TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[At The Forefront]

I love the emotion at the beginning. I’m not sure I was a huge fan of the strings’ suddenly being cut off during the intro. Perhaps it adds a bit of drama, but it also disrupts the flow a bit IMO. The chord progression is also a bit cliche, at least for the first 45 seconds or so. I’m impressed with your ability to mix in that bass bomb at :41, though, and I appreciated your panning work during the transition at :58. All of the instruments blend really well here. I’m enjoying the combination of organic and electronic elements. The dark mood is engrossing, and you did a great job of creating some structural contrast at 1:39. You maximized the emotion with those strings, which is excellent, and then I’m exceedingly enthralled by the conglomeration of dreamy and foreboding moods. Perhaps the transition at 2:49 was a bit rushed, but the purpose of re-energizing the piece was fulfilled. If I had to point out any mixing or mastering flaw in the entire piece, it might be that the frantic string melodies at 3:35 get buried by the powerful ambient guitar melodies. I also thought that the bass drum and snare could’ve been brought more up-front, especially during the sections with more textural depth. Regardless, the section at 3:35 definitely has the strongest melodies of the entire piece, which, its being the final climax and emotional height of the piece, is fitting. I love how you brought the piece full-circle with the bit at 4:33, and decided to further gnaw away at my emotions for another minute after the last grand refrain. You took a lot of risks in this piece, and I think they all paid off. While not perfect, this piece is riveting and unique. Very few competitors have garnered full points for structural variety and flow from me. Your knack for structural ebb and flow will be your gambit in future rounds (and I assure you: there will be future rounds). Keep up the great work, Enzer0. ;D

9.75/10

Enzer0 responds:

Thank you for such an in depth review TaintedLogic. I too feel it was a little rough around the edges and am hoping to impress you guys with what I've got coming up! Thanks for taking the time to break everything down and I hope you enjoy my future entries! :D

On a side note, it's good that Peter Satera eventually declined in Judging the event as I am his brother. :D

[Storyboard - Frequency (AT Remix)]

Having the vocals in there as an intro wasn’t a bad idea, but I think you could’ve done a lot more to connect them more smoothly to the instrumental section that followed. A general rule of thumb is that you should always carry over one or two instruments to the next section during additive transitions. I liked the melodies at :07, although the chord progression was cliche. Then, you repeat that melody almost continuously until around the 2-minute mark with little added variety, which was a bit of a structural oddity. And that part at 1:57 sounds a little out-of-place, probably at least partly because it’s hard to make out the tonic because of that sweep you threw in there. The downbeats during that breakdown section also indicate a completely different progression as during the refrains, which makes the transition back into 2:52 pretty rough as well. I appreciated the variations on the melody you there, but then you launch into this uncharacteristically dissonant sections which also threw me off as a listener. There are two clashing moods here - the upbeat progression of the chords and bass and the newly creepy, atonal melody. Dissonance can be effective in music, but with the preceding ¾ of the piece being so cheerful and no structural changes warning me of this impending dissonance, I’m left confused as a listener. And then the bouncy, high-pitched synths you added at 3:19 were annoying, loud, and harsh-sounding. I also have no clue where the part at 3:48 came from. I don’t recall hearing any strings earlier in the piece, and generally it’s not a good idea to introduce new instruments to your piece during the last 30 seconds. Never mind the fact that 3:48 sounds like you copied and pasted it from a completely different track. Overall, this track has very little coherence, which is strange because the first 2 minutes or so actually lacked variety IMO. You mention in the description that you “never ran out of ideas,” but I think one of the main problems here is that you tried to work with too many ideas at once and the piece lost its sense of direction. You want to ground your listener in a familiar structure before creating any sweeping variations. In my view, you have not done that here. However, I have few complaints with the mixing and mastering and you did a good job of keeping the texture full throughout. Most of my complaints have to do with the structure and transitions, so I think that is what you should focus on, my friend. Good luck, and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to PM me. Keep at it, EnNinja! ;)

6.5/10

EnNinja responds:

That took a while to read, but I pretty much agree with you on everything though I have to correct you on one thing. String is not only heard in the end of the song but also before the second drop along with the piano.
Thanks for the amazing review :)

[Good Mood Injection]

I liked the upbeat mood and frantic synth patterns. The kick sample wasn’t my favorite, though, and you had it play a short succession of rolls in a very unconventional way for the first minute or so. The piece also throws you into the middle of the action without much introductory content. I enjoyed the melodies at around :40. You have a lot of different structural elements to this piece during the middle, yet some of them are loosely connected to one another (1:43 and the part immediately before it, for example). There also isn’t a section when you dial back the energy and offer much in the way of structural contrast. This piece is lacking a sense of emotional ebb and flow that’s often necessary for development and progression. You also didn’t vary the melodies much later in the piece, thereby missing more opportunities to give this piece an overarching sense of direction and finality. The ending is a bit lazy and cuts off suddenly. With some dynamic considerations, you may have been able to turn this into a decent loop. I thought the mix was pretty clear and the frequencies here are well-balanced. Perhaps you could’ve used some more panning or compression to maximize this clarity. My main complaints mostly involve the structure and progression of the piece. I think you need to do more with phrasing and variety here, especially later in the piece when you fail to develop the progression in a climactic way that’s also different than earlier. Otherwise, solid work. Keep at it, Eatmeatleet! ;)

7.5/10

eatmeatleet responds:

Thanks for full review, it's nice to get some 1's especially for harmony and stuff. I know progression is not the most original but it's a nice track ;)

[Africa calls]

I like the percussion at the beginning and the cheery melodies at :09. Somehow this reminds me of The Lion King...which is probably an indication that you nailed the African theme. ;) The melody drags on for a bit too long IMO...and then you simply repeat it using a different instrument at 1:17. This would’ve been fine if you had more harmonic support in there to keep things interesting, but after a certain point I was seriously wondering if there would be any structural relief. However, to your credit, that moment finally came at 2:17. The song is very smooth-flowing and pleasant, but as a stand-alone piece it loses a few points in my mind because of a lack of overarching direction. For example, you didn’t really vary the main melody in any sort of climactic way later in the piece. That said, the sample quality is excellent and (again) you made the African theme really come to life here with the atmosphere and instruments. I also have no complaints with the mixing and mastering. If you fix the small structure and progression-related issues I mentioned above, this would easily be one of my favorite pieces of the competition so far. Keep up the good work, man. ;D

9.25/10

EagleGuard responds:

Hey man, thank you so much for your in-depth review! Definitely agree with all your points, and I'll certainly take it into account for future works.

Glad you enjoyed the piece as a whole, and thanks again for your review!

[Zenith]

I thought you could’ve left yourself a little more space for contrast at the beginning. The song kind of just throws you into the middle of these heavy breaks without much introductory material. It’s a little hard to get an overarching sense of climax, as the structure ebbs and flows a lot before any kind of emotional height, and then the real climax comes almost 2 minutes into the piece (1:51). The distorted guitar sounds there added a lot to the piece, but I still feel that some huge chunks of the preceding 2 minutes were unnecessary (the build-up from :52 to 1:21, for example, basically leads nowhere). The instrumentation here is great, however. You did a nice job of offering some structural relief at 2:36, and then transitioning back into a more energetic section by 3:05. The drums during that breakdown section are also quite creative. The piece is very smooth-flowing in general. You did a nice job with the panning, which I especially noticed at around 4:15. The transition into the final chorus at 4:33 was smooth yet weak. It almost seemed like you were playing this live and decided to cross-fade the prior melody and the chorus at the last minute. I was also a little disappointed that you failed to vary the melody sufficiently during the last chorus. For the casual listener, it may have even been difficult to identify that as the chorus because a large portion of this piece shares an energetic sense of continuity. I liked the ending, though. In general, the mixing is very clear and the mastering is loud and pleasant. Despite my mostly structure-related complaints, this is solid work! Keep at it, DM. ;D

8.5/10

Dylnmatrix responds:

Holy shit I never responded to this.

All your structure complaints are well placed. I believe this track mainly emulates a jam session that a band could have during a show, similar to the ones Muse has in their shows. Jams usually don't have concrete or even good structures as they're mainly improv, like this one in the sense I wrote it subconsciously in two nights.

Doesn't excuse the issues but it might explain why it's so.

[Days Go By]

Interesting use of panning during the intro. I liked the upbeat mood and sense of climax into :32. The melodies are enjoyable, the mix is clear, and the mastering is very loud. The chord progression is a little cliche, though, and I thought you overused that transition with the crashes (:13 and other places). Also, I really appreciated that you added structural relief at 2:18, and I thoroughly enjoyed the transition at 3:01. This is a smooth-flowing and well-structured piece, and the vocal fills (3:22) add a lot to it. The melodic variations at 3:38 were also more than welcome. The fade-out ending came across as a bit lazy, though, but that’s probably the only structural flaw of this piece. The trumpet lead was a great choice instrumentation-wise, and you have a great sense of harmony. My main complaint is that this is very generic upbeat electronica. Overall, solid work! ;D

9/10

Jakki responds:

Thank you so much for your extensive and constructive review, T-Logic! Much appreciated! I have to agree with every point you made there. Indeed the ending was little lazy and the song was overall little generic.

Btw glad you liked the vocal fill at the 3:22 too :D

[London Night (2016)]

I liked the panning at the beginning. This is a catchy piece with some refreshing instrumentation. It’s also bass-y, moody, and mastered incredibly loudly. Despite the slow progression, there’s plenty of texture to keep me engaged. I think the kick could’ve been a bit more up-front in the mix, especially since this is a house track with a strong beat. The melodies at 2:20 also need to be brought out much more. You have very little strong melodic content in this piece, so when you do have some you should expose it! The piece also has a sense of continuity without much structural relief or dynamic contrast. Perhaps it would serve well as a dancefloor favorite, but loses points as a stand-alone piece because of this lack of variety. The ritardando at the end worked well, even if it did seem a bit unconventional for house music. Overall solid work! Keep it up, man. ;)

8.5/10

deliverance84 responds:

Thank you very much dude :) I think you are very correct, this still needs much more work. I need to master this again and like you said, bring the main melody's forward. Massive thanks for the high praise and the great review, at least I know what to do for this track now :)

[Resolution]

The intro is a bit confusing for me. I really didn’t think you needed that drum fill when you already had a brief fade-in and some satisfactory synth patterns. Perhaps that’s a small detail, however. This piece is pretty slow to develop early on, but I enjoyed the build that begins at around :50. This piece is catchy and melodic. I wasn’t a huge fan of your clap sample. It sounded pretty generic. The stop-start transition you had at 1:34 wasn’t all that effective IMO, even with the reverb. I think you could’ve at least faded in the next section, or otherwise used more reverb. Same thing at 2:06. It just needed to be a bit smoother. I found it a bit jarring that you launched into the melody at 2:37 in the middle of a measure, also with little in the way of transitory material. You also didn’t develop or vary the melody much the second time, which is a missed opportunity to add some overarching sense of climax and finality to this piece. The piece is also pretty minimalistic, especially during the inter-chorus section (1:34 - 2:52). I liked the ending, though. As for the mixing and mastering, it’s pretty clear throughout. I thought you could’ve done a lot more with the drums. Most of the time, it’s just a straight-forward kick-clap-kick-clap on the beat. Overall, this piece is catchy and fun, but not remarkable. You could’ve taken more risks here, especially with the melodic development and sound design. I also think you need to work on your transitions. That said, I liked the mood, structure, and the melodies themselves. Keep at it, man! ;)

7.5/10

CyanSandwich responds:

Thanks for the review man! (And all the judging)
I'll definitely keep all of this in mind.

[Don't blink!]

I like the atmosphere and instruments. However, overall it has very little sense of development and overarching direction. I think you needed a smoother transition at :55. I would suggest varying the drum patterns toward the end of the previous section and then inserting a big, cathartic crash on the downbeat. The vocal sample served pretty well as a transition, yet it completely buries the instrumentals in the mix. The part at 1:06 offers little variety, especially rhythmically, from earlier sections of the piece. Also, the drums at 1:06 are clearly not as loud, crisp, and clear as in the first half of the piece. This is blatantly a mastering issue, and the kick was also not as strong throughout as I would’ve liked. The piece also lacks strong melodic content. Overall, I think you need to flesh out this piece a lot more, including adding variety, more structural and dynamic contrast, smoother transitions, and more harmonic depth in places. There are some good ideas here, but unfortunately you’ve failed to capitalize on their compositional potential. Hope this helped! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to PM me. Keep at it, man. ;)

5.25/10

COWOX responds:

word man! :3

[Chael - Nightmare]

I like the mysterious mood at the beginning. It has a great sense of climax starting at around :30. The gritty synths and ominous tone add a lot to the piece. The dissonant chords at 1:19 are awesome. The drop at 1:30 is great. Perhaps you could’ve brought the snare out a bit more there just to add that much more punch. The structure of this piece is a little bizarre. It has a lot of high-intensity content and not much contrast and relief. I don’t think you ever really had a proper breakdown or bridge to separate the first drop with the one at 3:00. That said, the mood and atmosphere really sell this piece. I wasn’t a huge fan of that piano sample at 3:27, and I think some of your other instruments could use a high-pass to limit distortion in the bass range, especially during the drops. Also, the ending felt a bit rushed. It might not even make a bad loop, even if 4-minute-long dubstep loops are a bit unconventional. It could also use some stronger melodic content. Overall, this is solid work. Nice job with the builds, transitions, and intensity. Keep at it, man. ;)

7.75/10

Falsesouth responds:

Thank you so much for the review!

I have gained a lot of mixing tips and insight that I cannot wait to try out, as I just got time to work on some of my projects (especially high passing). You caught the slightly rushed part (good for you dude). This track was made with a lot of pressure of final school assignments and everything in this track was only instinct. I did not really have time to think (saved that for the school work and it paid off). I don't know what makes this seem more like a loop; however, I completely understand the part about creating stronger melodic content. XD yeah I love the dissonant chords at 1:19 too :D
This could have used a breakdown, and I will keep that in mind in the future.

Thanks once again, and I would appreciate any other thoughts or responses that come to your mind based on this response through Private Message if possible.

Great judging by the way; this was very effective and the rubric idea is golden and useful.