TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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

[Sunset Orange]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. I loved the transition at :22, and the energy and space you leave for that build-up is awesome. Nice work with the frantic synths and grouchy bass. I love the melodies around 1:30, and all of your instruments were fun, complex, and cool. The drums were awesome, and I love the breaks around 2:25. The build-up/transition into 3:47 was very drawn out. I'm not sure why you needed all the repetitive content between 3:00 - 3:47 in there. In fact, the last half of this piece was a little disappointing. To be honest, there wasn't much melodic development or even anything conclusive. I was waiting for that second drop until 4:37, and even then it was a pretty sudden ending. One thing I really admire about this piece, however, is your mixing skills. Everything sounds so clear and tight - that quality of production is sometimes hard to find on NG. Overall, good work. I don't think it needed to be 4.5 minutes long, though, and if it did it needed a second climax point to tie up some loose ends. Still, I'm excited to see what else you produce. Keep up the good work, man! ;D

akopa responds:

Great feedback, I appreciate it and am happy you liked it :). I do agree with your points about it being drawn out - I don't remember why I made it like that but I'm fairly sure it was due to boredom and needing filler. Bit of an older track of mine.
Thanks

[Radiant Cascade]

I like the melody at the beginning. The synths might be a little high-pitched, but that wasn't a huge problem once the bass and beat came in and balanced out the texture a bit. The chord progression was a bit cliché, I agree, but you did do an admirable job of imitating Waterflame's style. This is a cute song with a lot of awesome melodies and fun riffs. I think it could've benefitted from some reverb, however. Also, the ending was a bit sudden. The mixing wasn't bad, though, but I think it'd be much cleaner if you used something besides Garageband. Maybe this summer would be a good opportunity for you to experiment more with FL Studio! :D I also have to say that I really liked the snare sample in this piece: it's sharp and bassy, yet also bouncy and buoyant. Overall, nice work LE! ;D Enjoy your hw-free week! ^^

LunacyEcho responds:

=> high-pitched synths =>

Yeah, that was a problem I was having. I wanted to clean up the mix and take johnfn's advice about having more higher frequencies than lower ones, but in the end, the higher frequencies started sounding REALLY cluttered. I guess I still ought to change a few things. :P

=> reverb =>

Haha, reverb is an effect I've been really reticent to use after my three contest-written songs last year, which all featured WAY too much reverb. WAY too much.

=> Garageband =>

Oh, I haven't actually used Garageband to write a piece in a long time! I think 'Crunch' was the last Garageband-written piece. Sorry for not making that clearer! I've been using Logic Pro X for over half a year now, and I'm really satisfied with the results. :)

=> snare sample =>

A while ago, I found some drum samples on Youtube that I've been using ever since. Sadly, I can't exactly tell you where to find them, since I've forgotten, but on my desktop, they're labeled as "Krux Samples". :/ They're really good, though! And I've been trying to do them justice for at least a year now. :D

Thanks for the review! I'll be enjoying my hw-free week by putting out much more music during it! :D

[Astronomixel]

Compositionally, this is a pretty good piece. However, there was some sort of extremely harsh and high-pitched synth at :03 that simply shattered my eardrums. Sorry. I suggest you A) make it a lot quieter and B) use the Equalizer to get rid of the highest, harshest tones in that instrument. There was also a bit of harshness around :35. Other than that, I enjoyed the upbeat mood and melodic content. I thought the drums were a little quiet and, while panning is an important step in learning to mix, it had other balance and/or mastering problems at times. Still, it makes a pretty good loop, and I admire your sense of rhythm and harmony. Keep up the good work, man! ;)

jonadrew responds:

Thanks for the review! I'm happy you liked it!
This still a work in progress, so I'll most definitely fix that high pitched tone. I do also acknowledge the fact that it was a bit off balance after listening to it again, but would it be more of a panning and volumeish problem? Or the harmonies? Sorry...I just want to know what to work on more. Anyways, thanks for your time! I love your stuff