TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Yuletide Memories]

Ooooo...I like the instrumentation and emotion here. The percussion at :30 was a nice touch, too. It's pretty slow to progress at the beginning, but I really like the direction it's taking by around 1:30. You definitely play with a lot of different moods here - from nostalgia to hopefulness to longing. The vocal section at around the 2-minute mark was enjoyable. At 2:40 or so, the vocals seem to distort the strings a bit, but I can hear everything clearly at most other points in the piece. I suppose I would've suggested you take some of the treble off of those harsh-sounding bells at 3:05. The piece sounded like it was peaking there, but it might've just been the high pitch of the instrument. You could also just transpose it down an octave instead. I really like the rhythm guitar you introduce at 3:56 or so. It adds a lot of flair to the last minute or so of the piece. The ending is sweet. Also, I don't recall reviewing last year's version of this piece, so I'm glad I caught it this year. :) Keep up the good work, Ale! ;) Merry Christmas!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I'm glad you didn't review last year's version, as it was just a reboot of the 2014 version, with a music box instead of a piano!
I agree that the piece is slow to progress. I guess it's fine, since it's an Xmas song, and a fairly long one too.
As for playing with many moods, I probably overdid it! But I've been overdoing it since the first (never uploaded) version which I made in 2011. So it'd be weird to stop now!
Also, if I recall correctly, the original thought was that there should be different emotions, since a lot of different ones are felt during Christmas times, and this is a composition about remembering them.

As for 2:40, I think you're mistaking an even lower, simultaneous choir harmony, "singing" at the same frequencies as the Cello. So it's likely drowning (which is also bad), but not distorted!
The track doesn't peak at the bells, but I agree that it sounds harsh! I noticed this today while listening on speakers instead of with my headphones, where it's better.

The rhythm guitar is a great bass VST. But I couldn't use a bass because of the Cello, so I used fairly high notes, and added a few weird effects to make it sound like it does. I'm glad you liked the addition! The mix is probably the most terrible at this part though :V

So yeah, your critique is very on point! Thank you for the review, Andrew, and Merry Christmas!!

[I Wish You An Epichristmas]

I like the cute instruments and harmonies. It has a good sense of flow, and the overall mood is very relaxed and soothing. I liked the melodies at :40, but I think you could've done more with it as far as rhythm and flair. Right now they seem a bit square and lack-luster. The balance is good in this piece. You might want to incorporate some more percussion to keep it going, though. Also, there were some pretty sudden transitions in there, such as 1:44. I would've liked to see you vary the main melody more later on in the piece. Otherwise, the piece lacks direction a bit. Still, I appreciated the modulation to minor at 2:38 and the subsequent key change at 2:49. The stop-start transition at 3:31 didn't really work for me. It kinda just interrupted the flow. Maybe a crash or some reverb would've helped smooth it over. Personally, I'm not even convinced you need the last minute or so of this piece. It's all just repeated melody. Overall, nice piece. The mood and instruments were my favorite parts of it. It just needs a little more variety later on. Merry Christmas to you too! ^^

Earel responds:

Thanks for advises :)

[charge]

Woah. I love the dreamy synths and the portamentos. The reverb is so luscious and gives the piece a really spacey vibe. The bass groove at 1:10 is enjoyable too. Excellent mixing and mastering as always. That jazzy piano solo at 1:25 was great. Really cool tune, Johnfn. Killer melodies, catchy as hell, instrumentation enhances the mood a lot. I love all the subtle automations on the melody lines, like at 3:17. The pitch bend on that last note was awesome. The track cuts off suddenly, but fixing that is as simple putting in a blank extra measure. Fantastic piece, Johnfn! So nice of you to get me this Christmas present. ^^

johnfn responds:

Thanks TheDoor! Glad you liked it :D

[Cheap Holidays]

I like the atmospheric chords at the beginning, but they sorta crash stylistically with the percussion you add at :05. I think you need to work on your transitions. There was nothing in there that really predicted the bass line's entrance at :46. Same thing with the melody at 1:06. Even a simple sweep or crash would help smooth over those transitions. The piece seems to have a distinct structure, but overall lacks direction. You repeat a lot of the same riffs (like the bass at :46, and the melody at 1:06) over again, but you don't ever vary them enough. The piece has a huge sense of continuity about it, which makes it hard to keep my attention. I'd suggest creating a moment or two of structural relief in the middle of the piece where you lose those pads in the background and shake up the texture a bit. Some more prominent/consistent drums might also help give this piece more direction. Overall, it's not a bad track. It just needs a bit more dynamic shape and flow. Hope this helped! If you have any questions about my comments, please PM me. ;)

kriztendom responds:

Thank you for listening and analysis, for sure I'll follow your guidelines when I'll create a new track. This track was really made to be boring and random lol :))

[Psybot - Limbo]

I like the mysterious synths at the beginning. The vocals were good, and the way you chopped them up was cool. I like the lyrics a lot too. Your style has really evolved a lot over the years. I remember listening to a lot of cheesy trance tracks of your back in 2010 or something (not that cheesy is a bad thing). This is a well-structured and smooth-flowing piece. Nice job with the mixing and mastering. I can hear everything clearly throughout. During some of the verses, it seems to me like you have a bit too much tension in your voice (or maybe you ran out of breath?) because you force the air through pretty hard at certain sections and it sounds a bit abrasive. For example, when you're saying "sometime," "mine," and "life" at around 1:45, it sounds almost panicky. Maybe you were just nervous, but if not I would suggest working on some breathing techniques to really control the air flow when you sing. Other than that, awesome track, man! Good to see you're still posting here. Your music meant everything to me as a kid, and it still does. :')

Psybot responds:

Thank you very much! All i want to say is that about that breathing part is that i thought it brought a kind of feel to the voice to make that part sound a bit more important and reliefing. Maybe i overdid it, i thank you for bringing it up. I will think about it in the future:)

[Smells Tempting]

Interesting combination of instruments at the beginning. I like the beat at :18, but I think the kick could use more bass, and the piano sounds like it needs some reverb. Nice job with the harmonizing at around :40. The transition with the drums at :54 was really cool too. It has this great frantic drive, and the melodic content at 1:24 is great, definitely Johnfn-inspired. The kick gets a little lost somewhere around the 2-minute mark, but overall I thought the mixing and mastering quality were both good overall. I appreciated the structural relief at 2:30. You clearly display a great sense of rhythm throughout the piece. The pitch-bending on that high-pitched synth at around 3:10 is awesome. You do a great job of reasserting the frantic craziness after the breakdown. Excellent piece here. I was skeptical of the instrumentation in the beginning, but this thing really came together well. Keep up the good work, LunacyEcho, but don't work too hard. ;)

LunacyEcho responds:

Haha, more reviews I missed! And this one's a big one, too.

=> kick

With the kick, I was actually trying to emulate one of johnfn's kicks that I really liked! It was really apparent in the mix, solid but not overwhelming, and not sidechained at all. I guess more bass is still needed, though. :P

=> 1:24

Lol at this point basically every melody I write is johnfn-inspired :v

=> frantic craziness

Haha, that's a vibe that lots of my songs tend to end up having! Maybe I should try my hand at writing a super chill ambient piece sometime. :P

Thanks for the review! And don't worry, I survived December pretty well :D

[To the Waters and the Wild]

Hmm...must've missed this one. I like the cute melodies, even if they're a bit simplistic. The instruments blend well together. The loop is pretty smooth, but there's this odd clicking noise in there somewhere. Thanks for the shout-out in the description! I agree that this deserves to be a full piece, but I understand you're very busy. I guess if I had to complain about something, I'd point out that the piece doesn't really have much shape to it. Variety in instrumentation and structure, yes, but few dynamics or phrasing changes. Still, nice work. Hope you have some time to relax over the holidays! :D

LunacyEcho responds:

Lol, I must've missed this one too :v

=> simplistic melodies

Haha I wasn't trying to be that adventurous—just making something feel-good and down-home. :P

=> full piece

I might extend it someday! I was pretty proud of how video-gamey the first melody ended up sounding.

As always, thanks for the review, even though I'm half a year late in saying it! :D

[Daybreak]

Ah! I think I missed this one. I like the rhythm in the synths during the first 20 seconds or so, as well as the early emotional height at :22. Trademark pop piano at the chill sections, too. This piece has a lot of direction to it, and I love those juicy hats that pop in at around 1:40. Your transitions are subtle but effective, like 1:57 for example. There's a lot of variety here, but I think you did a nice job of tying it together. The chords seem a little distorted at 4:03, but that might just be because of the range of the sample. That chill outro at 4:54 was great, too. Definitely one of my favorite endings of yours. I think you should try more downtempo EDM in the future. You've definitely run the gamut of melodic bangers. Keep up the great work, Lockyn! :D

Lockyn responds:

Hey TL, nice to see you again. Thank you for your detailed reviews as always, I'm happy you enjoyed the ending because that was one of my favorites to make. Cheers mate :)