TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Self-taught Dementia]

I like the distorted texture at the beginning. Some of the synths, especially the one at :13, sound a bit cheesy and unpolished - reminds me of an Autogun preset. The texture also remains rather minimal throughout, and is pretty bottom-heavy at times. The rhythmic content is enjoyable, and the progression is decent, but the lack of harmonic depth and other compositional details to maintain interest is concerning. The somewhat experimental sound design is pretty nice, and the production quality is solid. I think you overuse the slidey synth at 2:22 that sounds like a tea kettle boiling over. Overall, while the composition is pretty bland, it’s still a catchy piece with some neat instrumentation, solid mixing, and fun build-ups. Keep at it, JaThu, and thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.5/2
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
6/10

JaThu responds:

Its always a pleasure to read your feedback! Thankyou sooo much TL

[Dance No. 1]

I like the furtive mood at the beginning and the quirky sound design. The piano at :32 sounds a bit unpolished, and the different brass instruments at :52 could probably blend better. I like the vocals, though. The slow pace at which they’re delivered is rather haunting, and the lyrics themselves are also really good. The brass melodies starting at 1:46 are really great, and together with the drums, strings, and mallets I’m really enjoying the authentic sound design of this piece. The syncopations at 2:15 or so are great, too. At 2:55, I think the vocals could’ve been a bit more up-front in the mix, especially since it seems like the “conclusion” of the lyrics arc throughout the piece. The electric piano and generous use of percussion at 3:45 were also neat - great use of structural variety there. The percussion gets a tad buried underneath the brass at 4:10, but the section at 4:41 ties the piece together well. Overall, the structure feels a tad drawn-out here, but the flow is smooth and the sound design and mood are great. Rich textures and solid production quality throughout, despite my occasional complaints with the balance/mixing. Compositionally, the piece is a home run, and you really captured the emotional quality to the lyrics in your vocals. Strong work, Glassedhouse! Thanks for coming out again to the NGUAC this year. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
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
8.75/10

Glassedhouse responds:

Yeah, the section at 2:15 is my favourite bit of the entire piece. Syncopation go crazy. I do agree with the mixing/mastering likely being the weakest aspect of the track, but that probably had something to do with the amount of time it took to construct a brass band, as well as the sheer amount of Audio/MIDI tracks playing at once. I'm definitely going to rework this song in those aspects later in the near future. Thank you for appreciating the compositional aspects! Those were what most of my work and time went into, and is my favourite aspect!

[NGUAC2021 Finals]

I like the dreamy synths at the beginning, although the compression and reverb both seem a little too heavy. The build-up into :47 is cool, and the synth melodies there are really upbeat and catchy. Some of the synths here are a bit cheesy, including the lead, and the chord progression at 1:25 is pretty cliche. That said, I’m enjoying the strong beats and variations at 1:56. You start to overuse the transition with the rising percussion by the third time at 3:00, but I appreciated the variation on the main melody during the final refrain. The production quality, progression, mood, and melodies are all really solid here. The sound design isn’t my favorite, but my biggest problem is probably how generic the harmonic structure, arrangement, and compositional details are. Still, you’ve earned a lot of credit here for the rich, well-balanced textures and catchy melodies. Keep at it, Fumijena, and thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.25/10

Fumijena responds:

thank you so much for the feedback ! thanks for the opportunity as well ! see you next year :D

[FD - Biosignatures]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the strings at :26. The progression is a bit slow-paced, although the sound design and atmosphere are really neat. The texture is well balanced and the mix is full, if a tad quiet. The piece has a good sense of ebb-and-flow, although the composition could’ve been a tad bolder. There’s a lot of pent-up tension in the piece that never quite gets resolved. The production quality is quite strong, and the mood and soundscape are rather engrossing. Overall, really solid work here! I’m still waiting for the killer melody/climax towards the end to blow me away, but the cinematic appeal of this track is undeniably really good. Keep at it, ForgottenDawn, and thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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?)
1/1
Composite score
8.5/10

ForgottenDawn responds:

Thanks for inviting me! It was a lot of fun and the leaderboard-style scoring was pretty neat to follow all the way through. See you across the 'grounds

[Free Stardust]

I like the dreamy texture at the beginning and the crisp drums at :10. The production quality is really solid, and the texture, while pretty minimal, is also pretty well balanced. The progression is pretty slow-paced, though, and overall the composition is pretty underwhelming. I like the prominent hi-hats in the drum beat, but that’s not really enough to keep me engaged after a while. The cutesy synth riff at 1:29 works well, but I would’ve liked to see a smoother transition there. The riff seems like it’s building towards something, but it ends up being a bit anticlimactic by 2:09. The outro at 2:51 was nice and dreamy, but overall a bit bland. The atmosphere and sound design here are really cool, and the mixing is solid as well, but the composition could’ve been a lot bolder here. Still, you’re clearly a talented producer. Layering on a more dynamic melody would go a long way towards improving this piece. Until then, keep at it, Equinaga, and thanks for coming out to the NGUAC this year! ^_^

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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
6.25/10

Equinaga responds:

really, thanks for the feedback! what's cool about owning the music, is you can always go back to a song that could've been, and make it the best it can possibly be

[WorldAnvil - NGUAC Final]

I like the dark atmosphere at the beginning and the dramatic orchestral/vocal hits at :25. The vocals at 1:04 are absolutely haunting, and you’ve certainly done an excellent job with the pacing here. The triumphant mood at 1:34 is thrilling, and I love how you implement the orchestral hits into the energetic Celtic melodies at 2:15. The bass slide at 2:28 (and again at 2:45) were nice touches as well. And you slide seamlessly into another beautiful, captivating atmosphere at 2:52. The bridge at 3:48 with the horn stabs had another strong progression with some excellent phrasing. The percussion during that section sounds a bit bottom-heavy and unnatural somehow. Also, the vocals seem to be “washing back” in the mix a bit at around 4:25, such that the body of the sound is just slightly behind the beat - and the same thing may be happening to the strings at 1:55, but it’s hard to tell with so much going on in the texture. Otherwise, the mixing here is really strong, though. The final climax at 5:25 totally earned its title, although you may have overused the bass slides a tad by the end. Overall, all of my complaints are tiny details. The progression of the piece is probably my favorite part. Seriously, let me call up George Lucas and ask him to make a movie based on this piece. :D Keep it up, Elias!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/1.5
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
9.75/10

Santi-Montali responds:

Thank you very much tl, I agree to everything you said and I'm going to improve it and repost it! Thanks for the encouragement

[Snikio - Checkmate]

I like the old-timey piano intro. You may have overdone the static in the background, but the tape speed-up at :10 was a nice touch, and the bouncy piano riff at :12 is really nice. I would’ve liked the walking bass to be a bit more prominent in the mix, but the descending melodic riff at :28 help keep me engaged. I love the pads that start fading in during that section, but the first minute of the piece still feels pretty top-heavy frequency-wise. Despite the minimalism at 1:01, you finally hit me with that bass, and it’s glorious! By then, though, the melodies feel a tad repetitive. The piano re-intro at 1:34 was a nice touch, and I’m really liking the brass melodic variations at 1:55. The more traditional build-up into 2:22 was also really neat. The eagle screech sound effect at 2:41 works well, although I would’ve liked to hear some more variety in the melodies during the second drop/chorus, and the transition back into the “old-timey” tape sound at 3:31 was a little rough. Overall, you’re definitely getting full credit for catchiness and melodic content, but the lack of variety is also hurting you a bit. Still, really admirable work on the production/sound design side, and the rhythmic content is a big plus here as well. Keep at it, Dowon! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

Snikio responds:

Thank you so much!!! It's happy to have this detailed review. I'm gonna edit and complete this track refer to your amazing fantastic super duper absolutely hyper great comment

[(OTG) Cirque Du Dismay - Intro]

I like the percussion at the beginning and the dramatic orchestral hits starting at :05. It’s a little hard to get a sense of the harmonic framework at first, but I like the dreamy texture at :27 and the string melodies shortly thereafter. I like the sense of climax into :53, and the mix is clean and well-balanced throughout. The organ hang-over from the held note at 1:16 threw me off a bit, but by 1:31 I’m enjoying the crisp string line, and the organ blends in nicely. The dissonance in the texture at 1:55 or so and the accelerando are all great compositional details. The ending felt a bit inconclusive, but it is an intro, after all. Overall, my biggest concerns here are probably with the choppy arrangement and meandering harmonic structure, especially the modulations at :53 or so. It’s very hard to follow the progression of the piece at times, despite the generous use of percussion fills and similar instrumentation between adjacent sections. Still, I really admire the variety of moods and textures you’ve crammed into a short 3 minutes, and the cinematic appeal of the piece is irresistible at times. You told a story for sure - I’m a little concerned that the story is disjointed and incomplete, but the narrative ebb and flow is self-evident here. Otherwise, excellent work with the sound design, production quality, melodies, and atmosphere. Keep it up, Codefreq! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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
8.75/10

Codefreq responds:

Thank you very much for the detailed feedback! :) I'll definitely factor those notes into my creation of future pieces.

[The Shopkeeper]

I like the bouncy piano riff at the beginning. The mix is full, clean, and well-balanced, and the sound design is refreshing. This is one of the most authentic-sounding vocoders I’ve ever heard - I thought it was a real person singing for a full 6-8 seconds. The conversational tone of the lyrics is really nice, too. Feels like this song is right out of a musical. The layered string/guitar melody at :51 complements the vocal verse perfectly, and the exposed percussion line at 1:08 does a great job of pushing the “reset button” on the song. The layered vocal line at 2:15 was a great way of adding closure to the piece - it feels like the level of attention to detail and passion for her work the shopkeeper is demonstrating is increasing as the song goes on. Really strong work here, Vermeen! You told a convincing story with this one, right down to the vocaloid. Keep it up! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/1.5
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
9.75/10

vermeen responds:

thank you so much! i really did try to bring out a sense of playfulness with this track, i feel proud it shone through. while i don't quite expect to stack up against the veteran competitors in the finals, i'll come up with something i know i'll enjoy writing like i did with this.