TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Lai's Theme]

"I find it hard making songs with minimal instruments." --> *bursts out laughing*

Dude, "Windows" and this piece are both amazingly beautiful. You have such an excellent sense of progression, and you really tell a story with your work. I love that, especially in classical music. Did you improvise this? The melodies are just stunning. It has a good sense of climax, as well as emotion. I especially liked the ending. It was very conclusive, and really served to tie together the themes of the piece as I see them. Best of luck with your visual novel project, and thanks so much for doing NGADM again! Keep it up, man! ;D

Step responds:

Hey man, what an encouraging review! Thanks!

""I find it hard making songs with minimal instruments." --> *bursts out laughing*

Dude, "Windows" and this piece are both amazingly beautiful. You have such an excellent sense of progression, and you really tell a story with your work. I love that, especially in classical music."

Funnily enough I actually think that Windows' progression is a little wacky (especially how a string melody comes in almost out of nowhere) although I'm fairly content with the progression in this piece. And hey, whether these minimal-instrument songs are good or not, I still have a hard time making them haha.

"Did you improvise this? The melodies are just stunning. It has a good sense of climax, as well as emotion."

I didn't improvise any of this but I did play most of it live on my MIDI keyboard, and the melody itself was born out of improvisation on the piano in the end. Fun fact, the accompaniment progression at 1:09 was an idea I had created from improvising years ago. I tried to make a song out of it but never got anywhere. Years later, I experiment and play it behind the melody in this track and what do you know, it fits perfectly!

"I especially liked the ending. It was very conclusive, and really served to tie together the themes of the piece as I see them."

Yeah that's exactly what I was going for! If you noticed the thematic reference of 2:07 played at the very end then please have a cookie because I FELT SO CLEVER AFTER ENDING IT LIKE THAT.

"Best of luck with your visual novel project, and thanks so much for doing NGADM again! Keep it up, man! ;D"

The NGADM is my pleasure. I was a bit torn on whether to make another one since I have a lot of music projects I've committed to (including the visual novel of course!) but Echo and I agreed that we couldn't pass up another NGADM after going for six years straight haha.

Thanks a million for the great review mate.

[Ambushed]

I love the combination of the gritty synths and ominous strings at the beginning. The quirky percussion adds a lot too. The structure could've been a little more interesting imo, and I would've liked it to progress a little faster at times. Overall, though, I love the epic brass/string/synth combo. It's a fun piece. Maybe could've used a little more melodic development and a little less repetition. Idk if you intended for it to loop, but it does loop quite well. Also, it sounds a little muddy after around :38. You know you should drag all the tones below 200 hz down in the Parametric EQ (except for in the bass and kick), right? If you have questions don't hesitate to PM me. Anyway, overall nice work! Keep it up, Larry! ;D

larrynachos responds:

Ah, I got lazy and used maximus and fruity compressor, because parametric wasn't working for me. I'll play around with the project some more. Yeah, everything kinda clutters up after the 40 second mark, but I'm terrible at mixing, so all of my songs have that XD thanks!

[Bloody Tears Remix]

This is pretty good. I like the synths and melodies. Might need a little more dynamic contrast and structuring, though, just to add some variety. You've got the crashes down, but have you tried sweeps? I think you're using crashes here more to keep up the energy, but they're also very useful for transitions. Learning to make sweeps was probably one of the most useful things I learned how to do in FL Studio. ;) Also, I personally think fade-out endings are a little boring. Still, with all the complex harmonies going on, I think you could stand to work on the mixing a bit. The harmonies also seemed a little too loud at times. Mixing could help make them clearer so you don't have to make them as loud! :) Keep at it, man! I'm looking forward to hearing some of your more original work. ;D

[denial]

I love the ominous strings and synths - you were always so good at combining the two. It's very melancholy and emotional. You did a nice job with dynamic contrast, too: lot of ups and downs in this one. I love the piano arpeggios that start around 1:55. You had a good amount of reverb and balance in the mix in this one too. The drums at 2:35 sort of threw me off guard a bit. Perhaps you could've had a sweep leading up to them, at least? However, I like the direction the piece started taking after 3:00, and those glitches and harsher-sounding synths after 3:30 really added an interesting vibe to the piece. It's half-chill, half-anxiety-inducing. It's like you can feel the monster trying to escape from the closet for a minute or two, then it's back to the relaxing vibe at 4:15. I love it! :D Instantly fav'd! You started "writing good music" years ago, Johnfn! Keep it up, and best of luck in the NGADM 2014! :D

johnfn responds:

Thanks! I don't know why it took me so long to respond to this review, but I appreciate it nonetheless!

I guess the real monster is... our own emotions :O :O

[Adventure of Battles]

Hi Electronic-Headphone. Thanks again for your patience. My schedule has finally cleared up, but please understand that I won't be able to review every single piece of yours. Maybe 1 or 2 per week at the most. Anyway, I think you overdid the "crashes" a bit early in the piece. You needed some more notes in there, man. It can't just be all effects. The beat at :56 was cool. I also liked the drop at 1:10, even if dubstep isn't really my favorite genre. I think you still need something to transition in between sections of your piece a little more. I recall you telling me that you play the drums - has your instructor talked to you about how to shape a phrase (with drums or otherwise) in order to connect different parts of the song? I think you could've done that a bit more in this piece, perhaps by adding a different snare sample shortly before 1:10 or something. You're a smart kid. Why don't you listen to some of your favorite songs and try to focus on how they transition into, say, a chorus? Anyway, the rest of your piece from there was a little repetitive, but not bad. I think you're improving pretty quickly, and I'm looking forward to hearing some more of your work. Keep it up, man! ;D

Electronic-Headphone responds:

Thank you.

[Aurora]

Dude, I haven't listened to your stuff for a while now! :D I love that melody synth and the spacey vibe to this piece. The "woops" that started coming in after around :30 were cool, too. Maybe it progresses a little slowly at times, but that's all right. I guess house is supposed to be that way, huh? Once all the harmonies started coming in, though, I think it turned into a really cool piece. The one thing that was kind of bothering me was the ending. Fade-outs are boring and not that creative imo. Also, working on the mixing a bit might be an important next step for you. The kick got a little weak/muddy late in the track once all the harmonies started coming in. Other than that, not much to complain about! Keep it up, man! ;D

DjGubkafish responds:

Thank you . I'll keep the advice in mind .

[Countdown]

I really like the sort of drone-like and pensive quality the first minute or so of this one had. It also was pretty climactic and all with the harmonies that started coming in around 1:43. Your pieces don't really have a lot of dynamic contrast in them, but that might be easier to fix once you start incorporating more instruments into your tracks. I really like the whole "countdown" idea, though...I thought that was pretty creative. May I ask what program you use to make/record these tracks? ;)

oOzeroOo responds:

Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts! Hopefully, you're right about the instruments cuz I feel really nervous about using them (>m<") I record using Garageband, though I'm a total dunce when it comes to trying to go beyond the basics :P

[Alive]

Awesome! I love the emotion and instruments and melodies with the electric pianos and synths. It's very trance-like and pretty, but also complex and pensive. It loops perfectly, btw. I think you could extend this a bit, maybe add some dynamic contrast and structuring, and have an excellent NGADM audition piece already! :D Keep up the great work, RetromanOMG! ;D

[A sacrifice]

I love the piano at the beginning. It's very emotional and moody. Very climactic and catchy as well. I love the sort of stop-start beat at :36. The melodies are awesome, as always, the mix is very clear. The structure and transitions were good. I especially liked the one at 2:23 with the two staccato synth notes. :3 The only thing I would dare change is adding a final chord at the very end, just to make it feel a bit more conclusive. Other than that, it's a rock-solid piece. I can tell you put a lot of work into this one, BO. It's one of your best tracks imo. Great job! :'D

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the review!
I'm glad you liked it that much. I thought about adding a final chord at the end, but then I realized it would be a contradiction to the song's mood.

[The Devil's Outside]

Wow! This is great! :D The sound effects were awesome, and you really established an exhilarating plot well. I admire your voice acting talents. Nice work! ;)

headphoamz responds:

Thanks very much ^_^