TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sunflower Waltz | 2016]

I love how smooth and melodic this is. I rarely see pieces in ¾ time submitted to this competition, so that’s a plus. It has a great sense of continuity and flow about it. Nice job with the modulation at 2:22. The melody was starting to get pretty repetitive around that point, and you provided some structural relief in that sense. Overall, I think the piece is a lot longer than it needed to be, though, and I would’ve liked to see you vary the melody later in the piece. The piece starts to lack direction after a while, and the bridge at 5:04 is essentially the same as at 2:22. The samples aren’t bad, but you also didn’t do anything especially unique from an instrumentation perspective. The fade-out ending came across as pretty lazy and drawn-out. The balance is pretty good overall, but I thought the drums could’ve been a lot louder. Getting those crashes more up-front in the mix would’ve helped emphasize the grandness of this piece. I also might complain about the lack of rhythmic and dynamic variation. This piece needs a bit more emotional contrast to keep my attention, especially because it’s so long. You did a nice job of creating a full texture here, though, and the mastering is solid. Overall, this piece demonstrates a variety of important skills, but you could’ve done a lot more with it, especially from a phrasing and dynamic point of view. Hope that helps! Keep at it, man. ;)

7.5/10

Bertn1991 responds:

A fair, honest and articulate review. It is very much appreciated :D

Happy you enjoyed it overall despite a few gripes.

[Hardcore Fantasy]

It’s a catchy piece. At the beginning, you did something really bizarre with the kick, as it seemed to fade in and out rather unconventionally. This whole track is held together rather loosely as a cohesive whole. It’s extremely minimalistic and lacks proper transitions at a number of places, including :24, 1:00, etc. Another really quirky thing about this piece is that for a significant section in the middle, starting around 1:12, the kick seems to play on the off-beats only. Then, at 1:40, you simply repeat the entire previous 80 seconds on loop again. Forgive my strong wording here, but that’s a pitiful way of structuring a piece unless the piece is itself a loop. The piece should have a sense of direction and overarching progression to it so that it feels both climactic and conclusive. I’d recommend trying to build off of the harmonies you had earlier in the piece during the second half. To do that, however, you’ll probably need more of a harmonic “skeleton” for your piece (bass, chords, etc.). There’s some serious lack of texture here. Most of the piece has no engaging or creative drum patterns, no bass, no pads, back-up melodies or unique effects. Instead, you’ve tried to tie everything together with an annoying, repetitive sample (:21 and other places). I don’t really regard this as a song so much as a collage of ideas that need to be fleshed out more. Compositionally, the piece is lacking...so much so that mixing and mastering aren’t really that relevant. I think you need to focus on structure and fill more than anything else. You could do a lot more with the rhythm section (drums and bass) of the piece, which will in turn help you smooth over those transitions and allow you to vary the melodic elements of the track more while still having enough structural coherence. I’ve been really tough on you in this review, so I hope that helped! Please don’t hesitate to PM me with any questions you may have. Thanks and good luck with your future projects, man. ;)

4/10

AlxEllis responds:

Thanks for the detailed review man! :) and not at all I appreciate detailed feedback!

[Lavender]

I like the panning effects at the beginning. I really like the dissonance leading up to :17 and the ensuing melodies. The build-up at :42 was a little drawn-out, but the drop at 1:04 is awesome. I wish the kick was a little heavier, though. It really would’ve maximized the contrast between the kick and the snare that usually heightens the emotion in tracks like this. I enjoyed the relative tranquility of 1:25, but I wasn’t such a huge fan of the transition at 1:53. It just didn’t help channel the energy that well IMO. During the 2nd build-up and refrain, I was looking for subtle differences that added variety, but I couldn’t find many. The ending was appropriately conclusive. Overall, this is solid work. It’s catchy and well-mastered. I enjoyed the melodies and harmonic quirks of the piece. That said, I think you could’ve done a lot more with that 2nd build-up and drop, and also perhaps more to make this piece more unique. Still, I hope to see you in the next round. Keep at it, man. ;)

8.5/10

AeronMusic responds:

Thanks a lot TaintedLogic for the detailed review.
Indeed, I could've done that but I felt quite done with this song. (:

[Aim - Midnight Skies]

This is catchy, melodic, and upbeat. I’m immediately bopping my head and tapping my foot. The pads at :13 might’ve been a bit too loud, but otherwise the mixing and mastering is really solid. The synths were peppy, engaging, and fun. I think my favorite was what you did with those pads at :53. It’s a very flowy piece, yet you contrasted the build-up and refrain really well with that breakdown section at 1:20. I think I even hear crickets in there. Despite this being a relatively energetic piece, you’ve done a lot with the atmosphere as well. The cute little vocal samples are awesome, too. The texture is so full, and the frequencies are incredibly well-balanced. If I had to complain about something, it might be that the ending was a little underwhelming and/or lazy. That said, you’ve clearly displayed your talent here. If you can produce tracks like this every round, you’ve easily got a top-3 spot, my friend. Keep up the great work!

10/10

8-bitheroes responds:

Thanks for the review, i appreciate the feedback and encouragement :)

[Within The Sadness (Onefin Remix)]

I like how the mood at the beginning is both furtive and somewhat cute. There’s this great dreaminess about it, and the quirky drums at :40 add a lot to the texture. It progresses a little slowly at times, but the atmosphere truly makes up for that IMO. The production quality is also really solid. The kick might’ve been a bit too heavy for a piece this spacey, though. The harmonic direction of this piece is phenomenal: there are some great subtle modulations, like at 2:14. I really wish you had built up the energy more gradually into 2:35. The build-up at 2:27 kinda came out of nowhere, and it only lasts 8 seconds - not really on par with the overall pace of the piece during the first 2 minutes. That said, I thought the breakdown at 3:14 was great. The pensive vibe there was amazing, and the well-panned percussion was extremely appealing. Overall, the piece is very smooth-flowing. You’ve pulled off some pretty epic transitions here, my friend. I’m not sure you quite made this piece coherent enough as is desirable, though. The ending sounded conclusive, but I don’t recall hearing a piano during the first 5 minutes of the piece, so perhaps throwing one in there at the end was questionable. Also, the main climax of the piece occurs less than halfway through, which damages your effort to keep this piece engaging toward the end of an already-long 6 minutes. Having listened to the original, I’d say you’ve certainly added to it considerably. Despite this being a remix, I’m giving you full credit for originality. The thing that hurt you the most was probably the lack of some core structural repetition, actually. Other than that, really solid work! Keep it up, man. ;D

8.75/10

Onefin responds:

Hey, I made it into the competition! WOO! Alright what do we have here

Heavy kick, eh? I guess that's something to keep in mind. I tend to just fall on heavy kicks from pretty much anything, as not-heavy kicks tend to get weird on the mixing side.

At 2:14, I sped up the tempo to try and ease the way into 2:27 and kinda tell the listener
"this track is about to go places", but I guess it wasn't enough pull :/

I'll admit, I had to look up "pensive" to see what it meant.

Epic transitions? Kind of surprising, given that I have a history of really bad transitions. I'll see if I can replicate what I did here in my NGAUC attempt.

The only reason I added a piano at the end was because there was a piano right at 3:47 which doesn't actually sound like one but is one. At the end, I was all like "what instrument should conclude the piece?" and I saw the piano there and was like, "let's go for it".

I thought the climax happened pretty much exactly halfway through. It starts at 2:35 and ends at 3:14, setting the midpoint at about 2:54. The piece is 5:34 long, which means half is at 2:46. Which means the climax is pretty much exactly at, if not further than, halfway. :/

Hey, thanks for listening to the original! Some people don't bother and they're all like, "I can't comment on your composition because it's not original" and don't even go see just how much originality I try to add into my remixes.

Lack of core structural repetition. Got it. Taking notes. Let's do this.

[Hamulndurrtale]

Well, I don't really understand what was with the string riffs during the first 4 seconds (and only the first 4 seconds). I was looking forward to this being a string-and-synth call-and-response thing, but that didn't really happen. I couldn't quite make out what the lyrics were until :34, after which I just about died of laughter. Now the title makes some sense, at least. The chiptune content is catchy, and the piece has a good sense of climax. I'm taking this too seriously, though.

You guys should do more collabs. Just make sure you're sober next time. ;)

johnfn responds:

> I'm taking this too seriously, though.

Huh? THIS IS THE MOST SERIOUS SONG EVER. THERE IS NOTHING TO NOT BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY

[A New Future - DubAudio]

Interesting. That fade-in was a little furtive (I could barely hear it until around :11), but still effective overall. I don't really regard this song as structurally complete. The melodies at 1:24 are nice, but I think that section sounds more like a breakdown than a coda. Otherwise you have this strangely inconclusive two-part piece here. The mixing and mastering are good - I can hear everything clearly. You also may have needed a smoother transition at 1:24 - even a simple crash or something would've helped. The instrumentation is enjoyable. I dunno. I have mixed feelings about this one because there's not a lot to complain about, but you also could've done a lot more with this piece in terms of progression, emotional contrast, etc. Either way, keep at it, man. ;)

darthduba responds:

Thanks for the advice. These are valid points you are making. I could have spent a lot more time on this track to make up for it's flaws.

[Azure Dusk]

Cool piece. I love the bright tone at the beginning and the cute melodies that begin at around :20. This piece is well-structured and smooth-flowing, with a great bouncy mood and energy to it. The mixing and mastering are solid, too. I loved the more emotional appeal of the breakdown too. It helped offer some structural contrast, which is always a plus. If I had to complain about something, it might be that the chord progression is a little cliché, at least the part from 3:28 - 3:35. Also, the ending could've used a tad more reverb because otherwise it sounds like it cuts off more abruptly (but that's a miniscule issue). Overall great work! Keep it up, man. ;D

Geoplex responds:

Thanks dude :D Cliche chord progressions are my guilty pleasure, unfortunately, a lot of the time I like to mix it up but sometimes it doesn't feel right if I'm doing it for the sake of it. Still, i agree that it's an important part of being creative. Thanks for the review :)

[Tonight We Fall]

Man, you love atmospheric D'n'B, don't you? XD Once again: enjoyable percussion. This piece is full-textured and energetic yet at times tranquil. I like how you've fleshed out the structure of your track here, but I think you could stand to add some more melodic content. The production quality is solid, but (especially with the last piece, actually) it may have been mastered a bit quietly. Especially since this is D'n'B, compress to your heart's content! I enjoyed reviewing your work, dude. Keep it up. ;)

SierraRising responds:

I like to think of DnB as my main genre, though ambient styles also have a place in my heart. The result is usually something in between. Melodies, man. Still my weakest point. I'm glad the production quality is ok, but I will keep the compression in mind. Thanks so much for the feedback, I always treasure reviews like yours, they help me so much! You keep doing what you're doing, man!

[Forest of Fear]

I love the soothing, atmospheric mood. Also, sub-basses in ambient tracks are awesome. I love how you mesh the nature samples and soothing pads. I thought you could've done a bit more with the sweep at :55 - made it pulse or added some distortion or something. That said, the percussion is really cool. Usually, I like to keep the drums centered in the mix, but the way you panned them added a lot to the piece. After a while, it lacked direction and resolve, but perhaps that wasn't your intention with this piece. Either way, this is really solid work. It's a shame you couldn't join the contest, man!

SierraRising responds:

Ok, I'll be working on buildups and progression, especially for my longer projects. I've been working on keeping drums wide-spaced, I kind of prefer it that way, but I will consider keeping them tighter next time. Thanks a bunch for the review, even though I can't be a part of your contest this year, I'll be waiting for the next one!