TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Growl Kat - Never Give Up]

I like the beat and bright piano at the beginning, but I definitely don’t think you should have that snare panned so far to the left. Usually, core rhythmic section instruments in a piece should be front and center, and this piece is no exception. I’d concern yourself with compression and equalization before you change the panning on the drums too much. The melodies at around the 1-minute mark are nice, and the synth at around 1:20 was a nice touch. The structural relief you offered at around 2:00 was also enjoyable, and I liked the somewhat creepier mood the riff at 2:10 had. You have a good sense of harmony, but the texture doesn’t quite seem full enough at some points. Some of the instruments are a little dry and probably need more reverb, and I think some background pads or something could really help give this piece that extra injection of flow that liquid d’n’b usually has. I also thought the ping-pong effect at the end was a little over-the-top. I think the piece is missing a predominant melody that would give it a little more structural coherence. Overall, not a bad piece, although I think you could’ve done a lot more with it on the composition front. Keep at it, man!

7/10

DJCat12 responds:

Oh tanks guy, its really helpfull, I will try to make another Liquid DnB with this recomendations

[On My Mind...]

Nice chill mood at the beginning. Vocals are solid. The kick gets a little lost in the mix, and I don’t like the harsh-sounding high-pitched instrument that plays on beat 3 of every measure, panned way to the left. Good articulation on the rapping, too. The texture is nice and full throughout, and I like how you broke it up at around the 2-minute mark in advance of the next refrain. I would’ve appreciated it if you varied the chorus a bit towards the end. It plays 4 or 5 times, and sounds essentially the same throughout. Solid piece with feel-good vibes, though. Keep it up, guys!

8/10

Vinstigator responds:

Thanks! My singer changed it up a little towards the end by dropping one of his harmonies, so it does sound slightly different. And the hook was so catchy that we had to let it run! Just like 2Pac's "How Do You Want It" and "Do 4 Love", those hooks were so catchy and just played over and over throughout the songs. But the hooks were so catchy that you didn't mind. In fact, you wanted to keep hearing the chorus as the songs were fading out! Anyway, thanks for the review, it's greatly appreciated!

[The Crystal Guillotine (Hyper Light Drifter cover)]

I like the dreamy guitar at the beginning. Sounds a little ominous with the chord progression. It’s really slow to develop, though. I think you should’ve thickened the texture way before 45 seconds in. Even then, it’s not a very rich texture. By around 2:15 when the melodic content seeps in, I really enjoy the soulful vibe it has. It’s like a long intro to an old western movie, with the camera panning around beautiful mountainous terrain. The pace of this piece is really slow. I think it doesn’t function great as a stand-alone piece until 3:45, when the energy picks up significantly. The mixing and mastering seem pretty good. I like the crash hits on every beat during the middle section of the piece, although they do get a bit distorted at times by the guitars. The mood of the piece is great - it’s very powerful and foreboding. The transition back into the tranquil section at 5:45 was a little sudden. Perhaps it’d be appropriate for a movie scene with a dramatic plot point, but without the accompanying visuals you need to foreshadow that transition a little more carefully. The distortion at 7:30 is enjoyable, but I didn’t quite understand the stops and starts. It didn’t turn out to be a very effective transition IMO. Overall, I think you need to think more carefully about the pacing of the piece and to gauge the textural depth that’s needed to keep your listener engaged. Several of the transitions in here also need work. That said, the guitar work is quite enjoyable, and the piece does have quite a unique mood and atmosphere. Keep at it, man!

6.75/10

Twone responds:

You've given me quite a bit to think about. Thanks for the review!

[Far Light]

The kick is pretty hard-hitting, not that that’s a bad thing. I like the little atmospheric percussion clicks you added, though. It’s really slow to develop for the first minute or two. I really don’t think the piece needed to be nearly 7 minutes long. The mixing and mastering are solid. I like the sense of climax into 2:03, but getting to some mid-range notes really shouldn’t take you more than 2 minutes. I’m really itching for some melodic content after a while. You had another big climax into 4:27, but it didn’t lead much of anywhere. The repetition wears on me after a bit. I’d like to see you using the whole frequency range more. You did a nice job with the filtering towards the end, though - it sounds cool. I have really mixed feelings about this one. But I think you need to do more with this compositionally in order to keep my engagement. Keep at it, man!

6.75/10

Sequenced responds:

bruh compared to most techno tracks in the real world this is SHORT. Most techno tracks are AT LEAST 8- 10 minute songs. If you guys actually judged a song by the actual genre and the actual professional EDM scene you wouldn't give this a 6 lmao.

look up this track and maybe you'd have a better understanding of this genre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m47tO1Ctck8

ugh why do I even try and make real edm songs for newgrounds
If I were you I would go research more EDM lmao. The same shit happened to Masq a couple years back when he made a brilliant neurofunk peice, but all of you were like "lol where is melody".

If you aren't f-777 for EDM you literally have no chance for any sort of competition here. the AP is a joke.

No one actually appreciates real electronic music here. No wonder xKore left.

[Photon]

I like the frantic synths at the beginning. The clap sample at :15 is pretty generic, as is the sweep into :27. The kick could’ve been stronger too - I’d suggest giving the middle frequencies a boost and making sure it’s compressed well. The piece is going in a neat new direction by around 2:15. I’d still like to hear some more melodic content, though. I also would’ve liked to see you break down the frantic synths at some point in the piece, just to create a little structural relief, which would help channel the energy in the piece a little more. The melodic content comes a little late (4:25), but I’ll take it. It’s a strong melody that definitely fits the atmosphere of the piece well. I wasn’t a huge fan of the instrument at 4:52, though - had some annoying clicks on the attack, and didn’t really share the dream vibe of the rest of the piece very well. The piece doesn’t need to be 6 minutes long, either, although I did like the outro. Overall, it’s a pretty neat piece. My main problems with it are elements of the sound design and that it can come across as a bit generic at times. Otherwise, keep it up!

7.5/10

Teckmo-X responds:

I actually see what you mean by the sounds used in this piece so I definitely understand. As for the length of the song I decided it should have been longer since it fell on the Trance genre. I do appreciate you taking time to give me a thorough review. Thank you so much!

[War]

The distorted bass at the beginning sets up the mood pretty well. The punchy brass and violin work well together. To my ears, :45 gives away that the violin is fake - the sustain and articulation and expression are entirely uniform during those four notes. That said, the climax that follows is extraordinary. The part at 1:20 has a dense sense of chaos, yet the tempo of the piece is not that fast. I think the distortion works quite well. I suppose I would’ve liked you to dial back the energy and drive this piece has at some point, just to offer some structural relief. In a way, you do that at 3:28, but it’s both short-lived and still has quite a lot of moving notes there. I couldn’t help but notice that the pizzicatos get a little lost in the mix during the final climax at 4:10. Same with the violin riff at 4:33. That said, the composition here is fantastic overall. You’ve done an effective job of maximizing the drama. Cool piece!

8.5/10

Jmagnum responds:

Oh man that's really informative :D

I never actually noticed how the strings sounded at :45. Never listened to it that way before, but I can totally see that. I'm pretty bad at the sound engineering side of things, but I'll try to work on fixing stuff like that in the future.

As far as notes being lost at the end, I noticed that, but decided I preferred it that way. Sort of gives a sense of drowning. Not sure if that is technically/musically a bad decision or not. It might have been :S

Overall, thank you very much :)

[Don't Need Love]

I like the tranquil vibe at the beginning. The vocals are great - super smooth and conversational tone. You scoop up to a few of the notes at the beginning of phrases, but unfortunately that seems to be a trademark of pop. The lyrics themselves are very amusing as well. Again, your style reminds me of something out of a musical or something, probably because it’s a piece that clearly has a story attached. :) The first verse dragged on a little long, though, and the refrain doesn’t do much to resolve the tension there. I did like how you have a constant build-up ingrained in the texture, though - the pizzicatos at the second verse were a nice touch. The instruments blend well together in general, and the production quality is very high. The injection of passion at 1:45 was much-appreciated. The guitars at 2:30 really helped give the piece a sense of direction as well. The layered vocals at 3:46 are great. Overall, this is another excellent composition. It feels a little long-winded, but perhaps that’s suitable for a broadway musical anyway. ;) Keep it up, FinnMK!

9.75/10

FinnMK responds:

Your tips are always appreciated mi amigo!

[Rika]

Majestic and uplifting vibe at the beginning. The injection of energy at :26 was a little sudden, and the melodies were a little square, and you could’ve done a lot more creative things with the drums during that section. I liked the vocal samples at :55, though. The melodies and textures are quite enjoyable, though. I appreciate the structural relief at 1:34. Good sense of atmosphere in that section, too. I would’ve liked you to lead up to the drop at 2:00 a little more, but I liked the drop itself. Certainly served as a cool bridge to the latter half of the piece. The melodic section at 2:35 is nice too. This piece has a lot of variety, yet maintains a lot of coherence as well. Variety and coherence are often very difficult to balance, but you’ve done a good job of that here. Given the second drop later in the piece, the structure of the piece is a little bizarre, but I liked the fast pace of the piece. A couple of the instruments you have in here are a little cliche, notably the snare at 3:56 and some of the lead synths. Clearly, you have excellent compositional skills, though, and I didn’t notice any problems with the mixing either. Solid work! :D

9/10

Tennon responds:

Well thanks for the detailed review dude! Yeah one of my styles is the variety of elements in my songs. I like to mix dubstep with other elements such as anime or traditional oriental stuff, it makes my songs more diverse and un-repetitive. Im glad that you enjoyed it!

[Disco In The Dark]

The drum samples are pretty generic, and the kick is very weak and needs more bass. I like the melodies, but the instrumentation seriously detracts from my enjoyment of the piece. The kick also gets seriously lost in the mix later on, and the snare is clearly being distorted by the synths at around 1:30. I think you should focus on equalizing and compression next time - those core mixing skills are really worth an investment. I did like the melodies and texture, though. I think you have a good sense of harmony and tonality. The piece is pretty catchy, and I like your use of reverb. Overall, the piece just needs a lot of cleaning up production-wise, and perhaps a more fleshed-out structure before it stands out compositionally. Keep at it, man!

5.5/10

AlxEllis responds:

Thanks for the feedback man! :)

[Masked Machine]

I like the fun middle-east themed melody and distorted percussion and synths in the background. The texture here is super engaging and fun. I like how you left a lot of sub-bass frequencies in that kick, too. Some more stereo widening wouldn’t hurt to just give the kick a little more clarity during some of the busier sections. At some point, I would’ve liked you to tone down the distorted background synths and offer some structural contrast energy and dynamics-wise, but overall the structure and variety in the piece are quite enjoyable. Very unique and catchy piece. Well done!

9.25/10

Zanzlanz responds:

Thanks so much for another incredibly detailed and nice review. I have no idea how you have time to do all this work in such a short time!

The review is helpful because it shows how I might go about improving production quality in specific ways.

Maybe next year I'll get through auditions :D
Take care my man. Hope you stay well during the event!