TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Tailout]

Sounds like a preset from "Plucked" at the beginning. :) The rhythm doesn't sound completely in sync at :09. It sounds like you recorded each instrument separately on a MIDI, but the riffs didn't change notes at the same time. Even if I'm wrong, something sounds indistinct there that makes the texture a little jarring. I liked the drums, but I thought the bass at :20 was a little too muddy and really overwhelmed the other instruments too much. May I ask what DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) you use? Those glitchy effects towards the end were cool, though. It doesn't make a bad loop, either, but otherwise it's a structurally incomplete piece. The quantizing problems (if that is in fact what's causing the problems) are my main concern with this piece. Otherwise, keep at it, man. ;)

jdogisbest responds:

I used GarageBand, very hard to sync it well, but I got it as close as possible. Thanks for the feedback! (^^)

[Refresh (Intro)]

I like the atmospheric vibe and the chord progression. I think the melody at :15 is a little overpowered by the harmonies, though. I would suggest automating the reverb to make way for the lead there. You could also use some compression or volume automations, but in my experience automating the reverb sounds cooler. :) I like the instruments, though. If you're looking for a next step, it feels like this song needs an injection of energy. Some drums and more dynamic/busy melodies might help. Looking forward to hearing the final product! Keep at it, TeraVex. ;)

[Stay Inside Me]

I like the bouncy synths and the easy flowing melodies. The texture is very pizzicato-heavy, but the melodies are still memorable. You may have overdone the reverb a bit, too, yet the mixing and mastering are both solid. I wish you had varied the melody a little more during the second half of the piece, but you still kept things interesting with the vocal samples. Well-structured piece with a great atmospheric vibe. Keep up the great work, OcularNebula! ;)

[Watching the Trees Go By]

I like the bouncy strings and sense of climax into :14. Some percussion would've helped channel the energy a lot more. I think you need a crash or other transitory element at :14. The main riff is pretty repetitive, so :57 was a nice moment of structural relief. I love the emotion at 1:10, and you transition back into the main theme at 1:30 well. Well-structured piece. The instrumentation and harmonies are both great, but I would've liked to see this thing fleshed out a little more in order to maximize the cinematic appeal it has. Right now, it's a little too fast-paced to fully display its potential for drama and emotion IMO. But that's pretty picky. This is a great composition, my friend. Keep up the good work! ;D

Columbers responds:

I actually paid attention to the musical form in this song, and it paid off. I was running out of ways to repeat it, so that's why it's so short. Also, I struggle with writing percussion parts, but I don't try very hard to add percussion so I can't complain much. Maybe next time I can use more than a snare drum. Thanks for your review though!

[Lead Me]

I like the chord progression. Perhaps you could've brought out more emotion with the piano at the beginning with some humanizing/dynamics, though. The piece progresses really slowly and overall has a pretty simplistic texture. It has a lot of potential, but you could've done so much more with this. The track has a lot of underlying tension that never gets resolved. The ending is sudden and inconclusive. Otherwise, I like the samples and atmosphere. Keep at it, man. ;)

[[F12] Briefing (Action Menu)]

I like the suspense and dramatic string part. Even for a game menu, it has very little sense of direction or progression, though. The sound design and mixing are good, but I think you could've done a lot more with this. It doesn't even make that great of a loop because of the little riser effect you have at the beginning. I want to see this turn into a 4-minute thriller! Keep at it, man. ;)

F0R3ST12 responds:

Thanks for the review! I realized after the fact that I had that riser in the beginning (oops). A quick slice and I'll fix that up.

EDIT: Fixed, my bad!

[Sempiternal Rhapsody]

I like the slow pace at the beginning. It definitely seems like a complex mixture of emotions - at times, bright, melancholy, anticipatory, and even danceable (Pride-and-Prejudice style, if you will). It has a consistent flow throughout, though. I love the transition at 2:20. There are some really interesting chord progressions in there too, like at 2:30. The riff at 2:57 with the high-pitched pitter-pattering arpeggios is highly amusing. Reminds me of rain that's making fun of me as it falls: "HA! You thought you'd spend the day outside, didn't you? Nice try, fool!" Same thing at 4:06. But what I really admire about this piece (and your work in general) is that you then rapidly transition into the section at 4:12, at which you also have a lot of rapid, high-pitched notes, yet the mood has completely changed into a majestic, gentle tone. That majestic tone finally gets broken by the chord at 6:13 - back to melancholy. I think you also added just the right amount of reverb to this piece. The atmosphere feels spacious enough, yet doesn't detract from the distinctness of the notes at the busier sections. Excellent piece, Ale! I'd agree that it's probably your best piano composition of 2016. Onwards and upwards, my friend! Happy new year, and let's Skype sometime, yes?

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

From the start, I knew I wanted to have a fairly slow pace at the start, along with the end. I ended up not having many slower middle sections, but it all kinda worked out like it is :)

I think that regrettably, I haven't seen Pride and Prejudice yet! I'm glad that the different emotions and atmospheres are noticable though! Especially in a Rhapsody, it'd be a shame if it came across as stale.

I think that the parts between 2:20 and 4:10 are possibly my favorite section, aside from the main theme which started it all, and repeats here and there (mostly in the beginning and the ending).
I'm glad you like the thingy at 2:57! That's quite an amusing mental image you're drawing there xD
4:12 is probably my least favorite section, but that's because I knew I needed to have something like that there, but I didn't know exactly where to go. So it's atually one of the very last parts I completed, after having played around with like 50 different ideas. So at this point, I honestly can't tell if the section sounds good, bad, jarring or not xD

I actually think I didn't add any reverb! Not even the internal one, within the vst. I think I just managed to use a fairly apt amount of the sustain pedal, while playing. The good thing about pianos, is that a lot of the reverb is kind of controlled "LIVE". You can still hear a couple of places where I messe up a bit, like the note at 1:46, which almost breaks off slightly.
Ther VST, ofc, accounts for the pedal as well (it's one of the MIDI values one can adjust). For a farily fast paced piano piece like this, with a lot of highs and lows, I wanted to be careful with reverb, and decided not to add any. I also went for a fairly generic Concert Grand piano sound, as opposed to some other uploads, where I've used different piano sounds. It's a safer route for complex and varied pieces. I'm glad the end result sounds good though!

Thank you for your long and fun-to-read review! We should Skype indeed. I've been thinking of messaging you a couple of times, but you've happened to be offline! Different time zones and all :p
It's a bit late, but Happy New Year, and may 2017 be a good one ;)

[~SW~ Thoughtspark]

As always, I love the atmosphere and synths. The pitch on the lead at :27 sounds heavily altered - I like it! At the same time, though, I think the melody there is a bit too loud there. I'd prefer the atmosphere to be a little further forward in the mix. I definitely like the progression here, though. I like how you restart with the bare-bones beat at 1:45. The production quality is really high. I can hear all of the elements of the texture very clearly throughout. You did a great job of channeling the energy through the section from around 2:30 to 4:00. There are a lot of cool dissonances and chord progressions here, though. I love the slow pace of the melody at 3:25. The transition at 4:07 didn't quite work for me tbh. It seemed like you were building up to something, and then the beat fell away and the mood was very tranquil all of a sudden. You spammed the crash/hi-hats at 5:24, which I found to be a bit excessive. I thought the transition into 6:30 was better than the one at 4:07. While still not exactly gradual, it seems more directional and less jarring. I like the ominous ending a lot, too. Overall, excellent piece, though. You clearly put a momentous amount of effort into this thing, and it shows. Fave and DL! ^_~

SkyeWint responds:

Hey!

Not sure what you mean about the pitch on the lead in the first part - I agree that it might be a bit too loud, but not entirely sure. I definitely get wanting the background atmosphere to come out a bit more! Fortunately, the pad is the same throughout the whole thing, lol.

The beat at 1:45 was the part that was really inspired, and led on to make the entire rest of the piece (as you can hear).

3:25 is one of my favorite sections melody-wise, I really liked the atmosphere there, so I kept it. Right before that with the cymbals is one that I liked making as well. :) Glad to hear it shows through!

With 4:07... that was a hard choice. I actually tried keeping things flowing and going back up in tension there, but it just didn't work. I thought I would take a page out of the book of @Step and make an unexpected transition there, to bring back some elements of the very beginning.

5:24 onwards is just like about 3:00 - the cymbals are synced up to the kick drum for a hard DnB effect. The intro leading up to it is similar to around 3:00 as well, with the spamming of the high hats. I guess there are a few more kicks, and by extension crashes (kinda). It's a different, slightly more frantic beat.

6:30 is probably the transition I am the most proud of in the entire piece, so I'm really glad that you like it! It took a huge amount of listening, tweaking, and effort to put it in. Because of some oddities with the way that instruments react to tempo changes, I had to manually slow down and stretch out the individual notes along with gradually slowing the tempo back down to the original temp for the ending.

Glad you do like the ending, by the way! I wasn't 100% sure on that one, so I'm glad it fit!

[~SW~ Mellowdia]

I like the pulsing synths at the beginning. It's very mellow (duh) and atmospheric. I wasn't a huge sample of the kick sample, though. It was just a little too sub-bassy for my tastes. I love the sense of climax into 1:26, and the accompanying melody that starts at 1:06 is great. I thought this piece deserved more than just a fade-out ending with little melodic variation. Still, your sound design is fantastic, and the piece is very well-mastered too. Keep it up, Skye! ;)

SkyeWint responds:

Heyo, TL! We should talk more often than in reviews! :)

I'm glad that you weren't a sample of the kick sample. That's generally a good thing. That said, it is definitely sub-bassy - I had to tone it down a bit initially as my speakers have little sub-bass to speak of, and it really showed when I listened with headphones, lol. It's meant to be a very heavy mix, weighted more towards the low end than treble frequencies - there's a high end to the kick which is completely cut out for that exact reason.

I'm glad you liked the melody - I've been trying to improve on my melodies in general, so I'm really really glad that it's having an effect!

I agree that the piece deserved more than a fade-out. I don't really have much of an excuse for that - the reason is just that this was a short piece (only 2 and a half hours to make) which I didn't put a ton of effort into. It was something I felt like doing, based on a few sound samples I had. Most of the instruments were still made by hand and are based on raw samples, so I'm happy with that with the sound design.

Don't worry, the next piece will have a more proper ending! :)