TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Vanquish the Night]

I liked the emotional intro, but I think you rushed a little too quickly into the heavy guitar content. I would've liked to see a more fully fleshed-out climax towards the beginning. That said, this is some really powerful content! You meshed together a lot of different moods here, although sometimes the pacing is a little too fast. It seems fitting for a Hollywood chase scene more so than a stand-alone piece at times (although that might've been what you were going for). I love the melodic content, though, like at 3:30. For a rushed mastering session, I think you guys did a great job, btw. The piece also fittingly has a victorious and triumphant sensation at the end, which I appreciated. Overall nice work! ;)

[~SW~ Annar]

I like the powerful, variable percussion and funky synths. The melodies have a pretty weird pacing. At times they bring this sort of relaxed vibe, but at others they stop-start and jitter a lot and that makes it a little hard to follow the rhythm. Despite my love of the creative drums in this piece, I wish there was something a little more straight-forward in the piece just to keep the listener grounded a bit more. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about the sensual guitar solo at 1:48 when contrasted with the more energetic, spurt-y synths. In theory, it would've created a nice breakdown, but I think you need to flesh out some of these melodies more and pace it a little more modestly in order to tie some things together (by which I mean: it comes across as a pretty incoherent). This isn't one of your better tracks IMO, unfortunately, but I do still like the instruments, and the mix is clear as always. :) Hope to hear more from you soon, man! ;)

[Last Stand (Orch Edit)]

I like the powerful piano at the beginning. As with a lot of your tracks, it progresses pretty slowly. Also, I wasn't a huge fan of your samples here, and I'm afraid the instrument at :53 sounds exactly like a synth (what was it supposed to be?). If you wanted that to be a synth, I would suggest replacing it with a flute or clarinet or something. I kinda liked the orchestral theme you established at the beginning, and I would've liked you to keep it for the whole piece. I think you also could've mastered this differently to bring out some of the instruments more clearly. The coda was also pretty cool, although I would've liked to see you prime the listener a bit by using that harp-like instrument at another point in the piece. Overall, not bad. It could use some polishing here and there, but as it is I like it. Happy holidays, TeraVex. ;)

[Spooksville (Loop Version)]

Hmm...you made this quite a while ago now. I got behind on my reviewing. :/ I do like the pizzicatos and pensive mood. The lower strings at :31 need to be brought out more IMO. A moving line amidst a repetitive riff such as the pizzicatos is much-needed here. I like the snares at :48, but they sort of just blend into the repetitive texture here after a while. I actually think you can condense this piece a lot. It progresses very slowly, and the substantive melodic content (i.e. 1:25) shouldn't come more than halfway through the piece. You also don't really vary the melody significantly (or at least discernably) after that point. The horns at around 2:20 were a good idea, but this could still easily be a much shorter loop that's still structurally sound. It has potential, though, and I'm sure it'd work well for whatever game was in your mind when you made this. :) Keep at it, man! ;)

[Immortal Fear]

Woah, you've made a lot of tracks since my last binge-review session. I like the strings and piano combo. The emotion is great, and the rain/thunder sound effects complement those harmonies well. It's beautiful, if a little structurally flat. I would've liked to see you do more to distinguish between the various sections of the piece, and some dynamic contrast and phrasing couldn't hurt either. You might need some sort of breakdown section or bridge as well. Still, I think your samples are really good, and the ending was fitting (even though the track cut off a little suddenly). This is one of your better tracks IMO. Keep up the great work, BO! ^_^

[Dylnmatrix - Hyperresonance]

Hey DM! I like the cool echo effects at the beginning. Like a lot of your songs, it's catchy and climactic but progresses pretty slowly, especially during the first minute or so. The kick at :59 was a little high-pitched, loud, and distracting IMO. I like the bass at 1:27 a lot, and the arpeggios you have playing over it work really well harmonically. I also liked the start-stop method of winding down from an emotional height you used starting at around 2:25. The build-up at 3:36 is really powerful. I think this piece is very well-structured and smooth-flowing overall. The mixing and mastering is solid, and despite its being a little hard-hitting at times, the emotional quality comes through well. I like the filtering at around 5:20 onwards, and the very end would make a great loop. I think this is one of your better tracks overall. Keep up the good work, DM! ^_^

Dylnmatrix responds:

Hey man, thanks for the review. As of me writing this reply, the high passed kick is now fixed in the intro and the track is updated. Hopefully that makes it better.

The hard hitting mix and hot master was purposeful. I wanted to make something that had punch to it but kept my emotional quality coming through and used many, many, many references to get things right. This track was the most intensive in that area for me, so I'm glad to know my intentions were realized.

The track hasn't changed much since that preview I uploaded. I only added to it, adding additional FX, drums and obviously fixing the mixing. The only big change was the second build I added in the middle of the last drop to build that final bit of tension that was extremely necessary. I'm very proud of the second build as the fill that transitions the drop melody is actually out of tempo. I used a 140 bpm fill as my base and lined the snares up with it to give it more power.

I'm glad you think this is one of my better tracks overall, as I do too. I feel like I've mastered a lot of things, but still have a long way to go in the realms of creativity. Hopefully this track I'm working on now can be even better if I can get it going.

[Happy Christmas (Singalong)]

I just love these collabs, guys. The organic, gather-'round-the-campfire vibes are great. The vocals blend surprisingly well given that they were presumably recorded at separate times and locations around the globe (ehhh, who am I kidding? I have no idea how these collabs are organized). Seriously, though, this piece has a great sense of climax throughout. The guitar solos at around the 3-minute mark offered some much-needed structural relief, too. Generally I'm not a huge fan of fade-out endings, especially when the fade-out itself seems a little rushed-into, but I suppose it's fitting in this instance. However, the production quality is Sears Tower-high as always, Step. ;D Obviously, everyone involved with this project really stepped up and delivered some quality content, but I'd especially like to mention Ceevro for putting this together. The audio portal really needs more collaborative efforts like this. The close-knit nature of our community is what truly makes it special, and you've exemplified that here, Ceevro, whether it's with the warm, comforting mood of this song or the fact that you've hoarded talented artists from around the globe to produce it. Bravo, ladies and gents! ^_^

Ceevro responds:

It's nothing I've done, really! All I do is play a song and ask people to join in! I think that that's the most organic musical experience one can have, really. I honestly have no idea how things will turn out when I post the starter tracks...the Singalongs are as good as the people who take the time to pull out their mics and mandolins and add what they can. What makes it so good, in my mind, is that no track goes to waste. Step is amazing at pulling out the best in everyone's performances, and honestly the performances themselves are outstanding to begin with.

If you like these, then pull out your mic! Or maybe volunteer to mix the next one while Step is on haitus! Or start banging some pots in the kitchen! We'd love to have you on board!

[Xmas in the South]

Okay, obviously everyone knows and loves "Sleigh Ride" and "Jingle Bells." Therefore, I generally think that the details of remixes like this make or break the piece. You have (mostly) makes here: the instrument selection and tempo are admirable, and I like the creative little solos towards the middle. However, I think the drums could've been stronger and/or more interesting. Also, similarly to "Wonderful Things," this piece is about 2 minutes' work away from making an awesome loop, except for one problem: it doesn't loop. Still, solid effort overall. For what it is (a short, near-comedic holiday medley), I like it. Best of luck with your studies, and please PM me about Cockatrice times for next week if you're interested. ;D

LunacyEcho responds:

=> creative little solos =>

One of the melodies is of my own creation, but the guitar 'solo' is another carol called 'Ding Dong Merrily On High'! Glad you recognized 'Sleigh Ride', though! In my experience, it hasn't been the most iconic of Christmas carols, but there's just something in the melody of it that I just love so much.

=> awesome loop =>

Wellllllll...... okay fine, I'll write more loops next year XD

=> PM =>

Will do! ....if I haven't done it by New Year's, can you give me a shout? As you know, I'm terribly forgetful. :P

Thanks for the review! Hope you've been having happy holidays!

[Wistful [OLD]]

Can't say I expected a hip-hop song from you anytime soon. It's a little hard to follow the rhythm for the first 20 seconds or so before the beat comes in, and I'm not a huge fan of those string samples. That synth at 1:08 almost sounds like a bagpipe. :D It's also rather structurally flat. In your "contemporary" tracks, I think you generally do a much better job of creating contrast and variety. It makes a pretty chill background beat, but you could've done so much more with this (heck, you still can!). The drums are kinda flat and dry, the piano has a flirty-ness I thought you could've featured more, and the string chords get really repetitive after a while. Also, the ending was pretty lazily done. It has some potential. I'd love to see you remake this. As for now, I think I like your newer tracks better...a lot better. Looking forward to the Undertale remix and other future projects of yours! ^^

Lockyn responds:

Hey TL, nice to see you again. I agree with you completely on your criticism, granted this is a fairly old track (3 years now!) so I hope you can take that into consideration ;P I'm glad you gave it a change regardless, and hope you look forward to my future works, I'm very excited for you to hear my undertale remix! Cheers man, and happy holidays :)