TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Take-off]

Interesting mood here. I think there are some balance issues here, though. I would’ve tried to keep some of the mid-range tones in that bass at the beginning because for several sections of the piece it’s one of the most engaging things going on. I liked the melodies, and I think the 8-bit instruments fit the moods well. The production quality here is pretty high, too. The transition at 1:22 is a little sudden, and you change the pace really dramatically. I would’ve tried using a tempo automation or something, because the bubbly energy of the first 1.5 minutes contrasts sharply with the drone-like pads of 1:22. Speaking of which, I think the pads are distorting that mid-range bass you have at 2:10. I really like the A-B-A structure this thing has. You did a good job of bringing it full-circle at the end. I also think you needed a smoother transition at 2:51, though. The ending was cool, and it probably wouldn’t make a bad loop if you decided to go that route. I thought you could’ve done a bit more with dynamic contrast and melodic development, though. Slight variations can really add a lot to a piece, especially later on, and I would’ve liked to see you play with the emotions of the listener by experimenting with phrasing more during the middle section (i.e., 1:23 – 2:35). Still, this is nice work overall! Keep at it, Mawnz! Hope this review helped. ;)

8/10

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

Mawnz responds:

Thanks for the review man. I like that you are straight to the point with your criticism, and that you keep it short and in simple terms. I'll try to take what you've said here in consideration to future songs :)

Thanks again and good luck in future judging!

[Caribesque]

I like the exotic beat at the beginning. Interesting mood you have here. It’s danceable and catchy, yet also very unique. I think the percussion at the beginning gets buried in the mix too much at :08. You might need to equalize the percussive elements more careful. Compression might also help. The piece has a nice flow and progression about it, but at the same time its continuous energy sort of trivializes the intensity after a while. I would’ve liked to see you keep the listener grounded in the main themes of the piece a bit more by using a breakdown/bridge/re-intro at some point. You have a lot of different melodies here, and they even occasionally compete for attention with each other, like at 2:30. In fact, from 2:30 until about the 3-minute mark, the texture of this piece is way too busy. I would focus on developing one main melody at a time. I think you needed a smoother transition at 3:39 as well. I like a lot of the isolated ideas here, but you have so many of them packed tightly into one track that the piece loses a bit of coherence after a while. There’s another abrupt transition at 4:27. Even a simple crash would’ve helped you connect the two sections on either side of 4:27. I liked the ending, though. My main concerns are the concision and the “overflowing” harmonies. Your listener should be able to digest what’s going on in your piece pretty well at all times, both structurally and harmonically. That means that a casual viewer should a) be able to discern the structure of the piece pretty well and b) understand which instrument is playing the “main melody” at all times. There are some times in this piece where it’s hard to do either of those things. That said, I think this piece could be very solid if you fix those things at the spots I’ve designated above. Hope this helped, and keep at it, man. ;)

7/10

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

[NGADM 2015 Submission (WIP)]

I love the smooth, jazzy feel this has. I admire your sense of harmony and progression (or what little of it there is here). I don’t think that you provided enough content for me to be able to judge you properly. I’m sorry. This clearly isn’t a structurally complete piece, and you know it. The ending cuts off very suddenly; it doesn’t even loop. It sounds like the main menu music for a videogame instead of an engaging, stand-alone piece. The instruments were cool, the production quality is fine, and there isn’t really anything wrong with the content of the piece itself. However, I can’t analyze how well you’ve structured the piece because, as you acknowledge, it’s a WIP, and you barely even reach the point of needing a transition, so I can’t really analyze your transitory content either. There are some good ideas here, but they need to be fleshed out a lot more (and you know this! I’m sorry!). A lot of what I look for in a piece is related to the structural and/or transitory compositional content, and I’m afraid I can’t take into consideration that this piece is a WIP. I hope you keep working on this after the competition, though, because it does have some strong potential, but as for now I hope this review helped. Keep at it, man. ;)

6/10

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

[One of Those Days]

I love the jazzy vibes at the beginning. Sounds very bluesy. I love the lyrics, and your voice is very soulful. The simplicity makes it feel very organic, down-to-earth and even improvisational. At 1:56, you seemed to be using some sort of reverb effect that I liked, and I also think it enhances the old-timey feel of the piece, but I also think you should’ve applied it to the rest of the piece. I like the structure of the piece, but I would’ve liked to see you add a bit more to the texture. Some simple drums, an acoustic bass, or even some sort of woodwind solo would’ve contributed a ton to the piece while simultaneously making sure the listener stays engaged. It’s a fun piece, but I think you could’ve done a lot more with this. If you wanted to get around adding more instrumental parts, I would’ve at least liked to see you emphasize elements of dynamic contrast or phrasing more at times. Still, as I said, it’s a fun piece. Nice work! Hope this review helped, and keep at it, man. ;)

8/10

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

ChronoNomad responds:

Hey, thanks for my very first official NGADM judge review, TaintedLogic! Really glad to hear that you dig the bluesy style, and to see that you think my voice sounds soulful makes my day. I didn't want to use the triangular low-pass+LFO effect that you hear at 1:56 too much, mostly since I wanted it to have more impact, but I suppose it could have been applied in other ways or to a lesser degree throughout the rest of the song. I had a few more ideas for improvements late in the game, but was pretty satisfied with the overall vibe and didn't want to end up accidentally wrecking something that already sounded solid. That, and my voice kept going in and out from one day to the next. Summer colds really suck.

I did consider adding some simple ride cymbals and other drum elements to the mix, and also gave thought to the acoustic bass angle, but ultimately decided to be super ballsy and make it all about the piano. The only thing you mentioned that I hadn't really considered was adding some sort of woodwind solo, though a bit of jazzy clarinet or flute would likely have made for a pretty cool addition, as well.

Once again, thank you very kindly for the excellent review! I can hardly believe I'm still in this thing, though I've got an almost insurmountable obstacle directly ahead of me in the form of the LucidShadowDreamer & dem0lecule combo. I'll be doing something quite different in this round, so we'll have to see how it stacks up against whatever those two wild and crazy guys come up with. Cheers!

[The Drip]

I love the quirky mood and intricate rhythms at the beginning. I think the tiny pauses you have at the end of some of the mini-phrases (like at :06 and :13) sort of detract from the flow of the piece. I might’ve at least tried to fill in the gaps with some reverb. The part at :27 is catchy, if a little hard-to-follow rhythmically. I liked the (saxophone?) solo at :40, but I think it should’ve been a bit more up-front in the mix. The solos at around 1:15 are also cool. The part at 1:40 really threw me off guard, though. It sounds like a completely different song. The structure of this song was a little strange to start, but towards the end you pushed it a little too far IMO. It comes across as a bit disjointed and choppy. You might need some smoother transitions at 1:39 and 2:03, as well as some longer phrases to bridge the gap between the themes I’m hearing during 0:00 to 1:39 and 1:40 onwards. The ending felt a little rushed too. I think you need to flesh out these ideas here a lot more. It really wouldn’t hurt, especially since this piece is so short right now. Sorry this review is so negative. I like the instruments and melodies, and the production quality is quite high. The structure, transitions, and some of the rhythmic content didn’t sit well with me, tbh. It’s important to take risks as a composer and musician, but many of the ones I’m seeing here didn’t pay off for me. Sorry. I hope this review helped! I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece after the competition because, as I said, I like a lot of the isolated ideas here. Keep at it, Camoshark. ;)

7/10

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

[The Journey Home]

I like the contemplative piano at the beginning, and the warm strings really enhance that mood as well. I think you could’ve brought more emotion to the piece by creating more of a crescendo through the first 20 seconds or so, though. I’m loving the progression by around :45. The texture is full and engaging. Beautiful samples, too! The guitar at 1:05 adds a lot to the piece as well. I love the victorious vibe I’m getting during the guitar solo. Again, at 1:38 I thought you could’ve played with the contrast more by bringing it down to at least a mezzo piano and then experimenting with some phrasing/crescendos while you brought the piece back to the emotional heights of earlier. I absolutely love the structural relief that 2:27 offers. It’s simple, yet down-to-earth, organic, and beautiful. It also flows into 2:59 very nicely. The production quality is amazingly high as well. I love the soundscape here. There are so many twists and turns in the structure that you really capitalize on opportunities to channel the emotion later in this piece. Fantastic work, Bassfiddlejones! Keep it up! :’D

9.5/10

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

bassfiddlejones responds:

Thank you for the great and detailed review! Hopefully we can continue to impress. :)

[Who Killed The World?]

I like the drama at the beginning. The strings at :26 also help enhance that drama. The piece progresses a little slowly, though. Once you do add more moving notes at :52, I think they could’ve come through the mix a bit more distinctly. The transition at 1:06 was abrupt, yet effective, and also helped to provide some structural relief. I love the dark, cinematic mood of the piece. I think you need some smoother transitions later in the piece; 1:54 and 2:02 come to mind. I love the sense of climax you’ve created here though. The ending was perhaps a bit rushed, yet again that contributed to the mood. I can imagine a story that really comes to life because of this piece. I love tracks that put images in my head! The production quality is pretty high, and I liked the samples you chose. Overall, this is a pretty strong piece. Nice work! Hope this review helped. ;)

9.25/10

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

LunyAlex responds:

Thank you for your detailed review.
I had read and appreciated it back then. Once again, sorry for never replying, but life kept getting in the way at the time.

Cheers!

[[IV]Voyage]

I love the atmospheric vibes at the beginning. The piece flows into the warm string sound at :09 really well. Excellent job with the emotion, and the (harp?) at :26 sounds very majestic, contributing to the mood a lot. You switch up the melody instrument a lot, though. I know you’re trying to create variety, but it makes the structure a little overly convoluted IMO. I think you also missed an opportunity for some dynamic contrast at 1:07. I would’ve brought that way down dynamically. That, in turn, gives you an opportunity to do more with the phrasing during the entire middle section of the piece. I think adding more dynamic contrast would enhance the cinematic vibe of this piece a lot. Also, you never really get back to the emotional height of :43. I wanted to see some more melodic development here later in the piece. The piece is literally called “Voyage,” so I want to know if our hero ever makes it to the shore of this far-off land or if he dies at sea while trying to save his crew. Right now, it’s missing a bit of action during the last 1/3 of the piece or so IMO. That said, I think your soundscape here is beautiful, and I admire your sense of harmony and progression. Keep up the good work! Hope this review helped. ;)

9/10

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

IglicaV responds:

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your in-depth review, and I will try my best to use this new knowledge :)

[Arcadia]

I liked the atmospheric intro, but by around :05 you used a bit too much reverb so that the notes sounded pretty indistinct. Interesting mood you have here. It seems simultaneously upbeat and a bit creepy, tbh. I think you went way overboard with the reverb. Also, the kick is a little weak. Some of the melodies are a little overly convoluted, and they even compete with each other, like at 1:35. There’s a lot of melodic content here, and you bring together a lot of different instruments at different times. Synths, saxophones, pianos, etc. all play and sometimes share the melodies at different points. It sounds like a continuous conglomeration of melodies, which is kind of confusing to listen to. It’s hard to discern the structure, which probably isn’t a good thing. I would recommend adding a breakdown or bridge near the middle of the piece, just to keep the listener grounded in what you want to be the main theme of the piece. I’ve been tough on you, though. The drums and synths are cool, and I like a lot of the isolated ideas in this track. I think you should focus next time on fleshing out a couple of ideas here instead of using so many different melodies. Hope this helped! Keep at it, Adieuwinter. ;)

7/10

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

[Pressing On]

I love the combination of moods here. It has a laid back, jazzy vibe at times, and at others a more dramatic, almost cinematic feel. I think you should’ve brought out the hats at around :20 more. The progression is really interesting. I like the drums at :52. It has a really organic and down-to-earth vibe, like it was recorded right from some lounge performers in a classy hotel. I guess one complaint I would have is that the section from :52 to 2:20 seemed sort of structurally flat. You could’ve done more with phrasing and dynamic contrast there IMO. Still, 2:20 brought some welcome variations. I love the improvisational feel this piece has. It’s a very flowy and smooth piece, but I suppose I would’ve liked to hear some more emotional highs and lows. That would help keep my attention a lot more (although I understand that you were going for a laidback, almost background approach). I also thought you could’ve ended the piece a lot more creatively. Maybe a fade-out fits the style of this piece to some extent, but in the context of this being a stand-alone piece for a competition, it came across as a bit lazily done IMO. Still, overall I love the atmosphere, soundscape, and harmonies of this piece. Nice job, BlazingDragon! Hope this review helped, and good luck! ;)

8.5/10

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