TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Wings]

I like the atmospheric intro, as well as the pensive little synth that comes in at around :15. The vocals at :30 are really cool. They have this soulful vibe to them that compliments the mood here very well. The lyrics themselves are also quite enjoyable. The piece progresses pretty slowly, though. I’m not sure it needed to be quite this long. Obviously, the bass is very prominent in this piece, but it’s also the main thing going on for long sections of the piece instrumental-wise. I would’ve liked to see you do more with the instrumentals at times, especially during the verses. I did like the Spanish vocals you incorporated, though. Also, the melodies at 3:10 are really cool. You have a lot of quirky and fun instruments here. I like how you start adding some variety at 3:42, although at the same time that part lacked engaging content and got pretty repetitive after a while. I recognize that vocal sample at 4:05! I’m afraid it doesn’t really fit the groovy yet contemplative mood you have during the last 1.5 minutes of the piece. The vocals at 4:35 were comical, well-timed and edited. I will say that I expected you to at least return to some more prominent themes you had during the first 2/3 of the piece, though. 0:00 to 3:42 and 3:42 to 5:22 sound like 2 completely different songs! The glitchy industrial sounds at 5:07 also didn’t really compliment the mood you established earlier in the piece, especially since you tried to make it function as a coda in your piece. You have a lot of interesting ideas here, but I think you need to focus on concision. I would try fleshing out a couple of ideas more, rather than skimming the surface with several separate themes. The result is that this piece lacks coherence IMO. Still, I like the soundscape and the synths. Hope this review helped, and keep at it, man! ;)

7/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

TheMoebiusProject responds:

Thanks!! This review is really helpful, very thorough! Yes I think i could have been more creative with the guitars but i had to rush it cause I had to work on other stuff U.U. And yeah that mood change in the end was with the idea of taking flight, going faster but youre right it does feel like a whole new song! jaja. But anyway, even if we didn't make it to the next round, it was a very stimulating contest, so Im glad we were able to participate..You'll be hearing from us cause we got a whole bunch of tunes just waiting to be shared!! And, now, to keep rockin!!!

[Oxidize]

I liked the atmospheric intro. I thought the kick was a little weak, and I’m not sure I liked your hat and snare samples too much. That said, your voice had this smooth and soothing quality to it that I really liked. I also appreciated the chorus at 1:12. I liked that you aimed for a texture that was nice and full there, although I think the lead guitar and kick could’ve come through a lot clearer in the mix there. You might’ve needed to do some more careful equalizing. The “heartbeat” part at 1:29 was clever. I liked how you then created some structural contrast with another relatively soothing verse. I also thought that the transition into the second chorus at 2:11 was a little rushed, though. The post chorus at 2:26 was a valued addition to the structure as well. I thought you really overdid the crashes at 2:43, and they quite noticeably duck under the mix at 2:49. I didn’t think you needed that last chorus (it was sort of just extraneous repetition), although this piece did feel pretty conclusive by the end. I like the vocals (as well as the lyrics themselves) and structure. The main problem here is the mixing. Fix that, and you’ve got a really solid piece, my friend! Keep at it! ;)

7.5/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015

Jacob responds:

Myyy reviewwww!

The mixing and EQ of the drums has been a consistent challenge for me, and I think I honestly need to step away from Addictive and start using separate samples and soft synths that I can master as discrete entities. But, that may not fix it. I also lack some fundamental understanding of the mixing, and I have to figure that out sooner or later. You've pushed me to experiment more. :)

I think I agree with you on the abruptness of the second chorus transition. Although that was the intent, it wasn't done properly. And that may have been as simple as finishing four measures instead of only three. Or maybe the idea itself was lame! Man I don't know I'm just a username.

THANK YOU for telling me that the last chorus was unnecessary. I have this annoying nagging voice in my head telling me that three choruses are absolutely necessary, but it almost always feels so FORCED when I do it. I've gotta figure out my own non-ABABCB song structure.

Your review is so appreciated, man. It's nice that you're taking time out for the losers. Hahaha
I'd love it if you could give me some detail via PM on remedying the mix, particularly the percussion. But you're busy as hell with technical advice as it is, so it's 100% cool if it's not in your time-budget.

Thank you so much! Happy judging. :)

[[NGADM] Undertow]

I like the mood at the beginning, but I think the pauses were extremely unnecessary. The piano has this awesome, flowy and smooth quality, especially with the reverb, and the pauses sort of detracted from that flow. Once the synths come in at :43, I understand where you were going with the pauses, but they still impact the pacing of the piece negatively IMO. This piece progresses very slowly. I liked the part at 1:00, although I thought you might’ve been able to equalize out some of the treble tones in that rather high-pitched lead. The part at 1:00 is still rather minimalistic, though, and I thought you could’ve done a lot more to add to the harmonic content and progression of this piece. The strings during the breakdown at around 2:30 also sort of caught me off guard. Generally, it’s not a great idea to introduce new instruments 2/3 of the way through a track. By the end, this track is repetitive and fails to keep me engaged, unfortunately. The octave jumps around 3:00 – 3:15 don’t really serve to channel the energy in this track very well, and the coda was a bit rushed and lazily done IMO. I admire your sense of rhythm, but overall this track was pretty generic and repetitive. It’s also catchy, and the production quality is pretty high. Still, I would’ve liked to see some more creative and varied content. I hope this review helped. Keep at it, man! ;)

6.5/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

[NGADM round 1 [WIP]]

I liked the mood at the beginning. You left yourself a lot of space for climax and contrast, which is good. That said, though, it’s very slow to progress, and you only actually reach an “arrival point” of your piece about halfway through. That cool, quirky melody instrument at 1:05 made for a neat post-chorus section, although I think the instrument was a bit too loud. Obviously, this isn’t a structurally complete piece. I know this is supposed to be a WIP, but I’m afraid I can’t take that into account when judging your submission. You could’ve done so much more with this. I think it has a lot of potential, and I’d encourage you to keep working on it after the competition. The production quality is solid. The soundscape is cool, and I like the melodies and harmonies, etc. But for this competition, you need to show me more of your abilities, especially regarding structuring/transitioning, that often are on display later in the piece. Despite the fact that this piece was cut short, I thought you could’ve at least tried to conclude it in a more creative way. Instead, you had this sort of cliché sweep in there. Again, I’d encourage you to keep working on this. For what it’s worth, “Recharge” is still one of my personal favorite tracks from the NGAUC 2014. Hope this review helped. Keep at it, man! ;)

5.5/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

DjAbbic responds:

I also feel like this has a lot of potential, and it's a shame I couldn't really get it out before the deadline. I'm personally feeling a bit conflicted about everything after the intro, because I feel like there are other directions I could take it. I'll probably continue working on this but it may be unrecognizable by the time it is finished.

I'm glad you're still enjoying Recharge, I still think it's one of those 'outlier' songs which is better than what I normally make, but then again I have thought the same thing for a fair number of my latest (kinda old now) songs. Perhaps it is a sign that I'm improving :).

Anyway, thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate your input!

[Caliginous Newcomer]

I liked the exotic percussion and other samples you had here. Very cool soundscape. You left yourself a lot of space for contrast at the beginning here, but the piece itself progresses pretty slowly. The piano that starts fading in at around 1:10 was also a nice touch. I love the somewhat ominous and apprehensive mood you’ve created here. There isn’t really a big “arrival point” until 1:50, and even then you don’t release a lot of tension. I also think you could’ve brought out that bell-like synth a lot more, as that seemed to be the main melody at that part. The build-up at around 1:30 doesn’t lead much of anywhere. I like the frantic synths at around 2:45. Nice job bringing the structure of the piece full-circle with the re-introduction of that first lead at 2:57, and then the subsequent variance of that lead at 3:08. That variance really helps give the piece a sense of direction. I suppose my main problem with this piece is that you build up a lot of tension, and then you never release it. Take 3:30 for example. I was expecting a soaring melody, a hard-hitting drop, or at least something more cathartic than a mysterious, flowy riff following a huge sweep. It would help create a lot more structural contrast in this piece if you added that point of arrival and release, probably at least twice in your track. If anything, 4:15 was sort of a dramatic “height” in a way, yet it was somewhat structurally isolated from the “height” at 1:50. I think this piece dragged on a lot longer than it really had to. All the various build-ups and subsequent re-intros don’t really keep my attention for almost 6 minutes. Furthermore, the transition at 4:58 was a little sudden. You could’ve at least used a crash there or something. That said, I enjoyed the ominous quality that the coda had (it certainly seemed fitting given the 5 minutes before it). The mixing and mastering is generally very solid as well. Fix the structural and concision issues, and I’ll say you’ve got a well-polished track here, Lordedri! Keep at it, man! Hope this helped. ;)

8/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

Adjeye responds:

Thank you very much! This is definitely something I can work on!

[Ersatz]

I liked the mood at the beginning, as well as the synths. It progresses pretty slowly, and you’ve soaked up a huge chunk of this piece with very little development, contrast, or climax. The atmosphere is good. Some variety finally comes at around 1:45, but it in and of itself also progresses very slowly. The transition at 2:51 was also very sudden. A lot of this piece is very minimalistic and even a bit bland IMO. As background music to a videogame, it’d be great work, but as a stand-alone piece I think you need more melodic development, a fuller texture with supportive harmonies, and a more complex structure. The coda with the distorted bass also threw me off a bit. It didn’t seem to fit the chill, quirky aesthetic you had during most of the piece. There are some good ideas here, though. I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece after the competition. Hope this helped, man! ;)

7/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

[Dive In (NGADM '15)]

Sorry to start this review off on a negative note, but the intro didn’t really work for me. You have this distorted, bass bomb of a sample playing for 3 seconds, and then you launch into this upbeat, well-balanced and full-textured section hook. The intro was short lived, and didn’t really help lead up to the next part in any way. I suppose the most confusing part of it for me was when you stripped away the filters (or made a volume automation; I can’t tell) at :01, and then just faded it back in before the upbeat part started. I think the intro would’ve worked fine as a sort of start-stop transition mid-way through the track, but at the beginning it felt a little bizarre. I’ve spent enough time talking about that, though. It’s a tiny detail and I’m not taking off many points for it. Anyway, I like the synths at :03 and the mood. Like I mentioned, you have a nice, full and even texture. The modulation at :29 caught me really off guard. Usually key changes don’t occur until much later in the piece as a way of making things seem more climactic. Then, :57 launches into this sort of ambient, pulsing drone-like sound that somehow reminds me of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” I think you’re trying to force these moods to work together a bit too much. You need to connect the disparate ideas you have here a little more. Otherwise, this piece seems a bit all-over-the-place. I’m still getting the “Thriller” vibes from that organ at 1:53 – kind of has this pop-like, thick-pad creepy sound to it. Then, once again I have no idea what to make of 2:19 – 2:46. It sounded like you tried to return to the ambient sound you had earlier, and then got sidetracked with creating a build-up (2:34) that essentially led nowhere. I’m so confused and disturbed that I almost actually like it. But then you come in with these random distorted effects at 2:48 and I’m once again convinced that this piece is ALL OVER THE PLACE. Don’t get me wrong – I love a lot of the ideas here, but the structure is so insanely bizarre that it’s almost impossible to keep the listener grounded by any sort of verse-chorus dependability or anything. There’s very little coherence in this piece. You need to repeat some of your ideas across sections of the piece! It should usually be relatively easy for a casual listener to discern the structure of your track. Adding variety – dynamic contrast, melodic development, etc. – will help keep your track interesting enough. However, neither of those concepts is even remotely relevant to this piece, I’m afraid. I’m sorry this review is so negative, Birdinator99. I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece (after the contest, of course) because I like the ideas you have here as I said, but right now the structure is very confusing and there’s very little repetition. Hope this helped! Keep at it, man. ;)

6/10

This review was written for the Newgrounds Audio Death Match 2015.

Birdinator99 responds:

The intro is bad and was rushed -- I'm actually surprised nobody else brought it up. I don't know how to explain how it came to be, but to make the intro longer would've meant me reorganizing a lot of my automation, and I ended up waiting until it was too late to decide what to do about it, so it's a cop-out. My bad. I will be more conscious of this in the future.

Glad you like the first part. It almost sounded a lot different at first, but I made a decision to have that organ play the chords about halfway through the process, and I think it really works.

I don't know enough about music theory to know what I did at 0:29. I had some chords that I was looking to use, and they sounded like they fit, so I just went for it. If it was jarring for you I apologize. Won't change that modulation though ;) haha

I have a habit of adding a spacey or, I don't know, "wondrous" section about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through my songs, so it's not always going to fit in with the rest of the piece. You're right; in hindsight, this track kind of keeps going...and going...and going. It's just one idea to the next without a lot of cohesion. I won't complain about Michael Jackson comparisons though!

2:19 to the end is really just creepy for the sake of being creepy. I was messing around with my tape stop plugin and I found something that I liked, so I just rolled with it. I'm glad you are disturbed -- I felt similarly the first time I heard that part when I stumbled across it. I really personally enjoy this section, so while I realize it doesn't fit with a lot of what else is going on here, I'm proud of it "as it's own thing", if you know what I mean.

I'm afraid I don't usually go back to songs to change them, however I will try to learn from this. I am working on a project right now that will help with my dynamic contrast and melodic development skills, hopefully. The journey's not over yet!

Thanks for taking the time to type out your thoughts. I'm sorry it was a let down for you!