TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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 ?

[My Firefly]

I thought the cascading synth at the beginning was a bit of a lazy way to start the piece, but by :05 the piece has a really smooth, refreshing vibe. The vocals at :35 are enjoyable, although I thought the lyrics were pretty generic. The melodies in the middle section of the piece are great, and I thought the slap bass was a nice touch. You overuse the crashes a bit, though. At 2:11, the vocals seem a bit strained, and then come in a lot louder at 2:13, which was a tad jarring. The chopped vocals at 3:05 constituted my favorite part of the piece. The ending might’ve been a bit rushed, and I suppose I would’ve liked to see you vary the vocals a bit more. Overall, it’s quite an enjoyable piece, and I think the mastering is cleaner than in your last track. Good job, guys! ^^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

johnfn responds:

thanks TL! cu next year ;-)

.. THO HOW IS A XYLO SOLO NOT ORIGINAL WTF

[A Dude Named Grant]

Hey, I know that dude! I love the sound design, spacey mix, and crisp drums. The rhythm is a little hard-to-follow, though, and the harmonic patterns come in these frantic bursts for the first 45 seconds or so that make it a little hard to channel the energy. I was also a little thrown off by the sudden change in energy level at the 1-minute mark. You do a great job of using the entire frequency range throughout, and I think the melodies at around 1:45 are really strong. The transition at 1:59 is still not quite so smooth as I would’ve liked. I think the production is especially clean and clear here, but the somewhat thrown-together arrangement seriously detracts from the piece IMO. I think you knew that was coming too. Overall, it’s a cool piece with some nice melodies, sound design, and mixing. Keep at it, 1f1n1ty. ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

Onefin responds:

Ah TL how I may never satisfy you :P

[Circutronics - NGADM]

The synth at the beginning was cool, but had a tad too much reverb. Between :30 and 1:30 or so, the pacing is really fast. It seems like you change up the texture a lot every 10 seconds, and quite predictably every 4 bars at that. I think you’d be better off gradually leading up to the chorus at 1:31. I also thought the clap at 1:31 sounded a bit too thin, with not quite enough low-mids. Some layering or perhaps just different EQ’ing could really help give the beat a little more punch there. Overall, the arrangement just needs a little more connectivity. Crossfading could potentially help you a lot here. There are just a few too many moments where the instrumentation is very different on either side of a transition, and that bothered me. That said, I’ve been tough on you in this review. The sound design is really cool, and I love the tension and apprehension that pervade this piece. Well-crafted mood, atmosphere, and melodies, too. Keep at it, Spadezer! ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/2
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

Spadezer responds:

Thanks TaintedLogic. It sounds like you enjoyed which is good enough for me. It's not to say I'm ignoring your observations, they're things I haven't thought about.

Thanks alot and godspeed with the rest of the judging.

[Just a Little Improv]

Whew! It's about time I check out some of your personal work again. This is beautiful, of course. I especially like the suddenly tranquil mood at 1:07 and the contrast between the ascending and descending lines, both of which you feature a lot in the piece (beginning, 1:02, 1:32, 4:12, etc.). I also thought the call-and-response technique you use at around 2:10 was excellent. The spacious melodies at 3:15 are another highlight. The more energetic section at around 4:00 helped give the piece a "last hurrah," so-to-speak. I was a little thrown off when you cut off the chord at 5:42. I always think it sounds more conclusive if you let it ring, especially in a relatively spacious piece like this one. I also don't think you thought through the piece thematically quite as much as with some of your other improvs, but it's hard to say that detracted from my enjoyment of it. I'm always impressed with your improvs, Ale, and this is no exception. Great work! :)

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I like 1:07 too, just happened by accident, as most things in this improv :D
This one is more major based than most of my other music, so that might be a refreshing fact :)
The call-response thing isone of the most common techniques that almost never goes wrong. Kind of like descending basslines!

As for the ending cutting of, I get what you mean. At the same time, it's just a realistic element there to show it's a performance. I didn't hold down the pedal anymore, and raised my fingers :p
I'm more unhappy about the chord I decided to end with, as that's the natural choice, and I should've done something more unexpected xD

Nice catch with the lack of a theme. For some improvs, I start with a simple theme or idea. For this one, I really just played whatever, from start to finish; no planning.
Thanks a lot for the review, as always! :D

Good luck with judging this round (oooo.OOOO) (It's a spider)!