TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Uplifter]

I'm going to be tougher on you than I usually am, because, well...this is for a competition. I liked the warm pads at the beginning, but the brass at :07 seemed a bit punchy by comparison. The synth at :14 is a little high-pitched and harsh-sounding, and I think you could've gone in a lot of different directions with it melodically. I was a little confused when :41 offered an almost breakdown-like section because I expected there to be a notable climax before any sort of re-intro. I liked the melodies at around :56, and the progression by around 1:20 is rather pleasant. I love all of the melodic development you offer by the end of this piece, but I'm not sure you needed much of the first 40 seconds. It's, overall, very smooth-flowing and structurally sound. I think you could've done a bit more with dynamic contrast (even though there are clear structural ups-and-downs to the piece). I think the harmonies around 3:22 are my favorites of the piece. The ending is a bit sudden, though, and I think it gets a bit repetitive by the end. Still, I love the upbeat mood and melodic content. The mixing is also rather good. I suppose one big drawback for me was that it didn't seem very unique. I've reviewed a LOT of upbeat techno/trance/house songs for this contest already, and while the melodies are memorable and the production solid, perhaps doing something more original with the sound design or adding some interesting effects would be a better way of distinguishing yourself from the other competitors. Still, this is a cool piece. Keep up the good work, LunacyEcho! ;D

7.5/10

LunacyEcho responds:

=> brass at :07 =>

My bad! I was planning on raising the volume of the pads in the intro and automating the volume of the brass and trance synth to gradually get louder after a somewhat softer entry, but I didn't get the chance to. :P I'll fix it once the competition is over, though!

=> synth at :14 =>

Is it really? I just used a really common trance synthesizer. :P It's basically a preset, actually! Just with a few tweaks in regards to resonance.

=> :41 breakdown =>

Yeah, I think the only reason that happened was because :27 was the very first thing I wrote, so I kind of got used to hearing it at the beginning :P I do agree it feels a little out of place, though.

=> sudden ending =>

That was another part I didn't have enough time to fix :( I DEFINITELY agree with you on that account :D

=> unique =>

I was kind of hoping the solo melodies would add to the uniqueness of the song :P Hey, if you've heard a lot of songs in the same vein as this, mind sharing some? This is the kind of style I love to listen to :D

Thanks for the review! And thanks for all the reviews you'll be giving over these next few days :D All your work has been appreciated!

[Heartsteps]

Hey LE! Thought I might as well leave a review since you asked me to help you decide what to audition for NGADM with. ;) I really like the progression with this one, although I will say that the chords at the beginning seemed a little indistinct (maybe you went a bit overboard on the reverb, or otherwise the mix could be clearer). I liked the cute melodies, and the transition at :56 was really cool. The minimalistic section at 1:33 could've also used some more texture - maybe some light pads or something. I liked the melody at 1:51, but I think it would do you some good to make sure those notes are held right up until the next one starts. There are a few awkward pauses in there (like at 1:57), but that's a pretty small detail. Still, it's a really flowy, cute, and upbeat piece. The ending was appropriately conclusive. I think I like this one more than "Analog Rush," but it might be worth your while to simply clean up "Shimmer" based on the feedback you've received if you have time. Hope this helped! Let me know if you have more questions, and good luck! ^^

LunacyEcho responds:

Haven't responded to this one yet :P Figured it was time!

=> chords at the beginning =>

Yeah, they were a little reverb-heavy. Mixing was an issue for me :D (was then, still is now)

=> transition at :56 =>

Yay! I liked that one too.

=> 1:33 =>

I wanted to make a huge contrast, especially after listening to johnfn's "i believe" and thinking about how to effectively use silence in music. But pads would probably have worked well too :P

=> awkward pauses =>

I guess my justification for keeping those in is realism? Then again, for an electronic song... Yeah, I get what you're saying :P I don't pay attention to that sort of stuff much, and it's attention to detail that's going to make or break a piece :D

=> ending =>

I thought it felt a bit tacked on :P Glad you think it was conclusive!

Hey, thanks for the advice! I ended up changing my submission song from Shimmer to this one, and it looks like it worked! Thanks a ton, TL! :)

[Starlit Flight of the Dirigible]

I like the mysterious mood and cool bell-sounding instruments at the beginning. The (oboe?) also sounded rather beautiful, and I think this is a very flowing and well-structured. I like the drums at 1:18, but I wish they were louder and sharper. You have a very good sense of harmony and progression. I would've liked to see a bit more melodic development on the last refrain at 1:38, even though the piece is very short. The mixing is pretty good, too. I think you could've done a bit more with this piece (taken a few more risks, you know?), but for what it is I appreciate the effort. I also like how you decided to experiment with a new genre for this piece. Submitting experimental pieces is almost always better than submitting generic ones. I love the melodies, and I'll also compliment you on your samples AND the fact that this sounded rather authentically classical stylistically. Good job, ZombieSlayer5P! :D

8.5/10

ZombieSlayer5P responds:

Thank you very much for your review. I can see how the piece could have benefited from a little more something in the second half of the middle section. Just trying not to make things overblown or too complicated to follow along with. Though, this track may get a revision after thinking about it.

I thought about bringing out the snare more, but I didn't think it would sound as authentic if I brought it too forward in the mix (I was a hardcore band nerd, and became familiar with the sound of a symphonic group from the listener's perspective), so it wound up being a bit more subdued as though it were actually in the back of the band with the rest of the percussion. Still, your review has given me the urge to play with the mix some more, and continue to experiment.

Thanks again for the review. I always appreciate any information/criticism which will help me improve. :)

[New Town]

Some of the piano notes at the beginning sound like they weren't quite struck at the same time as the other notes in their chord, which made the track sound rather unpolished. The saxophone that comes in at :10 sounds rather fake. You could at least have smoothed it out by adding some reverb, and I would suggest "humanizing" it, if that's possible in whatever program you use to make music. I appreciated the attempt at structural relief at :46, but that section still sounded rather minimalistic. If you're going for the simplicity approach there, please at least add some reverb and have some tempo automations so I don't know you recorded it with such a simple rhythm. That way, it would really give the piano some feeling there. You didn't really have much melodic development in the piece, although it is quite short. I liked the ending with the strings fading to nothing. Still, you could've done a lot more with this piece. I wanted to see some more predominant melodies, and maybe some stronger drums to move the piece along a bit and create some contrast in energy between :46 and the rest of the piece. The discrepancies in the piano chords also make me wonder how exactly you produced this piece. If you fix some of these production errors and try to do more with the melodies and progression of the piece, this could be a pretty solid work! Until then, though, keep at it, Zechnition. ;)

5/10

Zechnition responds:

Thanks for the review I will use it to make my work better =D

[Still There]

I like the groovy guitars at the beginning. I love the soul that your voice has. It's a really catchy, yet down-to-earth and organic-sounding piece. I love the classic rock sort of vibe it has. I'm pretty sure you're the only competitor to submit a classic rock-style song to the competition, at least among the Underdogs group. I really like the dry-throated twang your voice has, which is especially noticeable at places like :30. I like the lyrics too, but I really wish you put them in the description (because I'm terrible at discerning lyrics from listening to the music along). You even went for some layered recordings around the 3-minute mark (which I've tried before and they're really hard to do), and they sounded great! One complaint I have is that there isn't really a moment of structural relief in this piece. It's already pretty long, but I think it would help the flow of this piece if at some point you had had a breakdown or re-intro with some dynamic contrast, and then an epic guitar solo before launching into your last refrain. Still, I really liked the ending - the vocal samples fit in well - and I think the mixing was also rather good. Very unique content (compared to many of the rest of the competitors)! Well done, ZacCurran! Keep up the great work! ^^

9.5/10

ZacCurran responds:

Thank you very much! I've put the lyrics in the description for future reference.

[Light and Dark]

I like the organic, down-to-earth vibe the guitar has. There was a sort of static-y bass that came in at around :10, though, that I think detracted from that vibe a little. I like the lyrics, and the vocals are generally very good. Sometimes, it sounds a bit harsh when you hit a high note, but that might be because your peak meter is overwhelmed and/or the vocals are too loud. I would suggest equalizing the vocals a bit more on the high range if you could, or otherwise just decreasing the volume. I loved the solos around the 2-minute mark. The bass at 3:12 was hardly loud enough to hear, though. Did you try a) compressing it or b) increasing the volume in the mixer? I seriously love the 90s coffee shop sort of vibe this piece has. Reminds me of the days before auto-tune. :') This is a structurally pleasing and smooth-flowing piece, and the ending felt pretty conclusive as well. I think you just might want to try to re-record the part at 3:43. I can tell you layered some recordings there, and they cut off at different times. Still, I thought the lyrics were meaningful and relatable, and I compliment you on your extended effort during this piece (even if it was a little long), and I liked the last guitar strum at 4:25. :) Keep up the good work, Verbicidemusic. ;D

8.5/10

verbicidemusic responds:

Thanks a lot! I will definitely take that advice to heart and try to make my next pieces more sonically consistent and polished. :D Also, I had put some heavy fuzz on the bass to create a contrast between kind of a light piano lead to a heavier sounding lower end which I thought sounded cool, but I figured might not be for everyone. :P

[Solar Storm]

I liked the melodies and mood at the beginning. I think some of those synths were really high-pitched and harsh-sounding, though. You might need to equalize all of the instruments a bit more carefully, just to eliminate some of those high-pitched tones. I liked the arpeggios that came in at around 1:30, although the melody kind of got buried underneath them. The section at 2:00 offered some much-needed structural relief IMO, and I think you did an excellent job of spacing out your track a bit during that section. The effects at 2:49 were cool, and I like how you used them to build up back to the refrain at 3:21. I love the atmospheric vibe this has. I think you may have needed a crash or something just to smooth over the transition at 4:21. Still, I thought the ending was conclusive enough, and I admire your sense of harmony and progression. Overall, this is strong work, but I'm not sure it needed to be 5 minutes long. The first half especially was a little repetitive, so moving forward I'd caution you to add a little more variation. Still, keep up the good work, Vdragonb. ;D

8/10

Vdragonb responds:

Thank you! That's some useful feedback!

[Flashbang [NGAUC Remaster]]

I liked the mood and energy of this piece. I'll say I thought the drums were a bit quiet throughout, especially for such an intense metal track. It's a very fast-paced piece, and there's not a lot of structural relief to keep the listener grounded in that regard. It might help the mixing and mastering if you tried to equalize some of the frequencies here a bit more as well as compressing the drums. I can hear distinct repeated sections, but they're connected in such an overwhelming stream of continuous music that I feel like it's hard to get attached to the emotion/drama of this piece. It ends a little suddenly, too. I think you need some harmonies here (lead guitar, piano, maybe even organ) that'll help you channel the energy here a bit more and create some more dynamic contrast and melodic development. I can tell that you've put a lot of passion and feeling into making this piece, but that passion isn't necessarily communicated to the listener unless you have the structural contrast necessary to do so. For example, if your piece sounds uniformly intense and dramatic (as this one does), it kind of trivializes the intensity IMO. There are a lot of cool ideas here, but this piece would've been more meaningful for me if you had thought more about pacing, phrasing, and dynamic contrast. Generally (but not always), it's a good idea to try to follow a verse-chorus based structure, with 1-2 bridges/breakdowns to add structural relief from the "emotional/dramatic heights" of the piece. If you can add these structural considerations here, this would be a really solid track! Until then, keep at it TSRBand. ;)

7.5/10

TSRBand responds:

Awesome review, thanks for taking the time to offer these tips! I'll work on putting them into practice. I found your advice on structural contrast very useful, having the whole track be 'fast' gives the listener a chance to get used to it and as you said, makes it harder to get attached to the drama.