TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Don't Give Up]

Well, I definitely love the atmosphere and synths on this one, especially the one at 3:27. That one has an exceptionally unique sound - which plug-in did you use to make it? The track felt a little repetitive by the end, though, and I think you need a little more melodic development in this piece. I will say, though, that this is one of my favorite tracks of yours. The mood is engrossing, and the harmonies are excellent. Some more dynamic contrast would've been appreciated, however, especially later in the piece. Other than that, I have little else to add that I didn't mention already in the preview. Great work as always, BlueOceans! :D

Everratic responds:

"which plug-in did you use to make it?"
I think it was harmless. You should have it. I also had a piano playing with it.

"The track felt a little repetitive by the end, though, and I think you need a little more melodic development in this piece."
I can understand why you thought it was repetitive and why you would want more contrast, but it really doesn't bother me. I listened to this song many times and never thought it was repetitive in an annoying way. I will think about this next time.

Thankyou for the review!

[Song Preview 13]

Okay, this is an excellent track. :D I love the mood and atmosphere right off the bat, and the beat and other effects are really cool. Whatever that sound effect was during the first 30 seconds or so that sounded like moaning...was just incredible. Your drums have definitely improved, BlueOceans. I think the bass at 1:00 was a little too overpowering compared to the piano, and you could've used some more variation between then and 2:00, but your mixing is clearly superb. The transitions, structure, and instruments are good. I'm extremely excited to see what you do with this piece, BO. I love the effects at 1:59, btw. You make a lot of tracks, man, and you clearly work very hard at making music. You're one of the people who have inspired me to make tracks faster, and I'll start uploading faster as soon as I can. So, thank you and good luck finishing this awesome track! :D

Everratic responds:

Thankyou for the review!
"Whatever that sound effect was during the first 30 seconds or so that sounded like moaning...was just incredible. "
It's very easy to do this. Pick a synth, and use an automation clip to bring the pitch down, and use a cut off filter to slowly fade out the sound.

" I think the bass at 1:00 was a little too overpowering compared to the piano, and you could've used some more variation between then and 2:00, but your mixing is clearly superb"
That wasn't a bass instrument. I like to think of it as a lead. I cut off all the low frequencies on it and I have a separate bass instrument in the background.
I know you like a lot of variation, but I never enjoy too much variation. If a song changes too much, there is nothing for you to get used to. Also, I intentionally made the lead louder than the piano. I want the piano to be a background instrument that enhances the song's emotion.

For the crashes, I use A LOT of reverb and delay, and removed the low frequencies on them. Step is the person who helped me make my crashes sound better :D His music is amazing if you haven't listened to it yet.

"You're one of the people who have inspired me to make tracks faster, and I'll start uploading faster as soon as I can. So, thank you and good luck finishing this awesome track! :D"
Thankyou. Though I prefer that you spend more time on your mixing than uploading tracks more frequently, it's a lot better for you that way.

[The Virtual Song Remix]

Hey BlueOceans. :D I like the melodies and structure and transitions and, well, everything I usually like. The instruments were cool, too, especially the way you had that call-and-response going with the synths at 2:00 and 2:02. I listened to it with headphones this time, and I'm very impressed by how clear everything sounded. Nice job on the mixing! The kick had just the right amount of bass to it, too - how'd you equalize it? :D I'm not sure how much you altered the song from the original, and you know I generally don't approve of fade-out endings, but it's a solid remix. I'm looking forward to seeing some more of your original work. ;)

Everratic responds:

Thankyou for the review!

"The kick had just the right amount of bass to it, too - how'd you equalize it?"
I cut off all frequencies on the kick until 60. I raised the bass frequencies at 80 a lot. I slightly lowered the frequencies around 150 because that is where I raised the frequencies on the bass a lot. For the rest of the equalizing, I do whatever I think sounds best for each kick.

"you know I generally don't approve of fade-out endings,"
I think you should pay attention what happens before the fade out. I didn't just fade out the main part of the song. I had a good transition and then the bass was removed, and the snare started playing.

[Self Confidence]

I'm glad my advice was helpful! :D I still think the intro is a little long, but I like what you did with the percussion between :28 and :55. It still progresses pretty slowly, but it's also good for some light listening. I loved the harmonies at 3:13 - I think 3:13 is really an "arrival" point in this piece: a height of emotion, so-to-speak. I like the ending a lot, too. Nice work, BO! ;D

Everratic responds:

Thankyou for the review!
To be honest, I don't really agree with you about the song's progression, but I really appreciate that you took the time to review this even though it doesn't seem like this is your taste.
I'm glad you liked the ending, I thought of your previous advice when I made it.

[Azure Apex]

This is very catchy and climactic. I love the funky melodies and cool instruments. They combine to produce a very interesting mood, an excellent combination of celebratory and relaxed. I like the structure and transitions. I've noticed that a lot of your songs are very pizzicato-esque, and I'd love to see you shake it up a bit with a more chord-based atmosphere. However, I really like this overall. The ending was very interesting, and it even loops pretty well. Keep at it, OcularNebula. ;)

OcularNebula responds:

and behind door #6 we have an awesome review! (I promise I'll only make this joke once)

I totally know what you're saying about the pizzicato-ness, it's just that one of the more common ways to have "chord atmosphere" is through the use of pads, and I HATE pads (such slow attack, wow, much ambiance), but I'll definitely keep that in mind

there are, of course, many other ways to effectively have prominent harmony (I prefer ones that also provide some rhythmic interest), but I just thought I'd tell everyone that I dislike pads at this juncture

[Song Preview 12]

I like the ominous chords at the beginning and the simple beat with the kick and hats - it gives it a prog. house-ish vibe. It does progress a little slowly (that intro could probably be halved in length), but I like the instruments and mood. I especially liked that synth at 2:18. It was definitely very climactic and catchy throughout. I wish it had a little more substance and variation because it was overall very simplistic. That said, the structure and transitions were good, and your mixing is very good as always. It feels very blissful toward the end, which contrasts nicely with the ominous beginning. It definitely needs more of a conclusive ending, but you probably know that already. If you're struggling to think of a title for this, I might suggest "The Arrival" or something like that. Overall, great work! Keep it up, BO! ;D

Everratic responds:

Thankyour for the review!
"I wish it had a little more substance and variation because it was overall very simplistic."
I'm very glad you told me this because I was thinking the opposite as I was working on the song. I had so many patterns and automation clips playing at the same time so I thought it was very complex but I was wrong.

"It definitely needs more of a conclusive ending, but you probably know that already. "
I did already know that but thankyou. When I submit previews, I haven't finished the song yet so you shouldn't expect an ending. Also, the song is going to be about a minute longer than what you heard.

" I might suggest "The Arrival" or something like that."
I want the song's name to be "Confidence". I think it fits the song's emotion more.

[the fight]

I love the funky synths and beat. There's an excellent mood here - the perfect combination of cute and creepy! :D The groovy melodies and soaring arpeggios remind me a lot of "Inside the Machine" and "Substructure." I love the structure, and the your transitions are definitely improving, Johnfn! ;) The reverb on those synths really adds a lot to the atmosphere. It had a lot of energy, let also bliss at some parts. I love the dynamic contrast which occurs within small phrases: 3:14-3:20, for example. I'm not sure how you did the effects that comes in at 2:25, 3:26, and 3:32, among other places, but they sounded awesome. The mixing is, as expected, excellent. The ending was a little bland, though - it might even make a good loop if you took it in that direction. Overall, though, it's simply another fantastic piece. Remember when you mentioned to me that you think when an artist is able to realize all the flaws in his piece before he uploads them, he should start making albums? Well, I think YOU have reached that stage Johnfn, and I'm so impressed with your musicality and your skill with (Ableton? Or...Logic?). It's been such an inspiring experience watching how the NGADM has bettered you as an artist, Johnfn, but you were, of course, an excellent artist to begin with. Keep up the great work! :D

johnfn responds:

Thank you Andrew! I have really come to appreciate your block of text reviews - they keep me sane when I'm doubting every aspect of my music. I also really appreciate that you've listened to enough of my stuff to be able to draw trends. I occasionally can do this, but that outside validation means a lot. I feel like NGADM has allowed me to really up my game - I never could have pulled off things like this pre-NGADM.

I have actually slowly been starting to think about writing an album. NGADM has definitely made me able to think of songs as longer term projects, if need be. But I'm going to need to take a little time to break and listen to a wider variety of music.

I include you in the list of people that I'll buy a coffee for if you ever come out to San Francisco. Let me know if that ever happens :)

P.S. I use Ableton Live (though I think FL is perfectly capable, I only use it because I'm on osx and FL is a sad state of affairs on osx). The cool stuff at 2:25, 3:26, and 3:32 is due to a really cool vst called glitch by illformed. Version 2.0 is $60, but version 1.4 is nearly as good and free. http://illformed.org/plugins/

[A Great Sin]

I love the emotion and instruments, perhaps with the exception of the kick. I feel like it would've contributed to the emotion if it was a bit slower-paced in the beginning, and maybe you got up to the current tempo by 1:06. I think it could've used some more substance at times, especially during the first minute or so. I also think the hi-hats could've been a little louder. It's well structured, though, and you definitely kept up the emotion. I like the instrument at 3:18. I also really appreciate the high quality of the strings - what plug-in did you use for them? In general, I think you can work on your drum beats a lot more: please consider experimenting with toms, rides, conga, percs, FX, and some other less "mainstream" percussive sounds. Furthermore, the ending was a little bland, although overall it's good. I think remaking old pieces can be more valuable than making new ones sometimes. I listened to "Maybe," and you've clearly improved since then. The mixing was fabulous on this one. ;)

Everratic responds:

Thankyou for the review!
These drum beats were made in 2011, when I first started this project. I don't think it's fair to judge me on them now. Also, I don't have enough samples to make really good drum beats. My sample library is very small and most of it is unusable. Thankyou for the suggestion.
I used fl studio's strings. I increased the attack and release, EQ'd it, and added reverb. I agree with you on the intro and outro.

[I Forgive You]

I liked the melodies a lot right away. I like how you changed the filtering on that lead throughout the song. It's very sweet and emotional in general. The transitions were good, too - I like how you're switching that up. The bassline was a little cliché, but I like the progression and instruments. The ending was a little bizarre, though. Maybe it would be fitting for another song, but the queer mood it communicates doesn't really fit well with the sweet, blissful mood of the rest of the piece imo. Still, this is probably one of my favorite tracks of yours, definitely front-page-worthy in my opinion. ;D

Everratic responds:

Thankyou for the review!
The filtering on the leads did not change. I used 3 different leads actually.
I agree with you on the ending. I loved the rest of the song too much and was too excited to take the time to work on the ending. Hopefully this goes on the front page, thank.
I know the bassline is super generic, but I used it because for the emotion. This is something VirtualStylerz taught me.

[Chiptune 11-1 #2]

Haha! :D I love the cute little "ohm-pah-pahs," and the harmonies at :18 were pretty cool, too. I thought it could've used a little more substance - maybe a beat or more prominent bass - but I thought the structure was interesting, at least. The transitions at :52 and 1:09 are a little sudden. The instruments at 1:09 didn't really work well together imo, and I don't think this loops that well, but it does show an interesting internal contrast in moods, and the harmonies at :18 are well done, so I think you should keep expanding on those. You might need some new instruments at 1:09, though. Keep at it, Bluelephan2! ;D

bluelephan2 responds:

OK. Thanks for the review. Your criticisms are interesting, detailed and useful.