TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Forest of Fear]

I love the soothing, atmospheric mood. Also, sub-basses in ambient tracks are awesome. I love how you mesh the nature samples and soothing pads. I thought you could've done a bit more with the sweep at :55 - made it pulse or added some distortion or something. That said, the percussion is really cool. Usually, I like to keep the drums centered in the mix, but the way you panned them added a lot to the piece. After a while, it lacked direction and resolve, but perhaps that wasn't your intention with this piece. Either way, this is really solid work. It's a shame you couldn't join the contest, man!

SierraRising responds:

Ok, I'll be working on buildups and progression, especially for my longer projects. I've been working on keeping drums wide-spaced, I kind of prefer it that way, but I will consider keeping them tighter next time. Thanks a bunch for the review, even though I can't be a part of your contest this year, I'll be waiting for the next one!

[Scratch!]

Cute loop. Interesting samples too. I like the pizzicato-y synths and vinyl. It's intricate enough to keep my amusement for more than a few loops. The loop itself is smooth.

...but it's not really appropriate for the contest, as you probably already know.

Anyway, looking forward to your real submission man. ;)

sebastien01 responds:

Thanks for the review! Yeah I know this one was more like a little joke about a submission "made from scratch" It inspired me to tweak some scratch samples. I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to make it loop more than once though :D

I'm actually in a lack of inspiration for making music lately, but it comes and go. I'll try to kick my ass a little and make something for NGAUC. It's a really nice contest, I like the idea and the way it's done. I'll surely post something on the forums on July 8th and see what happens :)

[Edge of Night (All Shall Fade)]

First of all, I'm exceedingly impressed that you didn't use any sort of pitch correction effects on your voice. The piece sounds quite in tune to me, and you pull off several little ornaments (e.x. :32) really well. I love the reverberant sound and the subtle sense of power here. It's as if you're reciting some sort of spiritual chant. Even in such a short piece, there's a great rise-and-fall to its structure. Also, the high quality of the vocals here is substantiated by an occasional quivering vibrato that perfectly fits the furtive energy of this piece. Well done!

[Gröne Lunden]

I love the celtic theme. It evokes a medieval taste of sorts. The intro may have been a little long (as I see it, it lasts almost the first full minute), but at the same time it lets you establish the gentle pace of the piece quite well. May I ask what language the vocals are sung in? At times, the harp gets a bit buried in the mix, but otherwise I'm loving how spacious and full the texture is. Your style fits your username perfectly, Jordi - it's tranquil yet supple. Keep up the good work! ^^

etherealwinds responds:

The lyrics are sang in Swedish! :) Thank you thank you!

[Vivo Revenis]

I remember seeing this a while ago, but I never left a comment! First of all, Jordi, the vocals are beautiful - so light and graceful. The balance is good, and the harp and ukulele contribute to the piece a lot. The vocal sections are a bit thinly textured, but I understand that you wanted to capture a kind of simplicity and vulnerability in the piece. Overall beautiful work, guys! :D

[Rejected Intro 02]

This piece has a much more engaging melody than the last one I reviewed. A bit of a slower start, but also with a similarly rushed ending. This time, I think the mix would actually benefit from a little more snare. If you're going for cheesy, over-the-top VGM, it's probably best to give the piece as strong of a kick as possible. If you wanted to loop it, I might suggest having the climax at :36 bleed right into the mini-intro to this nice little ditty. Either way, nice work. Brief, yet enjoyable. ^^

sleepFacingWest responds:

thanks! I'm listening to this again and you're totally right about the snare. It needs to be brightened. My rock drum programming needs a lot of work in general.

This was written for the intro sequence of an animated show, so no looping is necessary.
https://vimeo.com/161172754

I agree that the ending comes quickly. I'd like to revisit this, flesh it out as a longer track, and let the sections breathe a bit more. That said, the musical cuts were timed to the action on screen. The B section (in both this and the last track) were set to coincide with a shift in the animation. Believe it or not, these were the best solutions I could come up with. The first track coincides better with the cuts between scenes, but I like the general flow and feel of this one better even if it only hits the big sync marks. Hopefully the next time I do this sort of thing I'll be able to come up with better solutions.

As always, thank you for your thoughtful response! I've got a bunch of things to work on.

[Rejected Intro 01]

I love the dynamic between the electronic and heavy guitar-based elements of the piece. While it's probably irrelevant to the show you wrote this for, the ending seems a bit rushed and it doesn't appear to loop well. The mixing and mastering is solid, though. Maybe I'm used to a bit more kick, but that might not be appropriate for this genre. This is a fun, engaging, full-textured piece. Nice work! ;)

[Ain't No Friend of Mine]

I love the flowing, old-timey, feel-good easy-going vibe of this song. I love the solos, ABA structure, and transitions. That ending was so heartwarmingly characteristic of jazz. High-quality content here, man! I might encourage you to experiment with vocals as a next step. ;)