TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Masochist]

I like the flowing vibe at the beginning. The cello sample was actually pretty good, despite the uniform vibrato (which is a giveaway that it’s not a real cello). I actually thought the cello doing the arpeggios was a little too upfront in the mix, and the percussion/harmonies should’ve gotten a little more attention. Cool idea with the tempo automations at around 1:35. The piece is a little minimalistic overall, but certainly has plenty of fresh content going on throughout to keep me engaged. It does sacrifice a bit of coherence in that regard, though. The smooth-flowing nature of it almost reminds me of some sort of cinematic montage. My main problem with the piece is actually the cohesion. The piece has a lot of different twists and turns, which limits the conclusivity and makes it hard to thread a storyline throughout the piece. The ending comes on very suddenly, and while the transitional elements of the piece are enjoyable, the piece as a whole feels somewhat directionless. That said, I quite enjoyed your sense for harmony, instrumentation, and emotion. Solid work overall.

7.75/10

Baumarius responds:

Hey TL, thanks for the review! I don't totally know why it feels directionless to you, but it may just be me. I'm the one who wrote the story it's for, after all, and it flows well with what I've imagined. However, several others have said that my music is a little strange because there are many songs I've made that focus on emotions people aren't too familiar with... which is really weird for them to find as an issue in the first place, but oh well. I'm glad you found the rest of the song to be engaging enough for you to enjoy, and I'll be working on these issues in future songs.

[Chael - Resilient]

Good for you for making something that’s not always in 4/4! I like the upbeat mood, although the instruments were a bit cheesy. The transition to 4/4 at :41 was pretty cool. Neat idea. The kick at the refrain (1:02) is a little overpowering, and I think you could’ve done a lot more creative things with the drums there. The melody itself is really enjoyable, though. I liked the post-chorus with the transition back into 3/4 too. It’s a catchy, energetic, and well-structured piece overall. The cute piano riff at 3:30 was a nice touch too. Solid work.

7.5/10

Falsesouth responds:

Thank you very much for your feedback! Perhaps there could have been some more dynamic percussion; however, this was my first swing piece ever. I was exploring, haha. You should expect far more dynamic beats in the future.

[-Chilljoy-]

Fun title. I like the relaxed mood and cute synths. I wasn’t a huge fan of the was the kick was mixed, though - the sample just has a bit too much treble for my tastes. It’s a very smooth and upbeat piece, though. I enjoyed the sense of catharsis at 1:06. With slightly different instrumentation, this piece would work really well as a pop song (which is a good thing, at least during auditions). It does get a little repetitive after awhile, especially at around 2:30. I don’t think it needed to be quite this long. You may have also overused the sweeps by the end. This piece’s simplicity is a blessing and a curse in a way. The texture fits the style really well - easygoing, carefree, etc. - in that it doesn’t sound too busy at any given time, but I think you still need a little more variety in here. Overall, pretty solid work. I hope you’ll get the chance to make something else for the competition. Keep at it, man! ;)

7.5/10

GlitchmasterMusic responds:

Thanks a lot man, you basically nailed exactly how I feel about this song :)

[~The Permanent Destination~]

I like the dark mood at the beginning and the instrumentation, which certainly helped facilitate the ominous nature of the track. It’s a little slow to progress, but I enjoyed the dissonance at :58 and the subsequent vocal samples. You have a good amount of reverb in here that helps to create a nice, full texture. The drop at 1:28 was thoroughly enjoyable, although after that I was looking for some stronger melodic content, which isn’t really present for much of the piece. I liked the descending synth line at 2:40 or so. The reverb might detract from the mixing a tad, but personally it doesn’t bother me that much. The atmospheric breakdown at 3:20 was also a tasteful point of structural relief. I’m really impressed this is the first track you made using FL Studio. I would’ve liked some more variation on the drop the second time around, but that’s a small complaint. The outro was effective, and just as mysterious as the opening in a way. Solid work. I like this piece a lot!

8.5/10

Gravidi responds:

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a thought out review! It really does mean a lot that you enjoyed this track. I'll make sure to think about how I can improve on future songs based on your comments here. THANKS!

[Abril]

I like the somber mood at the beginning. Those string samples sound very romantic, almost in an over-the-top Hollywood sort of way...I’m a little ambivalent about them. The harmonies really emphasize the 1-and-2-and- pulse of the piece, but I would’ve liked to see you add some more space to the texture at some point in the piece. That said, the mood and atmosphere of the piece really won me over here. You have a great sense of melody, and the piece’s oscillation between more and less energetic was very effective. Good job!

8.75/10

AzulJazz responds:

Thanks a lot!

[Them Strangers - Wrong Place]

I like the groove at the beginning and the sense of climax into :20. The progression is pretty cool, and I’m really enjoying the instrumentation. The vocals are super clean, and the distorted guitar in the background of the chorus works really well to add some atmosphere. I think the mixing is a little weak. You can especially tell that the drums need some compression - the kick gets lost on the chorus, and I wasn’t a fan of your samples anyway. The mood of the piece really made it special, though - there’s a lot of character here. I might’ve asked that you vary the chorus a bit during the last refrain, and the fade-out ending was a bit lazy, but overall I like this piece a lot. Well done!

8/10

oldmanorange responds:

Well thanks for enjoying it.

[AIM - Theme for the Keeper of the Reef]

I like the aquatic theme, manifested in the wave samples. Nice job establishing the mood - it’s very tranquil and dreamy. Instead of adding onto the dreamy pads, though, you replaced them with this square, wandering synth, which I thought was questionable. The progression thereafter is a little slow-paced, and I wasn’t a fan of the short pause at 1:33, which halted the flow IMO. The sound design here is really interesting, but the minimalism really doesn’t help this piece. Almost 3 minutes in, I have yet to hear some strong melodic content. The piece also has very little coherence, and the structure seems like somewhat of a collage of ideas. I really would’ve liked to see you carry those pads with you throughout the piece - they really could’ve helped tie the piece together, which you made a last-ditch effort to do by bringing those wave samples back towards the end. It wasn’t enough for me. The numerous different directions of the piece make the listener’s experience jarring. Clean up the structure and coherence of this piece, and it has some serious potential. Otherwise, your quirky instruments and well-crafted mood gave you a lot of points. Keep at it, man!

6.5/10

Maverickmode responds:

Well, thank you for the encouraging words and honest critiques. That pad synth you were talking about is the one I lost about halfway through. I would have liked to use it more, but it's lost to time.

[Cs - 'Ambistep']

The bell sounds at the beginning were a little harsh-sounding. I’d recommend removing some of those treble frequencies in an equalizer. The drum samples at :35 sound pretty generic, but I like the ambient vibe you’ve created here. The minimalist section from :50 - 1:20 isn’t my favorite, though. It seems like you’ve put in this experimental chord progression where there should be some more melodic content. The pads are clearly distorting the drums throughout the entire middle section of this piece, too. Please look into using an equalizer and compressor; I’m sure there are tons of tutorials on YouTube for using them in whatever DAW you have. Both of these tools will help each instrument in your track sound clear and crisp, and the equalizer may also help with blending. The fade-out ending here came across as pretty lazy, btw, like you gave up on crafting the structure of the latter part of the piece. Overall, I’d strongly suggest creating a piece centered around a stronger melody next time. Here, it seems like you’ve based the harmonies entirely on the chords - which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the melody should really be priority number 1. When you feel like you’ve written a piece with a strong, memorable melody AND you start using equalizers/compressors to your advantage, PM me. I’ll give the track a listen. Good luck!

4/10

Csucskos responds:

Ohh man. You are killing me.
(Since this is the NG Audio Death Match it is OK. :D)

[-586rick- Overdrive Ostrich]

I like the intensity and drive. I think the mix could use a little cleaning up. The kick is clearly fighting for attention, and the snare could be a lot stronger. It’s possible that you’ve also used a bit too much reverb, but I think you should focus on doing some more care equalizing and compression. The texture is full throughout, but it isn’t varied much at all, which is a problem. I also wouldn’t consider this a structurally complete piece. It has a lot of good ideas, and you have a great sense of harmony and progression, but I’m not seeing much in the way of phrasing or development that defines a complete piece. The notes and patterns themselves change, but not the instrumentation, dynamics, energy, etc.. Going forward, I’d strongly suggest focusing on varying the character of your piece more through the addition of new instruments, changing the dynamics, and creating more drive with the drums. If you did that more here, this could’ve been a really strong piece. Keep at it, man!

5.5/10

586rick responds:

Thanks for your constructive review, For now I just remake them so I understand its not really dynamic, but I want someday to be able to remix all my remakes in my way so it could be unique in its on way.

Thanks again to let me have a chance for this competition.
Cheers
586rick

[Route]

The synths are a little cheesy and generic, but I like the addition of the harp. It actually meshes really well with the smooth 8-bit vibe of the piece. I’m also really enjoying the percussion at around :50. The minimalism gets old after awhile, though. I think you needed some more fill between :50 and 2:00 - pads, mid-range harmonies, or maybe some hi-hats or toms to add some punch to the percussion. Compositionally, this piece is actually pretty strong. You have a good sense of melody and harmony, but the texture lacks fill. I want to see you use the entire frequency range to your advantage at most (if not all) times in the future. The fade-out ending came across as a bit lazy. I didn’t hear any particular problems with the mixing or mastering, so that’s a huge plus.

7/10

Zechnition responds:

Thanks for the review! I didn't know I was progressing so much with my mixing.