TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Save the Nebula]

I like the melody at the beginning. It's sorrowful and serene. It progresses rather slowly, and is rather simple harmonically. I like the cinematic vibe the strings gave it later on, but I think you have some balance issues. The piano and strings were too loud - they both completely overshadowed the synths. I think the dramatic mood is what really draws me to this piece, though. At 3:45, the strings cut off a little suddenly. I'd probably let the reverb do the work as you transition into that melancholy synth melody. Also, the ending kind of cuts off in an odd place. I don't know if you intended to fade this out or what, but it doesn't seem very conclusive. I'd try adding some tempo automations and ritardando-ing your way back to the tonal center, if you know what I mean. ;) Overall, it's not bad. Again, the mood is what really stands out to me in this piece. I like the instruments, and it's well-structured and smooth-flowing for the most part. Good job, and thanks a ton for offering to make forum sigs for the winners. I just realized that would be really awkward if you won, lol. ;)

6.5/10

DESHIEL responds:

lol you are right... I would be forced to replace my own SIG! :( I didn't think about that lol.

About the issues you had with my track. Sometimes I am aware of them & sometimes I'm not.
See I love music and making music, but I never studied it anywhere rather than listening to it.
So I didn't recieve any tutelage on how to give a music track its hands and legs. But I'm geting better. :)

[Sunshine(Remaster)]

I like the mood at the beginning, as well as the instruments. The first 30 seconds were slightly disorienting. It's basically 3 build-ups in a row, at 0:00, 0:04, and 0:20, one in front of the other, which I found really bizarre. I think the mixing and mastering are pretty good, though, but it's very minimalistic for most of the piece. I liked the vocals - you did a good job there - and between 2:04 and 2:48 is the main section of the piece that does much harmonizing at all. It's catchy and cool, and the lyrics are pretty good, if a little cliché. I thought it was very long-winded and repetitive. This didn't need to be 6 minutes long, maybe 3 or 3.5 tops. I actually like big room house more than a lot of other people, but I think it's relatively easy to make compared to many other forms of EDM. I would've liked to see you take a bigger risk with the piece you chose to audition with, but at the same time I can't exactly take off points for that. It is catchy, well-mastered, and very danceable, but it doesn't really keep my attention very well for the whole 6 minutes. Sorry if this review seems so negative. It isn't that bad at all. I'll tell you right now that you're worthy of being in the All-Stars group, and I wish you the best of luck with your future tracks. Keep at it, man! ;D

8/10

[Asylum]

I love the mood at the beginning. It's creepy and even apprehensive, yet also has a strange brightness and beauty to it. I loved it when the strings came in and made everything more cinematic. The structure was very well-done, and while it was very well-varied, it wasn't the most coherent piece I've heard for this competition. I love the sense of direction and climax you have going on throughout the piece though. Epic is an overused term, but I have few other words to describe the piece as a whole. You did an excellent job with the mixing and balance, and I absolutely love the woodwind solo around 2:45 onward. It's simply breathtakingly beautiful. Makes me think of the huge, sweeping images of the Great Plains they have on those big-budget documentaries about nature. Just beautiful instruments, moods, etc. The ending could've been more conclusive imo. I think you should've tried to add a more energetic section toward the end as a way of wrapping it up, but perhaps that's only a personal preference. NOW I know why you've been an NGADM judge for these past couple of years. You clearly know what you're doing - more than that, in fact! ^^ Well, I think it's safe to say that you stand a very good chance in this competition. Bravo, sir Bassfiddlejones, bravo!

9.75/10

bassfiddlejones responds:

Thank you so much for the kind words and taking the time to leave such a thorough review. I hope to do well and will give it my all!

[Tom Fulpatron]

This is extremely creative and amusing. I love the 8-bit, videogame feel. The glitchy, robotic sound effects added a ton to it as well. I love the lyrics - they're extremely creative, and the mix is very full, but still good and not TOO busy! You also provide a good deal of structural relief with the minimalism at 1:03. It's catchy, cool, coherent, and overall very entertaining. I see no issues with the balance of volume levels or the mixing, and it's very smooth-flowing and well-structured. I think some of the effects are a bit high-pitched and harsh-sounding, but I think you were going for that gritty effect, which admittedly works quite well with the theme of the piece. Also, the vocals sounded a bit whiny at times, but I'll admit that, again, the unpolished nature of them seemed quite fitting with the theme. Overall, excellent work! Pieces like this are easy to review! ;D

9.5/10

[~Echo~ My World (Club Mix WIP)]

I love the mood and simplicity. The climax into :45 was great, and then I love how you used the reverb to transition into the next bit. That hi-hat sample was great - so crisp and precise, and the mix in general was very clear. I liked how it progressed and how you gradually began incorporating more melodic elements. The beat was really catchy and, again, those hats added a lot to it. It's very relaxing and enjoyable. I have two little complaints: 1. You dragged out the ending a bit too much, and 2. I thought the ending was a little lazy. The fade-out was fitting in a way, don't get me wrong, but it just wasn't as creative as it could've been IMO. Overall, though, fantastic work! Not only am I giving you a 9.5 out of 10 for this in the competition, but I'm also fav'ing this. And I rarely instantly favorite anything. ;)

9.5/10

[Medoly]

The mood and instruments at the beginning were cool. You definitely left a lot of room for climax there! ;) :45 was the peak of the climax, as you can imagine. That bass at around 1:10 and on sounds very gritty and distorted. Maybe that's what you were going for, but I thought it couldn't hurt to clean it up a little bit. The part at 1:52 was quite jarring, disorienting, and just had too much going on. The silence at 2:18 didn't really serve as an effective transition. The bass is too loud at 2:45, even if it's pretty much the only thing going on. I want you to think more about balance. You can get an angry mood across without turning up the volume levels all the time. The piece was well-varied (maybe even too much so, as I would've found some more coherence re-orienting). I liked the melody at 4:43 but, again, the bass was way too loud. It was a long-winded piece overall. I liked the ending, and I do like the lead and drums, but the bass could've used some compressing and EQ'ing. The bass shouldn't really carry as much as it did - I would try getting rid of some of those higher-pitched tones there. I like a lot of the riffs, though, as well as the overall structure, but I think some more effective transitions would've greatly helped that structure. I've been tough on you in this review - it's really not that bad. While it is long, it's good to experiment with a lot of different ideas, which I see you doing in this piece. Keep at it, man! ;)

6/10

Voltus responds:

Thanks for the in depth Review. This was intended to be a fairly standard edm tune at least soundwise. So naturally I would use highly distorted bass sounds with a lot of high frequencys. Also this is Drum and Bass so I put a lot of effort in making the bass sounds stand out and carry the overall tune as it is kind of their purpose in this genre in my opinion ;) No harm done in giving it a "bad/tough" score. I see your points but I can justify for myself why I did certain things and I just think we would disagree on principle there.

Thanks again for the review and good luck for the underdogs contest! ;)

[Sundans - Total Hedonsim]

I love the synths and swells/sweeps and atmosphere. It's very punchy and energetic, catchy and intense. I think you have some balance issues. The melody at around 2:00 was a little too loud, and I think you need to do a lot with the mixer as far as compressing/limiting some stuff. It's pretty harsh-sounding and penetrating at times. Maybe that's what you were going for, but I think you can still clean it up a lot. That said, all the effects and breaks were very well done. Complextro is a hard genre to make and master, and you're 80% of the way there. The vocals at around 2:30 added a lot to the piece, btw, and I love the ominous mood throughout. Good job overall! I personally think this is a stand-out piece among dance tracks I've reviewed for this competition. ;) Keep it up, man! ^^

8.5/10

Sundans responds:

Absolutely! Thank you for the review. :) I definitely think that mixing and mastering needs a lot of improvement -- though this track is one of my older ones. I was still grasping the concept of compression and limiting at the time -- and am still learning about that now. However, I think I've come a long way in my more recent tracks, especially in terms of clarity and mixing levels. But thank you for the critiques! It means a lot :)

-Mike

[Suffering Caffeine Nightmare]

I love the ominous mood, and the reverb/delay effects really help to support that mood. The harmonies were good, and the instruments also enjoyably contributed to the mood. It is a little repetitive, but I can vividly imagine this as background music to a montage of a person slowly getting addicted to caffeine. I love music that puts vivid imagery into my head! That one synth melody that comes in at :13 also reminds me of a creepy carnival! XD The distorted drums and contrastingly light piano really add to the mood. You have an excellent sense of harmony and progression. It also loops quite well. You may be in the Underdog group, but there are clearly some advanced compositional qualities here. The fact that you disclose the key in the description already tells me that you know a lot about music, and the reverb, delay, and solid mixing quality tells me that you know your way around your DAW as well. Excellent work. Also, you have just enough structural relief in here (i.e., 1:44) to give this a very pleasing progression and flow, too. Keep up the great work, Stapless! I have a feeling we're going to be hearing some more pieces from you for this competition. ;D

9.25/10

Stapless responds:

Thank you for your review it helps a lot :)

[Time Transcendence]

I like the guitar at the beginning and how it was accompanied by the ambient pads. The balance there was very well done: the pads were just quiet enough to be hauntingly effective! I can imagine a travelling minstrel staying at an inn deep in the wild west (or maybe Scotland, lol). It progressed a little slowly until 2:00, though, at which there was a notable change of pace. It's simplicity and beauty compliment each other wonderfully. This would be perfect for a video game, and I know exactly what this game would be about! I love pieces that can do that! The mood and instruments are fantastic and work very well together. It's well-structured and smooth-flowing, and I was quite pleased with the amount of variation and melodic development as well. Great work, Sovarozum! You have an excellent chance in this competition IMO. Keep it up! ^^

9.5/10

Sovarozum responds:

Thanks! I'm glad you like it. I appreciate the feedback and I'm really happy that you made a story for what you interpreted. That's why I love doing this. Thank you again :D

[Blade]

I love the ominous mood at the beginning, and the instruments helped it to that end. It seemed spacey and atmospheric, but the beat fell flat a little bit if you ask me. Try adding some more reverb to that clap. I think the bass is way too loud when it comes in, but I did enjoy the synth melodies around 1:10 and onward. They also contributed to the ominous mood. I can imagine this being in a game that takes place in space. It had a good amount of coherence (and also variation) until 2:39. That transition was sudden and not really effective. Try incorporating that bit a little more gradually. I liked the ending itself, but I think you don't need to stop the beat and melodies at 2:39 in order to make that transition effective. Instead, it was a bit disorienting. Try using filters to fade that cowbell in gradually. It's easier on the ears and the mind - trust me. In the context of the whole piece, though, that's not even that big of a deal. It's a creative and entertaining piece, SoTJake. The balance and the transitions were the only two major issues. Keep at it, man! ;D

6.5/10