TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Bazar]

I like the percussion at :12 and the spacey synths. There’s a lot of simplicity in the texture here with the synths, and I think you need to take some much bigger risks compositionally. The piece is very short and simple, and doesn’t properly display your mixing and mastering skills. It’s not bad, but it is underwhelming. You could do so much more with phrasing, dynamics, variety, and structure. Some pads or bass riffs could add a lot to the texture, and developing your melodies - at least later in the piece - would help give this piece a lot more shape. I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece, though - it has a lot of potential. Keep at it, man!

6.25/10

Madze responds:

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate your effort you took in all the reviews for this contest. I'm taking all the things in consideration, although I usually don't work on a piece once I published them. But I will definitely use your advice for my next stuff.

[IYD - The Void]

I like the gritty synth bass and atmospheric synths at the beginning. The panning with the guitars was cool, and by around :30 the texture comes together nicely. The melodic content at 1:39 was quite enjoyable, and the following guitar solo was great as well. The mixing is really tight here. The coda seemed a little rushed, especially for a piece with a pretty slow pace (one emotional height in 2.5 minutes). Still, it’s hard to find things to complain about here. The structure could’ve used a bit more fleshing out, I guess - usually I’m skeptical of the one-climax model - but the rushed ending is the only thing that actively bothers me. Keep up the good work, IYD! ;)

9.25/10

InYourDreams responds:

Thanks! :D... oh man, you've made such an awesome job reviewing each song. You have my respect foreverandevereverever :D.

[Deep sea and Young fish]

I like the relaxed mood at the beginning. The reverb might’ve been a bit excessive, but the texture is beautiful. The piece develops a little slowly, but the melodic content is really strong. I wasn’t a huge fan of how the piano suddenly cuts out at 2:00 - I would’ve just let the reverb do the work there. Sounds a lot smoother that way. There’s another bit of a rough transition at 3:36. It can be hard to predict changes in the texture without drums, but it might help if you have at least some of the harmonic elements and instruments continue into the new sections. Usually I’m not a fan of instruments that are introduced for the first time very late in the piece, but I liked the cello part at 4:52 a lot. I’ll say it before and I’ll say it again - this piece is beautiful. One thing it doesn’t have a lot of is changes in energy level or dynamics, but I was nonetheless engaged throughout. Great work overall! NG needs more classical composers. :)

9.25/10

Veronina responds:

Thank you for these suggestion and listening! It means a lot , I really appreciate that, thank you , I'll think your comment carefully , thanks again!

[Pyrolysis (Original Mix)]

I like the dark mood at the beginning. The synths are pretty cool and have a good amount of reverb. The melody at :23 is super catchy too. I like the injection of energy at :53. Has a good sense of climax into 1:08. I like the drop. It was a little minimalistic, but the reverb helped fill in the texture. The melody at 1:38 is really enjoyable too. Very smooth-flowing piece here. I think I would’ve liked some sort of structural relief by around the 2-minute mark instead of hearing another drop. The laughing vocal samples also got a little repetitive at about that point. Good use of atmosphere at 2:38. Once again, engaging and catchy melody at 3:08. You have several different melodies in this piece, which would usually be problematic coherence-wise, but seem to function well in their respective niches here. The piece is a tad long, but keeps me engaged throughout. The ending was also pretty creative. Overall solid work! Keep it up, dude. ;)

9/10

KaixoMusic responds:

Thanks!! I really enjoy making several melodies in one song, so you can expect to hear more of that in the future. As for the longness of the song, I really enjoy working on a song very long because starting a new one usually takes a long time, that's why there are a lot of elements and different parts. And about the second drop, yeah I think that's a little to much too. Thanks for the 9 :D

[Hidden Tension]

I like the smooth, atmospheric sound at the beginning. The phasing synths are a little generic, though. It has a good sense of climax into :33. I like the melodic content at :58 too. The bass is really groovy, though, and the mix is pretty clean. The transition at 1:39 was creative, and I appreciate the use of structural relief at 2:01. The section at 2:01 sets up your climax into 2:11 well. The atmospheric bit at 2:56 is also really enjoyable. It’s a bit of a quirky piece mood-wise, alternately cheerful and ominous. I think you could’ve done a bit more to offer some melodic development, too. Otherwise, the latter half of the seems seems comparatively underwhelming to the first half. Overall, I like the piece a lot. The instruments blend well together, the texture is full throughout, and the mixing and mastering are solid. Keep up the good work!

8.75/10

McGorilla42 responds:

Hey. Thanks so much for such a hugely detailed response and criticism. This is the kind of review that I appreciate more than any other since it gives me pointers on what to focus on in future and how to improve :) It means a lot that you took the time to write that and offer your opinion and advice and I'm incredibly grateful for that. Keep well!

[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