TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Avalanche!]

I like the ominous sitar at the beginning and the mini-buildup into :18. The oom-pah rhythm of the harmony at :18 was really fun. Melodies are strong too. Some of the instruments are a bit cheesy, but it also sets the scene for a video game or short animation really well. The mix is strong and well-balanced. Part of me wanted some more prominent percussion in the piece. Feels like most of the top-end is hi-hats right now. That said, the composition of the piece makes up for that with its narrative structure and constant sense of ebb and flow. Nice work! ^_^

Possibly responds:

Thanks very much for the review. The thing at the beginning is a hammered dulcimer, the closest I had to a Cimbalom, which is featured in Klezmer music, which the guy wanted me to reference. Thanks again!

[Oncoming Storm]

I really, really....REALLY should've checked out your music earlier. I'm impressed. I liked the pensive mood and atmosphere at the beginning. The background distorted whoosh noises were a bit too in-your-face for my taste at the very beginning, but that's a tiny detail. The progression is also a little slow towards the beginning, but I'm loving the cinematic vibe by around the 1-minute mark. The grainy, static-y synth bass there doesn't add a lot to the texture. I guess I wanted it to be replaced with something that was a bit more polished, like a round sub-bass or something. I'd also like to see the bell-like melodies at around 1:45 come out a bit more. The production is probably my favorite part of the piece, but I think the sound design is quite pleasing overall (despite my issues with a couple of choices). The piece really comes together by the end with the quirky mood and staccato-y riffs in the upper-mids. Nice work! Atmosphere at the end was a great touch too. Keep up the good work, Adrean! ^_^

ADR3-N responds:

I want to be completely upfront about this piece and just say I had no idea what I was doing, haha. New PC, new SFX, had to redesign my FX library since I lost a lot of what I did have, and I've never done a piece quite like this... like ever.

I think you're probably right. I was thinking of taking those whooshes down about .5 dB -- although they're actually wind and rain samples, singing dunes in the key of the song.

1:00 I was considering taking that bass down and applying some silky flange-y FX but I thought the song needed some grit. Perhaps I could have given it more life with another sidechain input in fabfilter C2 or lowpass/LFO play there. I find that subby basses take up a lot of space in the mix -- like those kicks and bass drops -- the former is hard to manage alongside a fat bass.

Yeah, that synth bell thing probably could come up a bit -- it's actually the second to last melody I wrote; I appended it to the end as well as sort of a tie on. Like at 2:21 through 2:32, lots of Eric Whitacre influence there. Probably should have brought both up by about 1-2 dB.

Production wise, mixed at -6 dB with the volume on like 10% before I touched the master. I wish I had EQ'ed out a lot of the sub pre-compression. Each track has a multiband compressor on it in lieu of an EQ to keep a more natural frequency range.

Also, thank Quarl for pestering me to bother with atmos, haha.

Thanks for the review! Lemme know if you have a piece you want looked at. :)

[MDK - Press Start (Froej & Trickshot Remix)]

Good to see it ended up on the site! I like the sound design at the beginning. Sounds very cutesy, with retro VGM vibes. Catchy rhythmic work at :34, too. The pacing is nice, and I like the build-up into 1:09. The chord progression and arrangement of the piece are a bit cliche, but the production is pretty strong. The mix is loud, but not overly compressed. I think you could've done a tad more with the drums in the piece, but I like the filtering work at 2:03. The distorted guitar chords at 2:20 were a bit off-putting, but that's the only sound design choice that actively bothered me in the piece. It's well-structured and smooth-flowing too. Might've been a tad dragged-out with the lead-in to the final refrain at 3:12, but overall I liked the composition a lot too. Nice work guys! Gl in the remix contest. ^_^

Froej responds:

thanks for your feedback :)

[Sea of Love Tears 「恋水の海」]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. The gradual fade-in could’ve been more creative, but the sound design is absolutely gorgeous. The emotional appeal of the piano riff at :35 is great. The climax into 1:02 is nice. I think the low percussion there could’ve sounded a lot more distinct in the mix, and the piano at 1:19 sounds strangely dry. The string cut-off at 1:28 is a bit sudden, although I did thoroughly enjoy the lush breakdown section. You’re great at creating textures and giving shape to a piece within phrases. I would’ve liked to hear a bit more variety in the refrain the second time around, but overall the piece comes together well. Strong effort all around, Tennon. My complaints are minimal, and I think the sound design and atmosphere are particularly enjoyable here. Congratulations on all your hard work over the course of the competition! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
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
9.25/10

Tennon responds:

TL’s review never lacks any detail

[illbefine]

I like the jazzy chords and the mellow beats at the beginning. I really like the vocals, including the lyrics themselves. Sometimes, I think the vocals could be compressed a little more, just to put them a little more up-front in the mix. Occasionally, your voice tails off a bit toward the end of the phrase. The cute melodies at the post-choruses are simple, but still enjoyable. I think my biggest problem with the piece is that the composition feels pretty safe. The texture was pretty minimal in places, and I think you could’ve gone a lot further to create a sense of release and resolve with some of these post-chorus sections. At the very least, varying the melody slightly between 1:20 and 3:06 would probably be advisable. You also overuse the crashes/hats, like at 1:20. Overall, though, this is a catchy and fun track with a strong production quality and cool sound design. Keep at it, Icantpronouncethis!

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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.75/10

icantpronouncethis responds:

Because this was my first attempt at using "normal" vocals, I kinda wanted to make it a bit simple, but I did learned a lot in the process. The part that still gets me is the compression. I know the gist of it, but I'm not sure how to use it effectively. So many knobs. Plus, there so many use of it, Limiter, Sidechain Compression, etc. Any tricks and tips to practice or learn more about compression?
and thank you so much for your input. It was a lot of fun being in this competition.

[To The Clouds]

I like the tranquil mood at the beginning and the atmosphere. The busier string riff at :16 is great, and the progression of this is really nice despite a sudden transition or two (:31, for example). I also found :46 to be a rather unexpected harmonic shift. At times, the spacious strings and bell-like instruments can be simply mesmerizing, and the vocals at 1:25 only amplify this effect. I think my biggest complaint with the piece is that it feels really disjointed. There are a lot of transitory moments in a short time, especially during the first couple of minutes, and sometimes you seem to take a Band-aid-like approach to bridging these gaps. For example, the not-too-subtle modulation at 1:40 is smoothed over only by a crash. That said, I’m really enjoying the mounting sense of apprehension by 2:20. The percussion at around 3:30 sounds really cool, and the piece comes together well by the end. I was a little confused by the entrance of the horn at 4:07. I guess I don’t usually regard introducing new melodic instruments that late in a piece as advisable. I understand that you used the same instrument earlier, albeit in a much different context. I know that it’s a tiny detail, but I still found the 4:07 entrance to be a tad jarring. Miniscule compositional complaints aside, I thought the production here was absolutely fantastic. The only thing that I would dare criticize about that is that I thought the strings on the downbeats were a bit too strong at 3:20. Still, you’ve made a really strong effort yet again, Jordi. The atmosphere is gorgeous. The sound design is beautiful. The melodic content is inspiring. Great work! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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?)
1/1
Composite score
9.5/10

etherealwinds responds:

Hey hey TL!
Thank you for taking the time to review my track. I always appreciate that! Because I was taking the piece in so many different directions, I wanted to scatter the transitions appropriately enough to highlight the changes, switching it up from orchestral transitions and electronic swooshes. This piece definitely goes a lot more places than my tracks generally would, but that was sort of my intention with this - I was having a lot of fun exploring what I could do using orchestral elements. That said, I'm excited to keep working with orchestra in the future to make less explorative pieces and solid structural pieces.

I'm not super sure I personally agree with the brass being a confusing new element in the piece, at least for me. It was quite present at 1:12 near the beginning of the piece and again at 2:49 quite heavily to change the tone of the piece. I'm feeling really inspired to go back to the piece though (which I will do) thanks to so many wonderful suggestions and perhaps the brass will make more sense in the piece when everything else comes together! Fun fact: this is actually the first time (I think) that I've ever used brass in any track of mine.

Really happy you liked my piece for the final and I'm defintely glad I entered this year!

[Sugar High]

The atmospheric flair at the beginning is nice. The gradual fade-in approach to the beginning could’ve been more creative, but by the time the beat comes in at :28 the piece has a great, warm sound design and soothing melodic elements. There’s a lot of blending and mastering effects, though. I wish the individual lines were a tad more distinct during the refrain. I like the downtempo section at 1:22. The entire piece is really smooth-flowing and well-structured. I’m tempted to say that you could stand to cut out some of the reverb here, but the atmospheric quality of the piece is pretty nice. Mixing is solid overall, but I wanted the kick and snare to be sharper at times, like at 2:12, especially the kick. The texture has a good balance of staccato-y and more legato sounds, although is leaning towards staccato-y at times. Sometimes, the pace of the piece seems pretty fast. There’s certainly enough repetition in the harmonic framework and melodic content of the piece, but I wish you had fleshed out certain sections a bit more. The fade-out ending also didn’t come off well. I feel as though you were struggling with how to conclude the piece. Overall, the sound design is good, but be careful not to overuse Nexus. Part of the problem with the reverb might be with how generously Nexus ladles it on. I’d highly recommend getting rid of Nexus’s built-in reverb and adding your own later (if you haven’t done so already). The blissful melodies, mood, and atmosphere of the piece really help sell it in the end, and everything comes together really nicely during that final refrain. Keep up the good work, Colin! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

ColinMuir responds:

Thank you as always TL. I liked the things you said. I felt the end should just live on, but that was probably a lazy thing to do as you stated haha. :)

[Forever Jazz]

I like the fun piano riffs at the beginning and the fast pace of the harmonic progression. The ornaments on the melodies are a bit excessive at times, and make the melodies a tad hard-to-follow, especially at :22. The saxophone solo at :19 is great otherwise, though, and I love how you scaled back the texture for the guitar solo at :40. The rhythmic elements at 1:10 are great. At times, I found myself wishing the drums were a tad louder, though, especially during the first third of the piece. This piece showcases your talents for harmony and progression really well. Any given transition never feels abrupt, but the plethora of transitory moments throughout the piece (and corresponding huge variety of different textures) can feel a bit jarring. I think my biggest complaint with this piece is that I wish there was some sort of refrain to tie this piece together more, even if it only came in at the beginning and end. That said, the production quality here is really strong, and the variety of textures also function to give this piece a lot of structural variety (with both moments of relative minimalism and flourishing emotional heights). Personally, I think this is your strongest piece of the competition. The track really starts coming together with the slower tempo around the 2-minute mark. You can just hear the victorious mood in the brass stabs (and see the dramatic leg kicks of the cabaret’s cast) at that point. Congratulations on all your fantastic work this year, AzulJazz! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
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
9.5/10

AzulJazz responds:

thank you so much friend

[Dragon Slayer]

I like the spacey pads at the beginning. The progression is a tad slow, but I like the bright mood and reverb. The transition at :38 could’ve been a bit more gradual, but I appreciate the thick texture and victorious-sounding melodies there. The part at :58 was great for some structure variety, although (again) I would’ve liked to hear a less abrupt transition. At 1:38, I think the harmonic progression makes that transition a bit jarring. My ear was expecting you to resolve a half-step up like at 1:18, but instead you stayed on that F# for the downbeat. I could go on to critique other transitions, but I won’t. One thing I really like about the piece is that the production is super clean. There’s a lot of reverb in the texture, but it serves to fill out the texture during moments of minimalism. When the texture is thicker at the refrains, the drums are crisp and the instruments are well-balanced. The solo at 2:36 is when the piece really starts coming together in my mind, having finally broken away from the A-B-A-B cycle set up in the first half of the piece. The tempo change at 3:18 actually comes off rather well. The change in the rhythmic emphasis between the drums and melodies actually made it sound like a meter change too. I like how you brought the piece back full-circle towards the end with the main melody and rich vocal pads, but I think the tempo change at 3:58 could’ve been executed a tad more smoothly. The re-imagining of the theme at 4:40 was fun, and doesn’t really detract from the piece as a whole. Overall, excellent work with the melodic content, mixing and mastering, and overarching structural qualities. You might want to think more carefully about the transitions, harmonic progression at times, and textural fill. Overall, though, my complaints are minimal here. Keep up the good work, 350teric! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

350teric responds:

Thank you man! You're on point with the review on all parts. In contrast to my composition from the knock-out round (where all of the comments were like - "great stuff but I was expecting that"), I tried to be a bit more surprising with structure of the song and the sudden rhythm changes and ruff transitions, but one can never make people happy. The main thing is I had tons of fun with this song in particular (with that "epic" metal stuff) and the contest as well! :)

[The People's Daring Ones]

Sound design is creative. The progression is a tad slow at times, and by the 1-minute mark or so I was itching for some more moving notes. I like the rhythmic eccentricities, although personally the mix is a little wide for my tastes. There's a great sense of climax, and a pretty well-balanced texture given the lack of melodic content. Production is strong otherwise, and the loop is clean. I guess it doesn't really satisfy my compositional needs, but it sounds great for an edgy movie soundtrack or experimental concept album. Solid work, I0ta!

zybor responds:

Thank you for dropping by, TL :)

Have a good weekend!