TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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

[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 ^_^

[Misguided Passion]

Oooo....it's very graceful and classy-sounding. Makes me think of a ballroom in 18th century England. XD It's very hard for me to determine the structure or even time-signature at times, though. It's very flow-y, as opposed to transitional. In other words, the title fits well, although at times it is a bit...all-over-the-place. Sorry if I'm not expressing this well. Just got back from an 8-hour shift at work. It doesn't seriously detract from my enjoyment from the piece, but I think it would be a good idea to add a little more dynamic contrast or transitional material, just to keep the listener grounded. I think you're a FANTASTIC pianist, btw. Was this improvised? I've always admired your improvisation skills, LSD. Anyway, nice work again! ;) You've been a frequent contributor to the classical playlist on my iPod recently. 0_O

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hey, thanks for leaving a review right after working for so long!

I don't even know the time signature myself if I don't think about it XD
I agree with you about the flowiness. Almost everything is connected, with the exception of parts like 1:25 and so on :p
This is all over the place indeed, which brings me to the question of whether this was improvised or not. It's not improvised, but yet, it kind of is, which may explain the lack of the transitional aspect. What I mean is, this piece was created by inventing a part, improvising until I got a good idea, and I just kept playing the piece from start to wherever I was 100+ times (during about 3 days), until I had a finished piece, stuck in my muscle memory. Thus, most parts were initially improvised, even if I play them exactly the same now ;)
Some segments had more thought behind them though.
Btw, I could NEVER improvise this well in one take :D

"just to keep the listener grounded"

=> The good thing about a constant flow is, you will sometimes teach people how to fly ;)

No but seriously... That's actually how some forms of hypnosis works, and you enter a trance-like state while listening to music too :'D

"I think you're a FANTASTIC pianist"

=> Thanks once more! I did edit out some mistakes though >:D

Yay, frequent contribution ftw!!!
I'll probably begin uploading old stuff while I'm away, so this might be the last piece of somewhat high quality for a while. Still, I have like 20 or so songs at least that can still take uploading while I'm gone :p

[I See Magic]

Yeah, you're a really good singer. :) The vocal stuff is cool, but some instruments could potentially add a lot to your pieces. I also personally liked the lyrics to the last one a bit better. I also think that it's really similar stylistically to your last piece with the "doo-dahs." It's always a good idea to explore new genres and moods. I think that's why artists like Waterflame have been so popular here - they're constantly trying new things and reforming their styles. It sounds good, though, but maybe it needs a bit more development/structuring/dynamic contrast. I could picture it as background music for a car commercial. XD Anyway, keep it up, oOzeroOo! ;D

oOzeroOo responds:

I completely agree with you that I should start adding instruments and such, but I'm kinda lacking in skill as of now ^.^". Honestly, this wasn't that serious of a piece for me, and I didn't really spend as much time trying to make it sound as good or as unique as it could've been. You definitely caught me on that one >o<.
Thanks so much for the feedback!

[Eargasm]

First of all, I like the synths and beat. I think you did a good job with the mixing this time, but this track is a little simplistic. Mixing will get harder once you have more instruments in your tracks. I'd suggest you try challenging yourself to mixing with some more complex harmonies in the near future. You can also try experimenting with Fruity Reeverb, Delay, Echo, etc. I think this track could've used a more interesting structure/progression, but it loops cleanly and has potential to be a really cool piece. Keep working at it, ROUGE! ;D You're doing well. ^^

ROUGE responds:

Thanks :D

[Cornered Mix]

Okay, here we go. So, I like the melodies, harmonies, instruments and everything, but the mix just gets way too distorted and seriously detracts from my enjoyment of the piece. I'm assuming you use FL Studio because I do as well and I can help you the most if you do. I have a couple of theories about what's going on with this piece that can I can help you improve.

First of all, press F9 in FL Studio. The window that just came up is called a mixer. If you click on the "master" tab, there will probably be a box on the right side of the window that says "Fruity Limiter." Please click on the arrow next to that box, and then click "none." You NEVER want there to be a limiter on the master channel. EVER.

My other theory for why this piece is so distorted is that you actually don't have a limiter in there at all, but instead just didn't lower the volume levels. You should do this too, even after you get rid of the limiter. First, you need to link your instruments to channels in the mixer. Make sure that you have highlighted an instrument in the Step Sequencer (that's the window where you make all your patterns) and right click on a mixer tab (start with "Insert 1"). Then press "link selected channels > to this track." Do this for each instrument until they all have their own mixer tabs. Then, you have to lower the volume levels on each tab (the big sliding square knob below the inserts). In this particular piece, I would suggest lowering the volume level of the bass A LOT. You should lower the volume levels until the Peak Meter (top center of your screen) never turns red when you're playing your piece.

Another great thing you can do to limit distortion is called Equalizing, or EQ'ing, for short. I won't delve too deep into this now, as it's pretty complicated, but I will give you one basic tip which should really help you out. In each mixer tab (that is, for each instrument you have), click on the arrow next to the box that says "1," on the right-hand side of the mixer window. Then scroll down to "Parametric EQ 2." You can experiment with this more on your own or consult YouTube tutorials on how to use it best. For now, though, a little will go a long way: drag the knobs below 200 Hz (there's a scale at the bottom of the EQ window) all the way down to zero for EVERY instrument EXCEPT the bass and kick. Okay...hope all this helped. ^^

Anyway, I can't exactly give you points for originality either. Sorry. Mixing is tough, buddy, but it'll come in time. Keep working at it, man! ;)

ROUGE responds:

Thank you for the feedback, i never tried mixing before as it all seems way too complicated but i will remember these & implement them in my next peice, thank you :)

[the escape]

I love the spacious, pensive, beautiful beginning. It even seemed a little too far spaced-out after :45 or so. I think the transition into 1:13 could've been a little less drawn-out too. It progresses pretty slowly for the first 3 minutes or so. I did enjoy that bass that came in at 2:04, though. The instruments are beautiful, especially the strings. The tempo change at around 2:40 was effectively, but I suppose I would've liked to see the climax into the next part be a little more creative. 3:40 was a high point - very catchy and cool. Good job there. You actually bridged the gap between classical and chiptune really well here. I like the post-chorus at 4:25 a lot too. The part at 5:25 worked really well for creating some more dynamic contrast. Up to that point, the second half of the piece was a little repetitive, too. I liked the ending a lot, though. It really seemed to tie up some loose ends in the piece. Overall, you did a good job. I was tough on you in this review. Keep up the great work, Johnfn! ;D

johnfn responds:

Yes I did kind of do a buildup-by-numbers, didn't I? :P On a relisten that's probably the biggest flaw with this piece. I agree the beginning is a bit slow too, I never really know how to develop the classical sections of pieces really. I just write a bunch of sections and join them together... WITH SILENCE.

Anyway I'm glad you liked it YA JERK.

[forgotten]

Very contemplative and pretty. I think you should make classical music more often, Johnfn! :D It's climactic, yet also very soothing. You really tell a story with this one. You did a good job with dynamic contrast as well as melodic development. I think the breakdown at 1:43 is my favorite part. It does have a sad tone, doesn't it? The emotion is overwhelming at times. Excellent, excellent work. The "stumbly" vibe only adds to the emotion imo. I also really admire your improvisation skills. This piece definitely deserves a full 5 seconds of silence at the end, and NOT a brusque cut-off, thank you. >_< Other than that, I think it's as paralyzingly beautiful as "Snowy Night." My iPod's Classical Playlist NEEDS this, Johnfn! Thank you, and keep up the amazing work! :D

johnfn responds:

Thanks! My ultimate goal of sorts is to get emotions like these to come through with my more electro pieces, but you have a point - why even bother making it work when the piano stuff comes much easier?? :P I dunno.

I too like the 'breakdown' hehe I felt like that was a particularly original idea I had. Also I initially uploaded a cutoff version but then I cursed Ableton and rerendered. JUST FOR YOU!