TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[/Defiled\]

This is a catchy piece, and I like the somewhat apprehensive vibe at the beginning. It has a good sense of climax into :58. The texture is nice and full, and I appreciated the structural variety you offered at 1:30. The piece is pretty smooth-flowing and well-structured overall, and I appreciated the contrast that 2:14 offered. This piece has a great atmosphere about it too. If I had to critique one thing, it might be that the piece never really returns to the recognizable refrain at :57. You have another emotional height at 2:58, but there it sounds like a completely different melody. I would suggest fleshing out the last climax by using 2:58 as a sort of “transitional melody” after which you build off of the melody at :57. I think that would help the piece achieve an overarching sense of conclusivity and development. I also think you didn’t do anything particularly interesting or unique with the sound design and chord progressions. That said, the mixing and mastering are both very solid and, overall, I’m thoroughly impressed with this piece. Keep up the good work! ;)

8.75/10

AED4 responds:

Thank you!

Actually I was really thinking about returning once more to the main melody at 3:43, but decided against that because I didn't find a proper way of transitioning to it and also to give this track a little sense of 'evolution'.

With the sound design I basically went with what felt good, though I agree that it is quite typical for a genre/style like this. Chord progression is my eternal caveat but I'm working on it :)! This is actually the first time when I try to make something else than a four chord song :O

Thank you for the in-depth review (and score ^^)!

[Round 2]

I like the dark mood at :12. It’s a little heavy on the bass frequencies early on, and there’s little sense of progression until around the 1-minute mark. I didn’t think you needed to drag out the intro as much as you did. The bright piano riffs at 1:24 were a welcome change, and they added to the sense of climax into 1:48. Unfortunately, you never really release the tension you built up there, instead creating a re-intro. I guess I was expecting a heavier drop before you had any sort of breakdown section. Also, those hi-hats get really lost in the mix at 2:25. I would suggest compressing them, doing some more careful equalizing with some potentially interfering instruments, and using some stereo widening techniques. I’m focusing so much on the hi-hats because they’re the main treble-range instrument you have in there for most of the piece, which is in itself a bit of a problem. The drums are mastered nice and loud, though, which is always good. During the second intro-buildup-refrain cycle, you also fail to deliver a cathartic emotional height, again stopping just short of it at 3:25 despite a distinct buildup there. This is especially surprising because this is a dubstep track, and dubstep is a genre that often prides itself with heavy contrasts between melodic and “drop” sections. By neglecting to include a prominent refrain/chorus section, you’ve missed opportunities to create melodic development, maximize emotion and drama, and give your piece an overarching sense of direction and conclusivity. That structural detail is my main concern with this piece, believe it or not. Some minor mixing/mastering issues and generic instrument choices also weighed down your score a bit. That said, I think this piece has a lot of potential. You did a nice job of maintaining a full texture throughout. Your melodies are enjoyable (if not well-varied rhythmically), and overall it’s pretty catchy, fun, and energetic. Keep at it, man. ;)

6.5/10

[World of Sound]

This is a really catchy piece. The instruments meshed really well together, although I thought the sweeps were a little too loud. The vocal samples added considerably to the texture of the piece and there’s a great sense of climax into 1:15. I enjoyed the melodies at 1:15 a lot too. I think the reverb is a little excessive, but I admire your sense of harmony. I thought you could’ve done more to create more dynamic contrast during the breakdown at 1:46, but overall you have a good amount of phrasing in the piece. I’m hearing very little to complain about with regards to the mixing, although I’d caution you against almost exclusively using reverb to fill the texture during the drops. I wasn’t huge fan of how the ending cut off suddenly, although that’s a tiny detail. The instruments are a bit generic, although you’ve channeled the energy very well in this piece. I’m impressed with the loud mastering and sense of flow the piece has. Perhaps you could’ve varied the drop a little more the second time around, even though the drops themselves are already pretty dynamic as they are. Overall solid work. Keep at it, man. ;)

7.75/10

[Second Steps for Guitar]

I love the tremolos. This piece is really soothing and flowy. I thought you could’ve done more with the piece rhythmically, however. It sounds more like an etude than a structurally complete piece. It has this pensive continuity to it that enhances the atmosphere a lot, yet you do little to add to that atmosphere or otherwise strip it away over the course of the track. It lacks the sort of structural ebb and flow that I usually look for in a piece, which makes it hard to judge because you’ve clearly put a lot of effort into it. Mixing and mastering aren’t really relevant here. Admittedly, this piece doesn’t really fit a lot of my compositional criteria at all, but there’s a great atmosphere and majesty to it. This is an enjoyable piece, but I’d like to see you flesh out the structure a bit more next time. Keep it up, man!

7/10

Daveisgr81 responds:

Thanks for the positive review!

It is an etude! As for mixing and mastering, it took quite a while to get it properly balanced, the low-end is always a real issue on classical guitars.

I'll put in something a bit more... in your face for the final :D

[The Beginning of Everything (NGAUC 2016)]

The distorted white noise at the beginning were a good idea, but I would’ve equalized and filtered them more carefully so they didn’t sound so harsh. Also, I don’t see how they fit very well with the tranquil melodies that fade in at :18. I think you would’ve been best advised to get rid of the white noise altogether and instead add a simple crash or sweep before the fade-in. I also thought the initial melodic section dragged on for a bit too long. It’s almost 1.5 minutes into the piece (1:28) before the listener gets any kind of structural relief, despite the mild-mannered and soothing nature of the melody instrument. There was a good sense of build into 1:45, but the claps there were a little weak. I think they should’ve been compressed more heavily. The melodies themselves at 1:45 are also enjoyable, if a little too square rhythmically. I love the tempo modulations at around 2:15 (and again at 2:35). They helped create a sense of development to the piece, but I think you could’ve enhanced that sense of development by varying the melodies more the second time around. The ending also felt a bit rushed. Overall, the mixing and mastering is pretty good, although I think the piano at 2:40 got a little buried under the melody. You also could’ve done more with dynamic contrast and phrasing, and you didn’t do anything particularly unique with the sound design. I’ve been tough on you in this review, but overall I’m seeing a lot of potential in this piece. Keep at it, man. ;)

7.5/10

[AwolRock]

The rhythm is very square, and I’m not sure those guitar samples are my favorite. I think the kick gets a little lost in the mix during the heavy guitar riffs, although you did do a good job of keeping the snares nice and up-front in the mix throughout. I’m not sure I quite appreciated the progression of this piece. I liked how you varied both the intensity and the riffs sufficiently, although the piece has little melodic content to give it a sense of emotional height and verse-chorus playoff. I thought you did a good job of using the drums to your advantage, especially during transitory moments, although at times you overused some of the samples (like at 2:40). That said, I thought 2:44 served to offer some much-appreciated structural relief in your track, and I liked the filtering at 2:59. I think the mixing and mastering is one of the main things that need work here, though. The snare is clearly fighting a losing battle for attention at 3:29. You did a good job of adding some variation to the final chorus with those strings at 3:51, although the lack of strong melodic content is a true detriment to the sense of finality this piece has. The mixing and mastering and instrumentation are my most prevalent concerns here, though. This piece has a lot of potential. The production quality simply needs to be cleaner. Please feel free to PM me if you have specific questions about how to get your drums sounding really crisp and clear. As for now, keep at it, man. ;)

5.5/10

[One night away]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning. The piece has a lot of bass and reverb that give it a great sense of atmosphere. The strings and piano mesh really well together, and it’s very melodic throughout. Sometimes I thought your melodies were a little overly convoluted, such as the piano one that ends at around 2:00. I love how you created some breathing room for the piece at 2:15. That section contributed a lot to the structural variety and space for contrast and climax you’ve provided here. The section before the second “emotional height” of the piece was a bit drawn-out, meaning there wasn’t much of a sense of direction within the phrase from 2:44 to 3:32 or so. Overall, I thought the mixing and mastering was really clean and you used the entire frequency range really well. You’ve kept a full texture throughout, and you’ve clearly thought through the harmonic direction of the piece very well. Perhaps you could’ve used some more interesting or unique sound design, but in general I think your instruments fit the mood they convey. This is impressive work. My nitpicks here don’t amount to much. If anything, I might caution you against making your melodies quite so intricate, as after a while it can detract from their memorability. Solid effort, though. Keep it up, man! ;D

8.75/10

BlastBeats responds:

I've never read, that was so well structured. I agree with everything you said. I have to say that this was more to pracise music theory than sound design. I did sound design in my first NGAUC entry. However, what you say about the melody hits me a bit. I know memorable melodies are a thing in modern music, but I think it'd be weird not to look further than those. There is a lot of interesting harmonies you can work with (but I'll try not to go too far from becoming memorable next time)! Nevertheless, I'm incredibly happy that this piece received some love. And I really appreciate the review.

[Sky Streaks]

I like the blissful mood at the beginning. The piece is pretty slow to progress. I would recommend varying your dynamics more to create a sense of buildup during the first minute or so. I think you needed a sweep or crash at 1:30 to smooth over that transition. The kick sounds a little indistinct at 2:29. I think you should’ve equalized and compressed it more carefully. You do very little to preempt several of your major transitory moments, such as 2:58 and 3:57. That probably means you need to do more with the phrasing and automations. I think you needed to incorporate some more dynamic contrast in here, too. Overall, this is a pretty underwhelming piece. The only moment when the melody felt as exposed as it should’ve been was 3:57. I think it would help if you went for a more legato style in your melodies that matched the atmospheric nature of this piece. Your piece also lacks an overarching sense of development. Instead, your melodies follow a very formulaic 4-bar dance pattern with little variation in the melodies themselves. I also thought your instruments sounded pretty generic and that you could’ve made the harmonies come through the mix a lot clearer at times (such as the bass at 3:13). I think you could’ve done a lot more to maximize the emotion here in general. I’d say the clarity of the low frequencies, the lack of melodic and dynamic variety, and the instrumentation need work. Otherwise, it has a lot of potential. Keep at it, man. ;)

5.5/10

BeeFef responds:

Well, it disappoints me that I didn't make it into the final round, but I know this can help me for what I can do next time. Thanks for the review and pointing things out! Hopefully I'll do better next year.