TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Kevil - End Credits (feat. Kelly O’Donohue)]

This ROCKS, Bryan. Ton of fun solos and a groovy Latin-inspired beat. The layered call-and-response bit at 1:09 is brilliant, and even among the solos, this piece has a lot of overarching shape, with the trumpet solo at 1:17 the king of them all. The busy percussion really shines here, and I love how the mood is alternately sultry, mysterious, and triumphant. Keep up the great work! ^_^

sleepFacingWest responds:

Thank you! Kelly really nailed that solo. I've tried programming them before, but there's nothing that can compare to the magic of letting an expert do their thing. Budgets are always shrinking, but I'd love to be able to move more in that direction for future projects.
DMed your code!

[Spooky House]

I like the ominous mood at the beginning, but the chord progression sounds a bit bizarre (maybe it’s partly because there’s a big pitch jump between each note). The part at :07 is a bit atonal, but I like the smooth, mellow synth pads. The mix seems a bit off balance - I think the main synth riff should be a bit louder, and the glitchy rhythmic elements should be a tad quieter. You might even consider adding a bit of reverb to the glitchy elements so that they blend into the atmosphere a bit more. The bridge with the creepy bells at 1:02 is cool, if a bit minimal after 1:16.

Overall, I have a few suggestions. First, this piece could use some more traditional drums (in addition to the percussive elements you already have) to give it a stronger sense of energy and continuity. Second, it’s worth smoothing over some of the rough transitions in this piece, like at :41 and 1:36. There are many ways to do that, but the stop-start one at :39 feels a bit unnecessary, and at 1:34 or so the synth pads could simply play a bit of a melodic filler riff in advance of 1:36 to signify that they’re about to play a more prominent role in the texture (which they do at 1:36).

Third, in retrospect, the four chords at the intro feel out-of-place, and you could probably just delete them and dive right into the action at :06, especially if you expect this song to loop in the video game you’re making. Lastly, as I mentioned earlier, I would play up the idea that the mid-range synth pads are the “main thing” going on at a time, both by making them louder in the mix relative to the other elements, and potentially also by moving them up an octave for dramatic effect at some point.

This piece is definitely a good start between the ominous mood and neat sound design, though. Keep at it, Zhane9IsLame! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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

Zhane9IsLame responds:

Thank you so much for your feedback, I'm new to making music and I really appreciate your criticism. I really want to improve and this comment both helps me understand my mistakes and motivates to keep going, I really do appreciate it.

[FALLING IN]

I like the breathy vocals at the beginning. The sidechaining at :11 is VERY heavy, to the extent that it makes the mix sound more distorted than anything else. I like the beat at :48 a lot, but it ducks under the mix often. I would ease back on the compression here, and also maybe unwind the reverb until the mix sounds less distorted. It’s seriously detracting from my enjoyment of the piece - I just can’t hear all the instruments clearly throughout. Also, the composition could use a tad more variety, especially melodic development, but the sound design and rhythmic content are really cool. Meanwhile, the section at 2:49 sounded like the start of a completely different piece.

Overall, I’d encourage you to focus less on the loudness of the mix and more on balance and clarity. There are some good compositional ideas here, and I want to hear them without having to hyperfocus. :) Keep at it, xFebruaryx! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
5.25/10

xFebruaryx responds:

ty 4 the feedback :)

[Sleepless]

I like the energetic synths at the beginning. The pads distort the lead a bit when they come in, though. Some stricter equalizing could help separate out those frequency ranges a bit more. Ideally, each harmonic instrument would have a “slot” in the frequency range that other instruments rarely impede on. The transition at :41 also could be a bit smoother, but I like the melodies there. There’s a bit of atonality in the texture, but the mix bothers me more. Please make sure that the harmonic instruments (so, everything but the bass and kick) have frequencies below 200 Hz or so eliminated with an equalizer. That’ll help clean up the muddy quality and make your drums in particular sound louder.

The distorted bass riff at :55 was a pretty sudden change in the texture, as was the transition back to the pensive synths at 1:08. The drop at 1:25 was catchy, if a bit minimal, and the callbacks to the beginning of the piece (1:32, 1:46, etc.) sound a bit out-of-place. There’s another pretty sudden switch in the sound design at 2:24 after a brief build-up, and the transition at 2:51 is just as jarring. By contrast, 7:02 was a pretty cool transition that didn’t feel as rough, in large part because the instrumentation is more similar on either side of it.

The breakdown at 3:30 or so was good for some structural variety, and I like the slower pacing and emphasis on atmosphere there. The mellow “B” melody at 4:13 is really nice, but again, more of a gradual transition back into the crunchy bass at 4:40 would be ideal. The rhythmic section at 5:06 feels a bit too much like filler to me, especially since it drags on for a good 45 seconds. The final cadence at 7:18 is pretty cool, though.

In short, I think you need to consolidate some of your compositional ideas and focus on making the arrangement of the piece more cohesive and flowing. Right now, the structure of the piece is just really choppy and hard to follow. Gradual build-ups, more consistent rhythmic section patterns, and filtering and reverb automations to foreshadow major changes to the texture would all be welcome.

Even the melodic content in this piece is disorienting at times. Take the synth from 3:05 to 3:19 for example, or the one that begins at 5:52. It has so much ornamentation that it’s hard to follow the contour after a while. Ornamentation in melodies is like curse words: you want to use them sparingly so that they have more impact when you do use them. Simplifying the melodies, as in literally fewer notes, would help. That said, the good thing about your melodies is that they feel loose and dynamic - they cover a lot of ground pitch-wise and generally feel like they’re leading somewhere.

Overall, the sound design and harmonies are good here. Some simplified melody writing, a smoother arrangement, and a sharper mix would really help take this piece to the next level, but until then it’s a catchy track with a lot of creative energy behind it. Keep at it, VersaTileNoise! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
6.25/10

VersaTileNoise responds:

Thank you so much for the amazing feedback! Means a lot to me. Will definitely keep these in mind when making future tracks :)

[Evenin' Sunset]

I like the clear, bright-sounding piano at the beginning, even if the fade-in could’ve been a bit more creative. The stop-starts at :26 kinda interrupted the flow of the build-up in my view, and I found it a bit bizarre that the entire song suddenly gets a bit quieter at :51. During the drop, the drums could’ve come through the mix a lot more strongly. Sounds like you might want to reprioritize what you’re compressing here. The bass is also very quiet during the drop, while the pads are very loud. I like the switch-up in the beat at 1:22, although the snare especially still isn’t coming through very distinctly. Harmonically, this piece could also use a lot more variety - variations on the main chord progression, or at least a more prominent melody during one of these downtempo sections with the piano chords. The tempo automation at 2:21 comes on too suddenly, and the fade-out ending also comes across as a bit lazy.

That said, I like the sound design, rhythmic content, and a lot of the individual compositional ideas. This piece just needs some bolder melodies, more variety later in the piece, and a rebalancing of the frequencies to play up the rhythm section. The arrangement here is also a bit choppy at times - I would strongly suggest finding ways of foreshadowing the sudden transitions, including when the pads get quieter during the refrain at :51 and 1:55. Also, the minimal sections in the middle of the piece with just the piano chords don’t do much for me - try fleshing out some atmospheric elements or “B” melodies to maintain interest and give these breakdowns a little more shape.

Overall, you have some good instrumentation and catchy riffs to build on, but I still think the composition could use some fleshing out and the mixing could be punchier. Keep at it, V1XTEZz! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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?)
1/1
Composite score
6.5/10

V1XTEZz responds:

To be honest, Idk how to rate myself. Most likely I looking on different side, cuz yes I using 1-2 patterns of melody, but I making accent on diversity into sound design, NOT a patterns, and mine next release, might to prove it. Maybe that is my disadvantage.

[untitled03 - dreambed]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning. The synths have a bit of a grating quality to them, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming all the time. At the very least, it would be nice to automate some of the volume levels and/or equalizers a bit more here to take the edge off of the top end of the frequency range occasionally. Love the descent into pure atmosphere at :51. I think the synth chirping at 1:06 drags on for just a tad too long without many other changes to the texture. The entire piece has a great wavelike quality to it, though, and when it “resets” at 1:42 it feels like a homecoming. There’s a nice build-up into 2:05, and the explosion of energy at 2:36 is a welcome “point of arrival” after a lot of pent-up tension in this piece. The fade-out ending isn’t my favorite choice, especially since it comes on so quickly after the big climax. I still think the volume levels/compressors in this piece could use a bit of loosening at times, and I didn’t quite get my fix of strong melodic content here either. The sound design and use of mixing effects are very creative, though, especially during the transitory moments. Really evocative piece, untitled03! You’ve earned a scout. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/1.5
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.5/10

untitled03 responds:

yay thank you so much!! <33

[JustSohappy]

I like the blissful mood and quirky synths at the beginning. The mix sounds a bit distorted, with the synths having a very strong pattern of emphasis that’s a bit unnatural-sounding. The acoustic bass and vocal stabs at :30 are also cute, and overall the sound design is probably my favorite element of the piece. That said, the harmonic content is a bit repetitive, and later in the piece the percussion is a bit too loud. I’d encourage you to continue fleshing out the structure of this - a nice “B” melody or an atmospheric bridge would be good for some variety, and also make the piece into more of a complete story, if that makes sense. Great start, though. Definitely puts a smile on my face. Keep at it, TransmitPictures! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
6/10

TransmitPictures responds:

Thank you so much for your critique! I was so worried that I was so in love with my own creation that I was posting an audible nightmare. This is the first song of any kind I made so I'm jazzed that it is salvagable. Thank you for the notes!

[Inscribed]

The riff at the beginning is catchy, but sounds a bit harsh in the mix. Also, the percussion is a bit on the quiet side. I’d suggest some mixing effects (wet reverb in the higher frequency range, maybe some filtering) to smooth over the synth riff, and then some compression and equalization to boost the drums. Otherwise, the composition needs much more variety, and also a thicker texture in general. The texture is a bit experimental, and could use some more ebb and flow over time. It’s a cool beat, but it would be even more compelling if there was a “story” around it - i.e., if it felt like it was leading somewhere. I’d encourage you to keep working on this, though - the sound design is cool, and the beats are super catchy. Keep at it, TheRealMrPeoples! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
4.25/10

TheRealMrPeoples responds:

Thanks for the listen and good feedback! I appreciate the opportunity.

[No reaction]

The “huh”s on the beat were pretty cool, and in general I like the rhythmic content here. But using the vocals to make the chord progression sounds a bit spammy, especially when there’s not much going on in the texture, and the sub-bass at :20 is a bit too loud. The transition at :37 is pretty abrupt, although I like the synth pads there. The entire mix is pretty bottom-heavy, and could also use more melodic content in general. With the thicker texture at 1:14, the vocal chords don’t sound too bad, and with some more wet reverb they could probably blend into the sound design fine. Definitely a creative sound design with this piece, but compositionally the piece could be a lot bolder, and the mix still sounds a bit off-balance overall. I’d encourage you to keep working on this one, though. It just needs a solid melody and a bit more structuring, and it’s a solid 8 in my book. Keep at it, ThemBoyi! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
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
6.25/10

ThemBoyi responds:

I don't really want to work on this more since Its the final version but nonetheless thanks for the feedback :D

[Chronophobia]

I like the distorted, almost psychedelic vibe of the guitar at the beginning, but by :25, the harsh, high-pitched overtones are just a bit much. Also, the entire texture sounds very arrhythmic in a lot of places, with the guitar not really syncing up with the hats at the beginning, and the rhythmic content at around :47 also feeling very loose. The lead guitar at :47 was nice, but by 1:02 or so you had canned that and taken the piece in a completely different direction. The panning on the lead guitars at 2:55 also makes them sound really harsh. Frankly, this piece is jarring to listen to on a couple of fronts: the disjointed structure, the atonality, the arrhythmic passages, and the harsh and unpolished production.

That said, I like the angry vocals at around 1:52, and it’s a cool creative choice that the vocals are more spoken word than harmonic, and seem to play more of an atmospheric role in the piece than anything else. At around 3:37, it finally sounds like there’s a steady groove going that’s a little more tonal, although the guitars still aren’t quite playing on-beat. I also like the melodic contour at around 4:55, but by the time the second guitar and bass come in at 5:07, the texture sounds very dissonant and rhythmically hard-to-follow once again.

As I’ve made clear, you have some good compositional ideas here. But I’d suggest consolidating them a bit, focusing on more gradual transitions, and polishing up the mix so that the output isn’t nearly as grating. That’ll give the listener a bit more to hang his hat on the next time - otherwise, this piece is very disorienting and downright hurts my ears at times. You clearly have a lot of creative energy, which is great to see. But at the end of the day, you went for an experimental approach along a few too many parameters for this to work for me. Sorry! Thanks anyway for coming out to the NGUAC.

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
0/1
Composite score
3/10

TheHigherDyer responds:

Thank you a lot. I will try my best for the next time. I'am really aprociate when people criticize in that constructive way.