TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Stairway to Voice Acting]

Lol, this is actually pretty disturbing. 0_O At first, I had just thought it was just okay, and then after around :30 I had decided that I wasn't going to review this piece because it didn't really appeal to me musically (to put it politely). It was only at around :50 that I realized it was a joke, and by 1:20 I was laughing so hard I was concerned that I would wake my parents up and my Dad would get angry with me. XD It's strange to say, but this actually has more comedic value than musical value for me. I especially love the cough and "yep" at the end. XD You seriously should try voice acting sometime. No one knows what LSD will do next...and that's the most awesome/disturbing part! ^_^

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

"Lol, this is actually pretty disturbing"

=> Then my work here is done ;)

Hahha, this is definitely not meant to have great musical value. What I woul've wanted more of is consistency and such things, but I had already ruined my vocal chords enough by this point.

And as I wrote in the TL;DR description, this is not a track to be taken seriously. I am working on a track that I think you'll really enjoy (I hope), but as it's for a contest, it won't be out in a while. I'm aslo working on the track for NIM with Dem0, AND I am doing some other things. I can't wait to upload those things...

I'm impressed by how long it took for you to realize that this is a joke. But I guess I was gradually getting weirder. I'm glad I got a laugh out of you though, as comedic value is what I was aiming for. I will definitely try out some voice acting at some point, as it's soooo much easier than to sing with different voices :p

I'm glad I left the cough and the "yep" in there. I think it leaves I nice touch.

I am also known for being unpredictable. Sometime, I should surprise everyone by trying out animating.

Thanks a lot for the review!

P.S. Sorry for the huge delay, but I've been a bit busy. Luckily, I have time to reply to your PM today!

[Shimmer]

Awwww...this is a cute song! :D I found it a little odd that the hi-hat is louder than most of the melodies, but maybe that's just because I don't compress my own drums enough. XD The instruments were awesome, the melodies were adorable and fun, and I love that climax point at 1:05. The balance in this piece is a little strange because the melody at 1:29 is really loud, while a lot of the other ones aren't. Still, I liked the drums and structure and transitions. It's nice and upbeat, and really stays engaging throughout (probably because it's relatively fast-paced for a slow-tempo piece, if you know what I mean). The ending was awesome! Heck, between Johnfn's melodies and your endings, you guys could form a Grammy-winning band! :D Haha, keep up the good work, LE! ;)

LunacyEcho responds:

=> hi-hat =>

Yeah, that was a mixing mistake on my part. In my defense, one of the last things I did was lower the volume of the bells, but I didn't make the additional correction of lowering the drum volume in the intro. :(

=> melodies were adorable and fun =>

Thanks! That's really the vibe I was trying to put out with this one.

=> 1:29 =>

I guess that's because I had less countermelodies than normal. Other than one melody playing through a couple different instruments in the choruses, the rest of the instruments playing were either drums, pads, or automated arps. The one countermelody I had is one I really liked, and it's the ' bit that comes in at 3:32. You know, for a distorted trombone, it conveys a LOT more emotion that you'd expect.

=> stays engaging throughout =>

Even though it's slower than I usually do, it also has tons of new melodies, with a huge "solo section" from 1:53 to 3:20. I like that about this song, but it's not something that can be accomplished everywhere - that's why I'm pretty proud that I pulled it off here!

=> ending =>

My endings? Hah, tell that to all my other BRILLIANT endings. I mean, this is the first ending that I can say I'm proud of. Nearly every other ending I've ever done is below average, since when I get to that stage of the song, I'm planning what I do when I finish. So, I finish with a boring ending because I just want to get it over with. :/

Thanks for the really positive review! :D

[Sway]

Hey Adieuwinter! It's been a while. I like the slow, moody beginning, although I think you might want to focus on mastering your tracks a bit louder. I had to turn my speakers pretty high up to hear the song. Using compressors might be a good start. Anyway, I liked the beat at :29. The instrument that comes in at :40 seemed a little too bassy for a piece like this, although that just might be a personal preference. I like the funky and somewhat quirky synths at :53. It does progress rather slowly in the beginning, yet it still has a nice climax in it. I just love how the instruments mesh together around 1:45, and you really show off your good sense of harmony after 2:10. Structurally, I like it a lot. The breakdown at 3:00 was effective in creating some structural relief, and the part at 3:17 just brought you right back to the quirkiness. :D I love the melodies around 3:40, although I thought the transition at 4:00 was a little sudden. It had a conclusive ending, though. Overall, this is a pretty fun, cool, and unique piece! Nice work, Adieuwinter. ;D

adieuwinter responds:

Thanks for the review! I've been busy with school and such, so I haven't had much time to produce. For this particular track I was imitating a couple artists in a slow-burning type track. I'll see if I can fix up the kick drum and that transition! As for the volume, I was just trying to avoid too much clipping, but reflecting on that I suppose I've overdone it a little bit. ;3

As always, thanks for having a listen and sharing your thoughts!

[Azure (Original Mix)]

Okay, I like the beat right off the bat. When that mid-range bass came in at :16, it added to the progression of the piece significantly. Not that I'm listening with headphones (as my parents are asleep) I can really tell exactly how clean and tight the mixing and mastering is - awesome job! The melody at 1:31 really grabbed my attention, if only because it was so quirky and fun. Really cool instruments you used here, btw. ;) I thought the chords at 1:46 were a little too loud, though. The drop at 2:15 was cool, but I hear a lot of similar instruments to ones you've used in the past. The high-range synth at 2:42 sounds almost exactly the same as one you used in "Gradient." Perhaps an important next step for you would be to be a little more adventurous genre-wise and try to shake up your style more. Otherwise, this is a well-structured and smooth-flowing piece with quite a few cool riffs and melodies. I liked how you used the drums to transition effectively into the drop at 4:32. I'll also compliment you on your usual fantastic combination of wet 'n' juicy atmospheres and danceable rhythmic content. I liked the ending better than some of your other ones, but I think you should definitely strive towards making it even more conclusive. I've told you that a lot already, though, haha. Keep up the great work, Lockyn! ^^

Lockyn responds:

I'm really proud of the mix in this track, so thank you for that comment! Glad you saw that. :) I really tried to make everything tight-knit in this one, so I honestly consider this track my first foray into something more professional-sounding-ish. I agree my sounds do sound similar to past tracks, I need to work on synth variation but you haven't heard something cool I'm gonna release soon that is COMPLETELY different from everything I've made so far. ;D Thanks for stopping by, I'm very happy to have read another review from you, TL! Cheers ^^

[UMakeMeFeel]

Okay, I like the grouchy bass and the way that the synths gradually fade in towards the beginning. Interesting use of vocal samples at :18. I think it's very minimalistic, and also progresses rather slowly, but it's also pretty catchy. I think you overused the riser/buildup at 1:44 (and other places), and by the end it's very repetitive. It just doesn't need to be 4 minutes long IMO. I enjoyed how you started harmonizing a little more at 2:15, but I wanted you to do a little more with that. It was missing a lot of melodic content IMO, and I wanted to see more variation and development, which is hard to do when you rarely have more than 2-3 instruments playing at once. I'm afraid you can't just fill the entire texture of a piece with reverb, my friend, even if you seemed to have been going for some traditional club house music here. You could've done A TON more with this piece. I understand that house music is "supposed to" be minimalistic and rhythmic, but you could've at least tried using some different and/or more creative rhythms towards the end. Overall, I think it's a pretty lack-luster track. Sorry. I know I've been tough on you in this review. It does have potential, but as a stand-alone piece it didn't keep me engaged very well. Keep working at it, man. ;)

[Punch Out Fight Theme]

I like the piano at the beginning, and how you left a lot of space for the following climax. I like the melody at around :50, and it does seem quite fitting for a videogame.

I think you need to work on your mixing and mastering a bit though. I can barely hear the kick drum. You should try compressing the drums (if you don't know how to do this, there are a lot of awesome tutorials on YouTube). I don't know what software you use, but if you use FL Studio like me, try pressing F9. The window that pops up is called a mixer. If you click on the "master" tab, there might be a box on the right side of the window that says "Fruity Limiter." Please click on the arrow next to that box, and then click "none." You NEVER want there to be a limiter on the master channel. EVER.

Otherwise, the slight distortions in this piece might also be because of a lack of Equalizing. I won't delve too deep into this now, as it's pretty complicated, but I will give you one basic tip which should really help you out. In each mixer tab (that is, for each instrument you have), click on the arrow next to the box that says "1," on the right-hand side of the mixer window. Then scroll down to "Parametric EQ 2." You can experiment with this more on your own or consult YouTube tutorials on how to use it best. For now, though, a little will go a long way: drag the knobs below 200 Hz (there's a scale at the bottom of the EQ window) all the way down to zero for EVERY instrument EXCEPT the bass and kick. It's entirely possible that you know all this already, btw, but I think this is something you should focus on, as I think a lot of your instruments could've sounded a lot clearer. Okay...hope all this helped. ^^ Despite my mixing criticism, I think this is (compositionally) a very good piece. Keep at it, man! ;D

[Time Travel]

Haha, this is a really fun piece. I really love the lyrics, and it has an upbeat and cute vibe to it, almost like it's a commercial for something. XD I like your voice too. Another thing I liked was that the lyrics really told a story. Perhaps it lacks a little variety (as far as I'm concerned, you used the same three instruments the whole time (that cute little synth, guitar, and drums). I also think you had some slight mixing/balance issues. For example, the vocals are a little quiet as compared to the other instruments, and it was very hard to hear the kick throughout. The ending felt conclusive, though, and I applaud you overall for this cheesy, yet fun piece. :D

SonicWombat responds:

Thanks for the good analysis, friend.

[The Last of Us - The Path synth]

I like the instruments and the pacing. It starts off slowly, but gradually picks up. The bass and kick add a lot to the piece as it is, and I'd say you have a solid intro during the first :45 seconds or so, but after that it was rather repetitive. I think you need more harmonies and counter melodies to create a fuller, more engaging texture for this piece. One method you could use to increase the intensity would be to hold out the chords for the entire measure. This is a good start, but as I see it it's kind of just the skeleton of a piece. Please keep working at it, though, because it has potential. Hope this review helped. ;)

Sylentium responds:

Thankyou, It really is just a pizza without toppings at the moment and I might go into deeper detail with it some time but thank you for the review.

[CloudBreaker]

Interesting choice of instruments here. I like the pensive-sounding lounge vibes, and the melodies that first come in around :20 add a lot to the piece. I admire your sense of harmony, and this is a pretty smooth-flowing and structurally appealing piece overall. You might want to work on your mixing just a little bit - I'm not sure the drums came through as clearly as they could've. Have you tried compressing them? I also enjoyed the more energetic section at 1:35. It was an effective change-of-pace. You then transitioned back into the refrain well, and the ending felt very conclusive. Overall, this is solid work! I'd say your experiment turned out well. ;)

UniversalAnarchy responds:

Thank you again for the detailed review! and FYI, i haven't tried compressing the drums, ill have to work around with that. over-all I'm really glad you enjoyed it.