TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[Future Bass] _Transcend (Original_Mix)]

I've gotten really into future bass recently, so I'd thought I'd give this a listen. I love the tranquil mood at the beginning and the engaging, bouncy synths that come in soon after. The drop was pretty cool. I think my favorite section is 2:28, though. It just sounded so bright and floaty. You did a good job with the structure, transitions, and mixing and mastering, although I thought the "ay" samples during the drops could've been a little more present. I'm not a fan of fade-out endings, though. I simply find them lazy and not-so-creative. Otherwise, this is another solid track. I sincerely hope one of your tracks finds its way onto the front page again. You've earned it by continuing to work hard since the competition! :)

trunotfals responds:

Man I love this review. And I agree, I HATE fade out endings, but i went into a drop where i took out all my drop layers and it went into a disco feel, and I felt that was appropriate for the feel. I dont think I've ever done a fade out transition in my life, i just don't know what it worked for me. As I fade out, i keep adding in elements, taking them away, adding in again even as it gets quiet. I feel you, I agree, however, I just CANT get over that it just felt like for once in my life i needed to do this transition, even on a song i loved. :D

I need to make some darn music again.......

[[Progressive Trance] Insomniac (Original Mix)]

I like the snare sample right off the bat. Good use of reverb and risers/sweeps. It progresses a little slowly, and seems like some pretty standard fare for progressive trance (not quite cliché, but...well...almost). It has a cool beat and progression, but is a little long-winded. I think you should've brought the more melodic part that started sneaking in there at around 1:15 a lot more. I appreciated your use of dynamic contrast at around the 2-minute mark. It kind of bothered me that the sweep had this stop-start thing going on at 2:18, but that's a tiny detail. I appreciated all the details involved in the first half of the piece or so, but you kind of painted 3:07 as the "emotional high point" with all the build-ups here, yet there were very few memorable melodies before then. Even when you do have melodic content, like at 4:10, I don't think you bring it to the front of the mix nearly enough, and you also could've done a lot more to vary it given the length of the piece. I do like all the instruments and moods you've weaved into the piece, though. You probably could've cut this down to a 4-minute piece relatively easily, though. There are pieces that deserve to be 7 minutes long, but I'm not convinced that this is one of them. Sorry. Otherwise, nice job and happy new year! ;)

[Stand By]

I like the emotion and progression. Honestly, I didn't notice any clicks at the loop. It's a bit flat dynamically, but I couldn't expect much more from a 1-minute-long loop. Nice job with making the time signature changes so natural-sounding, btw. Not much more to add. You should start keeping track of what percentage of your NG uploads are piano solos. ;P

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hey, and thanks!
The click at the loop was worse, during the time that there was something wrong with the NG Audio Player. But there still is a minor one, but you might need really good headphones or speakers to be able to hear it :)

Aww, and I though the volume dynamics in my performance was okay D:
But I guess you mean rhythmically? It's not really meant to be more dynamic there, as it's based off of Eric Satie's Gymnopedies after all :3

You know, I actually didn't realize I changed the time signature until after I made the piece, which probably explains why they ended up sounding natural... Me and theory don't go too well together XD

Uhh... A large percentage? They tend to be among my best tracks too :)

More importantly, if you haven't, check this out!

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/659992

Phonometrologist just made a cover on this piece, and it's waaay better than this piano track. It might have all the dynamic you're looking for :3

Thank you for yet another review! Now, I'm back to work... I need to upload 4 more tracks this year...

[[Dubstep] F**cking Loose My Mind (Charlie Puth Remix)]

I like the synths and beat. Clearly, the vocals are powerful and also have an emotional quality that you brought out well with the instrumentals. I like how the drops corresponded to the chorus of the original too. I also thought the balance between the vocals and instrumentals were better than in the last piece I reviewed, "Things that I would Change." However, you might've overdone the reverb on the vocals a bit, which is especially noticeable after 3:13. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the pacing of the vocals in that first verse, but listening to the original now, I believe that was Mr. Puth's choice and not yours. :) Overall, nice work! Keep it up, Trunotfals. ;D

trunotfals responds:

Thank you so much Tainted! I thought i sidechained the reverb so i could have a strong reverb without over powering the vocals when they were active, but idk i liked it. And yea I kind of agree about the pacing on the vocals, I listen to this and realize that the drop needed some high high hats to add some drive and excitement, i may go back. Man I LOVE your reviews and the fact that youre somehow keeping tabs on me! I would love to hear what you think about the rest of the songs I've made man!

[First Day Of Spring (Cover)]

I love the bare-bones, laidback vibe here. The vocals felt a little dry, though. Some more reverb may have helped, especially on the choruses. I appreciated your extended efforts at vocal harmony following the 2-minute mark or so. Small detail: I thought the transition at 2:51 could've used a simple crash or something, just to smooth it over a bit more. Other than that, I admire the simplicity. Keep at it, man. ;)

[Vanquish the Night]

I liked the emotional intro, but I think you rushed a little too quickly into the heavy guitar content. I would've liked to see a more fully fleshed-out climax towards the beginning. That said, this is some really powerful content! You meshed together a lot of different moods here, although sometimes the pacing is a little too fast. It seems fitting for a Hollywood chase scene more so than a stand-alone piece at times (although that might've been what you were going for). I love the melodic content, though, like at 3:30. For a rushed mastering session, I think you guys did a great job, btw. The piece also fittingly has a victorious and triumphant sensation at the end, which I appreciated. Overall nice work! ;)

[~SW~ Annar]

I like the powerful, variable percussion and funky synths. The melodies have a pretty weird pacing. At times they bring this sort of relaxed vibe, but at others they stop-start and jitter a lot and that makes it a little hard to follow the rhythm. Despite my love of the creative drums in this piece, I wish there was something a little more straight-forward in the piece just to keep the listener grounded a bit more. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about the sensual guitar solo at 1:48 when contrasted with the more energetic, spurt-y synths. In theory, it would've created a nice breakdown, but I think you need to flesh out some of these melodies more and pace it a little more modestly in order to tie some things together (by which I mean: it comes across as a pretty incoherent). This isn't one of your better tracks IMO, unfortunately, but I do still like the instruments, and the mix is clear as always. :) Hope to hear more from you soon, man! ;)

[Last Stand (Orch Edit)]

I like the powerful piano at the beginning. As with a lot of your tracks, it progresses pretty slowly. Also, I wasn't a huge fan of your samples here, and I'm afraid the instrument at :53 sounds exactly like a synth (what was it supposed to be?). If you wanted that to be a synth, I would suggest replacing it with a flute or clarinet or something. I kinda liked the orchestral theme you established at the beginning, and I would've liked you to keep it for the whole piece. I think you also could've mastered this differently to bring out some of the instruments more clearly. The coda was also pretty cool, although I would've liked to see you prime the listener a bit by using that harp-like instrument at another point in the piece. Overall, not bad. It could use some polishing here and there, but as it is I like it. Happy holidays, TeraVex. ;)

[Spooksville (Loop Version)]

Hmm...you made this quite a while ago now. I got behind on my reviewing. :/ I do like the pizzicatos and pensive mood. The lower strings at :31 need to be brought out more IMO. A moving line amidst a repetitive riff such as the pizzicatos is much-needed here. I like the snares at :48, but they sort of just blend into the repetitive texture here after a while. I actually think you can condense this piece a lot. It progresses very slowly, and the substantive melodic content (i.e. 1:25) shouldn't come more than halfway through the piece. You also don't really vary the melody significantly (or at least discernably) after that point. The horns at around 2:20 were a good idea, but this could still easily be a much shorter loop that's still structurally sound. It has potential, though, and I'm sure it'd work well for whatever game was in your mind when you made this. :) Keep at it, man! ;)