TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[本当の青空 - Hontō no ao]

First of all, how in the HELL did you put Asian-language characters in the song title?! Second of all, what do they mean? Third of all, this is freaking beautiful! It's (as usual) very flowing and majestic and light. At times, it transitions very rapidly between short phrases that are either upbeat or saddening, such as 1:32 and 1:36. It certainly is a rollercoaster of emotions, which is one thing I like about your pieces, LSD - they have a very human quality about them that captures the range of moods that can be experienced over a short length of time. You're pouring your soul into the music, and I really admire that about you. This is why I need to learn how to play a chordal instrument. Anyway, great job! 2013 was a pretty good year in a lot of regards, haha! ;D Also, I thought the ending was just perfect. The 3 chords at 2:48 almost single-handedly convinced me to download this piece. Keep up the fantastic work, my friend! ^^

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

"First of all, how in the HELL did you put Asian-language characters in the song title?!"

=> Simple; the only things you need is a sister that speaks fluent Japanese, she has to download a software that allows her to write in Japanese, you have to ask her to translate a phrase for you and write it out (because Google Tranlsate only gives you Japanized English words, as there are several ways to write out everything, but I wanted original Kanji). After that, you just copy paste it to Newgrounds! Easy, right? :D

"Second of all, what do they mean?"

=> "トゥルーブルースカイ" (The other way to write it), translates to "True Blue Sky", which is referring to a very specific part of a specific episode of a Japanese Anime (though it was originally a manga) called "Kino's Journey" (キノの旅 - Kino no Tabi).
The composition might not cause you to think about a sky, but as I told LunacyEcho, it's all about the journey ;)

"Third of all, this is freaking beautiful! It's (as usual) very flowing and majestic and light."

=> Why thank you :) For a while there I thought you were going to write the entire review in this formula, as I did to you XD

Yup, the sudden transition(s) are intended, and as it's about a journey, alll the different emotions are supposed to represent different events and feelings during that travel.
I don't even try to include the human qualities in my piano pieces, they just happen while playing :/
I guess it's all the emotion that's put into the process that's shining through XD

It'd be awesome if you learned to play a chordal intrument! I love the cello and other kinds of strings as well, but It's great that one can bring forth so many different harmonies and emotions with chords too :D

2013 was my most productive year in terms of music thus far. I'm hoping to change that this year, but that remains to be seen ;)

I like the three chords too, and they are really simple! Cm, with C in the melody, Dm7 with A in the melody, and Gm with G in the melody.

Thanks a lot for the nice and positive review! Unless I fail horribly, I'll try to respond to your PM tonight XD

[Larcenous]

That guitar synth doesn't sound very realistic, but I really like the melody at :25. Kind of sounds a little too cutesy for punk, but then again I know absolutely nothing about punk. It's got a pretty upbeat vibe which I like. Almost reminds me of the intro music to LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE MTV movie about stereotypical 2000's-era high school kids. XD I think these song weeks have been a great way to work on a lot of different styles for you, LE. You've really grown as an artist throughout them, I think. Keep it up! ;D

LunacyEcho responds:

=> realistic =>

Budget. :(

=> cutesy =>

Yeah, that's what I thought too. When I planned this out in my head, it was a lot more grungy and crunchy, but that really didn't happen when finally making the song. :P

=> MTV =>

The more I get older, the more I'm glad I never watched MTV while I lived in America. :)

Thanks for the tons of reviews!

[Killjoy]

I like the frantic synths. I think you might need a little more reverb on that synth that comes in at :25 (and other places), just to fill the gaps when it's not playing after you originally introduce it (if you know what I mean...). Other than that, it's sort of lacking structurally. Kind of sounds like you dragged out the intro to a piece for 30 seconds longer than it should've lasted, whereas the other pieces you've submitted this week had a bit more of a direction to them IMO. Maybe you could keep working on this. It has potential, but it might need some more melodic content. It is pretty catchy, and I like the mood and instruments. Keep at it, Mister Echo! ;)

LunacyEcho responds:

=> 0:25 synth =>

During those parts, I tried to have two bars of synth and two bars of silence, with the synth appearing to fade out. I guess it didn't really work. :P My bass-heavy earphones also probably contributed a bit to the problem (although I'm not sure how you listen to music)!

=> structurally =>

This is what happens when you go for quantity over quality. :P Hey, for a first time trying out this sort of genre, I thought it wasn't bad, but I can definitely see where it lacks in composition. This is probably the only song this week where the production was better than the composition. :D

Thanks for yet another review!

[Idyllic]

Haha, did you leave the metronome in? XD The sound actually sort of goes along with the piece pretty well, though. I love the guitar and the chill pads. It also loops well, and it has a nice mood which is kept throughout. I like the variety you started introducing around :16. Keep up the good work, LE! :D

LunacyEcho responds:

=> metronome =>

shhhhhhhh

=> chill pads =>

I've found that this pad especially is useful for pad-ing whenever I need something just to 'be there'. I'm sure there's something more sophisticated I could say about this, but I don't know enough music terminology. :P

Thanks for the review!

[Heartful]

Wow, that's great! Song week for you happens to correspond with February vacation week for me! >:D I love the quirky instruments and the blissful mood. At times, the intervals between the notes in the melody seemed a bit odd, such as at 1:05. Also, the melody instruments seemed really loud to the point that it drowned out the back-up melodies around 1:10-1:25 a lot. Also, the drums in this piece are pretty simple and weak. However, I like the structure of this piece and the sense of climax it has throughout. Nice job making it conclusive at the end, too. Also, the mastering is clearly better in this piece than most of your other tracks, even if the balance is a little off. I think you should devote more time to finding your way around Logic. Anyway, nice job overall, LunacyEcho! :D

LunacyEcho responds:

=> February vacation week =>

Aww, I thought I was special. ;)

=> intervals =>

Wait, which intervals? The timing between the notes or the difference in pitch? It was probably the timing, since there wasn't any daring pitch stuff done at 1:05. Yeah, to make these melodies, I just noodle around on the typing keyboard. I don't actually double check 100% of them. :P

=> drums =>

You know, the drums are actually a LOT more complicated than you can hear. I spent a ton of time on them, but then they got drowned out in the end because I also wanted to raise the volume of the guitar which I was proud of getting a semi-realistic sound out of. :( Choices, choices.

=> structure =>

Thanks! Making interesting structures has been another goal for the songs I put effort in during this project. Glad to see I'm getting better!

=> mastering =>

Haha, thanks!
...
...
What's mastering, again?

=> Logic =>

Well, it's a pretty interesting software, and so far - wait. Tainted... Logic. Wow, that took me a while.

Thanks for the review! Have fun during your week off! :)

[Vos Postergum]

Wow, Ale, I'm honored! :D You established this atmosphere really well, and then the church bells and strings worked really well to add to it. They're not the best-quality samples, but the emotion is real. I thought the transition to 1:25 could've been a bit stronger, though. It kind of abruptly goes from a haunting stillness to a still hauntingness, if you know what a mean. All of these instruments are awesome - the organ at 1:40, and the way it sounds slightly more synthesized by 1:47. I loved the choir around 1:50 too, and this piece has a lot of great ups and downs. Compositionally, it's a very solid piece. You definitely keep up the mood throughout, and the fact that I have no idea what the title means adds to the creepy atmosphere. XD It sort of reminds me of a child wandering through a (seemingly) abandoned hospital after the apocalypse. Also, I don't really think it loops that well, but I do think the ending was fitting either way. Overall, solid work! I like listening to this kind of music just as much as I like making it! :D Also, that Far Eastern-sounding percussion towards the end was a nice touch. Keep up the great work, my friend! ;)

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I'm glad you're honored, and I'm sure you can see the similarities between this and your piece, especially closer to the middle :D
I am actually thinking of buying some HQ-intruments soon :'D

Those are pads at the beginning, but some of them do seem based on strings. The church bells are really just normal "bells" from the beginning, but I added tons of reverb, filters and some other effects to make them sound at least a bit like church bells :3

I agree that the transition at 1:25 is pretty sudden. There are three very different sections in this piece I'd say, and the transitions between all of them could be improved upon. 1:25, 2:06 and then the loops itself. The different parts are so different so a transition would almost have to be as long as a section in itself in order to not be abrupt. I really had trouble looping this piece. Originally, the track began at 0:17, but I cut the very end and added it to the beginning, so I could begin the song with half a second of silence, which eradicated most the problems. The change is very noticable though!

As for the title, it's not even "correct" Latin, although the words do have meaning. I just chose to name it this way because it sounded cooler than most other alternatives I had in mind XD

"It sort of reminds me of a child wandering through a (seemingly) abandoned hospital after the apocalypse"

=> There it is! The part I most enjoy reading in most of your reviews :3 It's good that you get that picture, as it means the atmosphere isn't entirely different than intended.

I guess that you're referring to the gongs at the end. I didn't find any good vst's for them, so I chose a few free samples from two different libraries, and added reverb among possibly something else (I'm not entirely sure, actually).

Thanks for the review! Looking forward to your next upload, whenever you get the chance to make something ;)
EDIT: Which is today actually! Great :D I'm going to listen to it right away!!!

[Perception V2]

This is probably one of your best tracks IMO. I love the progression and instruments, and it's still really catchy and cool. It might need some more melodic content (the first melody as I see it is at 2:57, almost 3/4 of the way through the song). I try to have at least 2 melodic sections in my pieces, and I think that you could try to incorporate some more melodic stuff around :20, or if you're going to make the breaks between :30 and 1:55 last so long, they could use some harmonic support as well.

Your mastering is noticeably better than a lot of your other tracks, but I have a few suggestions that might improve it further. The general rule of thumb for balancing the volume levels (that I use, at least) is that the bass should be louder in volume than the rest of the instruments, but it should have much more restricted EQ frequencies. Still, you should be able to hear the higher-pitched instruments more clearly than the bass, especially if you're not using headphones. Certain sections of this piece, such as :30 to 1:55, are an exception, of course, but perhaps you should try to incorporate more high-pitched tones into your music?

Pads are tricky because they tend to use a lot of different frequencies. For example, the pads at :00 sort of drown out some more melodic content you have going on in the background there. You might fix this by restricting the pad's frequency range in the EQ more, or creating two separate peaks to accommodate the range of the melody instrument. The great thing about Parametric EQ 2 in FL Studio is that it's literally an infographic of which frequencies are used the most by the instrument you're EQ'ing. All you have to do is drag down the frequencies that aren't highlighted as much when you play a riff with the instrument. You almost never have to raise the volume in the EQ, just lower it. Occasionally, I'll raise the volume of a hi-hat or kick, but that's because none of the other instruments ever play frequencies in their ranges.

Kicks are also tricky because low-pitched kicks sound muddy and interfere with the bass, but high-pitched kicks sound like shit without headphones. One solution is to create 2 separate-but-small peaks in the kick. Another is to use 2 different kick drums, one for the lower frequencies and one for the more mid-range ones. I thought you did a good job EQ'ing the kick here, though. You might find it helpful to write down all of your instruments and the frequencies they take up on a piece of paper. Ideally, none of them would interfere with each other. Believe me when I say I need to work on this myself.

Anyway, I think this piece doesn't really have a proper outro. It was a good way of ending the piece to have that funky little riff and sweep combo, but you kind of transition right from a melodic "high point" to it. This piece is an appropriate length for a track like this IMO, so maybe you should cut out some of the repetition between :30 and 1:55 in order to add the outro. You might even be able to cut something from the "saw bridge" (:30 to 1:55) and paste it into the outro, but be careful about transitioning into the use of that heavy saw bass again. You did a good job with that at :30.

I think this piece is really catchy and smooth-flowing. I loved the sweeps you made for this, too. The melodies that are there are good, but I think you need to explore the upper range in your tracks a bit more, TeraVex. Also, it couldn't hurt to find ways of making the "saw bridge" less repetitive. Other than that, this is a great start to what I'm sure will be a fantastic album! Good luck, man. ;)

TeraVex responds:

Thanks for the review man! I've been working harder towards my mastering, I feel that I've benefited greatly because of it. I will agree this is probably the best song I've made although I like CHROM! a little better. I want to thank you again since your reviews make me strive to be better!