TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Happy Christmas (Singalong)]

I just love these collabs, guys. The organic, gather-'round-the-campfire vibes are great. The vocals blend surprisingly well given that they were presumably recorded at separate times and locations around the globe (ehhh, who am I kidding? I have no idea how these collabs are organized). Seriously, though, this piece has a great sense of climax throughout. The guitar solos at around the 3-minute mark offered some much-needed structural relief, too. Generally I'm not a huge fan of fade-out endings, especially when the fade-out itself seems a little rushed-into, but I suppose it's fitting in this instance. However, the production quality is Sears Tower-high as always, Step. ;D Obviously, everyone involved with this project really stepped up and delivered some quality content, but I'd especially like to mention Ceevro for putting this together. The audio portal really needs more collaborative efforts like this. The close-knit nature of our community is what truly makes it special, and you've exemplified that here, Ceevro, whether it's with the warm, comforting mood of this song or the fact that you've hoarded talented artists from around the globe to produce it. Bravo, ladies and gents! ^_^

Ceevro responds:

It's nothing I've done, really! All I do is play a song and ask people to join in! I think that that's the most organic musical experience one can have, really. I honestly have no idea how things will turn out when I post the starter tracks...the Singalongs are as good as the people who take the time to pull out their mics and mandolins and add what they can. What makes it so good, in my mind, is that no track goes to waste. Step is amazing at pulling out the best in everyone's performances, and honestly the performances themselves are outstanding to begin with.

If you like these, then pull out your mic! Or maybe volunteer to mix the next one while Step is on haitus! Or start banging some pots in the kitchen! We'd love to have you on board!

[Xmas in the South]

Okay, obviously everyone knows and loves "Sleigh Ride" and "Jingle Bells." Therefore, I generally think that the details of remixes like this make or break the piece. You have (mostly) makes here: the instrument selection and tempo are admirable, and I like the creative little solos towards the middle. However, I think the drums could've been stronger and/or more interesting. Also, similarly to "Wonderful Things," this piece is about 2 minutes' work away from making an awesome loop, except for one problem: it doesn't loop. Still, solid effort overall. For what it is (a short, near-comedic holiday medley), I like it. Best of luck with your studies, and please PM me about Cockatrice times for next week if you're interested. ;D

LunacyEcho responds:

=> creative little solos =>

One of the melodies is of my own creation, but the guitar 'solo' is another carol called 'Ding Dong Merrily On High'! Glad you recognized 'Sleigh Ride', though! In my experience, it hasn't been the most iconic of Christmas carols, but there's just something in the melody of it that I just love so much.

=> awesome loop =>

Wellllllll...... okay fine, I'll write more loops next year XD

=> PM =>

Will do! ....if I haven't done it by New Year's, can you give me a shout? As you know, I'm terribly forgetful. :P

Thanks for the review! Hope you've been having happy holidays!

[Wistful [OLD]]

Can't say I expected a hip-hop song from you anytime soon. It's a little hard to follow the rhythm for the first 20 seconds or so before the beat comes in, and I'm not a huge fan of those string samples. That synth at 1:08 almost sounds like a bagpipe. :D It's also rather structurally flat. In your "contemporary" tracks, I think you generally do a much better job of creating contrast and variety. It makes a pretty chill background beat, but you could've done so much more with this (heck, you still can!). The drums are kinda flat and dry, the piano has a flirty-ness I thought you could've featured more, and the string chords get really repetitive after a while. Also, the ending was pretty lazily done. It has some potential. I'd love to see you remake this. As for now, I think I like your newer tracks better...a lot better. Looking forward to the Undertale remix and other future projects of yours! ^^

Lockyn responds:

Hey TL, nice to see you again. I agree with you completely on your criticism, granted this is a fairly old track (3 years now!) so I hope you can take that into consideration ;P I'm glad you gave it a change regardless, and hope you look forward to my future works, I'm very excited for you to hear my undertale remix! Cheers man, and happy holidays :)

[Threnody for Innocence]

Good God. First of all, I deeply admire your majestic title, there. Clearly this holds a lot of personal meaning for you, too...wow. To be honest, I wasn't such a huge fan of the string sample toward the beginning, especially when it hits some of those high notes during the first 1.5 minutes. I'll also mention that I think you needed a little more spacing between the movements instead of just leaping onwards (although this is a relatively small detail). The piece does have some amazing harmonies and progressions, though, and I can see it's well-inspired. As with a lot of your pieces (yes, I'm talking to you, LSD), it's a little hard to follow the structure sometimes, but I think it could make a great soundtrack for a dramatic silent film or something. I think you did a good job of giving the piece a change-of-pace at around 6:32, which made that part with the lower strings really stand out. It almost served like a bridge in that way. The very end with the high, thin, and wispy-sounding piano also stood out. You captured either innocence (or grief, or both) there perfectly. Small detail: I am of the strong opinion that the scoop-up scale at 8:21 does not fit with the light, slow, and raw emotional vibe of the coda. Sorry. Nevertheless, this is a valiant effort, and I admire your determination to make a piece for the competition that means something to each of you, without being obsessed with winning. Keep up the good work! ;D

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hey, dude! Good to see you around. Things sure are busy around Christmas, huh? I still have your PM to respond to. I hope I'll be able to get to that by the start of the new year. I also have like 3 of your tracks left to review, as always XD

Yeah, I think out of all the tracks I've made, this one holds the most personal meaning to me. There are some other ones that come close though.

I would actually like to remake this track with better samples, and better automation. This 9 minute track was made in a hurry, after all. I disagree about the arrangement needing much change, personally. But that is because I have a clear story in my mind when it comes to this piece. You know how movie tracks follow the movement of the film? This is kind of like that, even if it has different movements. We never intended to write this piece like we would any pop formula; I think that people with a good imagination can easily visualize a story of their own while listening to this. The different names for the movements give a hint to how I imagine things though :D

"it's a little hard to follow the structure sometimes"

I plead guilty XD (As would dem0, I'm pretty sure).
That said, I don't think this is the kind of piece that needs to have a clear structure. I feel that music like this is something someone could just listen to, and lose themselves in the piece. It doesn't matter if they can or can't predict the next move based on the structure, to me at least.

I'm glad you like 6:32! After that climatic section before it, I wanted there to be something less heavy, while reintroducing an old theme from earlier in the piece. Also, it had to be like this for the "story" I imagine to take place.

Innocence, grief, adaption, moving on. I feel like all of that and much more is covered in the emotional spectrum of this track.

Hmm, I didn't think that 8:21 was so distracting. It was actually something I just happened to play in the moment; this is just one take, after all. But I figured it was soft enough not to be distracting, and there was still a while until the very end, so I though it was fine. That said, I guess I can understand where you are coming from. I don't know if I'd call it a coda though, as it's basically just a repeat of the very beginning. Unless you just mean "coda", like "ending", which I guess is another way the word is occasionally used.

Thanks a lot for reviewing this. And Merry Christmas!

[duality]

It's time I review this top-rated song of yours. ;) Cool synths and echo/reverb effects. I thought the rhythm pre-30 seconds in was a little hard to follow. You probably needed that beat at :32 to come in earlier and tie it together. Obviously, that minimalistic funky breakdown at 1:34 was awesome. It instantly grabbed my attention and provided some much-needed structural relief. Also, I see you're employing modulation a lot more recently *cough* 2:06 *cough*. The loop is very smooth, and I'm impressed that you made this in 2 hours. The mixing is solid (as always), and all the melodies are just...scrumptious. Keep up the good work and Merry Christmas, you Ludum Darer, you!

johnfn responds:

Thanks TheLogic6! I find the melodies in this song particularly delicious! ^_^

[Wubber]

I liked the reverb you incorporated in there occasionally. It's pretty minimalistic, though, and progresses rather slowly. You took in an interesting direction after the first minute or so. Pretty quirky mood started developing at around 1:15. The beats are pretty cool, but I think you need some more melodic content to really sell this piece. It also cuts off a little suddenly at the end. Overall, lot of potential here man! Keep at it. ;)

FimmerZrei responds:

Thanks man #blessup

[Psybot - pixel]

Wow! Never thought I'd see your name in my feed again...This is pretty cool! It's a little minimalistic, lacking in fill for much of the first 40 seconds or so. I like the melodic content at around the 1-minute mark, though. I wish some of the transitions were a little more melodic or interesting. The dry and dull breaks at 1:30 don't really flow all that well into the fuller, more heavily textured melodies at 1:40. I did like the instruments and mood, though, and I think your mixing and mastering skills have improved since I last heard your music. Perhaps the snare could've used a bit more bite, just to add some flair. Otherwise, I like this piece a lot and I hope it means you'll be posting a bit more! Also, I'm ashamed to admit that I accidentally voted "1" in my excitement when I meant to click on your user page. This is quality content! Keep up the good work, Psybot. ;)

Psybot responds:

Thanks man. I have been losing a lot of my experience since I haven't made anything lately.
But I am positive and think that I will get the hang if it soon :)

[Seal's Art Class "Theme"]

I liked the instruments and the mood. Unfortunately, the beat here isn't very steady, and I don't think it was intentional because a steady beat would really give this piece a nice flow. I would suggest working with a metronome (you can easily download one onto your phone) next time so you can keep the piece at an even tempo, as I assume you recorded it. And if you didn't record it, it's also a relatively easy fix to make sure the frequencies are lined up with the bar lines in whatever Digital Audio Workstation you're using. The loop also isn't perfect, and the piece is a little repetitive and dry. Some drums or bass could really help add some more texture to this track. This piece has some great potential, though. I like the melody and progression a lot. Keep at it, man. ;)

Megacharlie responds:

Thanks :D

Oh yeah it was on the computer XD

[Press Start]

I like the heavy guitar and how that meshes with the pensive synth arpeggios. It has a really interesting mood - apprehensive and then blissful. I will say that the synth arps got buried in the mix later on, though. The ending was cool, and I'm sure it would work really well as the title music for a videogame. The instruments and atmosphere are great, though. Keep up the good work. ;)

SourJovis responds:

Thank you. Glad you liked it.
- Nice description of the song.
- There are a lot of instruments in this mix, so it's difficult to make them all stand out, but I believe the reason you say the arpeggios are drowned out is because there isn't as much of them as you think. The synth arpeggio loop stops at 0:23. After that there's just the ocasional arpeggio that each lasts for only about 1 to 2 seconds. They are at 0:27, 0:37, 0:41, 0:47 and 0:51. On top of that the start and end notes are the softest so it's hard to tell when they begin exactly, but all things considedered I think you can hear them fairly well.
- I will keep it up ;)

[Remix - Fading Dream (LucidShadowDreamer)]

Hmm...as a huge fan of LSD's music myself, I should probably check this out. I love the emotion and soundscape here. I understand that this is a remix, but I think the quality of instruments you've contributed really adds a lot to the piece. It has a warm, grand, and cinematic sound. Nice work!

Ylmir responds:

Thanks a lot ! Actually, the source material was pretty awesome already, and although this was all MIDI, it was easy to see how to orchestrate it. I maybe messed up a little bit with the reverbs (especially on the strings), but it still makes me smile when i hear it into my playlists. :)