TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[A Little Man A House]

I'm not sure I quite grasped onto what you were trying to do leading up to the transition at :08. It has a very mysterious and spooky mood, yet all the extraneous effects and complex rhythms make it seem really busy and overwhelming. It's really hard to follow the structural elements of this piece. I think you need a recurring melody to keep the listener grounded, as well as a bridge/breakdown/re-intro with some dynamic contrast. As it is, it's just a continuous stream of dark and spooky harmonies. While I admire your attempt at going in a different direction with the piece at 3:10, the instrument you introduced was very harsh-sounding and I think you need to equalize out some of the higher tones. The piece ends very suddenly, and overall I'm just plain confused. The mixing is also not great. The lead and drums both sound distorted at various points in the song. I would highly recommend you take the time to learn more about equalizing and using limiters/compressors/panning to your advantage. Compositionally, this piece needs to be smoother. You have a lot of interesting ideas here, but they need to be presented so that the listener has time to chew and swallow them, instead of having all the food he's going to eat today shoved down his throat. I'd encourage you to keep working at it. It has potential. Good luck, man. ;)

3/10

kanashibarimusic responds:

Thanks for your feedback. My mixes do usually sound pretty sketchy. It's due to equal parts suck, shit monitors, and overindulgence on compressing everything to within an inch of its life. They are all issues I definitely should be considering.

However I'm afraid I'm going to have to completely disagree with you on the stuff about composition. This Is actually a cover, so it was really mostly an exercise in arrangement and learning by ear for me (because good luck finding tabs). The guy who wrote it (Tim Smith of the cardiacs) has to be one of the most uniquely brilliant and criminally underrated compositional geniuses of the last 30 years (yeah I know, get off his dick, but he really was pretty darn brilliant, even if some of their stuff sounds a bit dated). Also there are a whole bunch of recurring melodies.
Unfortunately I sacrificed a lot of the tempo and time Sig stuff that was going on in the original, and that's probably most evident in the intro, so Im going to chalk that up as an experimental failure.
I agree with you on the ending though. It's a bit cack, with the whole tacked on generic dubstep wubs and the abrupt cut off.

Thanks for commenting.

[Astronomixel`]

It's catchy and upbeat, and I admire your sense of harmony. The synth at :02 sounds way too harsh and in-your-face, though. I would suggest equalizing it more to eliminate some of those high tones. It's fast-paced, yet structurally sound and smooth-flowing. I like how you start varying the melody at around the 1-minute mark, and then providing some structural relief around 1:10. The mixing is rather good as far as I can tell; I can hear all of the instruments clearly throughout. The modulation at around 1:40 also helped keep me engaged. I thought the ending was cute and also conclusive. Its fast-paced nature makes it quite fitting for a videogame. This is a really solid piece overall, Jonadrew. I'm impressed! Keep up the good work, man. ;)

9/10

[Midnight]

Interesting mood at the beginning. The synth bass makes it sound really heavy and dark. Maybe you should've used some more reverb on the drums to enhance that effect. The frantic treble-range synths add a somewhat mysterious vibe to the piece. It progresses really slowly. Structurally, this piece is not quite complete IMO. There are no predominant melodies/refrains, and it gets really repetitive by the end. The texture is relatively thin as well. You need some sort of breakdown or re-intro to keep your listener grounded. Otherwise, it kind of has the feel of a really minimalistic, drone-like ambient track, and I don't think that's what you were going for. The ending also isn't that conclusive; I think it would serve better as a loop. The mixing isn't bad, but it's also hard to mess up the mixing when you only have 3 or 4 instruments in the entire piece. You could've done A LOT more with this piece. As it is now it's a bit bland. It almost sounds like a 3.5-minute-long intro to what could become a really cool track. I'd encourage you to take more risks with your music in the future. Keep working at it, IslandJump1. ;)

6.5/10

[Punch Drunk]

I like the guitar riff at the beginning and the sort of oom-pah sort of beat it has. Sometimes, the chords clash a bit. This is a very distorted and ominous sound you have here, especially with the bass at 1:15. I liked the ending, and it also doesn't make that bad of a loop. I think that, stylistically speaking, you took some risks with this piece (especially with the atonality), but it still felt a little minimalistic. You don't really have any predominant melodies or structural relief in this piece. I like what you did with the drums, though. At the same time, I'm not sure how I feel about the way the guitar sort of pulses back and forth in the mix - maybe you could get rid of some more of those treble tones so it doesn't come across as harsh-sounding? Besides that, though, the mixing and mastering is rather good; I can hear everything clearly throughout. I still wanted to see you go more of somewhere with this piece, maybe building off of the melodic riff you had at the very beginning. It seems like it would be more fitting as background music than as a stand-alone piece. Still, this is creative and interesting work and I commend you for it. Keep at it, IndustryStandard. ;)

7.5/10

IndustryStandard responds:

Thanks for the advice! I'm glad to hear that the mixing/mastering came out well because that's something I'm just getting the hang of right now so it's good to know I'm on the right track. I probably won't do any more work on this song, at least not anytime soon, but all your points are definitely good things to keep in mind for future pieces for sure. i have a habit of writing one riff and then just rolling with that but it's about time i started expanding on that i think. Also, though, you said this would work as a background piece better than a stand alone song, and that's pretty much exactly my goal for this song - and most of my music, at least as far as IndustryStandard is concerned. I want to make video game music. But anyway, good advice and thanks for the review!

[Pulse Sketch 2]

The synth at the beginning was cool, and I liked how you used a fair bit of reverb. The reverb really gave it a nice, atmospheric vibe. It progresses extremely slowly, though. That synth that comes in at :28 is way too high-pitched and harsh-sounding. I think you need to a) transpose it down an octave and b) add a volume automation and fade it in so that it's not such a shock at :28. You had some nice melodies, harmonies, and progressions in here, but this is an EXTREMELY long piece considering you have only 2 instruments and very little structural variety. It was hard to discern any distinct, repeated sections of the piece because of the lack of transitory material (which, of course, is rendered sort of unnecessary because, again, you only have 2 instruments in the track). I liked how you started to do something different (more upbeat, etc.), at around the 5-minute mark, yet at the same time the first 5 minutes and the last 2.5 minutes sound like two completely different songs! I think you needed some drums at the very least to move the song forward a bit and also to add some energy. It barely keeps my attention at times because, besides the progression, barely anything changes. In a piece this long, you NEED some dynamic contrast, melodic development, and also you need to build on the texture of the piece as it progresses (by which I essentially mean that you should add more instruments!). Again, I admire your sense of harmony and progression, but you also need to be concise! I usually think it's much more admirable when even a short piece can tug at my emotions than when a long piece can keep me engaged. If I were you, I would take the last 2.5 minutes of this piece, add some drums, pads, harmonies, and effects, and try to turn it into its own piece with all the twists and turns a proper piece should have. As ending credits for a videogame, this piece would work well, but as a stand-alone piece, it just didn't have all the twists and turns I was looking for. Keep working at it, Gruber99! ;)

5/10

gruber99 responds:

Hey thanks for your comments!
The point of the piece was to create a full length composition, with multiple movements, with very minimal materials. No drums or pads allowed! Just 2 channels and 2 pulse waves. Composing this way poses some interesting challenges. Have you ever tried it? Would love to hear what you come up with!

[Chord Play]

I like the instruments and somewhat mysterious mood at the beginning. The beat was cool, and I like the melodies at around :50. You overuse the transition with the crash a lot. It also doesn't really loop that well, and has a rather bare and minimalistic texture throughout. This was a cool idea for a track that you could've done a lot more with, but you didn't. You have the same simple chord progression playing for the entire piece, only varying the instrument you use with it once. This also isn't a structurally complete piece IMO. You need climaxes, bridges, breakdowns, re-intros, or at least a moment of structural relief. It's a pretty good start, but I have a feeling you didn't really display your entire skillset as best you could here. Next time, I'd encourage you to take some risks with your music-making! Hope this review helped. Keep at it, man. ;)

5/10

g4ebguyGT responds:

lol yeh for making it in 10 mins it is ruff isn't it.

[Freeway]

I like the pads at the beginning, but the chord progression is a little cliché. It's not immediately clear how the synth that fades in starting at :08 compliments the pads harmonically. The part at :36 is better, though. It's melodic and upbeat and cute. You also used crashes effectively to transition between the various sections of this piece. The part at 1:04 sounded like you simply repeated the crash while decreasing the volume. Instead, I would suggest using an echo "Ping-Pong" effect and increasing the reverb. I appreciated the variation you offered at 1:56, as this piece was starting to get a little repetitive. I didn't think it needed to be almost 4 minutes long. The refrain plays a lot. Still, it's a structurally satisfying and smooth-flowing piece. I liked the crowd cheering FX at 3:26, but it came as a bit of a surprise so I think you should also use it earlier in the piece. It's rarely beneficial to introduce new sounds during the last 20 seconds of a track. However, the crowd cheering FX did give the piece a rather conclusive feel. I also think this piece is not the most unique - I've heard a lot of upbeat techno just from judging this competition - but I admire your effort at melodic development, dynamic contrast and progression. The mixing isn't bad, either. Keep up the good work, FoxyThePirateFoxPL. ;)

7.5/10

FoxyThePirateFoxPL responds:

Well, thanks!
:)

[No Nose(N G A U C)]

I like the relaxed ambient vibe of this track and the static at the beginning. The drums are very smooth and original. The high pad at :52 was a little harsh-sounding. I think you need to use an equalizer to eliminate some of the high tones in that instrument. The pads throughout the piece also duck under the mix a lot, although I'm not sure if they're getting distorted by the drums or you just did that on purpose to make it sound more mysterious. The texture of this piece is very thin though: it's a little overly minimalistic and I think you could've done a lot more with it. I love the mood and atmosphere, but I want to see you take more risks with your music in the future. I have to say, though: ending the piece with the little microphone click of static was a cool idea. This piece sounds like the background music to one of Buzzfeed's fact videos. Anyway, overall pretty solid work, Arbelamram. ;)

7.5/10

[Shadow Play]

I like the energy at the beginning and the cute synths. I think you needed a smoother transition at :08. It was kind of confusing with the arpeggios at :06 because it doesn't sound like the transition at :08 occurs on a downbeat (even though it probably does). The bass was also way too loud, and I think you overused those crashes at :28. Maybe it would've been appropriate to fill the texture with some sort of closed hat, but the full-on huge sound produced by the crash is a bit overwhelming. At the same time, you needed the crashes in some other places to help smooth over some of your transitions, like at 2:06. I enjoyed the frantic and energetic nature of this piece, though, as well as the upbeat mood. There were quite a few clashing chords at around :50, but I think that section works well to channel the mood of the piece in a way. It sounds like it'd be good for a videogame. I can discern the structural elements of this piece pretty well, but I still think you should've provided a bit more relief and dynamic contrast. I think my favorite part was at 2:06 - it's very groovy. ;) Overall, I think this is a cool idea for a track that's just a little rough around the edges. Keep up the good work, Frootza. ^^

frootza responds:

Thanks for the review TL. Yeah the :08 mark occurs on the 1 of the beat. The closed hat at :28 wouldn't have created the kind of rhythmic counterpoint I was looking for here, so the crash was actually vital to the mood since it is the "rock out hard, keyboard solo is here" section. The clashing chords you are referring to at :50 is just a really basic example of chromatic diminished dissonance building up to the chorus at 1:01

Unfortunately the intro was actually musical satire, but it's alright that you didn't pick up on it. Just showing how some really basic and dull 8-bit ideas can be fleshed out into something that pops.

This isn't actually music for a video game and more than likely won't be featured in one, but for one of my live bands, in this particular ensemble I play bass and write the arrangements and we have two keys and a drummer.

Just to briefly elaborate again. If there was a crash at 2:06, even if it was closed by hand, would not allow the high hats which are holding quarter notes to be heard, which is what actually makes the Latin rhythm stand out in this instance. The crash would ring out for approximately an entire measure, so the drummer would have to STOMP the floor pedal, or hit it with the stick. Since the groove evolves into the intricate cowbell groove, it just does not make sense to utilize the crash in that manner. Prior to the groove, the high hat is playing, and unless the drummer has a rock crash, that move would be extremely difficult to pull off.

Thanks for the comments, again. I hope that you continue your musical studies so that you get a better understanding of music written for live ensembles, harmony and counterpoint. :)