a little bizarre, but I liked the fast pace of the piece. A couple of the instruments you have in here are a little cliche, notably the snare at 3:56 and some of the lead synths. Clearly, you have excellent compositional skills, though, and I didn’t notice any problems with the mixing either. Solid work! :D

9/10

Tennon responds:

Well thanks for the detailed review dude! Yeah one of my styles is the variety of elements in my songs. I like to mix dubstep with other elements such as anime or traditional oriental stuff, it makes my songs more diverse and un-repetitive. Im glad that you enjoyed it!

[Starglasses]

I like the creative bass line and quirky instrumentation. The mood is great - pretty ominous, yet also engaging. The part at :32 didn’t seem to build on the intro very much, and overall this piece is pretty slow to develop. I would’ve liked to see more melodic content earlier in the piece. The moving notes that are in the texture just aren’t very upfront in the mix (e.x. The the pizzicato-y synth at 2:00 or so), which doesn’t help your case of creating strong melodic content. It also has a sense of continuity about it, which I would’ve liked to see you break at some point in favor of structural relief. This piece has a lot of tension in it, and that tension is never really resolved. It’s certainly a unique and engaging piece. I didn’t notice any problems with the mixing or mastering. Cool piece, albeit one you could’ve done a lot more with compositionally. Keep at it, man!

8/10

[Unity Paradox - Beta Reaper]

I like your use of reverb. The snare sample wasn’t my favorite, though - seemed a little generic, and also didn’t have as much sustain as was appropriate for the gritty, hard-hitting synths IMO. The pace of the piece is pretty fast, but I thoroughly enjoyed the structure. The drop at :41 was amusing, but I think you could’ve found a way to utilize the entire frequency range there. The minimalism detracts from my engagement there. Given your use of so many heavy basses, the mixing is really solid. It seems like you just went from a post-chorus straight into another drop (2:23), though. I think this piece needs a little more structural relief, ideally in the form of some melodic and/or low-energy content. The piece is not long right now, so I think adding another minute of even transitional content would help give the piece more shape and variety. You’ve clearly shown some advanced production skills and a great sense of rhythm and atmosphere here. Going forward, though, I think you’ll need to employ more melody-driven and richer textures to advance in the competition. Good luck!

7.75/10

[Disco In The Dark]

The drum samples are pretty generic, and the kick is very weak and needs more bass. I like the melodies, but the instrumentation seriously detracts from my enjoyment of the piece. The kick also gets seriously lost in the mix later on, and the snare is clearly being distorted by the synths at around 1:30. I think you should focus on equalizing and compression next time - those core mixing skills are really worth an investment. I did like the melodies and texture, though. I think you have a good sense of harmony and tonality. The piece is pretty catchy, and I like your use of reverb. Overall, the piece just needs a lot of cleaning up production-wise, and perhaps a more fleshed-out structure before it stands out compositionally. Keep at it, man!

5.5/10

AlxEllis responds:

Thanks for the feedback man! :)