TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[3xOsc Party]

Really amusing concept. My favorite elements of it are probably the portamentos and the tempo. Sounds like a clown just got home from work and starts doing acid. XD The chords probably made me think of something circus-y. Well done. If there's any way I can convince you to make a full piece out of this, I would. ^^

EnNinja responds:

Thanks man. I might maybe finish it sometime in the future xD

[Incursus]

I like the synths at the beginning and the filtering effects that create a mini-climax into :07. The piece was a little slow to develop, but the stop-starts at :30 ruined the flow for me a bit. I would suggest adding some reverb to smooth it over a bit there. It sounded like the piece was building towards something around the 1-minute mark, but you didn't exactly release the tension. I like the tempo automation at around 1:30. I was craving some more melodic content by around the 2-minute mark, but it never really came. It seems like you have a couple of cycles in this piece where you skip right over a drop/refrain and go from a build-up to a breakdown immediately. I think the structure would be a lot more effective with an emotional height in there somewhere. Your build-ups are also fairly drawn out, especially the one from around 3:10 - 4:30. It's just a little excessive, and once again only leads to a chill chordal section. This piece is very long and has a lot of tension that never quite resolves. I like the style of this piece, but I think you should think more about the composition next time; cycles of tension and release are really effective in music, but you need some more release for it to work here. I also thought the piano at the end sounded really fake, and the ending itself wasn't that conclusive. Sorry to be so harsh on you, though. It's a bit of an experimental piece, but it certainly conveys some neat moods and has a cool unpolished aesthetic. Keep at it, man! ;)

stegosaurus responds:

Thank you for the very in-depth review, in some areas this track turned out quite rough, since this was my first time trying to produce industrial music. It's interesting seeing the critique with the piano, since my intention was to sort of mess with the uncanny valley with it. I do certainly agree that the composition was kinda lacking on this piece, since my main focus was the sound design. Thanks for the review, and I'll have something a bit more polished for this year's NGADM.

[REALITY GLITCH AUTOMATON]

Fantastic piece, Johnfn. Catchy, well-mastered, awesome melodies, and cool modulations (like at :45). The mechanical whirring effect (like at :52) gets me every time. ^^ My only complaint is that the kick could've been a little stronger. Otherwise, it's well-structured and flows very well. There's plenty of variety here to keep me engaged throughout, and I love the variations on the melody towards the end (~3:10). Thanks again for hosting the Chip contest! I very much plan on doing the second one too. :) I knew that this was your piece almost instantly, btw. Trademark Johnfn ending too. XD Keep it up!

johnfn responds:

Haha, yeah, I don't think anyone identified it faster than you did. Props. I really should diversify my lead style ;-)

Glad you liked it :)

(And thanks for the double review!!)

[They Taught Us To Dream]

Fantastic piece, my friend. The bright piano sound offers some excellent contrast to the gritty synth breaks later in the piece. The mood and atmosphere are superb too. It might be a little slow to develop at times, but I love the breaks at 2:36. You have an excellent sense of rhythm. I really appreciate that you brought it full-circle with the piano riff at the end. Mixing and mastering are solid throughout too. Keep up the great work, man!

DEM0NW0LF responds:

Thanks for the review !

[BrightSide]

NEW AUDIO FROM LUNACYECHO? Haven't seen that notification in a while. I like the mood and energy here. The drums are especially good, I think. They sound pretty organic, but they mesh really well with the electronic instruments here. The melodies at 1:04 are great, as are the ones at 1:35. There's actually a lot of melodic content here. I think the melody at 2:08 needed to come through the mix a little more, whereas I might've toned down the high-pass a bit on those pads, or otherwise transposed them down an octave. That way, it opens up the mix more to cover a broader frequency range and also help the melody stand out. Still, this piece is seriously good. Well-structured, smooth-flowing, and quite thematic, I might add. Hope to see more of your work soon, LE. ;D

LunacyEcho responds:

Great to hear from you, TL! One of the things I've missed about uploading audio to Newgrounds is seeing your religiously written comments on everything. :D :D

Let's see if I can still remember how to respond...

=> drums =>

Yeah, I used an acoustic drum kit as a part of the funk section of the genre mash. I was also surprised by how good they sounded with the synths! :)

=> melodies =>

I'm actually super proud of some of the melodies in this song! Especially the second theme, which enters at 2:08.

=> mix =>

Hah, my headphones are a little short on treble. :P I should probably factor that in when mixing, lol. I've definitely been keeping the broad frequency range in mind; in fact, I'm also kinda proud of how I mixed and edited the bass in this song.

Thanks for the review, TL! Hope to hear more music from you soon, and I look forward to competing in future Chips with you. ;)

[Deceived by Demise]

Stellar work, man. Listening to it for the second time, I'm even more impressed. The atmosphere is very well-crafted, and the production quality is very high. I love the dissonance around the 2-minute mark coupled with that gorgeous string melody. The climactic part at 2:51 could've had more of a build-up, but the wave of sound that hits me is still an effective way of channeling the mood. The final minute or so had a strong emotional appeal too. Amazing work! Keep it up, dude. ^_^

EvilRaccoon responds:

Thankts TL! :D Really appreciate it.

[Peaks]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning, and the drums, pads, and lead synth mesh really well together during the first 30 seconds or so. The piece is very smooth, and I really enjoyed the sub-bass too. As beautiful as the atmosphere is, I was craving some melodic content, which was satisfied at around the 2-minute mark. I like the apprehensive tone of the riff at 2:47. I really appreciate that this is in Dorian mode too - the old church modes aren't used enough. If I had to criticize one thing, it'd be that the piece doesn't have a ton of coherence. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed how you varied the energy throughout and how you used the drums. Great work, my friend!

Onefin responds:

Oh yeah, coherence. I sort of forgot you were the one who got onto me for only have one climatic point in my music. Idk I tried to make transitions really really good this time

Thanks for the review man!

[drowning (AIM)]

Yes! I love sad music. I like the somber mood and soulful melodies. Your sound design is always very carefully crafted, and I appreciate that. It was pretty slow to develop, though, and had a lot of moments of minimalism. The melodies are excellent, unsurprisingly. The automations do a lot to keep this song interesting. The phrasing is well-done. By the end, I didn't view it as sad so much as longing or wistful - the only thing I couldn't tell was whether it was longing for the future or the past. Nice well-balanced texture, though - I especially thought the bass at 2:47 was a nice touch. There was a really multi-faceted transition at 4:05 that still didn't quite seem smooth enough. Maybe that's because the tempo change was a bit too conspicuous. Still, I liked the coda. Solid work overall, as always. I'm not usually the kind of person to criticize people's genre choices, but kill as many hostages as you want. Just don't upload it to Facebook Live - Zuckerberg will get mad.

johnfn responds:

thanks TL! yes, the big risk of this piece is that it doesn't go full overdrive insane awesome like i normally would do, and the development is much slower than normal for me. its a much more restrained piece. i think that in the end this arrangement choice SHOULD make the piece more enjoyable to listen to for longer, at the expense of a slightly less arresting first listen. but i guess we'll see!