TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[{AIM} Ascend to Madness]

I like the intensity and sense of melody you display during the intro. I thought the drums were extremely weak, though. Instead of using the snare to enhance the drama here, it detracts from the piece’s energy and drive. Also, the rhythm is a little hard-to-follow at :29. I think it would’ve helped to have a prominent hi-hat in there to help the listener with the subdivision. There are also moments when the bass really overwhelms the melodic content, such as at :42. I think this is more a balance issue than a mastering issue, however. Also, it’s hard for me to get an overarching sense of progression here. You go from brief intro (:00) to dark melodies (:04) to robotic, foreboding arpeggiated section (:16) to distorted rhythmic section (:29) to (seemingly) transitory melodic content (:42), then back to the main melody (1:08) and, later, the arpeggios again (1:20). However, it all has an almost completely uniform energy level and very little sense of development within these phrases themselves. There was never really a proper bridge or breakdown that you could use to channel the energy of this piece. You needed more structural contrast here to make the emotional highs have the powerful effect they should. If it all sounds uniformly intense, it might as well be uniformly not-intense. I can see where the final climax of the piece is meant to be (2:26), but you didn’t foreshadow it in a meaningful way. There’s a brief transition there, but that just wasn’t enough to bridge the gap between 2 minutes of structurally flat content and a suddenly higher intensity level. What you really need to do is work on phrasing. That way, your piece has a constant sense of direction to it that simultaneously will keep the listener grounded in a sense of overarching structure. I enjoyed your melodies, and the song had a full texture throughout. Think more about the progression here, and this would be a very solid piece. Keep at it, man. ;)

7/10

larrynachos responds:

Very thorough review thanks dude

[-Oasis-]

I enjoyed the upbeat vibes and sense of climax. The chord progression is cliche, and I have a few issues with the balance. For example, at :45 the melody is buried under the chords a bit, whereas it’s generally a good idea to emphasize melodic content in the mix. I liked the “emotional height” at 1:00, although I thought you could’ve done more creative work with the rhythm. The mastering is generally solid, although I thought the chords were fighting for attention a bit at 2:34. Perhaps you could use some more careful equalizing and panning to bring out all of the instruments as clearly as possible. I appreciated the structural contrast you offered at 1:35. It was a good way of creating some space for yourself and letting the track breathe a bit. Good job with adding a sense of development in the melody too by layering the two main melodies of the piece on top of one another at 2:49. It gave the piece an overarching sense of progression and finality, and also tells me that you carefully planned out the tonality of the piece ahead of time. The ending was okay, but it was a bit dry. I’d suggest adding an echo or reverb effect there just to really sell the fact that you wanted to end this piece on the 3rd. Overall, though, this is a well-structured and smooth-flowing piece. The only area that needs drastic improvement IMO is the originality. Overall, this was a pretty generic upbeat house/trance track with quite a few cliches (the risers, chord progression, etc.). The big pluses here are the melodies, structure and variety, and the full texture throughout. Solid work. Keep at it, man! ;)

8/10

Kyron20 responds:

Wow, thanks for the awesome review! I'll try to be more original in my next piece, although it can be hard at times with house because it usually has a somewhat distinct sound, and for me it feels natural to do what I know sounds like house. I'll also be sure to work on balance, which I think is my biggest struggle. I usually try to spend minimal time on it because I'm so close to finishing the track, so I'll slow down and make sure I get it right this time. I really wasn't expecting variety to be a strength of this track, because I usually find my songs somewhat repetitive, but I guess I can worry a bit less about that now. Thanks again, I really enjoyed the feedback! I hope I can improve off of what you've told me so far.

[Control]

I like the dark, frantic riffs at the beginning. I thought you could’ve done more to transition more smoothly into :08, but that’s a small detail. The progression here is interesting. I love a lot of these rhythmic guitar riffs, but the piece loses a sense of direction a bit after you repeat several of these riffs over again a second time. Then, there’s occasionally some new content, such as at 1:37. It’s not really clear to me how you’re trying to channel the energy of this track, though. Some parts of it seem climactic, but I don’t really get a strong sense of melody until just after the 2-minute mark, and even then you don’t do a lot with the rhythm. 2:54 sounds like a completely different chorus section entirely, and at this point I’m really confused about the structure of the piece. 3:24 served as a great breakdown for some structural relief, but it also seemed to change the character of the piece a lot, and 3:54 continued this theme by being both more upbeat, melodic, and rhythmically varied. You then return to the somewhat robotic, apprehensive vibes of the first half of the piece at 4:38. However, the piece has little sense of conclusivity, and the ending seems rather hastily made. Maybe I’m focusing a bit too much on the structure here, though. The mixing and mastering are both very solid. The kick is a little weak for my tastes, but perhaps a strong kick is a taboo in heavy metal. I enjoyed the instrumentation. You especially used the soundscape well during the breakdown (3:24). That section had a dreamy quality that helped really reform this piece. That said, I would caution you about changing moods too suddenly. This is where some phrasing could really help you out. Instead of a curvaceous, gradual build to the emotion, you seem to prefer to increase or decrease the energy with small stepwise intervals every 4 bars, which I might caution against. It’s pretty catchy, although I think you could’ve done more to maximize the structural contrast here in order to emphasize the drama of the “busy” sections (again: played more with dynamics, phrasing, etc.). If anything, it’s a little too busy and over-stimulating at times. The highly unconventional structure makes it hard for me to stay grounded as a listener. Overall, this is pretty solid work. I appreciate that you took some risks here with the progression, but I’m not sure they paid off for me. Sorry. Keep at it, man. ;)

7.75/10

JDawg00100 responds:

Thank you for the detailed review :D

[Stand Still (Original)]

I love the soft piano at the beginning. It sounds very humanized too. The cello is beautiful too. The vocals fit the mood of the song perfectly. You guys have a great sense of harmony and progression. Well-structured, smooth-flowing, spacious and atmospheric, you two have clearly displayed your excellent melodic inclinations here. While it is very dynamic in nature, there is enough repetition to keep the listener grounded. The lyrics are also quite poetic here. If I had to complain about one thing, it would be the ending. It seemed to be winding down, but it then faded out the rest of the way, depriving this piece of a proper sense of conclusion IMO. The piece is mastered very loudly and I can hear all of the instruments clearly. However, it’s my impression that the piano is in danger of peaking at some points, so I’d suggest equalizing out some of the treble tones. This is a very small detail, however. Overall, this is simply fantastic work. I’m very excited about what else we’re going to see from you two for the rest of the competition. Good luck! ;D

9.5/10

Jabicho responds:

Hi TL! :D
man thanks so much for all the compliments, it means a lot to us, i'm sure peachy will be really happy to read your review too :D
Oh yes! i totally understand about the ending, I think it maybe felt like 2 endings XD, and maybe using just one of them would've make it better :)
Thanks for the treble notes info! I think I feel like i'm learning a lot about mixing since i never checked tutorials or anything, so your help means a lot to help us grow in that area :D

[Rupert]

The intro isn’t bad, but the chord progression here is cliche. The glitchy content at :08 was a good idea, but you could’ve mixed it in a lot better, with cleaner, more dynamic white noise and fewer harsh frequencies in that mid-range bass. Also, you seem to be lacking smooth transitions at several points in this piece, such as :09, :26, :34, and others. I liked the more melodic content that started creeping in by around :30, but :52 is another clear sign that this piece has major mixing and mastering flaws. I can barely make out the arpeggios between :52 and 1:00. I also think you should’ve done a lot more with the drums in this piece. Maybe adding some drum fills and crashes would help smooth over some of those transitions, too. There are just so many moments in this piece in which you vary the texture but fail to prime the listener as to your doing so. I wasn’t a huge fan of your kick sample. It sounded a little too aggressive and sub-bassy for a piece like this. Otherwise, the instrumentation was not satisfactory. Your synths have this annoying fixed vibrato (i.e., 2:17) that just screams “stock sample” to me. You could’ve done a lot more to modulate those synths to not be as harsh-sounding or in-your-face, as this is fundamentally a cheerful song. I also would’ve added some more reverb, as the sound quality overall was pretty dry. You tried to bring this piece full-circle at 3:07, which is another good idea, but you still need to connect it to the preceding section more. The piece also had a constant energy to it, which I generally discourage. It’s usually more structurally effective to channel the emotions and interest of the listener by creating dynamic contrast and an ebb and flow of energy. I’d suggest inserting some sort of breakdown or re-intro section to accomplish this. The fade-out ending also came across as a bit lazy. I just realized that this is a really negative review, though, so let me give you some positives: I enjoyed the melodic progression and texture. You also have a good sense of harmony. Still, I think you need to clean up the mastering, transitions, and sound design before this piece maximizes its potential. Keep at it, man! ;)

5/10

Genclops responds:

Appreciate the criticism, it is refreshing! Thanks for the listen

[Black Sackbat]

To be honest, I’m not sure you took this piece completely seriously. I enjoyed the sense of climax at the very beginning, but most of this piece is just a simple beat, bass bomb, and vocal sample that plays every 4th bar. There’s no strong melodic content (I’m not counting the vocals at the beginning as “strong”), and in general it’s just simply not a structurally complete piece. When many of the parameters on my rubric are irrelevant, you know the piece is dangerously flawed. For example, I didn’t notice any mixing or mastering errors, but I’d imagine you didn’t have to do very much mixing or mastering in order to pull this off. Also, there’s clearly no sense of melodic development, structural variety, etc. because there is very little structure or progression at all in this piece. I’m sorry, man, but I don’t believe that content like this has a place in my competition and, to be completely honest, the whole thing seemed vaguely reminiscent of some sort of inside joke, as implied by the author’s comments and title. This is especially disappointing because I can see that you have serious and complete songs on your page, too. Good luck with your future tracks, man. I’ll PM you again next year. ;)

2.5/10

freezwalm responds:

10 points to Gryffindor, check my new song 'Mind Full Of Secrets' if you wanna hear what I'm capable of

[FD - The World You See]

I love the ominous, apprehensive mood at the beginning. Perhaps it’s a little slow to develop, but you establish the atmosphere extremely well here. The stop-start transition at :54 threw me off a bit. It seemed like it was this subtle, melodramatic build, but then the section after it is very reserved and mellow, with nothing to release the tension of the build-up (crash, pads, etc.). That said, you launch into this beautiful cinematic section that tugs at my emotions. The quality of your samples is quite impressively high, and the vocal section at 1:26 was quite the emotional height. You transitioned well into the breakdown section, leaving yourself plenty of room for contrast and climax once again. However, I wish you had made an attempt to develop the themes you presented during the first chorus (1:26) further. Otherwise, the piece lacks a sense of overarching development and finality, and the end result of the emotional input is a rather unconventional bell-curve. Perhaps these structural details are extremely picky, though, and I’ll admit I have very specific preferences in that area. The mixing and mastering are fantastic. I simply couldn’t find any flaws. As I’ve touched upon before, the instrumentation and atmosphere are fantastic, and you also did a great job with the texture, dynamic contrast, and the like. Overall great work! I simply would’ve loved to see you flesh out the choral part over multiple refrains next time because I’m the biggest structural fuss in Newgrounds history! :D Keep at it, man. ;)

9.5/10

ForgottenDawn responds:

Hey, thanks for the long and detailed review :)
Well, in my defense this track is part of a soundtrack I scored for a video game, specifically an epilogue theme. Since it was supposed to blend three different scenes from the same narrative, I had to fit that vision accordingly. Long story short, it wasn't envisioned as a standalone piece but rather a part of the greater picture. Anyways, glad you enjoyed it. I'll see you in the knock-out round. ;)

[Opus V: Observer]

I like the mood and instruments. I think the mixing needs some cleaning up. There’s a bit of distortion in here, and it’s possibly because the instruments were not equalized carefully enough. There are times when some of the melodic lines are hard to make out, such as at 1:27 - 1:30 and 2:20 - 2:25. The piece has a sense of constant continuity whereas you should’ve stripped away some of the harmony significantly in order to create more structural contrast. This moment finally comes at 3:08, but you could’ve done a lot more to maximize the emotional polarization of the piece. Also, 3:40 is a completely different piece, and I think you know that too. If you were trying to form a mash-up here, you needed to connect the parts before and after 3:40 much more cleanly. There were also other transitions, even within the 6 littler songs that make up this grossly long track, that needed smoothing over, such as 4:21. As a judge, I’m expected to treat your content as one concrete, complete, and coherent whole, but this is not a coherent and succinct piece at all. It’s hard for me to get a sense of melodic development or cohesiveness within the 6 individual pieces themselves. You need to focus on fleshing out individual ideas more instead of conglomerating all of your little ideas for riffs in one place. You seem to have made very little effort at connecting the various movements of this piece. 10:53 comes to mind. If you don’t plan on making two or more sections of music into one cohesive whole, those sections do not belong on the same track. I also suggest you try watching and following YouTube tutorials for “equalization” in whatever Digital Audio Workstation (FL Studio, Garageband, Logic, Reason, etc.) you use. Also, the part at 15:17 isn’t even in the same genre as the content before it, despite being the most enjoyable part of the track IMO. You did a nice job of creating a full texture throughout, though, and your melodies are generally solid. I also thought the piece was pretty catchy, too, although there wasn’t really any one section that was particularly memorable in this 18-minute morass. Above all, you’re just force-feeding the listener too much content at once here. You need to slow down and focus more on the details of this piece - a sense of build and flow, coherence, mastering, etc. - before you go for a 18-minute-long epic narrative song. Because if you don’t tie the piece together as you progress, it falls apart underneath you, and that’s what happened here. Without the author’s comments, I would’ve been able to garner almost no overarching sense of structure from listening to your piece, and that’s a dire problem. I seriously hope you understand why I’m giving your piece such a low score because you’ve clearly put a lot of effort into it, and if you don’t understand please don’t hesitate to PM me. Keep working at it, man. You have the melodies and atmosphere down. Now, please work on the structure, mixing, and coherence...a lot. Best of luck. ;)

4.5/10

flaminglog responds:

This was made in famitracker and would play on a modified famicom.

There IS no mixing in famitracker apart from instrument volume. This was an extremely well-loved piece in the chipmusic community. Judging traditional chipmusic by modern electronic music standards is complete nonsense, honestly, but thank you for listening to my track.

Your contest, clearly, is not a place for chipmusic such as this.

[Cosmic Giggle]

I like the beat, although you could’ve used more reverb on the drums and maybe some more careful Equalizing on the treble end to bring out those hats a bit more. I appreciate how unique and funky this piece is. You’ve created a really quirky mood here that, again, you could’ve capitalized on with some more reverb. Unfortunately, this isn’t a structurally complete piece, and it loops just as it seems to be coming to the peak of a climax. You have little melodic content here (besides the repetitive ghost-y background synths), and very little in the way of structure. The piece is basically one long build-up, which is too bad because if you had fleshed this out more it could’ve been a very enjoyable and creative piece. For what it is, I like it a lot. It could be good for some background game music, but as a stand-alone piece it loses points for lacking complete progression and variety. Still, nice job with the mood, instruments, and sense of originality. Keep at it, man! ;)

7/10