TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Apothic]

I like the bizarre sound effects, and maybe you saw this coming, but the bass was a little loud IMO. I love the riff at 1:08, but I think the intro was a little too long. It should really be more like 30 seconds instead of a minute. Also, I think you need to be careful about how you EQ those basses, just because you have 2 or 3 going on at once, not to mention the kick. It really distorts the drums at some points. For example, I think 1:40 could sound a lot clearer if you put one bass at, say, 150-200 Hertz, another at 100 and below, and left 100-150 and the middle range for the kick. It's also very minimalistic and repetitive throughout, and probably didn't need to be 4.5 minutes long. Maybe more like 3. I like the way you used the reverb effects throughout, though, and I appreciated the way you ended it, too. Not your best work IMO, but the mood and instrumentation is definitely there. I think you should focus on harmonizing more, as well as mixing your tracks more carefully. Keep at it, TeraVex! ;)

[Taken By The Shadow]

I liked how you combined the orchestral and heavy rock sounds. I'm not sure I liked your piano sample, though. It sounded sort of hollow and unnatural for some reason. The vocals are cool - they have sort of a tribal chant-like vibe to them, although they're so distorted that it's very hard to tell what you're saying. The flute solo in the middle also added a lot to the piece IMO. I also enjoyed the melodies around 2:35. This song is well-structured and smooth-flowing, and I liked how you set up the piece stylistically too. Overall, solid work! ;D

JytteHimself responds:

Thx man!

[Sight of the Blind]

Ah, yes...feelings. Well, I like the pensive mood that you establish right off the bat with that guitar. The lyrics were well-thought-out, and I couldn't do better myself with the vocals. I especially enjoyed the post-chorus at :57 though...it had a ballad-like sort of long-suffering passion to it that I liked. The acoustic guitar and non-manipulated vocals give this piece a really natural feel, which is not only good in general but also fits the piece well. Tiny complaint if I may: the ending didn't really feel conclusive enough. I would've liked to see you go a little bigger on that final guitar fermata, and then I think you needed to just let some final chord ring. It's usually a good idea to end on the tonic. Anyway, overall great work! There isn't enough of this kind of music on NG. ;)

[Top of the World]

I like the instrumentation a lot, but I think you should've brought out the melodies/argeggios a bit more. That bass that keeps pulsing in and out gets in the way a bit IMO. Smooth loop, though. I like the sound effects and moods. Keep it up! ;)

ADR3-N responds:

Yeah, had some issues with the bass literally taking over -- was considering a fretless bass synth instead; I'll keep that in mind. Glad you liked it though!

[a summer memory]

I love the emotion and the jazzy chords. I didn't like how that one chord cut off at :27 like that...kind of ruined the flow. It was only momentary, though, because this is a beautiful piece. You cover a wide range of octaves and moods, which I liked. My favorite part is probably at 3:28. It's just haunting beauty, and the silence before that part helps. Very well-built structurally, and I love the simplicity of this piece - it gives it quite the human touch IMO. Sure, it is a bit "reserved" if you know what I mean, but I can definitely understand why you're more tempted to play more carefully when recording. Besides, it's not like I haven't been recording all of the improvs you do with that bug I have in your room. >:D This piece has a great sense of melodic development, structural relief (with the part at 3:28), and an excellent sense of progression. Also, I'm not really sure what pedal points are, but I plan on earning some when I can take out my bike once all this snow melts in 4 months or so...XD Keep up the great work, Johnfn! ^^

johnfn responds:

Pedal points are what you score if you pedal fast enough, silly! Actually, they're the point at which you release the pedal when playing, which cuts off all the sustaining notes.

> 3:28

Duh who doesn't like recapitulations of the main theme in a higher octave? It's pretty much the oldest trick in the book :D I was thinking this song could have a little more dynamic variation though, it's kind of all the same loudness up until that point...

thanks for the review!

[Swift Roe Deer]

It's pretty! I think one thing that could really spice up this piece is some rhythmic variation, though, especially during the first minute or so. It's all quarter and eighth notes, which is fine, but throwing in some more offbeat content, especially during the less engaging and energetic bit at the beginning, would help this piece, I think. After that, it had a very beautiful, uplifting, and full sound, and I loved how you brought it full circle with the piano at the end. Nice use of percussion, and your string samples are rather good. It's a very smooth-flowing and well-structured piece overall. Nice job! ;)

MrNightVarga responds:

Thank you mate, your review was more than helpful and I will definitely keep that in mind next time around. =)

[Hinterland]

I continue to be impressed by your work, man. Beautiful piano throughout. It really creates a lot of space for climax, but I think you could've done a bit more with that. I understand this was made for a short film or something, but as a stand-alone piece, it might need some sort of dynamic contrast and melodic development in order to be structurally complete IMO. Still, this has a beautiful ambient vibe to it which I love. Keep it up, dude! ;)

erlendflatin responds:

Thanks buddy :) This was composed as a sort of aesthetic study, as well as experimentation with modal textures, which is why the melodic development seem to be floating a little back and forth ;) But thanks for the reviews, it is always nice to hear some positive words about ones music!

[Reionizing - UAO]

I like the effects at the beginning. Really quirky vibe you got going on here...sounds like aliens are invading, and they spend an irrational time analyzing the internal content of lawn grass or something. XD It could've progressed faster IMO, but I think this would be perfect for some sort of dark, futuristic videogame. I love all the percussive effects and the chill pads. My main complaint is the ending. It's really sudden and inconclusive. Given that this is an ambient track and would probably work well in a videogame, you could've at least made it loop. You also could've added some pulsing Ping-Pong effect at the end and had it gradually fade out. That always works well in these kinds of tracks. ;) Otherwise, I love it! Really interesting and unique work here, man. Keep it up! ^^

SoLoR1 responds:

Thank you for your constructive comment!! Will have to make some new edits, I honestly wanna make this a lot longer, had such a good time producing it!!

[Ambient Hell (Chill step)]

I love the atmosphere at the beginning and the instruments. It has a great sense of climax throughout the first minute or so, and you really keep up the ominous and apprehensive mood throughout. I loved the vocals and the drop at 1:18. They fit together really well. It's a little minimalistic at times, but still an amusing piece. I think the clap was a little loud. I would suggest lowering the volume and letting the reverb keep it up-front in the mix. I liked the variations at 2:53 as well. One thing I think you could work on in this piece is adding some dynamic contrast. A breakdown with some pads and some sort of filler synth arpeggios would go well with the content you have here, even though it's already a fairly long piece. I like how you put in a less punchy clap later on in the piece. That really aids the transition to the outro, which I also thought was pretty well thought out. Overall, I like this piece a lot more than the last one I reviewed. I think one of the things that really sells this piece is the breathy synth at 1:48 (and other places). It might be considered to be a small detail by some, but it really adds a lot of atmosphere and enhances the mood of this piece really well. Keep up the great work, RandomDanceOfHappy! ;D

RandomDanceOfHappy responds:

theres lots of little details that i put in songs that people never notice but i do and it makes them that much better :p
thanks for the awesome review n.n

[Gone (For Now)]

Cool! I like the gruff bass at the beginning. The drums were pretty good, although I think you went a little overboard on the crashes. XD Also, the kick starts playing some bizarre rhythms around :45 that make this piece a little confusing to listen to sometimes. I liked the progression and the creepy vibe, though. That melody at 1:43 is just haunting! :O The percussion after around 2:00 was creative, albeit a bit loud and very up-front in the mix. It's repetitive, yet you manage to keep my attention pretty well. There are a lot of subtle changes, which I like about this piece. Nice use of reverb and effects, and I liked that synth at 3:05. I think you captured the old-school hip-hop vibe pretty well (based on my extremely limited knowledge of hip-hop), but I'm not sure this would classify "modern hip-hop." I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but it might even be good for a videogame...I really don't think that's what you were going for though. Also, the ending was done a bit lazily. It could've at least looped. I've been tough on you in this review, though. It's a really interesting, catchy, and unique piece. Keep at it, LunacyEcho. ;D

LunacyEcho responds:

=> gruff bass =>

Wow, that's a pretty cool term!

=> crashes =>

:D

In the original file, they had heavy reverb. Then, I realized the whole piece would benefit from higher reverb, so now the crashes have double reverb. Whoops.

=> bizarre rhythms =>

Yeah, it's not my normal style of music, but I was really trying to emulate the song linked in the description.

=> synth at 3:05 =>

Thanks! I think it's actually one of my better custom synths.

=> limited knowledge of hip-hop =>

I assure you, my knowledge is probably as limited, if not more. For genres like these (ones I'm not familiar with), I either base it off of a song in that genre or do a cover of a song in that genre. It's not the best solution, but it's probably all I can do. :/

=> ENDING =>

Yeah, I really should've done a better ending. But, my friend wanted a song that was 3:20, and the original song ended in a similar fashion, so... Yup.

Thanks for the review in your busy schedule! :)