TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Never Backing Down]

I have attempted dubstep before as well. It's an extremely hard genre to make. Nevertheless, this turned out really well! :D I love all the structural changes, and the instruments and moods work really well together. I love the piano melody at :56! ^^ It's nice to see that there's some rhythmic variation in your melodies this time - I absolutely loved the one at 1:30. The climax into 3:13 was great, but I feel like the mixing got a little distorted there. Overall, though, it's a great, feel-good sort of piece. Those piano melodies at 4:36 are beautiful, and I love you transition into 4:50 with something so electronic-sounding! :D I love this new direction your music is taking, Matt. I've downloaded more songs by you in the past month or so than I ever had previously! :D Keep up the great work, man! ;D

Dylnmatrix responds:

Thanks man! I'm really glad you liked this. I had a lot of fun writing it (maybe too much, but that's another story) and I'm enjoying this direction that I'm taking my music as well.

I do agree that it does get a little distorted at the build, but I never noticed it while mastering with ASIO on in FL, so it's something that happened during the render. I could do a re-render, but I don't want to, I think it actually sounds good with a little distortion. But that's just me ;)

[Cat Upon A Cup]

It's not bad! This is a rather ambitious project! ;D Keep working at it, though. Improvised stuff is really hard to master. It was a little repetitive at the beginning, and I think the harmonies between 1:20 and 1:45 don't really work all that well. Might I suggest that, for at least your first few projects, you record an improvised song, solidify some structural/harmonic things outside of the studio, and then re-record it so as to avoid any clashing harmonies/repetitiveness. Overall, though, this seems like an exciting project with some real potential! I love the guitar riffs and the mood, as well as the ending. Keep at it, TeraVex and crew! ;D

TeraVex responds:

Thanks man! We'll try to do that next time we meet!

[Dream Fantasy]

Beautiful! :D I love the instruments, especially the vibes, as well as the melodies and atmosphere. I think that the vibes/bells take over the mix a little too much here and there, though, and it could've done with a little more dynamic contrast and structuring. Nevertheless, it's climactic, contemplative, moody and very pretty. I like it a lot! :D Sorry I haven't been responding to your PMs recently btw. I've had little to no time. :'( Oh...and that is one long tag! 0_o

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thanks! I'm glad you like the composition in general, although the mixing could be better :)
You are indeed right in that the vibes take over too much here and there, which is exactly what I meant in my description. The main reason is the fact that the strings and the vibe were originally recorded together, so I couldn't really mix them separately; I'm not so good at mixing in the first place XD

"... more dynamic contrast..."

=> Yup, I think you're right :p

Don't worry about the PMs :'D You already said you'd be busy, so it's no problem XD

Ps. I was genuinely curious about how long a tag can be :')

[Shucks!]

Haha, yes! :D I love the frantic melodies and harmonies with the very Southern-sounding instruments! You mastered the mood and atmosphere perfectly, and the nature FX at the beginning adds to that notion. All the effects, instruments, transitions, and structural details added an almost comical effect to the piece, especially with that ending! ;) This just makes me want to pull up my khakis to unnaturally high levels, take off my shoes, and spin around in circles in my room, completely care-free...which is an amazing feeling to achieve during my junior year of high school! XD Excellent work, though! You really just as well could master every genre on NG! :D

LunacyEcho responds:

Hi, TheDoor!

=> Southern-sounding instruments =>

To decide on instrument choice, I had to "research" bluegrass music a bit, and realized that it used mainly stringed instruments, which led to the instruments you hear: Acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, and bass.

=> comical =>

What?! There is nothing comical about the ending at all! I am insulted that you would think that there's anything humorous at all about the ending! Sheesh!

=> khakis =>

Glad to evoke new feelings! (As long as you keep your khakis to yourself.)

=> master every genre =>

Whoa, there. I'm not aiming to master everything; I'm aiming to be able to create music in every genre. There's lots of things that I'll be better at than others. I'm not going to be able to do everything perfectly, I just want to get the experience of stepping out of my comfort zone in a ton of different ways that are entertaining to an audience as well.

Thanks for the review!

[through a dark wood]

Ah, good! Nice to hear something more organic from you again! :D I love the instruments, especially the guitar, and all the grace notes really added a lot to the piece. The melodies are obviously amazing. I especially love the ones from :44 to 1:05 and from 1:40 to 2:09. It's just so beautiful; it really tugs at my emotions. I felt like you could've led into the ending a bit better (it seemed like it was a little rushed), but other than that simply amazing work. Also, 8 reviews in 24 hours isn't bad. ;D If you keep it up, I have a feeling your popularity is just going to explode. How can it not when you're posting a track as beautiful as this once a week? Congrats on 200 audio submissions, btw, and to many hundreds more! ^^

johnfn responds:

> organic

Yeah! Although of my last 5 tracks, 4 were primarily organic (I think)... it's kinda the direction I'm moving in (maybe).

> I especially love the ones from :44 to 1:05

I'm really surprised that these are getting most of the praise. See, even though I've posted 200 (WHAT?!?) songs, I still can't completely predict what people are going to say.

> I have a feeling your popularity is just going to explode

Haha yeah - but I don't know if i can get much more popular on Newgrounds, the community is pretty small :) I like it though because I get substantive feedback (from people like you!) rather than really anywhere else where people pretty much say "nice song brah check out mine" and move on, haha.

Sure, Waterflame gets maybe 2x the reviews I get, but you guys leave me much longer and more thoughtful reviews. I'd like to think I have a more literate and refined listener base.

:D :D :D

> once a week

Once a week? I submitted 3 songs this week! And I have 2 more that are practically done... *cackles insanely and returns to Ableton*

> 200

Thanks for pointing that out to me - I didn't even notice! That's amazing and also (for some indescribable reason) somewhat terrifying!

[box of secrets]

I love the mechanical effects and the haunting melodies with the (harp?). You incorporated the electronic elements very well, as usual. I'm not sure I like that heavy bass drum/percussion sound at :31 and other places, though, at least toward the beginning of the piece. It seemed very distorted and had too much reverb and created a really clashing mood with the other tranquil and pensive instruments. The tempo changes around 1:40 worked well. The melodies, as always, are amazing, and I love the transitions with the clock-ticking noise like at 2:17. All the instruments really contributed a lot to the piece, like that creepy exotic guitar that comes in at 2:57 or that sophisticated, melodic piano just 8 or so measures later. I also loved that organ at 2:40. It really added to the day-at-the-circus-gone-wrong vibe I was getting during the second half of the piece. The tempo automations at 3:30 and after were just brilliant. When I first heard it, I was a little concerned about where you were going with it, but all in all bringing back that minimalistic ominous riff at 3:51 was just genius. That transition (from 3:30 to 3:51) is probably my FAVORITE transition out of anything I've heard in 2014 (at least by you). I just loved it. That said, the ending was a little disappointing. I know you usually do fade-out, quiet, or slow endings, but I feel like the mechanical nature of this piece needs something short, distinct and staccato as a last note. Overall, though, just fantastic, fantastic work! :D Sometimes it scares me how quickly your music has tyrannically taken over my iPod. Then, when I hear tracks like this, I'm reminded: "Oh yeah, that's why!" ;D

johnfn responds:

Mwhahah! Yeah that was intended to be a music box but I actually couldn't find a decent music box vst! So I just used some crappy ableton preset thing. Though it ended up sounding really nice eh?

I ended up liking the massive drum stomp thing, though you're right, it might not go so well in the beginning where there isn't any bass...

Yeah I have been working a little more on instrument choice :) Starting to realize how important it is.

> exotic guitar

Would you believe that's still my guitar ;-)

> That transition (from 3:30 to 3:51) is probably my FAVORITE transition out of anything I've heard in 2014 (at least by you).

Hahaha yeah I was so delighted when that came together. I just took the frequency shifter that I've been using on everything to detune the accordion and it sounded awesome. Then I took a crash and progressively pitched it down a few times and it sounded like explosions. heheheh

> staccato last note

Yeah that's a much better idea then what I did.

> tyrannically taken over my iPod

MUAHAHAHAH! Thanks for the review :D

[Load]

Sorry I didn't review this earlier. My life's just so busy right now. Okay, so, anyway...uh...THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!!! I love the beat and rhythms and instruments, and the little details at the ends of phrases adds a lot to it. I love what you did with the filtering into :16. That high-pitched instrument at :31 really added to the ominous and apprehensive, yet climactic mood. I also loved that effect starting at :39 that reminded me of soap bubbles! :D Your melodies are simpler than usual, yet are cathartic and very satisfying. You led into 2:01 beautifully. The pizzicato-esque thing at 1:59 made it seem almost comical in a way! I love that effect at 2:09, too. This really lives up to the definition of big room, yet is also much more entertaining and less repetitive than Garrix or any other mainstream minimalistic crap. I love how you slowly re-introduced those melodies, and the slight variations like the little bass-y melody at 3:46 really added to it all the more. You have an excellent sense of rhythm, timing, and structure. The transitions were flawless, and overall it's just an amazing track. Now here's the tough part: the ending was extremely disappointing. It was sudden and inconclusive and just...completely unsatisfying. I wouldn't mind if you used the cliché "use-filters-to-gradually-strip-away-the-music-except-for-the-beat" method that's in every damn Deadmau5 song, but please, at least add some more reverb to smooth it out a little. I know the nature of the genre doesn't give you much leg room on this, but in the future you could also make the drums a bit more interesting. Anyway, now that that's out of the way, AMAZING JOB! :D I feel stupid for stealing half a star for that tiny little ending detail, but it REALLY stood out to me, and things can always be improved, I guess. Well, so long for now, Mr. Lockyn, and I'm extremely excited to see what else this EP has to offer! ;D

Lockyn responds:

Hey, don't even worry about it! Didn't you hear me making that excuse 24/7? ;) Seriously though, deal with life, my song's not important compared to that lol.

Thanks so much man! LOL I did not expect a comparison to Martin Garrix. Although he is definitely making BANK right now. Holyyy. I appreciate the sentiment though :D

Did I ever tell you I suck with endings D: pls halp!

Don't feel stupid about that, it was justified. I'm glad you enjoyed the track despite the downfalls, and... yeah! xD Hope you enjoy the rest when it comes out. Cheers, Door! :D