TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Hope For A Tree]

I love the tranquil mood at the beginning. The snare seemed a little dry, and the kick was very sub-bassy. I think you needed a second peak to that kick at around 500 Hertz, just to make it pop a bit more (although that's a pretty tiny detail). I liked how you offered some structural relief at 2:40. Otherwise, it was a pretty structurally flat piece, lacking dynamic contrast and melodic development. I liked the bass a lot, though. It really helped keep the texture well-balanced and full-sounding. It was cool that you based this piece off of a Bible passage. I like the lyrics, but tbh I'm not sure the whispered/spoken lyrics did much for me. It kind of added an ominous and apprehensive mood to the piece, whereas the lyrics themselves suggest a sort of empowering process. I don't know a lot about religion, but it seemed to me like the lyrics were referring to God's lifting up the meek, and I think this would've become clearer if the piece had more empowering vocals AND had more of a direction to it. I think you could've accomplished this by increasing the emotion and intensity towards the end of the piece, leading to the ultimate conclusion of "I will live on." As it is now, what could've been an epic moment of revelation at the end kind of falls flat IMO. It was a cool idea for a piece, but you need to capture both the mightiness of God and the meekness of the human soul through a structure that ebbs and flows. Otherwise, it can be hard to keep the listener engaged. It still has a lot of potential, though, so I'd encourage you to revisit this track! I hope you found this review helpful. Keep at it, man. ;)

7/10

SoulSecure responds:

First things first, this is based on a chapter from the book of Job. J-O-B! This guy was SAD and in MISERY. He was so absolutely torn down that he wished that the day and night of his birth would be blotted out and cursed and that he would have never been born. I don't see cause for really powerful vocals or a very powerful/epic atmosphere. Solemn, serene and yet hurt, but joyous, these things describe this song's mood paired with the lyrical themes.

Lyrically speaking the most powerful part is the chorus which is why it is the most powerful sounding part. Understanding your own standing with Christ, that your old self is dead, that when you die you will immediately be with the Father and later you will literally be physically resurrected and live forever as if you were a tree and you were cut down to sprout anew. This is all affirmed (in context) within the chorus.

Sorry if you didn't get it, but this is my style. I don't do things to please others, but to please the LORD my God. This is my ministry.

I'd also suggest you do not critique lyrical themes you do not understand.

[Melancholy]

I like the distorted effects at the beginning and the vocal samples. May I ask where you got those samples from? I think it progresses a little slowly, but I love the unique sound you were going for here, and you communicated this sort of apprehensive, yet also relaxed mood really well. I felt like you could've done a lot more with this structurally, though, which is really quite a shame because the sound design here is really creative. I wanted to see some sort of melodic development or dynamic contrast. As it is, it's very repetitive and ends way too suddenly. You really needed to build off of this more. It's a unique idea, but as a stand-alone piece it's quite directionless. At first, I even thought you intended for it to be a loop because it ended so suddenly. While I think this needs a lot of work, I'm also begging you to expand upon these themes more because it has a lot of potential. You also kept it pretty low-key throughout, whereas I'd rather see this track explode into an awesome melody and come in with all these glitchy effects. You have to really SELL content like this to make it work, Pandasticality. Otherwise, it's not going to keep the listener's attention, I'm afraid. I hope this review helped. Keep working at it, man! ;)

6.5/10

Pandasticality responds:

i agree with you, i did say this song wont get me anywhere but its what i felt like doing, the vocal sample is from "Lissie - Pursuit of Happiness"

thanks for the review.
- Pandasticality

[Tales of the Brave]

I like the energetic, yet somehow sad vibe the beginning had. The drums and strings both add interesting elements to the piece. I love how you combine both longing/melancholy and adventure. The drums were interesting. I liked how you used a stick/clave-like sound almost as a fill-in for a hi-hat. I suppose my biggest problem with this piece, in fact, is the ending. It's not that it was bad or sudden or anything, but it seemed just kind of...well...lazy, to be frank. It sounded like a half-rushed fade-out, almost as if you didn't want the listener to realize that it had faded out, haha. I also think there are slight balance issues. The drums are a little quiet, which is especially noticeable at 1:53. I think it would've been a good idea to make the drums quiet when they first come in at :14 and gradually increase their volume until :39, just to add to the drama. You capitalized on opportunities to display emotion in this piece, but perhaps not the drama. You used a lot of reverb on everything, which kind of smoothed out the texture of the piece in places where I wanted it to cut right through me, you know? Example: the strings at 1:13 sound a bit passive, while the piano melody there is obviously beautiful. I would suggest adding volume automations/filters so that the strings start sounding sharper towards the end of the mini-phrases at 1:13, and then there's a subito piano every 4 bars or so. That would also help you lead into 1:53 better, btw. This is clearly a tiny detail, though, because (as I said) there isn't a lot to fix in this piece. The samples and production are both high-quality, and I really like the various moods you've created here. Great job, LunyAlex! Keep it up, man. ;D

8.75/10

LunyAlex responds:

> 4 year late reply

Thank you very much for the detailed review back then. I read it, noted the critique and took the nice words to heart.

Sorry I didn't reply back then but I wasn't in the right mindset at times and life kept getting in the way.

Now I'm trying to fill in the gaps, haha.

Cheers again!

[Immersions]

I like the pensive and tranquil mood at the beginning. I like the distortion at :21, as well as the somewhat clashing harmonies. The pulsing effect at :40 was cool too. I think you need a stronger transition at 1:01, because the explosion of energy there came on a bit suddenly. I thought the bass was a little loud at 1:40, but the drums were cool and it has this quirky yet engrossing mood about it. Sounds like the kind of music one listens to when (s)he wants to ingest certain illegal narcotics (and that's a good thing!). I think you could've done more with the main melodies you had in this piece (such as 2:37), especially after you had already used them once. Melodic development is often an important way of creating variation in a piece, and variation itself is very important when your track is almost 6 minutes long. It didn't need to be that long IMO. It was a little hard to follow the rhythms at 3:17, but I understand that you were going for a very distorted and affected sound here. The ending itself seemed pretty conclusive, yet it bothered me that it cut off so suddenly (although that's probably a project system error more than a compositional one). Even with the rather quirky sound design, I think you sometimes needed to connect the various structural components of this piece a little more. The transitions at 3:16 and 4:23, for example, seemed almost nonexistent. A simple crash or a dramatic pause would've sufficed, yet this piece sort of has a continuous flow of energy that makes it hard for the listener to stay grounded. That said, I commend you for taking a risk (several, in fact) with this piece, as it is quite unique, original, and creative. It's a bit rough around the edges, but overall the sound design, mood, and atmosphere have me convinced that this is pretty solid work. Keep at it, Crueldeity. ;)

7.5/10

Crueldeity responds:

Why thank you for a wonderfully insightful review. I am totally up for tomatoes about how somewhat disconnecting this track feels. Looking back on it, I usually will work on a song for longer than 3 days, so this song definitely feels a bit rushed. I slap my hand on the transitioning part of the project, but I do feel it still it's a pretty strong piece without giving enough time to color inside the edges so-to-speak. I do still need to keep up with proper spacing to keep instruments from hitting each other, but all in all this was a very fun contest to enter and thank you for a very thoughtful review, and thank you in advance for your consideration TaintedLogic! \m/

[Is This What You Want?]

I love the organic guitar sound here. The rhythm of that very first riff from :03 - :06 was a little hard to follow, but I like the percussion you brought in at :11, and it had a haunting, mysterious, and apprehensive vibe to it, almost like an approaching storm. I think the chant-like, spoken lyrics really add to that mood, although they were just a bit too quiet IMO. I also liked the more electric elements you started incorporating at 1:36. The throaty, intense "what do you want from me?" seemed like a fittingly conclusive last line to the lyrics, too, perhaps ironically as, after all, it is a question. Overall, the lyrics are quite clever and topical, and I think it's exceedingly impressive that you made the percussive sounds using a piece of cardboard. I can picture a wandering minstrel with a guitar, seeking shelter under a boulder and looking out at the eye of the storm, asking "what do you want from me?" :D Despite the funky, energetic riffs at 1:50 and thereafter, I think you could've done a bit more with this piece. There's this sense of bottled-up intensity throughout, and I was waiting for almost 3 minutes for the sky to open up and explode with some thundering, punchy and powerful content, but the piece never quite got that far. It would've helped sell the drama and the tightly-wound energy of this track if you loosened it up more at one point. I also think the very ending was a bit lazy and inconclusive. Fade-outs generally are IMO. Still, this is a really cool, down-to-earth, and unique piece here, Ceevro, and the mixing and mastering are quite solid. Keep up the good work! :D

9/10

Ceevro responds:

Hehe...well, I think I nailed the feeling I was going for here, judging by the review. A couple people have said that I should have gone over-the-top on this, but I never intended this to be a Satriani-style setup for an epic guitar solo...I wanted to brood for a bit. I wanted my eyebrows to cast shadows. I felt like glowering.

[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. :)