TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Show Me Your Heart]

What the hell, I need a break from judging.

I love the inspirational tone at the beginning and the swell into :06. The twittery synth line and warm, hearty strings mesh well together, and the production quality is fantastic as always with you. The cutoff of the beat and synths at :36 was a bit sudden, but I like how the modulation at :48 injects a new sense of energy into the piece. During the final section at 1:06, I wanted the strings to be a bit more prominent in the mix, as I feel like they're playing the more climactic/melodic line there. Still, the sound design and compositional details are superb here. Keep it up, Bosa! ^_^

Bosa responds:

yeah I may have popped the clutch at :36 but we were still movin lol. At 1:06 I can understand your feelings on that, I guess I was trying not to push past the ceiling too much while still not detracting from the strings.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen and leave me a review! I love to hear what your thoughts are

[Artistic Process]

I really like the rhythmic content and sound design here. The instruments are groovy, and the beat is creative. The texture is a bit minimal at times, often because the melodic instruments are very staccato-y and thin-sounding, but you clearly have a good sense of harmony and progression. The call-and-response thing among the several different leads from :13 to :40 or so (and other places) is probably my favorite aspect of the piece. It's a really effective way of creating variety in a piece that otherwise has pretty much one simple chord progression. That said, the relaxing mood and spacey atmosphere are big pluses, and I also think the breakdown section at 2:03 was an effective way of adding some variety. Solid work, dude! Keep it up. :)

EmsDeLaRoZ responds:

Thank you very much for the feedback, i'll keep working for the better

[AIM - Bellowers of Grief]

Haunting! I love the atmosphere at the beginning and the furtive piano shortly thereafter. The strings are warm and rich-sounding, and the mood is alternately filled with wonder and tranquility. The piece is a tad slow to develop at times, but I love the subtle key change and the dark string riffs at 2:02. You're really playing up the dynamic contrast and cinematic flair of the piece by the woodwind solo at 2:30ish. Really captivating work, Everratic. The way you use the music to tell a story has grown into one of your strongest qualities as a musician. Best of luck in AIM! ^_^

Everratic responds:

Thanks for the review!

[Satisphylled]

Dreamy and evocative stuff here, LAPSE! I like the percussion and blissful melodies. Sounds like the mix was missing some mid-range tones at some points, but maybe that's just me. Sound design and flow are killer as always. Keep it up! ^_^

LLAAPPSSEE responds:

Always love to see the TL reviews.
<3
Appreciate the mix review. I see what you're saying though, I mostly mixed this in headphone..the joys of being a night owl in city life. I think the piece overall is just a touch bright. I blame the Luminaria's expressive twinkling inspiration. ;)

[Geoplex - Breathless (feat. Lyra Ivy)]

Oh man, how did I miss this? I like the bouncy vocals and punchy beats. The lyrics are a little hard to discern, and the vocals theoretically could take up a bit more space in the mix, but otherwise the production quality here is superb. The melodies at 1:10 are killer, and there are also some great atmospheric details, like the orchestral instruments at 1:40. The melodies at 2:30 or so are also really engaging and energetic, and the chopped vocals later on in that phrase also get high marks from me. The melodies at 3:30 hit the piece home nicely. Overall, I'm really impressed with the amount of variety here, and the mixing, atmosphere, and sound design are all fantastic as always with you. Keep it up, Geoplex! ^_^

Geoplex responds:

Hey TaintedLogic! Thanks for the feedback <3! I have to say I completely agree with you on the vocal presence. In earlier iterations the vocals were much louder, I have some regret for how they ended up. Tbh this song was really over-produced. Gotta remember to always follow my gut :)

[Barely Here]

Ooohh. Scrumptious rhodes at the beginning. The minimal beat and rich atmosphere of this piece are great. The furtive vocals and wave-like synth patterns round out the sound nicely, and the glitchy beats help keep me engaged despite the minimalism. I like the echo-y vocals at the 3-minute mark or so - it's a little hard to discern the lyrics, but in a way the mood speaks for itself. There's a great sense of building energy in the texture by around 4:30, with the solos underlying the vocal lines really driving the piece forward. The piece never really reaches a point of climax, but in a way that fits the whole subtle and furtive mood of the piece. The distorted vocals at the end don't quite work for me, though - they're a lot less smooth and flowing than the rest of the texture of the piece. That said, I think the "body" of this track is really neat and evocative. Keep it up, LAPSE! ^_^

LLAAPPSSEE responds:

Yer reviews are scrumptious as ever!

Nice to read you like the vox as I'm still a little shy/unsure about them -- probably why I try to subtly hide the phonetics of the lyrics a bit. I also kinda like the idea of people mishearing lyrics and filling them in, ha.

I suppose ~4:10 would be considered the "climax" of this piece, for me. The boiling/bubbling like subs in the background. It really is a sorta ez rider though, overall. The ending vocals are more of a "post credits" kinda thing. They happened on accident. My audio interface bugged out and had a lot of latency/choppy audio while I was recording a take. I kept recording and just started talking about whatever came to mind. At the time, I felt like it sounded like some weird transmission from across the universe or something. I just riffed. I then heavily edited that further. So yeah, it is a bit out of place, but that's just part of the fun. ;)