TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Manifest Chaos]

Wow! I love the engaging mood and killer melodies, especially the horns at :35. The texture is a little overwhelming at the beginning, though. I think you would’ve been well-advised to have a bit more of a proper intro in there. The suddenly thin texture at :55, as well as the rushed ending, really didn’t help sell this piece IMO. I think you need to flesh out the structure a lot more here. Instead of overwhelming the listener with a lot of different ideas jammed together in succession, I’d suggest introducing them at a slower pace to keep your listener grounded in a more cohesive structure. I know I’ve said these things before to you, but at this stage of the competition they’re really noticeable. I have a challenge for you: make a piece that you think sounds repetitive and slow-paced. Barring overcorrection, I think that’ll help get you where you need to be. I still enjoyed your piece very much, though. I like your style a lot: it’s engaging, dramatic, and well-orchestrated. Keep at it, CloakedSoup! ^^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

CloakedSoup responds:

Thanks for the review once again! I'll probably be taking a little break from NG to work on some 'concert' style music; (i.e. stuff to be played by live musicians), so I may not post new music on here for at least a month or two, but I'll be sure to look at that for my next piece I wrote for here! Hell I may just go out and write a Hans Zimmer-esque minimalist piece. Who knows?

[-Mainspring-]

I really like the atmosphere towards the beginning. The breaks at around :30 threw me off a bit, but the progression and rhythmic elements are really interesting. The sound design is really cool in this one. I especially like the melodies at around 2:05. The pacing of the piece feels a little slower than usual for you, and sometimes it can even be pretty minimalistic (around 3:30, for instance). I love the retro-sounding vocal samples and the melodic content, though. Really cool piece overall. The structure feels a bit disjointed, although it comes together pretty well by the end. Keep it up! ;)

Waterflame responds:

Thank you :) Glad to hear it!

[Geoplex - Chimera]

I like the smooth, trance-ish vibe at the beginning. Sound design is very warm and airy, and the melodic content is great too. Nice sense of climax into :57. The drop was certainly engaging, but not overly heavy. The first drop also provides a good segue to the heavier drop that follows at around 1:20. As always, the production quality is really strong. I think you might've needed a stronger transition into 2:41, though, and I also thought the drum part could've been more creative. The atmospheric part at 3:20 (and the melodic section at 3:35) was probably my favorite section of the track. It just had a very soothing and refreshing sound design. Even with the drop later on in the piece, the piece maintains its blissful character, and the outro at 5:15 was good for adding a little more emotional appeal. Fantastic work overall! Insta-fave and download. Keep up the good work, man! ;)

Geoplex responds:

Thanks man! Really appreciate the detailed feedback :) I don't disagree about the transition at 2:41, while it feels fine to me it was definitely something i was thinking might be problematic while making this :p

[Psybot - Enhanced]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the atmospheric ornaments. The first minute or so is a little generic, and the beat could use a little more creativity. I liked it better after the synths started to fade in at :50 or so. The melodic content at 1:00 is enjoyable, and the tranquil section at 1:35 was really smooth and pretty. I wasn't a huge fan of your clap sample - sounded a bit cliché - but you did a good job of transition back into the melodic section at 2:45. One of the strongest elements of the piece is the mastering, though - everything blends really well, and sounds clear and crisp in the mix. The piece comes together really well with the final melodies at 4:05. I think the composition here is a fair bit stronger than the last piece I reviewed. Keep up the good work, Psybot! ^^

Psybot responds:

Wow! Thanks alot for the review! I think I went for the cliche style because I wanted to get a better grip on the mastering of the song. Hopefully I will get a better touch of my own style at the next project. I love these reviews! I would really love to hear what you think of my next piece. :)

[NGADM 2017 Quarterfinals Podcast]

Aha! Instantly recognized Finn's piece from last round. The vocals got a little distracting, though. I think it would've been best to ask him to send you a version without the vocals. Thanks again for the shout-out, haha. Well-produced podcast, though. Good balance between the music and talking, despite the distracting vocals. The other piece that pops in at about 4:40 was also a good fit for the podcast. Also, tiny detail: I suspect McGorilla is pronounced "emcee gorilla," but I'm not entirely sure. I'd certainly be curious to see @McGorilla42 clarify this. Regardless, happy to see these podcasts live on! Looking forward to the next round of pieces. ^^

ChronoNomad responds:

Aw, yeah! Well, this continues to be a rather spur of the moment thing, and getting it all nailed down in a single sitting is my goal. That said, just sitting and waiting for a response, let alone any actual music just isn't my style.

Interestingly enough, my initial thought was actually to use Battle Born by bassfiddlejones & joshgawaldomusic, mostly because it has a really nice Audio Deathmatch vibe, but since that's not even available for download and I don't feel like waiting for goodness knows how long for a possible green-light, I figured I'd just move ahead with another amazing track that actually WAS available!

So I took Finn's Lavender Air Balloon track and relegated the volume to what I believe is a very doable 20%. While I know just what you're saying about the vocals being a bit distracting, hey--maybe it will inspire people to listen more than once to get the full effect! Nothing wrong with that.

Oh, and regarding the pronunciation of McGorilla42, I asked him about that over Discord a while back. Rather surprisingly, it's not actually "emcee," which gives him something of an edge when there are already so many folks named MC this and DJ that in the Audio Portal. Fun little factoid.

Thanks again for listening, and I really appreciate your feedback! I personally feel that this is my best podcast yet, but finding that elusive "perfect balance" between talk and music is an ongoing journey. Also really happy to hear that you enjoyed my little podcast filler jam and found it to be a good fit.

Viva la Podcast!

[Invisible Magic]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning, and the chimes were a nice touch. The soothing vibe and warm texture are both huge boons. I think the pacing is a little slow, and you may have overdone the reverb on the vocals a tad. I commend you for avoiding 4/4 time. I think you could’ve done a better job of leading into the section at 1:45. The sudden injection of energy there needed some priming. Nice job creating a sense of climax into 2:24, but I still think the pacing is off a bit. The vocals are delivered really rapidly during the entire second half, whereas the entire first half moved by much slower. Perhaps I would’ve liked to see you integrate these two textural details to give the piece a more interesting shape. That said, I think the devil truly is only in the details with this one. You’ve made another feel-good, well-mastered track here, Finn. Nice work! ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.25/10

FinnMK responds:

Thanks for the tips!

[Starry Sky]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. A lot of the instruments are pretty generic, including the drums and arpeggio synths. The wandering arpeggios at the beginning were a nice touch, but the piece really gets engaging with the melodies at :55. I think you overused the reverb at 1:46, and the drums are a little distorted as a result. The anti-climax into 2:02 also threw me off a bit. You’re really good at crafting melodies, though - the one at 2:35 was another favorite of mine. I think you could stand to put a little more effort into the equalizing and the originality (especially in the instrumentation). Usually, it’s a good idea to designate distinctive spots in the frequency range for each instrument from the get-go. It seems a bit strict, but I think that could really help the mastering sounds much crisper here. Overall, it’s a very enjoyable piece compositionally, though. Keep it up, Techmo-X. ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
2/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.5/10

Teckmo-X responds:

Thank you TaintedLogic! I was actually sup rises myself as well with the reverb parts as SkyeWint mentiond. I only heard the loud on going reverb after I played the song on a pair of speakers I had. I knew it was a bit too late to touch things up so I let it be. I think what happened was I was tweaking everything up as a final precaution and I guess I ended up mixing them all up. With the drums I've always been experimenting with new sounds so this was actually pretty new to my knowledge with percussion parts. Thank you for the review and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Simple (ft. Michelle Kim)]

I like the tranquility at the beginning. Nice warm atmosphere and reassuring mood. I still think you could do a better job at getting out the consonants, especially the first one in each word. Whenever you say “hide,” it sounds like “eye.” I appreciate the structural contrast at the 2-minute mark when you stripped the beat away. The production is also really strong here. I think the pacing of this piece is a little slow. Even during the chorus, there was a lot of space between the vocal lines, although perhaps that fits the character of the piece. I thoroughly enjoyed the call-and-response between the two vocalists at 3:35, which in turn leads into the final refrain really well. This is probably your strongest work yet. I love the warm synths and mastering - everything sits really well in the mix. Keep up the great work, Steelside! ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.75/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.25/10

steelside responds:

Yeah I have a weird habit of dropping certain sounds in my vocals that's really hard to unlearn. Feelsbad.

[g o o d t h i n g]

I like the warm, atmospheric texture at the beginning and the fun bass line. The melodic content is enjoyable, and the blissful mood is a huge plus. The sound design is pretty cool, too - I love the melody instrument at 1:18. Nice job creating some structural variety and flow. The “yeah boiii” sample at 2:07 made me smile. Overall, this is just a hugely fun piece. My only negatives include that I thought the ending was a bit rushed, and that the fade-in at the beginning could’ve been more creative. Otherwise, really admirable work. Production quality is top-notch. Keep up the great work! ^^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.75/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.75/10

midimachine responds:

これは良いこと！

[Le Vil Brequin]

Wow, you’re good at constructing a dense, distorted soundscape. You clearly have an excellent sense of rhythm, too. Unfortunately, this piece suffers from a severe dearth of melodic content, or frankly any moving, tonal notes at all. The mixing is pretty clear, although there was a particularly staticy instrument at 1:13 which hurt my ears. Overall, I think you went way too experimental on the composition here for my tastes. The piece needs more variety in the energy levels, dynamics, and phrasing, and less variety in the soundscape and arrangement. Cool-sounding track. Definitely good for a gritty, biker-themed videogame. Probably not great as a stand-alone track. Keep at it, man! ;)

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

DEM0NW0LF responds:

A...biker-themed videogame ?