TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fever Dream]

Very emotional! I love the slow pacing at the beginning. You use the range of the piano really well - I love your slow climb up to :35 both emotionally and pitch-wise. :D I've also got to point out how much I admire your ability to turn your real-life experiences into music, btw. The piece is extremely flowing and majestic (you've pretty much nailed flowiness and majesty in all 112-and-counting tracks of yours). I especially love the rather desperate mood at 3:35 and how you then transition into this sort of floaty calmness, as if you awoke to fully realize the pains of your illness, only to drift off to sleep again. I also like the pensive and anticipatory mood at around 5:10. How do you possible manage to string all these moods together in one coherent piece? Actually, I have a challenge for you: I want you to try to achieve the same level of "flowiness and majesty" with not one but FOUR instruments that are simultaneously playing melodic parts. Aaaaannnndd GO! BWA-HA-HA!!!

The dissonant jazzy chords at 6:23 pulled me back down to earth after my maniacal scheming for this challenge. I love them too! I was also drawn to the power and spacey-ness of the part at 9:05 or so, as well as the dark vibe at 9:30. You then sort of descend into a tumultuous calm at around 10:45, and then of course 11:30 has all the light gracefulness of the beginning. I also appreciated the scale at 12:17, although the ensuing jarring chords offered a bit of a strange way to end the piece. Still, I kind of regard you as a genius. I thought you should know.

Overall, fantastic work as always. Turns out I can't get enough of this "weird background music." ;)

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Yeah. I was definitely in a weird place when I improvised this. Whenever something unusual is going on with me, I tend to either turn it into music, or write. Unless I just have a headache or something, in which case I take a pill and go to sleep. Now that I think about it, headaches are unfortunately not that unusual xD

As for the range of the piano, it's something I've always used automatically. I guess that I just like variation, and work from there :D

Another thing with turning real life experiences into music, is that it can give great emotional value to a piece, if you do it right. I think that a good sense of empathy, and understanding of any situation, is good if you want to capture a certain feel in music. This is especially important if you're composing music for a particular purpose, or scene.

As for the flow, it's just something I've learned to do. Here's the thing. Barely anyone will notice if you screw up, if you keep going as if you intended to do whatever you did, and just keep going. If you make a mistake, you shouldn't just stop and try to think of what to do next, or what chord to use. You just keep going. This is very important for live performances of almost any kind, at least if you're playing solo :)

At 4:23, my flow clearly broke though. But I went back to do a retake of a similar theme I used earlier in the improv, to catch the flow again (I don't remember any of this, but I'm listening to it again, and I'm fairly certain that it was intentional).

I like 5:10 as well. It reminds me of Kyle Landry's 2008 version of Dearly Beloved.

"How do you possible manage to string all these moods together in one coherent piece? "

=> Well, I guess it's arguable whether it is coherent or not. It's a bit weird, but then again, I like weird. If you practice playing every day with any intrument, I'd say that anyone can easily become as good as and better than me at improvising. What I am wondering, if how the hell I pulled off 7:09-7:17. I need to check the MIDI file for that!

Hmm, that challenge sounds fun! I can make anything flow. But majesty... I can't improvise four things and keep the same rhythm and tempo. I'd have to take a more classical route, and have like a piano, a violin, a cello, and a flute or something. That, I think I could manage! When time and motication strikes :)

Ooh, it would look like 9:05 returns to the main theme of this piece, for a while. I have no idea how I managed to keep a kind of main theme, with the fever and all?
9:30 is a weird kind of "trope" that tends to happen in my improvisations if they near 10 minutes. I suddenly go for a rhythmic section, using mostly darker keys. I wonder why? probably because I get tired of the flow, and go for a big change, for the sake of variation.

10:45 is just really experimental. This is one of my more experimental improvisations in general.

"Still, I kind of regard you as a genius. I thought you should know."

That's very nice of you, thank you. But honestly, I have no idea what I am doing when improvising. I think many people with better pitch hearing go for melodies and chords they think in their heads. I just do completely random stuff; I credit my subconscious. And trust me. You can do it too! You just need to practice 1 hour a day, for like 5 years. Yup...

Now, you've inspired me to go and improvise some more. Maybe we'll soon hear some more random background music from me?

Thanks a lot for once again listening through such a long track, and reviewing it in detail! It means a lot :3

[The Prodigal]

I love the edgy, down-to-earth vibe here. All of you guys have amazing voices, btw - they're so soulful and soothing. I can just picture the old country bartender luring me in for a drink after a long day on the road. I also enjoyed the structural relief offered by 2:15. The mood and atmosphere here is utterly fantastic, and the production quality is so high that it could've been taken right out of a commercial for either Viagra or Chevy. The lyrics are just as good as the vocals, too. Amazing. I don't even care about the liquor - you're getting a generous tip! ;D Insta-faved and downl- WAIT! There is no download! Why do you torture me?! Seriously, though, that banjo-playing can only be described as badass. "Doing something different" as you put it seemed to work out extremely well! Congrats on another breathtakingly good track! :D

[For The Fallen]

Well, this certainly is a very...inspired piece. ;) I like the simplicity and emotion at the beginning. The melodies are hauntingly beautiful while still being relatively simple, and the echo-y quality of the snare just compliments the mood and atmosphere here very well. I also love the pacing of the piece: it just has these little bursts of melody at times, like I'm being spoon-fed from a giant jar of musical goodness until I eat the whole thing. The loop isn't perfect, but I think it was a good decision to loop it. It seems to be very fitting for a videogame, perhaps a pensive puzzle game or something. I thought the latter 1/3 or so of the piece wasn't really that engaging, btw, but the piece still has a sort of admirable continuity about it. Good job, man! ;D

[Bloody Valentine (Cover)]

Well, it certainly seems more fitting for Valentine's Day than Halloween. ;) It's catchy, humorous, well-structured, and smooth-flowing. I enjoyed the vocal harmonies a lot, as that gives the piece a pretty nice, full texture. I suppose at some point I would like to see you take some more stylistic risks (you do the bare-bones guitar, vocals, and body percs thing a lot). The piece was also a little long, especially compared to most of your other work. Still, you did a good job of telling a story with the lyrics. Keep it up, Ceevro. ;)

Ceevro responds:

Well, this was a cover, so they lyrics were already set for me. I know I've got a certain style to my methods of composing, but it you look back at my REALLY old stuff, you'll find out that recording with real instruments and my own voice actually IS the risk! I'm trying very hard to perfect a certain more real style. What I ultimately want is a method of doing these types of pieces live, at this quality. I'm getting better at it, though I still have a long way to go before I can call this method mastered!

Personally, I am not at all satisfied with this cover. It felt rushed, and not crisp enough for me. I also really hate the sound of my own voice...

[GTB - Beyond Dimensions]

I love the tranquility and emotion at the beginning. The beat adds a sort of flow to the piece, yet I thought the snare was a little too forceful-sounding given the relaxed vibe of the more melodic instruments. I'd probably tone down the reverb a bit there. Still, I admire your sense of harmony and progression. That melody that comes in at around :45 is very trance-like, floaty, and memorable. The ending is probably my least favorite part of the piece tbh. You kind of combined a fade-out with the ultra-jazzy "freeze on the third" method, which is not inherently bad (I've used it myself) but I think this piece demands more of a "winding down" sensation. You could try fleshing this out into a more intricately structured track, or simply looping it. Either way, that's my only major complaint. Keep up the good work man! ;D

Dj-Gonzo responds:

Thanks A LOT for the review! Glad you like my melodic taste, that always makes me feel confident. I know the ending is a bit "loose" comparing it with the rest of the song, I couldn't find another element to add to the chords, so I decided to use the fade out (I know that's a lazy way to end it though) but after listening it, I thought the final result wasn't bad at all. Again, thanks for replying my PM with such an incredible work of analysis. It is a pleasure to see people spending their time to make other artists improve. :)

> GTB

[[Dubstep] LInney - That Night (TruNotFals Remix for IndabaMusic)]

Hmm...I've really gotta check out this IndabaMusic site. Anyway, I love the tranquil atmosphere at the beginning. It's a little slow-paced, but that fits the mood of the piece very well at the same time. The vocals complement the atmosphere very well. The drop was good, and I love the soundscape (i.e., instrumentation) here. I thought that, especially during the chorus, the vocals were a little quiet relative to the synths. The mixing is fantastic, though. I'd also like to reiterate that the mood/atmosphere of the piece is absolutely my favorite part. It's the perfect combination of dramatic and intense (as you put in the tags), and more tranquil, relaxed, and upbeat. I also like the variations you started incorporating at about 4:15. Well-structured, smooth-flowing, etc. Nice work! ;D

trunotfals responds:

i never saw this review! Thanks Tainted! I never know how you find the time and effort to leave to many reviews man! I always appreciate and respect your opinion. And I had a bit of trouble with the vocals in the drop, but I also felt they didnt need to be too prevalent then. So, a compromise was made I suppose, but Im still working on those little trick with mixing I suppose. THANKS MAN! Great to work along side you in the NGAUC!!

[His Memory (His Theme​/​Memory Lockyn Undertale Remix)]

I like the cute, bouncy synths and sense of climax the piece has into :31, although tbh I thought the part at :31 was a little underwhelming until you started fading in the melodies (and, of course, the arpeggios at :45 help increase the energy). This reminds me a lot of "Party Hard," that Sundivine remix you did a year or two ago. It just has a very upbeat, floaty, and summery vibe to it. It does have a great amount of variety and different "flavors," so to speak. However, it's also pretty heavily pizzicato-based, which isn't inherently a bad thing, but I don't think it helped keep my attention too well either. Even those piano chords you have at around 3:30 don't have enough sustain on them IMO. This style of staccato-but-not-punchy synths sometimes doesn't keep my attention that well after a while, which might be something to watch out for in the future. I definitely admire your sense of harmony and progression, though, and the mixing is great as always. I also thought this piece had one of your more conclusive endings, which is good. Overall nice work! Keep it up, Lockyn! ;D

Lockyn responds:

Hey TL, thanks again for stopping by. I agree about the similarity to Party Hard in style, I wanted to keep my classic synth style here along with the happy rendition of the His Theme/Memory atmosphere. I'll keep your points in mind for sure, I tend to overuse fast arps and note layers. Cheers on the ending :)

[Meow?]

This thing has potential! I like the melodies and instruments, and you spread the instruments out across your frequency range to produce a nice, full texture. The lead synth might be a little too harsh-sounding. I would EQ out some of the treble frequencies there. Also, the kick gets really buried in the mix after around :15 or so. You might try compressing it and adding some sidechain. Still, I like the mood here, and it loops well too! Looking forward to seeing what else you produce. Happy 2016! ^^

whatusernamedood responds:

Yes, I agree, the lead synth is a disaster. I didn't really find the answer on how to make it sit and play nice with the mix, I tried.
Kick is sidechained already but I wasn't sure if was hearing it properly through my headphones and they really punched through on my speakers :S
Still trying to find the Holy Grail of "frequency flatness".

Well, loops are all I do, so I try to at least loop them nicely xD

Happy 2016 to you too :D Love your reviews, dood <3
(love you also #nohomo)