TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[An Improv on Clarity]

I love the emotion and simplicity of it. The sound design is excellent, and the melodies are beautiful. I love the changes in emotion, e.x. 1:17. I'm really impressed with you piano and improvisation skills, though. I couldn't do anything like this on the cello! At some times, it's very light listening, like the live piano music at a country club, and at others, it's very heavy and emotional, like the background of a PBS show based on a Charles Dickins novel. It doesn't bother me at all that it's not edited or manipulated electronically. It gives it a very organic vibe. I like the transition at 5:37 a lot. It is a little repetitive at times, but you already know that. Like you said in the description, it's good background music. Anyway, my favorite part is 6:37-7:27. I just love the dreamy vibe it has, and the contrast to the contemplative mood of the next section. It's like you're capturing someone's entire life in a song: the mix of emotion, security, reflection, relaxation, struggle, etc. Amazing! I also adored 8:17, as well as the transition around 9:30. One thing I suppose I didn't like was the heavy/low chords you used from around 10:10 to 11:10. I totally fanboyed over the part at 11:35, though. The space there just creates the perfect portrait of a starry night, or a child going to sleep, or something else which has so much clarity in its innocence. I felt similarly about the part around 13:30. 12:35 was also a highlight. You brought that main theme back in a timely manner. I think you should've transitioned more smoothly into 15:22, however. Overall, though, simply fantastic work. It's perfect in its imperfection, so-to-speak. It has an ideal bareness and simplicity to it which lets the haunting beauty shine through. I'm getting the sense that you simply played what you felt very clearly, which is hard to do and extremely creative. This is just freaking amazing. It's like I'm right there with you and the child that I picture when I hear this. This song is the reason why I need more classical music on my iPod. This is easily front-page material. I just love it in a way I couldn't possibly express over the Internet. Amazing. Fantastic. Bravo. There are no worthy words, LucidShadowDreamer. I think I'll let the music speak for itself now...

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

OMG! Thanks for such a super long and totally über-AWESOME review!

Okay, I think I'll have to try a Johnfn style reply for this one...

=> changes in emotion

Yes, I'm glad I managed to play this so truly from my heart. Sadly, this was recorded so long ago that I don't quite remember what was going through my head at the time D:

=> Improvisation skills

Thank you as well for thinking this :D But trust me, only in rare cases do I manage to actually improvise this well XD
If you keep playing your cello, and especially if you practise melodies and improvisation, I'm sure you could learn to do very well too!

=> not manipulated electronically

Well, I did do a few things, to improve the sound quality, but nothing else. I forgot to mention it in the description, but as usually I added some reverb, tried EQ:ing this sligthly (although I suck at it) and ran the sound through UpStereo :D

=> Transitions

Yeah. Most of these worked, as the structure of the song really helped me in leading the piece back to the main melody. But as you mentioned, 15:22 is not that functional. Especially since I totally played the wrong bass-tone and apparently also managed to press a few other false notes hahha XD

=>6:37-7:27

Ahh, I love this part too! :D I think it's very inspired by some of the inspirations that Kyle Landry plays! (He's not on Newgrounds).

=> Catching someone's life in the song

Yeah, I guess so too. It's probably because of all the variations in emotion, as you said. Also, it might be because it almost feels like it takes an entire life to listen through the whole improvisation XD

=> Heavy/low chords at around 10:10 to 11:10

Yeah, in retrospect I kinda agree with you. I still wouldn't edit that part out though, but I should've avoided mashing the low keys so hard I think :p

=> starry night, or a child going to sleep (11:35)

Great. Now I can't NOT imagine a child looking at a night sky filled with stars, through the window while lying in the bed, when hearing that part. But you're right, it really would suit that scenario :')

=> perfect in its imperfection

I feel that way too. This song is actually filled with mistakes, but I've grown to like most of them, since they too add to the improv, imo.

Aaannnyhow. Really, I can't thank you enough for writing such a long and detailed review! It really means the world to me :)
I owe you a big review (probably many) sometime in the future!

[The Sisyphean Cycle]

I love all the traditional VGM sounds. The pads also gave it a sort of epic vibe, like I turned the corner and I could suddenly see a huge animated metropolis in the distance. It loops flawlessly, and seems very climactic, especially into :35. It's a bit minimalistic harmonically, but overall I really enjoyed it. Keep up the good work, Mr. Tibbetts! ;D

BenTibbetts responds:

Thank you!

[Focus (progressive trance)]

This is really good. I love the synths and mood of it. It could've progressed a little faster, but I realize that that's the nature of the genre. I really like those "woops" that started coming in at :57. I didn't really liked how it stopped so suddenly at 1:12. Maybe you could add a sweep or crash there, just to channel the energy a bit more. However, I did like how the track sort of "reset itself" at 1:13 with that mechanical, frantic bass synth. I have to admit, I didn't really like the ending that much. It was kind of sudden, and the track didn't really loop that well, although in game it would probably be looping (?). Also, I don't think I liked the instrument you used for the kick that much. Anyway, overall I like it. I see you joined the site pretty recently. You're off to a great start, man! Keep it up! ;D

DjGubkafish responds:

Thank you for your feedback .

If i told you how fast i made this track you wouden't belive me ... 40 minutes and its all original midi

THe WOOPS were a unintentiaonal mistake by the way XD

Going into silence is something that i like to do a lot personaly and i undestand that some people may or may not like it .

[[SM 321] - Another Walk]

I really like the synths and the climactic nature of it. The melody is really catchy and memorable. I think the bass was a little too loud at :16 and onward, though. It's very smooth-flowing and structurally coherent, but it got a little repetitive at times. Overall, though, there's a good amount of variation. Sometimes the sweeps are a little too loud, like at 1:52. I like all the filtering work you did on the hats, though, and in general, I liked it a lot. Keep up the good work, Supaman321! ;D

MidnightSugar responds:

Thanks door for all the great reviews you have been giving me lately, I really appreciate it.
I will take note to all the advice you gave me.

As a side note
The hats were actually a full drum beat that I filtered to make it sound like just hats. I am
always trying to make my songs have as much variation as possible.

[where do we go from here?]

Yay! :D I'm always looking for more relaxing music to listen to. I love the simplicity at the beginning and how it expresses a very complicated emotion: sadness. The combination of instruments is very interesting. The melodies are just beautiful. The percussion and effects are very well-done. I especially liked that instrument with all the reverb that first appears at 1:22, although I think you start overusing it a bit by around 2:16. Overall, though, this is just more fantastic work, Johnfn. Just 10 minutes ago, I got really mad at my little sister over this stupid petty little problem. This instantly made me feel so much better. I'm going to apologize to her now. Thank you John. :')

johnfn responds:

Ahh this is great! What a nice review!

Sisters are kind of mean sometimes I'm glad you could make it up to her though!

[Truffle Hunt]

I liked the instruments and mood a lot, but I wish there was some more harmonizing besides that 8-bit synth that comes in at :31. I thought it looped very well, and was very catchy by the end. I think you could've done a lot more with the drums and melodic development of it, though. I also think it was a little cliché. Sorry, LunacyEcho. I agree that it's not your best work, but I think you could still potentially do a lot with this. Also, don't feel like you're ignoring us. In a way, we're ignoring you too! ;D If there's one thing I've learned about the Internet from my 1.5+ years on NG, it's that you should give what you get, even if you don't get what you give. As far as I'm concerned, you've reviewed every single track I've created since I met you, and I've reviewed (almost) every track of yours as well. You've ignored nothing! ;D

LunacyEcho responds:

More harmonizing?

1. That would have made the song too busy

2. I'm WAY too lazy to work that hard on something this simple :D

I'm a bit ashamed at what I did with the drums, since this is basically the worst drumwork I've ever done. It's definitely not my best stuff, but I don't really want to go back to this again. :P

Newgrounds philosophy! You should write a book. And fill it with audio reviews. And philosophy. No one would buy it, but it's the thought that counts. What? I'm tired. Ugh...

Thanks for the review, TheDoor!

[<3.]

Wow! :D This sounds great! I really liked the chord progression and melodies. The transition at 1:05 was a little sudden, but overall I'm really impressed. I can tell it's not as polished as some of your other tracks, but that gives it a very down-to-earth feel, as if you were literally playing this live for your girlfriend or something. :D If you want to make something less lovey-dovey, try focusing on making creative rhythms. Maybe then you could add some vocals (if you sing, idk...) or use some more instruments from Ableton over it. I'm so jealous that you can play all these chordal instruments so well. It must be a huge advantage for you musically. Anyway, keep up the good work, Johnfn! :D

johnfn responds:

Yeah at first I wanted to just do something semi improv, where I would just think of new guitar lines to put down constantly and not really go back. I was definitely focusing mostly on playing my guitar with some accuracy, hence the laziness in all the other aspects of the song :p

> I'm so jealous that you can play all these chordal instruments so well.

You can still learn! Heck, I knew practically nothing about the guitar until I got it in college to impress the ladies... Too bad I was incompetent. hahahahaha Ok I'm getting WAY off topic time to say thanks and stop typing

Thanks for the review!

[Band Music]

I like the beat. It's very catchy, and you have a good sense of rhythm. It progresses a little slowly, though, and is a bit repetitive by the end. I think you could do a lot more with this: add something more melodic, or some variation on the beat/chords, etc. I liked the "ay"s that come in at around :38, and overall, it's not bad. I understand that this isn't really a finished track, but fade-out endings always seem lazy and boring to me. Anyway, keep up the good work! ;)

Anthouse21 responds:

Thanks alot for the feedback i love them! Good advice too as well i will take your advice. Thanks a lot for that. The beat is just a sample though, it changes up so its not as repetitive. All my beats are for sale thats why I only post small samples for artist that wants to purchase. If you want to hear more of my beats go to www.soundcloud.com/anthouse and also like my music page www.facebook.com/anthousebeats I look forward to hearing more feedback from you.