TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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! :)

[breeze before sunset]

I like the relaxed mood at the beginning. That synth at the beginning sounds a little hollow and thin, though. I like the atmospheric vibe. The piece is very smooth, which set up the transition at :38 well. I think the drums could’ve been a lot stronger, especially the snare. Usually the snare should be the loudest instrument in the mix, and this is no exception. This is a pretty well-structured piece, but I would’ve liked to hear a little more variety later in the piece, especially since the melody repeats so often. A lot of your instruments here are pretty generic (the clap and lead synth especially). Still, the piece is enjoyable because of the mood, atmosphere, and melodic content. Overall solid work!

8/10

[Koraii - Uplink [Lilysse Collective]]

I like the tranquil mood at the beginning. It’s very bright and uplifting. It’s a little slow to progress, but the mood is engrossing. The synths blend really well together, and the texture has a nice richness about it. Good sense of climax into 2:02. The melody at 2:02 is a bit square, though. I liked the one at 2:42 a lot better - seemed much more free-flowing and less robotic. The part at 4:05 was great at offering some structural relief, though. I also thought the mixing and mastering were both solid throughout. The chopped vocals at 4:45 are great. If I was being really picky, I might suggest you do more creative things with the drums, especially during the long melodic sections, but for now I think this piece will serve you plenty well in the competition. Well-structured, smooth-flowing, excellent instrumentation, solid production work. Keep it up, man!

9.5/10

[Masked Machine]

I like the fun middle-east themed melody and distorted percussion and synths in the background. The texture here is super engaging and fun. I like how you left a lot of sub-bass frequencies in that kick, too. Some more stereo widening wouldn’t hurt to just give the kick a little more clarity during some of the busier sections. At some point, I would’ve liked you to tone down the distorted background synths and offer some structural contrast energy and dynamics-wise, but overall the structure and variety in the piece are quite enjoyable. Very unique and catchy piece. Well done!

9.25/10

Zanzlanz responds:

Thanks so much for another incredibly detailed and nice review. I have no idea how you have time to do all this work in such a short time!

The review is helpful because it shows how I might go about improving production quality in specific ways.

Maybe next year I'll get through auditions :D
Take care my man. Hope you stay well during the event!

[yours]

I love the static crackles and the tranquil and flowing vibe at the beginning. The melody at :25 is both cute and beautiful. Sounds like spring. <3 The mixing and mastering is air-tight as always with you, Midimachine. I like the subtle developments you made to the melody at 1:12. I wish you had varied the melody a bit toward the end of the piece, but overall the composition is quite impressive as well. The arpeggios at the 2-minute mark get me every time. :’) This piece is full of emotion and wonder. Perhaps you could’ve maximized the emotion by creating more of a breakdown somewhere in the middle, but the piece is short enough so I stay engaged throughout. I guess what I’m trying to say is...I don’t have any real criticism for you. You know I’m a sucker for ambient electronica. XD Keep up the great work, man!

9.75/10

[Xtrullor & HeliXiX - Universal Expression]

I like the atmospheric vibe at the beginning. It’s very spacious and majestic. It’s a little slow to progress, but at the same time has a great sense of climax. The phrasing in this piece is also excellent. The way it melts back to a mellow simmer at 1:40 is just engrossing. The drop was itself was very interesting. You guys made some really interesting decisions with the sound design here - combining the smooth orchestral sounds and gritty synths was risky, but I think it paid off. Excellent job incorporating dynamic contrast and structural variety into the piece. The part at 3:55 is probably my favorite - it has so much tension, and offers an excellent platform for the final climax to emerge. I might mention that the lack of coherence as something to be cautious of in the future, but all the transitions were so well-crafted that I’m not going to take off any points for that. The production quality is super high, btw, and I absolutely love the warm chords that seep in at around the 5-minute mark. Gorgeous work, my friends. DL’d and favorited.

9.75/10

[AntiTone - Mountain]

The mood is simultaneously cute and creepy at the beginning. The pads at :12 were a little in-your-face. I’d suggest taking some of the treble off of them, at the very least. The climax into :45 was amusing, but I think you really overdid the reverb on the snare there. I like the recapitulation of the beginning at 1:35. It seems like the pads are getting a little distorted by kick at 1:42, though. I like the structure of the piece overall, but I think you could’ve varied the refrain a little the second time around, just to give the piece more of a sense of development. The part at 3:01 also seemed a bit spammy with the pads - not a great way of channeling the energy IMO towards the end of a piece. You also could’ve had some stronger melodic content in here. As I see it, the melody now is essentially 5 notes, starting at 2:16. You have a solid, thick texture made up of pads and arpeggios, but that still leaves a bit of melodic desire to be satisfied. Overall, this is a smooth-flowing and well-structured piece that you could’ve done a lot more with. I think it’s the composition that needs the most work, but there are a couple of subtle things you could do to drastically improve it (like coming up with a slight variation for the second refrain, or adding some more contour to the melody, etc.). This is a solid foundation for a really strong piece. Keep at it, man!

6.25/10

[Pulvite - Stone]

The intro was creative. I like the sense of climax into :47. It’s a catchy piece, albeit with some pretty generic synths. The minimalistic drop lasted a bit too long IMO, but the part at 1:50 was pretty enjoyable and more melodic. The mixing is pretty good, and overall it’s a well-structured and smooth piece. My main problem overall is that it’s pretty cliche, and the texture isn’t always as rich as it could be (you use reverb to fill in the texture, which I’m pretty ambivalent about). I also don’t think the piece needed to be 5 minutes long. The drop section isn’t really varied much the second time around, except for the bit at 4:20, which you pretty much use as an outro anyway. Overall, though, it’s not entirely bad, just not unique. Going forward, you might have to push yourself to expand beyond your comfort zone more. As for now, pretty solid work. ;)

7/10

[Ebullience (Original Mix)]

I like the energy and rhythm at the beginning. The acid synths are a little generic, but the filtering automations are cool and give the piece a fresh vibe. The kick at :30 is a little overpowering, though, and the piece develops pretty slowly. The hi-hats also get a little lost in the mix. I’d suggest cutting off some of the higher-pitched frequencies in the synths and also compressing the hats to give them a little boost. I like the climax at 1:40, but I think it took you quite a while to get there. The part at 2:35 was also a great point of structural relief, although I’m not always a huge fan of when climactic build-ups lead to breakdown sections. For most of the piece, you have a nice full texture, which is great to hear. As I mentioned earlier, I think the pacing of the piece could stand to be faster. I’m always skeptical of tracks that are this long, and I think you risk losing some of the listener’s engagement by having long periods of high-energy trance (i.e., 3:20 - 5:50). You craft the shape of this piece really well, though - the dissipation of energy later in the piece is really well done. Reminds me of Deadmau5’s long, slow outros. Solid work, man!

8/10

Mich responds:

I was pretty proud of that acid synth given it's coming from a modular analog synthesizer I've put together myself. :P Guess I could've been a bit less reserved with putting the patch for it together though. In the buildup to the chorus at 4:00, I did play a bit with making it go into crazy resonance, if you listen for it you might pick it out then. All in all it might be a little bit buried in the mix there.

Coming up with an adequate kick is something I still struggle with a bit, so I guess I agree on that point.

As for the slow development; personally I listen to a lot of trance, and I like listening to the full length unmixed versions, which are about this length, some to over 9 minutes. I like the slow progression of it. This particular song was initially over 11 minutes long (see link in description), so I've already cut down on it a great deal I think. :P

All in all, the main purpose of long intros and outros is for mix-ability.

Anyway, thanks much for the review!