TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Byzantium]

I like the eastern instruments. This track is full of tension that never really gets resolved, though. By the end, it's pretty repetitive and structurally flat too. It's very catchy and the samples are cool, but I wish you varied the texture more. The fade-out ending struck me as a bit lazy, too. It's a great beat, but you could've done a lot more with it. Mixing and mastering are solid, though. I like the reverb. Keep at it, man! ;)

ADR3-N responds:

Thanks for the critique!

Structure is a little flat, yes, although most of this genre tends to be. Only samples I have are the drums and crashes. I used a lot of Nexus and Massive. Will admit that I jammed it out in a couple hours, and I really wasn't sure where to go with that lead. Fade out? Well, I dunno, you can really go either way with that. Crashes and abrupt stops are lazy and jarring, outros in hiphop are just stripped down versions of the intros usually, etc.

Definitely gave me something to think about though. Thanks!

[dead mow cinco - The Veldt (Cancer Wasder Trance Remake)]

I like the intro. It progresses a little slowly, but is definitely catchy and upbeat. I think you could've toned down the dissonance in the background a bit. I'm not sure what it adds to the piece, exactly. The synths are really cool. I like how the melody blends in amongst the chords for most of the piece. I guess my main complaint is that the drum pattern changes without any forewarning at several different points (2:00, 2:30, etc.), and that's a little jarring. I also think you could've varied the melody a bit more later in the piece. Other than that, solid work. Keep at it, man! ;)

WasderNoob-MatiasSWA responds:

Thanks for the feedback :P
I don't really care much about any complaints because, as you can tell from the title, this project is a joke. On the other hand, I think your feedback can help me on some other stuff I may throw together. :P If you wanna check out some legit(ly) solid tracks, then I suggest you listen to my others. If you want good stuff listen to Foil It JAJA
Thanks for the feedback! It helps.

[lucasasdf - Drapes]

The rhythm at the beginning is a little bizarre - it's almost square, but not quite. When the beat comes in at around :30, it makes a little more sense. I think you overused the reverb on that instrument that plays for the first 30 seconds, though. I'm pretty sure the instrument that comes in at :41 is a preset from Plucked. The whole piece is pretty dissonant, which isn't necessarily a problem, but I think you needed some stronger melodic content in there. The simple riff at 1:31 isn't enough to satisfy my melodic desires for an entire piece. The samples you used are cool. This could turn into a really cool ambient track, but I think it just needs to be fleshed out more. I also thought you could've done a lot more with the drums. There's a lot of potential here. Keep at it, man. ;)

lucasasdf responds:

I admit that I'm not the best at sound design, so when making the GMS Sample that you hear in the beginning I turned the reverb all the way up, and I'm new to making music, I've made music before, but I do it scarcely throughout time, but thanks for the feedback! : )

[Bounce & Ping]

The vocal samples set the mood really well, and this is a catchy song with a lot of cool samples. The mastering could've been a bit more polished, though. For example, I think you overdid the reverb on a lot of the rhythmic effects, and (at least with headphones) it's really hard to pick out the low-mid percussive frequencies in the kick at :17 (as opposed to the really sub-bassy tones). I'd suggest having two instruments there - a low-mid-range kick drum AND a sub-bass, and then sidechaining the bass to the kick so that they both sound clear. Also, I don't think the loop is that smooth. You left that last sweep/crash at the end hanging without resolving once it looped back to the beginning. Anyway, I've been really picky in this review. Solid work, man.

YakovlevArt responds:

Thanks for the thorough review. I do need to learn more about mastering, and will definitely work on that I as I keep producing. Thanks again!

[Piano Drum Loop.]

Nice melodies. You had just the right amount of reverb in there. It seems so flowy until :09, where you have this great staggering stop-start beat that almost has a call-and-response thing with the piano. I'd highly encourage you to do more with this. It sounds like the bridge/breakdown section of an epic drum 'n' bass track. Keep it up, man. ;)

[Equilibria - Isolation (Preview)]

Great sense of climax into :34. I like how the lead has so many rhythmic ornaments during the first 30 seconds. The kick is VERY bassy, though - so much so it doesn't come through over the mid-range bass that's roaring during the drop. I'm loving 1:35 as a re-intro/bridge section, though, and I didn't notice any other pressing mixing and mastering problems. Looking forward to hearing the final product, guys! :D

[Yuletide Memories]

Ooooo...I like the instrumentation and emotion here. The percussion at :30 was a nice touch, too. It's pretty slow to progress at the beginning, but I really like the direction it's taking by around 1:30. You definitely play with a lot of different moods here - from nostalgia to hopefulness to longing. The vocal section at around the 2-minute mark was enjoyable. At 2:40 or so, the vocals seem to distort the strings a bit, but I can hear everything clearly at most other points in the piece. I suppose I would've suggested you take some of the treble off of those harsh-sounding bells at 3:05. The piece sounded like it was peaking there, but it might've just been the high pitch of the instrument. You could also just transpose it down an octave instead. I really like the rhythm guitar you introduce at 3:56 or so. It adds a lot of flair to the last minute or so of the piece. The ending is sweet. Also, I don't recall reviewing last year's version of this piece, so I'm glad I caught it this year. :) Keep up the good work, Ale! ;) Merry Christmas!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I'm glad you didn't review last year's version, as it was just a reboot of the 2014 version, with a music box instead of a piano!
I agree that the piece is slow to progress. I guess it's fine, since it's an Xmas song, and a fairly long one too.
As for playing with many moods, I probably overdid it! But I've been overdoing it since the first (never uploaded) version which I made in 2011. So it'd be weird to stop now!
Also, if I recall correctly, the original thought was that there should be different emotions, since a lot of different ones are felt during Christmas times, and this is a composition about remembering them.

As for 2:40, I think you're mistaking an even lower, simultaneous choir harmony, "singing" at the same frequencies as the Cello. So it's likely drowning (which is also bad), but not distorted!
The track doesn't peak at the bells, but I agree that it sounds harsh! I noticed this today while listening on speakers instead of with my headphones, where it's better.

The rhythm guitar is a great bass VST. But I couldn't use a bass because of the Cello, so I used fairly high notes, and added a few weird effects to make it sound like it does. I'm glad you liked the addition! The mix is probably the most terrible at this part though :V

So yeah, your critique is very on point! Thank you for the review, Andrew, and Merry Christmas!!

[JK - Tranced]

Not bad. The sound design is a little generic, but I like the busy beat and harmonies. The part at :28 sounds like a completely different song, though. If you're going to put several different themes into one piece, it helps to make sure they're tonally related. Then you go back to the original theme at :55, but it's still not so clear to me how that related to the part at :28. The bass is really loud at 1:18. A good rule of thumb is that the loudest instrument in the mix should be the snare. It was also a bit bizarre when the bass got suddenly much quieter at 1:29. I liked the pulsing synths at 1:40, but the pause at 2:24 was so sudden I thought it was the end of the piece. I think you need to add some reverb or a crash or something to smooth over that transition. Stop-start transitions can come across as jarring sometimes if you're not careful. The loop is pretty smooth, although the last 4 notes at 2:36 aren't necessary IMO. Overall, not a bad track. The transitions and balance are the main things to work on, I think. And knowing how to make cool sweeps (as you clearly do) is a good start towards making smooth transitions. Keep it up, man. ;)