TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Damnation]

This piece has some really cool automations - I really like the phasing work at around :32, and again at :44. The synths do sound a bit harsh in the mix, though, and I would’ve liked to see you flesh out the composition a bit more. Right now, it’s very short, minimal, and also bottom-heavy. Certainly not a bad start, but in terms of the NGUAC I’m not sure you’re fulfilling some of the criteria on my rubric regarding melody and tonality, texture, phrasing and variety, etc. Adding some creepy pads, arpeggios, and/or a melodic lead could really take this piece to the next level. I’d encourage you to keep working on it - it has a lot of potential. In the meantime, you’ve already got the heavy bass line stuck in my head. Keep at it, GMDTurbo! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
4.5/10

GMDTurbo responds:

Hey man, I really appreciate the professional feedback. This was one of my very first FL Studio Mobile songs, so it has a special place in my heart. I'm obviously not very skilled at music creation, given that this song literally only had 3 tracks in it with minimal mixing, excluding the master track, but I will continue to improve and grow in my song composition. I'm still a little bummed that I couldn't make it into the Knock-Out rounds, but that simply means I need to keep working at it next time. Thanks for inviting me. :)

[ELD23 - Mission]

I like the bright-sounding synth pattern at the beginning, although the instrument has a bit of a stereo click playing with it that’s a bit harsh in the upper register. The piano at :36 sounds a bit inauthentic, and could also use a boost in the mix, maybe with some compression. There’s a good sense of build into :58, and the melodic content there is pretty sweet. The cutesy synths during the post-chorus at 1:24 are also nice. The stop-start transition at 1:46 works quite well, and I like the quirky rhythms in the lead at 2:18 or so. The final refrain at 2:23 sounds a tad too busy with the piano line layered onto it - I appreciated your effort to create a sense of “all of the elements of the piece coming together” at the end, but it sounded a bit dissonant, is all. Perhaps you’d be better off switching up the melody itself. Anyway, this is a well-composed track overall. I like the melodies, progression, and sound design, and the mixing also holds up well despite my nitpicks. The slightly clashing harmonies at times and the relatively generic arrangement are probably my main complaints here. Keep it up, ELDIOS! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.25/10

ELDIOS2333 responds:

Thank you!!

[TX123213]

I like the drum samples here - especially the kick. It has just enough treble to be crisp, while also plenty of bass to make it stick out. The synth basses are also pretty cool, but the chord progression they’re playing is a bit cliche. The chord progression wouldn’t have mattered too much if there was a greater variety of harmonies around them, though. Some melodic lines, or at least a variation on the existing bass lines would help make this piece a lot less…bland. The piece certainly is not bad. But there’s a lot more you can do with this to make it stand out in a competition with 400+ other tracks. I’d encourage you to keep working on it. Cheers, Easyprojekt! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
4/10

Easyprojekt responds:

I'll do my best!

[Krystallion]

I like the murky atmosphere at the beginning. The echo-y synth at :10 is nice, but might need to come down a bit in the mix, especially on the upper end of the frequency range. There’s a bit of dissonance in the texture at around :27, and I’m not a big fan of the snare sample at :34 - sounds pretty dry and sharp relative to the relaxed mood of the piece. I did enjoy the injection of energy at :37 and the cool sweep at 1:20. The quirky sound design and atmosphere here are both great, and I’m also a fan of the flanger thing at 1:40. The classy piano breakdown was a pleasant surprise, although I think it could use some more reverb or other mixing effects to fill out the atmosphere. I think the transition into the glitchy part at 2:34 could’ve been more gradual, and I’m also not a huge fan of all the distortion on the snare there - sounds a bit grating. You’ve definitely produced a very evocative and unique sound here. I’m not sure some of the more experimental elements of the texture quite land for me, but if I had to change one thing about the piece it would probably be the mixing. At :57, the pads sound very distorted. I’d look into some stereo widening to give them a more even tone, and also double-check that you’ve filtering out the frequencies below 200 Hertz or so in everything except the bass and drums. Otherwise, there are a lot of fun ideas here, from the choices of atmospheric instruments to the piano melodies to the lo-fi beats. Neat track, Dzeevn! Keep at it. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7/10

Dzeevn responds:

Thank you! I'm still pretty new at making music, but I'll try the stuff you suggested!

[S.Y.G.A.]

I like the synth bass arpeggios at the beginning and the organ synth at :08. They occupy a very similar frequency range, though - might help make each one sound more distinct if you moved one of them up an octave. That would also help balance out what was a pretty bottom-heavy texture until that point. Still, I like the guitar melodies at :53 and the walking bass line. The drums could use a bit of a boost in the mix - I’d suggest some more compression. In fact, the mix is a bit quiet on the piece in general, so maybe that compressor should go on the master track. Just be careful that you don’t compress it so much that the entire mix sounds artificial.

After :53, much of the first half of the piece is pretty repetitive. Especially since the overall track is so long, it might benefit from some more structural changes in the texture - stripping the beat away entirely, switching up which instruments are playing the melody, etc. I like how the guitar gradually climbs into its upper register by 2:45, even though it took a pretty long and meandering path to get there. The spacey atmosphere at 3:14 was a good way of wrapping up the first melodic section before the re-introduction of the bass a few seconds later.

I think the brass at 4:00 in particular could use a bit of a boost in the mix, and also the instrument sounds a tad inauthentic. I also would’ve liked to see you shake up the melodic section the second time around at 4:20 - it seems to be copy-pasted from the first half of the piece. The final tonic note at 6:43 is a nice touch, though.

Overall, the sound design and composition of the piece are enjoyable, and it’s especially nice to see such a dynamic main melody. The mixing is the main thing that needs tweaking here in my view. You could also stand to have a bit more variety during the long melodic sections, but it might serve you just as well to loop the piece off at 3:20 instead of just repeating everything again. Neat track, DonDonPan! Keep it up. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.75/10

ZuwerWS responds:

cool I'll keep this in mind, also yeah almost everything after 3:20 is a copy paste just to show how it loops

[Hooked on Pythonics]

AHHH!! A snake. >_> I love the quirky texture at the beginning and the eerie mood of that synth at :09. The different instruments seem to be tripping over each other a bit by :17, and the texture sounds pretty muddy and distorted. I can barely make out the piano line in the upper register. Did you use MIDI to record this? If so, I’d make sure that you have all of the instruments quantized. Or maybe it’s just that the reverb/delay effects are a little too strong - hard to tell. The bridge with the sharp piano line at 1:28 is probably my favorite part of the piece - it feels like a real “point of arrival” in a piece that otherwise has more of a “tapestry of sound” approach to filling out the texture. I would’ve liked to see you do something more creative than the fade-out ending, but otherwise I don’t have many structure-related complaints either. Overall, this is a really fun piece. The composition and sound design are really enjoyable - seems perfect for a horror-themed video game.

The one big complaint I do have is with the mixing. It’s hard to hear all of the instruments clearly at a given time, and sometimes the excess of reverb in the texture further makes the piece sound muddy and distorted. I’d suggest dialing back the reverb, adding a compressor to the drums, and - most importantly - filtering out the frequencies in the harmonic instruments (i.e., pretty much everything except the bass and drums) below about 200 Hertz. You can do this with a mixing tool called an “equalizer,” or EQ for short. You may already know about equalizers, but you should use them way more often, is the point. They’ll make your piece sound much more punchy and crisp, which is exactly what you want for a dramatic track like this.

Anyway, I hope this review was helpful! I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece. It has a lot of potential to be a real banger with some more work on the production. Keep at it, dogsinmrimachines! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
6/10

dogsinmrimachines responds:

That's excellent advice on the mixing, thank you!

[Plant-Based Pickles]

I like the ominous riff at the beginning. The chord progression is a tad cliche, and the piece is pretty slow to progress at first, but I like the crisp drums and syncopations at :45. Despite a lot of pent-up energy and some nice filtering work, 1:15 ended up being a bit of an anti-climax, although putting the lead riff up the octave at 1:30 helped up the ante a bit. The airy breakdown at 1:47 was nice and creepy, but also pretty minimal. The echo-y synth might benefit from some stereo widening or something just to make sure it doesn’t distort the core harmonies in the mix. Overall, though, the production quality is quite good here.

I’m digging the bassy groove at 2:47, although the pulsating flanged synth at 2:54 isn’t my favorite - sounds a bit harsh relative to the smooth synths earlier. I also think the transition back into the “A”-section riff at 3:16 was a bit abrupt, and I wanted to see you create more variety and interest later in the piece that never quite came to fruition. You passed up the opportunity to create a real “point of arrival” that released and/or resolved some of the pent-up tension here.

Still, I love the atmosphere, eerie mood, mixing and mastering work, and sound design in this piece. Give me a “radio edit” version of this piece with some more variety, and I’ll blast it at every party I host. :D Keep at it, DJSupaMonkey!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.75/10

DJSupaMonkey responds:

Hey TaintedLogic

Man, I just wanted to say thank you for giving my piece a listen and providing constructive feedback. It's really nice to have some points I can identify and work on in my future music, as most of what I have learned has been on my own over the years. Having someone genuinely listen to my work is an honor in and of itself, but the clear and concise commentary is a wonderful addition.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. <3

Alex (DJ Supa Monkey)

[In The Triad]

I like the flirtatious sax and crisp beats at the beginning. The sax gets a little lost in the mix at :08 underneath the bass and harmonies, though. I think in general, the bass is a bit too loud, and there’s a lot of reverb on the low-end of the frequency spectrum that’s making this piece sound a bit distorted. The piano riff at 1:00 clashes a bit harmonically with the main synth riff, and overall I think the arrangement sounds a bit choppy and formulaic here. The sound design, atmosphere, and quirky synth riffs are all awesome, but the composition doesn’t quite come together for me. It needs a little less start-and-stop energy and a little more gradual ebb and flow. In between prominent sax solos, it’d also be nice to hear some more dynamic melodic content, perhaps in a vocal phrase or two. I hope you’ll keep working on this one. Could be a real banger if you balance out the mix and flesh out the composition a bit more. Keep at it, djadj50! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7/10

SednovaNova responds:

Very much appreciated, this I will take to heart and work towards better compositions, or more fluent style here. I appreciate it.

[CYANEKO WORLD]

I like the busy beat and prominent pads at the beginning. The reversion to the minimal atmosphere at :23 threw me off a bit, but I like the rich texture and cutesy synths at :30. I wish that section at :30 was a bit more dynamic, though, and there’s another really abrupt transition at 1:17, with the jazzy chord at 1:23 and ringing sound at 1:25 serving more to confuse me about the direction you’re going in here rather than help me get there. The mellow section at 1:26 was nice, although there’s another abrupt transition at 1:57, and that distorted bass doesn’t do too much for me. I would knock it back in the mix substantially if you wanted to keep it. Other moments with rough transitions include 2:27, 2:56, and 4:39. The spacey breakdown at 2:57 is good for some variety, but also doesn’t seem like it relates back to the earlier content in the piece very well. The drum work during the last couple of minutes is impressive here, but the harmonic content feels pretty repetitive and stagnant. The atmospheric outro during the last 30 seconds is nice too.

Overall, my favorite part of the piece is the production quality. Everything sounds really crisp and clear in the mix throughout. The biggest problem I have with it is the disjointed arrangement and the lack of cohesion in the structure. I think you need to consolidate some of your ideas and work on transitioning gradually between each section. Stop-start transitions should be used sparingly, and it’s rarely a good idea to introduce new harmonic elements during the transition that are not going to stay with the piece after the transition (example: 1:17 - 1:26). Integrating and overlapping the melodic section at :30, the jazzy downtempo one at 1:26, the rich pads and subsequent beats at 3:04, and the spacey outro at 4:40 will not be easy, but it’s generally better to make your piece have a coherent harmonic structure rather than have it sound like 4 different tracks playing in succession. Having some core repeated riffs that span the entire piece will help with that coherence. But don’t truly integrating these different riffs into a progression that sounds smooth will be tough, which is why I suggest only using 2-3 of the 4 “song seeds” here, at most. Also, I’d strongly encourage you to remove the “thanks for playing” sample at 5:00 - I highly doubt you have the licensing rights to use it.

Still, overall this piece is catchy, well-produced, and has some great sound design to boot. Keep at it, Cyaneko! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.75/10

cyaneko responds:

ah thank you for the feedback ^_^, everything sounding crisp is one of my main priorites with the overall mix

[Winter (2023 Edit)]

The tempo automations and pensive piano line at the beginning are pretty neat. The thin, high-pitched kick at the beginning sounds a tad out-of-place, but I like the strings at :20 and the gradual build-up into :32. The new rhythm at :33 threw me off a bit at first, and overall this section feels a tad anti-climactic. Might help if you had added a bit of a pause or something at :32. The snare at :56 (especially the one in my right ear) is not my favorite - maybe it would help if you had kept all of the percussion front-and-center in the mix. I think 1:35 is my favorite part of the piece, though - it has a slightly more sophisticated air about it, and transitions well back into the main melody at 1:59. The outro also sounds nice - the violin at 2:37 sounds a bit inauthentic, but the thin, almost squeaky sound of the sample has a nice furtive quality that serves to mimic an echo of the refrain. Overall, I really like the melodies and upbeat mood of this piece, despite a few rushed transitions and a couple of odd sound design choices (especially the panning on the drums). I feel like this piece is 80% orchestral and 20% drum ‘n’ bass. :D Still, enjoyable track. Cute harmonies, strong sense of direction over time, and some nice rhythmic content to boot. Keep at it, CelestialChaos! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

CelestialChaos responds:

I appreciate the review! I agree with all of the comments, unfortunately I lack the technical know-how to fix them lol. Mixing is not my forte, but I’m planning on working on that and transitions for the KO round. Thank you so much for hosting NGUAC!