TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Frigid Dreamscape]

I like the majestic arpeggios at the beginning and the rich atmosphere. The beats at :25 are also cool - nice and crisp drums really create a nice sense of drive despite the flowy, trance-like atmosphere. Personally, the bass at :53 didn’t work quite as well for me. It sounds a bit too heavy given the character of the rest of the piece, and also dominated the mix too much. I’d suggest scaling back the reverb a bit on it and maybe filtering out some of the bass’s higher-pitched frequencies with an equalizer or something.

In fact, once the texture gets busier at 1:50 or so, the reverb and lack of balance in the frequencies is really distorting the mix. I can tell because the drums sound way fainter here, and I’m guessing it’s not because you lowered the volume. An important step towards fixing that is cutting back on the reverb, but the main thing you need to do is use more filtering. You shouldn’t really have any frequencies beneath 100 Hertz or so in the melody synths, or anything besides the bass and kick drum, really. Ideally, you’d select your instruments before composing a piece, keeping “slots” in mind - assigning one or two instrument each to the bass range, mid-low, middle, high-mid, and treble range. That way, even if the 2 instruments belonging to the same frequency range are playing at once, you can keep them sounding distinct in the mix using tools like panning, sidechaining, and stereo widening. In reality, most producers don’t usually do this “slot” technique, but while you’re learning how to mix and master your tracks it can be really helpful.

Anyway, back to your piece: sometimes, the rhythm is a bit square (a lot of straight eighth and quarter notes in the harmonies of individual instruments, notably at 4:55). This wouldn’t be a huge problem if it was just the harmonies or arpeggios that did this, but it also occurs in the melodies, which makes them significantly less memorable or interesting.

That said, the progression is enjoyable here. Very dream-like and evocative. The flow of the piece is really smooth overall, but it’s also hard to make the one-climax model work well over the course of 6 minutes. I’d suggest aiming for a little more ebb and flow over the course of the piece - if, after listening to your piece once, I can pretty easily draw a line on my notepad that represents the “energy level” of the piece over time, especially a really long one like this, it could probably use a more interesting arrangement. Also, the piece lacks a strong sense of “arrival” at any one point, which is probably related to the somewhat linear structure.

I’ve been really tough on you in this review, but I want to emphasize that the main criticisms I have boil down to a couple of core issues: mixing and structuring/arrangement. In fact, mixing is probably the main one for me. I can tell you have a good sense of harmony and progression. The square rhythm is a relatively small problem, and you’ve done a lot of other things to keep the piece interesting besides the arrangement (sound design, atmosphere, etc.). Keep at it, DiamondEnderman! And let me know if I can help point you in the right direction on filtering/mixing techniques. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.25/10

DiamondEnderman responds:

thank you for the feedback! Greatly appreciated

[Cubiks - Neovitalism]

I like the mysterious pads at the beginning and the somewhat bizarre chord progression. There’s a good sense of build into :45, although there’s a bit of dissonance in the texture there that’s throwing me off. Seems like the piece is caught midway between an eerie ambient track and a spacey club beat. Some of the vocal samples were a bit overused imo, like the rhythmic riff at 2:04. Still, my main concern here is the lack of harmonic depth and melodic development. The sound design and rhythmic elements are both cool here, but in a full-length track they only go so far to keep me engaged. The production is pretty good, and the quirky mood is one of my favorite things about the piece. I think composition should be your focus going forward. I wanted to see more variety in the harmonic framework and chord progression, with some more melodic instruments taking the reins at some point, at least during a brief bridge or breakdown, just for variety. Still, one of the more unique and rhythmically inspired pieces in the contest this year. Keep at it, CubiksPlus! :)

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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
6.25/10

CubiksPlus responds:

<3 i will do better next time c;

[Suns3t]

I like the cutesy synths at the beginning and the arpeggiated harmonies. The mix sounds a bit dry, and some more reverb might help solve that. The airy pads at :27 add an element of tranquility to the texture, although the piece starts sounding a bit repetitive by around the 1-minute mark. The descending rolled chords at 1:22 was a good idea, and I like the melody at 1:36. The texture sounds a bit too minimal during a lot of the middle section, so I like when you bring the beat back at 2:17. A slow-paced, flowing piece like this could really use some more atmosphere, which is another reason to add a little more reverb and maybe a drone-like pad or something. Either way, I really like the arpeggios at 3:11, which help hit the piece home. There could’ve been a tad more variety in the melody later on, as the piece got pretty repetitive by that point, but overall this functions really well as a cute, languid slow jam. The production quality is also solid. Keep at it, c0mc1ol! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.25/10

c0mc1ol responds:

Thanks for the review! I'll try and implement some more variety in my next song, until next time! :D

[Lost Energy]

I like the quirky synths at the beginning and the drone-like quality to the phased synths in the background. The subtle pitch-bending effects threw me off a bit at first, but they really grew on me over time. The heavy bass at 1:15 was a nice touch, and the heavy reverb doesn’t seem to detract from the mix too much. The breakdown at 2:08 takes the tone of the piece in a bit of a somber direction, but I suppose that does help the piece live up to its title. The fade-out at the end could’ve been a little more creative, but overall the composition here is really strong. You’ve turned some pretty simplistic harmonies into something worth listening to more than twice with the neat sound design, progression, and mixing effects. Keep at it, BrandonTurner! ^_^

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

BrandonTurner responds:

I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the critique!!

[Please Forgive Me]

Beautiful track, Bosa! I like the stop-start patterns towards the beginning and the melodic flow later on. The emotional quality here is great, and the "cliffhanger" ending seems fittingly ambiguous. Wishing you the best going forward, Bosa. Let me know if you want to talk.

Bosa responds:

Thank you very much for being available to talk, I am very happy to have a friend like you.

[The D]

I like the flowing, airy vibe of the guitar at the beginning. Nice bright tone and loud mix. The recording is a tad static-y, but it doesn't bother me too much until the very end. I think your ideas for the rest of the instrumentation of the final product sound great too. It's a tad repetitive at times, but given that it's just the guitar part it's hard to tell if that's detrimental or not. At the very least, I'd suggest shaking up the chord structure at some point in the song, just to add some depth to the harmonies. Overall really nice work, though! Has a nice and tranquil feel overall. You're clearly a talented guitarist. Keep it up! ^^

W00ki3 responds:

Thanks for the review :) Yeah it's repetetive only because it's background guitar. Main sound will be violin and vocal. Maybe i'll change some parts of track. Anyway it's nice to see your opinion. I admit that it helped me to see this from another perspective. :D

[Mechanism]

I like the strong beat at the beginning and the groovy bass riffs. The ominous E-piano riff at :40 is really nice, and the gritty guitar-heavy texture at :50 contrasts well as a more fluid and legato element of the piece. The filtering on the drums at 1:30 is also a nice way of compounding the mysterious flair that the piece has. Overall, the texture is pretty minimal here, and I kept waiting for the big knockout solo that never quite came. That said, it strikes me as really good for a video game, and the riff at 2:35 is super catchy. The second guitar melody at 3:06 was a good way of wrapping up the piece, although I might've liked to see a bit more variation on the solo there, just to give it a stronger sense of progression. Still, solid piece overall. Production is really clean, and the sound design is super fun. I kinda wanted to hear more of that E-piano later in the piece, but assuming this loops in-game, it'll work fine for an OST. Keep up the good work, 8-bitheroes! ^^

8-bitheroes responds:

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback!

[AIM - Children of the Sea]

I like the majestic, lilting quality of the piece at the beginning. The texture of the piece really sounds like the sea. :) The sound design is awesome too, between the glorious string melodies at :50 and the cutesy mallets throughout. The cinematic quality is great, and you've done a lot to emphasize the contrast between the climactic sections and the more tranquil solos later on. The tambourine adds an extra bit of energy, and the heavy piano and darker tone towards the end makes me think the conclusion of the piece is a bit less light-hearted than most of the rest of the track. Really lovely work here, EverErratic! Is there somewhere I can download this?

Everratic responds:

Thanks for the review!

[Isolation Waltz]

Beautiful! Simplistic, yet beautiful. When the melody came in my heart melted. There's a lot of emotion behind this piece. Part of me wanted the composition to be a little more dynamic, but I got a little taste of something new at 2:20. I like the little clicks in the background too towards the end - is that some sort of percussion? Either way, congrats on the front-page and on this moving work in general. ^^

sleepFacingWest responds:

Thanks! The clicks are part of the mechanism of the music box.