TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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

[Aurora]

I like the beginning. It's very calm and groovy, and leaves a lot of room for contrast. That said, I didn't really enjoy the drums all that much. They were way too loud and jarring, and the calming pads that continued to play in the background made it all the more confusing. I suggest you find a more effective way of transitioning from the relaxing pads to the drum-heavy parts, at the very least. That said, you do have a good sense of rhythm with the drums and, out of context, they could've worked quite well. I think part of the problem is that the snare is quite high-pitched and harsh-sounding. If you EQ'd off some of the higher pitches and compressed it a bit, it could've worked better with the relaxing ambiance. You did a pretty good job with the harmonies in the pads, though - I'll give you that much. Sorry if this review seems pretty negative. I've been tough on you, but it does have a good deal of potential. Keep at it, Qvarcos. ;)

5/10

[Theme of MissVirus]

Hi MissVirus. Unfortunately, I don't have time to review all of the pieces you asked me to, but I will review the first one. First of all, I like the groovy and somewhat ominous mood. Reminds me of those 90s cop shows! XD There are quite a few good ideas here, and the basic harmonies compliment each other pretty well. I still think you should think about getting some better instruments. There are tons of free ones online if you can trust your computer to not come down with a virus (be careful about that!). You could also eventually make your own. The structure wasn't all that bad, but I think it's really busy a lot of time (i.e., there's just too much going on). Also, you REALLY need to work on your mixing. I'm going to assume you use FL Studio, because if you don't, I'm afraid I can't help you much. Anyway, try bringing out different pitches in some instruments more than others in the Parametric EQ (press F9 in FL Studio. Right click one of the inserts > link selected channels > to this track. An instrument should show up (it's highlighted in the Step Sequencer). Then, on the right-hand side of the window, click the drop-down arrow next to the numbered tabs, then click "Parametric EQ 2." You're welcome.) You should also get rid of all the tones below 200 hertz. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, just PM me, btw. The beats are cool, and I think a lot of the riffs are catchy and show great potential. I can personally see that you have a lot of musical talent, but you need to learn your way around the DAW a little more (better instruments, mixing, etc.). Keep working at it, MissVirus! You have my full support, and if you ever have any questions, just PM me! ;D

[Goodnight]

It's an interesting vibe at the beginning - calming, yet groovy, and maybe a touch of ominous? The harmonies aren't bad, but I'm not sure the combination of the coexisting apprehensive and calming moods works for me at the beginning. Later, though, it definitely evolves into a more upbeat and blissful song. It's simplistic, though, and I think you could do even more with the harmonies. That said, the structure is not bad, and it is rather smooth-flowing. I liked the ending, but the transition at 2:44 was a little sudden. I like the reverb on that lead, though. I think you should let the reverb do the work of transitioning for you at 2:44 instead of doing the cut-off, and then that last riff will be even more effectively calming imo. Overall, it's rather repetitive and needs a little more variation. The theme is cute, though. I can't help feeling satisfied somehow when I listen to this piece, and I think that was your goal, so good job overall. Keep it up, OriginalTAG! ;)

6.5/10

[MrO- Hurricane(Remastered)]

I like the synths and mood you established at the beginning. The groove at :31 was cool, and you definitely left a lot of room for climax. It flowed nicely, but I think you overused some of the transitions. Also, it's pretty minimalistic and repetitive. You need to harmonize more and vary your riffs more. Repeating the same riffs with different instruments does not count as variation. The beats and transitions are cool, but it needs some degree of verse-chorus sort of play-off. It also ends pretty suddenly. It has great potential with the mood and instruments and all, but you need to keep me entertained a little more. Start thinking about dynamic contrast and complex structural elements like breakdowns, bridges, etc. The mixing isn't bad, though. Also, I understand that you may not have intended for it to be very melodic, but, even so, it's more than worth it to harmonize a little more and add contrast with rhythms, dynamics, etc. Overall, it's a bit lack-luster, but with great potential. Keep up the good work, Mrobeymenow. ;)

6/10

Mrobeymenow responds:

Thanks for the help! I appreciate it. I'll definitely be using your advice with my next song. Thanks a ton!

[Skies of Corneria]

Interesting mood and structure, but those percussion samples weren't very good quality in my opinion. The hits needed some reverb and other effects to make them more effective at channeling the energy, and they were overused a lot, along with that crash sample around 1:40. I didn't like the instruments so much. A good friend of mine once told me that the quality of instruments is one of the most important things in a remix. I'm inclined to disagree, but there wasn't much else going on in this piece that was able to keep my attention, unfortunately. The transition at 1:25 (and some others) was very sudden, although I appreciate the attempt at creating more contrast. Still, I think you needed a crash there to make it more smooth-flowing (you could always move a few (or a LOT) from that one bit at 1:35 that uses them so much that it completely distorts all of the other instruments). Sorry if this seems like a bitterly negative review, but I can't exactly give you points for originality either. Please work on the transitions, mixing, and getting better quality instruments, to start. You never need limiters or compressors on the master channel, which I think may be part of your problem. You could also use some reverb to smooth out the transitions a bit. PM me if you have questions about the previous two sentences. At the very least, I'll compliment you on the harmonizing and melodies, assuming some of that was your original content. I also thought many of the percussion's rhythms were cool, but they often needed to be put in a different context or with different instruments in order to be effective. Sorry to be so negative, again, but you have potential and plenty of time. I'd like to hear some more of your original content, as it's often hard to judge someone based on a remix. If there's another piece of yours you want me to review, shoot me a PM. As for now, a strongly suggest you try to improve this piece if you can. You can only get better, and just how good you get is directly related to how good you want to get! Don't give up, MissVirus. Keep on making music, and you'll be much improved within no time! Also, you're a lot better than I was when I was 15 - believe me. ;)

4/10

TheNGVirus responds:

thank you so much! i get what you're saying about some parts, but i'm not really getting some other parts. i'll PM you about it. also i'll PM you for other songs that need reviews

[Inner Dialog]

I like the ominous mood and distorted drums. It could've progressed faster imo, and it was a bit minimalistic, but nonetheless you kept my attention until it started to pick up around 1:30. It has a very apprehensive mood to it which I like. The structure is interesting. The combination of the mechanical-sounding drums and the very emotional piano and pads actually works hauntingly well. I love the sense of climax throughout the piece, but for the sake of keep the listener's attention, I think you could've done a lot more to heighten the contrast. I think it needs a huge, riveting solo during the last minute or so that just hits it home, y'know? Otherwise, it kind of is just a repetitive ambient track that would be good for the background of a videogame...which, now that I think about it, isn't bad at all! Still, this piece showed a lot of potential with the beautiful instruments and ominous theme, yet it didn't really capitalize on that to its fullest extent. Also, the ending was a little sudden. Some more structuring and dynamic contrast would've helped this piece a LOT. Still, this is solid work. Keep at it, Lexahergon! ;D

7.5/10

LexRodent responds:

Great feedback and useful suggestions man.
This song was made originally as an experiment to add music to a movie scene. That explains some things about this piece's "nature" , I'll try to implement some of this ideas to improve.