TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[F-777 - Yin & Yang]

The rhythm was a little hard to follow at the beginning, but it got easier after the beat came in. I like the upbeat vibe at :22. The mixing and mastering are great. My only production critique is that the kick could've been a bit stronger. I like the breaks at 2:28 a lot. This piece has a near-constant energy and drive, which I think needs some variety after awhile. There was a brief moment of relief at 3:10 or so, but I don't think it was enough to draw much contrast. The piece also gets very repetitive by the end, and I don't think it needed to be quite this long. Still, I like the mood and melodies here, and I'm quite impressed by the production quality. Keep up the good work, man! Two songs from the original CDM - Shaolin Warrior and Kung Fu'd - are still among the all-time most played songs on my iTunes Library. :'D

[BrightSide]

NEW AUDIO FROM LUNACYECHO? Haven't seen that notification in a while. I like the mood and energy here. The drums are especially good, I think. They sound pretty organic, but they mesh really well with the electronic instruments here. The melodies at 1:04 are great, as are the ones at 1:35. There's actually a lot of melodic content here. I think the melody at 2:08 needed to come through the mix a little more, whereas I might've toned down the high-pass a bit on those pads, or otherwise transposed them down an octave. That way, it opens up the mix more to cover a broader frequency range and also help the melody stand out. Still, this piece is seriously good. Well-structured, smooth-flowing, and quite thematic, I might add. Hope to see more of your work soon, LE. ;D

LunacyEcho responds:

Great to hear from you, TL! One of the things I've missed about uploading audio to Newgrounds is seeing your religiously written comments on everything. :D :D

Let's see if I can still remember how to respond...

=> drums =>

Yeah, I used an acoustic drum kit as a part of the funk section of the genre mash. I was also surprised by how good they sounded with the synths! :)

=> melodies =>

I'm actually super proud of some of the melodies in this song! Especially the second theme, which enters at 2:08.

=> mix =>

Hah, my headphones are a little short on treble. :P I should probably factor that in when mixing, lol. I've definitely been keeping the broad frequency range in mind; in fact, I'm also kinda proud of how I mixed and edited the bass in this song.

Thanks for the review, TL! Hope to hear more music from you soon, and I look forward to competing in future Chips with you. ;)

[Deceived by Demise]

Stellar work, man. Listening to it for the second time, I'm even more impressed. The atmosphere is very well-crafted, and the production quality is very high. I love the dissonance around the 2-minute mark coupled with that gorgeous string melody. The climactic part at 2:51 could've had more of a build-up, but the wave of sound that hits me is still an effective way of channeling the mood. The final minute or so had a strong emotional appeal too. Amazing work! Keep it up, dude. ^_^

EvilRaccoon responds:

Thankts TL! :D Really appreciate it.

[TeslaX - Abandoned World]

Interesting instrumentation at the beginning - the droning bass synth and orchestral chords actually blend pretty well together. It feels very cinematic. I thought the sweep at :40 was pretty generic. You have a good balance of frequencies here; there are plenty of highs, mids, and lows. I was really itching for some melodic content after awhile, so I was very relieved when the piano came in at 1:40. The instrument at 1:40 itself wasn't my favorite, though. Same with 2:20. They both sounded very pizzicato-y for a climactic melody, and the one at 2:20 sends off the wrong vibe emotionally IMO. It didn't strike me as something to be employed in a cinematic piece. The outro was good, though, if a little drawn-out. Compositionally this piece is solid. The sound design is really my main problem with it. Keep at it, man!

[Strong Force]

I like the sense of energy and tension at the beginning. The instrument for the line at the very beginning wasn't my favorite, but it works well with the rest of the sound design. I thought the frantic melody ducks under the mix a bit at the 1-minute mark, and the kick could also be a lot stronger to give the piece some more drive. I like the dark chords at 1:43 and how they are molded into the strings shortly thereafter. The transition at 1:55 could've been a lot more subtle, but perhaps you intended for it to be in-your-face. The piece is very catchy and energetic, but I don't see the theme coming through a ton just from listening to it. Also, the part at 2:55 kind of came out of nowhere. I would've liked to see you prime the listener more by introducing the riff at 2:55 earlier. By the time the frantic synth comes back in at 3:12, you can really tell that this piece has some mastering shortfalls. I would recommend toning down the reverb a bit and adding some more careful compression and equalizing to help add some clarity to these muddy frequencies. The chord at 4:10 threw me off a bit. It didn't have much of a sense of direction to it, so I thought you were ending the piece. In general, I didn't think the piece needed to be 6 minutes long, either. You rarely vary the melodies here, so the piece tends to drag a bit. It's a cool tune that's going to be stuck in my head for a while; production and arrangement are the major downfalls. Keep at it, man!

[Peaks]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning, and the drums, pads, and lead synth mesh really well together during the first 30 seconds or so. The piece is very smooth, and I really enjoyed the sub-bass too. As beautiful as the atmosphere is, I was craving some melodic content, which was satisfied at around the 2-minute mark. I like the apprehensive tone of the riff at 2:47. I really appreciate that this is in Dorian mode too - the old church modes aren't used enough. If I had to criticize one thing, it'd be that the piece doesn't have a ton of coherence. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed how you varied the energy throughout and how you used the drums. Great work, my friend!

Onefin responds:

Oh yeah, coherence. I sort of forgot you were the one who got onto me for only have one climatic point in my music. Idk I tried to make transitions really really good this time

Thanks for the review man!

[drowning (AIM)]

Yes! I love sad music. I like the somber mood and soulful melodies. Your sound design is always very carefully crafted, and I appreciate that. It was pretty slow to develop, though, and had a lot of moments of minimalism. The melodies are excellent, unsurprisingly. The automations do a lot to keep this song interesting. The phrasing is well-done. By the end, I didn't view it as sad so much as longing or wistful - the only thing I couldn't tell was whether it was longing for the future or the past. Nice well-balanced texture, though - I especially thought the bass at 2:47 was a nice touch. There was a really multi-faceted transition at 4:05 that still didn't quite seem smooth enough. Maybe that's because the tempo change was a bit too conspicuous. Still, I liked the coda. Solid work overall, as always. I'm not usually the kind of person to criticize people's genre choices, but kill as many hostages as you want. Just don't upload it to Facebook Live - Zuckerberg will get mad.

johnfn responds:

thanks TL! yes, the big risk of this piece is that it doesn't go full overdrive insane awesome like i normally would do, and the development is much slower than normal for me. its a much more restrained piece. i think that in the end this arrangement choice SHOULD make the piece more enjoyable to listen to for longer, at the expense of a slightly less arresting first listen. but i guess we'll see!

[EnV - Valkyrie]

I love the ghosty synths at the beginning. Killer melodies as usual. I guess I wasn't a huge fan of the "woo" sample that starts at :45. Still, the part at 1:14 served as a point of structural relief, which worked well. The piece is generally well-structured and smooth-flowing. I thought you could've done a lot more with the drums throughout, but at least they were well-balanced. The outro had a bit of an odd shape to it phrasing-wise - the energy waned a bit, but not all the way. That's a tiny detail, though. Overall solid work, EnV! ;)

[Clusterfrick]

I like the gritty bass and the raw-sounding percussion. The cat sample was a nice touch at :28. I think you're missing a lot of higher frequencies in here. Even if you're going for a really bass-heavy track, I think transposing those pads up an octave would make this piece sound a bit more full-textured. Still, you've showed off a great sense of rhythm and harmony. The piece has a nice constant drive to it, while simultaneously feeling pretty ominous and apprehensive, like a zombie house party. I'd love to see you turn this into a full-length track. Could use a dubstep bridge or something. Keep it up, dude! ;)

[Battle on the Bitmaker]

A VGM track from Step?! My life is complete. I love the cutesy effects and the sense of climax into :35. Personally, I thought the melodies during the refrain were a little underwhelming, or at the very least the climax oversold it. The mixing and mastering are great as always, though, and that creepy melody at 1:40 kills! Nice job with the sound design. I can't believe people would dare rip on 3xOsc after this. XD The crash (if you could call it a crash) at the end was also rather enjoyable. In fact, you did a great job playing with the Lo-fi throughout this piece. Always a pleasure hearing new tracks from you, Step. Looking forward to hearing more of your work! ;)