TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Descent Into Erebus]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning and the flute. Interesting transition at :13 into the pizzicatos. I like how you increased the drama after around :25. This piece is very short, but structurally it has all the elements of a cinematic piece that I look for. It has character, climaxes, and feels very conclusive by the end. If I had to complain about one thing, I might say that the transition into 1:00 is a little sudden, and a crash there would go a long way. Other than that, really nice job, man! Mix sounds pretty clean as far as I can tell, too. Keep it up! ^^

samulis responds:

Thanks for the review! I forgot the mention, but the flute and harp are actually my own sample work as well. Hopefully those will appear for public use at some point, hopefully free. :)

Yeah, kinda gave up and didn't add any percussion. Maybe if I get around to it I'll add some swells and the like just to smooth out the transitions. :)

[Aurora (Original Mix)]

I love the synths and the reverb. It gives this piece a really chill aesthetic. Moody atmospheres are awesome! I love the sense of climax into :30 as well, although you didn't really go much of anywhere with it. The transition at 1:00 came on a little suddenly. Honestly, I don't even think you needed the piano from around :40-1:00 anyway. It's just a little overused among your tracks in general IMO. I enjoyed the drop at 1:59. It reminds me a lot of "Party Hard," so much actually that the first time I heard this when you released it on SC, I thought it was a remix. I think transitions are something you should really focus on, Lockyn. Even the breakdown at 3:00 comes on suddenly, and it seems to me that breakdowns seldom come on suddenly. I will compliment you on your mixing, though, as it's superb (as usual). I might also challenge you to do something more interesting with your drums sometimes. Some more rhythmically varied hi-hats or percs could go a long way. The transition into 5:41 might also need a bit of work, btw. The ending to this one wasn't that bad, though. I thought it was fitting how it was so atmospheric. :) Overall, great work! Thanks for uploading all these old tracks of yours to NG. It really makes it easier to make sure I've heard them all that way. ;) Keep it up, man!

Lockyn responds:

You've touched on all my usual problems, as usual :P Thank you for the concise critique as always! Thank YOU for taking time out of your precious day to listen, hope you enjoyed it even if it's the second time around. Thank you!

[[Dubstep] - Zelda - Lost woods remix]

Okay, this is interesting. I liked the melodies, but I'm not sure they fit well with the snappy snare and breaks you had at :32. It also lacks some harmonic support, and is in general pretty minimalistic. At the very least, some reverb and/or filter work would help you out in that regard. It's pretty repetitive and predictable, although short. The drops in and of themselves I enjoyed, but otherwise I'm not sure the concept of pairing this otherwise cheerful piece with hard-hitting dubstep appealed to me. Maybe that's just a personal preference though. Still, the ending was sudden, and you did little during the verses to keep this piece interesting IMO. It needs some chords, more interesting drum beats, and more complex structural changes and melodic developmental patterns. I can't exactly give you points for originality either. It has potential, and, as I've said, it's a pretty interesting idea, but I have a feeling you didn't really go all-out with this one. I want to see you go all out next time. I hope you found this review helpful. Keep at it, man. ;)

LegatusRj responds:

Wow thanks man! I'll be sure to take these into account when i remaster this! ;)

[Rigged]

I like the chords at the beginning, and the darker elements that gradually started fading in soon after. It's very ominous, and gives a sense of imminent doom. However, it does progress rather slowly, not really picking up until around 1:15. I didn't think it needed to be this long, but the thick texture and snappy synths admittedly kept me engaged throughout. I liked the vocal samples around 1:20-1:50 and also later around 2:30. They really help establish the theme and reinforce the mood of the piece. May I ask what movie/show the samples are from? The ending was interesting, although not very conclusive IMO. Maybe it would function well as a loop (?). Still, really unique and cool work here, man. I'd like to compliment you on your mixing - probably some of the best I've heard in a while on NG. Keep it up, man! ;)

Bobeo responds:

Thanks! Originally the intro was way shorter but in that state I felt like it didn't really create the atmosphere I wanted before the first drop. I totally understand that bit of criticism though.
Also, I'm always really paranoid that my mixing is actually horrible and I just don't realize it or something so that last comment means quite a bit.

(The vocal samples are from the first resident evil game.)

[Aqua (Original Mix)]

I love that nice bright and clear piano you have. With that chill electronic bass around :35 it reminded me a lot of "Lockout," actually. It does progress a little slowly, but given the mood of the piece that doesn't bother me too much. Really chill stuff going on at 1:15, and I love that pulsing mid-range pad that just slides between notes. :) I also enjoyed the quirky harmonies at around 2:05, as well as the melodies around 2:30. This is actually more minimalistic than a lot of your other tracks, but you use the reverb really well here too. I like the structure and transitions, and you channel the energy nicely in this piece. It had just the right amount of repetition IMO, and despite being a little long, it kept me engaged throughout. It's the perfect combination of chill and energetic. I appreciated your attempt at making the ending a little more conclusive, although I think you didn't really transition into your 5-second coda very well, tbh. If you had the piano playing chords that led up to the chord at 5:48, it might've been a more effective way of concluding the piece. Still, this is great work overall Lockyn! I hope you start producing more over the summer. ^_^

Lockyn responds:

Man, TL, I owe you so many reviews for your continued detailed insight on each and every one of my pieces. For that I thank you, I really do respect your opinion. I'm gonna be posting all the stuff I wasn't able to post before, so I do hope you're enjoying the listens beside typing out these reviews. Thanks for the comments, I do agree with you. My endings are always the problem LOL. I will be undergoing an extensive medical procedure at the beginning of summer, so I will be incapacitated for around a month or two - hopefully I can get geared up afterwards! Looking forward to the summer besides that, so thank you thank you again! Cheers TL ^^

[Let's Go Through Mirrodon]

I like the atmospheric synths at the beginning. It progresses a little slowly, but I think it was fitting for this kind of piece. I enjoyed a lot of your individual riffs here, like the one at :31, but I think you need more effective transitions in between them. The melody at 1:01 is really neat. A lot of your instruments are really cool, and I enjoyed the structure of this one. Still, I think it might need a little more coherence. I understand that you repeated some of the sections of this piece, but you need to keep some of the instruments the same across the various sections so that a casual listener can follow what you're doing a little better. I liked the ending, though. It was cute and conclusive.

Still, my main problem with this piece is the mixing. Do you hear how, all of a sudden, that synth riff you have at the beginning gets a lot quieter once the flute-like instrument comes in at :16? That's because some of the frequencies in the flute are interfering with some of the tones in the intro synth. You can fix that through a process called mixing. This is the same reason why the snare drum seems pretty strong at 2:05, yet it starts to sound quieter at 2:08 when you have that pad change notes. Let me give you some basic tips that'll help you make this song sound louder, clearer, and less distorted so that you can hear all the instruments equally well:

I'm not sure which software you use to make this music, but I know a lot of people use FL Studio to make this kind of music, so I'll start there. First of all, press F9 in FL Studio. The window that just came up is called a mixer. If you click on the "master" tab, there just 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.

Another great thing you can do to limit distortion is called Equalizing, or EQ'ing, for short. 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. A ridiculous proportion of the distortion in most songs come from bass frequencies. They just make everything sound muddy. Anyway, I hope all this helped. ^^

I'm giving you all this advice because I really wish someone had told me all this 3-4 years ago. XD Your piece has a lot of potential, though, man. Mixing is tough, and it's best to start working at it as early as possible. If you have any questions about the advice I gave, just PM me! ;D Good luck man, and just keep on producing! ^_^

[Bird's Eye]

Okay, I like the atmosphere at the beginning. That guitar portamento at :07 (as well as other places) really adds some character to the piece, and that echoing arpeggio at around :25 is really cool. I love the sense of climax it has into :53, although it does progress a little slowly throughout the first minute or so. I love the blissful mood and beat at around 1:15. Really interesting progression to this piece, man. It is a little repetitive, kind of like the last track I reviewed, and tbh I thought your synths weren't as interesting this time. I enjoyed that riser into 2:38, though. The drop was awesome! Cool melodies at around 3:05, and I love the full texture it has during the last couple of minutes. The ending with the sweeps was a little cliché, and I didn't like how it sort of cut off suddenly at 4:11. You might've at least thrown some more reverb on and let it fade out. Still, this is, again, really solid work man. Why hadn't I heard of you before? :D

akopa responds:

More great feedback - again, thanks! Again I agree with your points about it being less interesting and repetitive, I think I noticed it but then dismissed it due to the nature of the prog house genre which has some space for repetition.
The ending is an error of mine, I think I accidentally clipped it off when exporting. Good catch.
Again, I'm glad you enjoy my music - lots more you can listen to!
Thank you