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TaintedLogic

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I like the suspenseful mood at the beginning. Sounds ominous, too. I like the warm string sounds and the emotional appeal of the piano. The progression is nice, and the lead-in to :58 was a nice touch. The strings at :58 are panned way to the left, which I found bizarre for such a foregrounded element of the texture. The piece is starting to sound a bit more victorious at this point, but I really like when more ominous elements of the texture begin to seep back in at 1:12. Nice job once again with the transition at 1:57. The brass solo there compliments the strings quite well, and the victorious mood wins after all. I suppose I would’ve liked to hear a bit more variety in some of the main string riffs, though. Some stronger melodic content earlier in the piece would’ve also been advisable. I found the transition into 2:34 to be a bit jarring, but the atmospheric fade-out in the outro was beautiful. Overall, this is strong work. The piece comes together really well by the end, and the instrumentation and production quality are great throughout. Keep up the good work, Columbers!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
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
9/10

Columbers responds:

Haha I was 1 spot away from advancing to the finals which is kind of hilarious... oh well. Thanks for leaving the review!

I like the atmosphere at the beginning and the oscillating pads in the background. It has a vaguely ominous mood about it, and the instruments all sound pretty cold and wintery. I really like the prominent use of hi-hats at around :50. Other than that, the progression of the piece is really slow and doesn’t really feature much prominent melodic content. I think the piece is too long for the amount of harmonic content that’s here. Also, when there is a significant variation in the texture at 2:08, the transition could be much smoother. The ending sounded somewhat climactic, but the harmonic framework becomes so stagnant after a while, and there isn’t really any sort of cathartic moment in the piece. It sounds good for some sort of intermediate level in a videogame between two huge bosses or something. But as a stand-alone piece, there isn’t really enough variety or memorable content to keep me engaged. That said, the mastering quality is solid and the instrumentation is good. Keep at it, TheoryGD!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.5/2
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
6.5/10

Andethy responds:

Thanks for the feedback, man. Completely agree with the slow progression and melodic content. Will attempt to improve that in upcoming tracks. At 2:08, I updated that but must've forgotten to update to NG, oh well...

I like the airy arpeggiated synth at the beginning. Has an apprehensive mood about it. Despite the generic-sounding synth bass and dry drums, the instrumentation isn’t bad overall. Well-balanced texture and cool atmosphere. Let me cut to the chase, though: the composition is extremely underwhelming. The entire piece sounds like an intro for a 5-minute track. There just isn’t much of a strong progression here - no melodies, little structuring, no big transitory moments, etc. I think you know this, too. Seems like you just ran out of time. The content that is here is decent, but this is hardly a structurally complete piece. If you ever do finish it, please PM me. I’ll give you a proper review. Keep at it, Tansuma1!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
5.25/10

tansuma1 responds:

Thanks for your in-depth review TaintedLogic. It seems Deadlines are not my friend! Honestly I just work a lot which leaves me very little spare time to create anything coherent anymore but thank you for not saying my work is basically trash lol. I will continue to improve and one day pm you the finished thing!

Quirky synth at the beginning. I think it drags on for a bit too long, and the entry of the strings at :21 is not only sudden but also shifts the mood of the piece considerably. That said, the strings do blend pretty well with the synth at the beginning, and I like the new, warmer-sounding texture. Progression here is seriously slow, though. The transition at 1:05 also didn’t work for me. I think it would’ve been more effective if you had created a more distinct sense of build-up over the first minute of the piece. The pads totally dominate the texture during the refrain, and the re-intro at 1:50 doesn’t contribute much to the directionality of the piece imo. I really like the atmosphere at 1:58, and the percussion there is nice and crisp. There’s a serious slow-down in the pacing at 2:20, and I don’t think that downtempo section leads very logically into the final refrain at 2:52. You certainly gave the last minute or so of the piece a climactic and conclusive edge, but I think it would’ve been more effective if you had a more gradual build-up. The piece in general doesn’t have a ton of strong melodic content either, and when it does have melodic riffs (at 3:20 or so, for example), they’re a bit buried in the texture by the strong pads. Overall, I think your main priorities going forward should be the transitions, melodic content, and maybe the instrumentation. I was confused about the mood of the piece between the eerie-sounding synth at the beginning and the blissful refrains. I’ve been tough on you during this review, but I think the mixing and mastering here is quite good, and you clearly have a good sense of harmony too. Keep at it, Red65!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
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

Red65 responds:

thanks for the feedback.

//red

The intro, while a simple fade-in concept, was effective. I like the cute synths and the sweeps. The build-up beginning at :33 was a nice touch, and I enjoyed the refrain. I think there’s more room for stronger melodic content. I don’t really consider arpeggios melodic content. While the mix is really loud, it sounds both over-compressed and a tad indistinct at times. I’d suggest trying to rely more on equalizing than compression to make your mastering sound clear and well-balanced. I think the other main flaw with this piece is that there’s not a lot of variety between the first and second half. The two refrains sound very similar, and the underlying harmonic framework of the piece never really changes. That said, the ritardando at the end was a good idea. I think your composition skills are pretty strong overall, and it’s great that your mix, while not perfect, sounds so loud and full. Other than that, the instrumentation and arrangement of the piece are a tad generic. Overall, solid work with the build-ups, atmosphere, and volume levels. Keep at it, NoobGameYT!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.75/10

NoobGameYT responds:

Thank you so much, it was really fun and I can't wait to join the N G U A C next time :)

Majestic riff at the beginning. Sounds a bit thin, but once the rest of the texture fills in it’s a really nice touch in that upper register. The beat is nice and crisp, too. You clearly have a good sense of harmony and progression. The piece feels really dry, though. I think there’s a ton of potential for this piece to have a gorgeous, lush atmosphere. Everything about the sound design has a great emotional appeal, except the only thing missing was the reverb/delay effects that would’ve actually given it that atmospheric touch. Otherwise, the composition here is seriously vanilla. Very little sense of progression or growth over these 2.5 minutes. This piece is both repetitive and harmonically stagnant, unfortunately. Overall, I think with a bit more variety in the moving notes and a more generous approach to the mastering effects, this piece could be an ambient beauty with the perfect amount of punch. Right now, the composition’s just a tad underwhelming. Keep at it, KnockVoltage!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
6.25/10

KnockVoltage responds:

Thanks for the feedback

I like the organic sound at the beginning. Starting the intro off with a shaker was a good idea. You have a really nice voice. It blends really well with the low-register guitar riffs. There aren’t a lot of higher-pitched tones in the first half of the piece or so. That might be an potential area for filling out the texture a little more if appropriate. I really like the lyrics themselves too. Great use of rhyme scheme and thematic content. I like how the texture begins to pick up at 1:23. The piece really starts coming together only in the second half or so, between the energy at 1:40 and the solo at 1:49. That was a risky move compositionally, but I think it totally paid off. The result is that the track feels really repetitive and also serves as a narrative form, with the grand conclusion “you’ll get yours and I’ll get mine” only coming to light at the end. Usually, I have reservations about pieces that only have one main climax as a focal point (because they often lack dynamism otherwise), but the progression here is curated really well. My main complaints here are that the piece is pretty repetitive harmonically, and that the texture could’ve been filled out a little more early on in the piece. Still, the mix is both loud and clear, the sound design is really good, and the passion is self-evident. Super strong work here, dude2312. By all means, keep it up! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.5/10

dude2312 responds:

Oh, my! TaintedLogic, it is an honor to have such a good review by you. Thank you, I always welcome feedback with open arms. I liked the fact that you think it is passionate, I really do try to put my best to it. I am barely starting to record on my own room, I try to do my best. Once again, thank you so much.

I like the angry, staccato bass sounds. A lot of the effects here are really cool, like the twittering sound at :08. Nice rhythmic work with the hi-hats too. As for the reverb-heavy crash-equivalent at :15, I think you overdid it a bit. It just consumes the texture for the couple seconds after it comes in. The dark mood and brass hits here are pretty cool, but I think my main complaint with this piece is that it’s lacking compositionally. Far from being a structurally complete piece, it only has one engaging moment of climax with the brass melody at :46 before a hurried, lazy fade-out. Rhythmic, staccato elements dominate the texture, and the harmonic framework is not sufficiently fleshed out for my tastes. Is the track bad? Certainly not. Have you earned a scout? Yes. But I wanted to see you do a lot more with the composition here. Keep at it, Chickenizer!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
6/10

Chickenizer responds:

Hi TaintedLogic, thank you for listening and the comprehensive, constructive feedback!

Excuse Mode ON: I only had an hour to make this, and so decided that the best course of action would be to spontaneously synthesize a synthwave soundtrack cue (hence the fade-out at the end, where it would supposedly loop back should it play with some visual media like a video game).

But, excuses aside, I should have definitely worked on that one longer. And I too think that the structure is the one aspect of the track that is hurting it the most.

Also, I really don't think I should've cut so much lows on the brass. D'oh.

Still, I'm glad you found value in this – I should really call it by it's name – sketch.

I'm glad I earned my place for a scout! So if we are both scouts, tell me, when do we start selling cookies? Just kidding. :)

Cheers!

Smooth track. A little generic in its arrangement and harmonic progression, but the drops are fun and the sound design is pretty cool. Mix is super loud and clean, if a little over-compressed. There also aren't a ton of high-pitched frequencies, which leaves the balance kinda bottom-heavy. Some stuff might need a high-pass. Well-structured and smooth-flowing, though. Definitely fits a niche mood. Keep at it, Kaixo!

KaixoMusic responds:

s t o p t a k i n g t h i s t r a c k s e r i o u s l y p l e a s e xD

Hi. I'm Andrew. Audio portal junkie since 2010, supporter since 2017. I always want to improve what I do! I make music, run the NGUAC, post poetry on BBS, and am the all-time #2 audio reviewer. I love this site, and I want to make it the best I can! ^_^

Andrew Mikula @TaintedLogic

Age 27, Male

Policy Research

Bates College

Wellesley, Massachusetts

Joined on 8/16/12

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