TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Shadow Constellation]

I like the pensive guitar riff at the beginning. The sub-bass is a bit overpowering, but the quirky vocals are a nice touch. The piece smooths out nicely by :33, and I’m really enjoying the crisp hi-hats. Besides the bottom-heavy mix, the production quality is really clean, and the vocals blend together really well with the gritty elements of the sound design. The arrangement is a little repetitive after a while, but the experimental texture and smooth progression of the piece really sell it for me. Strong effort overall, DeForkliftRoachNef! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9/10

DeforkliftRoachNef responds:

the bass on my headphones isnt very strong so a lot of my songs come out that way unfortunately

[It's July!]

I like the rich chords at the beginning and the crisp beats at :14. The slow tempo and rich bass give this track a bit of a languid feel, and there are some really rich, interesting chords, like the one at :53 (and other places). The harmonic content gets a bit repetitive after a while, but the production quality is really good. I can hear all of the instruments clearly throughout, and the mix is very well-balanced and full. Some stronger melodic content and more variety in the harmonies would really help take this piece to the next level. Until then, it has a nice, blissful and almost ethereal sound to it, like an alien wedding ceremony. Keep at it, DatSmolBoi! You’ve earned a scout. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
7/10

DatSmolBoi responds:

Thank you so much for reviewing it! I appreciate the feedback and ill keep this in mind for future projects!!

[CyberCocktail]

I like the spacey vibe at the beginning and the climax into :28. The heavy bass and lead synth with the fluttering effect are really nice, and I also really like the classic chiptune sound design that bleeds in by around :57. The drums could come through a bit cleaner in the mix at times, but some more careful equalization and a bit more compression should help solve that. The harmonic content gets a tad repetitive in the second half of the piece, but the frantic synth melodies definitely don’t get old by the second time, especially with the smooth transition at 2:39. The ending is a bit abrupt, but overall this is a really well-produced track with a pleasant progression and some neat sound design. Keep it up, DaniMcDingus! You earned a scout. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8.5/10

DaniMcDingus responds:

woah man, thank you very much, really appreciate this kind of constructive criticism. It really motivates me to keep going with new and better songs :)

[Breaker]

I really like the lyrics. The vocal delivery, on the other hand, could use a little work. It’s often not exactly on beat, sounds indistinct in the recording, and also occasionally lacks emotion. Make sure your mouth is consistently at the same distance from the mic when you’re recording, and practice really enunciating each consonant. It also might help to practice at a slower tempo until you can really nail the articulation.

The instrumental work is good, but unfortunately it doesn’t come through the mix that clearly. What software are you using for post-processing? Equalizers and a little compression could help each instrument sound more distinct in the mix, and other mixing tools (reverb, chorus effects, etc.) could make your vocals sound more buoyant and rich. If you’d like, I can also connect you with some other Newgrounds people who have more experience producing with recorded guitars and drums than I do.

Overall, I like the progression and the instrumentals here, but the production quality and vocals could use some polishing up. Once you publish a new track where you focus on these things, feel free to reach out via PM if you’d like some more feedback. Keep at it, CrabbyXX! ^_^

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

CrabbyXX responds:

Agh, my crappy mixing has foiled me again. Seriously though, thanks for the advice, I actually got a new mic and I'm trying to work on mixing my vocals in a way that doesn't sound like crap so hopefully my next song is actually audibly pleasing lol

[Nuisancy]

I like the energetic drums at the beginning. The synth riff at the beginning sounds pretty atonal, though. I like the riff at :15 better, but it also doesn’t seem very dynamic. The piece oscillates between these two riffs until 1:11, and then the part at 1:15 is a bit overly chaotic and hard-to-follow. I like the riff at 1:50 - it certainly has more harmonic layering than most of the other synth patterns up until that point, but by 2:00 the pacing of the harmonic changes is VERY fast, and the piece loses a sense of direction again. The outro with the synth bass and the tempo automations was pretty cool.

Overall, I have a couple of concerns. First, you tried to do a bit too much with the composition of this. There need to be more gradual transitions between the distinct sections of the piece. Also, I would suggest cutting down on the extended, frantic sequences like at 1:38, which can be very jarring. You may also need to consolidate some of your ideas in general. When you have an extended section with a lot of different riffs and progressions in close succession, like 1:15 to 1:48, try simplifying those progressions (literally removing notes) and making sure everything flows smoothly.

Second, there should be more depth and variety in the texture - multiple harmonic instruments layered on top of each other of different frequency ranges. That will both round out the texture and provide a measure of interest and variety in your piece, so that you don’t need the frantic synth riffs just to keep the listener’s attention. It can be hard to do this if you don’t have a strong background in music theory, but using pentatonic (five-tone) scales can make it easier.

I hope this helps! There are certainly some good ideas here, and indeed the drums are often a highlight of the piece. Once you feel like you’ve created a piece that 1) has more of a gradual and less jarring progression and 2) more layers to the harmonies that complement each other well, feel free to PM me and I’ll give you some more feedback. Until then, keep at it, ChickenDestroyer! ^_^

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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
4.25/10

chickenDestroyer responds:

well I could say I tried. but my music is pretty much for fun and test anyways so. I could kinda say I was joke posting.

[0ctan3 (1 H8 BREATHING)]

I like the echo-y synth bass at the beginning. The one at :13 is a little overpowering, though, and the drums don’t come through the mix that well. The rhythmic content is catchy, and I like the drum solo at 1:21. I like the progression of the piece - transposing the main riff up the octave at 2:09 is definitely effective at upping the intensity. You also use mixing effects, especially filtering, well throughout the piece.

My main concerns with this piece are with the production quality and the lack of harmonic variety. First, there’s a lot of distortion in the texture, likely because the entire mix is very bottom-heavy. I’d suggest getting stricter with how you’re using equalizers on the harmonic instruments - ideally, each harmonic instrument would have a clear “lane” in the frequency range that other instruments don’t occupy. It might also help if you transpose some of the harmonic instruments up an octave to begin with.

Second, I think you could’ve done more to add harmonic depth to the composition - more variations on the core riffs, more melodic content, or even a bridge or breakdown with a different chord progression could help add interest, whereas this piece is otherwise pretty bland harmonically.

Overall, you have a really good sense of rhythm and progression, and the gritty sound design complements the writing quite well here. Polishing up the mix and creating more variety in the harmonies could really help take this piece to the next level. Keep at it, c00tdoggo! ^_^

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
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
7/10

c00tdoggo responds:

Tysm for the critique! I rarely get in-depth analysis like this, so I'll try and use it effectively in my next pieces ^^. This is extremely valuable to me.

[-Tundra-]

I like the eerie effects at the beginning, but the mix is a bit quiet and the intro drags on for a tad too long without many harmonic instruments coming in. The melancholy-sounding piano is nice, but sounds a bit indistinct by the time the string pads come in at 1:02. The climax of the piece at around 1:25 sounds like the "haunted" features of the haunted house are just starting to reveal themselves, but admittedly it didn't do a lot to relieve the tension before descending back into melancholy ambiance. Overall, this piece is minimal and a bit slow to progress, but it definitely does a great job of telling a story. I think going for an even bigger "moment of arrival" in the middle or towards the end wouldn't helped you maximize the impact of that storytelling. Still, I really like this piece. It has a great sense of narrative flow to it. Keep it up, CF24! ^_^

Creeperforce24 responds:

Thanks! I’m actually surprised you didn’t rate this something below 3 stars lol!

[-retro night-]

It's a little hard to follow the progression of the main riff at first, but I like the sound design and rhythmic content here. The mix sounds a little thin - could use some more reverb and other effects, as well as some more harmonic content in the upper frequency range. I like the atmospheric pads at 1:11, although they sound a tad dissonant against the frantic synth bass line. The filtering at around 2:12 is nice, and overall there are a lot of good riffs and patterns in this track. The arrangement feels a tad choppy at times, but the production quality still sounds crisp. Keep at it, CF24! ^^

Creeperforce24 responds:

So it’s the arrangement I need to work on… ok! Yeah, I’m still getting used to lmms, thing with it is that it for some reason doesn’t allow multiple different drum beat patterns in a track, so I have to make a new one everytime I wanna change the drum beat. There’s also no way to repeat a bassline or main melody line, only a drum line or automation track. And the compressors and Multiband are a lot more complex then the ones I’m used to. I’ll ask again, but now I’ve gotta practice!

[Psybot - Save the world]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning and the pensive synth riffs. There's a nice subtle build-up into :30 or so, and the vocal samples (including the subtle robotic-sounding ones) are really nice. The beats are nice and crisp, and overall the production quality is really strong. The piece could've used some more dynamic melodic content at some point, but the staccato-y riff at 1:33 certainly helps. The piece certainly has an adventuresome and triumphant vibe, so it's a fitting title. :D Catchy and fun piece, Psybot. Keep it up! ^_^

Psybot responds:

Thanks alot for the review! I totally agree with your statement that it could use some more dynamic. I just ran out of ideas and didn't really feel the vibe anymore. But I still wanted to share it because it has some fun elements in it 😁

[-poizone atmos-]

Nice! I like the groovy bass line at the beginning and the prominent retro-style snare. The acid bass at :12 isn't my favorite sound design choice, especially since it replaces the other bass instrument, which sounded richer. The rhythmic content of this piece is definitely good, and I also really like the distorted pads at 1:00. The riser at 1:37 that sounds like bubbles at the end is neat. Overall, this is a cool beat. Could be a tad more well-rounded with some higher-range frequencies, and there are some choppy transitions in a couple of places, but it's catchy and the instrumentation is good overall. Keep at it, CF24! ^_^

Creeperforce24 responds:

(Thanks dude! I didn’t expect that high of a score actually lol! Thanks so much!)