TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[lullaby]

Alright, this is really cute. I like the twinkly synth lead and minimal melodies. The sub-bass at :10 was a bit of a bizarre choice, though - it takes up a bit too much of the mix, and also just doesn’t really fit the character of the piece. Also, the composition could’ve been a tad bolder here. I would love to see a more fleshed-out structure with a bolder range of energy levels and instrumental palettes. The final cadence even makes the piece feel incomplete - it doesn’t resolve on the tonic. At some point, adding a stronger sense of atmosphere with a little reverb would also be advisable. Still, the sound design and melodies are great here. You’re truly living up to your username, sweedlebee1! Keep at it. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
5.5/10

sweedlebee1 responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I’m still relatively new to this so this is actually really helpful!

[Overcoming Fear (Fallen Moon's Dungeon)]

I like the theatrical intro and crisp, acoustic-sounding drums. The warm string melodies and light piano harmonies are really nice, although I would’ve liked to hear more bass in the mix. Also, the mix sounds very static-y at times (maybe it’s the acid bass in the background?), which is a bit of a bizarre choice for this type of piece in my opinion. In general, I like the variety in the instrumentals, especially the guitar solo at 1:21 and the drum fill at 2:00. The piece could use a little more variety in the energy level, though - after a solid three minutes of busy beats and thick textures, a breakdown or atmospheric bridge or something would be a welcome change. Still, I love the melodic content, sound design, harmonies, and creative energy of this piece. You cover a lot of ground narrative-wise in less than three minutes, and it all feels very flowing and coherent. In other words, you’re a talented composer who has earned my scout. Keep it up, sodakc! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9/10

sodakc responds:

thank you !!

yeah I agree the acid bass might not work the best here -- I mainly included it as it was kind of a staple of the "battle themes" I was composing for the project (this being the third one).

I agree with your thoughts on the energy level throughout the track as well -- when I made a kind of tonally different version of this for the second part of the project (called the "book 2 arrangement") I ended up adding in a bridge-like section in.

thanks again for the great feedback !!

...I'll be uploading the other tracks soon.

[Sunday]

I like the crisp drums and smooth guitars at the beginning. The vocals have a great, joyous energy to them, even if they’re a bit overly theatrical. This piece feels like it’s just getting started when the vocals cut off at :44. I’d encourage you to flesh this out more. It’s just hard for me to assess some of my compositional criteria with a piece that isn’t very structurally complete. I certainly like the sound design, vocals, and production quality so far. Send me a PM if you ever turn this into a full-length track. There’s great potential for a piece that really tells a story here, but first you’ve got to give the energy level, vocal phrasing, and articulation a bit more range. Keep at it, SmithdownRunners! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
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
7.25/10

SmithdownRunners responds:

Theatrical. THEATRICAL??? In a thousand suns i never... nah jk thank you so much for the fleshed out feedback was not expecting that

[Antimatter]

I like the echo-y piano at :03, but the distorted whirring sounds at the very beginning were a bit too grating for my tastes. The busy beat at :26 is really cool, as are the filtering automations on it. The build-up into :49 is pretty cool, but I think the snare takes up a bit too much of the mix there, and the piano and other harmonies (besides the lead) get really drowned out. The glissando effect at 1:35 is really cool, though, and I really like the heavily filtered drums at 1:36 and frantic synths at 1:48. The section at 1:58 is another one where the mix sounds really out of balance, with the lead absolutely overpowering everything else. The melodies themselves are good, but admittedly it’s a bit of a generic-sounding lead.

Overall, I like the blissful mood, progression, and rhythmic content of this piece a lot. The pacing is a bit on the fast side at times, and there are a couple of sound design choices I didn’t love, but the main concern I have is with the mix. It’s loud and clean, but needs to be substantially rebalanced between the instruments to emphasize the harmonies more and the lead less. Also, the drums are probably too loud if anything in the first half, but too quiet in the last minute or so. Reshuffle the “hierarchy” of instruments a bit, and this would be a much more compelling track in my opinion. Until then, you still get some major credit for the smooth transitions, melody writing, atmosphere, and energy. Keep at it, saria1chigo! You’ve earned a scout. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.75/10

saria1chigo responds:

thank you so much for the feedback!! i had a subtle hearing issue while working on this, will surely adjust the balancing next time! thank you again!!

[The Sound of War]

I like the main melody a lot, but unfortunately the distorted crunching really detracts from my enjoyment of the piece. The graceful piano at :25 is nice, although at times it’s a bit hard to follow the rhythm it’s playing. I also like the synth arpeggios at :48, but I think there could’ve been a smoother transition from the piano part before it. Overall, I would rein in the distortion in the first 20 seconds and at the end and focus on fleshing out the structure of this piece. As it is, it’s really short and also pretty disjointed between the opening melody, piano, and synth arpeggios. Gradual transitions between these motifs, as well as some more harmonies layered on top to round out the texture, would help make this piece feel more structurally complete and well-balanced. Until then, you’ve got several good compositional ideas to build on. Keep at it, Roy! ^_^

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
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
4/10

RoytheBEST123123 responds:

Was very helpful. Will use in my next work the sound of war v2.

[Battlemania]

I like the busy beat and bright-sounding pads at the beginning. The pacing is pretty fast - seems like the texture changes pretty abruptly every 5 seconds or something, which makes this a bit jarring to listen to overall. I think you need to consolidate some of your compositional ideas and focus on crafting a piece with gradual transitions and a coherent narrative. Some elements of the song, like the synth that comes in at 1:21, come across as really spammy, and there are a few places where the lead instrument has WAY too much reverb and completely drowns out the rest of the mix (0:40, 1:06, and 2:00).

In general, the mix is pretty muddy. If it’s an option in your DAW, I would suggest making sure that the harmonic instruments don’t have any frequencies below around 200 Hz - you can cut them out with an equalizer if they do. That might also make your drums in particular sound a bit sharper, especially during the busier sections of the piece.

But the main problem is the pacing. You have a lot of good compositional ideas in here - I especially like the airy pad riff at :53 - and the rhythmic content is also super cool. It’s just really hard to fully appreciate those compositional details when the arrangement is too choppy for the listener to hang his hat on any of the sections in isolation.

You have a lot of great content here to build on, but I’d encourage you to great a song that changes much more gradually than this while maintaining the excitement of the more energetic parts of this track. Once you feel like you’ve accomplished that, feel free to send me a PM and I’ll give you some more feedback. Until then, keep at it, roboherald! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
5.5/10

roboherald responds:

I am honored that you took the time to listen to it and give such detailed feedback. :D I'll use what you said and try to improve those areas; until now I've been pretty clueless about how to improve music-wise and you gave me a lot to work with. Thank you so much!
(P.S. Once I feel I improved I may take you up on that offer, though it may be a few months.)

[Forsaken Autumn // Namae Shirezu]

I like the ghostly synth at the beginning. The transition at :15 was pretty sudden. The vocaloid isn’t the most realistic-sounding one I’ve ever heard, but its robotic voice fits the creepy mood of the piece pretty well. I also like the crisp beats and the jazzy, somewhat atonal bridge at 1:20. Later on, the vocaloid gets a little buried in the mix (by around 1:52), and the ending is a bit sudden too. Would also love to read the lyrics sometime, since it’s hard to make them out from the track alone.

Overall, I like the sound design and production value a lot. The mix is super loud and punchy, if a little over-compressed for my tastes. As in, I literally listened to this on the lowest possible volume my computer can play before mute. Compositionally, the piece is a bit minimal, especially in the middle of the frequency range, and could use some more dynamic melodic content in the second half. That said, the ominous mood, atmosphere, rhythmic content, and progression all get you pretty far in the points column. If I ever want people to think I’m cool, I’ll absolutely blast this on my way to Target. Keep at it, reethepeethe! ^_^

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
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
7.75/10

reethepeethe responds:

Thank you!! I'll keep this in mind when I make another song ^w^, as for the lyrics:

Hardly me. Hardly me
Inside my mind, I see what’s right
Hardly me. Hardly me
Inside my mind, I see what’s right
Hardly me. Hardly me
...
Hardly me. Hardly me
...
Forsaken, autumn days
Remind me; recollect me
Forsaken, orangy days
Remind life of why I cried
Color coded tears. Color coded tears
Painted pretty pictures of my mind stops here
Color coded tears. Hardly me
Inside my mind, I see what’s right
...
Hardly me. Hardly me
Inside my mind, I see what’s right
Hardly me. Hardly me
Inside my mind, I see what’s right
Hardly me. Hardly me
...
Hardly me. Hardly me
...

[Rano]

I like the somber strings and bouncy piano line at the beginning. The kick is a bit sub-bassy for a piece like this, and there’s a bit of dissonance at :30 when a couple of the piano riffs trip over each other. Otherwise, the main thing this piece needs is a more fleshed-out structure. I really like the melodic development between the first and second halves of this (string solo in the upper register towards the end goes hard). But it still doesn’t quite feel structurally complete. In particular, some more contrast in the energy level and instrumental palette over time would be great. The production quality is good here, and I like the sound design and progression so far. But you’re not fully capitalizing on the emotional quality of those strings just yet - this track deserves a full-length version. Send me a PM if you get around to making it. Until then, thanks for coming out to the NGUAC, ravenousxxxdemon! You’ve earned a scout. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
7.25/10

ravenousxxxdemon responds:

Thank you so much for reviewing my work TL! It was an honor to take part in NGUAC. Long story short, I slapped this together over a day or two with a day job in between and entered the competition with it on a whim. I didn't expect much, but to be asking for "more" while receiving a decent score AND a scout is far more than I was expecting. I'm going to make the effort to make an extended version and will get back to you when it's ready. Thanks again! have a wonderful day.

[Creature Things]

I like the mellow, jazzy pads at the beginning. The bouncy bass and crisp beats at :20 are really neat, although the pause at :40 disrupted the flow unnecessarily. The chord progression at :41 is a bit odd - maybe it would help if you had spaced the notes a little wider, so that the chords sounded more open. The cute woodwind solo at :52 is a nice touch. The frantic drums at 1:01 feel a bit out-of-place, and the hats really get lost in the mix there. The stop-start beat at 1:14 feels a little disorienting, catchy though it is.

Not to be mean, but this piece makes me feel like I’m in one of those cartoons where the characters can jolt back and forth between worlds with the push of a button. There are a lot of good compositional ideas here, but you never really play any of them out to be fully realized. The arrangement is too choppy for the listener to hang his hat on any of the sections in isolation.

I’d encourage you to flesh out the structure with slower pacing, and maybe consolidate some of your ideas as needed. The sound design, rhythmic content, and jazzy harmonies are too good for the arrangement to be this thrown-together. If you ever get around to turning this into a full-length track, send me a PM. I want to hear this piece with its full narrative arc.

Keep at it, Pokinyoko! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
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?)
.5/1
Composite score
8/10

Pokinyoko-here responds:

I'll make sure to keep that in mind, I don't really know how to make music all that great yet so Im glad I could get the criticism I need lol

[FNF vs Secret Boy - Flying Eye]

I like the mellow chords at the beginning, but they get a tad drowned out among the other effects and vocals and the like. I like the energetic plucked bass riff at :12 and the solemn organ at :24. The section at :45 also sounds very distorted, and I feel like the build-up into 1:08 could’ve had a bit of a wider dynamic range. At 1:30, there’s a lot of mud in the mix as well. Later on in the piece, I was also looking for more harmonic variety - more variation on the main riffs, or a prominent melody to really hit the piece home. The higher pitched vocals at 2:30 are nice, but in general this piece is also missing a lot of treble-range frequencies for long stretches of time.

Still, my biggest concern is the mixing. It simply could be much cleaner. 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. But at the very least, use the equalizers to make sure that none of the harmonic instruments have any frequencies below about 200 Hz. Those sub-bass frequencies are often where the real muddy quality comes in.

Overall, I really like the sound design, compositional details, and adventuresome mood here. A tighter mix and some more variety in the second half would easily earn you another point or two from me. Keep at it, PocketBoy84Retro! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
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
7.5/10

PocketBoy84Retro responds:

I'll use your tips for the rest of my life! Thanks for the help, comments like this help me improve as an artist, but about the audio part, it seems stuffy and messy, unfortunately it's a fl studio mobile thing, unfortunately I can't change that :(