TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[This is Snake]

I love the atmosphere at the beginning, and the spacey drums and pads (with portamentos at :39!) are just awesome. It sounds like my soul is slowly being sucked into the maw of hell by the powers of black magic! The riff at 1:04 gave this piece an ethnic vibe, and the production quality is amazing! I love the emotion and the sense of climax, and moments like 2:03 really help put this dramatic mood in context. The subtle synth arpeggios around 3:10 really got to me too. I love your style, Step - the neo-orchestral cinematic music with electronic influences is just amazing! 5:03 really got me re-oriented with the direction the piece was headed. Amazing sense of variation and originality. This is spectacular! Not only does this piece paint an image in my head, it physically takes me on a journey. At the same time, you maintain an excellent sense of coherence and flow, despite the fast-paced nature of it. Has anyone ever told you that you could make a living out of this? Because I think you can if you really set your mind to it. Hollywood's calling for soundtracks like this, Step! All you have to do is respond...Keep up the awe-inspiring work, my friend! I deeply regret not reviewing this earlier. :O

Step responds:

Whoopsies, just realised I forgot all about this review. I deeply regret not RESPONDING to this earlier. D:

First off, thanks a million for all those reviews you left me man. Huuuge amount of support! I have an ego the size of China right now hahaha. I'm really happy you picked up on all those little things which I gave particular attention to myself.

I don't know if you've played Metal Gear at all, but all the stuff up till 1:47 is an arrangement of the theme that plays in Metal Gear Solid 3 when the enemies go into "caution mode" (when they're patrolling and looking for you). The cool part about you calling it ethnic is that the original (http://goo.gl/WIxCsT) is actually very ethnic in itself, so that was a good observation! It takes place in a jungle, which is probably why.

2:03's voice-over is actually the same thing that the guards say in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops when they've found you and are calling for backup. Of course, I couldn't just use the sample from the game so I got my friend Benjamin to record that and added a bunch of radio effects on it. That synth arpeggio is a nod to a similar arpeggio that appears in the Super Smash Bros arrangement of the Encounter theme. The bit at 5:03 is an arrangement of one of my favourite video game pieces of all time; the Metal Gear Solid 2 main theme... Echo and I put a lot of thought into this haha.

Yes, people have told me I can make a living out of this, and while I'm flattered, I don't think it'll work out. I'm just too worried about the unstable nature of a musician's career, and plus I'm deaf from one ear which places a few limitations on me when it comes to music production.

Anyway, this is some really high praise. I am super thrilled you enjoyed this, since it's one of the recent tracks I am most proud of. THANKS for the review!

[Comodo]

I like the bell at the beginning. Very dark...I love how you left yourself a lot of space for an epic build, although it does progress pretty slowly. I think you did well with all the structural changes, and you definitely keep up the dark mood throughout! It's good for Halloween. :) I think some parts sound a lot like your other pieces, e.x. the transition at 2:10 is very similar to some you've used before. That said, the mixing is top-notch. It does get a little repetitive by the end, even though it's relatively short, but the ending seems fitting. Keep it up! Despite my criticisms, I like your style a lot, BoomKitty. ;)

BoomKitty responds:

<3 .

[Birthday]

Yeah, can't say I know much about brit pop either...this is fun and upbeat and cute, though. Sounds like it'd be good for a videogame...kind of has that bouncy vibe, y'know? The instruments are cool, and the drums really help with the transitions. It loops well, although it's not really a structurally complete piece. It might be good for a game menu or something. I think you should do more with this, though! In the meantime, keep it up! Sorry I haven't been checking out a lot of your stuff recently. I'm swamped with stuff for school, college apps, key club, you name it! D:> I'll have some more free time soon...I hope. ;)

LunacyEcho responds:

=> videogame =>

You know, I never thought of it that way. Then again, game developers probably shouldn't put songs with weird time signatures on their games, for fear of making musicians lose their train of thought. :P

=> drums =>

I think I tried making my drums more complicated here. I've been critiqued in the past about how my drums seem pretty boring, which is pretty disappointing for me. I tried making no two bars of drums the same (yay kick drums), and went to town on those transitions. Glad they worked!

=> swamped =>

Hey, no sweat! There's nothing wrong with being really busy. I'm pretty busy as well, so I'd hate to imagine the amount of work you're going through. :(

I've never heard of Key Club before! Thanks for bringing it to my attention! In the meantime, just focus on your stuff. You come first. Thanks for reviewing!

[The One Without a Name]

I owe you some reviews. This is an interesting piece! I like the theme of nameless people...gives this piece a pretty quirky vibe. I can see how it's "a bunch of ideas mashed together," but that also gives it a sort of pleasantly fluid vibe to it. Of course, all of these piano solo tracks of yours are incredibly flowing and smooth, yet I'm noticing a sufficient structural pattern and degree of repetition nevertheless. An interesting piece, again...I can't help but be reminded of one of those weird montages they have on cheesy T.V. shows sometimes...the flow-y piano is the perfect epitome of the passage of time. ;P Anyway, hopefully I'll respond to your PM by Thanksgiving (last Thursday of November) as I'm trying to finish all of my college applications by then. After that, I should be able to respond to them more regularly until cramming for AP exams (in April/early May) rolls around. >_< Anyway, cool piece! Talk to you soon, LSD, and may the Holy Date of December 16th (or is it December 13th?) come ever sooner!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Hahha, no one owes me any reviews XD I've been getting a lot more of them than I've given back :p

I also like the concept of nameless things is general. As for the repetition in the piece, I'm happy about it. I'd say it doesn't repeat too much; just enough for you to get a grasp of the melody so that you will know how it'll go the next time the same or a similar melody is played.
Heh, I guess that a lot of music I do would work as background music, which might explain why you imagine a montage while listening to this :)

I'll be looking forward to that PM of yours! By the end of November, I won't even have too long left in the army, as the date that I'm done with it all is on the 18th of December XD

Good luck with all your applications, and thanks for the review! :3

[i can see you now]

Okay, that's it. Review time. I LOVE the piano at the beginning - it just has a haunting yet simple beauty to it. The synths you introduce around :30 really add a lot to the pensive beauty as well. I like how they sound like guitars. I love the drums at 1:40, and those melodies/harmonies are pretty sweet. Structurally, this piece is well done. Bringing back the piano at 3:15 was a good choice. The very ending - with that hollow-sounding riser - was unnecessary in my opinion. Maybe if you just added a little more reverb to the piano towards the end, 4:01 would've been more than sufficient to end the piece. Anyway, great job (I didn't expect anything less from you) and hope your life doesn't suck! See you next time, Johnfn. ;D

johnfn responds:

"I like how they sound like guitars. "

This might be BECAUSE THEY ARE GUITARS!!!

[Crunch]

Yes! I beat LucidShadowDreamer again! >:D This is a funky, cool, and fun piece. I love the melodic and harmonic content. Seems a little bit blissful and light for grunge, but I love the theme of candy. Sadly, I'm allergic to all of the candy you tagged. :'( I thought the drums were a little loud at some points. It's really noticeable at 1:27. I don't think the ending was very conclusive. Probably should end on do, not (so?). Sorry, are you familiar with solfege syllables? Anyway, the samples weren't great...still sounds very techno-y. I'll admit, it is very catchy and memorable, though. Keep it up, LunacyEcho. ;)

LunacyEcho responds:

Whoa, that was fast!

=> candy =>

Honestly, I never really intended for there to be a theme of candy. However, the production name was "Crunch", and we just bought a ton of Halloween candy, so I had that on my mind. And I guess it really does kind of candy-ish. :D

=> allergic =>

:O

Oh my god, dude. That sucks so much. I'm so sorry. :'(

=> drums =>

Really? They seem fine in my earphones. BAD MIXING MAN AWAY!

=> ending =>

I am familiar with solfege notation! You're right; it does end pretty inconclusively, but I wanted to put a stop to it before it got even more out of hand than it did. Once I started writing those short romps into 5/4, I knew it had to end soon.

=> techno-y =>

Uh oh. :D

Thanks for the review, especially in this busy time for you! It's probably best to let LSD rest on his weekend away from the army. :P

[Birdland (Dubstep Remix)]

Haha, so you just had to try dubstep, huh? Dubstep is an extremely hard genre to master, and I applaud you for this effort. It's a very fun piece. I liked some of your instruments a lot, but I really didn't like others. The oscillating one at the drops was cool, but some of the brass instruments didn't fit in very well IMO, especially the one at :45. It's not really a very high-quality plug-in. Couldn't hurt to even just replace it with a synth. I like the mood in this one, though. It's cute and upbeat and bouncy, yet also very energetic. Even the drops seem blissful. Structurally, it's a sound piece, and I love all those melodies and harmonies. ;D Transitions are good too. Very interesting piece...perhaps a bit short to be totally complete. What instrument did you play in jazz band, btw? :)

LunacyEcho responds:

=> oscillating instrument =>

The reason I began writing this song was because I found out how to do that on Youtube. :D

=> brass instruments =>

I thought it might sound interesting to have a muted trumpet-esque sound in the background. Alas, even with a filter and distortion, it still sounds bad. I rest my case. No more brass. *sniffle*

=> incomplete =>

When I started, I had tons of ideas about where to go in mind, but as I worked on it, they all just sort of died. I actually started this a week or so ago; it just festered. I find that if I work on something too long, I just lose interest in it and I thought I'd better upload it now before I forgot about it forever.

=> jazz band =>

For my first year (7th grade), I was on piano. Then in 8th grade, I played vibes/marimba because they didn't know where to put me on account of the fact that I played both drums and piano. I moved to a different school in ninth grade, where I played vibes, and the next year, moved to a different school, where I played drums in the band but vibes in a combo ever since.

Thanks for the quick review!

[Sainthood]

Hey! Sorry I haven't been keeping up with your stuff lately. School is to blame. :'( I love the relaxing atmosphere you created here, and the drums and melodies are cool. However, I think some of the instruments, especially the drums, don't come in so clearly. Do you know what side-chaining is? That might help. Also, a little more Equalizing couldn't hurt. It's well-structured and smooth-flowing. It has a rather innocent and happy vibe to it. Good job! ;)

adieuwinter responds:

Thanks for the comments! I'll look into side-chaining, no Idea what that is at the moment. School is to blame for everything ;)