TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[HEY! [Glitch Hop]]

I like the blissful mood and melodies. The lead might have a tad too much treble, but overall the frequencies are really well-balanced in the piece. The chopped vocals at :37 were well-done, and I like the sense of climax into 1:10. The chord progression is a little cliche, and the first minute or so does seem a tad dragged out, but the upbeat vibe of the piece is really engrossing. The melodies during the breakdown at 2:10 were enjoyable, and the production quality is really strong. The variations on the melody at 3:12 are really refreshing, although the piece is a tad repetitive overall. I liked the tempo automations at the very end, and the piece comes together really well. This is a really strong track, guys! Keep up the good work. ;)

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?)
1/1
Composite score
9.25/10

Zelgeon responds:

Thanks for the review! In the updated version of this track we've fixed many things, we made sure to lower the high end of the leads. What do you mean with "the first minute or so does seem a tad dragged out"?
We made the song repetitive on purpose because we wanted to make a really catchy song this time :D
That thing at the final wasn't automations, it was made manually in the piano roll! ;)

Thanks for not disqualifying us again c:

_Adrián, Zelgeon member #2/2

[Lyra]

I like the soothing mood at the beginning. You may have overdone the reverb a bit, but the instrumentation was great, especially the strings and percussion. The melodic content at :58 is great, too. I was a little thrown off by the entry of the drums at around 1:10, though - they just didn’t fit the character of the piece so far very well IMO. The snare sounds especially generic, processed, and maybe too loud as well. The percussion at around 2:45 fits the rest of the sound design much better. Still, you’ve absolutely nailed the atmosphere, and the victorious/blissful mood was rather enjoyable as well. I love the little phrasing detail at 3:37, too, and the trumpet solo at the very end was a great touch. Overall, this is a very strong piece, both compositionally and mixing-wise. Keep up the great work, PianoreGD! ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
2/2
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?)
1/1
Composite score
9.5/10

Tennon responds:

Wow that was beyond my expectations! I thought I failed this song lol. I strong agree with the fact that the snare is really bad, next time I will probably make a new snare that sounds not too distorted!

[astrEnfant]

I like the ominous vibe at :05 and the atmospheric flair. The piece has a really engaging cinematic vibe. The sound design is great, and the part at :42 feels really climactic. The guitar entrance at 1:02 caught me off guard a bit (not because it was a rough transition, but because the guitar wasn’t really an obvious choice given the instrumentation up to that point). I also thought the drums were a bit generic, and the pacing of the piece is very fast. You don’t have to change up the texture every 10-15 seconds in order to generate enough variety. Also, the mini-bridges with the high-pitched bells (like at 2:11) got a bit overused after a while. There are a lot of good ideas here. The melodies are fantastic. The mixing is super clean and clear. You’ve varied the energy levels a lot, and I appreciate it. BUT the composition feels extremely patched-together and incoherent. I’d highly encourage you to put more effort in the future into keeping the listener grounded in a (slightly) more predictable and repetitive structure. All these rapid changes in the texture is jarring for the listener, and consolidating your ideas and slowing down the pacing would help a lot. Don’t be afraid of a little more repetition! That said, overall I enjoyed the piece a lot. Keep at it, Miyolophone. ;)   

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/2
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

Miyolophone responds:

Thanks for the review TL! I admit your criticism about coherence comes as a surprise to me, since I actually worked super hard this time on making my melodies repeat as frequently as some might in more typical electronic genres, but this time it seems texture was my downfall, so definitely a fair point. Perhaps I went a little crazy on generating new material— funny how writing more music can actually make it less enjoyable— as is typical for me in my quest to never be boring, so in the future I'll try not to go overboard on that sort of thing.
(also I will regret the electric guitar until the day I die)
Thanks again!

[The Garden of Eternity]

The rhythmic elements of the piece are appealing from the get-go, and I love that quirky synth lead at the beginning. The panning might’ve been a bit excessive, but it does keep the mix relatively clean. You have an excellent sense of progression and harmony, btw, and the smooth melodic content in the strings at around 1:10 is absolutely gorgeous. The texture is very rich, although I couldn’t help but feel it was missing some atmosphere at around 1:30. Some of your instruments are a bit too dry, while others have a lot of reverb that allows them to take over the mix a too much IMO. The structure is also very hard to follow, and there aren’t really any predominant melodies over the other ones - it’s just a continuous wave of successive melodies. I also thought the transition at 2:49 was a bit rough, perhaps a last-ditch effort to give the piece some coherence. The sound design here is absolutely amazing, but the composition feels very thrown-together and inconclusive. If you had given this piece a little more shape and direction, you might’ve won the competition IMO. Still, admirable work. ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/2
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
8.75/10

Baumarius responds:

Thanks! I started to notice those things after a while too, but my sample subscription ended, so I couldn't really change it. I'll go back before I release the Kadamitas album and fix it up a bit c:

[Quaid City Bar]

I like the groovy drums and quirky sound design. I think the kick could be a lot stronger, and the snare also needs some compression. The rhythmic and melodic elements of this piece are really amusing, though. The melody at 2:01 was particularly enjoyable - very soulful and even tranquil in a way. I appreciated the change of pace when you broke down the bass line at 2:40. At the same time, I thought the piece could’ve used a distinct emotional height or finale to really hit it home. The fade-out ending came across as a bit lazy. I know you wrote this for a videogame, but tracks in this competition should really function as stand-alone pieces. I also thought the bass lines could’ve been a little more distinct - you might want to be stricter with the equalization in the low frequency range. Still, the mood and atmosphere are absolutely fantastic. Keep up the good work! ;)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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
1/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.75/10

Joey4Track responds:

Thanks for the review! Yeah I actually don't have monitors atm so my mixes aren't up to par, I have no idea what's going on in the lower frequencies right now, lol. And yeah the song is meant to be looped but actually I totally do have a problem ending songs haha. It was really fun, thanks for judging and for the great feedback :)

[Zyzyx - Stroll Through Space]

I like the tranquil mood at the beginning. The blend of orchestral and synthetic elements was enjoyable. Has a bit of a jazzy vibe, which I also appreciated. The groovy melodic line at :21 is great, and the mix is rather clean. That said, the drop at 1:04 seemed a bit underwhelming by comparison, and didn’t add much to the piece musically. I also would’ve liked to hear more of the arpeggios in the background there - toning down the reverb might help with that. The breakdown at 2:30 with the cool panning and drums is also enjoyable. The melodies at 3:14 really tie this piece together - that last bit of catharsis really gives it a great sense of resolve, and I like the outro with the orchestral flair. A couple of the transitions in the piece could use a bit of work - you have a habit of connecting everything with risers and sweeps, so I would’ve liked to see some more creative transitions at 3:35, 1:48, and 2:29. Overall, though, the composition is really strong here. It’s really only a few little things that bother me here. Keep up the good work, Dj-zyzyx! ;)

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
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the above elements interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9/10

DJ-Zyzyx responds:

Thank you so much mate :D

[NGADM 2017 Round of 32 Podcast]

Sorry I'm late to the party! I appreciate you doing this Chrono. The smooth, western-sounding piece in the background works well. By around 2:40, I thought the music got a tad distracting, but maybe that's just because @Etherealwinds is so damn good!

I agree that we need a better platform for people making recommendations about the future of the contest. Maybe we should set up a "suggestions and comments" thread after the contest so we can be as receptive as possible to the community's requests. Still, I appreciate the way you addressed those issues here. And personally, I don't think you have anything to apologize for at all. :)

Super impressed that you're making the sigs for the winners yourself, btw. Keep it up with the podcasts/judging/administrating, Chrono! ;)

ChronoNomad responds:

No such thing as being late to a party that quite literally goes on for five whole months! (;

Happy to see another review from you on these silly ol' podcast thingies. I'm glad that you enjoy the background music, and I don't even mind that Jordi's singing distracts a bit from the underlying message. I kept tweaking the volume incrementally, but I just didn't want the song to be too soft, and then the ending always gets so rich and full...ah, well! Six of one, half a dozen of the other, I suppose.

Yeah, I tried to be honest about how problematic that became, but it wasn't even really the nature of the conversation that was ultimately the problem. It was the massive walls of text that were, quite frankly, making the whole thread look downright unattractive. Obviously, if folks want to have water cooler discussions about the NGADM, they can have them in real-time on Discord, or simply make a thread dedicated to it. But hey, if going way off topic is against the rules, it's my responsibility to say something. I may not always do that in the right way, but when tensions are already high for various reasons, even someone with the patience of Mahatma Gandhi would end up taking return fire.

Aw, thanks! I was always planning on making the sigs, and it's feels nice to be able to do a few of the more artsy things for the NGADM. Even though I'm taking a hiatus from making new music during the competition, I still need a creative outlet or two. And hey, you keep up all that judging and administrating that you've been doing, TL! On top of a busy academic life and all that jazz. We must really love the people of Newgrounds, eh? ^__^

[Going in Style]

Woah - really interesting sound design on this one. The melodic content is amusing, although I think the low percussion could be a bit more distinct. The transition at 1:55 could’ve been a little smoother IMO. The piece also has a sense of continuity for quite a while without much direction until 1:55. I think it could use some more phrasing and dynamics work. The jumpy sax towards the end was a good idea, but it cut out a little suddenly at 2:52 and had a very square rhythm - it didn’t help the piece come together at the end too much. The piece also sounds a little robotic throughout - there are a lot square rhythms in the moving notes. Overall, I appreciate the experimental texture here. That was a bit of a risk that really paid off for you guys. I think my biggest concern is the lack of shape - changes in instrumentation dominate the variety the piece offers, which I find problematic. Still, it’s a cool piece. Keep up the good work!

8.5/10

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hi there! And thanks for the review. Once again, it's a shame that only a couple of the judges seem to have decided to review the pieces, even though I think that should be one of the main events of the competition (maybe that'll change now with fewer participants?). Thus, much appreciated!

The dynamics are generally always a problem with a good loop. Say you were to compose a looping background piece for a game; oftentimes you don't want something to stand out dynamically too much. But, I get your critique for the competition, since the piece should also work as a standalone.

I don't really hear a problem with 2:52. We weren't going for a realistic style, which is why the piano is obv quite flat and more hip hoppy (otherwise I would've played it). Same goes for the choir and sax. It's more of a blend of nu jazz, maybe some triphop elements, and a semi-cinematic style I guess. Maybe the style is what you feel is robotic, since none of the instruments are really made to sound like they're played by a human? Including the dry choir :)

We like the transition to 1:55, but it could've worked well as a breakdown, instead of bringing in the choir so quickly.

Thanks, dude!

[Frailty and Hope]

I like the dreamy vibe at the beginning. It’s a little slow to progress, but I like the somber tone the strings add at around :30. I wasn’t a huge fan of the instrument at :58. It sounded very synthetic, which may have been intentional, but either way I don’t think it fits the texture of the piece very well. The percussion at 1:29 is interesting. I think there was just a bit too much of an attack on the offbeat, though - the piece is a little too smooth and pensive for such a crisp hat IMO (even if that criticism sounds a bit absurdly specific). I like the re-intro at 2:35, but the additional extended pause at 3:16 was a little much. The structural and transitional elements of the piece are strong, and I didn’t notice any problems with the mixing or mastering. Overall strong work! Keep it up, Spadezer. ;)

8.75/10

Spadezer responds:

Thanks TaintedLogic. I'm glad you enjoyed it.