TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dust Sweeper]

All of the hits during the first 10 seconds are a little cheesy, although I did enjoy the rhythmic elements at :10. I LOVE the lyrics - they have an air of mystery about them, yet they feel so relatable. I’m curious as to what exactly they refer to, but if you don’t want to share that’s fine. I commend you for trying something so new to you stylistically. Your voice is great - the vibrato is amazing, and it has a cool retro vibe. Sometimes the vocals feel a little strained, though, like you ran out of breath. I think the mix might need a little cleaning up here, too. The drums need a bit more pop, and lose some distinction during the refrain at the 1-minute mark. I also wasn’t really sure the synth at :47 had a place in the texture here. The instrumental was a bit of a hodgepodge in general, actually, but again, I commend you for taking some risks in that regard. I think you could also use more bass in the piece, especially during the verses. After not much textural variety for the first couple of minutes, the pace changes almost without warning at 2:45. That drum fill didn’t quite do enough to foreshadow it IMO. I did enjoy the frantic melodies there, though. The tempo automations at 3:40 or so are amusing, but I would’ve liked to hear you do a little more with that final refrain at 3:55, just to give the piece a stronger sense of development. You’ve clearly put a lot of effort into this piece, but unfortunately I don’t think a lot of the risks you took here paid off for you. I think my favorite elements of the piece are actually the rhythmic elements, most notably the creative drum part and pulsing solo at 2:45. Overall solid work. Keep at it, LunacyEcho! ;)

8/10    

LunacyEcho responds:

=> first 10 seconds =>

Haha that was inspired by "404", an NGADM '14 track by SkyeWint and camoshark!

=> lyrics =>

Your interpretation is up to you ;)

=> mix =>

Yeah I think that's the biggest downside to the track—I mixed with 1. terrible earphones and 2. no knowledge on how to do a good mixing :P

=> changes without warning 2:45 =>

I was wondering whether to lead into that more, or just to jump into it. I eventually settled on this because I was modeling it off of prog rock bands like Rush or Dream Theater, who do this kinda thing rather frequently.

=> final refrain =>

That's another thing I was considering doing! I was going back and forth about whether or not to play the chorus one more time with some variations, but eventually decided the song had dragged on enough as it was.

Thanks for the review, and apologies for responding a month late! :) And keep up the great work you're doing for NGADM :D

[Colossal Encounter]

I like the drama at the beginning, and the vocals fit the texture well. The progression is a little slow, and I think you needed some stronger transitions at some points (1:11, 2:13, etc.). The melodic content was enjoyable, but overall I think you could’ve done a lot more compositionally with this piece. It has a great cinematic vibe, but the harmonic work is a little underwhelming for the first minute and a half or so. I also thought the percussion could sound a bit more distinct and powerful in the mix. Overall, it’s a cool track that could use a lot more shape and flavor. Keep at it, AceMantra! ;)

8/10

AceMantra responds:

I agree with all your points. The mindset I had with this piece was more "get it done" rather than "make it the best I possibly can" and it shows. While they are both important, a healthy balance of both is ideal.
Thanks for the review! I will certainly keep your feedback in mind for future compositions. :)

[Slowing Down]

I like the quirky atmosphere at the beginning and the blissful mood. Stellar sound design. The vocals are really smooth, and I love the breaks at :45. The production quality is superb. Sometimes the articulation on the vocals could be clearer, but the cutesy nature of the vocals at 1:02 really won me over. Well-structured and smooth-flowing piece. I love the percussion at 2:05, and the chant-like vocals at 2:27 fit in really well too. You might’ve needed a smoother transition into 2:45, but overall the progression is great. Honestly, this piece probably has the best mood of any piece I’ve reviewed for the ADM so far this year. It actually made me laugh out loud because it was so cheerful and quirky. Really strong work here, Garlagan! ;)

9.5/10

garlagan responds:

thanks for the feedback tl!

[Gottcha]

Catchy piece. The chord progression is a little cliche, as are several of the synths. The descending synth pattern at :55 was a little absurd, and the (drop?) at 1:24 was very minimalistic, and could’ve used some more high frequency tones to fill out the texture. You also needed a stronger transition at 1:49. The production quality is strong, although I really needed to hear some stronger melodic content and more development in the 2nd half of this piece. It has a bit of a stagnant structure, and overall is rather generic. There are some strong attributes of the atmosphere and rhythmic components, but I think this piece needed a lot more effort put into the composition. Keep at it, JaThu! :)

6.25/10

JaThu responds:

First of all thanks, and yes, it's mostly a basic piece with not much love. That's all in fact, thanks for the review and ofcourse I'm going to expand this later, make it more "songish"

[Stardust]

The piece is pretty catchy. I think your synths are a little generic, and the high-pitched one could blend in a little better - a little more reverb, equalizing out some of the treble tones, and a slight decrease in volume might help. I like the atmosphere at around :25, but the stop-start transition at :44 threw me off a bit. Your drum samples are also cliche, although the production quality here is strong. I think you could use a smoother transition at 1:30, and also some more coherence with the structure of the piece. The piece is very flowing, but I would’ve liked to see you keep the listener grounded in a more cohesive structural pattern. The repetition of the pizzicato-y lead at 2:50 or so helped, but overall this piece is rather variation for my tastes. Overall, it’s a strong piece. My main problem with it is the lack of originality in the instrumentation and chord progression. Keep at it, Techmo-X! ;)

8.25/10

Teckmo-X responds:

Thank you TaintedLogic. Allow me to explain the song or so. So I was going for a spacey theme with a bit of melodic sounds. It has been a while since I've worked on music due to work and errands so not enough time to make music but I try. With the song I did want to add more and make it a masterpiece of sorts but I've thought to myself that I didn't want to go all out on adding too much as I have a habit of stretching things more and more. When it comes to instruments used here I didn't know what I was doing to be honest and just chose what went right with my ears. Now it's true that I don't have much experience with percussion's and instead I try to improvise with my synthetic and bass parts. I've been pretty rusty lately but I'll try harder and aim to do my best. Thank you for the review!

[Go away]

I like the heavy (though groovy) bass riff at the beginning, and the distorted vocals. The mix is really clean, and the piece is rather catchy overall. The drums are a little dry, and I think the vocals could use some more reverb on the chorus, too. I also think you could use some stronger transitions between the verses and the chorus, like at 1:58 for example. The guitar solo at 2:56 is really strong, though. I also liked the atmospheric outro. Overall, this is a strong piece. Good job with the structuring, instrumentation, and mood. Keep it up, DivoFST! ;)

9/10

DivoFST responds:

Yeah i had massive trouble with the transitions in this one... :S
Thanks for the kind words ^^

[Carpe Diem]

I like the flowy piano at the beginning. This might be a little picky, but I wasn’t a fan of the rhythm/articulation in the strings - it just gave the texture a bit of a stumbly vibe that didn’t aid the flow very well, and they were also just a little too distracting. Perhaps it would’ve been a little better if the staccatos were shorter, so that the strings were a little bit out-of-the-way. How’s that for grossly specific criticism, huh? I like the little fake-climax into :22. The melodic content at :37 is great, and the quality of your samples is really high, as is your production. I really like the injection of intensity at :59. I really like the bright and energetic vibe of the piece, too. I think you could’ve had a bridge or breakdown section in the middle for dynamic contrast and variety, but the additional melodic section at 2:16 really hit this piece home IMO. Thrilling and beautiful work overall. Keep it up, CloakedSoup (awesome username, I might add). ;)

9.5/10

CloakedSoup responds:

Thanks for judging! I've been working hard to improve both my compositional and mixing abilities this summer, and I'm glad it's starting to pay off!

[[0003-DCOF] 血祭]

I like the dark mood at the beginning, but the notes of that first instrument sound a little indistinct. I like the sense of climax into :30, and the instrumentation is really cool. Unfortunately, I don’t really consider this a structurally complete piece. There’s very little melodic content, and I’m not sure what the static at 1:25 added to the piece. This piece has a ton of potential, but the composition is quite simply very underwhelming, I’m afraid. I’m sure this isn’t your full potential, though - you seem to have struggled with recording and mixing because of an accident, based on your description. I hope you have more time to invest in your future projects! Also, ‘gratz on being user of the day. ;)  Keep at it, DwightFalcon!

6/10

DwightFalcon responds:

Hi TaintedLogic,
thanks a lot for the detailed review and also your hardwork in judging all the submission.
Apparently I just realized I have uploaded an unmastered version.
But anyway, I really leartn a lot of new tips and tricks from various submission and look forward to future/upcoming events. :)

[You Are The Air I Breathe]

I love the atmosphere at the beginning. The snare seems a bit heavy and loud compared with the relaxed soundscape of the rest of the piece, although I did like the bass line that came in at :34. The progression is really slow, though, and the synth at 1:09 comes in without warning, which is a problem - and you do the same thing at 2:20, 3:45, and 3:53. I also think that at 1:10 the kick loses its distinction in the mix. There are a lot of good ideas here, but I think you could’ve put a lot more effort into the composition. Despite being very atmospheric and flowy, there’s very little phrasing or variety, especially with regards to dynamics or energy levels. I also don’t think it needed to be this long given the few changes in texture throughout, and I definitely don’t think you needed this much reverb in the piece , mostly because of detrimental effects to the mixing (especially during the busier sections). Overall, the composition is a little underwhelming, but the atmosphere, mood, and harmonies are really well done. Keep at it, Rahmemhotep! ;)

7/10  

SoulSecure responds:

It was supposed to have vocals and that's why it's so long and not super complicated. I just ended up not having enough free time to do all that.

I enjoy the abrupt entrance of the loud synth used during the chorus and I've always been criticized on my transitions or lack-there-of, it's just how I do things sometimes. The only thing I might add to that abruptness would be maybe a loud crash cymbal or something.

I agree that as a standalone instrumental this piece is underwhelming. Eventually I'll slap some vox on it.