TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Horror of Self]

Beautiful string melodies at the beginning, although the drone that plays in the background for at least the first minute or so sounds a little dry and dull. This piece has a simple beauty to it that I like a lot. Sounds like an introduction to some sort of movie, perhaps one that takes place in Scotland. XD The progression was rather beautiful, although that drone is still bothering me tbh. I might've transposed it down an octave at the very least, where it sort of rounds off the texture a bit and gives this piece a fuller-sounding mix. You could've done a lot more with this, too. I might suggest holding the slow-paced melodies you have playing here to a minute or so, and then coming in with something more energetic and climactic. I wouldn't really regard this as a structurally complete piece. Either way, I like the sound and I hope you expand upon this at some point! ^^

sleepFacingWest responds:

Thanks! I wanted to go further with this one, but I wasn't 100% sure where to go. I could keep meandering with the modal melody, but it seems to lack direction after awhile.

As far as the drone goes, the stagnant quality was sort of on purpose. I like the way that it creates this dull lifeless ground from which melodies can ricochet and intertwine. I took a lot of influence from early plainchant like this -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eFPJa95qQE

That's one of my favorite pre-polyphonic composers (ca 1100).

I had a teacher who always stressed that a drone is never just a drone and that it's important to find ways to activate them somehow. It's pretty much what I feel like you're saying as well. All good advice. I'll spend some time trying to figure it out. I WOULD like to continue writing this piece, and that might help give it a more solid sense of direction.

[My Fondest Heartache]

Interesting atmosphere here you got here. I think it needed a bit more spaciness, though, which you could've accomplished with some reverb. The snare was a bit dry, and the distorted vocals could've sounded more ominous and cool if they were smoothed out with some reverb. You have a cool mood with the blissful synths and vocals, though. I think you might've needed a smoother transition into 2:11. Even a crash probably would've sufficed. I also thought the snare was a a bit too loud. Again, dialing back the volume but increasing the reverb would've really helped give this piece a nice, flowy and smooth vibe. I admire your sense of harmony and progression, though. There's another sudden transition at 4:14. After around 4:30 it also becomes obvious that the vocal sample clip comes in and cuts off rather suddenly, which probably could've been fixed with some more careful editing techniques. Also, this piece lacks conclusiveness IMO, ending on a rather ambiguous, clashing chord instead of any tonic I could discern. It's really unique and engaging work, though, so I'd encourage you to keep working on this! About the "chipstep" NG genre: I'm pretty sure it's generally used for miscellaneous electronic music. XD Keep at it, SleepFacingWest! ;D

sleepFacingWest responds:

Thanks! I wasn't super happy with this one in general. It was supposed to be on a new album I'm working on, but I cut it out. I'll give your suggestions a try. Hopefully they'll help me like it a bit better.

Thanks for your thoughtful response. As always, you give me good things to work on.

[Day of the Sloth]

I like the atmospheric nature of this piece. I only realized it was "happy birthday" at about 30 seconds in. XD You definitely added a unique and creative mood to the song, but perhaps I would've at least liked to see some more variation, since this piece was kind of really long for just being "Happy birthday" over some warm pads. Otherwise, it probably should've been 45 seconds and not 2+ minutes. "Goddammit Andrew, you're taking this way too seriously." --> There! I said it for you. ;)

Happy belated birthday, LN! ^^

larrynachos responds:

Like I said, I wanted it to loop after 45 seconds, but it didn't work so I just extended it.

Edit: I forgot to mention, this song wasn't for me. It was for a friend of mine.

[Revelries]

I also wasn't your NGAUC judge, but I'm trying to go back to some of the submissions I missed from the previous rounds. I love the cute synths and upbeat melodic style of this piece. The vocal samples added a lot to it IMO, but otherwise it progresses really slowly and used a little too much pizzicato-y content. I think some more prominent pads or legato harmonies would've really helped this piece. I do admire your sense of harmony, though. The instrument at 1:55 comes in a little suddenly. I love those descending arpeggios that pop in at several places, including 2:26. You communicate a very relaxed and easily-happy mood in this piece, though, which I love. It probably needed a better coda, though. Besides that, nice work, Adieuwinter! ^^

[Dead Men Walking]

I like how you left yourself some space for contrast and climax at the beginning. The heavy mid-range bass synths that come in at around :30 are cool, but this piece is also rather minimalistic and progresses pretty slowly. That said, I love the atmosphere you created with the vocal samples. It doesn't really have the traditional structure of a dubstep track, which is good, yet I'm also not hearing much in the way of strong melodic content. The samples at 1:40 are cool, and offer quite a bit of much-needed structural relief from the bass synths. May I ask where you got them from? I liked the variations you had at around 2:45 too, but I still think this needed some more melodic development, and probably some dynamic contrast too. The production quality is rather high, and the ending felt conclusive, but your rhythmic patterns are very repetitive and the piece as a whole lacks direction. It would make good background music for a videogame, but as a stand-alone piece you could've done a lot more with it. Good job overall, though. Keep at it, man. ;)

7.5/10

[Found (NGAUC)]

I loved the mood at the beginning. You really left a lot of space for contrast and climax. It progresses a little slowly, but I love the trippy percussion and synths. I don't think you needed the pause at :39 in there - I think a more flow-y ambience would be appropriate for this piece, and that pause sort of detracted from that ambience. I really like how you offered some structural relief at 1:35, and the mixing and mastering in this piece is pretty strong IMO. It has a really funky and original sound, although I don't think it had to be almost 4 minutes. It also may have needed more melodic development. You keep those heavy guitar-sounding synths up front in the mix for most of the "refrain," yet those high-pitched pizzicato-y synths at 3:30 help move the piece forward a lot more. Also, there isn't really a proper coda to this piece. It kind of goes right from the refrain to the final pad. Still, this is a fun and creative track with some catchy melodies and relaxed ambient content. I like it a lot! Keep up the good work, Voltus. ;)

8/10

[- 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