TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[- NGAUC submission - Umarak the Fisherman]

I love the Celtic vibe this piece has. When the whistle comes in at :10, it sounds a bit more energy-driven, as compared to the majestic and calm piano sound. I would suggest using some drums to channel the energy here a bit more. That said, the progression of this is quite good. Some of the instruments, like the one at :26, seem to come out of nowhere a bit, though. Again, drums would help with these transitions IMO. The ending is a bit inconclusive, but if you had wrapped the remainder when you exported it, it would probably make a pretty good loop. Structurally, I wouldn't really regard this as a complete piece, and as a stand-alone piece it's kind of lacking in various elements of contrast and development (although it's extremely hard to incorporate those components in a 1-minute track!). Still, the ideas here needed to be expanded upon more. It's a cool idea for a piece, but I really would've liked to see you do more with it. I understand that you were pressed for time and that your finger was injured, but I'm afraid I can't take that into account when scoring you. I hope you get the chance to clean this up some day, because I'm excited to see what you would come up with! Keep at it, SilverPoyozo. ;)

7/10

[Fighting For That Which Is Treasured]

I like the drama and the cinematic vibe this piece has. Makes me think of some heroic adventure across the sea. :D I will say that I thought the production quality was not up to par, I'm afraid. The snares clearly get buried by the strings at around :15, and in general a lot of the instruments could've sounded much clearer. I would suggest using some more careful equalizing and panning, and then compressing the drums. I liked the progression of the piece as it was, but in no way was there any sort of structural completeness or conclusiveness in the piece by the end. It almost sounds like a short, un-mastered preview of a track that you plan on releasing on Bandcamp a few days later! This piece should be twice as long as it is, and tbh that was the thing that most bothered me about it. I love the mood here, and I really admire your sense of harmony and progression. However, you could've done a lot more with the progression, and limiting yourself to 1.5 minutes was not the way to do it. This piece has a lot of potential, so (despite my criticisms) please keep working on it! You simply need more content to capitalize on the emotional value of this piece, and some stronger mixing and mastering would help make sure that your listener can hear every last detail of it. Keep at it, man! ;)

6/10

LloydeSorrow responds:

Indeed. I wish I would have really thought things through and taken more time to flesh things out. It was a big undertaking and I had already started a few days late. I am inspired to improve though! Next year's NGAUC compositions will definitely be better! I won't release something that isn't 100% ready to be released. I've got a lot of time to improve overall.

Thank you for the review and I am glad you like the piece and think that it has a lot of potential. That helps me keep going! :)

[Jewel]

I love how this is in 5/8. It can be risky to experiment with non-4/4 time signatures, but you definitely rose to the occasion. I really like the organic guitar sound here as well as how smooth-flowing this piece is. Your voice sounds great, and the lyrics are really well-written. The mixing and mastering is fantastic, and I don't see any major (or minor) issues with the balance either. I really liked the structural relief you offered at 1:55, and the guitar solo at 2:47 is awesome. You really gave this piece a sense of direction by increasing the intensity of the lyrics later in the piece. The (Lo-fi effects?) at 3:34 were cool, but I think the piece itself ends a bit suddenly. I will say that I really admire your ability to layer the vocals here (I've tried that in the past, and it can be really hard to get right). Perhaps you could've added a bit more dynamic contrast here or there, but at the same time I really like how this track is mastered "radio-style" (i.e., minimal dynamic contrast, yet still a sufficient amount of structural relief at various points). Besides that, it's quite the uphill battle trying to find things to complain about in this piece. Damn...I think you're the one to beat, my friend! Keep up the great work, Kor-Rune. ;D

9.5/10

[Druids]

I like the percussion at the beginning. It sounds almost tribal and exotic rather than jazzy. I like the strings, and I think you combine pizzicato-y and legato sounds very well to create a full texture here. I would've liked to see it progress a bit faster, but I love the guitar melody at 1:05. It has an air of mystery about it that really helped establish the mood of this piece. I liked the sense of structural relief that the part at 2:01 offered, and the string solo at 2:12 was really cool. However, it was kind of the only thing going on until 2:40. I wish you had used some other harmonies instead of reverb to fill the space in the mix at times. I think it wouldn't hurt to dial back your reverb a bit, too. That might also help you master this track more cleanly. The ending was pretty interesting, although I think you could've played up the mystery there just a tiny bit more if you added a volume automation on the percussion and brought it back to meet that treble-range pad. But that's a pretty tiny detail. This is a pretty unique and creative piece. The mixing and mastering might need some tweaking, but other than that this is solid work! Keep at it, man. ;)

8/10

[A Little Dream (Original)]

I love the emotion and flow of this piece. You added an appropriate amount of reverb, and the cello and piano compliment each other marvelously. I think you needed a stronger transition into :33 (when the vocals come in), though. The lyrics are beautifully written, and the vocals have a bright, organic sound to them that compliments the instrumentals really well. They might've been a bit too loud, though. If I had to suggest dialing back the reverb at all, it would be on the vocals. I also think that, while 2:15 offers a great sense of structural relief and also mood shift, the vocals maintained the bright and hopeful vibe even though the lyrics themselves didn't suggest that that should've been the case. I must say that I really admire your ability to record layered vocals, though. I've tried this, and I know it can be very hard. The last line felt like a fitting conclusion, though, and I love the smooth-flowing nature of this piece. The verses have a sort of natural structural ebb and flow to them, and I can tell you that (even without headphones) the production is really solid! Great work, you two! Keep it up. ;D

9.25/10

Jabicho responds:

Thanks TaintedLogic!
Your words mean a lot to us! I told peachy about the review you gave us, and I'm sure she'll be very happy to read you when she gets to check it out!

Thanks again! We're very thankul for your time and help!
And we'll improve our future songs thanks to your suggestions! :D

[Hope For A Tree]

I love the tranquil mood at the beginning. The snare seemed a little dry, and the kick was very sub-bassy. I think you needed a second peak to that kick at around 500 Hertz, just to make it pop a bit more (although that's a pretty tiny detail). I liked how you offered some structural relief at 2:40. Otherwise, it was a pretty structurally flat piece, lacking dynamic contrast and melodic development. I liked the bass a lot, though. It really helped keep the texture well-balanced and full-sounding. It was cool that you based this piece off of a Bible passage. I like the lyrics, but tbh I'm not sure the whispered/spoken lyrics did much for me. It kind of added an ominous and apprehensive mood to the piece, whereas the lyrics themselves suggest a sort of empowering process. I don't know a lot about religion, but it seemed to me like the lyrics were referring to God's lifting up the meek, and I think this would've become clearer if the piece had more empowering vocals AND had more of a direction to it. I think you could've accomplished this by increasing the emotion and intensity towards the end of the piece, leading to the ultimate conclusion of "I will live on." As it is now, what could've been an epic moment of revelation at the end kind of falls flat IMO. It was a cool idea for a piece, but you need to capture both the mightiness of God and the meekness of the human soul through a structure that ebbs and flows. Otherwise, it can be hard to keep the listener engaged. It still has a lot of potential, though, so I'd encourage you to revisit this track! I hope you found this review helpful. Keep at it, man. ;)

7/10

SoulSecure responds:

First things first, this is based on a chapter from the book of Job. J-O-B! This guy was SAD and in MISERY. He was so absolutely torn down that he wished that the day and night of his birth would be blotted out and cursed and that he would have never been born. I don't see cause for really powerful vocals or a very powerful/epic atmosphere. Solemn, serene and yet hurt, but joyous, these things describe this song's mood paired with the lyrical themes.

Lyrically speaking the most powerful part is the chorus which is why it is the most powerful sounding part. Understanding your own standing with Christ, that your old self is dead, that when you die you will immediately be with the Father and later you will literally be physically resurrected and live forever as if you were a tree and you were cut down to sprout anew. This is all affirmed (in context) within the chorus.

Sorry if you didn't get it, but this is my style. I don't do things to please others, but to please the LORD my God. This is my ministry.

I'd also suggest you do not critique lyrical themes you do not understand.

[Melancholy]

I like the distorted effects at the beginning and the vocal samples. May I ask where you got those samples from? I think it progresses a little slowly, but I love the unique sound you were going for here, and you communicated this sort of apprehensive, yet also relaxed mood really well. I felt like you could've done a lot more with this structurally, though, which is really quite a shame because the sound design here is really creative. I wanted to see some sort of melodic development or dynamic contrast. As it is, it's very repetitive and ends way too suddenly. You really needed to build off of this more. It's a unique idea, but as a stand-alone piece it's quite directionless. At first, I even thought you intended for it to be a loop because it ended so suddenly. While I think this needs a lot of work, I'm also begging you to expand upon these themes more because it has a lot of potential. You also kept it pretty low-key throughout, whereas I'd rather see this track explode into an awesome melody and come in with all these glitchy effects. You have to really SELL content like this to make it work, Pandasticality. Otherwise, it's not going to keep the listener's attention, I'm afraid. I hope this review helped. Keep working at it, man! ;)

6.5/10

Pandasticality responds:

i agree with you, i did say this song wont get me anywhere but its what i felt like doing, the vocal sample is from "Lissie - Pursuit of Happiness"

thanks for the review.
- Pandasticality

[Berlin]

I like the easy, feel-good guitar sound at the beginning. Sounds like a montage played over the images of a lone traveler across a wide-open plain. I thought it was a little hard to follow the rhythm during the intro, and a hat or kick to keep the beat would've helped (but that's a tiny detail). The vocals work really well, and sound really good. I would suggest providing the lyrics (in English, please), because, well, it's hard to judge them if I can't understand what they're saying. I noticed some repeated sections in the piece, but otherwise it was kind of hard to discern the structure of the piece from around the 1 - 3 minute mark. I would try adding some percussion and/or heavy guitars during the refrain to help contrast the verse and the chorus. I also think the drums could've been a bit louder throughout. Still, that guitar solo at 2:50 is awesome. I didn't think the piece was terribly conclusive (maybe it would've been more conclusive if I knew what she was saying at the end, though!). I'll admit that I do love the smooth, almost soothing vibe this has. I know this isn't really what you were going for, but it sounds like the vocalist is almost trying to calm down this weary traveler. :) I think you really captured what you were going for genre-wise, though: it definitely has a pre-90s, edgeless guitar sound that I really like. I think it's an important point that I'm able to capture the emotion in this piece without knowing what the lyrics mean. :) The solo at 2:50 also adds quite a bit of structural relief that otherwise, tbh, is a little bit lacking in this piece. Overall, though, this is really solid work. Nice job, NyxTheShield! :D

9/10