TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Winterscape - MusicBoxx]

Haha, I like the distorted beginning and the slow, dreamy tempo it has. It almost sounds like it's from a flashback to one's childhood - a lost memory somehow reignited by a fleeting moment in old age. I see a little girl holding the music box for the first time in wonder, and watching the ballerina in the middle spin in an incessant dance, and then the old woman tearing up as she realizes it's still in her attic somewhere, long since broken, but not forgotten. Sorry, I got carried away there. I think you already know that the mixing/recording quality wasn't great, but other than that, it's a beautiful melody played on a beautiful instrument. :')

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Yeah, I got the tempo pretty much like I wanted, even though I'd have liked it to be even more stable. But it's not easy to crank it at a steady pace!

I think that solo music boxes always give a great atmospheric feel, be it horror, sadness, or like you said, just a memory. And whoah! That's quite the vivid picture you shared there! A pretty nice, and short story.

As for the mixing and recording, this was more of a quick test run :3

Thanks for leaving this review! You're almost at the present... But boy, do I have a surprise for you and the others tomorrow >:D

[-Stalker-]

I like the bass and beat. Those gritty synths really add a lot of character to the piece. It's been too long since you've done really hard-hitting techno like this, Waterflame. That creepy pad at 1:24 (and other places) reasserts the ominous, yet arousing, mood as well. :) I like how even sections that don't have a lot going on - like from 1:50 to 2:30 - still sound really fully textured and reverberated. My favorite part is probably 2:47 - love the frantic distorted synth work here. Some of your more blissful melody riffs even started to bleed in around 3:10! :D It's a cool piece, but a little longer than it needed to be IMO. What really keeps my attention throughout, though, is the instrumentation. Really enjoyable piece overall. Keep up the great work, Waterflame! ^^

[Insting]

Yeah! I love the melody and instruments. The filters you put on the melody really give it this cycle of life and death, if you know what I mean. Still, that cycle makes the piece really interesting, even if it's really short. It loops well, and I like that sweep you have at the beginning. The mixing is pretty good, and overall I think this piece has a lot of potential. You should do more with this! You could have an epic electro banger here. ;D Keep at it, man! ^^

fayyn responds:

thanks mate! I have many unfinished projects like this one, I just never feel like finishing them because im happy with what they are now :)

[groovin while breaking laws]

I love the rapid, flowy arpeggios at the beginning. The bass is roaring (which probably means it's too loud)! Otherwise, really catchy stuff. Classic Johnfn-style track, melodramatic crashes and all. ;) This is well-structured, smooth-flowing, and overall a really fun track. I thought you did a good job of making it coherent, yet with enough variety to keep my attention. It loops really well, and I loved how the synth roll starts at 2:45 and finishes at :02! ^_^ Your tracks seem simple on the surface, yet have this really complex and full-sounding texture to them that's just delicious! I love it! Keep up the inspiring work, Johnfn. ;D

johnfn responds:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO LOUD BASS THEDOOR. Unless it makes the drums quieter, then it's probably too loud, I GUESS.

Well whatever. I'm still glad you liked it :P

[Mrs. Robinson (Singalong)]

I love the natural, old-fashioned country vibe here. Given the title, I'm not sure if this is a cover or what, but I loved the lyrics and general mood/themes. It's mellow and flowy, yet very engaging and fun. Almost seems like an audio recording of one of those people who come in and entertain during kids' birthdays by singing silly, feel-good songs. :) Not sure what else to add...it may be a tad dry, but to solve that "issue" would be to take away from the natural campfire-like atmosphere of it. Also, Step, the mix is so clear that it's like I'm right there at the campfire playing shakers along to the beat! XD Nice work everyone. Keep up the good work. ;D

Step responds:

You are making it your mission to review all my recent uploads haha. Always love your reviews.

Super glad you liked this. It is indeed a cover. The dryness might be an issue... I'm not very good at calculating reverb on real-life instruments. I did add some reverb but I never really liked the wishy-washy sound that reverb gave to vocals. We'll be submitting a Summer of 69 cover very very soon - maybe I fixed the reverb in that one. That said, I'm super relieved you think the mix is clear!

Thanks again for the review. c:

[Quirky Stroll]

Definitely quirky...and videogame-y! I like the cute synths and melodies. In fact, the melody at :16 probably almost had too much reverb given the genre. However, structurally speaking, it doesn't change that much until :47. Especially since this is such a short piece, I think the drums and bass should've come in much earlier. Still, I admire your sense of harmony here, and, admittedly, when the drums and bass DID come in, it sounded pretty cool. ;) Nice job with the melody at 1:18, too, but I thought that instrument was a bit too loud and/or in-your-face. Maybe you should've EQ'd out some of the high-toned end of the Equalizer? Idk...it's hard to pinpoint exactly what I didn't like about the synth. Maybe it was the instrument itself, in fact. Overall, though, I love the moods and rhythms and melodies here. Loops flawlessly. Well done, LunacyEcho! ^^

LunacyEcho responds:

=> melody at :16 =>

If any melody were to be complained about for having too much reverb, I would've thought it'd be the one at 1:02! I can see what you mean, though. In hindsight, I should've picked a better synth - the muted-ness gets old after a while.

=> structurally short =>

But if the drums come in earlier, the piece would be even shorter! Although to be honest, I'm surprised it cracked 2:00 in the way it did. Yeah, the drums should've come earlier, but I really liked where I was going with the solo!

=> 1:18 =>

You know, that's the same synth as 0:16. It really is getting old, isn't it? :P

=> loops flawlessly =>

Interestingly, different softwares have different looping mechanisms, so a song that loops flawlessly on Newgrounds might not do so on iTunes or some other website. There are two solutions: only write ambient music, or upload to as few websites as possible. :D

Thanks for the review! And thanks so much for spending such a long time reviewing everything after your exams! Have fun in college!

[Lost & Forgotten]

Hey Camoshark! Haven't been on your page in a while. I love the jazzy melodies, and the clashing chords around :20 that gradually start taking over the piano. I thought the melody at :36 sounded a bit harsh and high-pitched. Maybe you could EQ out some of the higher tones there? Still, I love the progression, and how often times there are isolated riffs which cut through the mix, like at 1:30. I liked what you did with the transition at 2:03, but I would've lengthened the pause to increase the drama. Still, I like how it seems cute and sad at the same time between 2:05 and 2:40. :D I have the same problem with 2:44 that I had with some of the instrument earlier: they sound harsh and jarring, for reasons beyond the clashing chords (I always love clashing chords). I can't quite pinpoint if it's too loud or if the instruments themselves are too high-pitched. Even so, I loved how the ending was simultaneously conclusive AND looped well. It looped so well, in fact, that I didn't even notice the first time! XD Great work, and I hope I'll be hearing more from you soon, Sam. ;D

[Mad Microphone Test]

Lovely piano-playing, as always! :D Don't worry - I'm not going to leave. Not even close. It's kind of funny how when most people sing in English, even if they're from the U.K., Australia, etc., I usually can't tell the difference between their voice and that of an American, yet I can sort of tell you're a European by your singing voice, which is cool. Anyway, I don't think the singing was nearly as bad as you made it out to be in the description. As a pianist, you naturally have a superb since of pitch accuracy. The main thing that made the vocals sound less-than-superb for me was that they wavered a lot, especially whenever you changed notes. Maybe some breathing exercises would help? Another thing is that you might've just been nervous when you recorded this, or you just didn't warm up. Still, I think your voice wouldn't waver as much if you were more confident in your singing ability. Did you practice at all? It helps to hear that you can sing it well before you record it. :) Anyway, I definitely admire your ability to play the piano and sing at the same time. I could not play the cello and sing at the same time...ever. XD I'd love to hear more songs with vocals from you, LSD! Keep it up! ^^

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I chose this song because the piano playing is actually pretty easy, luckily. I just can't play something complicated while trying to sing :p

Yeah, in this song it's pretty easy to tell that I'm European. But I can sing just like your avarage American too, if I want to :p I wasn't aiming for any specific accent here, which is probably why it gets a bit messed up in such regards. The redneck version that I didn't upload though!

Well, you say I've got good pitch, but then you notice that I'm actually playing the melody with the piano as well, in order not to stray away XD
Partly, that's so that I can play the rhythm more easily, of course.
My pitch hearing is unusually bad for a pianist though, probably because I barely ever practice that :(

I DID waver a lot. Partly, it's because I had the microphone pretty close both times, so I couldn't sing too loudly, or it'd clip. But I needed to have the microphono on a high volume-receiving (whatever) level, so that it'd catch the piano too :/

And I definitely would need breathing excersises too! I have a weird form of asthma, which may or may not impact, but either way, I've got pretty weak lungs :p
I didn't really warm up either though, and this is definitely not the song that I know best. The problem is, I'm horrible when it comes to remembering lyrics D:
So I only know like 10 songs or so by heart, while I know snippets of thousands XD

I wish I could play much more complicated things on the piano while singing. And you shouldn't worry! I can't play the Cello at all ;)
I aslo wish that I'd find a time and place to practice singing... By myself and online tutorials, like I learn most things. But we have paper thin walls here :/

You'll probably have to wait a while before hearing more songs with vocals though!

And wow, you're really wuick at this! You almost caught up already, somehow 0.o
Only three tracks more to go.

Thank you, a lot. Reading your reviews fills me with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside :3

[A Song for Someone Else]

Very pretty! I truly believe that personal loss is one of the greatest and most noble inspirations to make music...even if the loss is one of, well, anime...Still, as always, this piece has an excellent progression. I love the sense of emotion and the recurring theme at 1:53. I appreciate all the compositional risks you took around 2:40, but I think they paid off. They made the piece seem conclusive...so conclusive, in fact, that you could've easily ended the piece at 2:53. It actually sounded like more of a proper ending to me than the actual ending. Besides that minor complaint (if that is an actual complaint, that is), I think this is a beautiful piece! Over the course of the 15 months or so I've known you, the concentration of piano solos on my iPod has drastically increased. :D Keep up the great work, LSD! ^^

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I agree with you there! I don't think it necessarily has to be a loss, really, but I believe there's a lot more power in a track if it holds some kind of personal meaning to the artist.
I tried to pretty much dumb down on all the fancy stuff I occasionally do in this track, and focus on simple progression and a beautiful melody.
And as I stated in the description, I tried to use more repetitiveness than usually, so there are actually several parts that I repeat in one way or another throughout the piece.

Good catch at 2:40! I wasn't sure if people would notice that, hehhe :p

"2:53"

=> No. NO! You don't get to do that! First people tell me that I'm not repetitive enough, and now, with just a little bit of added repetition, I am to refrain from repeating the intro at 2:53? THIS IS MADNESS.
But really, I was planning on adding that final part far before I came up with 2:40, as 2:40 is actually the final thing I actually thought out for this track. Without having the ending planned on beforehand, 2:40 probably wouldn't even have happened, as I made it in order to tie the current place I was in the composition, to the ending!
Also, I think that 2:53 would leave some kind of inconclusive atmosphere behind, as the tempo suddenly increases at 2:40, so ending there, would be a bit of a anti-climax!

Thanks a lot for another review, and for listening to my songs! I should reply to your PM tomorrow, as I am now done with the concert and such things XD

[Parlor Time]

Ooo...this is a fun piece. I'd recognize that Garageband acoustic bass sample anywhere. XD You used the drums really well in this piece, especially during the first 15 seconds or so. If you wanted it to sound really jazzy, you might work on swinging the rhythms (or just using as few on-the-beat quarter and eighth notes as possible). After all, now that you're not on the project, you can work on plenty of other things besides expanding the genres of music you feel comfortable making. :D Keep at it, man!

LunacyEcho responds:

=> bass =>

:D Yup. The GarageBand and Logic acoustic basses are literally the same, so I can't escape!

=> drums =>

Thanks! My drum work in electronic songs has started to become a bit boring, so one of the goals with this song was to spice the drums up a bit.

=> swinging the rhythms =>

Didn't I do that? With basically every instrument? :/

Thanks for the review! I'll definitely be working on stuff I'm better at, and you can look forward to some quality stuff in the next few days! ...or at least when exams finish, anyways.