TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Frozen Industry]

I like the ominous percussion and atmosphere at the beginning. The progression is a bit slow-paced, but the echo effects and heavy percussion help keep things interesting for a while. The rhythmic content is good, too, and the alternating ascending and descending synth lines (like at 1:01) are also pretty neat. By around the 2-minute mark, though, I’m getting a little restless with the persistent minimalism of the piece. The atmosphere feels a bit more saturated by that point, but I still need some harmonic content to grasp onto at some point. There are some creative compositional and rhythmic ideas in here, and the bass at 2:33 helps at least outline the skeleton of a chord progression, but it’s not quite enough to keep me engaged after a while. I could see this piece fitting quite well in a post-apocalyptic-themed video game, but as a stand-alone piece the composition is pretty bland at the end of the day. You’re clearly a talented producer with a knack for creating catchy beats, foreboding moods, and rich textural atmospheres, but I was looking for a bit more harmonic depth here. My favorite aspect of this piece is probably the mood. You do overuse the ascending and descending synth patterns a bit by the end, but in the meantime there’s plenty of great nightmare fuel in here, especially at around 6:10. Keep at it, VictorLincolnPine! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
6.5/10

VictorLincolnPine responds:

The piece was designed for a game where the world is foreboding and deadly at every turn, but eventually the player becomes so powerful that world itself can literally be erased by them if they so choose. I didn't necessarily compose it for engagement, but rather as the background for something the player is already doing (in this case trudging through the very deadly Frozen Vault, where there's explosives literally buried in the snow).

Thank you for your honest criticism. I will keep it in mind for future works. (especially for this knockout round).

Addendum: Just to let you know, there are in fact no chords in this piece. The work is a shaman style piece that uses drums and sound design with sparse synth.

[ThunderFrank - Apocalyptic Destruction [NGUAC]]

I like the ominous mood at the beginning, but the percussion is way too overpowering - I think that’s mostly the fault of the compression, and partially the fault of the reverb. Either way, please rein in these volume levels. Otherwise, the drop at :46 is catchy, if a little minimal, and I like your sound design and progression. The composition gets a little disjointed and dissonant at 1:23 - the transition there was very sudden and jarring for me. I think the mix would sound much better balanced with more mid-range and treble-range frequencies in there at some point, and the percussion roll at 2:19 is way too grating and harsh to be given that much space in the mix. Overall, you have a good sense of rhythm and atmosphere, and a talent for adding interest to your pieces with quirky transitions and mixing effects. That said, you went a little too far with the compression here, and the composition is both choppy and bland. As far as how to improve, the first thing I would do is turn down the gain on those compressors and reverb plug-ins - that might give you a full extra point, to be honest. Then, I’d layer on some atmospheric content at the drops, and maybe mix in a melodic section at the bridge at 1:23 instead of those jarring piano chords. Obviously, you can work on the piece as you want to, but the bottom line is that the mix here should really sound less harsh and the composition should have more harmonic interest at a couple of key points. Keep at it, ThunderFrank! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
5/10

ThunderFrankMusic responds:

you wrote a lot of text, thanks for your punctuation, judge!!!!!!!

[Exercise in Difficulty]

The bass slide at the beginning was pretty cool, and I like the crisp beats and airy synths. The texture is pretty minimal, but the mixing and mastering are solid. The arpeggios at :45 are nice, too, but at some point I would’ve liked to hear a more dynamic and memorable section where you fully explore some of the harmonic themes of the piece. In other words, during the middle section of the piece, you alternate between a bunch of different short-lived melodies, but they don’t feel very well-connected or flowing, and the result is the piece is pretty disjointed and lacks a strong climax or “point or arrival.” It might help if at some point you had a bridge or breakdown where you strip away the beat, and only after that did you introduce the main melody. But otherwise, I like the sound design, mood, beats, and mixing here. Keep at it, TechnoDrama! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
7.5/10

TechnoDrama responds:

My reaction to this is exactly how I reacted to @ADR3-N earlier, so I'll just be lazy and copy and paste:

Wow. I've been around a long time. I started posted my songs on MP3.COM in the late 1990's. All these years of posting music online and I've never heard anything like this. Ever. This is absolutely, hands down, the best and most constructive feedback I have ever received. I put this stuff out and no one ever talks about the mix and that is the piece I struggle with the most and the part that I always worry about the most. You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I'm going to back and try these suggestions out and see what happens. Thank you so much.

Also, I realize the irony in being around all this time and still not knowing how to mix but I do have a life that, for good or bad, takes precedence over this hobby of mine. By the time I figure it out...well...I'd rather not think about that yet.

[Solaraloe - Takedown [NGUAC 2022]]

I like the groovy synths and heavy compression at the beginning. The drum samples are a bit generic, although until the beat comes in it’s a bit hard to follow the rhythm. I enjoyed the sense of climax into :58, although the drop was a bit minimal and bottom-heavy. I did like the dissonant, pitter-patter synth riff that comes in every 8 bars or so, like at 1:30. The drop felt pretty dragged-out, and the sudden change in the harmonic framework at 2:10 was a bit jarring. At some point, I would’ve liked to hear some more prominent melodic content, more harmonic depth, and/or a fuller texture. You manage to keep the texture interesting with the industrial-sounding snare at 3:26 and vocal effects later on. Overall, I think the mixing, mastering, and rhythmic content are really strong here, but the composition feels both bland and disjointed. You transition between the sections a little too quickly, with the sweeps and risers not really doing much to stitch together the disparate instruments and harmonic patterns. Still, a lot of the isolated ideas here are really neat, like the jazzy pads at 2:10. They just need to be integrated with the earlier sections in a more compelling way. Keep at it, Solaraloe! :)

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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
6.5/10

Solaraloe responds:

Thanks for the feedback and encouraging words!

[Dance of the dead]

I like the eerie mood, quirky synths, and ghostly pads at the beginning. The cute melody at :18 is a nice touch, although the bass that comes in at :35 makes the texture sound pretty muddy. I’d suggest taking some of the reverb off of it and tightening up the equalizers in the other instruments. I think the composition could’ve been more fleshed-out. There’s a lot of tension in this piece that never quite gets fully explored or resolved. The result is that this track seems fitting for a video game loop, but leaves me wanting more as a stand-alone piece. You nailed the sound design and atmosphere here, though. Keep at it, Shabbyjazz! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7/10

CielOuvert responds:

Although irrelevant to this competition, this track started out as background music for a Minecraft mod that I was a part of, the theme itself was that of the undead and their lair underground, so this somber little theme would be played whenever the players wandered the dead cities. Hence why it does sound like a video game loop. Alas, they scrapped the undead entirely so I just made some finishing touches to it and made it a more complete track.

Anyway, thank you for your review, as always it's very in-depth and thorough.

[Madness, Act 3]

I like the orchestral sound palette and foreboding mood at the beginning. The mix is a tad quiet and strained at times - the strings get a bit buried under the percussion at :58, for example. The harmonic content is really nice, but the arrangement of the piece seems to vacillate between a few different mini-phrases, which feel stagnant after a while. The bridge at 2:20 was a nice dose of structural variety in that regard, although I can’t help but feel that the tension in the piece remains unresolved by the end. I’d like to hear a stronger sense of ebb-and-flow in the composition, especially during the middle of the piece. But besides my compositional nitpicks, this piece is really strong. The booming percussion and other instrumentation choices, cinematic flair, and ominous undertones give this piece a whimsical vibe. Tighten up the mastering quality, and break up the formulaicity in the middle section, and you’ve got a top-tier piece here, my friend! Keep it up. :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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?)
1/1
Composite score
8/10

Rhombys responds:

Thank you so much!

[Species]

I like the airy synth arpeggios at the beginning. The intro might drag on for a tad too long, though. I also think the synths themselves are a bit generic-sounding, and the build-up into 1:00 was pretty anti-climactic. By 1:25 or so, the beats are really catchy, and I like the filtering work and addition of the bass line at 1:35. That said, the harmonic content could use some more depth, such as with a more dynamic melody or new chord progression. You begin to do that with the pads at 2:07, although in the context of a fairly downtempo section of the piece it didn’t quite deliver the big “point of arrival” I was looking for. I enjoyed the transition into the chorus at 2:38, but again the piece feels a bit repetitive at this point. Although I will say that layering the dark pads from the breakdown onto the chorus was a good idea. Overall, I like the production quality, rhythmic content, and automations in this piece a lot. The composition could’ve been a tad bolder, though, and some aspects of the instrumentation and arrangement feel pretty cliche. Add a killer synth solo at the end or something, and I think you could boost your score by up to a point here. Keep at it, Raj! :)

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
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

rajbeatsofficial responds:

Solid and in depth feedback man!!! Greatly appreciated. I definitely focused more on getting the sonics right than anything else with this one, and agree the sound design and layering could have been bolder. Will keep this in mind. Thanks!!!

[Partialism - Windows XP [NGUAC 2022]]

I like the old-school chiptune vibe at the beginning. The texture sounds a bit indistinct at :07, and overall the mix is pretty quiet, but it starts sounding a bit crisper by :20. I like the rhythmic content and sound design here a lot, especially the bubbly synth at :36. I still think some stricter use of equalizers and more generous use of compression could help the mix feel punchier here, but the composition is really compelling here. The melodies at 1:12 are great, and the build-up at 1:20 with the subsequent “aftershocks” was a really creative idea. You really show off your great sense of melody for the rest of the second minute, and you also contrast that nicely with the more mellow section at 2:00. The progression is a little hard-to-follow at 2:12, and with the constant energy and similar instrumental palette, I think this piece could use some more structuring at times. More contrast between adjacent sections in terms of energy, sound design, mood, etc. could help keep the listener grounded a bit more. That said, you wrap up the piece nicely with the return of those quirky melodies at 2:42. Strong work overall, Partialism! The rhythmic content, sound design, melodies, and progression of this are all really compelling. Some attention to detail on the arrangement and mixing could help you snag an extra point or two. :) Keep at it, man!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8/10

Tetriform responds:

I really appreciate the nice feedback, I wasn't expecting anything positive lol
Thank you for taking the time to listen - I will definitely be trying again next year!

Jack

[PEEL THE SCAB]

I like the ominous tone and glitchy effects at the beginning. The rhythmic content and sound design here are great, although the vocoder is a bit cheesy-sounding. I also think the some of the harmonic instruments sound a tad thin in the mix compared to the static-y effects. The vocals start to be a bit overused at 1:14, but the melodies thereafter are really enjoyable. The production quality is solid here as well, with crisp beats and clear instrumentals throughout. Overall, I really like the composition here, and you’re clearly talented at writing melodies and creating quirky atmospheres. You’ve earned a scout for sure! Just please lay off the text-to-speech plug-ins in the future. :) Keep at it, OneBigParadox.

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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

OneBigParadox responds:

Thank you very much for the feedback!

[Tavern Song]

I like the sound design at the beginning. There are a lot of evocative Nordic-sounding stringed instruments and crisp drums. The instruments sound pretty dry in the mix until the strings come in at :15, though. Perhaps some more reverb and other mixing effects would help fill out the atmosphere a little more. Also, I’d like to see you create variety in this piece in more advanced ways besides just adding and subtracting instruments over time - dynamic contrast, drum fills, automation, etc. Otherwise, some of the transitions here seem a bit abrupt (like at 1:34), although I really liked the one at 1:12. The melodic content here is good, but a little repetitive. Especially later on in the piece, I wanted to hear some more dynamic melodies and harmonic variety. The production quality holds up quite well, though, and as I mentioned the instrumentation here is fantastic. Keep at it, OliRO! :)

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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7.75/10

OliRO responds:

Thank you so much for this in-depth review! I'm super happy to be part of the Knock-out round and I'll make sure to do some ironing on the aspects you mentioned. I understand that I really need to trade some of the methodical ''square'' knowledge for more wild creativity. I'll push this hard on the second round.

Cheers!