TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Solar Flare (Infinite Realms)]

I like the sort of pent-up, deep house-ish vibe you have at the beginning and how you slowly fade the more hard-hitting synths and leads in from there. I like the bass guitar-sounding synth and the piano. They mesh together well. I'm hearing a lot of synths that you use a lot. I don't know if they're just from the same plug-in or if they're exactly the same synths, but either way I'd like to see you mix up the sound design of your tracks much more in the future. One positive thing I will say, however, is that the mixing here is top-notch. Well done on that front! Like many of your tracks, I think this one was a bit longer than it needed to be, but it was still engaging throughout. The drop at 4:22 was awesome, although I wish you had built up to it a little more. It nearly came out of nowhere. Still, I like how you wound down the ending. It felt really conclusive by the last part with those final piano melodies. Overall, nice work! Keep at it, man. ;D

[Witches' Hut]

I love the oom-pah sort of vibe this has. Awesome melodies, progression, etc. as always. I suppose this is a little more minimalistic than a lot of your other work, and also lacks the structural intrigue of most of your recent stuff IMO, but I still applaud you for uploading content that you don't feel is your best work (which I have to work on myself, so it provides motivation). The rhythms and instruments are cool, though. This piece has a nice flow to it, and I liked the little flourishes you added at several different points (such as :49) to add phrasing and character. The mixing is great, as always. This is one of those tracks that I like more the more I listen to it. I think I'll download it. I download a TON of your tracks though...yeah, wait, I'll still download it. Keep up the good work, Johnfn! :D

johnfn responds:

"The mixing is great, as always"

Heck yeah, I mixed that one instrument SO WELL! :D

[I Love You All]

I like the blissful mood and melodies. The mixing is very solid too (as usual). I really like the heavy breaks at 1:16. It adds a new dimension of energy to the piece. I think the track was a bit longer than it needed to be, though. That said, your riser effects (e.x. 2:50) were cool, if a bit overused. The piece is well-structured and smooth-flowing. I also thought you could've done more with the drums, which were a bit bland and simplistic. The ending was also a bit abrupt. I think a tempo automation or something would've really helped you there. Still, overall solid work. It's nice to hear that 2015 has been such an important year for you, and good luck with your future music-making. ;)

[Final Frontier (Infinite Realms)]

I can tell that this is mastered really loudly and clearly right off the bat. It's climactic and cool. I thought that the transition at :20 could've been smoother. There wasn't a lot of lead-up to the addition of that snare. A crash or something would've gone a long way IMO. Still, I love how the harmonies really start creeping in by around the 1-minute mark, and it sounds pretty upbeat, yet simultaneously bass-heavy, which is cool. I found it a little difficult to pick out an emotional height and/or "arrival point" amidst the various textural ups and downs you have here. Still, the piano solo at 2:45 was cool, and I liked the distorted guitar sounds you had at around the 3-minute mark. I also feel that the balance was off occasionally. For example, at 3:40 the bass sort of overwrites the melody. The coda was cool, although the ending itself seemed a bit abrupt. I would recommend adding a sweep or something there, just to make it feel a bit more climactic. Overall, this is pretty solid. Not your best track IMO, but the melodies, instruments, and harmonies are all catchy and cool (as always). Keep it up, DM! ;D

Dylnmatrix responds:

Off the bat, I'm going to agree with you that this is not my best track, by a long shot. This was more an experimental track with everything to be honest. This track was actually one of my hardest to write as I really had no idea what to do with the track half the time. It was also the hardest to master, dear god.

I agree that it's actually really hard to pick our an emotional "height" so to speak. When I said I added a touch of feels, I just meant that the melody and harmony at the 3 minute mark is a fairly emotional melody compared to the first half.

I do have to disagree with you on one thing though. At 3:40, the bass is actually supposed to overwrite the melody for the "electro" drop. The melody is actually only added because the drop sounded so empty with just the single bass playing and is only there for support until the solo comes in. And on the ending, it felt better to me personally to end abruptly. The song is called Final Frontier, and there's actually a (sort-of) short story to the whole album that I could share with you if you wish through PM that (kind of) explains the abrupt ending.

All in all though, thanks for the review. I do actually agree with you on the majority of the track, and I do agree on the parts I countered with too, I just had reasonings to do those. This really, really is not my best track, and it's my least favorite off of the album, but I did have fun writing it and it really helped pave the way to Solar Flare actually existing.

[Metroid Prime Title Theme (Drumstep Remix)]

I think the mixing is solid and the sound design is cool. It was quite slow to progress, though. It's even-textured and climactic into 1:34. I thought you could've done a bit more with the drop. It was hard-hitting, but slow-paced in a way. You also drag the melodic section after the drop on for a bit too long IMO. I enjoyed the glitchy content you started incorporating at around 3:50, though. You could've added a lot more during that second drop, especially as a means of creating some more development. I also thought the repetition at 5:27 was unnecessary, and the fade-out came across as lazy and anti-climactic. I know it's really tough to continue to live up to the standard you set coming off of the contest victory (this goes for just about anyway, btw - not just you), so that's why I want to continue to push you. If you're going to be one of the truly great artists to come out of this site, your work is not done yet. Winning the NGAUC was a good start, and I congratulate you again. And don't get me wrong - this is a good track. I'm just being tough on you because I want to see you continue to improve. Best of luck, man! ;D

trunotfals responds:

AWWWWW well thank you so much for the feedback. i actuallyt started working on this song BEFORE the contest, then just went back to it and mastered it rather than re writing it. Infact, i lovet hat you feel the desire to push me, I like that motivation!!!! maybe ill just re do this!

[EnV - Ginseng]

Great! This is probably my favorite song from the album. I love the bass-y vibe at the beginning, and the cute, somewhat furtive synths. Your melodies are always catchy and strong. Good structure and flow. The sound design is also good, if not that much different from much of your other work. I love the structural relief and dynamic contrast you offer at around the 2-minute mark. It really helps keep the listener grounded. Your transitions are cool, like at 2:35. Perhaps it does get a little repetitive by the end, but it's still very engaging throughout. You also returned to the bass-heavy, house-ist vibe towards the end of the piece, which I liked. Overall, great work! Thanks for not forgetting about good ol' Newgrounds. ;D

[Lil' Doom in the Rain]

I didn't know you made music! I love music! :D I really like the mood here, man. It sounds ominous and melancholy. You also know how to add texture to a song pretty well. The high-pitched synths, mid-range piano and bass compliment each other really well. The clock-ticking FX was cool too. You should definitely do more with this! You've established a solid chord progression and atmosphere, and now I'd love to see a soaring, reverberated melody and some drums to keep it moving along. Please PM me if you decide to expand upon this. ;) Nice work, man!

[Leap of Faith (Infinite Realms)]

I like the heavy, dark piano at the beginning. It leaves a lot of space for climax and contrast. It progresses a little slowly, though. I'm hearing the classic DM-style leads. ;) Also, it sounded like it was really leading somewhere up until around 1:05, but then you stripped away the synths again, making it sound pretty anti-climactic. Generally, I think you could've cut a lot of content in this piece, especially during the first 2 minutes. When you bring on the bass at 2:10 it has an awesome, energetic vibe, although the bass is really up-front in the mix. I suppose I would've liked to see the melodic content take over a bit more at some point before 3:30 or so. I also think the kick might be a bit too loud. In my opinion, the kick (especially if it strikes on every beat) should serve to simply keep the beat going and the energy up, but here it's a little distracting at times. That said, I love all of the melodies, harmonies, and the progression. You might also want to aim for some more dynamic contrast sometime. Creating a re-intro that builds up in a similar way as the first 2 minutes of this piece would be a more effective way of structuring such a long track IMO. Anyway, overall nice work, DM! Keep at it, man. ;)

Dylnmatrix responds:

Thanks man.

I agree that it progresses slowly. Honestly at this point, I've just accepted the fact that I'm not very good at progressive trance or house, as I just like to draw out my ideas too long. Intro is my case in point. At 1:05, when I cut the arp lead out, that's when I actually started the real piano progression, and it's also where I had originally started the track when it had started to be written but nooooo, I had to go and add more to it because I just could.not.stop.writing piano melodies for this damn piece. Then I had to go and add the arp melody because I wanted an ambient electronic synth to support the piano as it progressed to the original intro.

Personally for me, on all the systems I've listened to it on, the bass or kick aren't too loud, they actually balance themselves out with the rest of the synths but it could be the way my system works or the way I EQ my systems outside of my computer. It's actually a million times better than it used to be as well. I think I also just wanted a more bass heavy track, but just didn't execute it as well as I should have haha. It's a problem that was fixed in my tracks by the time I wrote and finished Solar Flare. The way the mix is right now was barely changed from how it was when I originally said I was done with it back in 2013, so that also contributes to it as well.

I'm glad you like the melodies and harmonies though, as that's the point that truly matters to me honestly. Those end up being the parts that I spend the least amount of time on and after I get used to them, I can't change them at all, and I worry that people won't actually like them. (4:08-4:35ish is the only part in this whole track that I truly enjoy and don't care what others think, as that part was so much fun to write and I just love the transition, the way I did the filtering, ugh just everything I did was perfect to my ears.)

Thanks so much for the reviews man, can't wait to see what you think of the others, particularly Blood Moon as you had mixed opinions on it in your two reviews.