TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Route]

The synths are a little cheesy and generic, but I like the addition of the harp. It actually meshes really well with the smooth 8-bit vibe of the piece. I’m also really enjoying the percussion at around :50. The minimalism gets old after awhile, though. I think you needed some more fill between :50 and 2:00 - pads, mid-range harmonies, or maybe some hi-hats or toms to add some punch to the percussion. Compositionally, this piece is actually pretty strong. You have a good sense of melody and harmony, but the texture lacks fill. I want to see you use the entire frequency range to your advantage at most (if not all) times in the future. The fade-out ending came across as a bit lazy. I didn’t hear any particular problems with the mixing or mastering, so that’s a huge plus.

7/10

Zechnition responds:

Thanks for the review! I didn't know I was progressing so much with my mixing.

[Legionella]

I’m liking the chill vibes at the beginning. At :12, it seems like the piano should be in front of that high-pitched synth a little more. I’d readjust the volume levels accordingly if I were you. By :36, the texture has a dark, quirky vibe, like something out of a cheesy zombie-related flash game. By 1:00, it’s back to a pensive, brighter feel. It seems like the mood changes pretty quickly at several points without ever giving off a sense of direction. I enjoyed the melody at 1:45 a lot. I think my favorite part of this piece is the sound design. The drums could’ve been a lot more creative, though, and the kick is pretty weak. You probably need a new sample there, or at the very least some compression and stereo widening. The ending felt a little rushed, but overall the mood and atmosphere here are great. This piece has a bit of a wonky structure that doesn’t have a clear refrain or emotional height from what I can tell. This is where uniqueness really helps you, though. The instruments seem of very different strains - the stereo guitar, the ominous bass synths and pads, the string samples - yet they mesh together very well. You took some serious risks with this piece, and at the end of the day they paid off. Well done.

8/10

[Rex: Origins Rap]

This is a fun and catchy piece, but I don’t consider it structurally complete. Cool use of sound design, and the rapping was also quite enjoyable. The lyrics came through very clearly despite the fast pace of the song. You pull off the texture quite well here, and you clearly displayed a great sense of rhythm. I was really torn between giving you a 3 and a 7; in the future, I really want to see you flesh out your work and also take it a little more seriously. The arrangement is seriously lacking, and the piece is pretty unpolished. You clearly have a lot of talent, though. Comedic pieces are usually frowned upon in the NGADM, and the addition of the kazoo doesn’t really help your case there. I’m going to help you out here score-wise, but I wouldn’t expect any compassion from the other judges if I were you. Keep at it, man!

7/10

Kwing responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Keep in mind I did everything here - the kazoo, the throat singing, the beatboxing, the layering, the writing, the rapping, and the mastering - all during a 42 hour Game Jam while I was programming and animating the game that this came from. Game Jams are notoriously unpolished and what you're listening to is one of the aspects that I really couldn't afford to put more work into.

I decided to submit this to the Audio Deathmatch because it has absolutely zero samples that I don't own, since I made the beat completely from scratch. Not sure if I would have had a better chance submitting something using someone else's beat.

[(Chillstep) Purple Leaves]

I like the emotional piano and the mechanical-sounding static in the background. It’s a little slow to progress, but the atmosphere is great. I like the drop a lot, too. The synth bass is very gritty, but the bright piano and distorted saxophone layered on top add this awesome quirkiness that really keeps the piece engaging. The piano bridge that follows the drop is great, too, adding a lot of space to contrast the busy drop. The saxophone melody at the 3-minute mark works well add finality to the piece. Really admirable work here, man. It’s well-structured and smooth-flowing. Awesome mood and full texture throughout. I don’t hear any problems with the mixing either. If I had to complain about one thing, it’s that the ending seemed a bit underwhelming compared to the rest of the piece. Still, this track tells me you’re serious about this competition and geared up for the long haul. Keep it up, dude!

9.5/10

5TanLey responds:

wow, I expected all kinds of thing but not 9.5/10, many thanks :)

[Nostalgia (Instrumental)]

The instrument at the beginning sounds very generic, and I don’t like how you spam the crashes at :09. At :11, the beginning riff seems to be distorted a lot by the arpeggios that come in there. At :23, the kick sounds very harsh and unpolished - I’d suggest finding a new sample, and then being sure to equalize it more carefully (try searching for an equalizer in the mixing tab on whatever DAW you use). You have a good sense of melody, rhythm and harmony, though. This piece is quite repetitive by the end, and occasionally elements of the texture (the clap, most notably) seem to come in and drop out without any forewarning. I’d like to see you smooth over some of your transitions later in the piece in more creative ways - the spammy kick-hat-kick-hat thing you do at :42 and several other places is only really appropriate when the following section is significantly more energetic than the previous one. Overall, you have some good ideas here - there are a lot of compositional elements of this piece (melody, harmony, mood, etc.) that are really strong. I’d focus on improving your mixing and mastering skills as a priority. Doing some research on equalization and compression could be a great start. Keep at it, man!

6/10

TheNGVirus responds:

I do agree that I need much work with mixing and mastering. About the drums, this was my first time working with and programming sounds with a TR-909, but I'll definitely keep working on it! Overall, I do agree with the critique you've given me, and I will try to improve myself, whether I do make it into any of the matches or not!

[Seventh Heaven]

This is a pretty catchy piece. I think you may have gone a little overboard with the reverb, though. The progression is interesting. I’m not always a huge fan of purposeful anti-climaxes, like how you had this minimalistic section at 1:00 following a build-up. The riff at 1:00 was a little jumpy, with a lot of ornamental stuff that seemed excessive. At around 1:45, you have these two melodies playing at once that get in each other’s way a bit, especially since neither one was really more prominent than the other. Maybe that section would’ve worked better if they blended together more, but as two separate lines it didn’t quite work for me. You do a good job of varying the energy throughout this piece. I liked the part at 3:38 where you just left the floaty harmony and the bass playing together - it was a cool way of shaking up the texture towards the middle of this piece. Perhaps you could’ve used some smoother transitions at places like 3:38 and 4:32, though. Even a crash or sweep would probably suffice. Tiny thing: the drum fill at 7:16 felt a little out-of-place, but if you had done something similar a couple of times earlier in the piece, I think it would’ve worked fine. Also, I’m not a fan of fade-out endings; they usually come across as lazy, and this is no exception. Still, I have to say: usually I’m very skeptical of pieces that are this long, but with all the variety here, you pull it off pretty well. I’m not sure the track had to be 8 minutes, but I’m certainly not bored. You do a good job here of filling the texture throughout - the mix is very well-balanced. Solid effort. Keep it up, man!

8/10

[AIM - In That Moment]

I love the spacey and calm vibe of the intro. You set up the atmosphere/mood here really well. It’s a little slow to develop, but the texture is absolutely beautiful. The vocals that start bleeding in at around 1:30 are gorgeous. Same with the strings at about 1:45. Nice use of panning on the strings as well. What a rich sound you’ve produced here. This is one of the rare cases when I thoroughly enjoy pieces with a single climax or refrain. I thought the outro was a bit rushed, especially given the lengthy intro, but overall this piece tells me you’re a serious competitor in it for the long haul. Keep up the great work, man!

9.5/10