TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Denial]

I like the ominous mood at the beginning. Good use of atmosphere and reverb too. It is a little slow to progress, but the drop at :56 is worth the wait. Interesting sound design too - a lot of those samples sound like they’re more typical of VGM tracks. The mix is tight. I love how much pop the drums have. Good use of structural relief at 1:54. The piano melody there has a cool somber tone to it. The chord progression from 2:43 to 2:44 sounded a little wonky, but that’s a relatively small detail. The latter half of the piece didn’t have as much of an emotional height as the first half, and I also didn’t hear much melodic development in the piece. That said, overall this is a very enjoyable track with a rich texture throughout. Keep up the great work! :)

9.25/10

KamillasRainbow responds:

Thanks for the review! Chord progression is definitely something i'll pay more attention to from now on.

[Lockyn - Aqua (Wick3dR remix)]

I like the bright piano at the beginning and the powerful chords. There’s a good sense of climax into :30, and a nice relaxed atmosphere. The rhythms of the open hat and bass at :45 don’t mesh very well together in my opinion. The melodic content at 1:32 was really enjoyable, though. The pause at 2:05 is a little awkward, and the music comes back in VERY quietly relative to the loud refrain before it. I think this is a well-structured and smooth-flowing piece overall, though. I like the mid-range synths that play on each downbeat during the second refrain. The texture is rich, full, and refreshing throughout. The ending came on a little suddenly, though, and you may have overused the sweeps at a couple of points in the piece. The sound design and atmosphere of the piece are quite enjoyable, and overall the mastering is solid as well. Keep up the good work!

8.75/10

Wick3dRabbit responds:

Thanks a lot! I'll take your advices and improve in my future songs :)

[Wide Open Waters]

The beginning of this piece was pretty interesting. Sounded like you were going for something a little more atmospheric, but I think you needed some more reverb to make that happen. I think the beat at :19 is a little too busy. The synth at :39 struck me as pretty generic, and also didn’t add much to the musicality of the piece. By around the 1-minute mark, I’m really itching for some melodic content. The transition at 1:17 was pretty rough - very sudden change in instrumentation. Compositionally, you could’ve done many more creative things with this piece. The atmosphere is pretty good, but the arpeggiated synth you have playing through most of the piece is not enough to keep me engaged. The piece has very little sense of direction, very little shape or variety, and also doesn’t feel very conclusive by the end. I think it’d be good for you to try centering your next piece around a strong melody. A strong melody generally has a well-varied rhythm, and isn’t too fast-paced like the arpeggios here, among other characteristics. I think that composing a melody-driven piece would help you improve your composition skills. The piece isn’t all bad, though. I didn’t notice any problems with the mixing or balance, and the piece is pretty catchy while simultaneously having a rich atmosphere. Keep at it, man!

5/10

vince-galaxy responds:

Really appreciate the honest review. Thank you so much for inviting me to take part in the NGADM!!

[Superstitions]

The distorted guitars at the beginning are cool. I think the vocals sound really dry, though. They need some reverb at the very least, and the mic didn’t seem to pick up the words “past” or “cat” very well at all around :40. The texture sounds a little too busy - verging on clashing - at :45 or so. It’s also pretty difficult to hear the kick in the mix during the busier sections. Overall, the mixing could sound a lot cleaner. I like the solo at 1:22 a lot, though. The lyrics are also enjoyable. I thought the fade-out ending was a bit lazy, and I also think you could stand to flesh out the structure of the piece a little more. Right now the pacing feels a little frantic and rushed, squeezing in an intro, 2 verses, a chorus, and solo in 2 minutes. My favorite elements of the piece, on the other hand, were the sound design and mood - they combined to make the piece really punchy and engaging. Keep at it, man!

6.25/10

johnnyq1233 responds:

Thanks for the great review! I knew throwing something newer into the contest was not the best idea.. but it was the newest piece I was working on and at the time I was totally into this piece..lol
My sweat girlfriend bought me a beautiful Behringer FX-2000 processor to give me some more tools for the battles that lay ahead!
ROCK ON!
Best wishes to the ones that went on!
JQ

[Walking Dead Theme Hip-Hop Remix]

I like the string arpeggios at the beginning. They have a nice underlying intensity and drive. The sample is actually pretty good, too, although I can still tell it’s fake. The piece is really slow to progress compositionally, though. You switch up the instrumentation a lot without warning, although I did like the melody at :56. I think the drums could’ve been a bit stronger, just to give the song a little more bite. The song has a feeling of continuity, which I would’ve liked to see you break down at some point. The arrangement doesn’t have a lot of shape or phrasing, and the energy level is very similar throughout. Experimenting more with dynamics and filtering could be a great way of expanding your compositional repertoire a bit. I also would’ve liked to see you vary the main melody a bit. There are a lot more creative things you could’ve done with the composition, although I did like the sub-bass and beats. You have a good sense of rhythm and harmony. Keep at it, man!

6.75/10

PureJoy responds:

Wow, thank you so much for your complete argumentation ! I'll take into consideration your whole analysis ^^

[Dreams]

I like the cute synths and upbeat mood at the beginning. The melodic content at :20, although fleeting, is enjoyable, and the pitch-bending on that synth that first comes in at :26 is really refreshing. The drums could’ve been mastered a bit louder IMO, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the piece much at all. The texture is so full and everything blends together really well. The breakdown with the strings is gorgeous, and really gives the piece a nice sense of structural contrast. The variations on the melody at 2:07 were great as well. Honestly, outside of the contest, this is just everything I look for in a piece of electronic music. Excellent work! You’ve set the standard high, my friend. Fave’d and DL’d. By all means, keep it up! :D

9.75/10

Namice responds:

thanks ^_^

[Cosmic battle]

I like the groovy bass riff at the beginning. The pads and harmonies at :16 are really atmospheric and dreamy. I thought it was really creative for the melody to gradually fade in at :55, although I think it’s a bit too loud by the end. One thing I didn’t like about the piece was the drums. They’re really weak, and definitely need more compression or equalization work to stand out in the mix, especially the kick. The piece also has a bit of a long continuity to it, which I think you could’ve solved by adding a proper breakdown section or at least stripping away the drums and bass at some point. That would help give the piece a little more shape and structural variety. The loop was smooth, though, and I think the piece feels conclusive by the end anyway. Some of your instruments are also a little generic, especially the melody synth. That said, there’s a lot of strong melodic content here, and your use of reverb gives the piece a good atmosphere. Keep at it, man!

7/10

Electronox responds:

Thanks for the review! I know I didn't get through to the next round, but I think 7/10 is still good! Could you maybe give me a hand structuring a piece? That is the main problem I have with making a piece of music :P
Hope you can help!

[The Morning II (NGADM 2017 Entry)]

The melody instrument at the beginning isn’t my favorite - sounds a little generic. Same with your drum samples. I do like the upbeat vibe and the climax into 1:01. The part at 1:01 itself sounds a bit clashing, though, and I don’t think that’s what you were going for. I’d suggest opening up the range of your instruments a bit to give the piece a more spacious, full-textured and cathartic feel. The structure is effective, but one thing you could work on is phrasing - that is, giving your piece a sense of direction within the phrase. Right now, you don’t have a lot of work with dynamics or filtering effects in here, which could really add a lot to the climax from 1:27 to 2:03, for example. Overall, though, it’s an enjoyable composition, and you do a good job of using the full range of frequencies. Mixing and mastering here is also rather strong. Keep at it, man!

8.25/10

octaplex responds:

Thank you for this long review :D

[The Demon]

I like the warm chords at the beginning, and how you quickly incorporate unexpected dissonances. The melody content at around :30 is pretty cool, and it blends in well with the pads. Some of your instruments sound a little generic and also out-of-place for the mood of the piece, like the melody instrument at 1:03. You keep building onto the texture from there, which sounded smooth but also made the mix feel a bit congested. I’d suggest taking away some of the reverb, just to give each instrument some breathing room. The piece is slow to progress after around the 2-minute mark, and at around 2:48 the kick gets a little lost on the downbeats when the piano chords change at the same time. I’m also not sure the one-climax model worked great for you here. The texture is nice and rich, but I think including a breakdown or bridge at some point would’ve helped give this piece a lot more shape. Also, this is picky, but the last note cuts off a little suddenly at 4:28 - I would’ve liked to hear it taper off a bit more before you cut it off, especially since the pacing and style of the piece demands a long-winded dismantling of the texture. Overall, I think the melodic content, mood, and atmosphere are your best assets here. I enjoyed the emotion in the piece, although a little more humanization with some of the repetitive riffs (e.x., 1:03) would’ve enhanced that emotion. It’s an enjoyable piece. Clean up the mixing, and think this would’ve gotten you into the round of 64. Keep at it, man!

7.25/10

Cacola responds:

lol I have a version of this song with a much cleaner mix too, just not on ng, lmao fuck me right? but shit, thanks for the advice man. I don't remember did you guys always leave reviews on the tracks submitted? cause that's way helpful and makes me way more eager to participate next year.
cool shit man, thanks

[The old World]

The synth at the beginning didn’t strike me as being great for establishing the atmosphere or mood of a piece, and the rhythm at :21 is a little wonky. It’s very hard-hitting, arrhythmic and dissonant with having much in the way of substantive melodic content, phrasing, or transitory material. You also didn’t do a great job of using the entire frequency range for much of the beginning. There is a build-up of energy over the course of the piece, but at the end of the day the structure of the piece is little more than an establishment of atmosphere that goes a little over-the-top on the dissonance. It isn’t very conclusive at all, either. Sorry this review is so negative. This piece is an interesting experimental piece, but as a stand-alone composition it doesn’t do much for me. I’d suggest trying to make a piece that focuses on more melodic and harmonic elements. Once you feel like you’ve made a piece with a strong melody, please PM me again and I’ll leave you a review. Until then, keep at it, man. ;)

2.5/10

SlaughterClub responds:

I Had no attacks against me untill i upload to your shitty little contest ...which i have done for the 2nd time in 2 years .( i know their is a lot of EGO with YOU people but i have listen to some of YOUR STUFF & i am NOT impressed AT ALL it sounds you use a lot soft ware snyths with your flys undone .. your contest is a joke & you or ur people should not be even be wasting your time pretending to know what your talking about when it comes to music