TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[KO ROUND: Gyaru Death 2010]

I like the white noise at the beginning and the echo-y vocals. The eerie pads at :15 are nice too, and the drums have a really gritty and grating sound. The melancholy chords contrast nicely with the energy and drive of the drum patterns. I also like the brighter tone of the piece at around 1:15. The texture is a bit minimal at times - not a lot of action in the bass range. Layering on a sub-bass or even some low chords might’ve helped round things out better. Earlier on, the piece is missing some treble tones too. That said, the production quality is really strong, and I love the sound design later on with the dreamy upper-range phasing synths. Overall, the composition is a bit bland, though, with not a lot of memorable melodies or dynamism within the phrases. Still, I’m enjoying the atmosphere, mixing, rhythmic content, and progression here. Keep at it, JarJarZoinks! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.25/10

2keg responds:

thanks for the review Mr.Logic. Never had a track get a proper review so I appreciate a lot bruv :3

[Burning Jungle]

I like the cutesy riff at the beginning. The synth sounds a bit dry, though, and could probably use some reverb or other mixing effects to give it more of a sense of atmosphere. I’m enjoying the sense of build into :43, and the quirky percussion thereafter is refreshing and catchy. Some of the instruments in here are pretty generic, though, like the synth lead at 1:02, the mid-range bass at :13, and the snare at :17. The mixing and mastering are pretty good, although the piece is a tad over-compressed at times. I also think you could’ve fleshed out the composition a tad more here. I wanted to see some more depth in the harmonies, memorable melodic content, and thicker textures that give the piece a stronger sense of ebb and flow. That said, the rhythmic content, atmosphere, and production quality of this piece are all quite good. Keep at it, Ivki! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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
6/10

enipoint responds:

Oh, ty (☆▽☆) (btw, I made it in fl studio mobile 3 :p)

[The Old Days]

I like the catchy guitar riffs at the beginning and the rich harmonies. You’ve done a great job of capturing a nostalgic vibe between the sound design and melodies, and I like the crisp drums and subtle filtering at :40 too. The switch-up in the drum pattern at 1:05 was a welcome change, but the instrumental tracks get a bit repetitive after a while. Later in the piece, I would’ve liked to hear some novel content - a bridge in a different key, or even some variation on the main melody. That said, you nailed the mixing, sound design, atmosphere, and mood of this one. Keep at it, Fumijena! :)

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
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.25/10

Fumijena responds:

thanks so much for your feedback <3 glad you liked it as it is!

[Knock Out]

I like the ominous atmosphere at the beginning and the quirky riser at :16. The vocal sample at :27 made me chuckle. The minimal texture at :28 made the previous 27 seconds feel a bit anticlimactic, and I also wasn’t a huge fan of the heavy stereo clicks and generic drums. The rhythmic content is rather enjoyable, but I would’ve liked to hear some more dynamic harmonies and a stronger sense of progression over time for most of this piece. Otherwise, the composition falls a little flat here, despite the occasional cool transition and some wise sound design choices later on (like the ghostly synth at 2:19, for example). The production quality is strong here, and the increase in the pacing of the bass line at 2:47 was another fun idea. The filtering on the basses and ghostly synths later on helped add some variety too, but overall the composition is still pretty bland. Still, the transitions, vocals, rhythmic content, and mixing all won me over here. Keep at it, EvilDemon01! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
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
6/10

Qilin responds:

Thank you for this great response. Really helps me to figure out what to focus on more :)

[Inevitability]

I like the piano arpeggios at the beginning and the warm string pads. The distortion at :30 was a nice touch during the build-up. The beat at :33 is pretty cool, but the instrumental tracks there are a tad bland, and the piano gets a bit lost in the mix there. I’m enjoying the additional layer of harmonies at 1:00 and the glitchy vocals at 1:27. The glitches were a good way of switching up what otherwise would’ve been a pretty generic vocoder sample - maybe some more reverb or other mixing effects could’ve further added some interest to the vocal line. The beats at 1:53 are once again refreshing, and I especially like the added dose of pitch-bending during that section. At some point in this piece, I would’ve liked to hear some more prominent melodic content, as a lot of the basis for staying engaged is in the quirky sound design and rhythms, which are delivered in a couple of relatively dragged-out drop sections with pretty uniform energy levels. By the end, the vocals also feel a bit overused, although I do appreciate the extent to which you’ve modified them. Overall, I really like the production quality, rhythmic content, sound design, and atmosphere of this piece. Some of the compositional elements could’ve used some more creativity, including the harmonic patterns and arrangement, but the experimental texture helps keep things interesting, and I appreciate the haunting lyrics - in that context, the robotic-sounding vocoder fits in rather well here. Keep at it, Eccentra! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
7.75/10

Eccentra responds:

I truly appreciate the very detailed analysis of the track! It's an eyeopener to see where I've gone wrong and now I'm enlightened to improve more on the creative aspects!

[coolssh3 - Eternal Night]

I like the mellow beginning of the piece with the minimal riser and piano melody. The piano instrument itself at :05 sounds a bit dry and generic, though - pretty sure that’s a not-too-modified FL Keys. :) Either way, by :33 the texture starts coming together well, and I like the frantic percussion at :57 and the sense of build into 1:05. The arrangement is a bit all-over-the-place, with a lot of frantic solos on cheesy synths strung together in a pretty dragged-out melodic section between 1:04 and 2:09. It might be a good idea to consolidate some of the sound design a bit, instead of having the most prominent instrument in the texture be a completely new one every 30 seconds. It was also a little hard to follow the melodies after a while, as so many of them are very jumpy and have pretty complex contours. In fact, I’m going to say that the sound design isn’t the only thing that should be consolidated here - melodies and structuring too. There’s some repetition in this track, but the arrangement is pretty choppy between all the stop-start transitions and sudden instrument changes. I think you tried to do way too much with the composition of the track, and it comes across as a bit overwhelming and lacking in direction, to be frank. On the plus side, the production quality is pretty good, and you clearly have a strong sense of harmony, rhythm, and atmosphere. The individual melodies are also rather good, but taken together they don’t seem part of the same cohesive narrative. Keep at it, Coolssh3! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
6.25/10

coolssh3 responds:

Thanks for your feedback! While I'm a tad disappointed that I didn't make the cut, I'm also proud that I at least made it to Round 2. In any case, in an attempt to give my song's instrumentation more variety, it would seem that I made it a bit all-over-the-place. I for one am quite proud of it, but I see your complaints and will keep them in mind for the future. Thanks for this opportunity!

[Cruncha]

I like the quirky texture at the beginning and the upbeat brass synth melodies at :11. That pad in the background with the phasing effects is nice, too. The texture might benefit from some more atmosphere, as the drums sound a tad thin at times and many of the lead synths sound a bit dry. The solo at the bridge at 1:15 is great, though, and leads really nicely back into the brass synth melody at 1:37. The sound design, mixing, rhythmic content, melodies, and progression are all really solid here. The composition maybe could’ve used a tad more fleshing out, though, and the instruments could also probably blend together better with some more reverb and compression in choice places, especially in the first minute or so. Still, the experimental vibe and melodies here are super memorable and unique. Keep it up, ChaytonMan! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.5/10

ChaytonMan responds:

Sorry for only just now seeing this, but thank you! The criticism you gave is awesome, but the fact that you explained how to fix some of it is super helpful. I greatly appreciate how in-depth this was and hopefully I can iron out some of the wrinkles I had in this song and others in general.

[Clash of Cass]

I just remembered that you asked for a review on your NGUAC piece, and it seems like there aren't any judges biting yet, so here I am!

I like the ominous mood at the beginning. The sound design goes through several abrupt changes in the first 30 seconds or so, from big 80s synths to new wave atmosphere to videogame-ish to hard rock. It seems like the hard rock won the battle at the end of the day, though, and I like the frantic guitar riffs and crisp drums for the rest of the first minute. There's another pretty abrupt transition at 1:02, but the warmer tones of the strumming there help provide some contrast to the more edgy tone of earlier. At this point, the piece seems like a call-and-response between the frantic and heavy electric guitar riffs to the more laid-back vibe of the strummed one. The breakdown at 2:20 was a nice moment of structural contrast to break up that cycle, and the transition back into 2:46 was smooth, albeit a bit cheesy. The piece comes together well towards the end, but at some point I might've liked to hear a more dynamic melody or solo - something to really hold onto, you know? The heavy guitar refrain seems to play more of a rhythmic role here than something that really drives the "narrative" aspect of the piece. The other main problem I have with the piece is the choppy arrangement, with a lot of rough transitions, especially early on, that feel a tad jarring in the grand scheme of things. That said, I think you nailed the sound design, rhythmic content, production, and atmosphere. Really creative piece overall, Thetageist! Good luck in the Knockout Round. ^_^

Thetageist responds:

Thanks for all that feedback! I see one of my directions to go in in the future should be how to write for rock guitar, so I don’t have to use preset patterns as a crutch anymore. And transitions. Transitions have always been my weak point.