TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[[0002-ACMF] The Helm of Valknut]

I like the tranquil mood at the beginning and the instrumentation. The melodic content is gorgeous, and you’ve also left yourself a lot of space for climax here. The strings at 1:08 sounded a bit fake, though - something about the timbre of them was off. The transition at 2:09 was a little abrupt. You set the atmosphere up so well for some really cinematic content, but I don’t think you quite capitalized on your capacity for emotion and climax here. I also thought the mix was straining to include some of the lower harmony parts at around the 2-minute mark. The strings at 2:25 could sound a lot crisper and clearer. Still, you really killed it with the atmosphere and sound design. Keep up the good work! :)

9.25/10

DwightFalcon responds:

Hi TaintedLogic,

Thank you very much for detailed analysis and review. Really help me much to understand what am I lacking of. :)
Also apology for the late reply. :)

Regards,
DwightFalcon

[Eternal Sunset]

The instrument at the beginning seems a little generic, and I think you have a couple of sudden transitions in this piece that change the texture very abruptly (:28, 1:36, 1:59, etc.). At :40, the kick gets a little buried in the mix. I’d suggest some more comprehensive equalization and compression. The melodies at 1:04 are a bit frantic, and are somewhat overwhelmed by the high chords that first come in at :51. I like the texture at 1:36 - offers some nice structural contrast too compared with the energy of the chorus. The mood and atmosphere are cool, but I think you could’ve made the melody a lot more memorable and catchy if it was both slower and varied more rhythmically. The piece also ends a bit abruptly. Overall, you have a good sense of how to create harmony, texture, and variety. Focusing a little more on mixing and mastering as well as the melodic content would really help this piece. Keep at it, man. ;)

6/10

EdKempeper responds:

Hi !

Thank you very much for your review !
I totally agree with you on these points.
Unfortunately, I didn't spent so much time on the mixintg of the track, and my maximiser is a bit "brutal".
For the transitions, I tried to work on it this year, bit you can still hear the different part of the FL project...
And yes, same chords all along the track.
I still like this track however, I tried some new things on it and I'll try to improve my skills for the next ones.
Thanks again !

[G4CE'sz - Zen]

I thought the fade-in was pretty lazy and the instruments at the beginning were really generic. The piece is also mastered VERY quietly - I have my speakers turned up as loud as they can go and the piece is at a standard volume. It’s very slow to progress at the beginning, but I think the bit at 1:06 is quite catchy. The off-beat open hats at 1:21 are cliche, but fit the character of the piece well. You really needed some melodic content in here sooner, though. Otherwise, the piece lacks a strong sense of direction, which is a problem. The piece has a good sense of atmosphere at times, and the mixing and mastering is pretty solid. The composition is definitely the weakest point of this piece - bland and uninspired. I’d encourage you to make a more melody-driven piece, or at least thicken the texture beyond bass-beat-chords for a significant portion of the piece. The piece is still smooth-flowing and has a cool mood, though. Keep at it, man!

5.5/10

KayJay-Artique responds:

Thank you for the response, I'll keep those tips in handy for future pieces. :)

[Star Rush (Mario Starman Remix Mash-up)]

The synths at the beginning are a little generic, and I think you need a smoother transition into :26. I like the sense of climax into :39, and the section at :39 was cute and catchy. You seem inclined to shake up the texture of the piece at a pretty fast pace, which I think is dangerous because it allows a lot of your transitions to be jarring to the listener. The drums also get very distorted when the synths come in at 1:59 (this also happens in other places, though) which is a sign that you need to do some more work with compression and equalization. Compressors and equalizers are really useful tools for making all your instruments sound clear. I suppose my favorite element of the piece was the cute mood and catchy synth patterns. Improving the mixing and mastering (i.e., using compressors and equalizers) here is probably your most important next step. Keep at it, man. :)

6/10

mutty99 responds:

Actually this is my first track i've ever made with FL Studio, so i experimented a lot of things: some went good, others not. Thanks for the feedback ;)

[Nothin']

I like the smooth, relaxed guitar riff at the beginning. Your voice has a great throaty quality to it. The lyrics themselves are also rather enjoyable. The solo at 1:18 is great too. It might need some variety in the instrumentation after a while, but the solo at 2:31 kept it feeling fresh. Some drums might also give the piece a little more drive and punch. Still, this is just a really authentic and soulful piece with a lot of character to it. Keep up the great work! :D

9/10

frank-n-furter666 responds:

Thank you!

[Kytoon - Stay in Kansas City]

The vocals are really smooth and catchy - also kinda creepy in a way given the lyrics. I think the instrumental is a little minimalistic, though, and perhaps the vocals are just a little too loud. The drums could also stand to be a little more upfront in the mix, mirroring the hard-hitting vibe of the lyrics. Overall, I really like it, though. Well-structured, smooth-flowing, cool atmosphere and synths. This is a piece that’s got a lot of character to it, and I think that’s my favorite element of it. Keep up the good work, GhostLawyer!

9.25/10

GhostLawyer responds:

Thank you!

[Iori Licea - Together]

I liked the chill atmosphere at the beginning, but I think you need to be careful with the equalization and volume levels. It sounded like it was peaking at :05-:06, and that’s without any other instruments in the texture. It also peaks at :33-:34 and other places. I like the progression, though, even if the chords are a little cliche. I like the melodic riff at 1:24, and the piano harmonies at 1:38. I would’ve liked to hear some stronger melodic content with more of a varied rhythm and direction to it, though. I think my favorite parts of the piece are the mood and atmosphere. The mixing and mastering themselves were fine, but the peaking really detracted from my enjoyment of the piece. Also, the composition was a bit underwhelming, but definitely fix the peaking - most DAWs have some kind of peak meter or clipping detector that should alert you as to when your piece is too loud. Keep at it, man. ;)

7/10

iorilicea responds:

Well, maybe this isn't my better piece, but I´ll take you advice!
Thanks for review!

[Constellar]

Cool mood at the beginning. A couple of the synths here are a little generic, but I do like the drop at :28. The pulse the melody has (I’m assuming it’s because of a sidechain) really emphasizes the heavy contrast between the 1st and 3rd beats. The texture has a cool stop-start kind of flow. I think the kick was struggling to come through the mix during most of the piece. Don’t be afraid to leave some more mid-range frequencies in there. The chord progression is a little cliche, although I like the mood and atmosphere of the piece a lot, and I also think it’s well-structured and well-varied overall. Overall solid work! Keep it up. ;)

8.5/10

FrontBut responds:

Thank you so much! Any feedback is appreciated and I totally agree on the kick mastering. :)

[flap]

The kick has a bit too much treble IMO, and comes on really strong at the beginning. The rhythm is also a bit hard to follow without anything keeping the beat, and I think you need to remove some treble tones from that hat at :09 too. The silence at :12 is really awkward, and when it’s finally broken at :17, the texture is a little jarring. At the very least, you need a stronger transition into :17, but I also think you need to equalize out the harsh frequencies in some of those instruments. By 1:10, the piece sounds like a completely different piece altogether, and I even recognized one of the stock vocal samples in FL Studio at 1:20. You have a lot of clashing harmonies here, and way too many ideas going on at once to form a coherent piece. I’d strongly suggest that you try to structure your harmonies around chords and (most if not all of the time) have only notes in that chord playing at a time. When you feel like you’ve made a piece that has some cohesive harmonies with a strong basis in chordal patterns, please PM me and I’ll leave you another review. Until then, keep at it, man. ;)

2.5/10

xxxZigZagxxx responds:

Yeah, true. Thanks for this review. Your point on the random silence at the beginning is noted. I intended for it to subvert expectation to make the sudden crashing of treble noises to be all that much more terrifying, but insteaf it may be too pretentious. 1:10 was supposed to be a transition into an unexpected mode, and the stock samples were supposed to generate an eerie and uncanny feeling. I wasn't really aiming for cohesion in this one, if anything, it was supposed to be the opposite. Most of the time I "obey music"... most of the time. This was supposed to be something weird and different and I thought it was cool but I suppose it's annoying to everyone but me. All good

Thanks for the review... I'll probably try to keep the chaotic mood pieces to myself from now on and just focus on publishing beats that resonate with others. The truth is that I'll still listen to this in private willingly and enjoy it for some reason.

Thank you for your review and I hope I didn't sound too salty. I appreciate your hard work and effort as a judge. All the best!