TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[Detious - Envision]

I like the ominous mood at the beginning. The synth that comes in at around :20 and gradually faded into the background faked me out a bit, but I appreciated the theatrical nature of it. The intro dragged on a little long. The first sign of progression note-wise doesn't really come until 1:45 or so with those staccato chords. I would've liked to see a lot more melodic content earlier on in this piece. You can only fade in and out so many times before it fails to keep me engaged. The drop was pretty cool, but also dragged on a bit long IMO. I would like to see a melodic bridge or something in here. I think it would really help the pacing of this piece. The second drop comes on way too fast. You do a good job of making the piece come full circle, but the progression is my main concern. Maybe it has more to do with my personal preferences, though. Keep at it, man. Gratz on the front-page! ;)

DetiousMusic responds:

I totally feel you, besides from those chords and the layerd arp there really isn't much going on melody wise. I was struggling trying to fit in other melodic elements in the intro because I wanted it to blend with the drop. I kinda said screw it and focused on the atmosphere of it all and let the drop fill the rest of the song (as the first drop is a fat 32 bars for a 175 bpm glitch hop track) it does last pretty long. The reason the intro drags is because I made a Sidereal non-stop mix where I had this extended version but decided to just use it as the original. I'm glad you took the time to point out this stuff though, thanks a lot (:

[3MBER + SRK - Night Owls (Lockyn Remix)]

I like the flowy vibe the synth pattern at the beginning has. The melodies that come in at :15 have a fun, bouncy feel. The vocals and synth melodies blend really well at :45, and the drop at the 1-minute mark comes with a lot of catharsis. The piece has this cutesy tone, yet also really makes me want to dance. Nice job with the climax into 2:46. This track is super engaging and energetic. Your mixing and mastering is fantastic as always. That bass that comes in at 3:45 (and other places) is a nice touch, too. I like how you brought it full circle with the part at the 4-minute mark. The ending was nice, although sometimes I think you need more than just a reverse crash to connect some of the sections of this piece. When the instrumentation changes a lot between each section, it's nice to prime the listener a little more. Overall, excellent work. Fave and DL. I also need to check out the original! Good luck with the end of your semester, Lockyn. ;D

Lockyn responds:

Transitions have always been one of my weak points, and I'll work hard to try and meet your criticism. thanks as always TL!

[Uwaaa!! So Kawaii (Lockyn Remix)]

I like the melodies right off the bat. It has a bit of a reserved vibe, though, with all the note lengths being slightly less than "full." The piece has a lot more drive after the beat comes in. The piece seemed like it always had a melody going, which after a while made it hard to keep me engaged. I'm not sure how much you changed it from the original, but I did enjoy the instrumentation, arguably the most important parts of remixes. I think the transition into 4:30 is a little weak, though. Overall, I like it. Catchy melodies, well-structured, cool instruments. Looking forward to hearing more of your original work, Lockyn. ;)

Lockyn responds:

hey TL, thanks for the reviews as always. I'm glad you enjoyed other than the repetitiveness. Cheers mate

[Triumphal Entry]

I like the contrasting textures at the beginning. It has an even underlying rhythm, yet a pulse that gives it a subtle bite. The entry of the chords at :40 was somewhat unwarranted, although I did like how they meshed with the effects in the background. The jarring tempo change at 1:10 threw me off a bit, admittedly, but the sound design in this piece remains excellent throughout. I love the vocals. I think you could stand to flesh this out a little more and really capitalize on the cinematic mood you've set up here, but as it is this is an enjoyable piece, and a surprisingly good loop I might add. Keep up the good work, Phonometrologist. ;)

Phonometrologist responds:

Thanks for stopping by TL. The "entry of the chords" is treated more like a surprise. Even I didn't think it had much logic to transition to that other than to treat this piece to have a "here I am!" part. The jarring tempo change at 1:10 and later is really just my attempt to break free from the fetters of "epic" music and commercial principles being treated as background music behind a visual. And I think I got bored for a second. When it comes to musical journaling, I would most likely have "fleshed out" certain sections for a smoother/logical transition.

[La Última Dramática]

Ah, how could I miss another of your April Fools Day pieces? XD I like the cinematic vibe in the beginning, as well as how it quickly devolves into dissonance. I think one of my favorite parts starts around :38. It seems oddly pensive. Overall, it felt like you were trying to make a parody of your own music in order to make fun of yourself. I think there are too many stop-starts to validly draw the comparison in that regard, though. I thoroughly enjoyed the cadence at the end, too! Felt like a gradual descent into hell. XD Happy belated April Fools Day to you too!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

"I think there are too many stop-starts to validly draw the comparison in that regard, though."

=> Haha, you got me xD
I do tend to have a lot of flow going on in most pieces, especially if they're solo piano ones :D

It's fun that so many people told me they liked this not as a parody, but as actual music. On one hand, it was really funny, on the other, it made me wonder if I should stop trying alltogether, haha ;D

Thanks for the dedicated reviewing! I look forward to hearing some of your work once you get the time and energy to make more music!!! :OOO

[BRUCE: Bretta's Theme]

I remember really liking some stuff you did for BRUCE, and this is no exception. I love the echo-y intro and subsequent melodic section at :15. It's a little minimalistic, yet has a lot of character to it all the same. My one complaint would have to be the samples - their lack of authenticity detracts from the mood a little bit. The pace of the piece is pretty quick structurally, with a lot of transitional moments, yet it seems like it would fit well with a video game intro that gives some context to the story. :) The ending is really majestic and bright, too. Solid composition! I hope you can post more often in the near future. ;)

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I agree about the samples! I didn't have any others of the particular instruments I was asked to include though. I probably could've tried humanizing them a bit more though :V

BRUCE was nice in that it often brought me a bit out of my comfort zone (apart from the ambient stuff). But, there was also less freedom in what I could do. There is complete change huge in the middle of the piece, partly because I wanted to try out something else, and partly because I had kinda done what I wanted with the other instruments (The samples are a bit better towards the end).

I spent 16 hours yesterday composing! I made a track for a contest. I'll likely upload it to NG once the judging is over :)
In my estimation, it's better than most things I've uploaded lately :D

Thank you for reviewing, as always!

[What Problems [LD38]]

Oooo...the last two titles of your songs read like a conversation. I wasn't a big fan of that violin sample, though. Sounds especially fake during the section at :18. I also thought the pizzicatos at :33 overwhelm the piano melody too much. The melodies themselves are solid throughout, though. That loop could've been smoother, but for its purpose I think it works fine. Cute piece. You should do more classical stuff! ;)

johnfn responds:

Haha dang that violin is straight outta native instruments stuff. I thought it was ok. D: I guess I could humanize it or whatever...

[TRUE - Hiryuu no Kishi (Lockyn Remix)]

I'm not very familiar with the original, but I love the punchy synths and the frantic vocals. I think you should've fleshed out the intro a lot more. The track kind of just throws you right into the middle of the action. The melodic content in the synths is great, but I think the vocals could've been a bit more up-front in the mix at times, especially at the chorus section at :48. The textbook Lockyn piano breakdown (1:43) gets me every time. :') This is a very well-structured and well-mastered piece as always. Oftentimes, your pieces border on being not coherent enough IMO, but this piece has a great balance of repetition and variety, especially in the vocals. The crunchy piano chords at the end were great, too. Excellent work, man! ^_^

Lockyn responds:

Hey TL, thanks as always for your reviews. I'm glad you enjoyed it regardless. I agree the intro was a quick throw, but I kinda liked the jarring feeling so I kept it. Vocals have been mentioned before - I intentionally buried them a bit because of the way I made the acapella, it was very messy and had noise due to the source material not being very keen to vocal extraction. Great feedback as always!

[Hidden gem]

I love the quirky, chill mood and the spacey atmosphere it has. The drop at :57 was very catchy and melodic. Mixing and mastering is solid. The bird sound effects were incorporated really well. You seem to like integrating nature sounds into your works, and you do a good job of it too. :) I suppose I would've liked to see you vary the drop a little more the second time around, but you've still created a short 'n' sweet piece here. Well-structured, smooth-flowing, catchy and fun. Keep up the good work, man. ;)

8-bitheroes responds:

Hey, good to see you. Thanks very much for dropping some feedback, much apprciated. I agree with you on that 2nd drop, think I got a bit lazy at that point :p. I love using natures textures to add extra flavour to my music.