TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Storyboard - Frequency (AT Remix)]

Having the vocals in there as an intro wasn’t a bad idea, but I think you could’ve done a lot more to connect them more smoothly to the instrumental section that followed. A general rule of thumb is that you should always carry over one or two instruments to the next section during additive transitions. I liked the melodies at :07, although the chord progression was cliche. Then, you repeat that melody almost continuously until around the 2-minute mark with little added variety, which was a bit of a structural oddity. And that part at 1:57 sounds a little out-of-place, probably at least partly because it’s hard to make out the tonic because of that sweep you threw in there. The downbeats during that breakdown section also indicate a completely different progression as during the refrains, which makes the transition back into 2:52 pretty rough as well. I appreciated the variations on the melody you there, but then you launch into this uncharacteristically dissonant sections which also threw me off as a listener. There are two clashing moods here - the upbeat progression of the chords and bass and the newly creepy, atonal melody. Dissonance can be effective in music, but with the preceding ¾ of the piece being so cheerful and no structural changes warning me of this impending dissonance, I’m left confused as a listener. And then the bouncy, high-pitched synths you added at 3:19 were annoying, loud, and harsh-sounding. I also have no clue where the part at 3:48 came from. I don’t recall hearing any strings earlier in the piece, and generally it’s not a good idea to introduce new instruments to your piece during the last 30 seconds. Never mind the fact that 3:48 sounds like you copied and pasted it from a completely different track. Overall, this track has very little coherence, which is strange because the first 2 minutes or so actually lacked variety IMO. You mention in the description that you “never ran out of ideas,” but I think one of the main problems here is that you tried to work with too many ideas at once and the piece lost its sense of direction. You want to ground your listener in a familiar structure before creating any sweeping variations. In my view, you have not done that here. However, I have few complaints with the mixing and mastering and you did a good job of keeping the texture full throughout. Most of my complaints have to do with the structure and transitions, so I think that is what you should focus on, my friend. Good luck, and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to PM me. Keep at it, EnNinja! ;)

6.5/10

EnNinja responds:

That took a while to read, but I pretty much agree with you on everything though I have to correct you on one thing. String is not only heard in the end of the song but also before the second drop along with the piano.
Thanks for the amazing review :)

[Frozen Waves]

I liked the slow-paced intro. It was relaxing and also offered some great contrast to the energetic sections later in the piece. That said, I thought you needed a bit more than a simple sweep to connect that intro with :30. Usually it’s a good idea to retain some elements of the previous section until after you make additive transitions like that. The synths at :30 are enjoyable, and it has a great sense of climax. The sounds blend well at 1:00. The texture is full and the melody is fleshed out well. I enjoyed the structural contrast you offered at 1:30. The transition at 2:23 was a bit cheesy, but I liked how the sidechaining at 2:30 gave the bassline a great sense of pulsing energy. The piece is catchy and upbeat, and I appreciate how you varied the melodies at 4:05. I appreciate that you brought the piano back at 4:34, and the melodies at 4:59 are solid. This piece is very spacious and drawn-out. The structure ebbs and flows a lot for a dance track, which is good. The mixing and mastering is also solid in general. If anything, I might suggest that you make the drums a bit more prominent in the mix. At times they seemed a little weak. Also, I think the ending was a bit lazy. I was expecting a final climax, especially given how long this piece is. Instead, you had what seemed like a bridge that played the same melody for almost 2 minutes and then gradually faded out. This is an extreme structurally oddity that drastically detracts from the sense of conclusiveness and resolve that I expected as a listener. I also don’t think you did anything particularly unique with this track, and at times it seems a little too slow and minimalistic, an unfortunate consequence of your extensive efforts at structural contrast, I’m afraid. That said, you have an excellent sense of melody and harmony, and this piece will be stuck in my head for a while. Solid work overall. Keep at it, Ectisity. ;D

8.5/10

[Good Mood Injection]

I liked the upbeat mood and frantic synth patterns. The kick sample wasn’t my favorite, though, and you had it play a short succession of rolls in a very unconventional way for the first minute or so. The piece also throws you into the middle of the action without much introductory content. I enjoyed the melodies at around :40. You have a lot of different structural elements to this piece during the middle, yet some of them are loosely connected to one another (1:43 and the part immediately before it, for example). There also isn’t a section when you dial back the energy and offer much in the way of structural contrast. This piece is lacking a sense of emotional ebb and flow that’s often necessary for development and progression. You also didn’t vary the melodies much later in the piece, thereby missing more opportunities to give this piece an overarching sense of direction and finality. The ending is a bit lazy and cuts off suddenly. With some dynamic considerations, you may have been able to turn this into a decent loop. I thought the mix was pretty clear and the frequencies here are well-balanced. Perhaps you could’ve used some more panning or compression to maximize this clarity. My main complaints mostly involve the structure and progression of the piece. I think you need to do more with phrasing and variety here, especially later in the piece when you fail to develop the progression in a climactic way that’s also different than earlier. Otherwise, solid work. Keep at it, Eatmeatleet! ;)

7.5/10

eatmeatleet responds:

Thanks for full review, it's nice to get some 1's especially for harmony and stuff. I know progression is not the most original but it's a nice track ;)

[Africa calls]

I like the percussion at the beginning and the cheery melodies at :09. Somehow this reminds me of The Lion King...which is probably an indication that you nailed the African theme. ;) The melody drags on for a bit too long IMO...and then you simply repeat it using a different instrument at 1:17. This would’ve been fine if you had more harmonic support in there to keep things interesting, but after a certain point I was seriously wondering if there would be any structural relief. However, to your credit, that moment finally came at 2:17. The song is very smooth-flowing and pleasant, but as a stand-alone piece it loses a few points in my mind because of a lack of overarching direction. For example, you didn’t really vary the main melody in any sort of climactic way later in the piece. That said, the sample quality is excellent and (again) you made the African theme really come to life here with the atmosphere and instruments. I also have no complaints with the mixing and mastering. If you fix the small structure and progression-related issues I mentioned above, this would easily be one of my favorite pieces of the competition so far. Keep up the good work, man. ;D

9.25/10

EagleGuard responds:

Hey man, thank you so much for your in-depth review! Definitely agree with all your points, and I'll certainly take it into account for future works.

Glad you enjoyed the piece as a whole, and thanks again for your review!

[Zenith]

I thought you could’ve left yourself a little more space for contrast at the beginning. The song kind of just throws you into the middle of these heavy breaks without much introductory material. It’s a little hard to get an overarching sense of climax, as the structure ebbs and flows a lot before any kind of emotional height, and then the real climax comes almost 2 minutes into the piece (1:51). The distorted guitar sounds there added a lot to the piece, but I still feel that some huge chunks of the preceding 2 minutes were unnecessary (the build-up from :52 to 1:21, for example, basically leads nowhere). The instrumentation here is great, however. You did a nice job of offering some structural relief at 2:36, and then transitioning back into a more energetic section by 3:05. The drums during that breakdown section are also quite creative. The piece is very smooth-flowing in general. You did a nice job with the panning, which I especially noticed at around 4:15. The transition into the final chorus at 4:33 was smooth yet weak. It almost seemed like you were playing this live and decided to cross-fade the prior melody and the chorus at the last minute. I was also a little disappointed that you failed to vary the melody sufficiently during the last chorus. For the casual listener, it may have even been difficult to identify that as the chorus because a large portion of this piece shares an energetic sense of continuity. I liked the ending, though. In general, the mixing is very clear and the mastering is loud and pleasant. Despite my mostly structure-related complaints, this is solid work! Keep at it, DM. ;D

8.5/10

Dylnmatrix responds:

Holy shit I never responded to this.

All your structure complaints are well placed. I believe this track mainly emulates a jam session that a band could have during a show, similar to the ones Muse has in their shows. Jams usually don't have concrete or even good structures as they're mainly improv, like this one in the sense I wrote it subconsciously in two nights.

Doesn't excuse the issues but it might explain why it's so.

[Domyeah - Digital Wonderland]

I like the intro and mood. The chord progression is cliche, though. I usually like loud drums, but here they truly dominate the mix to an overwhelming extent. I liked the melodies at :34, but they get really distorted when the drums come in at :42. I enjoyed the progression, including the heavy breaks at 1:07. The shift in mood was a little sudden there, but overall I appreciated your willingness to offer some variety in that sense. The song lacks a proper breakdown section, however, and is almost constantly energetic between the first two drops. I thought you did a good job of creating a full texture. There are more creative ways of creating variety than the modulation at 2:39, but at 2:55 you showed at least some sense of development by layering another synth onto the main melody, even if it was a bit too loud and harsh-sounding. The ending was also quite lazily done, as fade-outs often are. You’ve put together a catchy and coherent track here, but I think you have some work to do on the production quality and structural elements of this piece. I also find a lot of the synths and progressions to be quite generic, tbh. Fix these things, and you’ll have quite a solid track here, my friend. Keep at it, Domyeah! ;)

7/10

[Days Go By]

Interesting use of panning during the intro. I liked the upbeat mood and sense of climax into :32. The melodies are enjoyable, the mix is clear, and the mastering is very loud. The chord progression is a little cliche, though, and I thought you overused that transition with the crashes (:13 and other places). Also, I really appreciated that you added structural relief at 2:18, and I thoroughly enjoyed the transition at 3:01. This is a smooth-flowing and well-structured piece, and the vocal fills (3:22) add a lot to it. The melodic variations at 3:38 were also more than welcome. The fade-out ending came across as a bit lazy, though, but that’s probably the only structural flaw of this piece. The trumpet lead was a great choice instrumentation-wise, and you have a great sense of harmony. My main complaint is that this is very generic upbeat electronica. Overall, solid work! ;D

9/10

Jakki responds:

Thank you so much for your extensive and constructive review, T-Logic! Much appreciated! I have to agree with every point you made there. Indeed the ending was little lazy and the song was overall little generic.

Btw glad you liked the vocal fill at the 3:22 too :D

[8BitWarframe: Corpus Star]

I like the initial dynamic between the furtive strings and the gruff electronic bass. It has an overarching sense of climax for the first minute or so, but you also change different elements of the song in bizarre anticlimactic ways (for example, you have this energetic drum section at :41, which you then exchange by :55 for a more mellow one). The beat is amusing and unique. However, there’s very little melodic content in this piece, and when there is (1:57), its rhythm is flat and dull and you don’t bring it forward in the mix nearly as far as you should. The piece has a sense of continuity about it which I would’ve liked to see broken at one point in order to offer structural variety. The string pads are droning on for basically the entire piece, thereby missing an opportunity to create more dynamic contrast and emotional highs and lows. I have no complaints with the mixing and mastering, however. The piece has a full texture throughout with well-balanced and clear frequencies all around. Overall, this is a solid piece, but you could have channeled the emotion a lot more with some more melodic variety and a more visible breakdown section. Keep at it, man. ;)

8/10

[London Night (2016)]

I liked the panning at the beginning. This is a catchy piece with some refreshing instrumentation. It’s also bass-y, moody, and mastered incredibly loudly. Despite the slow progression, there’s plenty of texture to keep me engaged. I think the kick could’ve been a bit more up-front in the mix, especially since this is a house track with a strong beat. The melodies at 2:20 also need to be brought out much more. You have very little strong melodic content in this piece, so when you do have some you should expose it! The piece also has a sense of continuity without much structural relief or dynamic contrast. Perhaps it would serve well as a dancefloor favorite, but loses points as a stand-alone piece because of this lack of variety. The ritardando at the end worked well, even if it did seem a bit unconventional for house music. Overall solid work! Keep it up, man. ;)

8.5/10

deliverance84 responds:

Thank you very much dude :) I think you are very correct, this still needs much more work. I need to master this again and like you said, bring the main melody's forward. Massive thanks for the high praise and the great review, at least I know what to do for this track now :)

[This Endless Space - DubAudio]

I like the tranquil mood at the beginning. The cello sample at :18 sounds really fake. The uniform vibrato completely gives it away. I like the progression, even if the development is a bit slow. The drums are enjoyable, and the mixing and mastering is solid. It’s very flowing, well-structured, and smooth, with a great sense of continuity. I wish there was more melodic development, though. The melodies as they are (3:21) rely heavily on arpeggios. The sounds here blend well together, though. The piece felt a little repetitive by the end and probably didn’t need to be over 5 minutes long. Generally, I regard fade-out endings as lazy, but it seemed fitting here. Overall, I think this is a pretty safe piece. You could’ve done a lot more with the melodies, instrumentation, and emotion. This piece wants to be cinematic, but instead it feels more characteristic of background music. You know how to structure and master a song well, but I wanted to hear a bit more ebb and flow. Overall solid work. Keep at it, man. ;)

7.75/10