TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sly (Amethyst Edition)]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. The sub-bass was an interesting touch. The distorted chords at :38 distorted the bass riff a lot, though. I'd suggest some compression, stereo widening, and maybe even panning to help spread out the frequencies. The tonality of this piece is really cool. Sounds like it should be playing in the elevator of a shopping mall that only sells punk t-shirts. On the surface, it's smooth and fun, but definitely has some harsh frequencies and edgy riffs. It doesn't really feel complete yet, not in the least because of the sort of additive continuity of it, but I'm looking forward to hearing some of the other songs you have on this album. Keep it up, man! ;)

[California Breeze]

I like the pulsing effect of the bass and the phasing. Sounds very clubbish and progressive. The chords at :30 are very dry and staccato, but add a cool anticipatory mood to the piece. The synth harmonies are really catchy, too. I think you should cut this track in half and turn it into an intro for a song with a bit more melodic support and direction. Otherwise, sounds good. Keep it up, TeraVex. ;)

[Daybreak]

Ah! I think I missed this one. I like the rhythm in the synths during the first 20 seconds or so, as well as the early emotional height at :22. Trademark pop piano at the chill sections, too. This piece has a lot of direction to it, and I love those juicy hats that pop in at around 1:40. Your transitions are subtle but effective, like 1:57 for example. There's a lot of variety here, but I think you did a nice job of tying it together. The chords seem a little distorted at 4:03, but that might just be because of the range of the sample. That chill outro at 4:54 was great, too. Definitely one of my favorite endings of yours. I think you should try more downtempo EDM in the future. You've definitely run the gamut of melodic bangers. Keep up the great work, Lockyn! :D

Lockyn responds:

Hey TL, nice to see you again. Thank you for your detailed reviews as always, I'm happy you enjoyed the ending because that was one of my favorites to make. Cheers mate :)

[rural home]

I like the jangly guitar sound. Sounds just inauthentic enough to be great for the video game. ^^ I thought the melody instrument at :49 was a bit overly-compressed (or maybe just a little heavy on mid-range frequencies), because it sounded a bit too forceful for the general mood of the rest of the piece. I also thought you overdid the reverb on the snare. You also start using a completely different drumset altogether at 1:37, which was a bit jarring IMO. Overall, this is a cute track with a lot of bizarre transitory moments that detract from it a bit. I also didn't like the silence at 2:24. It makes the track momentarily lose its flow. That said, the instruments fit their purpose well, and the loop is smooth. The mood is definitely my favorite part of the piece, though. Definitely appropriate for a cheesy indie game set in the countryside. Keep up the good work, Johnfn. ;)

johnfn responds:

Heh, well I suppose you caught on to the way this piece was written. I just kept on randomly adding and deleting sections, hence the odd transitions. I don't think they're thaaaat bad for the most part though... (The only one that really jars when I relisten is 2:17, there was really no lead up to that at all lol) And I really like the silence but it's super hard for me to judge how other people like it.

I really need a half-decent guitar VST.

P.S. OMFG ITS A CLAP NOT A SNARE U INCOMPETENT LIL... jk i luv u

[my friends are no help]

Yes! This brings me back to your groovy, glitchy days. :'D I love it. It's still just as catchy as your other tracks, with a much more experimental and innovative flair. The melodies at around 1:20 are awesome. The mixing in general is pretty water-tight, but I suppose I would've liked a little more kick during the particularly manic section at 1:37. Excellent job of changing things up for this track, though. I was going to ask what the lyrics were, but the vocal clip at the end cleared it up. ;) That crash at the end was so hilariously cheesy that my laugh bent the fabric of space-time. Nice work as always! Insta-fave and DL. ;)

johnfn responds:

Expect a resurgence of that kind of old-johnfn-skool nonsense. Except with better melody writing. Since I finally got better at melody writing! It had to happen eventually I guess.

But really keep an ear out, I'm gonna release some of the best songs I've ever written before the end of the year.

[painting]

Well, even if this isn't the best piano improv of all time, it still is beautiful and has some pretty spectacular melodies. I love how it's alternately busy and energetic and flowing and spacious. I've missed your piano improvs, too, Johnfn. Between you and LucidShadowDreamer, my iTunes library is a solid 20% piano solo stuff now (not really)! Excellent job bringing out emotion in this piece, though. It has a very natural-sounding sense of pace too. I was crying at the end too, but mostly because the track cuts off suddenly. :P All joking aside, nice work. Your piano skills continue to improve markedly.

Also, I have to ask: did you actually write an improv that somehow got deleted or something? Because that sucks. :'(

johnfn responds:

I actually do still have the other piece. I dunno if I can release it though... I mean to my ears it is perfect but it is flawed in some ways.

[-Striker-]

It's catchy and engaging, but still upbeat and fun. I think the melody gets buried underneath the heavy bass and kick at :41. I would suggest a high-pass. Still, I like the mood here a lot. You definitely pleased the Geometry Dash crowd, I'm sure. ;)

[Lamentation]

Octatonic scale! Fancy. It sounds inherently a little melancholic, especially with the dissonant notes at around :22 and other places. It has a smooth sense of continuity, yet also seems very succinct and well-structured. I also like the little turns and ornaments (e.x.: 1:17). The mood at 1:39 got much more blissful and reserved, and I like how you kept the sound nice and spacious going into the breakdown section at 1:58. You use modulations a lot. In my opinion, 2:25 didn't do much to add a sense of direction to the piece. Sometimes varying the melody is a more meaningful way of creating a final climax rather than simply modulating it. Either way, cool piece. The ending didn't seem as fleshed out as it could've been, but this piece has a great mood about it. Nice work, BO. ;)

[Tribute to Detektivbyrån - Re-recording]

Upbeat, flowing, and busy. Gives me a sense of a group of men in top hats walking down the street, trying to decide which bar to go in to celebrate Frank's birthday. It's a short piece, but there's very little structure except for a little ritardando at 1:14 before the coda. I would've liked to see this fleshed out more, with some more highs and lows dynamically and emotionally. That's pretty much my only complaint, though. Keep up the good work, Ale!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hey! Two years ago, you thought this sounded like spring, but also like montage music! Which fits well with the tophats xD
I also must be doing something right, since this re-recording has half a star more!

Wait... What does the ritardado have to do with structure? Perhaps you mean variation in the arrangement? That, there is indeed not, nor did I want there to be, since this is just something I did for fun many years ago.

Dynamically, there are highs and lows in the composition, but I think your critique once again, falls on the slightly flat arrangement, which is fair. I wanted this to be pretty upbeat all the way through, even though there is another ritardando at 0:40, which you mentioned in your previous review!

Thanks for checking by! Any music of your own in the works? I noticed a couple days ago that you uploaded a new track, and I haven't gotten a chance to check it out yet, so I'll do so after responding to your next review :D

[I Dream of the Future]

I dream of the future, too. This is a beautiful piece, Ale. It has a great innocence about it, and a fantastic sense of progression and flow as always. The transition at 1:10 was a bit sudden. Maybe it would've worked if the bass line kept playing, but otherwise it's too abrupt for my tastes. It's usually hard to pick out structural elements in your piano solos, and this is no exception, but at least this piece was held together by the ever-ascending bass lines. It feels victorious and cute at the same time by the end, although I think you could've used a ritardando on that last counterpoint so that it didn't feel as rushed. Still, always a pleasure hearing your music, LSD. I should have more time to Skype next week since my semester just ended. ^^

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

The transition at 1:10 is indeed a bit sudden! I happen to have an affinity for sudden transitions though. Wouldn't it be boering if all music was 100% predictable all the time? I mean, psychologically speaking, we seem to enjoy when we recognize music and can guess what's coming next, so I guess it makes sense. But since I don't tend to write party music, I like being swept away and just floating with the music, wherever it takes me!

I find it quite easy to pick out structural elements here, since there are more than usual in this song. But, then again I know all the chords and the melodies by heart, whereas other listeners would have to listen quite a few times before they get the hang of it.
There is actually a lot of repetition in this song, though the keys change now and then. But the arrangement changes a bit too, from here to there.

1:58 takes you back to the beginning of the theme, and builds up to the more expressive ending.
And there is a refrains played more than once in the middle (with a few variations), with a couple of diffrent bridges (only one of which repeats slightly), and then there's the middle section which had the abrupt transition. Allow me to lay out the entire structure, the way I see it:

0:00 - 0:37 = Intro (which is a segment which repeats more or less the same melody twice)

0:38 - 0:54 = A bridge to the main refrain, although it is also a type of variation of the refrain melody

0:55 - 1:09 = The main refrain, where the second half builds into that abrupt transition

1:10 - 1:25 = A random middle section which is kinda just there, in order to get some rhythmic and arrangement variation (note the left hand which plays something entirely different here). Note that the end of this segment builds into a bridge with the same style as the ending of the last bridge, simply in a different key.

1:26 - 1:33 = Here we welcome back the main refrain, but only for a sec until there is a new buildup for an even bigger refrain.

1:34 - 1:41 = A unique bridge

1:42 - 1:57 = A slight variation of the main refrain, in order to sound a bit more heavy (not metal). The end of the segment transitions back to the intro melody...

1:58 - 2:38 = This is a repeat of the intro, in all its glory, but with a more upbeat arrangement, since the beginning was taking it kind of slowly. The chords and melodies are the same though (the melody gets more varied close to the build up to the grand outro), as is the key.

2:39 - The grand outro

So there ya go :)
I don't think it's the fact that the piece would lack any structure which makes it difficult to analyze. I think it's the fact that there is more structure, which changes quicker than say a piece with a "intro, verse, verse, refrain, verse, verse, bridge, refrain, refrain, outro" formula. Because it's not quite as simple, it takes more mental energy and devotion to pick out all the parts, based on the actual chords and melodies. Especially since there's no song to go along. I just want to to know that I am very aware of precisely how my songs are built up, or I'd have quite a difficult time playing them. Other than that, I tend to use more key changes than most tracks, because I personally just like key changes.

I do agree with your comment about the ritardando at the end. I too realized it sounds rushed, but tbh, I was just lazy and let it be xD
See, I put more energy into the last five notes, which I think sound funny, since they're entirely unconventional (one of them is intentionally out of key, too!).

I have one exam left this coming monday, and then I have to prepare for Xmas! I have a huge extended family, so there's a lot to do. But after Christmas, and before my studies start again, I too should have more time, so I really look forward to talking to you!

Be well, until then ^ ^