00:00
00:00
TaintedLogic

5,129 Audio Reviews

2,717 w/ Responses

2 reviews are hidden due to your filters.

I like the energetic, yet somehow sad vibe the beginning had. The drums and strings both add interesting elements to the piece. I love how you combine both longing/melancholy and adventure. The drums were interesting. I liked how you used a stick/clave-like sound almost as a fill-in for a hi-hat. I suppose my biggest problem with this piece, in fact, is the ending. It's not that it was bad or sudden or anything, but it seemed just kind of...well...lazy, to be frank. It sounded like a half-rushed fade-out, almost as if you didn't want the listener to realize that it had faded out, haha. I also think there are slight balance issues. The drums are a little quiet, which is especially noticeable at 1:53. I think it would've been a good idea to make the drums quiet when they first come in at :14 and gradually increase their volume until :39, just to add to the drama. You capitalized on opportunities to display emotion in this piece, but perhaps not the drama. You used a lot of reverb on everything, which kind of smoothed out the texture of the piece in places where I wanted it to cut right through me, you know? Example: the strings at 1:13 sound a bit passive, while the piano melody there is obviously beautiful. I would suggest adding volume automations/filters so that the strings start sounding sharper towards the end of the mini-phrases at 1:13, and then there's a subito piano every 4 bars or so. That would also help you lead into 1:53 better, btw. This is clearly a tiny detail, though, because (as I said) there isn't a lot to fix in this piece. The samples and production are both high-quality, and I really like the various moods you've created here. Great job, LunyAlex! Keep it up, man. ;D

8.75/10

LunyAlex responds:

> 4 year late reply

Thank you very much for the detailed review back then. I read it, noted the critique and took the nice words to heart.

Sorry I didn't reply back then but I wasn't in the right mindset at times and life kept getting in the way.

Now I'm trying to fill in the gaps, haha.

Cheers again!

I like the mood you were going for here. I think this track has serious balance issues, though. The lyrics are really hard to make out, and the drums would've moved the track along much better if they were a lot louder. I would experiment with some compression and panning techniques to help the vocals and drums come through a bit more. It also seemed that you put some sort of distortion on the vocals, which was perhaps over-done. The lyrics themselves are pretty cool, though. I think the structure of this piece is a little hard to discern. You don't do a lot with dynamic contrast, and some of your transitory moments needed some smoothing over. 1:44, for example, came on very suddenly. I also think this piece lacks any sort of intro, apparently launching right into a verse. The ending was also a bit lazily done IMO, as fade-out endings often are. I did enjoy the psychedelic aspect of it, though. The mood was dark, apprehensive, and even cautionary. I think you overused the main riff (:45) by the end. Creating more variation in that regard would help give the piece more direction. I also might help keep the listener grounded structurally if you brought the volume way down at 2:17. Still, this is a pretty creative idea for a piece, and (despite my complaints about the balance) the production quality seems pretty high. If you added a bit more structural contrast here, I think this would be a really solid piece! Keep at it, Fearing. ;)

7/10

I like the energy at the beginning, as well as the vocal samples, although I thought you overused them a lot by the end. Can you please tell me where you got the samples from? Also, this track progresses a little slowly, and is pretty minimalistic at times. You fill a lot of texture with reverb instead of harmonies. You also need to vary your melodies a lot more. If you don't have any melodic development, it gives the track a really directionless and structurally flat feel. This track is really repetitive and even generic. The production is solid, and it's pretty catchy, but I think you could've done a lot more with this. It seems like a very "safe" track to make, and I've seen A LOT of upbeat EDM while judging this competition. There's a lot of room for more creativity and originality here, and you could've played a lot more with a sort of structural ebb and flow, dynamic contrast, etc. It's not bad, just rather lack-luster IMO. It still has a lot of potential, but I think you need to build a more complex texture here. Keep working at it, man! ;)

5.5/10

I like the tranquil aesthetic here, and the synths that come in at :15 certainly add a melodic touch that contributes to that mood. It does progress rather slowly, though, and overall I didn't think it needed to be almost 5 minutes long. The drop at :53 was everything a chillstep drop should be - melodic, smooth, yet with this buried sense of intensity you showed off with the pulsing pads. I also really liked the sound effect at 1:00, as well as the sample that sounds like animated chipmunks (1:11). The melodies at 1:55 were also cool, but I thought the synth at 2:12 was a little harsh-sounding, probably because you didn't equalize out enough of those high tones. It might also help to transpose it down an octave. You have quite a few different melodies in this track, which I love. I think the one at 3:31 is my favorite. That said, it might also be a good idea to vary the main melody more instead of adding new ones. The two drops were essentially the same thing twice, which gives the piece a sense of stagnancy which is never good, especially when the piece is as long as this one. I also think the clap/snare you had in there during the drops was WAY too quiet. During the part with the chipmunks I could barely hear it, in fact. Furthermore, I found the fade-out ending you had inconclusive and even a bit lazy. Overall, the mixing is pretty good, though, and I think you definitely achieved the mood you were going for here. If you limit the repetition a bit, this could be a really solid track! Keep at it, Ectisity. ;)

7/10

I like the pensive and tranquil mood at the beginning. I like the distortion at :21, as well as the somewhat clashing harmonies. The pulsing effect at :40 was cool too. I think you need a stronger transition at 1:01, because the explosion of energy there came on a bit suddenly. I thought the bass was a little loud at 1:40, but the drums were cool and it has this quirky yet engrossing mood about it. Sounds like the kind of music one listens to when (s)he wants to ingest certain illegal narcotics (and that's a good thing!). I think you could've done more with the main melodies you had in this piece (such as 2:37), especially after you had already used them once. Melodic development is often an important way of creating variation in a piece, and variation itself is very important when your track is almost 6 minutes long. It didn't need to be that long IMO. It was a little hard to follow the rhythms at 3:17, but I understand that you were going for a very distorted and affected sound here. The ending itself seemed pretty conclusive, yet it bothered me that it cut off so suddenly (although that's probably a project system error more than a compositional one). Even with the rather quirky sound design, I think you sometimes needed to connect the various structural components of this piece a little more. The transitions at 3:16 and 4:23, for example, seemed almost nonexistent. A simple crash or a dramatic pause would've sufficed, yet this piece sort of has a continuous flow of energy that makes it hard for the listener to stay grounded. That said, I commend you for taking a risk (several, in fact) with this piece, as it is quite unique, original, and creative. It's a bit rough around the edges, but overall the sound design, mood, and atmosphere have me convinced that this is pretty solid work. Keep at it, Crueldeity. ;)

7.5/10

Crueldeity responds:

Why thank you for a wonderfully insightful review. I am totally up for tomatoes about how somewhat disconnecting this track feels. Looking back on it, I usually will work on a song for longer than 3 days, so this song definitely feels a bit rushed. I slap my hand on the transitioning part of the project, but I do feel it still it's a pretty strong piece without giving enough time to color inside the edges so-to-speak. I do still need to keep up with proper spacing to keep instruments from hitting each other, but all in all this was a very fun contest to enter and thank you for a very thoughtful review, and thank you in advance for your consideration TaintedLogic! \m/

I love the organic guitar sound here. The rhythm of that very first riff from :03 - :06 was a little hard to follow, but I like the percussion you brought in at :11, and it had a haunting, mysterious, and apprehensive vibe to it, almost like an approaching storm. I think the chant-like, spoken lyrics really add to that mood, although they were just a bit too quiet IMO. I also liked the more electric elements you started incorporating at 1:36. The throaty, intense "what do you want from me?" seemed like a fittingly conclusive last line to the lyrics, too, perhaps ironically as, after all, it is a question. Overall, the lyrics are quite clever and topical, and I think it's exceedingly impressive that you made the percussive sounds using a piece of cardboard. I can picture a wandering minstrel with a guitar, seeking shelter under a boulder and looking out at the eye of the storm, asking "what do you want from me?" :D Despite the funky, energetic riffs at 1:50 and thereafter, I think you could've done a bit more with this piece. There's this sense of bottled-up intensity throughout, and I was waiting for almost 3 minutes for the sky to open up and explode with some thundering, punchy and powerful content, but the piece never quite got that far. It would've helped sell the drama and the tightly-wound energy of this track if you loosened it up more at one point. I also think the very ending was a bit lazy and inconclusive. Fade-outs generally are IMO. Still, this is a really cool, down-to-earth, and unique piece here, Ceevro, and the mixing and mastering are quite solid. Keep up the good work! :D

9/10

Ceevro responds:

Hehe...well, I think I nailed the feeling I was going for here, judging by the review. A couple people have said that I should have gone over-the-top on this, but I never intended this to be a Satriani-style setup for an epic guitar solo...I wanted to brood for a bit. I wanted my eyebrows to cast shadows. I felt like glowering.

I like the edgy guitar sound you were going for here, but the piece seems to lack an appropriate intro, instead throwing you into the midst of some energetic riff. I also think the drums are just a little too quiet. The drums helped channel the energy of this track, but as it is now it just sounds like a continuous stream of high-energy content with little dynamic contrast. If you have a structural design to your piece that ebbs and flows a little more, it could really help keep the listener grounded and enhance the emotional/dramatic qualities of the piece (as they may apply, in this case, more so for drama). As the piece is now, it can be kind of hard to discern the structural components of the piece. I loved a lot of the individual riffs, though, and the distorted pulsing effect you had at around 3:05 was really cool. The ending felt conclusive enough, although I think the track is quite unnecessarily long. I generally think it's a good idea to keep the listener engaged using dynamic contrast, as well as by introducing new instruments at transitory moments in the piece. You did neither here. I admire your sense of harmony and the punchy, crisp vibe this has, but for me it's a little hard to latch onto given the structural flatness. Hope this helped, and keep up the good work. ;)

7/10

I'm going to be tougher on you than I usually am, because, well...this is for a competition. I liked the warm pads at the beginning, but the brass at :07 seemed a bit punchy by comparison. The synth at :14 is a little high-pitched and harsh-sounding, and I think you could've gone in a lot of different directions with it melodically. I was a little confused when :41 offered an almost breakdown-like section because I expected there to be a notable climax before any sort of re-intro. I liked the melodies at around :56, and the progression by around 1:20 is rather pleasant. I love all of the melodic development you offer by the end of this piece, but I'm not sure you needed much of the first 40 seconds. It's, overall, very smooth-flowing and structurally sound. I think you could've done a bit more with dynamic contrast (even though there are clear structural ups-and-downs to the piece). I think the harmonies around 3:22 are my favorites of the piece. The ending is a bit sudden, though, and I think it gets a bit repetitive by the end. Still, I love the upbeat mood and melodic content. The mixing is also rather good. I suppose one big drawback for me was that it didn't seem very unique. I've reviewed a LOT of upbeat techno/trance/house songs for this contest already, and while the melodies are memorable and the production solid, perhaps doing something more original with the sound design or adding some interesting effects would be a better way of distinguishing yourself from the other competitors. Still, this is a cool piece. Keep up the good work, LunacyEcho! ;D

7.5/10

LunacyEcho responds:

=> brass at :07 =>

My bad! I was planning on raising the volume of the pads in the intro and automating the volume of the brass and trance synth to gradually get louder after a somewhat softer entry, but I didn't get the chance to. :P I'll fix it once the competition is over, though!

=> synth at :14 =>

Is it really? I just used a really common trance synthesizer. :P It's basically a preset, actually! Just with a few tweaks in regards to resonance.

=> :41 breakdown =>

Yeah, I think the only reason that happened was because :27 was the very first thing I wrote, so I kind of got used to hearing it at the beginning :P I do agree it feels a little out of place, though.

=> sudden ending =>

That was another part I didn't have enough time to fix :( I DEFINITELY agree with you on that account :D

=> unique =>

I was kind of hoping the solo melodies would add to the uniqueness of the song :P Hey, if you've heard a lot of songs in the same vein as this, mind sharing some? This is the kind of style I love to listen to :D

Thanks for the review! And thanks for all the reviews you'll be giving over these next few days :D All your work has been appreciated!

Hi. I'm Andrew. Audio portal junkie since 2010, supporter since 2017. I always want to improve what I do! I make music, run the NGUAC, post poetry on BBS, and am the all-time #2 audio reviewer. I love this site, and I want to make it the best I can! ^_^

Andrew Mikula @TaintedLogic

Age 27, Male

Policy Research

Bates College

Wellesley, Massachusetts

Joined on 8/16/12

Level:
22
Exp Points:
5,220 / 5,380
Exp Rank:
9,802
Vote Power:
6.40 votes
Audio Scouts
10+
Rank:
Police Officer
Global Rank:
14,077
Blams:
63
Saves:
626
B/P Bonus:
10%
Whistle:
Silver
Trophies:
5
Medals:
142
Supporter:
8y 3m 26d
Gear:
1