TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[TruGames - Piece]

Really gritty and distorted texture at the beginning. It's hard to make out the changes in notes, in fact. There's a vague sense of climax into :50 when the drums come in, but there's such a lack of distinction in the texture that the directionality of the piece up to that point is pretty meaningless. Your sense of harmony and structure are actually pretty good. The problem is that the instrumentation is cliché at best (especially with the drums), and simply way too harsh-sounding at worst. Sound design was just a bit too experimental for my tastes here. The composition could also use a bit more depth. The rhythmic aspects of the melody sounded especially square. At the very least, a lack of clarity in the mix is not a problem. Your drums sound crisp, and all the other instruments are loud and well-balanced. Again, the harmonic work is solid. Hope you found this helpful. Keep at it, man!

WingedHarmony responds:

Thank you so much for the feedback! I'll make sure to not let everything be so harsh in the future, as this was exactly how you described the sound design; experimental. I'm just trying to find what I work best with is all. And again, thank you so much for the feedback. I'll take everything you said into consideration. :D

[With Gun & Crucifix]

You just keep hitting home run after home run, my friend. The rhythmic work with the strings is really catchy, yet also makes the piece feel really accessible. Seamless transitions between the brass melodies, vocal credos, and prominent string sections. Even in a rather energetic piece, you still fit a breakdown in there at 1:50 that has a nice call-and-response substructure. Super tight production again. Yeah, I'm going to need to check out more than what you've posted on NG this year. Where can I buy your music, man?

Keep up the great work!

Danman87 responds:

Thanks so much man, really happy you enjoyed it! I currently got one album out, which is called "The First Five Years". It's available on most of the large music portals, but admittedly fairly old by now, which is why I'm planning to have another two out this year. One being a commercial video game OST, and the second one a trailer album that will feature this track. :)

[Thunderdome]

Wow. Never thought I'd see you on this site again. I don't think I was even here for your original run, but I remember the Stick War soundtrack being one of my main motivations for joining this site myself.

Anyway, I love the dramatic mood and crisp percussion. The vocals are great. Sound design in general is killer, and I think your mastering has improved quite a bit since I last listened to your music regularly. This is a piece that really tells a story. Really full texture and nice use of structural variety too. The vocals sound really wet and thick, like this was performed in a concert hall. Excellent music. Amazing amount of emotion and dynamic contrast. Welcome back, Dan!

Danman87 responds:

Haha yes, I remember that pretty much the majority of audio artists here had their music in Stick War! They even aquired a commercial license for their mobile game a few years back!

Thanks so much for the review! Really glad you liked the track! And yes, I've learned quite a lot in terms of mastering over the years, something that I used to consider one of my weak spots. :)

[Love the Night]

Very quiet beginning. ._. Really maximizes the emotional appeal. Sounds like solitude amidst a winter storm. Melodic content is beautiful. There's so much dynamic contrast, and the rhythmic work at 1:30 or so is really nice. The descending line at around 2:00 really got me too. Love the shifting moods at 2:15. Piece really tells a story. Flowing and beautiful as normal. I especially like the part between 3:30-4:00. Sounds like hurried footsteps muffled by the snow. In all honesty, the part after 4:15 seemed quite unnecessary. You never quite arrived at a satisfying cadence after that - why not end the piece on a climactic note? Still, one of my favorite compositions of yours in quite a while. Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip to Iceland! Keep up the great work. ^_^

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hi there!
I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for all the visual imagery!

I'm not sure from your review if it was clear, but this piece is an improvisation. Maybe I should've been clearer in the description :D
The part after 4:15 is my favorite part, so I have to disagree with that xD

I feel like modern music listeners have become somewhat of addicts to climaxes, drops, and endings that end in the expected way or expected note. Seemigly to the point, where they find it more difficult to enjoy the more intricate and surprising aspects of music. That's part of why I love improvisations, as they tend to be way more free than formulaic compositiions!

Thanks for reviewing ^____^

[Sequence.]

I like the atmosphere and the synths. Drums are creative. I think the mix could be a tad louder and more compressed. Piece is really drone-like. It'd be nice if there was a little more shape to the texture (build-up/breakdown kind of stuff). Melodic content as I see it is also pretty simplistic in this one. I think this piece deserves a really spacey solo at some point. Also, you start to overuse the vocals after a while. Piece feels really repetitive by around 1:30. Overall, pretty solid work though. Relaxing, feel-good piece. Keep at it, man!

Svenzo responds:

I see,thanks for the review

[AIM - Electric Nectar]

---Official AIM review---

I like the subtle fade-in at the beginning and the crisp beat that comes in at around :10. Really catchy piece. The transition at :30 could’ve been stronger. The drum fill there that serves as a transition is really subtle. Bringing it out more could help make that moment of the sudden heavy guitar entrance a little less jarring for the listener. I also thought the drums could’ve been stronger once the texture gets a little busier. Some more compression could really go a long way there. The melodic content at :59 is really good, though. This piece has a really interesting structure, but an odd drone-like quality. I think you need to work on smoothing over your transitions as a priority. One thing I really like about this piece is that it feels really dynamic given the loosely related solo sections, yet underlying the texture is a repetitive riff that still makes the piece feel cohesive. Really creative way of finding a balance between repetition and variety there. I didn’t think that fade-out ending added much to the piece, though; made it a bit underwhelming. The melodic content, atmosphere, and structuring go a long way with this one. Strong work overall!

8.25/10

VortexVisionz responds:

Thanks so much for your review! I truly appreciate it. I'm with you on everything you picked out with the song, I'll be sure to keep this in mind for my future uploads! Cheers

[Felix Zophar - Puddles]

I like the emotional appeal at the beginning and the cute melody. The piece is pretty minimal, but also very relaxing and tranquil. Very straight-forward structure, but also pretty effective. I wish the piece came back full-circle a bit more, though. The pace and textural fill really slows down after a while, and instead of functioning as a breakdown it just kinda becomes less engaging. Certainly couldn't hurt to add another "A-section" or something, maybe with some more variety. Great job with the mood and melodic content, though. Overall pretty cool stuff.

FelixZophar responds:

I'm trying to write chill melodies and stuff like that. I'm trying not to write as much "hyper" stuff, like house.

[[RE:unravel]]

Ooo...very different than the previous version. I like the more pensive intro and the revamped sound design. Progression is a little slower this time. The drop at 1:08 was good, but needed a bit of a stronger build-up in my opinion. I certainly recognize the chord progression and a couple other instrumental details from the older version, but otherwise you've changed up a lot of things compositionally. The piano breakdown at 2:04 might've needed a smoother transition, but I really like the emotional appeal of the vocals that come in shortly thereafter. One thing that's certainly not different between the two versions is the production quality. Nice job with the mixing and mastering all around! Overall, there's a lot more variety in this one, whereas the older version had a concision and fast pace that was really appealing. I guess it was more like a radio edit; this is the album version. ;) Nice work on both of them, though!

ItsAlmagestFR responds:

Thank You! I love how you noticed the difference between the mastering and mixing! Yes, it is quite different cuz me and Corpse Party usually work through Skype (Not F2F), but when we produce this edition, The group is actually is on my country for a vacation and working on some brand new stuff for their very first album! (Corpse Party is a Dubstep Trio from Greek, we met on some occasion and found out have a same sense of music style)

[The Funky Friend]

Cute piece. A little simplistic and repetitive, but I can tell you have a good sense of harmony and progression. You should try making a more full-length track, maybe with some more complex synths. I'd also like to see you do more with the drums - right now the beat kinda lacks variety. Overall, though, definitely not bad for a quick loop. You earned a scout, my friend. ;)

DustifiedGD responds:

Thanks for leaving a review! This song I really only made for the melody, not really the beat, but it definitely needs improvement. I made it a loop and not a full-length track because it was repetitive by the way.

[Reverie {Dj-Abbic}]

I like the warm atmosphere at the beginning and the breathy vox at :30. Sense of climax into :59 is nice too. The piece is a little slow to develop, but I really like the cathartic feel of 1:30. The piece could use a tad more bass, though. Even the mid-range pads have a lot of higher frequencies. Well-structured and flowing piece. Nice sound design and composition too, overall. Keep up the good work, DjAbbic!

DjAbbic responds:

Glad you like it. I had trouble mixing this one because I've had to use a substitute for my dead headphones sadly, hopefully it doesn't sound too bad.

Thanks for the feedback!