TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The next VIP]

Ah! Sorry I haven't been keeping up with your recent work, guys. This piece sounds fiery and riveting so far! I love the build-up, but I think those ghostly pads get buried a bit during the drop. Mastering seems solid, though, and I love the direction you've taken with what samples you're using nowadays. Looking forward to the final draft, y'all! It's going to be a great summer! ^^

[Coming of Age]

I don't play Legend of Zelda, but this is still awesome! I think you did a great job of capturing different moods, even with the same melody (for example, contrast the cute yet somewhat furtive vibe at 0:00 with the grand, celebratory mood at 0:46). There's tons of emotional contrast in this piece, and it all flows very nicely. The instrumentation is fantastic as always. The high quality of your samples always makes me jealous. Also, the French horn sounded great, @Camoshark. ;) I loved the gradual set-up for the ominous spaciousness, percussion, and ambiance that preceded the beginning of the vocal section. It served as a great section of structural relief. I loved how, despite the sense of adventure implied by the vocals, they almost seemed soothing (until 4:22, that is). The Latin was a nice touch, btw (I'm not sure if it was like that in the original, but if it was your idea, I say bravo!). The ending was also climactic and conclusive. Excellent work, guys! I'll be downloading this...RIGHT NOW! :D

[Let's Dance]

I like the upbeat vibe and the melodies. The chord progression is a little bizarre, but you know how to structure a song pretty well. I'd recommend downloading some samples instead of using FL Studio's speech synthesizer - it just sounds so artificial and robotic. I think you can also clean up your mixing a bit. The kick sounds a lot more prominent at :17 than at 1:30, for example. Try to make sure everything is Equalized properly, especially so that you only have low frequencies playing in the kick and bass. This will help make everything sound clearer. And if you don't know what I mean by "Equalize" just PM me. Otherwise, this is a cool and catchy track. Keep it up, dude! ;D

jjoon responds:

oh! Hello TaintedLogic
Thanks for many advice
I used cubase.
so i am not good at flstudio :D

Thanks

[Only This]

I like the moody, airy-sounding beginning and the brusque arpeggios. :23 has a nice, powerful and uplifting vibe. Great job with the vocals. They have a great sense of emotion and passion to them. They might have been a bit hidden by the instrumentals, though. Also, 3:12 came on really suddenly. I think you could've had a more conclusive ending there. That said, your mastering is still top-notch and I'm kind of a sucker for break-up songs that are still upbeat. Well done, Garlagan! ;D

[_baby_why]

I love the stop-start rhythm of the beat. The intro was a little long IMO (as I see it, it basically lasts for the first minute). The drop at 1:12 was catchy and cool, if a little underwhelming. It got better as it got more melodic at around 1:30. I love how reverberant this track is, though. I loved the transition with the low, robotic-sounding vocals at 2:07, which then flowed into the bass-y bridge at 2:15 really well. However, then I thought you made it really randomly atmospheric and furtive at 2:35. It was a bit of a jarring mood change, especially since the atmospheric, tranquil section lasts for a full 90 seconds. This piece is definitely more minimalistic at times than most of your other works. I personally just think you tried to tie together a few too many contrasting themes here. The production quality and instrumentation are, again, very good. Usually with your short pieces you don't have any issues with coherence, but you could stand to this piece a little more carefully IMO. Overall good work! ;)

[Into the Storm - Hanupo]

Interesting piece. The melody instruments are really quirky and cool, especially the one at the very beginning. I liked your transitions a lot, like at :17, :38, etc. It's a bit of a fast-paced piece, though, and I think you could've fleshed out some of these ideas more. For example, 1:14 seems a bit out-of-place and you might've done more to create a build-up into it (priming the listener by using some of those heavier synths earlier on, even only on the downbeat of a measure after a transitory moment). That said, the latter half of the piece has a great sense of power and energy to it. I think you need to work on your mixing a bit. During that really intense section from around 1:45 - 2:15 the kick drum could've come through a lot clearer, and at 1:58 the lead is clearly getting distorted by the other instruments (listen to how much more up-front it sounds at 2:13). I would make sure all of your instruments are Equalized properly, especially on the low-frequency end (you really only want the bass and kick to be making sound down there). If you don't know what I'm talking about just PM me. Overall, this is a catchy and fun piece, man. Keep at it! ;)

Hanupo responds:

Wow What amazing advices! Un i changed the mixing of that part a bit... Originally it was lead upfront but i put it behind like bc it was too much but you got a point too. I just pulled down the volume. I think it depends on perception haha. I didnt think about more buildup hmmm Thanks man! You are Awesome!

[agoodgoodbye]

I like the slow pace at the beginning and the automations on display with those held notes at :09 and onward. It makes the piece have a distinct pulse at the same time as its riveting atmosphere. I thought :39 was powerful, if a little bass-heavy. The melodies at around 1:10 were great, but I thought the pads and bass overwhelmed them a bit. Also, despite the tranquil intro, there's a long period of time (roughly 80 seconds) in the middle of the piece that lacks a lot of relief. I think it couldn't hurt to split that up a bit, especially since this piece is relatively short. Also, the coda was drawn out a bit too much. Its length didn't really seem proportional to the rest of the piece. That said, I love the mood and instruments. Nice work!

garlagan responds:

Thanks for the feedback, Andrew. Great review as always. Cheers!

[PPaper PPlanes]

You know I love those chopped vocals! This one's really uplifting and atmospheric than a lot of your stuff, especially during the first 45 seconds or so. I love how you then contrast that with the pizzicato-y sections and punchiness at 1:34. The "da-de-da-doo"s at around the 2-minute mark offer a great breakdown/bridge-like section, although it seemed more like a transitory moment in the piece than a proper coda. I would've loved to see another refrain of the atmospheric section after that, maybe with some more melodic variation to tie this thing together. Despite these minor structural complaints, this is a fantastic piece. The mastering is great as always. The melodies and instrumentation are delicious. Great work! :D

[March of Progress OST]

Wow! Congrats on 1,000 fans! :D I love the percussion, atmosphere, and somewhat exotic theme. The transition at :25 sounds A LOT like another transition that's at around the 1-minute mark in the original version of "The Festival." Yes, I know your music that frighteningly well. I know this probably had to be a specific length for the animation, but this piece is extremely fast-paced. The transitions are smooth and all, but it's just a little jarring to have so many of them in quick succession. Excellent mixing and mastering as always, though. I'll check out the animation when I get a chance. Keep on rockin', Step. ;D

Step responds:

A little late with my reply, but thanks for reviewing! I have lost count of how many reviews you've written for my tracks.

Geez, man. You know my music better than I do hahaha. I completely forgot about that transition in The Festival, but yes, I do love my rising glissandi into dominant chords.

Yeahhh, this definitely progresses very quickly. I honestly had to make a decision between creating a more cohesive whole with less variation, or matching the pace with the animation. The former was the safe way out, while the latter allowed me to show off some cool ideas like morphing the track from tribal/ethnic to orchestral to electronic. I ended up going for the latter idea. The soundtrack probably makes more sense with the animation than on its own. Definitely check it out. It's thought-provoking and REALLY damn cool.

Thank you for the review!

[An Improv on Pretentiousness]

Pretentiousness, huh? I can relate. The piano sounds really false for some reason, even though I'm 99.999% sure that's not just a piano sample. Oh, you recorded it on your phone. Well then. I like the continuity of it, though. There's a lot of contrast in the mood early on, like the somewhat frantic arpeggios at 2:08 and the darker, more mellow section at around 1:33. After a while, some variation from the manic nature of it would've been nice...a more relaxed breakdown or something, even though I know that's not your style. Such a relief doesn't really come until...well, ever. I thought the section at 5:15 had some potential, as it was a little easier to follow the progression there. It seemed dreamy-ish until around 5:40, so if you brought down the volume a bit it could've served as some nice structural relief. But I make this complaint every time, you don't do anything about it, and I still love your music, so maybe I'm just being...pretentious? Either way, keep it up, Ale! ;)

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Yes indeed, it's recorded with my phone. Interesting how a real piano sounds false to you! It's probably the quality that confuses you :p
But if you listen carefully, you can hear that it's very different from any sample, and that the chair I'm sitting on occasionally makes noises. This is actually a pretty good piano, tbh :D

Remember that this is an improvisation, so it will never really hold he same sense of direction as a planned composition. So I don't think there's any real point in thinking about what it should've been like, as it's just a fleeting moment, which would be lost if not for the recording. Part of the beauty of improvising, is that you don't really have to stick to any expectations of compositional structure. It's much more free than that.

There is definitely a breakdown though, just not a super slow one, which I'm sure is the kind you're imagining. But 3:50-4:35 is way less intense than most of the piece is after the 2 minute mark. Considering the style of the improvisation, it wouldn't make much sense to have one of those slow trance breakdowns where only a few chords are slowly played or something. I would have to change the name too, if such a part was in there!

I do have a few pieces with full breakdowns too though, and even some which feature silence in the middle of the track. You just need to find them :V

Hahha, sorry for being so harsh in response. But that's what you get for trying to rewrite an improvisation entirely into something else xD

We can be pretentious together :)