TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[Scratch!]

Cute loop. Interesting samples too. I like the pizzicato-y synths and vinyl. It's intricate enough to keep my amusement for more than a few loops. The loop itself is smooth.

...but it's not really appropriate for the contest, as you probably already know.

Anyway, looking forward to your real submission man. ;)

sebastien01 responds:

Thanks for the review! Yeah I know this one was more like a little joke about a submission "made from scratch" It inspired me to tweak some scratch samples. I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to make it loop more than once though :D

I'm actually in a lack of inspiration for making music lately, but it comes and go. I'll try to kick my ass a little and make something for NGAUC. It's a really nice contest, I like the idea and the way it's done. I'll surely post something on the forums on July 8th and see what happens :)

[Gröne Lunden]

I love the celtic theme. It evokes a medieval taste of sorts. The intro may have been a little long (as I see it, it lasts almost the first full minute), but at the same time it lets you establish the gentle pace of the piece quite well. May I ask what language the vocals are sung in? At times, the harp gets a bit buried in the mix, but otherwise I'm loving how spacious and full the texture is. Your style fits your username perfectly, Jordi - it's tranquil yet supple. Keep up the good work! ^^

etherealwinds responds:

The lyrics are sang in Swedish! :) Thank you thank you!

[Rejected Intro 02]

This piece has a much more engaging melody than the last one I reviewed. A bit of a slower start, but also with a similarly rushed ending. This time, I think the mix would actually benefit from a little more snare. If you're going for cheesy, over-the-top VGM, it's probably best to give the piece as strong of a kick as possible. If you wanted to loop it, I might suggest having the climax at :36 bleed right into the mini-intro to this nice little ditty. Either way, nice work. Brief, yet enjoyable. ^^

sleepFacingWest responds:

thanks! I'm listening to this again and you're totally right about the snare. It needs to be brightened. My rock drum programming needs a lot of work in general.

This was written for the intro sequence of an animated show, so no looping is necessary.
https://vimeo.com/161172754

I agree that the ending comes quickly. I'd like to revisit this, flesh it out as a longer track, and let the sections breathe a bit more. That said, the musical cuts were timed to the action on screen. The B section (in both this and the last track) were set to coincide with a shift in the animation. Believe it or not, these were the best solutions I could come up with. The first track coincides better with the cuts between scenes, but I like the general flow and feel of this one better even if it only hits the big sync marks. Hopefully the next time I do this sort of thing I'll be able to come up with better solutions.

As always, thank you for your thoughtful response! I've got a bunch of things to work on.

[When Day is Night]

Very solemn, yet majestic. I love the progression and moodiness of it. Seems perfect for a rainy day. The increase in energy at :35 was also much-appreciated. You did a great job of bringing it full-circle by the end. I even thought (on my first listen) that the riff at 2:00 might've been the same as the beginning (it's actually really close, though). Either way, this piece has high compositional quality. No need to overthink the volume levels, btw - I hardly noticed any problems. Keep up the good work, Ale! ;)

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thank you! I'm surprised that so many people seem to enjoy this track. I suppose it's easier for me to know how incredible it could sound with a more balanced production! Because I too, am pleased with the actual compositional aspect.

I don't know why, but I have the habit of ending pieces kind of the same way they start. Especially if it's a track about expressing the emotions, without making a real discovery. What I mean is, sometimes when you go through your emotions, you often feel a ton of things. But quite often, you will find yourself where you started after a while. So in the same way, this piece reflects the journey in the mind while thinking about all kinds of stuff, yet ending at the same destination as the starting point.

So indeed, the riff at 2:00 being similar to the introduction is very intentional. It's not the only place where the same riff is featured though! If you only count the first four notes, which make up the main sound of the melody (the rest being fills of varying kinds), you get this:

- There is the intro.

- At 0:23 there is a variation

- There kind of is one at 0:39, but it goes up instead of down.

- 1:08 is essentially the same as the intro, but more fleshed out, and with more power (fairly certain it's the same exact chords too though!)

- at 1:23, there is another variation.

- And as you mentioned, the riff at 1:57 is very similar to the one at the intro.

Thank you for leaving this review, along with a billion other ones! I just got back from a friend's cabin yesterday, and it's raining outside today. So I'm hoping I'll take some time to respond to more of these now!