TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[champ]

I really love the instruments and the climactic nature of it. The glitches at :25 add a lot to the piece, but are perhaps a little distracting at times. It's a well-structured and smooth-flowing piece, though. I'll congratulate you on your conventional ending, as I personally think that it's for the better that you go a more traditional route in that regard. Anyway, overall nice work! Keep it up, Johnfn! ;D

johnfn responds:

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY GLITCHES!!!

Haha when I did that ending I was like "omg everyone is going to be so proud of me!!!" And they were... well, except LunacyEcho... that jerk. hahaha

Anyway I'm glad you liked it!

[Orchestra Help]

I like the mood and percussion. Sounds almost militial (if that's word) in a way. Somehow I picture a mysterious yet melodic string riff coming after this, maybe with the continuity of the percussion/brass, just for some coherence. Seems ominous to me so far, so you might as well continue to use that mood to captivate your audience. ;) As for the VSTs, I'd say the strings sound pretty good (although they might be a little too blatantly fake in higher octaves - idk) but the brass is bothering me a bit...although it couldn't hurt to get another opinion on this. I'm not very good at selecting instruments myself. :/ Hope this helped though! Keep at it, TeraVex! ;)

TeraVex responds:

Thanks! As for the instruments, I haven't even finished add all of the higher voices and percussion yet, maybe it might sound better, if not I'll switch it up a little. Thanks for your thoughts!

[When It's Cold]

Beautiful! I love the simplicity and the atmosphere (reverb), as well as the chord progression. :57 was a high point for me. It gets a little repetitive after a while, but is very calming and relaxing. I liked the part at 2:07 a lot, but I think that you needed a more gradual transition between moods here in order to go along with the sort of "droning" aspect of the piece. I like how you transitioned back into the main theme at 3:25, though. The very ending could've been more climactic/conclusive, but overall I don't have many structural problems with it at all. Nice work, LSD! Sorry I didn't review this earlier. I stayed up 'til 4:00 A.M. this morning finishing my most important essay for English of the year. T_T Anyway, nice work! Keep it up, man! :D

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Why hello there! :D :D :D
Good to see that most people here like my chord progressions in this song. I actually think I might have played this piece too "safe", but the chord progressions came to me naturally, so why not keep them? XD

I have to agree with everyone that this piece gets a bit repetitive. I wish I could've added more elements here and there, but oh well :) Some other time.

I personally like 2:07 the most I think, for the same reason that you think I should've made a better transition. I think I like the very rough transition, because it's almost the only place in the composition where you might go: "oh, what was that?". It's probably just my personal preference though. Maybe I should've made a more even transition :p
Especially since the rest of the piece is, as you said, "droning".

"3:25"

=> I know what you mean. I would say that the main theme is the one at 0:30 & 2:32. But I know what you mean; I'm pretty happy with how I transitioned back to the same theme as in the intro too XD

I like the ending, personally, but I think I get what you'd want out of it. I just like how it stays kind of true to the artpiece (in my opinion, that is), while still giving a slight mysterious feel. Or maybe not :p

Oh, and there's NO need to worry about being a bit late (I'm such a hypocrite though... As one might notice). I hope your essay went well, I'm sure it did, as you seem quite talented in that area (from what I've seen)!!!

Anyhow... Thanks a lot for the review, as always ;) !!!

[Strange Way]

I love the instruments and mood - it's very mysterious, atmospheric, and dark, even mechanical at some points, which is interesting. The title fits well. I love all the variation. I especially appreciated that quirky bell/chime at 2:01. The piece fits very well with the art as well. I think it would make a good track for a video game. My one complaint is that at times it lacks fill a bit, but that's not a huge issue in the grand scheme of things. The minimalism adds to the creepiness in a way. Overall, excellent work, man! Keep up the good work! :D

Possibly responds:

Thanks very much, and thanks for taking the time again to review, it's much appreciated. I may lack perspective at the moment, but I was trying not to overwork it and make it too busy, thanks again!

[Echoing Calm]

I love the melodies, but sometimes the instruments you used for them were VERY high-pitched and penetrating. The syncopations at :15 bothered me a bit - just seemed a little too busy for half a second, a little disorienting...but that's a minute detail. I liked the transition at :52, though, as well as the mood. The title fit well, too. The structure is good, too. I liked that breakdown at 1:51, btw, as well as how you transition back into a more main theme at 2:34, this time with more bass! >:D Nice work overall, and I like the ending, too. Keep up the good work, LunacyEcho! ;)

LunacyEcho responds:

=> VERY high-pitched and penetrating =>

Trust me, it sounds a LOT better if you're wearing fake Beats. Sorry about that.

=> 0:15 =>

I probably should've started with lower velocity notes and worked towards a louder main riff. Eh. I guess I just got used to it and didn't think how it would surprise people. :D

=> transition at 0:52 =>

I still think that's one of my favorite parts of the song, and I'm pissed that I didn't make the echo on the piano just a BIT less. Meh.

=> breakdown, transition back into main theme =>

I try adding a breakdown in most of my songs. It's an easy way to give structure and also make the song longer. :)

=> more bass =>

I'm happy someone noticed that! I was wondering if anyone would. Good job!

=> the ending =>

I'M SO LAZY WITH ENDINGS but having all the instruments play a thing at the same time sounds nice. I'll probably keep doing it until people realize and start complaining. :D LAZINESS FTW

Thanks for the review!

[Never Backing Down]

I have attempted dubstep before as well. It's an extremely hard genre to make. Nevertheless, this turned out really well! :D I love all the structural changes, and the instruments and moods work really well together. I love the piano melody at :56! ^^ It's nice to see that there's some rhythmic variation in your melodies this time - I absolutely loved the one at 1:30. The climax into 3:13 was great, but I feel like the mixing got a little distorted there. Overall, though, it's a great, feel-good sort of piece. Those piano melodies at 4:36 are beautiful, and I love you transition into 4:50 with something so electronic-sounding! :D I love this new direction your music is taking, Matt. I've downloaded more songs by you in the past month or so than I ever had previously! :D Keep up the great work, man! ;D

Dylnmatrix responds:

Thanks man! I'm really glad you liked this. I had a lot of fun writing it (maybe too much, but that's another story) and I'm enjoying this direction that I'm taking my music as well.

I do agree that it does get a little distorted at the build, but I never noticed it while mastering with ASIO on in FL, so it's something that happened during the render. I could do a re-render, but I don't want to, I think it actually sounds good with a little distortion. But that's just me ;)

[Cat Upon A Cup]

It's not bad! This is a rather ambitious project! ;D Keep working at it, though. Improvised stuff is really hard to master. It was a little repetitive at the beginning, and I think the harmonies between 1:20 and 1:45 don't really work all that well. Might I suggest that, for at least your first few projects, you record an improvised song, solidify some structural/harmonic things outside of the studio, and then re-record it so as to avoid any clashing harmonies/repetitiveness. Overall, though, this seems like an exciting project with some real potential! I love the guitar riffs and the mood, as well as the ending. Keep at it, TeraVex and crew! ;D

TeraVex responds:

Thanks man! We'll try to do that next time we meet!

[Dream Fantasy]

Beautiful! :D I love the instruments, especially the vibes, as well as the melodies and atmosphere. I think that the vibes/bells take over the mix a little too much here and there, though, and it could've done with a little more dynamic contrast and structuring. Nevertheless, it's climactic, contemplative, moody and very pretty. I like it a lot! :D Sorry I haven't been responding to your PMs recently btw. I've had little to no time. :'( Oh...and that is one long tag! 0_o

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Thanks! I'm glad you like the composition in general, although the mixing could be better :)
You are indeed right in that the vibes take over too much here and there, which is exactly what I meant in my description. The main reason is the fact that the strings and the vibe were originally recorded together, so I couldn't really mix them separately; I'm not so good at mixing in the first place XD

"... more dynamic contrast..."

=> Yup, I think you're right :p

Don't worry about the PMs :'D You already said you'd be busy, so it's no problem XD

Ps. I was genuinely curious about how long a tag can be :')