TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Larcenous]

That guitar synth doesn't sound very realistic, but I really like the melody at :25. Kind of sounds a little too cutesy for punk, but then again I know absolutely nothing about punk. It's got a pretty upbeat vibe which I like. Almost reminds me of the intro music to LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE MTV movie about stereotypical 2000's-era high school kids. XD I think these song weeks have been a great way to work on a lot of different styles for you, LE. You've really grown as an artist throughout them, I think. Keep it up! ;D

LunacyEcho responds:

=> realistic =>

Budget. :(

=> cutesy =>

Yeah, that's what I thought too. When I planned this out in my head, it was a lot more grungy and crunchy, but that really didn't happen when finally making the song. :P

=> MTV =>

The more I get older, the more I'm glad I never watched MTV while I lived in America. :)

Thanks for the tons of reviews!

[Killjoy]

I like the frantic synths. I think you might need a little more reverb on that synth that comes in at :25 (and other places), just to fill the gaps when it's not playing after you originally introduce it (if you know what I mean...). Other than that, it's sort of lacking structurally. Kind of sounds like you dragged out the intro to a piece for 30 seconds longer than it should've lasted, whereas the other pieces you've submitted this week had a bit more of a direction to them IMO. Maybe you could keep working on this. It has potential, but it might need some more melodic content. It is pretty catchy, and I like the mood and instruments. Keep at it, Mister Echo! ;)

LunacyEcho responds:

=> 0:25 synth =>

During those parts, I tried to have two bars of synth and two bars of silence, with the synth appearing to fade out. I guess it didn't really work. :P My bass-heavy earphones also probably contributed a bit to the problem (although I'm not sure how you listen to music)!

=> structurally =>

This is what happens when you go for quantity over quality. :P Hey, for a first time trying out this sort of genre, I thought it wasn't bad, but I can definitely see where it lacks in composition. This is probably the only song this week where the production was better than the composition. :D

Thanks for yet another review!

[Idyllic]

Haha, did you leave the metronome in? XD The sound actually sort of goes along with the piece pretty well, though. I love the guitar and the chill pads. It also loops well, and it has a nice mood which is kept throughout. I like the variety you started introducing around :16. Keep up the good work, LE! :D

LunacyEcho responds:

=> metronome =>

shhhhhhhh

=> chill pads =>

I've found that this pad especially is useful for pad-ing whenever I need something just to 'be there'. I'm sure there's something more sophisticated I could say about this, but I don't know enough music terminology. :P

Thanks for the review!

[Heartful]

Wow, that's great! Song week for you happens to correspond with February vacation week for me! >:D I love the quirky instruments and the blissful mood. At times, the intervals between the notes in the melody seemed a bit odd, such as at 1:05. Also, the melody instruments seemed really loud to the point that it drowned out the back-up melodies around 1:10-1:25 a lot. Also, the drums in this piece are pretty simple and weak. However, I like the structure of this piece and the sense of climax it has throughout. Nice job making it conclusive at the end, too. Also, the mastering is clearly better in this piece than most of your other tracks, even if the balance is a little off. I think you should devote more time to finding your way around Logic. Anyway, nice job overall, LunacyEcho! :D

LunacyEcho responds:

=> February vacation week =>

Aww, I thought I was special. ;)

=> intervals =>

Wait, which intervals? The timing between the notes or the difference in pitch? It was probably the timing, since there wasn't any daring pitch stuff done at 1:05. Yeah, to make these melodies, I just noodle around on the typing keyboard. I don't actually double check 100% of them. :P

=> drums =>

You know, the drums are actually a LOT more complicated than you can hear. I spent a ton of time on them, but then they got drowned out in the end because I also wanted to raise the volume of the guitar which I was proud of getting a semi-realistic sound out of. :( Choices, choices.

=> structure =>

Thanks! Making interesting structures has been another goal for the songs I put effort in during this project. Glad to see I'm getting better!

=> mastering =>

Haha, thanks!
...
...
What's mastering, again?

=> Logic =>

Well, it's a pretty interesting software, and so far - wait. Tainted... Logic. Wow, that took me a while.

Thanks for the review! Have fun during your week off! :)

[Vos Postergum]

Wow, Ale, I'm honored! :D You established this atmosphere really well, and then the church bells and strings worked really well to add to it. They're not the best-quality samples, but the emotion is real. I thought the transition to 1:25 could've been a bit stronger, though. It kind of abruptly goes from a haunting stillness to a still hauntingness, if you know what a mean. All of these instruments are awesome - the organ at 1:40, and the way it sounds slightly more synthesized by 1:47. I loved the choir around 1:50 too, and this piece has a lot of great ups and downs. Compositionally, it's a very solid piece. You definitely keep up the mood throughout, and the fact that I have no idea what the title means adds to the creepy atmosphere. XD It sort of reminds me of a child wandering through a (seemingly) abandoned hospital after the apocalypse. Also, I don't really think it loops that well, but I do think the ending was fitting either way. Overall, solid work! I like listening to this kind of music just as much as I like making it! :D Also, that Far Eastern-sounding percussion towards the end was a nice touch. Keep up the great work, my friend! ;)

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I'm glad you're honored, and I'm sure you can see the similarities between this and your piece, especially closer to the middle :D
I am actually thinking of buying some HQ-intruments soon :'D

Those are pads at the beginning, but some of them do seem based on strings. The church bells are really just normal "bells" from the beginning, but I added tons of reverb, filters and some other effects to make them sound at least a bit like church bells :3

I agree that the transition at 1:25 is pretty sudden. There are three very different sections in this piece I'd say, and the transitions between all of them could be improved upon. 1:25, 2:06 and then the loops itself. The different parts are so different so a transition would almost have to be as long as a section in itself in order to not be abrupt. I really had trouble looping this piece. Originally, the track began at 0:17, but I cut the very end and added it to the beginning, so I could begin the song with half a second of silence, which eradicated most the problems. The change is very noticable though!

As for the title, it's not even "correct" Latin, although the words do have meaning. I just chose to name it this way because it sounded cooler than most other alternatives I had in mind XD

"It sort of reminds me of a child wandering through a (seemingly) abandoned hospital after the apocalypse"

=> There it is! The part I most enjoy reading in most of your reviews :3 It's good that you get that picture, as it means the atmosphere isn't entirely different than intended.

I guess that you're referring to the gongs at the end. I didn't find any good vst's for them, so I chose a few free samples from two different libraries, and added reverb among possibly something else (I'm not entirely sure, actually).

Thanks for the review! Looking forward to your next upload, whenever you get the chance to make something ;)
EDIT: Which is today actually! Great :D I'm going to listen to it right away!!!

[Perception V2]

This is probably one of your best tracks IMO. I love the progression and instruments, and it's still really catchy and cool. It might need some more melodic content (the first melody as I see it is at 2:57, almost 3/4 of the way through the song). I try to have at least 2 melodic sections in my pieces, and I think that you could try to incorporate some more melodic stuff around :20, or if you're going to make the breaks between :30 and 1:55 last so long, they could use some harmonic support as well.

Your mastering is noticeably better than a lot of your other tracks, but I have a few suggestions that might improve it further. The general rule of thumb for balancing the volume levels (that I use, at least) is that the bass should be louder in volume than the rest of the instruments, but it should have much more restricted EQ frequencies. Still, you should be able to hear the higher-pitched instruments more clearly than the bass, especially if you're not using headphones. Certain sections of this piece, such as :30 to 1:55, are an exception, of course, but perhaps you should try to incorporate more high-pitched tones into your music?

Pads are tricky because they tend to use a lot of different frequencies. For example, the pads at :00 sort of drown out some more melodic content you have going on in the background there. You might fix this by restricting the pad's frequency range in the EQ more, or creating two separate peaks to accommodate the range of the melody instrument. The great thing about Parametric EQ 2 in FL Studio is that it's literally an infographic of which frequencies are used the most by the instrument you're EQ'ing. All you have to do is drag down the frequencies that aren't highlighted as much when you play a riff with the instrument. You almost never have to raise the volume in the EQ, just lower it. Occasionally, I'll raise the volume of a hi-hat or kick, but that's because none of the other instruments ever play frequencies in their ranges.

Kicks are also tricky because low-pitched kicks sound muddy and interfere with the bass, but high-pitched kicks sound like shit without headphones. One solution is to create 2 separate-but-small peaks in the kick. Another is to use 2 different kick drums, one for the lower frequencies and one for the more mid-range ones. I thought you did a good job EQ'ing the kick here, though. You might find it helpful to write down all of your instruments and the frequencies they take up on a piece of paper. Ideally, none of them would interfere with each other. Believe me when I say I need to work on this myself.

Anyway, I think this piece doesn't really have a proper outro. It was a good way of ending the piece to have that funky little riff and sweep combo, but you kind of transition right from a melodic "high point" to it. This piece is an appropriate length for a track like this IMO, so maybe you should cut out some of the repetition between :30 and 1:55 in order to add the outro. You might even be able to cut something from the "saw bridge" (:30 to 1:55) and paste it into the outro, but be careful about transitioning into the use of that heavy saw bass again. You did a good job with that at :30.

I think this piece is really catchy and smooth-flowing. I loved the sweeps you made for this, too. The melodies that are there are good, but I think you need to explore the upper range in your tracks a bit more, TeraVex. Also, it couldn't hurt to find ways of making the "saw bridge" less repetitive. Other than that, this is a great start to what I'm sure will be a fantastic album! Good luck, man. ;)

TeraVex responds:

Thanks for the review man! I've been working harder towards my mastering, I feel that I've benefited greatly because of it. I will agree this is probably the best song I've made although I like CHROM! a little better. I want to thank you again since your reviews make me strive to be better!

[DayDream]

Yo! Haven't been here in a while. ;) I love these chill vibes, man. The progression is great. Ambient and deep house are two awesome genres to fuse. I think it changes pretty slowly throughout, though, and might need some more melodic content. I could just imagine this really powerful lead soaring over the atmosphere; nothing too complicated, but I think it could add a lot to the mood you've already established here. I love the effects you used after around 2:10, and but I think you could've done more to make it feel more climactic/conclusive towards the end. The way it sort of just fades out was pretty lazy tbh. I think it needs more dynamic contrast and melodic development, although I understand that ambient tracks tend to be more drone-esque like this. Either way, pretty solid work here. Keep it up, man. ^_^

DjGubkafish responds:

thank you for feedback , You have good points

[Älvjakt]

This is beautiful. :) I love the instruments, and they work together really well. It has quite a bit of a climactic feel too, and I think it fits the poem pretty well. I must say, though: I'm listening to this with headphones (which I usually don't) and I can tell it gets pretty distorted at times, especially towards the end when the piano has those low chords. I loved those floaty synth arpeggios, though. The mood is fantastic, although I believe I have a challenge #2 for you, LSD: create a track that's mastered to the best of your ability. Equalize all of the instruments, adjust the volume levels and balance, and make sure there are no tones that interfere with or distort others. It always feels so awkward to critique your mixing when you know you didn't put much effort into it. BUT if you really put your greatest work into it, I could totally help you improve from there. :D So give it a shot! Otherwise, nice work. ;)

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thank you :3

Another challenge ey? And I am yet to start on your previous challenge, which is to create a less flowy piano piece XD
The thing with really good mixing, is that I don't really want to invest the hours upon hours of work into it (it takes really long as I'm a beginner), unless it's a piece I've been intending to do really well. This was more of a small side project, so I finished it quickly. I'm working on a different kind of piece at the moment though, and it will sure take some special mixing. It's probably have distrortion though (I actually tend to enjoy certain kinds of distrotions and dissonance). I usually do equalize all of the intruments. The most urgent things I should work on would be much more panning, as well as lessening the reverb I tend to use, as everything becomes muddy.

Oh, and the "synth arepggios" you're referring to are probably the zither XD I edited the sound quite a bit :p

"The mood is fantastic..."

=> heh, along with chords and melodies, I feel as though moods and atmospheres are something I'm actually pretty good at.

Speaking of mixing, I actually discussed with my piano teacher, and he agreed to focus a bit less on the piano for a while, and teach me more about mixing with my own software, so we'll see how that goes! He's a top class musician, so he knows what he's doing :D

Thanks for the review :)!!!