TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[Sunday Dues & Blues (Acapella)]

Really good. I'm impressed with your ability to enunciate these words, even though you're saying them really fast. I also like the flow and content of the lyrics. Good use of pacing, too. At :56 for example, you say "I get depressed sometimes" in a really drawn-out voice, which I thought was fitting. You should try adding a beat! I'd love to see this as part of a more complete piece. Keep up the good work, man! ;)

Cyberdevil responds:

Yeah that'd be cool, just seems like whenever I record these days the fastest way as acapella. :) I think I am getting better at the enunciation too, or getting better at choosing words that are possible to enunciate with pace, it used to be harder. Thanks for the great review!

[AIM - Nostalgia goggles]

---Official AIM review---

I like the gradual swell at the beginning into :06, as well as the blissful rock-VGM hybrid that follows. You have a lot of cute melodic riffs in here, like at :30. The song is well-structured and smooth-flowing, and has nice distinct emotional heights at 1:00, 1:50, and a couple other places. The energetic solo at 2:10 was a great way of adding a more frantic-sounding bridge to the overall smooth tone of the piece. You overuse the hi-hats a tad at around 3:10. Still, that’s probably my only notable complaint. Also that the sound effect at the beginning was a bit cheesy. And maybe there are a couple cliché chord progressions in there, but you still have a lot of variety with the progression so that it's hard to pick up on. Overall fantastic work. Mastering is very strong. Sound design is awesome. Just a piece that’s very hard not to like. Keep it up, 8-bitheroes!

9.75/10

8-bitheroes responds:

Hey Taintedlogic, wasnt expecting a review yet! You made some good points. Thanks for taking the time, much appreciated.

[A.I.M. - Don't Look Down]

---Official AIM review---

I like the ghostly riff at the beginning. Good use of pacing and empty space during the first 30 seconds. The progression is a tad slow, but the piece has a good sense of climax into 1:01. The drums at 1:01 are okay, but I think there’s some sort of perc or hi-hat in the drum pattern that’s a bit out-of-place. It sounds like it has a lot of treble, which was a bit jarring given the tranquil mood of the rest of the piece. My main problem with the piece, however, is that the composition is simply quite weak. Minimalism characterizes the vast majority of the piece, and the distorted growls that start fading in at around the 2-minute mark don’t add much. The piece has little in the way of strong melodic content, and overall is quite repetitive and lacks engagement after a while. I don’t see any obvious problems with the mastering, though, besides the fact that the mix was pretty quiet. The piece’s slow descent into distorted chaos towards the end was pretty enjoyable, but it also didn’t really accompany any sort of meaningful conclusion to the thematic elements of the piece. Overall, nice work with the atmosphere, mood, and production quality. Composition is really something to focus on going forward for you. Keep at it, JAXXN!

5.5/10

JAXXN responds:

Thanks for leaving constructive criticism, I really appreciate it! It's sadly not that often that I get actual criticism from people like you, so I'm always glad when I get it. I am aware of the problems I had with the track and I had the same thoughts in my head while I was making it. I tried fixing the issues but I couldn't really think of what to do with it. But, there's always next year!

[AIM - Jagged]

---Official AIM review---

I like the minimalist beat at the beginning. The vocals are not a highlight for me. They sound like they weren’t really customized to fit the song very well. The rest of the sound design is quite fitting and provides a somewhat ominous atmosphere, which I appreciate. I also think the vocals don’t fit into the rhythmic framework of the piece very well. That said, I do like the way the intonation of the vocals fits the contour of the subtle melodic riff at 2:01. Overall, the composition does indeed give off an experimental vibe. I think you could’ve done more to vary the energy levels and dynamics a bit, though. The piece also gets a bit structurally repetitive after a while. Overall, the atmosphere and mood are my favorite elements of the piece. Composition was weak, and the vocals sound stale. Another highlight was the production quality, though. I have no complaints with the mixing and mastering. Keep at it, Kalviter!

7/10

Kalviter responds:

Thanks for your feedback! Definitely agree with the choppiness of the vocals, wasn't sure if cleaning it up too much would make it less "unsettling"? Either way, really helpful feedback, thanks very much

[XITI Album Preview]

Love the thick texture at the beginning and the crisp beats at :17. It's a little slow to develop, but I appreciated the change in energy levels at about :45. Really clean mix here. The busy synth riff that comes in at around the 1-minute mark is a nice touch too. I really like the gradual build into 1:48. I can tell where the breaks between the songs are, but overall this mix is pretty flowing and well-connected, which I appreciate. I especially like the sound design on the drum samples and rhythmic details around 3:15. The atmosphere in all of these tracks is amazing, btw. I've known you're an atmosphere wiz ever since "Scazon," but this is top-tier stuff. You also bring in the minimalist club stuff in due time, like at 4:30. Bass is rockin' at 4:45, and I love the pulsing vibe at 5:40. All in all, sounds like an amazing album with quite a diversity of sound, even if it hardly strays from your distinct style.

Where are you releasing the album? Bandcamp? I'll certainly check out the final product. Keep up the great work, man. ;)

SynchroSpectre responds:

Thanks dude! I wanted to do something that Sorrow did with his "The Twelve" EP Preview mix (it's about 4 mins long). I thought that was a pretty cool way to show off an album rather than playing with faders like in my old ENSC preview mix. I think I did pretty bad with this "mix" lmao, I was just using FL 20's new arrangement feature where I can rearrange the tracks in the same project file. I was just EQing some of the tracks to make the tracks sound like each other. The tracks here were just rearranged for this preview mix and won't sound like this in the final product. And yea, it'll be on Bandcamp.

I do have a taste for higher quality production (ironic because of my trash music back then); I have a bunch of other projects for this album or in general that was rejected just because they weren't up to standard. I always try to practice new things and try to get my mixing and mastering skills to pro standard. Though, I barely had time to do any of that; I'm always so busy with work and school.

[Kavez - Constant]

So sorry for the slow response, man! Read your PM on my phone then forgot about it once I got home.

The clap sounds less harsh, but still has a bit too much reverb. Instruments blend pretty well overall, but I think the clap sample itself doesn't vibe well with the rest of the piece. It's generic, and also plays at the downtempo parts where it sounds out-of-place with the relaxed texture overall. Piece is pretty well structured and smooth-flowing, though. I like the addition of the melodic content, but overall it was very mellow. You seem to only have it at the breakdown and outro. I think it would help add some emotion and variety to this piece if you had a climactic post-chorus or something featuring some of the same melodic ideas but with a more energetic context. Maybe I'm just being picky now, though. Overall, I think this piece is a lot better, and I'm sorry again that it took me so long to remember to review it.

Keep up the good work, man! ^^

SlyFrost responds:

No worries about the late response! Also, I really don't mind you being picky... it helps me out!

After listening to the track a few times I did notice that the clap was kinda out of place. I didn't really think the reverb was something that needed to be adjusted but it's probably just me. My melodies are generally trash. They always sound wrong and somewhat unoriginal. Once I get the full version (which should've been a few days ago but... wasn't) I'll be working on my melodies a bunch.

Thanks! Once I get the full version I'll be working on stuff a lot more and will be sure to take your responses on board.