TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Old Days]

I like the catchy guitar riffs at the beginning and the rich harmonies. You’ve done a great job of capturing a nostalgic vibe between the sound design and melodies, and I like the crisp drums and subtle filtering at :40 too. The switch-up in the drum pattern at 1:05 was a welcome change, but the instrumental tracks get a bit repetitive after a while. Later in the piece, I would’ve liked to hear some novel content - a bridge in a different key, or even some variation on the main melody. That said, you nailed the mixing, sound design, atmosphere, and mood of this one. Keep at it, Fumijena! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.25/10

Fumijena responds:

thanks so much for your feedback <3 glad you liked it as it is!

[Knock Out]

I like the ominous atmosphere at the beginning and the quirky riser at :16. The vocal sample at :27 made me chuckle. The minimal texture at :28 made the previous 27 seconds feel a bit anticlimactic, and I also wasn’t a huge fan of the heavy stereo clicks and generic drums. The rhythmic content is rather enjoyable, but I would’ve liked to hear some more dynamic harmonies and a stronger sense of progression over time for most of this piece. Otherwise, the composition falls a little flat here, despite the occasional cool transition and some wise sound design choices later on (like the ghostly synth at 2:19, for example). The production quality is strong here, and the increase in the pacing of the bass line at 2:47 was another fun idea. The filtering on the basses and ghostly synths later on helped add some variety too, but overall the composition is still pretty bland. Still, the transitions, vocals, rhythmic content, and mixing all won me over here. Keep at it, EvilDemon01! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
6/10

Qilin responds:

Thank you for this great response. Really helps me to figure out what to focus on more :)

[Embyeee - The Blacklist]

I like the foreboding chords at the beginning. The bass at :13 is very heavy, although the atmosphere is nice and rich. The bare chords at :32 were a bit awkward, and the sidechain on the kick is a bit overwhelming. There are a lot of stop-start transitions in this piece that interrupt the flow a bit, but the rhythmic content and sound design at the drop at 1:07 are really neat. The atmospheric bridge at 1:33 was also a good idea, and I enjoyed the transition back into the refrain at 2:11. I would’ve liked to see you introduce a bit more novel content in the last half of this piece, though. Overall, the sound design, atmosphere, and frantic synth riffs are really cool here, but the compression is a bit much and the arrangement feels a tad disjointed in some places. Keep at it, Embyeee! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7/10

[Inevitability]

I like the piano arpeggios at the beginning and the warm string pads. The distortion at :30 was a nice touch during the build-up. The beat at :33 is pretty cool, but the instrumental tracks there are a tad bland, and the piano gets a bit lost in the mix there. I’m enjoying the additional layer of harmonies at 1:00 and the glitchy vocals at 1:27. The glitches were a good way of switching up what otherwise would’ve been a pretty generic vocoder sample - maybe some more reverb or other mixing effects could’ve further added some interest to the vocal line. The beats at 1:53 are once again refreshing, and I especially like the added dose of pitch-bending during that section. At some point in this piece, I would’ve liked to hear some more prominent melodic content, as a lot of the basis for staying engaged is in the quirky sound design and rhythms, which are delivered in a couple of relatively dragged-out drop sections with pretty uniform energy levels. By the end, the vocals also feel a bit overused, although I do appreciate the extent to which you’ve modified them. Overall, I really like the production quality, rhythmic content, sound design, and atmosphere of this piece. Some of the compositional elements could’ve used some more creativity, including the harmonic patterns and arrangement, but the experimental texture helps keep things interesting, and I appreciate the haunting lyrics - in that context, the robotic-sounding vocoder fits in rather well here. Keep at it, Eccentra! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
7.75/10

Eccentra responds:

I truly appreciate the very detailed analysis of the track! It's an eyeopener to see where I've gone wrong and now I'm enlightened to improve more on the creative aspects!

[Relentless Shortwave Attack]

I like the ominous atmosphere at the beginning. The bass sounds a bit thin and grating at :10, and only grows more distorted once the filters come off at :28. The reverb is probably part of what’s distorting the texture, but the main problem is the compression. The volume levels are seriously out of control, and there isn’t much harmonic content or variety in the sound palette to keep my interest here. The rhythmic content is good, and with some reined-in volume levels the sound design here could work quite well, but right now this is just a little too much for me, my friend. I don’t think you adequately showed off the range of your compositional skills here, although clearly you’ve already put a lot of mixing work into the drums and bass. I enjoyed the filtering work at the end with the acoustic guitar and vocals, though it sounds more like you’re transitioning into another piece there than concluding this one. Still, you integrated some other vocal samples in this piece well, and I can see how it would be more engaging with some more samples to spice up the bottom-heavy texture, like you mentioned in the description. Keep at it, Dadlur!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
4/10

[coolssh3 - Eternal Night]

I like the mellow beginning of the piece with the minimal riser and piano melody. The piano instrument itself at :05 sounds a bit dry and generic, though - pretty sure that’s a not-too-modified FL Keys. :) Either way, by :33 the texture starts coming together well, and I like the frantic percussion at :57 and the sense of build into 1:05. The arrangement is a bit all-over-the-place, with a lot of frantic solos on cheesy synths strung together in a pretty dragged-out melodic section between 1:04 and 2:09. It might be a good idea to consolidate some of the sound design a bit, instead of having the most prominent instrument in the texture be a completely new one every 30 seconds. It was also a little hard to follow the melodies after a while, as so many of them are very jumpy and have pretty complex contours. In fact, I’m going to say that the sound design isn’t the only thing that should be consolidated here - melodies and structuring too. There’s some repetition in this track, but the arrangement is pretty choppy between all the stop-start transitions and sudden instrument changes. I think you tried to do way too much with the composition of the track, and it comes across as a bit overwhelming and lacking in direction, to be frank. On the plus side, the production quality is pretty good, and you clearly have a strong sense of harmony, rhythm, and atmosphere. The individual melodies are also rather good, but taken together they don’t seem part of the same cohesive narrative. Keep at it, Coolssh3! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
6.25/10

coolssh3 responds:

Thanks for your feedback! While I'm a tad disappointed that I didn't make the cut, I'm also proud that I at least made it to Round 2. In any case, in an attempt to give my song's instrumentation more variety, it would seem that I made it a bit all-over-the-place. I for one am quite proud of it, but I see your complaints and will keep them in mind for the future. Thanks for this opportunity!

[Cruncha]

I like the quirky texture at the beginning and the upbeat brass synth melodies at :11. That pad in the background with the phasing effects is nice, too. The texture might benefit from some more atmosphere, as the drums sound a tad thin at times and many of the lead synths sound a bit dry. The solo at the bridge at 1:15 is great, though, and leads really nicely back into the brass synth melody at 1:37. The sound design, mixing, rhythmic content, melodies, and progression are all really solid here. The composition maybe could’ve used a tad more fleshing out, though, and the instruments could also probably blend together better with some more reverb and compression in choice places, especially in the first minute or so. Still, the experimental vibe and melodies here are super memorable and unique. Keep it up, ChaytonMan! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.5/10

ChaytonMan responds:

Sorry for only just now seeing this, but thank you! The criticism you gave is awesome, but the fact that you explained how to fix some of it is super helpful. I greatly appreciate how in-depth this was and hopefully I can iron out some of the wrinkles I had in this song and others in general.

[crawlspace of doom]

Neat distortion, indeed! I like the quirky mood and sound design at the beginning. The beats at around :23 are a bit grating - I think the main culprit is the crash that’s so prominent in the right ear there. The texture here is full, rich, and well-balanced, and the progression is smooth enough, but I would’ve liked to see you create a stronger sense of dynamism both within the distinct sections of this piece and across the whole piece. Right now, the intensity level waxes and wanes, but I don’t feel like the piece is leading anywhere. I think you began to accomplish that sense of direction with the guitar solo at 2:29, but its riff in turn wasn’t very dynamic. In the end, I really admire the experimental texture and the way you used the mixing effects in this piece. The composition might need a tad more variety and shape to it to really keep me invested, though. Keep at it, Aweror! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.5/10

[Uprising]

I like the high drama at the beginning and the orchestral sound design. The notes of the lead riff at :05 don’t sound quite as distinct as they could, although the more languid style to the notes fits the melody at :13 better IMO. The piece flows quite nicely, and the key and meter changes are very smooth. Overall, the mastering quality here is very good, although I wish I had heard a bit more of the flutes at :45 or so - they could’ve popped at the treble end just a tad more. The distinctive hierarchy to the texture at :57 (more strings, different rhythmic emphases than before) does a really nice job of resolving the tension present in the piece earlier. Overall, this is really impressive work, Arram! Keep it up. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10