TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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 :')

[Shucks!]

Haha, yes! :D I love the frantic melodies and harmonies with the very Southern-sounding instruments! You mastered the mood and atmosphere perfectly, and the nature FX at the beginning adds to that notion. All the effects, instruments, transitions, and structural details added an almost comical effect to the piece, especially with that ending! ;) This just makes me want to pull up my khakis to unnaturally high levels, take off my shoes, and spin around in circles in my room, completely care-free...which is an amazing feeling to achieve during my junior year of high school! XD Excellent work, though! You really just as well could master every genre on NG! :D

LunacyEcho responds:

Hi, TheDoor!

=> Southern-sounding instruments =>

To decide on instrument choice, I had to "research" bluegrass music a bit, and realized that it used mainly stringed instruments, which led to the instruments you hear: Acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, and bass.

=> comical =>

What?! There is nothing comical about the ending at all! I am insulted that you would think that there's anything humorous at all about the ending! Sheesh!

=> khakis =>

Glad to evoke new feelings! (As long as you keep your khakis to yourself.)

=> master every genre =>

Whoa, there. I'm not aiming to master everything; I'm aiming to be able to create music in every genre. There's lots of things that I'll be better at than others. I'm not going to be able to do everything perfectly, I just want to get the experience of stepping out of my comfort zone in a ton of different ways that are entertaining to an audience as well.

Thanks for the review!

[through a dark wood]

Ah, good! Nice to hear something more organic from you again! :D I love the instruments, especially the guitar, and all the grace notes really added a lot to the piece. The melodies are obviously amazing. I especially love the ones from :44 to 1:05 and from 1:40 to 2:09. It's just so beautiful; it really tugs at my emotions. I felt like you could've led into the ending a bit better (it seemed like it was a little rushed), but other than that simply amazing work. Also, 8 reviews in 24 hours isn't bad. ;D If you keep it up, I have a feeling your popularity is just going to explode. How can it not when you're posting a track as beautiful as this once a week? Congrats on 200 audio submissions, btw, and to many hundreds more! ^^

johnfn responds:

> organic

Yeah! Although of my last 5 tracks, 4 were primarily organic (I think)... it's kinda the direction I'm moving in (maybe).

> I especially love the ones from :44 to 1:05

I'm really surprised that these are getting most of the praise. See, even though I've posted 200 (WHAT?!?) songs, I still can't completely predict what people are going to say.

> I have a feeling your popularity is just going to explode

Haha yeah - but I don't know if i can get much more popular on Newgrounds, the community is pretty small :) I like it though because I get substantive feedback (from people like you!) rather than really anywhere else where people pretty much say "nice song brah check out mine" and move on, haha.

Sure, Waterflame gets maybe 2x the reviews I get, but you guys leave me much longer and more thoughtful reviews. I'd like to think I have a more literate and refined listener base.

:D :D :D

> once a week

Once a week? I submitted 3 songs this week! And I have 2 more that are practically done... *cackles insanely and returns to Ableton*

> 200

Thanks for pointing that out to me - I didn't even notice! That's amazing and also (for some indescribable reason) somewhat terrifying!

[box of secrets]

I love the mechanical effects and the haunting melodies with the (harp?). You incorporated the electronic elements very well, as usual. I'm not sure I like that heavy bass drum/percussion sound at :31 and other places, though, at least toward the beginning of the piece. It seemed very distorted and had too much reverb and created a really clashing mood with the other tranquil and pensive instruments. The tempo changes around 1:40 worked well. The melodies, as always, are amazing, and I love the transitions with the clock-ticking noise like at 2:17. All the instruments really contributed a lot to the piece, like that creepy exotic guitar that comes in at 2:57 or that sophisticated, melodic piano just 8 or so measures later. I also loved that organ at 2:40. It really added to the day-at-the-circus-gone-wrong vibe I was getting during the second half of the piece. The tempo automations at 3:30 and after were just brilliant. When I first heard it, I was a little concerned about where you were going with it, but all in all bringing back that minimalistic ominous riff at 3:51 was just genius. That transition (from 3:30 to 3:51) is probably my FAVORITE transition out of anything I've heard in 2014 (at least by you). I just loved it. That said, the ending was a little disappointing. I know you usually do fade-out, quiet, or slow endings, but I feel like the mechanical nature of this piece needs something short, distinct and staccato as a last note. Overall, though, just fantastic, fantastic work! :D Sometimes it scares me how quickly your music has tyrannically taken over my iPod. Then, when I hear tracks like this, I'm reminded: "Oh yeah, that's why!" ;D

johnfn responds:

Mwhahah! Yeah that was intended to be a music box but I actually couldn't find a decent music box vst! So I just used some crappy ableton preset thing. Though it ended up sounding really nice eh?

I ended up liking the massive drum stomp thing, though you're right, it might not go so well in the beginning where there isn't any bass...

Yeah I have been working a little more on instrument choice :) Starting to realize how important it is.

> exotic guitar

Would you believe that's still my guitar ;-)

> That transition (from 3:30 to 3:51) is probably my FAVORITE transition out of anything I've heard in 2014 (at least by you).

Hahaha yeah I was so delighted when that came together. I just took the frequency shifter that I've been using on everything to detune the accordion and it sounded awesome. Then I took a crash and progressively pitched it down a few times and it sounded like explosions. heheheh

> staccato last note

Yeah that's a much better idea then what I did.

> tyrannically taken over my iPod

MUAHAHAHAH! Thanks for the review :D

[Load]

Sorry I didn't review this earlier. My life's just so busy right now. Okay, so, anyway...uh...THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!!! I love the beat and rhythms and instruments, and the little details at the ends of phrases adds a lot to it. I love what you did with the filtering into :16. That high-pitched instrument at :31 really added to the ominous and apprehensive, yet climactic mood. I also loved that effect starting at :39 that reminded me of soap bubbles! :D Your melodies are simpler than usual, yet are cathartic and very satisfying. You led into 2:01 beautifully. The pizzicato-esque thing at 1:59 made it seem almost comical in a way! I love that effect at 2:09, too. This really lives up to the definition of big room, yet is also much more entertaining and less repetitive than Garrix or any other mainstream minimalistic crap. I love how you slowly re-introduced those melodies, and the slight variations like the little bass-y melody at 3:46 really added to it all the more. You have an excellent sense of rhythm, timing, and structure. The transitions were flawless, and overall it's just an amazing track. Now here's the tough part: the ending was extremely disappointing. It was sudden and inconclusive and just...completely unsatisfying. I wouldn't mind if you used the cliché "use-filters-to-gradually-strip-away-the-music-except-for-the-beat" method that's in every damn Deadmau5 song, but please, at least add some more reverb to smooth it out a little. I know the nature of the genre doesn't give you much leg room on this, but in the future you could also make the drums a bit more interesting. Anyway, now that that's out of the way, AMAZING JOB! :D I feel stupid for stealing half a star for that tiny little ending detail, but it REALLY stood out to me, and things can always be improved, I guess. Well, so long for now, Mr. Lockyn, and I'm extremely excited to see what else this EP has to offer! ;D

Lockyn responds:

Hey, don't even worry about it! Didn't you hear me making that excuse 24/7? ;) Seriously though, deal with life, my song's not important compared to that lol.

Thanks so much man! LOL I did not expect a comparison to Martin Garrix. Although he is definitely making BANK right now. Holyyy. I appreciate the sentiment though :D

Did I ever tell you I suck with endings D: pls halp!

Don't feel stupid about that, it was justified. I'm glad you enjoyed the track despite the downfalls, and... yeah! xD Hope you enjoy the rest when it comes out. Cheers, Door! :D

[Alone]

Beautiful! :D I love the pensive, steady, and ominous piano riffs, as well as the melodic and surreal riffs on top of them. It's a contemplative and wonderfully-crafted piece. I love the structure, and of course it's very smooth-flowing and loops flawlessly. I especially like the parts at :43 and 2:27; they add very well to the haunting beauty of this piece. I like the reverb, too. It seems like you played it in a big concert hall. Overall, excellent work! Good luck with your game! ;D

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

I'm glad you liked it! It just feels a bit dumb that this time, I didn't have time to add anything new to the track; it's the same as in the old version, but hopefully with better production :D
Good thing the older version had such a good structure and composition already, so it was no necessity to build upon it :p

Actually, it's possible to spot a very minor click when the track loops, as usual. I tried my best to loop this flawlessly this time though, so I'm glad I pretty much succeeded :)!

Also, it's good that you like the overly exstensive reverb! I was actually about to remove some reverb, as well as EQ away some bass, but my father told me not to, so I decided to trust his opinion; after all, he has listened to 10 times more music than I have, at least!

Thanks for the review (and the five stars :3). I hope that my game will do at least somewhat well, but we shall see the results shortly XD

[Euphoric Date of BIrth]

Well, it is pretty generic trance, and not your most original work, but I sure am glad you're back! :D I liked the instruments, though, as well as that filter or pitch automation or whatever it was that came in at the end of every sub-phrase (i.e. 2 measures). Given the circumstances, it would've been nice if you at least looped it or something, but lol sorry I took that way too seriously. I'm just glad you posted something, man - 3 months is long enough! Hope school's going well, btw...that will be all... ;)

Lockyn responds:

OH GAWD hello thedoor! xD I am so sorry you had to hear this LOL. Load is coming soon, I'm sorry for this disappointment. LOLOLOL OH GAWD I'M EMBARRASSED