TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[substructure]

I like the frantic synths and melodies a lot, and you definitely succeeded in your goal of making something that's both groovy and atmospheric. The piano and vocals added a lot to the piece as well. I felt like it could've progressed faster, but I thoroughly enjoyed the transition into 1:51. The structure is excellent, and the transitions are good as well. May I ask what the voices are saying? The ending got cut off (I'll assume that's the part that needs fixing you refer to in the description), but I also found that using the crash in that way is a little cliché. However, I'm willing to ignore that because you clearly worked very, very hard on just about every other aspect of the song. Amazing work, Johnfn! :D Good luck making it through Round 1, not that you need it, and (dare I say?) I'm looking forward to seeing what you make for Round 2! ^^

johnfn responds:

Thanks for leaving the review, I'm glad you liked it! It's funny how you say that it should have progressed faster. In my initial revision it took nearly twice as long to get to the climax! Eventually someone pointed out that wasn't the greatest idea, so I cut out a lot of extraneous stuff. But I have to admit, after you rearrange your song a lot, you really stop losing a sense of how the arrangement is working. It's something I definitely need practice with!

Round 2 or not, the music keeps coming :D

Edit: Oh yeah, the vocals. My intent was to keep them mostly unintelligible (sometimes, I reverse them, so that you can't tell what she's saying). My justification is that it's more about the voice as a sound then the words. Also, the words she is saying are kinda dumb. You can look them up in the ccmixter link that I provided in the description if you're REALLY curious xD

[Heaven's Departure S (Final)]

I like the mood and instruments. It's climactic and catchy, while also dreamy and atmospheric. The effects at :06 and 4:07 seemed a little random and unnecessary, though. I liked the direction it was taking. There seemed to be some sort of drama and suspense, even apprehension. I liked the energetic elements you incorporated around 1:40. I like the structure and transitions, although I think you overused that sweep a bit. I can picture this perfectly for a space game! :D By the end, you really told a story with this track, and I like how the ending is similar to the beginning. However, I don't think it should fade out like that. It's a bit boring. You should probably just loop it, especially if it's for a video game. Keep up the good work, though! :) Hope I'll hear again from you soon! ;D

bluebooblue responds:

Thank you so much TD6, your reviews are always really helpful! yes, I did realized the effects were off later! but oh well, that's fixable! and I'm really happy you liked the track! and gave such a helpful review, thank you very much!
and about the looping part, well I faded out because when I tried to make it loop in newgrounds without the fade (the first time i uploaded it) it didn't work well, it sounded a little off and I still don't know how to make loops that...loop xD

Thanks again!!

[Superhighway]

I like it! :) Cool instruments, and super chill. I like the mood and how it progresses. It's catchy and climactic and well-structured and smooth-flowing. I must say, though, it's a little bit bare, especially given all the epic tracks this contest has produced over the years. In a way, this was a risky track, given it's your "first attempt at using Logic Pro," but the song itself sounds a little too safe for NGADM. What I would've done is condensed the first two minutes into an intro, and reshaped it into a progressive house or trance track, just to make the song feel a bit more...active. I like it for easy listening and background music, but this is a DEATH match, so I suppose I expected it to go more of somewhere, like I thought it was doing at 1:46. Sorry. Hope this review was helpful! ;)

Xyresic responds:

I agree, I would have liked to extend it out a little more, but unfortunately the Deathmatch has to come second to a busy schedule.

[childhood]

Very relaxing and pretty! :D The children's voices were a nice touch, too. I liked the instruments and mood a lot. The transition into 1:19 felt a bit sudden, but I liked the variety you attempted there. It's nice for some easy listening, and I like the ending a lot too! ;) Great job, Johnfn. If this is just a "quick respite," I'm really excited to see what you upload for NGADM! :D

johnfn responds:

Thanks man! You have a good ear, I usually can't hear transitions (even bad ones!) in other people's pieces until someone point them out to me. And yeah this one was particularly bad, haha. Glad you liked the rest of it though. NGADM piece is coming out later today or tomorrow, looking forward to hearing what you (and everyone else...) have to say about it!

[Next Level]

It's catchy and climactic and cool. I like the instruments and structure and transitions. The bass at :32 was a little too loud. The ending was a little too sudden. It's an interesting piece, though, and you really went somewhere with it, which is good. I like how the mood shifts from energetic and angry to more dreamy and chill. Keep up the good work! ;)

Co-MasTer-Op responds:

Thanks a lot for the kind words and feedback, glad you enjoyed it

[Dream Reality]

Woah, sorry I missed this one. XD It's really catchy and has a lot of cool instruments, but I wish it progressed faster. I love that chill guitar-sounding instrument around 1:35, though, and how it builds into 2:02. I like the structure, transitions, and variety in the track. I like how you can create a lot of substance in a song with just a bass, sweep, and beat (e.x. 4:27). I love the rhythms and riffs with the instrument that sounds like a slap bass. I thought the ending was a little cliché, and I'm not sure I liked the effect you used for it either, though. Overall, it's a nice track. I like your style, Khrossfire. Hope you'll post more often from now on! ;)

Lockyn responds:

Thanks so much! I like that you are always like the first to review xD So thank you for that, I appreciate it. Yeah, I agree - it could go a little faster, but when I tried, the arps sounded a bit too fast, so I had to compromise at this tempo. The ending didn't satisfy me either, but I decided it was better than fading it out... I ran out of idea on that xD Thank you thank you for the review, and I will try my best! I take a long time making my tracks, so hopefully I can speed that up. :)

[Road to Everywhere]

I was feeling the classic DM style coming on a few seconds in! :D The tempo changes didn't seem to add much to the piece, though. I also thought some of the high-pitched instruments felt a little too penetrating, like at :59 and 1:26. After around 2:00, though, it melted into a nice, trance-ish electronic beat with a lot of substance to it, which I love. It got a little distorted around 2:30, but it seemed to sort itself out again by 3:00. I liked what you did with the "blips" after that point, though, and the claps at 3:24 were a nice touch. I'm not sure I like it when you use that distorted instrument at 3:30 so excessively, but it served as a good climactic transition into 3:58, which was a highlight of the song for me. I like the tempo change into 4:40, and I like how the very last chord leaves an air of mystery and ambiguity to the piece. I like how you can control my emotions like that, Matt. Overall, nice work! :D I felt that you deserved a nice detailed review after I failed to review your previous track. Keep it up! ;D

Dylnmatrix responds:

Hey, it's good to hear from you again!

I'm glad I can still mess with emotions, it's harder than it looks to do that in music. It takes good composition, good automation control and just good progression. Even though when I started this it was just a mere doodle in my projects folder, I'm glad that my mind is still capable of making emotional music when I'm in my "trance".

I know that the Sandstorm lead (the distorted one at 2:30 and 3:30) that I keep using may not be everyone's favorite and is probably the thing getting stale, but I still love it and can't seem to stop using it, as my tracks sound weird without it to my ears. But I'll see if I can use it in a different way, like I did in Sanctuary, and change it up for once in my career.

I'm glad you guys like the saw that does the blips during the breakdown, I made it from scratch and I'm proud of it. And hearing that it was good in one track makes me feel like I can make more synths on my own and stop relying solely on preset synths.

Thanks for the review man! I've taken note of all the criticism in this review and I'll try and implement some changes in newer tracks. I always appreciate it.