TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Equilibria - Nebula]

I like the ominous strings and piano combo in the beginning, but I think the intro might've gone on for a bit too long. Also, I'm not sure I liked the snare sample at :42. Still, 1:26 was a highlight. You know I love that open hat sound you use a lot! I think it lacks some harmonies/pads at a few points in the song...a lot of the time, there's a melody and drums and a bassline, but not much else, y'know? I can see what you meant by "loud compared to a lot of NG's tracks," but that's a sign that your mixing has improved a lot. I love the intricate breaks at 2:35. I need to know where you got that dirty bass sample! I love it! Also, nice work with the hi-hats around 4:10. I like how you brought the orchestral theme back around there too. I also thought the filters you put on the kick leading up to the drop at 4:52 were really cool. I thought the ending was a little sudden: although it was a good idea to use the static/glitch-y stuff at the end, the kicks made it seem a little inconclusive...unless, of course, you wanted it to loop, but the way it was cut, I don't think it loops that well. Still, overall this is an awesome piece and you've improved a lot in the past year or so! I'm catching up on my reviews in chronological order, so I'll do March tomorrow and hopefully April between Monday and Tuesday. Keep up the great work, DM! ;D

Dylnmatrix responds:

Thanks man! I actually agree that the intro went on a bit too long, but we were also aiming for a longer intro in this. Every single melody in this was written on the first day and we kept each one for the final version, including the long ass intro haha.

"Also, I'm not sure I liked the snare sample at :42."
Those were tom samples actually! Since we don't have orchestral percussion, toms are the next best thing we've got. This was the first track that we used tom samples for more than just filler, so mixing was difficult for us there, but we fixed it (and all the problems we knew of in this track) in Unsustainable.

"I love the intricate breaks at 2:35. I need to know where you got that dirty bass sample!"
That bass sample is FM8 being modulated by a bass made in Massive with Vocodex. ;) The sound design for the basses is actually really simple when you look at it, but still complicated and effective enough to be freaking awesome.

"Also, nice work with the hi-hats around 4:10. I like how you brought the orchestral theme back around there too."
Got to have those shakers man ;)
I'm glad we brought it back too. It was so much different from the rest of the track that we wanted to use it more than just once, and it actually made for a really cool breakdown and build.

"I also thought the filters you put on the kick leading up to the drop at 4:52 were really cool."
That was actually just the toms being layered with the kicks haha, no filters needed.

As for the ending:
Honestly we don't really know what we were going for, but we wanted it to seem inconclusive and end abruptly with the static. Since this is a single from the EP, it's going to be leading straight into the intro for the title track, Infinite Realms. Since IR is in a different key, we wanted an interesting way to make it fit right after Nebula and static FX and high passing the track sort of worked and we're sticking with it for now.

[Spoiled Coffee]

Spoiled coffee?! I will cry! :'( Just kidding; I don't even drink coffee. Anyway, I like the warm string sounds at the beginning. Kind of seems ominous and cheerful at the same time (not sure how you managed that). The string synth does seem to accent the beginning of each downbeat though, which bothered me a bit when you tried adding in dynamic contrast (it sounded like an Fp when you clearly didn't intend for that to be the case). I like the progression, but I think this piece lacks some more harmonizing to keep it interesting. Overall, though, solid work! Sorry I was so late in reviewing this; you know why I was. ;P

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Cool! It would seem like you're finally getting some well deserved time! :D
Yiss! Another non-coffee drinker! We shall form our own empire and rule the world one day still.

It's the weird tremolo string that makes it feel ominous, I think, while the melody and chords are, to the most part, not so ominous. I really made this in an extremely lazy manner XD Now that I have better instruments, I could easily reassign the MIDI and make a version that sounds much better :p

This is a pretty simple piece. I think it would sound much better, if the melody stood out more with perhaps a solo intrument, while just a few clean string intruments played the chords. Chordwise, this song repeats itself very little. However, in order for the emotions to really show, one would need to automate the volume dynamics much more, which I didn't even do at all XD

I don't mind a late review at all! If anything, it's very nice to get a new review on a piece that was already uploaded wuite a while ago! :D
Thanks for reviewing ;)

[Best Song Ever Made]

NOTICED FRONT-PAGE; HAD TO REVIEW! :D I like the tranquil atmosphere at the beginning, although given the date of upload and genre, I was expecting some sort of intense drop at some point. Still, I like the progression and mood. It's very bright and quirky, as if one is suddenly arriving at a quaint Irish village after a long night of trudging through the snow (although maybe I'm getting the "Irish" part only because "potato" is tagged). ;) If I had to complain about anything, it would probably be the quality of the stringed instruments around 1:10. You can tell that they're fake because the vibrato is on a fixed sine-wave pitch ratio. I'm not sure how to "humanize" things in Cubase, but I suggest you look into that. Otherwise, nice work and congrats on the front-page! ;D

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

LOL! How did I not even notice the frontpage at all? Hahha XD

And I like how you actually reviewed this as if it was some serious piece. This song goes back two years; I made it on my synth in about 30 minutes. It was as a challenge for myself, but I really failed. The thing is, I came up with the chords in about 15 minutes. After that, I improvised every intrument once, based on the chords. There are five intruments, as many as my synth can record at a single track. That's why the audio quality is like it is, and why there are some weird mistakes, and everything is off tempo and messy XD
This was too bad to upload as it is, but I have been waiting a year to upload it as an April Fools joke! Finally the time came, and it seems it even managed to get front paged! Somebody has a good sense of humor :D

So yeah. This was NOT made in Cubase, nor is it a recent work :3
But thanks for the review anyway, I appreciate it ;)

P.S. Potatoes rule!

[(HoS) Foe Hammer +]

I like the sense of impending doom this has. Good sense of climax too, although it does progress a little slowly at the beginning. I'm not sure the instruments are the best quality, but you might just need to EQ them a bit more. Also, did you by any chance use Sakura to make this? I think I recognize some of these samples. The drums were a nice touch, though. I like how the strings offer a tense apprehension, and the drums start channeling the drama (which the strings then respond to at :47). I really enjoyed the build-up into 1:25, but I think you could've done more to maximize the drama there. 1:25 sort of sounds like a re-intro in a way, the part after a big crash that eases the tension again after the height of emotion. The height of emotion in this piece is the only thing that's missing IMO. It's a well-structured piece, with some appropriate transitions when necessary. I think you could've done a bit more with the drums to maximize the drama, though. Still, it's a solid piece that kept my attention to the end, although the ending itself was a bit sudden and inconclusive. Perhaps it would make a good loop if you were planning on using it for a videogame. Either way, keep up the good work! ;D

HonorOfStyle responds:

Wow Tainted Thank you very much for taking the time to write all that! I am going to take all the advice you've given and learn from it!

[Random?]

I like the spacey guitar. Has a really pensive mood. I'm sorry about your divorce, but good for you for expressing your feelings through music instead of, well, other ways. I think you might've over-done the reverb a bit, because the sound quality comes through as a bit muddy at times. Did you record this live, or did you use a DAW? If you used a DAW (digital audio workstation), you might want to reconsider how you Equalized your instruments. Anyway, this has a good sense of climax. It's catchy, smooth-flowing, and well-structured. You express a lot of different moods here, which I love. I think the distorted, harsh-sounding notes you start incorporating at 1:05 add a lot to the mood. I also enjoyed the chord progression around 1:45 - seems strangely blissful and upbeat for a while there before devolving back into a long-suffering sort of sound. I somehow picture a montage of an alcoholic, going through various levels of rehab before falling back into the insidious inevitability of addiction. It's great that this piece can put such an image in my mind. I thought it ended a little suddenly, though, but I appreciate how you really put your soul into this piece. Keep up the good work! ;D

Bunk420 responds:

You and I both believe it ended to suddenly... The beggining is supossed to represent a dream. The dream durring new found love. May have over done it doh.

[Meditative]

I like this piece a lot. The melody is really catchy, and the beat is simple but keeps the piece moving pretty nicely. I think you might need some more rhythmic variation in the melodies, but other than that they were great. I liked how you started off with the bass riff, which usually works well IMO, especially in pieces of this genre. The sense of harmony and climax are great, and I absolutely love those pulsing synths that first come in at around :43. Personally, I would've loved to see this piece come full-circle (i.e., you end with a bass-y section too) because the bass wasn't really featured as much after the intro. Other than that, great effort! Hard to believe you hadn't posted a house track before this because this is really good! ^^

LunacyEcho responds:

=> rhythmic variation =>

Yeah, that's what happens when you layer synths with the same melody. :) I was hoping the eighth-note-synth at 0:44 would help with that.

=> come full circle =>

Hm... I didn't think about that for this piece. I guess my only issue with doing that would be that it would drag this piece even longer than it is, which is already a bit too long for this little compositional variety. :)

=> house =>

Well, a lot of my older stuff could be considered compositionally similar to this one, just with drastically different instruments.

Thanks for ALL the reviews! :D

[本当の青空 - Hontō no ao]

First of all, how in the HELL did you put Asian-language characters in the song title?! Second of all, what do they mean? Third of all, this is freaking beautiful! It's (as usual) very flowing and majestic and light. At times, it transitions very rapidly between short phrases that are either upbeat or saddening, such as 1:32 and 1:36. It certainly is a rollercoaster of emotions, which is one thing I like about your pieces, LSD - they have a very human quality about them that captures the range of moods that can be experienced over a short length of time. You're pouring your soul into the music, and I really admire that about you. This is why I need to learn how to play a chordal instrument. Anyway, great job! 2013 was a pretty good year in a lot of regards, haha! ;D Also, I thought the ending was just perfect. The 3 chords at 2:48 almost single-handedly convinced me to download this piece. Keep up the fantastic work, my friend! ^^

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

"First of all, how in the HELL did you put Asian-language characters in the song title?!"

=> Simple; the only things you need is a sister that speaks fluent Japanese, she has to download a software that allows her to write in Japanese, you have to ask her to translate a phrase for you and write it out (because Google Tranlsate only gives you Japanized English words, as there are several ways to write out everything, but I wanted original Kanji). After that, you just copy paste it to Newgrounds! Easy, right? :D

"Second of all, what do they mean?"

=> "トゥルーブルースカイ" (The other way to write it), translates to "True Blue Sky", which is referring to a very specific part of a specific episode of a Japanese Anime (though it was originally a manga) called "Kino's Journey" (キノの旅 - Kino no Tabi).
The composition might not cause you to think about a sky, but as I told LunacyEcho, it's all about the journey ;)

"Third of all, this is freaking beautiful! It's (as usual) very flowing and majestic and light."

=> Why thank you :) For a while there I thought you were going to write the entire review in this formula, as I did to you XD

Yup, the sudden transition(s) are intended, and as it's about a journey, alll the different emotions are supposed to represent different events and feelings during that travel.
I don't even try to include the human qualities in my piano pieces, they just happen while playing :/
I guess it's all the emotion that's put into the process that's shining through XD

It'd be awesome if you learned to play a chordal intrument! I love the cello and other kinds of strings as well, but It's great that one can bring forth so many different harmonies and emotions with chords too :D

2013 was my most productive year in terms of music thus far. I'm hoping to change that this year, but that remains to be seen ;)

I like the three chords too, and they are really simple! Cm, with C in the melody, Dm7 with A in the melody, and Gm with G in the melody.

Thanks a lot for the nice and positive review! Unless I fail horribly, I'll try to respond to your PM tonight XD