TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Frisky Hornet]

It's great hearing from you after all this time, Garlagan! :D I love the whirling synth patterns at :08 (and other places), as well as the drums and more up-front synths that start fading in at around :22. Cool and engaging title you got there, btw. ;) Nice use of modulation at 1:07. That was a really cool use of (reverb? Flangers?) at 1:20, and I loved how you used it to lead into the breakdown at 1:29. The breakdown itself had a much more reserved and intelligent vibe to it, which offered some much-needed structural relief IMO. I then enjoyed the build-up back into 2:08. Your tracks always have the perfect balance of being easy to listen to and not too overwhelming, yet also very full-sounding and thickly and spaciously textured. The outro brought back that intelligent vibe, too, which I loved. Excellent work, Garlagan! Instant favorite and download! Please make more. :D

garlagan responds:

thank you Andrew!

[-Grind District-]

Okay, I love the gritty synths at the beginning, as well as the hard-hitting bass and beats. It might progress a little slowly at first, but I love the fuller texture you start creating around :40. Structurally, it's a cool piece, and it's great to see such a high quality of mastering from you, Waterflame. I love all the dramatic hits, like at 1:32 (and other places). It has a strangely mechanical vibe at times, despite sounding so experimental and energetic at others. I felt like it was just getting to a point of climax when it ended, though. I enjoyed a lot of the effects you threw in there at the very end, although I'm not sure you needed the part at 2:36 and onward. Still, it's a cool and jumpy piece. Definitely more industrial than anything else as I see it. ;D Keep up the great work, man! ^^

Waterflame responds:

Thank you! I appreciate it. as you mentioned, It is very much experimental, And I see it as more of a "introduction" to more FM based Industrial in the future. Thanks!

[~ Undercover Action ~]

I like the climax at the beginning, but right away I'm seeing some areas mixing-wise where you can improve. I believe the low, muddy bass at the beginning is playing for almost the whole piece, yet I can barely hear it after the first 5 seconds! Please work on your mixing, Larrynachos! It really is what's separating you from the NG greats IMO. Otherwise, this is compositionally a very solid piece. It's engaging, climactic, dramatic, and has a lot of cool instruments. Interesting how you said it was a loop in the description but didn't set it as a loop in NG's project manager. Tbh, it could've looped better, too. ;P I like the frantic synths and beats, and structurally it's a solid piece. The transitions were smooth, and I liked the filters on the drums you used from around 1:10 - 1:30. Again, though, you're an excellent composer, but I want to hear all the awesome harmonies you make AS CLEARLY AS POSSIBLE! Mixing, man! :O This summer is an amazing opportunity for you to drastically improve your mixing and mastering. In fact, I'd be more than willing to mix one of your compositions for you (assuming you use FL Studio). It could really help you understand how to Equalize and balance your instruments well. I'll PM you my email address and/or Dropbox info upon request. Seriously! ;D

larrynachos responds:

I don't think it's that I don't know how to mix, it's just that I don't have the patience for it lol. My newest song sounds a lot better because I spent a decent amount of time working on just the mixing.

I'm not sure I can even begin to compare to the greats, haha.

Thanks for the offer. I'll keep it in mind if I ever feel the need to get mixing tips ^^

[Time Slows Down]

It progresses a little slowly, but I like the climax and the way you gradually fade those synths and melodies in amidst the piano. The sweep leading up to 1:05 lacked effects, IMO. It needed some more interesting filters/distortions/phasers and things so that I couldn't recreate it in 90 seconds in FL Studio. That's a pretty picky detail, though. Obviously, you continue your reign as the Awesome Melody King, as evidenced by 1:05. That said, I think the texture of this track isn't as full or engaging as many of your other tracks (and just because it's slow doesn't mean it has to be less engaging). Also, that breakdown from 1:50 to 2:30 dragged on a bit too long IMO. Still, I love the beat and the melodies after 2:30 or so. I will beg you to start ending pieces properly, though. I'm literally on my knees right now, Johnfn. Fade-out endings are just not my cup of tea. Still, solid effort as always. It's a nice, smooth, and relaxing piece. Keep it up! ;)

johnfn responds:

Pffff. I like that one thing that you didn't like. I can't believe we have a difference of opinion on such a thing! You like the thing and I don't like the thing. Can you believe this thing?!?...

[Troubled Sands]

Haha, I like the desert theme. I'm not sure I liked a lot of the samples, but compositionally it's a cool piece. Good use of harmonies and whatnot. The loop isn't bad, but I don't think this is a structurally complete piece as it is. Cool melodies and drums, though, and the mixing is pretty good. I think I recognized a number of Garageband presets in there. ;P Hmm...yeah, not much more to add. It has some potential, but I think it needs some more progression. 1:01 could function as a neat sort of breakdown, but as it is now it's more of a coda. I would look for some melodic development and other climaxes in the 2nd half of this piece (if it was there, haha). Otherwise, keep up the good work, you guys! ^_~

LunacyEcho responds:

Yikes, sorry this took so long to respond to! I've been... busy, to say the least. :P

=> mixing is pretty good =>

Yay! I'm getting faster at it, too!

=> some more progression =>

Well, it's just a minute-long loop. :P Is progression really that necessary?

=> melodic development =>

I love the Phrygian scale, and you'll definitely see me explore it in further depth in later music.

Thanks a lot! Sorry for the lateness!

[Equilibria - Blood Moon (Teaser)]

I love the tranquil and somewhat dark intro. You might need a smoother transition into :18. Perhaps a larger pause there would help. Sometimes the progression of the guitar and piano seems a bit frantic and hard-to-follow. Some pads/drums/basslines might help tie everything together nicely. I enjoyed the gritty, hard-hitting drop at 1:10. I thought your drums were a little loud, but I enjoyed the bridge towards the end of the track as it is now (I'm sure it won't be the end to the track upon its completion). ;) There's a lot of potential here - I like the instruments and the themes. Maybe you should think about the structure/progression and transitions a bit more, though. Keep it up, DM! ^^

Dylnmatrix responds:

Thanks man! Since this is only the intro of the track, a lot of the structure is pretty simple in the teaser. It gets really complex as the track moves on. We took a ton of influence from some of our favorite metal/EDM tracks, notably most of Seamless' metal tracks. It's a brand new area for us, so making the track progress well was difficult although fun.

The mixing stuff you brought up has been fixed now (not in the teaser but the track itself). The teaser was made before I began the mastering process.

This track is really something different and unique from us, so I hope you enjoy it when the EP releases!

Thanks for the review man! (And sorry about the suuper late reply haha)

[Stairway to Voice Acting]

Lol, this is actually pretty disturbing. 0_O At first, I had just thought it was just okay, and then after around :30 I had decided that I wasn't going to review this piece because it didn't really appeal to me musically (to put it politely). It was only at around :50 that I realized it was a joke, and by 1:20 I was laughing so hard I was concerned that I would wake my parents up and my Dad would get angry with me. XD It's strange to say, but this actually has more comedic value than musical value for me. I especially love the cough and "yep" at the end. XD You seriously should try voice acting sometime. No one knows what LSD will do next...and that's the most awesome/disturbing part! ^_^

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

"Lol, this is actually pretty disturbing"

=> Then my work here is done ;)

Hahha, this is definitely not meant to have great musical value. What I woul've wanted more of is consistency and such things, but I had already ruined my vocal chords enough by this point.

And as I wrote in the TL;DR description, this is not a track to be taken seriously. I am working on a track that I think you'll really enjoy (I hope), but as it's for a contest, it won't be out in a while. I'm aslo working on the track for NIM with Dem0, AND I am doing some other things. I can't wait to upload those things...

I'm impressed by how long it took for you to realize that this is a joke. But I guess I was gradually getting weirder. I'm glad I got a laugh out of you though, as comedic value is what I was aiming for. I will definitely try out some voice acting at some point, as it's soooo much easier than to sing with different voices :p

I'm glad I left the cough and the "yep" in there. I think it leaves I nice touch.

I am also known for being unpredictable. Sometime, I should surprise everyone by trying out animating.

Thanks a lot for the review!

P.S. Sorry for the huge delay, but I've been a bit busy. Luckily, I have time to reply to your PM today!

[Shimmer]

Awwww...this is a cute song! :D I found it a little odd that the hi-hat is louder than most of the melodies, but maybe that's just because I don't compress my own drums enough. XD The instruments were awesome, the melodies were adorable and fun, and I love that climax point at 1:05. The balance in this piece is a little strange because the melody at 1:29 is really loud, while a lot of the other ones aren't. Still, I liked the drums and structure and transitions. It's nice and upbeat, and really stays engaging throughout (probably because it's relatively fast-paced for a slow-tempo piece, if you know what I mean). The ending was awesome! Heck, between Johnfn's melodies and your endings, you guys could form a Grammy-winning band! :D Haha, keep up the good work, LE! ;)

LunacyEcho responds:

=> hi-hat =>

Yeah, that was a mixing mistake on my part. In my defense, one of the last things I did was lower the volume of the bells, but I didn't make the additional correction of lowering the drum volume in the intro. :(

=> melodies were adorable and fun =>

Thanks! That's really the vibe I was trying to put out with this one.

=> 1:29 =>

I guess that's because I had less countermelodies than normal. Other than one melody playing through a couple different instruments in the choruses, the rest of the instruments playing were either drums, pads, or automated arps. The one countermelody I had is one I really liked, and it's the ' bit that comes in at 3:32. You know, for a distorted trombone, it conveys a LOT more emotion that you'd expect.

=> stays engaging throughout =>

Even though it's slower than I usually do, it also has tons of new melodies, with a huge "solo section" from 1:53 to 3:20. I like that about this song, but it's not something that can be accomplished everywhere - that's why I'm pretty proud that I pulled it off here!

=> ending =>

My endings? Hah, tell that to all my other BRILLIANT endings. I mean, this is the first ending that I can say I'm proud of. Nearly every other ending I've ever done is below average, since when I get to that stage of the song, I'm planning what I do when I finish. So, I finish with a boring ending because I just want to get it over with. :/

Thanks for the really positive review! :D

[Sway]

Hey Adieuwinter! It's been a while. I like the slow, moody beginning, although I think you might want to focus on mastering your tracks a bit louder. I had to turn my speakers pretty high up to hear the song. Using compressors might be a good start. Anyway, I liked the beat at :29. The instrument that comes in at :40 seemed a little too bassy for a piece like this, although that just might be a personal preference. I like the funky and somewhat quirky synths at :53. It does progress rather slowly in the beginning, yet it still has a nice climax in it. I just love how the instruments mesh together around 1:45, and you really show off your good sense of harmony after 2:10. Structurally, I like it a lot. The breakdown at 3:00 was effective in creating some structural relief, and the part at 3:17 just brought you right back to the quirkiness. :D I love the melodies around 3:40, although I thought the transition at 4:00 was a little sudden. It had a conclusive ending, though. Overall, this is a pretty fun, cool, and unique piece! Nice work, Adieuwinter. ;D

adieuwinter responds:

Thanks for the review! I've been busy with school and such, so I haven't had much time to produce. For this particular track I was imitating a couple artists in a slow-burning type track. I'll see if I can fix up the kick drum and that transition! As for the volume, I was just trying to avoid too much clipping, but reflecting on that I suppose I've overdone it a little bit. ;3

As always, thanks for having a listen and sharing your thoughts!

[Azure (Original Mix)]

Okay, I like the beat right off the bat. When that mid-range bass came in at :16, it added to the progression of the piece significantly. Not that I'm listening with headphones (as my parents are asleep) I can really tell exactly how clean and tight the mixing and mastering is - awesome job! The melody at 1:31 really grabbed my attention, if only because it was so quirky and fun. Really cool instruments you used here, btw. ;) I thought the chords at 1:46 were a little too loud, though. The drop at 2:15 was cool, but I hear a lot of similar instruments to ones you've used in the past. The high-range synth at 2:42 sounds almost exactly the same as one you used in "Gradient." Perhaps an important next step for you would be to be a little more adventurous genre-wise and try to shake up your style more. Otherwise, this is a well-structured and smooth-flowing piece with quite a few cool riffs and melodies. I liked how you used the drums to transition effectively into the drop at 4:32. I'll also compliment you on your usual fantastic combination of wet 'n' juicy atmospheres and danceable rhythmic content. I liked the ending better than some of your other ones, but I think you should definitely strive towards making it even more conclusive. I've told you that a lot already, though, haha. Keep up the great work, Lockyn! ^^

Lockyn responds:

I'm really proud of the mix in this track, so thank you for that comment! Glad you saw that. :) I really tried to make everything tight-knit in this one, so I honestly consider this track my first foray into something more professional-sounding-ish. I agree my sounds do sound similar to past tracks, I need to work on synth variation but you haven't heard something cool I'm gonna release soon that is COMPLETELY different from everything I've made so far. ;D Thanks for stopping by, I'm very happy to have read another review from you, TL! Cheers ^^