TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[EXTENDED] Mountains of Ethnia and Rebuilded Auroras]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. The soulful guitar pairs well with the oscillating bass drone. The percussion sample that comes in at :31 sounds good, but I think the pacing of the piece could've been a lot faster there. The atmosphere fades away completely there, and I think that ruined the flow a bit. The piece develops a brighter mood in time, which was nice in its own way. All of a sudden, the percussion sounds more danceable than intimidating. :) I guess my main complaint with the piece is that, especially during the latter 3.5 minutes or so, the only way the texture changes is by the addition/subtraction of instruments. There are certainly some awesome riffs and melodies, like the brass at 2:56. But the piece also didn't really fully capitalize on its potential for phrasing and structural "ebb and flow," which is particularly notable because the beginning part of the piece had so much of that compositional aspect. That said, I've been really tough on you so far. I love the sound design and the blissful mood of the piece. The production is quite strong. The only minor mixing/balance issue I noticed was that the main western-sounding guitar seemed to be struggling for attention in the mix at the final climax (~4:30-5:00). Overall, though, super fun piece. Keep up the good work, AlbeGian! ^_^

Albe responds:

Thank you TL for the feedback! Gonna keep it in mind for next time

[The Garden of Eden]

I love the atmosphere at the beginning. Feels very evocative of nature between the instrumentation and sound effects. The production is strong too. The mix is loud and clear, and everything blends together so well. The piece takes a while to develop, but I thought the re-intro at :46 actually functioned quite well for the piece as a whole. I certainly see how Xtrullor influenced you, too. The transition at 1:32 was a bit sudden, but the atmospheric elements of the piece after that were really spectacular. I love how this piece has such an ebb and flow of energy and texture. The incorporation of the more energetic electronic elements at 1:46 could've been more subtle/gradual. I think that's actually my main complaint here. The orchestral elements clearly function as more than just an intro here, and therefore the drop really does sound like a completely different piece. The close proximity to the second drop was also a bit jarring given the pacing earlier in the piece. I'd almost be tempted to juggle around the structure to move the first drop earlier and leave more orchestral elements for a bridge in the middle. That said, I enjoyed the piece overall, but especially the orchestral parts. You have a great sense of atmosphere and progression. I look forward to hearing what you produce for this next round. Keep it up, Tennon! ^_^

Tennon responds:

Wow I didn't even see this review. I pretty much agree on everything you said here. I will do my best to avoid these mistakes in the future!

[Miston Music - Miston's Arcade Medley]

I like the cutesy mood at the beginning and the sound design. Sounds a little generic at first, and I think the transitions between a lot of the various sections could be smoother, especially :29, 1:48, and 2:10. The production quality is quite enjoyable, though. The lively drums and well-balanced frequencies do a lot for the piece. Obviously, the structure of the piece doesn't sound too cohesive, but at the very least the sound design and rhythmic components of the piece were threaded through the piece as a whole. I also really like the sound effect at 2:54. Cute and fun piece! Keep it up, Miston. :)

Miston responds:

thanks. :)

[Should Have Stayed Home, Should Have Stayed Out Of Trouble]

I like the phasing at the beginning. The sudden punctures of the pads at the beginning contrasts nicely with the airy atmosphere of :15. Reverb on the clap felt a bit excessive, but also contributed to the atmosphere in its own way. I especially like when, later on, you interchange the drier clap and wet one. The progression is pretty slow here, but I like the soothing mood and sound design. The production quality is also good. The transition at 1:45 felt very gradual, yet the sharp attack at 1:56 still felt heavy and jarring in a way (but I think that's what you were going for). You clearly have a great sense of harmony and progression, though. The piece just takes a long time to develop. There isn't a lot of prominent melodic content in this piece, and I would've liked to see a more creative ending than a fade-out. That said, I like how the texture erodes away in a subtle way before the transition at 3:52. The sound design and atmosphere have really sold this piece. Keep up the good work, RedSoul92! ^_^

RedSoul92 responds:

It's definitely a main idea that drags around for 5 minutes, the absence of a lead melody is intentional to give the ambience a bigger role. The fade-out may have been caused by a lack of structure in the ending.
I will keep it up, thnxs!

[Asher Postman - Going to the Sun (ft. Annelisa Franklin) AtRysk Remix]

I like the chill atmosphere and vocals at the beginning. Mastering is rather strong too. Nice sense of build-up into 1:12. The drop there was nice too - good pacing especially. The somewhat generic instrumentation and arrangement detract from the piece a bit, though. That said, you’re clearly a talented producer. Everything sounds clean, loud, and distinct in the mix. There’s the perfect amount of reverb, and the drums are crisp and clear. Very feel-good sort of piece. Well-structured and flowy too.

Sorry we had to disqualify you. I hope there are no hard feelings. It's a good track, but it simply doesn't fit our criteria for originality (and maybe not the site's either).

Good luck with your future projects, man.

AtRysk responds:

No hard feelings. Thanks for the feedback!

[Cutting Corners]

The reverse crash at the beginning felt a bit forceful compared with the calming mood of the rest of the piece. Beautiful sound design and melodies, though, even if the piano melody sounded a tad square rhythmically. I like the ongoing sense of directionality in the texture until 1:06. The stop-start transition has a nice sense of drama about it, but I still thought it was a bit abrupt. Nice work with the progression otherwise. You know how to give the composition of your tracks an ebb and flow really well. The final climactic section at around 2:35 is super great. I think the lower string line could've come through the mix a little clearer at 2:40, but otherwise I didn't notice any huge problems with the mastering here. My biggest compositional complaint is that there's a lot of transitory/build-up content without much cathartic/emotional height content. Perhaps that's merely typical of cinematic tracks, though. Overall really strong work here! You really sold the drama with this one. Good luck in the ADM, AceMantra. ^_^

AceMantra responds:

Thanks for the input and kind words, TL! I totally agree with all of your points. I meant to make the transitions a little smoother, but I ran out of time as usual. But it's finished and that's what matters.

Thanks again, and good luck to you as well. :)

[stardust [NGADM Round 1]]

I like the chill mood at the beginning and the sharp snaps on the off-beats for the first 30 seconds or so. The balance seems a bit off to me, though. The chord progression/bass are really heavy, and the melodic content doesn't really shine through the mix that well during the refrain. Then, the breakdown at :59 comes on really suddenly. A subtle filter doesn't really cut it as a transition in my eyes. I like the more gradual sense of climax into the next refrain, though. Overall, the production quality is really strong here, and the mix has a lot of top end that sounds really good (those crisp hi-hats, soaring synth arpeggios, etc.). The sudden transitions, lack of originality in the composition, and balance issues just detract from my enjoyment of all these positive elements, unfortunately. And then the outro sounded pretty ominous, which didn't really fit the character of the rest of the piece imo. Overall, I'd say that you're clearly a talented producer, but I can tell that the piece is rushed. Good luck in the ADM, though! Keep at it, N1NJA-Official. :^)

N1NJA-Official responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, I didn't really have a single cohesive idea throughout, coupled with stress to finish and cpu issues with playback from too much layering. A lot of the fine details were glossed over like you mentioned.

[Quixotic (Original Mix)]

I like the mysterious intro, and the hard-hitting texture at :17 predicates the rest of the piece quite well. The mastering is so loud and punchy - truly a treat. The piece takes a little while to develop, but at the drop at 1:31 it feels really climactic and cathartic. The vocal samples are a bit overused after a while, but this piece maintains a great punchiness and drive. I would've liked to hear some more harmonic depth at times, although I commend you for keeping things interesting with the tempo automation at 2:30. The structural variety at 2:53 was quite welcome. I like that jittery bass synth at 3:28 a lot. After a time, the sound design has so much variety (and the piece is so long) that it lost an element of cohesion imo. The last 20 seconds or so have a lot of jarring changes in the texture too, and I don't think they did a great job of wrapping up the piece. I'd rather see you try to consolidate some of your ideas and expand on them, rather than spread the thematic content of this piece too thin with a lot of fleeting riffs and ideas. Still, the production, sound design, and atmosphere are all impressive. Keep at it, Kaixo!

KaixoMusic responds:

Thanks for the review :D

[Condensation]

Cool FX at the beginning. I love the rich atmosphere and sense of climax into :15. I wasn't a huge fan of the percussion sample that was playing at the off-beats at :15. Something about the timbre just didn't seem to fit the rest of the piece. That said, the production quality is strong, and the refrain at :48 feels nice and cathartic. Nice work with the slap bass, too - it's a really fun addition to the texture, especially when it has that mini-solo at 1:03. The synth entrance at 1:30 (and a couple other places) sounds a tad harsh. Might need some more filtering or volume adjustments. The piece really starts coming together by around 2:20, though. The melodic content there just expands on the other motifs of the piece so well. The stop-start transition at 2:47 wasn't my favorite. It just didn't seem to match the smooth-flowing vibe of the rest of the piece very well. That said, the dreamy outro was a plus. Overall, nice work! I love the atmosphere and sound design here. Good luck in the ADM. ;)

ColinMuir responds:

Thank you TL, for always giving such real reviews :)

[Melt]

I like the ominous swell at the beginning and the relaxed atmosphere. The drums sound nice and crisp, and the E-piano is gorgeous and spacey. I think the drums sound a tad dry, though. They could use some reverb. The sound design really starts coming together by around 1:10, but there’s a lot of distortion in the texture at that point. The melodic content at 1:20 is really cool with the pitch-bending. The instrumentation here is also really cool. My main complaint is that the piece isn’t really structurally complete. I think you needed to flesh out the composition more before the piece really came together as a stand-alone track. That said, the atmosphere, melodic content, and automations are all huge pluses. Keep at it, YHTFLKC!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
7.75/10

YHTFLKC responds:

Thank you very much.