TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Swindle]

I like the atmospheric yet robotic and ominous vibe the beginning had. I'm not sure the instrument that sounded like a vocal sample (it first comes in at :06) really works for me, though. It's kind of loud and I don't think it fits the piece well. The vocals also distort the drums a lot, a sign that your mix is not nearly as clear as it could be. The snare also gets very distorted by the bass at 1:41. The part at 2:05 served to provide some much-needed structural relief, yet its warm mood also didn't really to fit the rest of the piece that well. I'm not seeing much melodic development throughout the piece, which I think would've added a lot. The ending is also a bit sudden. It sounds like the coda got cut off mid-way through. I liked some of the isolated riffs, like the effect at :38 and the cool atmospheric bits at the beginning and end. Otherwise, it's rather slow to progress and the mixing needs a lot of work. I want you to start experimenting with Equalizers, and if you don't know what that is, please look up how to add one in whatever program you use to make your music. Compositionally, the piece is not that bad, but the mixing and some of the instruments (most notably the vocals) detract from it considerably. I also think that the transitions at 2:04 and 3:11 are a bit rough. It has potential, though. Hope this review helped. Keep working at it! ;)

5/10

[Journey to Newgrounds]

I like the drama at the beginning. The quality of the samples isn't great, and this is especially noticeable when the low brass comes in at :24 and the high strings come in at :40. I liked how you used the church bells as a transition at :51. I admire your sense of progression. Overall, it's pretty smooth-flowing and structurally sound, and the ending feels conclusive. I think that the chords at 1:55 clash a bit, like you were trying to force those harmonies to work just a bit too hard. Same thing at 2:20. The main problem in both of those places is the punchy, mid-high-range brass chords. I'm also afraid to say that the quality of the instruments detracted from my enjoyment of the piece considerably. Also, the mixing could use some work. It seems like both the church bells and the lower chords got distorted a bit during the second half of the piece. Overall, though, this is a pretty solid piece. Keep at it, Clueboe. ;)

7/10

[Toccata in f minor]

I see that you were going for some drama early in the piece. I think the drama would've been heightened, however, if you held out the notes for longer and layered the chords to make a fuller texture, kind of like you do at :33. All the little stops during the first 20 seconds kind of detract from the flow, though. In my experience, organs are supposed to sound embeddable, all-encompassing, and intimidating. The first 20 seconds of this piece sound like a baby organ that's taking its first steps while learning to walk. Then, some of the riffs, like at :38, sound very distorted, jarring, and hard to follow. Stylistically, you took a huge risk with this one, but luckily I'm a huge fan of classical music. ;) I like the progression, but one thing that really bothers me is the minimalism, especially during the first couple of minutes. It's a VERY long-winded piece. I did enjoy small moments like at 4:55, though, where the chords clashes in a rather haunting way. >:D I think you allude to the complex and well-thought-out structure of the piece in the description, and I agree that structurally it's rather impressive. One thing I thought you could've worked on was creating more dynamic contrast. It has a sort of continuous flow after around 1.5 minutes in, so that after a while without much "relief" (if you know what I mean), it kind of loses its engaging touch. I will say that I thought 6:49 was a height of emotion and drama, and I applaud you for that. The ending also felt very conclusive, yet it cut off suddenly. In fact, by the end you've convinced me that this is a solid piece. I still would've liked to see you at least slap some reverb on there to give the beginning (and, in fact, the whole piece), that extra huge-freaking-church, meet-your-maker-fiend sort of vibe. Still, I like it and I think that, for the most part, your risk paid off. Keep up the good work, Chris354. ;)

7.5/10

[Styles Trip]

The arpeggios at the beginning are kind of dry. I think they needed some more reverb. They also extend way too far into the treble range. The transition at :07 was a little rough, even with the crash. I think you should've faded the part at :07 in while leaving the arpeggios or some other harmonic part in. Then, there's the fact that :07 and :00 sound like completely different songs. Besides that, pacing is an issue. You go for a fast-paced arpeggio-based texture for the first 7 seconds, and then the next 4 minutes have a thicker, drone-like ambient quality. I don't think you need the first 7 seconds in there at all, really. Also, no one could've predicted the silence at 1:49. You need to lead into your transitions so that they're cleaner and smoother. I would suggest using volume automations, crashes, sweeps, or some other sort of drum. No matter what, though, you also need some more reverb, which would make the various sections of this song connect in a much more fluid and predictable way. Furthermore, you change moods too suddenly as well. The section from :07 to 1:49 sounds apprehensive and reflective, and then the chord progression from 1:50 - 2:10 sounds conclusive, even victorious. There's obviously a lot of dissonance and atonality at 2:13, which in itself is not a bad thing, but it still doesn't really fit the mood of the piece very well IMO. Then, the dissonant effects suddenly stopped at 2:40. This piece is EXTREMELY disjointed and lacks structural consideration in the extreme. The texture is also pretty thin considering that it's 4 minutes long. The instrument at 3:51 cuts off way too suddenly as well. Again, you don't need those arpeggios, neither at the beginning nor at the end. They don't feel conclusive enough to serve as a coda. I'm sorry this review is so negative, but, again, you need some drums, crashes, reverb, etc. to smooth over the transitions here. It's extremely choppy and lacks coherence to an extreme. You guys should keep working on this, though - there are quite a few isolated riffs that I liked, despite the minimalism, but the main harmonic parts you build your piece off of NEED to retain similar keys and progression across different sections of the piece. I hope you found this review helpful, guys. Keep working at it! ;)

2/10

[Love It Like This]

I love the instruments and catchy, mellow guitar riffs. The warm pads in the background also add a lot to the mood and atmosphere of the piece. It has a really refreshing vibe to it. Structurally, it's pretty complex too. I loved the sound effects at :52. One complaint I might have is that it doesn't really progress much f anywhere throughout the first minute or so, but then I really enjoyed the solos from around 1:10 - 1:50. You're obviously really talented with the guitar. I could totally picture some really soulful vocals to compliment this piece, but it also functions really well as an instrumental track. I thought the fade-out ending was a bit lazily done (as fade-out endings often are), but this piece still has a sort of continuous flow to it which somehow makes the fade-out ending okay IMO. I love the articulations on the guitars, though. You could've perhaps done more with the drums, but overall they served the purpose of drums just fine - keepin' the beat and moving the song forward. The mixing and mastering seems rather solid, too. Keep up the great work, BrandonShelton! ;D

9/10

[AngelsRevenge]

I like the chord progression at the beginning, and the warm pads really help set the mood. The beat that comes in at :12 is a little loud. I would suggest compressing and panning those pads more. The cello at :24 adds a warm vibe to the piece that I think helps the mood. I think the pads and the cello clash a bit at :32, but it's hard to tell because the pads are drowned out by the beat and cello a lot. Also, when you strip away the beat at :42, it can be a little hard to follow the rhythm of the cello. Then, I'm not sure the cello solo at :42 led into the transition at :49 very well. I liked the beats thereafter, though. I think you could've used a crash at 1:25 - I wasn't really prepared for the beat to suddenly end like that. The transitions at 1:30 and 2:08 are also a little rough, and the crash at 1:42 is very loud. The coda was kind of lazily done. I wanted to see something more creative than a simple fade-out. However, I think my main problem with this piece is the lack of coherence. It sounds like you're jumping back and forth between playing 2 or 3 different pieces. You at least tried to bring it full-circle at the end by bringing the cello back, but you didn't connect the various sections of this piece very well, so it didn't really work for me. Still, I like the instruments and the moods here, and a lot of the isolated riffs (like the melody at 1:30). If you improve the coherence and the transitions of the piece, it would be a pretty solid track. Keep at it, Bolisa! ;)

5/10

bolisa responds:

Thanks for the amazing review! The only problem is that i lost the file of this song, so i cant edit it anymore :(. With you're tips i could make a solid track indeed. But that just means that i have to use it in my future songs, and i will. Anyways, i wish you the best with the contest. There are many good musicians out here!

[Rebels from 2005]

Interesting title! The beat is really engaging and cool, albeit a little hard to follow rhythmically. I think those open hats are way too loud compared to the snare. At :22, you have a ride playing on every downbeat, which kind of makes it seem like you're placing the emphasis on the downbeat, which is rather uncommon in a lot of EDM music. I like what you did with the sound design on this one, though...1:17 has an awesome, ominous yet energetic vibe to it, with the heavy bass, spidery mid-range synth, and a kick drum to keep it moving along. It's short, but still structurally sound. You built up a solid atmosphere with this one (I mentioned the cool harmonics going on at 1:27), but I think this piece still lacked some fill. There wasn't really a predominant melody, and some pads could go a long way in smoothing over some of the rather in-your-face bass work. Some of the transitions, like at :34, seemed a bit rough. At :34, it almost seemed like the crash cut off before it sufficiently did its job of channeling the energy. The snare roll thing at 1:15 is also a bit cliché. Still, this is a pretty interesting and unique piece. I could totally picture this being put in some sort of fast-paced videogame. Keep at it, BiPolarBeat! ;)

7/10

BiPolarBeat responds:

The whole project is about 5 hours. It's too "done" to be WIP yet still not polished. The song's base was done in ~20 minutes. The rest is mixing and adding the two bridges and polishing some parts, my goal was to make the possibly most cliché music. It's not that serious. I really appreciate your review, it's really in-depth and helpful (and is more serious than my project).
edit: the ride is every 1/16 or 1/4 beat with varying volume, my purpose was to punctuate every 1/2 beat.

[Summer Song]

This is a cute piece! You have a pretty good sense of harmony too. I think the kick is a bit too in-your-face. You might want to try either lowering the volume or Equalizing it more to get rid of some the those middle tones. I often try to create two peaks with the kick, one sub-bassy and the other around 500 Hertz, although you should do what works for you, as long as it doesn't sound too jarring. :) The track doesn't have a lot of structural or rhythmic variation, though. I can see you tried to add some around 1:36, yet you don't really transition into that part or back into the "refrain" at 1:50. Even a simple crash or sweep could go a long way. With the pseudo-breakbeat style you have here, I'd probably recommend using a crash as opposed to a sweep. It's pretty minimalistic overall, and you don't really introduce any new instruments throughout the piece. I also thought the fade-out ending was a bit lazily done (as fade-out endings usually are). It has potential, and I like the cute, upbeat mood, but you could've done A LOT more with this. It needs more of a direction - climaxes, transitions, build-ups, etc. Right now, it's quite flat and dry, structure-wise. If you add in more structural elements, harmonies and variation, though, this could potentially be a pretty solid piece. Hope this helped. Keep at it, Attak1616! ;)

6/10

[Lead]

I like the ambient vibes at the beginning. The poetry added considerably to the piece, although I thought the vocals were a little too loud. They had the right amount of reverb, but I still wanted the instrumentals to be more up-front in the mix, especially during the first 1.5 minutes. I thought you could've been a bit more creative in how you used the vocals, too. It seems like you didn't manipulate them much. You do bring out the emotion in the words using the instrumentals, though, and I admire your sense of harmony and melody. The piece is structured well around the vocals, and the two refrains are powerful, memorable, and catchy. I'm not sure I liked the snare sample at 1:56, but maybe that's a personal opinion. As far as I can tell, the mixing and mastering is pretty good, and I thought the piece as a whole was pretty conclusive. It can be hard to find pieces with proper conclusions among relatively less experienced musicians. Still, this is really admirable work here, AlenK. Keep up the good work! ;D

9/10

[Machinarium]

Interesting use of instruments at the beginning. Almost sounds like a dark ambient track at first. The drums at :28 are way too loud, and they distort the arpeggios and bass in the background a lot. Their energy is perhaps also not so appropriate considering the ambient-like vibes I'm getting from the pads and arpeggios. I admire the sense of harmony you use around the 1-minute mark. At 1:23, the kick is, again, way too loud. The synth at 2:03 is cool, but very loud and in-your-face. I think you need to Equalize it more carefully in order to make it punchy without overly harsh-sounding. Structurally, however, this piece is very solid and smooth-flowing. I also like the vocal samples at around 3:35. They were a cool addition to the piece. Nice job with the portamento at 4:08 as well. I also like how the ending is very conclusive - proper conclusions can be hard to find among relatively less experienced musicians. Compositionally, I think this is a fantastic piece. Going forward, I want you to work on your balance (i.e., how loud the instruments are relative to the others). You took a huge risk submitting something so in-your-face for the tryouts, and I think it paid off. I love the full texture this has and the engaging synths and progression. Keep up the good work, Adhenoid! ;D

8.5/10

Adhenoid responds:

Thanks for the helpful review, TaintedLogic!! :D
I will learn further about mixing and equalizing my future tracks..