TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[AngelsRevenge]

I like the chord progression at the beginning, and the warm pads really help set the mood. The beat that comes in at :12 is a little loud. I would suggest compressing and panning those pads more. The cello at :24 adds a warm vibe to the piece that I think helps the mood. I think the pads and the cello clash a bit at :32, but it's hard to tell because the pads are drowned out by the beat and cello a lot. Also, when you strip away the beat at :42, it can be a little hard to follow the rhythm of the cello. Then, I'm not sure the cello solo at :42 led into the transition at :49 very well. I liked the beats thereafter, though. I think you could've used a crash at 1:25 - I wasn't really prepared for the beat to suddenly end like that. The transitions at 1:30 and 2:08 are also a little rough, and the crash at 1:42 is very loud. The coda was kind of lazily done. I wanted to see something more creative than a simple fade-out. However, I think my main problem with this piece is the lack of coherence. It sounds like you're jumping back and forth between playing 2 or 3 different pieces. You at least tried to bring it full-circle at the end by bringing the cello back, but you didn't connect the various sections of this piece very well, so it didn't really work for me. Still, I like the instruments and the moods here, and a lot of the isolated riffs (like the melody at 1:30). If you improve the coherence and the transitions of the piece, it would be a pretty solid track. Keep at it, Bolisa! ;)

5/10

bolisa responds:

Thanks for the amazing review! The only problem is that i lost the file of this song, so i cant edit it anymore :(. With you're tips i could make a solid track indeed. But that just means that i have to use it in my future songs, and i will. Anyways, i wish you the best with the contest. There are many good musicians out here!

[Rebels from 2005]

Interesting title! The beat is really engaging and cool, albeit a little hard to follow rhythmically. I think those open hats are way too loud compared to the snare. At :22, you have a ride playing on every downbeat, which kind of makes it seem like you're placing the emphasis on the downbeat, which is rather uncommon in a lot of EDM music. I like what you did with the sound design on this one, though...1:17 has an awesome, ominous yet energetic vibe to it, with the heavy bass, spidery mid-range synth, and a kick drum to keep it moving along. It's short, but still structurally sound. You built up a solid atmosphere with this one (I mentioned the cool harmonics going on at 1:27), but I think this piece still lacked some fill. There wasn't really a predominant melody, and some pads could go a long way in smoothing over some of the rather in-your-face bass work. Some of the transitions, like at :34, seemed a bit rough. At :34, it almost seemed like the crash cut off before it sufficiently did its job of channeling the energy. The snare roll thing at 1:15 is also a bit cliché. Still, this is a pretty interesting and unique piece. I could totally picture this being put in some sort of fast-paced videogame. Keep at it, BiPolarBeat! ;)

7/10

BiPolarBeat responds:

The whole project is about 5 hours. It's too "done" to be WIP yet still not polished. The song's base was done in ~20 minutes. The rest is mixing and adding the two bridges and polishing some parts, my goal was to make the possibly most cliché music. It's not that serious. I really appreciate your review, it's really in-depth and helpful (and is more serious than my project).
edit: the ride is every 1/16 or 1/4 beat with varying volume, my purpose was to punctuate every 1/2 beat.

[Machinarium]

Interesting use of instruments at the beginning. Almost sounds like a dark ambient track at first. The drums at :28 are way too loud, and they distort the arpeggios and bass in the background a lot. Their energy is perhaps also not so appropriate considering the ambient-like vibes I'm getting from the pads and arpeggios. I admire the sense of harmony you use around the 1-minute mark. At 1:23, the kick is, again, way too loud. The synth at 2:03 is cool, but very loud and in-your-face. I think you need to Equalize it more carefully in order to make it punchy without overly harsh-sounding. Structurally, however, this piece is very solid and smooth-flowing. I also like the vocal samples at around 3:35. They were a cool addition to the piece. Nice job with the portamento at 4:08 as well. I also like how the ending is very conclusive - proper conclusions can be hard to find among relatively less experienced musicians. Compositionally, I think this is a fantastic piece. Going forward, I want you to work on your balance (i.e., how loud the instruments are relative to the others). You took a huge risk submitting something so in-your-face for the tryouts, and I think it paid off. I love the full texture this has and the engaging synths and progression. Keep up the good work, Adhenoid! ;D

8.5/10

Adhenoid responds:

Thanks for the helpful review, TaintedLogic!! :D
I will learn further about mixing and equalizing my future tracks..

[The Dream of a Robot]

Note: this review is NOT for the NGAUC. I'm not scoring your group, LSD, but I was hella curious what you came up with for Robot Day and/or my competition. :D I love the emotion in the beginning, and the fittingly mechanical-sounding effects in the background. I didn't think the mastering was that bad, but I think the balance with the drums is a bit off. I could barely hear the snare throughout. I enjoyed the instruments you used, though, and the melodies were cute and meshed together well with the harmonic content you had in here. Like most of your tracks, it's very smooth-flowing, and the progression is appealing. I love the way you ended it, btw. Again, it's a very cute and refreshing piece. Nice job! ;D

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hahha, that makes sense :)
Great job, btw! 176 competitors for your contest is quite the achievement! And wow, I've listened to several of the tracks, and I'm beginning to think that I won't even make it to the next round XD
If I do get there though, I think I know exactly what I'll try for the second round :3

Glad to hear you like the emotion, flow and all the effects! I spend quite a bit of time tweaking them :p

Yeah, I think you're the 4th person to say that the percussion needs fixing, so it must be true! I'll look into that more in the future for sure. I think I'm getting better at this, in the very least :D
I also tried my best not to do endings like johnfn often does, so it pleases me to hear that pretty much everyone has liked the ending thus far :)

Thanks a million for reviewing even though I know you are super busy with the contest!
I've been surprisingly busy and lazy these past weeks as well, which is my excuse for not replying to your PM yet. That said, I will try my best to reply today!!!
Good luck with the judging ;)

[A War Between Our People]

I like the empowering and dramatic mood this piece has. Those samples are actually pretty good! The transition at :56 was a little sudden, especially considering the drastic change in mood. One of the little riffs that first appears at 1:09 reminds me a lot of Step's "This is Snake." Around 1:20, you can tell that the high strings get distorted a bit by the brass, and the dark percussion sounds a little muddy. I loved the way you ended the piece, though. It was dramatic, conclusive, and very fitting overall. Nice work, Larrynachos! Despite my criticisms, it seems rather appropriate for a war-themed videogame. Keep up the good work. ;)

larrynachos responds:

Ah, the "This is Snake" is an arrangement of Metal Gear Solid songs. I'd be lying if I said that MGS wasn't a small inspiration for this piece ^^;

Thanks for the feedback!

[Galaxy Wandering]

Okay, so the synths at the beginning are a little muddy and distorted. I'm also not a huge fan of the kick sample you have during the first 15 seconds. It seems a little choppy during the first minute or so. There are distinct, isolated sections of music, but they don't really fit well together and there aren't many smooth transitions. The violins get drowned out by the bass a lot, and the effects are so high-pitched and harsh-sounding that they detract from the piece considerably. I'm not even sure why they were necessary. If you want to use screeching effects as transitions like at 2:03, you need to take a few steps to make it flow with the structural elements around it first. For starters, you need to Equalize those effects so they don't sound so jarring and in-your-face. I would also suggest adding some reverb and volume automations to smooth them out a bit. You could also use some crashes or sweeps on top of the effects in order to strengthen your transitory moments here. Also, the piece was a bit repetitive overall. There were some good elements of the piece, though. I liked your instruments, and I think you have a good sense of harmony. Still, you need to vary the rhythm in the melody a bit more in order for it to be engaging and catchy. The ending was also rather sudden. I think you need to work on your mixing and mastering too, but maybe it's best if you focus on nailing the more compositional elements of music-making first. I especially want you to work on your transitions, structuring, and on creating some more melodic and rhythmic variation. When you've made a new piece that you feel does those things, PM me and I'll leave you another review. Good luck, man. Hope this review helped. ;)

BT-WIRE responds:

Thanks, I'm still trying to get the hang of it. I'm not very good at the thecnical part yet. I'd like your opinion on my other releases if you dont mind. Its always good to read reviews so I can get an Idea of what needs to be improved.
thakns bro, see ya!

[\W/ Afterthought]

It's very majestic and flowing. Sometimes, the pacing is a bit off IMO. For example, it seems like you were going for some sort of dramatic pause at 1:06, and then you sort of rushed into 1:07. I like the structural relief you start providing around the 2-minute mark. That part is lighter and more tranquil. Then, you sort of abruptly transition back into some heavier, darker content, interrupting the flow with some more staccato notes. The way you sort of alternate styles (lighter and flowing vs. dark and staccato) may be a bit disorienting, but eventually I recognized that it helps capture a fleeting inner-struggle, rather ingeniously similar to the second-guessing that occurs after one realizes the potency of a seeming trifle of an afterthought. ;) Also, after reading the description I was a bit confused. Are there two different people who use this Newgrounds account? And, if so...which one is judging my competition? XD I thought "Winter" was simply your surname, Skye. 0_O Either way, I like the piece overall. The ending was a bit inconclusive, and it's a little stylistically disjointed (as I mentioned), but other than that this is solid work. Keep at it, SkyeWint. ^^

SkyeWint responds:

Nah, Winter isn't my surname. Winter is another person. I mainly use the account but I thought I should post her music on here as well. :) Don't worry, I'm judging the competition.

Just thought I'd post this on here and see how people liked it, especially since it's her first piece.

[SNES Map Music]

I love the cute mood and theme, as well as the melodies. It loops well. I thought the bass was a little quiet, but maybe that's more of a personal-taste sort of thing. I also think you should've shown off what little harmonic/varied content you have in this piece, i.e. the arpeggios at :15. Furthermore, the snare sample might've been a bit bland and dry given the melody that was dancing to its beat. I guess I just would've expected something that "snapped" a bit more for this type of piece. Still, all of these complaints are rather nit-picky (although, in my defense, most complaints HAVE to be nit-picky in a 30-second-long piece). It's certainly fitting for its purposes (i.e., in a videogame, of course!). Keep it up, SleepFacingWest. ^^

P.S.: After a couple of nights of experimenting, I've determined that I usually sleep facing south, haha. ;)

sleepFacingWest responds:

Thanks! I like nit-picky commentary, especially when it's well thought out and helpful. re: snare sound, I've had a hard time distilling the sound of the SNES world. I understand classic nintendo and gameboy better, I think. In the end, adding more compression and a little overdrive to the snare would probably make it snappier.
The next thing I upload will be longer. This one was kind of bullshitty.

[Stormy Evening]

Ooo...I love the tranquil and mysterious mood at the beginning. Sounds just like an impending thunderstorm indeed. It progresses rather slowly (but that's probably fitting for an ambient track). I love all the little string swells, like at 1:46 (and several other places). It has emotion, and a rather paralyzing mood. The progression is rather good. This is beautiful! I'm going to complain about one tiny detail: the note at 2:06 cuts off painfully suddenly. I would suggest both a) smoothing it out with some reverb and b) adding a volume automation to transition more cleanly into the next dynamic (because I'm not sure a subito piano quite fits in with such a flowing ambient track as this). Still, the instrumentation is marvelous, the mixing and mastering is top-notch, and the atmosphere is quite superior indeed. You've earned a fave and a DL. Congrats, and keep up the good work. ;)

samulis responds:

Thanks, TL!

I'm not sure I can adjust that quick cut off... those were actually sampled swells because I was being lazy, haha.