TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[Open Your Eyes]

I like the emotional appeal of the spacey piano at the beginning. The blissful melodies and quirky synths at :32 are really nice, and the heavy pads at 1:00 and crisp beats thereafter work really well too. The drop was good too, although I thought you could've gotten a little more creative with the ascending pattern in the gritty mid-range bass that starts at 1:29. This piece has a really nice rhythm between the mellow piano bits and the energetic electronic sections. I suppose I would've liked to hear a little more variation on the drop the second time around, and maybe also an extended outro, but overall I'm really liking the sound design, mixing, mood, and atmosphere of this piece! Keep at it, Jacob. ^^

Jacob responds:

Thank you for the review, TL! You pointed out two things with which I struggled - so good ear.
With the ascending bit at 1:29, I thought it was funny for the robotic voice to resolve the tension by dropping it - but I landed on this after being unsure of where to go with the build, so it was absolutely a cop-out.

I tried a few things on the second go-around of the drop, but ended up not liking any of them. Instead, I decided to treat it more like a slightly modified repeat of a chorus than a drop. It would have most likely been more riveting if I had brought more to it.

I think you're right about the ending. I actually wrote the drop/chorus and that ending before the rest of the song. After bringing the piano into the mix, though, it probably would have been more gratifying to end the song by resolving with the piano - especially if I'd chosen to build up more energy in the climax.

I always appreciate your feedback! And I'm excited to make more tunes. :)

[The Seventh Chord]

I like the dreamy vibe at the beginning and the chromatic details in the melodies. The tone is a good combination of blissful and energetic. Chord progression is a tad cliche, but the smooth flow and rich atmosphere of the piece help keep me engaged. The modulation at 2:00 was a nice touch too. The spacey outro works well, and the production quality is solid too. You earned a scout, my friend! Keep up the good work. ^_^

TranceMasterGD responds:

Tack så mycket herr

[Roads (In the works)]

The ambiance at the beginning is a little eerie, and the bass and beat bolster that effect further. The jazzy vibe and the occasional dissonant moments (e.x. 1:17) are nice touches that round out the character of the piece. I think there's still a lot of room for you to take a more compositionally daring approach with this, but the sound design and atmosphere have me itching for more. Welcome back, Trunotfals! I'm loving your new style, too - as I recall you composed a lot of EDM back in the day. ^_^

trunotfals responds:

So glad to see you commenting on my music again!!! And yes I still make edm, haha, I just havent made like, ANYTHING for almost three years.

[Sakura Raceway]

Hahaha I like the cheesy melodies and upbeat tone. I know you made this in an hour and stuff, but I thought the bridge at :55 was a little bland - the very least you could do to spice it up would be to add some punchier drums to really make that solo pop. Still, the cutesy details of the piece, right down to the ritardando and plunky last note at the end, made me smile. Solid work, LE!

Also, somehow this feels a little slow-paced for Mario Kart, but maybe that's just because I always put the game on "aggressive items." >:D

LunacyEcho responds:

yeah i totally agree, definitely could've done more with the drums—i was just experimenting with some new samples i got. thanks for the review!

[Uncontainable Love]

I really like the emotional appeal of this one. The piano melodies are beautiful, and you did a great job with the string swells at around :47. It was a little sudden when the instrumentation almost completely changed at :28, but it still sounded pretty smooth because the same melody was playing on either side of the transition. The orchestration here is a highlight at the end of the day, especially towards the end of the piece when it adds so much variety and flavor to the track. The outro with the piano is just the icing on the cake, too. Love the string drones and full-circle compositional approach here. Lovely work, CS! ^_^

CloakedSoup responds:

Thanks a ton! :D

The idea I was going for was to present the melody plainly in the beginning and then have it blossom like a flower with the orchestration (Hence the cello melody + viola countermelody at 0:28 before everything else slowly fills up the space). The orchestration was definitely the main focus while I was working on it and I'm glad you enjoyed that aspect of it!

Thanks again for the great review!

[SWEDEN (MINECRAFT)]

Woah! Been a while since I've heard from you. I like the tranquility at the beginning. The rich strings at :47 are really nice, and there's a great warm tone to the piece once the texture starts filling out at the 1-minute mark or so. The sound design here is especially admirable. The mix could've been a tad louder, but you definitely emphasize the contrast between the beginning and the climax quite well. I like the portamentos during the drop - really nice touch that adds some dynamism to the chords there. Naturally, the full-circle approach to the composition that you took here is really effective. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, Dave! Hope to see you posting more on NG in the near future. ^^

Daveisgr81 responds:

Thanks! I'm still around - been a long time since I've been here!

I hear you about the volume, it was a problem during the mix :/