TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[masked]

The riser at the beginning sounds cool, but also might be a tad out-of-place with nothing else going on there. The piano riff at :08 is also cool, but the sudden changes in the texture at :17 and :19 throw me off a bit. The whooshing effect at :30 also sounds pretty neat, but it distorts the mix a bit. I think you really need to consolidate some of your ideas here. There are a lot of good stand-alone riffs and motifs, but they feel really disjointed from each other, as most of the transitions are very sudden, and the harmonic patterns don’t always interlock super well. Part of the problem may be that the instrumentation is a little all over the place, including some synths that sound both cheesy and harsh (most notably the one at :46). But the bigger problem is that the arrangement needs to be more flowing and cohesive. I’d suggest having more “common elements” that play throughout your piece, like drum riffs, bass lines, or pads. It could also help to foreshadow some of your transitions with things like crashes, sweeps, risers, automation, or volume level changes. Otherwise, the track just ends up sounding like bits and pieces of 5 different tracks that play in succession. Still, again, the individual riffs are cool here. I really like the cutesy melody at :33 and the rhythmic components of the piece throughout. Focusing on the arrangement and flow of the track will be an important next step for you. Feel free to PM me once you feel like you’ve accomplished that with this or another piece of yours. Keep at it, Draggems! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
4/10

draggems responds:

Thanks for giving such a detailed review on my crappy first song :D


My music nowadays much better than back then btw

I also use a free software called lmms lol

[Fidelity]

I like the bright strings at the beginning. The fade-in could’ve been a tad more creative, but the orchestral flair of the piece with the mallets and piano works really well, and there’s a good sense of build into the energetic electronic section at 1:00. The production quality is really strong, although the drum part is a bit bland and the piece could use some stronger melodic content to keep me engaged after a while. The most prominent element in the texture is the staccato-y synth lead that’s mostly just outlining the chord progression for 2 minutes. Something more dynamic-sounding would be a welcome change at some point. That said, I enjoyed the cutesy arpeggios at 3:00 and the mellow outro. You clearly have a great sense of harmony and progression, and strong mixing and mastering skills too. The sound design here is also really well done. I think boosting your score from the 8-range to the 9-range would just require a bit more ebb-and-flow in the composition, and maybe a more original harmonic pattern at some point. Until then, keep up the good work, DJ-Cassell! :)

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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.25/10

DJ-Cassell responds:

Love this! Thank you so much for your inspiring compliments and detailed review. I shall keep in mind your criticism as I produce more music in the future :D

[Fading Hope]

I like the pulsing bass arpeggios and the drums at the beginning. The string samples sound pretty fake, and it throws me off a bit when the beat suddenly cuts off at :41. The more melodic riff at :48 was a nice touch, and I really commend you for having such a creative and dynamic drum part throughout. Compositionally, there’s a lot to like with the piece too. You have a good sense of harmony and progression, and despite a lot of stop-start transitions, the piece flows pretty smoothly throughout. The one major problem I have with the piece is with the sound design. Frankly, the orchestral elements of the piece are very inauthentic, to the extent that you’re probably better off replacing them with instruments that are meant to sound synthetic. My favorite element of the sound design is by far the drums. I also noticed that the mix is a bit dry. I can hear all of the instruments clearly throughout, but I think it would be great if the soaring string riffs or graceful melodies had more reverb or other effects that made the atmosphere sound richer. The ending of the piece is also very sudden. All of that said, the composition really keeps this piece afloat. It’s simultaneously very catchy and melodically beautiful. You’re selling the emotion really well throughout, and the piece feels both well-varied and cohesive, which is something that’s hard to pull off in a piece where the underlying harmonies don’t shift too much. Overall, solid work here, Derp604. But please, find some better string samples! :)

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

derp604 responds:

Thank you so much for this review, this helps a lot.

[Curse of the Cat-acombs]

I like the ominous fade-in at the beginning and the echo-y harp pattern that comes in shortly thereafter. The snare sample is a tad generic, and the intro as a whole drags on for a bit too long without creating much of a sense of progression. The build-up into 1:29 was nice, and the drop was full of variety and some fun sound effects and melodic filler.

The volume levels in this piece are a bit unwieldy at times - right after the first drop (1:57), the main melodic riff comes in at the loudest volume the listener has heard so far in the piece, which seems a bit jarring after the very energetic drop section. Also a little on the loud side was the plucked synth at 2:41. You then double down on the “gradually louder verse/bridge content” theme with the part at 4:06. In theory, these volume level changes were a creative idea, but it actually comes across as a bit cheesy and forced.

By contrast, the echo-y and mysterious repeat of the melodic pattern at 5:01 was really nice. Again, the outro seemed a bit dragged-out, much like the intro, and for a track this long you don’t vary the harmonies of the piece too much. That said, the sound design, rhythmic content at the drops, progression, atmosphere, and mixing are all on the plus side for me. Keep at it, Darkkit10! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
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
8/10

Darkkit10 responds:

Thx

I’ll eventually make a remastered version and fix these things

[House Down]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the ominous synth pattern at :11. The snare at :44 is a little loud compared to the synths, and the texture of the piece remains quite minimal throughout. You have a good sense of harmony and progression, but the composition felt a little underdeveloped here. Some stronger melodic content or some more dynamic harmonic elements would help this piece out a lot. That said, I admire your sense of atmosphere, and the production quality here is really strong. Keep at it, BigTWONeli! :)

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
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
6/10

BigTWONeli responds:

This is the most in depth form of criticism I’ve ever gotten, and I love it! Thanks man I really appreciate the thoroughness

[Wyoming]

I like the spacey pad at the beginning and the distorted bass. The lead synth at :20 is a bit cheesy, but I like the upbeat mood and quirky percussion. The pad that starts fading in at around 1:05 clashes a bit harmonically with the lead - it sounds like they’re competing for attention a bit too much there. The breakdown at 1:25 came on a bit suddenly, but I like the bright pads at 1:42 and the rhythmic content. The melodic variations later on are nice, and I’m usually not a huge fan of fade-outs, but I think this one works well here. Overall, this is a cute and well-structured piece. Sometimes, the reverb on the pads is a bit too much - I think that might be part of the reason why the harmonies clash a bit at times. Still, solid work all around. Keep at it, 50Steaks! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7/10

50Steaks responds:

To be honest I couldn’t agree more. Back when I made this I was still putting extreme reverb on some instruments for some reason. An interesting point you said about the breakdown coming suddenly, it never occurred to me but yeah there’s no real indication that it would revert back to the intro. I think you hit the nail on the head with this, and I would rate it 3.5/5 as well.

[See You Never (Feat. Maderlin Weng)]

I really like the cutesy beat at the beginning and the bright mix. The sub-bass sits really well in the texture, and the trumpet solo at 1:48 really hits the spot. The multilingual lyrics are great, too. Maderlin has a really airy and crooning voice that fit the character of the song really well. I really like how the trumpet, vocal refrain, beat, and mallets all converge during the last 30-45 seconds or so, and the coda with the phone message was clever. The mastering sounds professional here, ACXLE, but I think my favorite part is the sound design. Keep up the great work! ^^

acxle responds:

thanks TL :)

[oof]

I like the beat, and the tempo automations were a creative idea. I think the mix sounds a little dry, and some reverb and other effects could help smooth over the dissonance and keep things interesting amid the minimalism. The sound design is really unique, although the vocal samples sound a little distorted and murky. The track is mastered really loud, but is in danger of clipping at a couple of points. The rhythmic content is pretty cool, especially during the last 45 seconds or so. I think the piece could've used a stronger sense of direction at times - it had a start/stop vibe in the structure, but little sense of overarching narrative or development. Either way, it's a cool beat with some clean production. I just think you could rein in the volume levels a tad and fill out the atmosphere a little more. Keep at it, Aoraz! ^^

Aoraz responds:

Thank you! I will keep this in mind for future projects. Even after 10 years I am still struggling with mastering my songs correctly haha