TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[~SW~ 2]

I decided this needed a review. I like the atmospheric intro. It progresses pretty slowly, but I like the instruments. You used just the right amount of reverb. The progression itself is pretty cool. I like the percussion, especially the aggressive-sounding hats at around the 2-minute mark. It's very flowing and spacey, at times soothing and at others strangely angry. The mix is clear, although to be fair there's not a ton of content here to create any mixing conundrums. The ending seemed pretty lazily done IMO, but at the same time I understand that many ambient tracks aren't really supposed to end. ;) I can see what you mean about losing inspiration - you could've done a lot more with this track - but still, love the chill aesthetic. Keep at it, man. ;)

SkyeWint responds:

I could have done a lot more with this. I think at the time I was just intending to have an atmosphere.

Funny thing, the percussion is what most people don't like - especially those hats.

If you want more stuff to be done with a piece though... I finished my NGADM round 2 track!

[Vehemer But Slower]

I vaguely recall listening to this when you uploaded the original, and I have to say that I think the slower tempo fits this piece better. It really retains that dreamy quality, although I think it still could've progressed faster and it needs a fuller texture. It's not really a structurally complete piece, but I don't think that's what you were going for anyway. Cool synths and harmonies! Keep at it, man. ;)

[Listless]

I like the relaxed mood. It's a bit minimalistic though, and some of your synths sounded a bit hollow and dry, like the one during the intro (0:00). I like that's it upbeat, catchy, and even cute. Kind of sounds like a dialed-back version of "Lucid." Also, do you purposely start all your tracks with the letter 'L?' :P Mixing and mastering is really solid as usual. Texture is well-balanced, if not quite as full as I'm used to hearing from you. I admire your sense of harmony and progression, though. It sounds like something they'd play at a trendy beach-side bar or something. I guess the wave FX at the beginning made me think of that, though...Anyway, overall nice work, Lockyn! Keep up the good work. ;)

Lockyn responds:

Thanks for the review TL :) Appreciate the feedback, been real busy finishing up school stuff. Cheers.

[Tenebrarius]

I like the mechanical wind-up sounds at the beginning. The subsequent reverb-infested lead and cello were beautiful. I think the cello cuts off way too suddenly at :29, though. The mood in this piece is hauntingly beautiful and captivating, but I think you change up the texture of the piece too much during the first minute or so. It has a very fast-paced vibe, whereas I thought it would’ve been better to flesh out some of the ideas you had a bit more. The percussion gets buried in the mix at around 1:15. I love the variety of instruments in this track. The soundscape is beautiful. I wish you had simply connected some of the ideas here a bit more carefully, and some of your transitions seemed a bit rushed, like at 1:50. The chant-like male vocal samples at around 2:15 were cool. They offer this neat call-and-response effect with the more legato female vocals. I thought the synth bass at 3:21 seemed a little out-of-place, yet it did help you transition effectively into the coda. The ending was also enjoyable. You might have needed to consider some dynamic contrast at some point in the piece, yet the phrasing and structure overall is superb (if a little convoluted). Nice work! Keep it up, guys. ;)

9.25/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I've toooootally over used those wind-up sounds by now. I think it's time to take break from them XD
That said, I do love them.
Yeah, dem0lecule is indeed great when it comes to cello magic! Very good catch at 0:29. Though it might feel like a bit of a nitpick, it's very valid. I didn't notice this at all, and I'm sure that many didn't because of that other sound that covers it up, unless you specifically focus on the cello. Maybe you had an easier time finding that as you actually play said intrument :p

As for your next criticism, I think Phonometrologist's review leaves a nice contrast with:
"The Good: I keep going between .21-1:00..."

I think it's more a matter of taste. This track is intended to be pretty fast and straight on point, except for the intro and outro, and looked that way from the very beginning of composing. The sense of climax close to the end comes more from the way the choirs are programmed, and from the more dramatic melodies, which is why I think that the first minute is actually a nice kind of build-up, as it starts of with the base, and adds something new gradually (although pretty fast, I'll give you that).

As for the percussion at 1:15, I pretty much agree. I think it's more that the overall volume feels a bit low for this piece, so if you're using your standard settings, it might give of an illusion of being even lower than it is. But even so, I think the drums should probably be a bit louder at that part, and perhaps the trumpet and horn a bit quiter. Luckily, the drums are not supposed to be in focus at that point (more backing), so it's not too fatal an error. neBSounds commented about the percussion at that part as well, so we will definitely try to note this in the future!

Interesting comment about 1:50, as I actually think it's a great transition (made entirely by dem0lecule). This whole track essentially is built upon the same backing, repeating several of the chord progressions a lot of times, so we've built a lot on top of it to keep it interesting, and not repetitive. But 1:50 is actually a kind of a short breakdown, removing several of the intruments on top, and connecting the track back to 0:36 (if you listen to the backing). Also, I personally feel that this track doesn't need much in way of melodical repetition, as both the chords and the theme stay pretty consistent throughout.

Yeah! I think dem0 did a brilliant job with the choir chants :D I want to learn to do that some day XD

I actually think that the effect firts pretty well at 3:21, as a similar effect was used at 0:28 (although much lighter), and just as you said, because it leads back to the music box. I guess we could've experimented with some other sound designs as well, but I've grown really used to the current one :p

What represents darkness better than something being convoluted? Convoluted = complicated = hard to understand = fear of the unknown = fear of darkness. Yup. Makes total sense...
As for dynamic contrast, I guess that the biggest ones are the intro/outro, as well as the mini breakdown at 1:50, so I guess we could've had some more here, but on the other hand, I like the current pace and intrumentation of the track.

That said, we'll definitely think about your criticism in the future (as we did between Fantasiamaailma and this), and if my vision of the next track we're making is somewhat in line with the end result, I think the track will be much different than this.

Thank you for the review, and great judging work, dude ;)

[Oak - Mobius (NGADM'15)]

I love the mood at the beginning. You’ve left yourself a lot of space for climax and contrast. The vocals are cool, and you did nice work with chopping them up at :23 (and other places). I liked the melodies at :38 too. This piece has a really full texture and clean mix. It does get a little repetitive by the end, though, especially with the bridge-like section at 1:37 that essentially dragged on for 1/3 of the piece. I’m not sure I’d regard this as a truly structurally complete track, either. It only really has one “emotional height,” although I understand it was meant to loop and admittedly it does loop well. I love the upbeat mood and synths. The production quality is really high by my standards. Despite my criticism, I really admire the engaging and energetic qualities of this track. Nice job, LiquidOoze! ;)

9.25/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

[Majestic They Are]

I love the emotion at the beginning, as well as the filter/echo effects. It progresses very slowly, yet you leave yourself a lot of space for contrast and climax. The warm mood is beautiful. I appreciated the melodies at 1:40, but the percussion there didn’t work for me. It added a more staccato-y and almost exotic dynamic to what is at heart a very down-to-earth and organic-sounding piece. The low strings at 2:35 are beautiful. They lead into the arrival point of 3:06 very well. Here, the percussion works better IMO because it adds a dynamic of energy and progression amidst a full texture. The emotional height you created at 3:06 dragged on for a little too long, though, sort of trivializing the beauty in a way. In fact, this piece is a little structurally flat within the emotional height from 3:06 to 5:00. The section lacks much textural change or phrasing. I like how you brought it full circle at the end with the part at 5:00, though. I really like this piece overall. I just think that fixing a couple of structural details would’ve helped bring out even more emotion here. Keep up the good work, Papkee! ;)

9/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.