TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[NGDIC: Lucent Cove]

I liked the mysterious mood at the beginning, as well as the melodies at :09. It had a majestic vibe to it, that somehow shared a more apprehensive and eerie feel at times. You have a very interesting progression here, and by the time I hear the melodies at :58, I think you've really created a solidly structured and smooth-flowing piece. I also enjoyed the full texture of the piece. The drone-like pad that comes in at 2:05 sort of gets distorted by the other instruments a bit. I'd check to make sure you've Equalized everything as well as you can. Compositionally, though, this is a really strong piece. I think the ending is very conclusive, and you may not have even needed the last few notes from that bell-like sound at 3:17. Overall, great work! Keep it up, HellboundDochi! ;)

HellboundDochi responds:

Thanks a lot for the feedback. Even though the contest is over now, I thought I'd still make some edits to try and improve it anyway, based on what you mentioned. :)
I think I've corrected the distortion around 2:00 now, and removed the bell-sound from the ending (I wasn't too sure whether to keep that in myself originally). I did a bit more in the way of mixing/mastering, I think I've got it down now.

[Newfound Happiness]

I love the sense of mystery at the beginning. Small detail: the flute cuts off a little suddenly at :23. Maybe you should use some reverb and/or release modifications to smooth that out a bit. The cello at :58 was an interesting edition to the texture. It kind of made the mysterious mood seem a bit darker. I like the distortion around 1:20, but I think the energy at 1:36 was a little inappropriate for the tranquil harmonies. It has a very interesting progression. The part at 2:15 that essentially functions as a coda appears a bit abruptly, though. I think you could've at least used a crash there, as I naturally expected the cello's sticky staccatos to be on the downbeat as well, and they weren't. Overall, I like it, but I think you could've done more with this piece. I would've liked to see some greater climaxes and drama. It has character to it, but in all honesty I think it needed more. I hope this helped. Keep up the good work, Deshiel! ;)

DESHIEL responds:

I have a personal problem of lack of attachment to my project that goes on from the beginning of my wannabe music career. It's like I want to do so much, but I don't have enough patience for better quality or progression. I actualy registered on myself that I do increase the time and effort I give to my projects, but I still have a certain distaste in coming back to them with fresh head, so I usualy wrap things up too soon.

This was a slightly different case. This time I had several differen motivations which kept me going.
Like I said in the description, I don't walk easy in the lands of classical music so figuring out the composition (I didn't browse for Ideas, I wanted it to be my head only) was pretty hard, because I don't know the cool tactics. I composed this by experimenting with what would those samples sound like if I played them in a different note in piano roll. When I liked the result, I would record it and I would imidiately get 10x ideas on how to make it connect. I seem to be in luck (judging by the responses of the people I discussed personal creativity). I seem to have easier time coming up with melodies and acompanying sub melodies. (dunno how you call support melodies and etc)

My bigest challenge here was to work with Samulis' samples.

There were no drums, which (for me) were always the crucial part in my composition and unlike Lich and some other pros I didn't know how to make my own from the samples.
I did come close but it still sounded too timpany and too little drum so I ditched it.

Lots of the samples were too long for short sections so I had to figure out how to manualy cut and then fade in/out the cut samples to make them sound legit. The flute in :23 is a sample cutt for short melodies but it lacked the lenght for that one note to finish it. I was so frustrated by the thought of having to cutt it again and set the fading that I allowed it to remain.

This is because I didn't realy have big experience with wav moding in this kind of way and I had to learn it all on my own by going Full Dee Dee on all those buttons that Dexter didn't want me to push before I figured how it works. By the time I was applying my new knowledge on the samples that needed editing, I was soo flushed that I tried to do everything in first try and I hated fixing.

Thanks for your review. I am glad that you and the rest feel some potential from it. It realy motivates me to try to do this again, with more effort and dedication. ;) Cheers

[Called to the Sea]

I like the lullaby-like sensation I get from the beginning, and then the sense of mystery and adventure from :23. It's a very well-crafted mood and atmosphere. Very interesting bridge you got there at :56. It was a rather excellent idea for providing structural relief IMO. I love the progression of this piece, and the percussion at around 1:30 - 1:50 was a nice touch. It certainly has plenty of dynamic contrast and structural variety. You kind of flip-flop back and forth between a more tranquil mood and an adventurous one. One slight problem I had with it was that the ending seemed light and majestic enough, but then the perfect octave with the low brass sort of growled at me. That's really just a tiny detail, though. I thought the mixing was pretty good, too. I might point out just one transition I thought needed smoothing out: 1:29. You also borderline overused those crashes IMO, especially since they were so up-front in the mix. However, those are pretty much all the complaints I can think of. Nice work, ChronoNomad! ;)

ChronoNomad responds:

Thanks a bunch, TaintedLogic! A very in-depth review, and that is always thoroughly appreciated. I'm actually pretty fond of the bridges and transitions, especially the one at :56, so I'm happy to hear that it's deemed effective. When you're talking about the brass growling at you, do you mean the notes at 1:51? I suppose I could have left out the lower brass harmony, and I did toy with the idea a bit, but when I left it out it ended up sounding too thin to me. I know I employed the crashes a lot in the second movement, especially near the end, but they were meant to symbolize the crashing waves of an increasingly stormy sea. And admittedly, the transition at 1:29 could be a bit smoother. I was trying something different out, and I knew it would be kind of a love/hate thing in the end.

Not too much in the way of complaints, and I really appreciate the thoughtfulness of your comments. Many thanks again for dropping by, taking the time to listen, leaving a review...all that jazz!

[Costa Concordia]

I liked the tremolo at the beginning and the dark, drone-like sound you created thereafter. The strings at the beginning do get buried a bit by the low brass at around :10, though. It does progress a little slowly at the beginning, but I love the chord progression at :48. It's powerful, dark, and full-textured. You seemed to throw on some sort of distortion at 1:10 that added considerably to the mood and atmosphere of the piece. I like how the track almost resets itself by around 1:52, and then you start building on more dark, deep chords from there! >:D By 2:30, it's official: the progression is my absolute favorite thing about this piece. All of a sudden, it's tranquil, majestic, and light. I also love how you based the song off of a real-life event. I think that's an excellent method for charging creativity. :) The ending left me wanting more, which is both a good and a bad thing: good, because it means I enjoyed the previous 3.5 minutes; bad, because I think you could've finished off the piece a little more conclusively. That said, I really like the track overall. Keep up the good work, Phonometrologist! ;)

Phonometrologist responds:

The tremolo at the beginning really has nothing added to the original sample. It was the very first sample I dragged over and allowed to set the mood for that was the main inspiration. How I approached this track overall was by listening to the samples and going with what I thought I was hearing by the nature of each timbre. This project started from that tremolo sample and it, along with the Costa Concordia, gave me the sense of foreboding to tell the story for the rest of the piece. That's why the strings get buried as it was merely the driving point for the rest of the piece. I haven't really composed such a piece like this in regards to how horizontally linear the process was from beginning to end. No moving around parts... just fluid train-of-thought.
I tend to compose in a manner that leaves music a bit open-ended symbolically to emulate that desire I feel when it comes to the fleeting nature of our lives. I figure, "Why force upon the listener a conclusion to their thoughts?" I instead would rather allow them to close in the gaps themselves of finding its resolve. I'm glad you enjoyed this work as you so have described in detail. The goal is to take one on a short journey and, yes, to leave you wanting more. There has to be more! More than what this life has to offer. Thank you for your hard work in reviewing these pieces. I enjoyed your review quite a bit!

[Port of Lost Souls]

I love the mood and atmosphere at the beginning. The somewhat arrhythmic church bells add a lot to that mood as well. I thought you had some slight balance issues at :35. The sample that comes in at that point gets buried underneath the drone-like pads you have playing over it. It has a very interesting progression, though, and by around 1:30 it has a different mood entirely - perhaps with the same sense of mystery, but less dark. I love how you create space with your sound design. The part at around 2:15 provided some much-needed structural relief. I also noticed, however, that the high-pitched pluck string sample at 2:55 starts ducking under the mix shortly after that harmony instrument comes in at 3:29. I'd like to see you using more careful Equalizing and panning to make both of those instruments come through clearer. I did like those huge, sweeping crashes you had. It's a smooth-flowing and well-structured piece. The ending was a tad underwhelming IMO, if only because I thought you could've transitioned better into the part at 3:50. Overall, I like it a lot. You certainly have an interesting Far-Eastern sound to this. Keep up the good work, DL2Electron! ;)

DL2Electron responds:

Thanks for the review. I guess there are a million different ways on how I could have transitioned and ended it, but this is the final result!

[Nothing But Sand & Water]

I love the mellow mood at the beginning with the arpeggios. Beautiful instrumentation and melodies. It's majestic and serene, and has a well-built atmosphere to it. One complaint I may throw out there is that it had little rhythmic variation (especially in the lead instrument) and melodic development. I'll also say that I thought it was a little bit...safe. You could've heightened the emotion a lot more here and really gone for some sweeping roller-coaster-ride sort of phrases. Instead, this piece is a little passive and I'm almost tempted to call it background music. Overall, though, it's coherent enough while still possessing enough structural variety to keep me engaged. You definitely captured the deserted island theme well. This is solid work in general, and I thought the decelerando at the end was fitting. You seemed to go for a very flowy style of progression here, so I admire the conclusiveness it had by the end. Keep up the good work, Mattashi! ;)

Mattashi responds:

Thank you TaintedLogic :) I should have spend some more time on this but I've been busy with work lately and really wanted to enter this contest so I composed something on my day off.
Thanks for the feedback!

[Africa (Singalong)]

I love the organic vibe this has, and the percussion arpeggios at :22 (and a lot of other places) add a lot to the piece. The vocals were very well done - I've tried (and failed) to record vocals well, and I can say that the balance and blend is great. I love the jump in energy between the verses and chorus. I love the solos that start at 2:57, and obviously the percussion is awesome throughout. Step, the mixing is top-notch (I wouldn't expect anything less from you), and MetalRenard did an awesome job with the mastering as well. If I had to complain about something, it would be that the ending felt a little bit lazy to me. I understand that it's supposed to have a continuous, flowy sing-along feel (which it most certainly does), but I strongly prefer the conclusions of tracks like this to be...well...more conclusive! Overall, I love it, of course. The mood, atmosphere, and transitions are all solid, etc. Keep up the great work, all of you guys! ;D

Ceevro responds:

Actually, the mix just previous to the final mastering was not faded-out, but ended with a single hit. Stylistic choices have to be made, and while I loved the last hit, others preferred the fade-out. If you go to the thread, you can hear the original ending on the last WIP, and decide for yourself.

[Veil of Dreams]

Ooo...I love the mood. This has a strange sort of energy to it, apprehension even. All of a sudden at :39, I picture someone lifting up the last branch at the end of a narrow, windy forest path and the sun hits her, a view of mountains beyond like an enlightenment, a revelation. I admire the progression! I will say that I thought the transition at 1:31 was a little sudden, but the phrasing and articulation in this piece is beautiful overall. The church bells were also a nice touch at the end. Your samples are amazing! Which plug-ins/VSTs do you use? It sounds like main menu music more for a PBS movie than a videogame (and that's a good thing!). Haha, keep up the great work, Samulis. ;D

samulis responds:

Thanks for the review, man! That little turn at :39 is my favorite part, it gets me every time I listen. :D

The samples used are actually all of my own creation. Believe it or not, the samples used here were no different from the ones in the contest I just ran, there are just quite a few more than 25 in use, haha. I'm thrilled you think they are amazing, it was a massive amount of work to make all these samples and the resulting plugins. Hopefully I will be able to share them with you and everyone else soon. :)