TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Heart of the East]

I like the sense of atmosphere at the beginning. The bird sounds and crickets fit the tranquil tone of the piece well. It’s a little slow to develop, but by the time those warm strings come in at around :50, there’s a captivating mood to this piece. Nice job offering some structural relief at 1:34, too. You have a great sense of tonality and harmony. The balance and mixing are also pretty strong here. I love how the Far East-sounding plucked strings support the woodwinds at 1:34. The piece has an excellent sense of climax at 2:03. You’ve done an excellent job with melodic development here, as well as maximizing the emotion through dynamic contrast and the like. If I had to complain about something mastering-wise, it’s probably that the plucked strings are fighting to stay afloat at 2:03. Compositionally, you might’ve been able to do more with the percussion besides using it to channel the energy through transitional content...but that’s a tiny detail. Overall, this is a fantastic piece. You did a great job of making it come full-circle, too, even though there’s a ton of variety in this piece. The instrumentation is superb, the melodies are engrossing, and it has a great sense of full texture and flow. For God’s sake, keep up the great work! ;D

10/10

[Lightning vs. Future(Mash Up)]

I liked the atmosphere at the beginning. At :14, the tranquility of the piano contrasts nicely with that mid-range synth making the wubs. There’s a lot of tension here with little sense of climax or direction until 1:09. I think you could’ve done a better job of phrasing the first minute or so to keep things interesting. Over 90 seconds is a long time to go before the first drop, after all, especially when your piece is fewer than 3 minutes long. I enjoyed the structural contrast you offered at 2:06 with the calm, smooth orchestral instruments. I don’t think the added effects at 2:33 were necessary. It sounds like you interrupted what really should’ve been a 4-minute-long track with a thunder clap and then cut it off suddenly. It’s usually a good idea to have at least 2 climactic sections in your piece, as this structure allows you to develop melodic ideas further. Perhaps this isn’t a structurally complete piece in that regard. Still, I enjoyed the mixing and mastering, which were both solid throughout. If you flesh out the composition of the piece a bit more, with some stronger melodic sections and variety in a second drop, this would be a top-tier piece. Until then, keep at it, man. ;)

7.5/10

[Tau]

I like the atmosphere and mood at the beginning. You transition well into the more energetic section at :24, although perhaps I would’ve kept a pad underneath the rhythmic chord patterns at :14 just to keep it nice and flowy. It’s a little slow to progress, and the transition at 1:36 is a little subtle given how heavy the following section is. That said, your mixing and mastering are both very solid. This piece has a nice ebb and flow of energy, but little in the way of structural variety. I would’ve liked to see some sort of breakdown or bridge section with some stronger melodic content. The beat is exotic and creative and fits the tone of the piece very well. The ending is jarringly sudden, though, and I don’t think this piece would be a good candidate for a loop, either. Overall, this is solid work. Even though this is an ambient track, I would’ve liked to hear some more memorable melodies. I also thought you could’ve done more with phrasing or dynamic contrast to maximize the dramatic and cinematic vibe of the piece. Keep at it, man. ;)

8.25/10

[Scenic Ride]

I like the groovy synth patterns and upbeat mood. The song is mastered very loudly and has a great atmosphere about it. I enjoyed the melodies at :28, but I thought you could’ve done more with the rhythm there. The section at :51 offers a good sense of structural relief, and you do a great job of building back up to a full texture from there. The melodies were a little too quiet at 1:14, though, and the bass is perhaps too loud throughout the piece. The piece has an amazing smoothness and flow to it, and the echo at the end seemed more than appropriate. I supposed I would’ve liked to see more of a memorable melody in there, though. The melodies as they are a bit too frantic and arpeggiated to stick in my mind as they are, I think. Perhaps you could have emphasized such a melody by playing the dreamy pad at 1:26 by itself during some sort of breakdown section. Even so, I suppose the fast pace of this piece renders your melodic decisions fitting. The moodiness of this piece is definitely my favorite part. It’s catchy and energetic, yet has a breathtaking atmosphere. Keep up the great work, Noisysundae! :D

9.5/10

Noisysundae responds:

Can't say that much about the bass. Some prefer it at this amount, others don't. And possibly because it's mostly constant notes, opposite of those complex bass melodies I usually make. Another bad thing is that I can't trust my ears when listening to the bass. If you have time to listen to 'Bittersweet', you'll see that the bass there is a lot lighter. :P

Perhaps it's the detuned saw that makes this piece too frantic as you described. That's also why I don't consider this a liquid DnB.

Other than that, I agree to every point you've made. It's quite a dilemma for me when I'm gonna make atmospheric music but not sure if some parts should have more melodies in it. Glad to see you loved this sundae. You faved it, yay!

[Arise From the Dust]

I like the instrumentation and atmosphere. It’s very moody and tranquil. I like your transition into :38. It has a great sense of climax into 1:02, but doesn’t quite reach the huge cathartic moment I was expecting. It seems like you have some percussion going on in the background at 1:30, but it simply doesn’t poke its head through this relatively cloudy mix. I would’ve compressed those drums a lot and also adjusted the volume levels. I can barely hear the drums at 1:58 either, and they still sound a bit indistinct at 2:10. The drama and emotion here is great. Compositionally, this piece is very enjoyable, although I’d caution you about using a little too much variety because this piece loses an element of coherence after a while. Still, bringing out the drums more could’ve enhanced the drama further here, and this was one of your few missed opportunities. This is especially unfortunate because otherwise the mastering was rather clean and clear. Perhaps I’m beating a dead horse here, though. I love the full texture and I admire your sense of tonality and harmony. The instrumentation is excellent and, once again, the sweeping contrast between the moody intro and intense cinematic “body” of this track was superb. Admirable work! Keep it up, man. ;)

8.75/10

[Tower of the Angels]

I like the emotion and chord progression at the beginning. It’s a little slow to develop, but I liked the arpeggios at :43, which gave the piece a bit of a bright tone. I seriously think you should’ve brought out the arpeggios more, in fact, because they get buried under the mix a bit, and by 1:25 I can barely hear them. The mood and atmosphere are great here, but there is very little melodic content. The piece wouldn’t make a bad loop if you had set it up that way, but unfortunately the ending cuts off suddenly and jarringly. Unfortunately, I don’t really regard this as a structurally complete piece. There’s very little sense of structural ebb and flow, dynamic contrast, or melodic development that usually make music (but especially cinematic music) so captivating in general. You could’ve done a lot more with this. I wanted to see roaring brass melodies, more phrasing with the strings, and at least some more sense of structural variety. Instead, I got a 2-minute-long repetitive videogame loop for a dungeon level that barely functions as a stand-alone piece. It just feels like one long build-up stretched over 2 minutes, and even then you could have done more with the dynamics for dramatic effect. I’d suggest fleshing this piece out with some full-length structuring, phrasing, more melodic content, and more variety. Do this, and you’re well on your way in the epic film composing category, my friend. Until then, keep working at it. ;)

6.25/10

[Away]

The vocals have an amusing, cute charm to them. I like how upbeat and catchy this piece is. There was a good sense of climax into :43. I’m not sure I liked how a lot of the notes in the drop section were so short. It detracted from the flow IMO. Also, the chord progression is cliche. I loved the melodic variations at 2:12. They help add a great sense of development to the piece. Structurally, the piece could’ve used a bridge or breakdown section to really sell the contrast between the energy of the drop and a potentially more mellow piano solo or something. Instead, the piece as it is oscillates between the vocal sections and the drops, which is a bit simplistic. Overall, the mixing and mastering here are solid, though. I think if you fleshed out this piece a bit more, with a little more intricacy in the structure and rhythm, this would be a top-tier track. Solid work, man. ;)

8/10

[Tidal Man]

It was a good idea to start the piece out with these frantic synth patterns, although I think the rhythm is very hard-to-follow, and the piece in general is a bit overstimulating. The pacing is very fast, and I think you would’ve needed some more prominent percussion here to tie the various sections of this piece together seamlessly. You don’t even employ any crashes, sweeps, or other cues that allow the listener to come with you when you move on to a new section. The loop is smooth, although it’s not immediately clear to me how you tried to connect the progression of the ending and the beginning. Those sections just didn’t seem to match up well to me, so that you probably would’ve been better off coming up with an appropriate conclusion for the piece without looping it. Also, the piece is extremely structurally flat. It’s constantly hectic and energetic, with no sort of breakdown, bridge, re-intro, or otherwise low-energy section to keep the listener grounded and create space for contrast. You also fail to vary the melodies at all later in the piece, and you missed out on some big opportunities throughout the piece to create dynamic contrast. Also, the instruments were pretty generic. The sub-bass is uncharacteristically loud for a piece like this. And the mastering needs work. For example, the lead clearly gets distorted between 2:25 and 2:32. In general, I can hear everything pretty clearly and the balance is good, though. Overall, this piece has some strong melodic components, and you did a good job of making the texture full throughout. It’s catchy and fun, too. I think you should focus on the mastering, instrumentation, and broad-scale sense of structural ebb and flow. Keep working at it, man. ;)

6.5/10

TheNGVirus responds:

Thank you for the review! I will work on my mastering indeed! I appreciate the criticism!

[Champion Lance]

I like the dramatic hits at the beginning, but I think the climax into :36 would’ve worked better if you had done more with the dynamics. For example, I would’ve begun the build-up at :09 with the bass very quiet, and then gradually faded it in and automated the filters to make it gain some punch only later in the phrase. That said, I enjoyed :36 itself. Nice job with the melodies and the call-and-response between the synths and strings. I think the drums get really lost in there, though. You need to equalize and compress the drums more carefully so that they’re more prominent in the mix. In general, drums do a lot to create drive and energy in pieces like this, so you want to be able to hear them clearly at all times. The mood of this piece is really fun, although I think you could’ve used a section where you stripped away the drums and frantic melodies for an extended period of time, just to channel a bit more of the emotion and give yourself some space for development later in the piece. As it is now, the piece is actually pretty structurally repetitive, despite the originality of the call-and-response framework. Later in the piece, you also don’t vary the melodies much from their original form earlier in the piece, which might’ve been a mistake. This piece is fitting for a videogame, but stand-alone piece should have an overarching sense of ebb and flow to them. You did this on a small scale, but not on a broader one. Also, a lot of the samples you used were a little cheesy, especially the strings. However, I did think the piece was quite catchy and harmonically sound. You did a good job of creating a full texture throughout. If you clean up the mastering, add more structural variety and dynamic contrast, and reconsider some of your instruments, I’d say you’d have a very solid track here. Until then, keep working at it, man! ;)

6.75/10