TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[Maginot]

This thing is full of emotion! The vocals sound a little furtive, and I know it’s supposed to sound that way, but I think you need to emphasize your consonants a little more because some of the lyrics are hard to make out. However, the lyrics themselves are very good. The instrumentation is simple yet effective. I’m loving the organic vibes, but I might point out that the song has little sense of development until around 1:20. It might be beneficial to flesh this piece out more by splitting the first 80 seconds into 2 shorter verses connected by a brief bridge. The solo at 1:45 is great - very heartfelt and soulful. Some of the vocals seem a little misplaced - such as the line that ends at 2:34 - but overall I think your voice fits the character of the song really well. Not only did you write a song here, you also told a story, which is an important distinction. The minimalism works really well here, and I have no complaints about the mixing and mastering. Nice work, Ceevro! ;D

9.25/10

Ceevro responds:

Well...that's one of the highest scores I've ever received here! Thank you so much! It would appear I've set myself a high bar here. And I'm not even one of the high-scorers in the opening round. This shall be a challenge indeed! I'm looking forward to it.

[Sasquatch on the Roof]

I like the instruments. The chord progression is really cliche. You have this nice sense of climax over the course of the first minute or so. It’s upbeat and melodic, yet also smooth and tranquil in a way. The little breaks in the pad’s progression (1:17 and other places) kind of ruined the flow for me, though. I thought you could’ve at least thrown in a crash or sweep to smooth those transitions over if you wanted to keep the stop-start pad riffs. Overall, the piece has a sense of continuity about it and bounces back and forth between a couple of different melodies. I really think you should have stripped away the drums and bass at one point and offered some sort of bridge or breakdown for structural contrast. 2:48 begins to serve that purpose, yet it still has a bit too much energy and volume to truly offer any relief from the busy melodies earlier. Also, you need a stronger transition at 2:48. The transition at 3:35, on the other hand, was good, and I love how everything blends together so well there. Very few competitors have capitalized on opportunities for melodic development like you have here. The loop was smooth too. I noticed few mixing or mastering flaws, although the snare seemed like it had to fight its way to the front during the last 30 seconds or so. You have a great sense of melody and harmony, my friend. Unfortunately, you need to create more space between your melodies with dynamic contrast and the like. If you take advantage of opportunities to do just that, this would definitely be a top-tier piece. Keep at it, man. ;)

8.25/10

BryceSummer responds:

Thanks so much for the advice :)!

[Lazy Day]

I liked the pulsating pads at the beginning. They established a kind of pensive mood that I found appealing. The quirky percussion you also have in there for the first 45 seconds or so was cool too. I think you needed a more gradual transition at :51, especially since the intro was so drawn-out. It just wasn’t immediately clear to me how the section at :51 was related to the very beginning. That said, once your eyes readjust a bit, the sounds blend together pretty well there. However, you immediately regress to minimalism again at 1:40. Perhaps my favorite part of the piece is the instrumentation. However, you have a lot of very loosely connected ideas strung together with little sense of coherence. The drum fill at 2:27 comes out of nowhere itself, and it is then somehow supposed to serve as a transition into the next section. Looking back, perhaps this piece has a bit more coherence than I thought, yet separately structurally similar sections by 3 minutes or more is not an effective way to provide enough repetition for the casual listener. Also, this piece has a lot of repetitive riffs in self-contained sections, yet lacks stronger and more dynamic melodic content. The mood and atmosphere are solid here, though. The only potential mastering flaw I heard was that the kick got a little lost in some of the busier sections, such as 6:05. That said, I’m not completely sure there even was a kick still in there or if you just had that low percussion serving the role of bass drum. The panning effects later on are quite enjoyable as well. That said, I suppose my main complaint with the piece is that it’s 8 minutes long (and it didn’t need to be). Because it’s 8 minutes long, it’s hard to keep the listener grounded in some much-needed structural repetition while also providing enough dynamic contrast to create some variation. Overall, this is pretty solid work, though. Long-form pieces like this can be risky and, despite my criticisms, it paid off for the most part. Keep at it, man! ;)

7.75/10

Birdinator99 responds:

Hey my dude, thank you for taking the time to review this, and for hosting the NGAUC yet again!

For the transition at 0:51, I was hoping the reversed drums leading up to that point would provide enough of a bridge between the two sections. To me they sound similar enough as to not be jarring or surprising when transitioned between.

I really like the minimalism in this piece -- the section at 1:40 is my favourite actually -- I feel that it fits the theme of "lazy day", where the mind wanders in and out of ideas more freely. Maybe just me?

The fill at 2:27 - hahaha, I don't even remember why I did that. Valid point, but its grown on me for some reason. The loosely connected ideas bit is something I run in to quite a lot in reviews -- it's very true, and I hope to one day be a better songwriter so that I can keep listeners more engaged! The use of repetitive riffs and lack of melody are related to this underdeveloped skill as well, I must admit.

Glad the atmosphere sold you, though!

The kick at 6:05 in indeed a kick, and I think the reason it gets lost is that it clashes a little with the toms playing hard left and right (when they play at the same time).

The length is also something I agree with. I did get carried away with the second half of the song, so I fully acknowledge any grievances you have related to the long nature of this piece.

Thank you again for your honest thoughts and encouraging words! Hope to see you again sometime!

[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 :)