TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Brain Fog]

I like the pensive synth arpeggios at the beginning and the ominous atmosphere at :06. The crisp beats at :13 are nice too, and the build-up into :32 was enjoyable, but extending the transition with the arps kinda ruined the flow of it IMO. The drop at :38 is pretty minimal, and when the arps come back in at :51 I can barely hear them. I think the bass is seriously distorting the rest of the harmonies in the mix, which you can probably fix with some more equalization and potentially stereo expansion on the arps. In general, I’d like to see some more harmonic depth here - thicker layers of harmonic instruments, including some that are in a higher frequency range to balance out the otherwise bottom-heavy mix here.

That said, there are some really cool compositional details here, like the rapid-fire synths at 1:46. The rhythmic content is definitely neat throughout. I also think it would be good to cut down on some of the filler/transitory content, like the long section at 2:35 where a pulsing, atmospheric pad takes up most of the texture. That said, the bright-sounding mid-range synth at 3:05 was a good way of creating some variety, and you transition nicely back into the refrain with the main theme at 3:37. The bass is still distorting the mix during the final minute or so - please double-check to make sure that you have an equalizer cutting off all of the frequencies below 200 Hz in every instrument besides the bass and kick. You might also need to limit the upper range of the bass a bit to make sure it’s not interfering with others.

Overall, this piece is catchy, smooth-flowing, and has a great atmosphere and a lot of cool individual riffs. The composition just needs a tad more depth, and the production could use some cleaning up here and there. Keep at it, Randomdude456! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
6.25/10

Randomdude456 responds:

hearing someone give a review like this on a song i made warms my heart so much... thank you for the feedback!!!!!

[test3]

I like the mysterious tone at the beginning. The mix is very quiet, though, and the synth bass sounds a bit unpolished. The melodies and synths at :44 are nice, but I’d like to see you flesh out the structure a bit more and create some variety in the harmonies.

The biggest problem, though, is that there’s a lot of distortion in the texture, likely from the drums. It might be that the piece is over-compressed more than simply too loud in general. It’s hard for me to diagnose the problem without seeing exactly what mixer inputs you have here, but it definitely sounds like clipping, which is something you want to avoid. Clipping is basically where the audio signal exceeds its maximum output. Since your device can’t shove the whole waveform through, it’ll reduce the quality to compensate. Most DAWs have a mixer feed that allows you to see when your piece is clipping - I’m unfamiliar with Waveform, but typically it’s a red bar that shows up to let you know the quality is taking a hit. Likely, you’ll need to soften up the mixing effects on those distorted, grainy-sounding drums during the refrain if you want it to stop clipping.

After you fix that, you’ll have a cute, melodic track with some well-balanced frequencies and a danceable beat. :) Keep at it, Octopuswindow!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
5.5/10

octopuswindow responds:

thanks for the review! :)

[interface]

The filtering effects at the beginning are really cool, and I love the prominent hi-hat at :10 and the variation on the attacks and mixing effects for the first 45 or so while the texture is still minimal. The bass at :43 is scrumptious - it has so much depth, and yet it doesn’t completely take over the mix either. Overall, the sound design is killer, and I love the melodic bridge at 1:20. The multiple stop-starts there weren’t my favorite, but otherwise this piece is also really smooth-flowing and well-structured too. The quirky low-mid-range solo at 2:11 was a nice touch, although it feels like this piece never quite got back to the same feeling of arrival and climax as in the first minute or so. That said, I like the dense rhythmic variations during the final 30 seconds or so, and in context I think the stop-start at 3:03 fits better than the ones during the bridge. Overall, this is a really strong piece. Love the instrumentation, melodies, production, and danceability. Keep it up, Octaneuro! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
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
9.5/10

octaneuro responds:

I honestly agree with you on most of this. The first half is definitely a lot stronger than afterward. That's mostly because I had to rush finishing this one, & I wanted to keep it simplistic.

Thank you so much for your review! It means a lot to me.

[Kawaii]

I like the spacey pads at the beginning and the frantic vocals. The vocals could be a bit more up-front in the mix though, and at times the glitch and distortion effects are a little too heavy (like at :29 and, especially, 1:14). Otherwise, the piece sounds pretty repetitive, even though it has two distinct sections. I can’t hear the instruments all clearly in the mix throughout, especially later on. The drums are seriously ducking under the distorted vocals, and the texture is overall way too harsh and grating. I’d like to see more variety in the harmonies and a more fleshed-out structure, but first you need to rein in some of these volume levels. There are some good ideas here in terms of the instrument choices and core harmonic riffs, but you just went way too lo-fi with the production. Keep at it, NotZec! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.5/2
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?)
0/1
Composite score
3.5/10

NotZec responds:

Hella thanks for the tips and respectful criticism, I'll sure be keeping at it with the mixing though (It's fuckin horrible) 😭

[TimeToShine [NewGrounds Version]]

I like the sound effects at the beginning and the cute synth riff at :04. The rhythmic and melodic content alike are great, and the sound design itself is also enjoyable. The transition at :50 is a bit abrupt - at the very least, a crash or sweep would’ve helped smooth it over a tad. Later on, the piece is pretty repetitive, although you have a slightly different contour to the melody the second time around from around 1:15 on. The ending is very abrupt - even a brief outro would’ve been welcome. The production quality is pretty good, but not perfect - the drums at :19 could use a bit of a boost in the mix. Maybe some more compression is in order, or just stricter equalization in the other instruments. Overall, though, this is a cute piece with some neat instrumentation and strong, upbeat melodies. Keep at it, NewGameExplorers! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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?)
1/1
Composite score
8/10

NewGameExplorers responds:

Big thanks for the review! I am pretty grateful for this.

[||TERM1NATION OF CYB3RNET1C BOUNDARIE2]

I like the bass line at the beginning. It’s a bit hard to follow the rhythm, though, and once the beat comes in it doesn’t get much easier. The rhythm might be just a bit too dense. In general, the piece is very slow to develop, but by 1:25 the texture feels full, if a bit bottom-heavy. The mixing isn’t perfect, and it definitely gets hard to hear the drums during some of the busier sections. It might help to transpose some of the harmonies up an octave or two - crowding a lot of instruments towards the low end of the frequency spectrum can make a piece sound really muddy. By 2:50 or so, the harmonies also sound a bit dissonant. I’d also like to see more variety in the instruments and energy level, which would help keep the piece sounding fresh.

Overall, I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece. Simplifying the rhythms could make the piece a lot more danceable - right now, there’s so much going on that it’s often hard to discern the points of emphasis in the beat. As for the distorted mix, in addition to raising the pitch of the harmonies, I would suggest using an equalizer to remove the low-pitched frequencies (below around 200 Hz) on everything except the bass and kick. That will limit the muddy, indistinct quality of the texture. You could also ensure the drums pop through the mix by adding a compressor onto them and turning up the ratio to 4:1 or so. Lastly, I’d challenge you to add one or two sections with a more mellow or atmospheric quality to them, just for contrast with the gritty club beats.

Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC. Also, I forgot to mention that the final cadence with the drum echo at 5:24 is really cool. Keep at it, NeuralDelverM! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
4.5/10

NeuralDelverM responds:

I really appreciate the in-depth analysis. This track was recorded straight out of my nintendo switch and sloppily mastered. Now I have some drive to get it fully stemmed out and mixed/mastered properly, and I will see what I can do about the rhythms. The rest of your suggestions should be easy to implement, especially because you provided specific points to improve on. Thank you for taking the time to help me out even though I did not make it past the first round! <3

[90's House]

The old-school groove at the beginning is nice, although the mix sounds really distorted and some of the synths sound a bit unpolished. I can barely make out the orchestral hits at :56. The mid-range pads at 1:17 are really nice, and the rhythmic content here in general is great. Some of the effects are overused and don’t blend into the texture very well - for example, I didn’t really need 15 full seconds of police siren at 1:36 (or another full 15 seconds at 2:14, for that matter).

Still, overall the composition is fine, if a little repetitive, and the sound design is mostly good. My main concern is the mixing. You simply can’t hear all the instruments clearly throughout the piece. To fix that, try adding an equalizer to each instrument in your DAW’s mixer, and then remove the frequencies below 200 Hz for every instrument except the bass and the kick. It might also help add clarity and sharpness to the mix if you put some compression on the drums, especially the snare and clap. Just make sure to turn up the ratio on the compressor to 4:1 or so - that’ll help the drums pop through a dense texture and remain crisp throughout the song.

Overall, you clearly have a good sense of harmony, progression, and rhythm. You just need to cultivate your skills as a producer a bit more, thus the mixing tips above. Love the catchy beats and throwback instrumentation, though. Keep at it, Necromancer8642! ^_^

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
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7/10

Necromancer8642 responds:

To be fair, I made this song before I knew about the mixing tricks you told me but I learned the mixing tricks way before you made this comment. The drums were supposed to sound distorted. And yes the bass is really hard to hear at times. And, like like the siren :(
My regrets: Not making the bass easier to hear, not cutting off the tail of on bass before the next bass pattern plays, not making the orchestral hits easier to hear. And not my fault the 808 kick is so damn weak. ;) My newer songs are better in quality anyway.

[NGUAC2024 - Elimination]

I like the pads and quirky drums at the beginning. Once the main beat comes in at :25, the mix sounds seriously distorted, though. The drums and bass get a lot quieter than they were before, and the whole texture sounds muddy and indistinct. You can fix that by adding an equalizer to each instrument in your DAW’s mixer, and then removing the frequencies below 200 Hz for every instrument except the bass and the kick. It might also help add clarity and sharpness to the mix if you put some compression on the drums.

That said, the lead synth riff at :37 is cute, and I like how you have a built-in “B” melody at :50 too. The chord changes at 1:15 are a bit abrupt, and the faller at 1:40 is just a bit too loud relative to the harmonies, especially since it’s repeated so often for the following 30 seconds. The minimal synth arpeggio bridge at 2:04 was a nice touch, although at some point I would’ve liked to see you shake up the energy level of the piece for an extended period of time. Believe it or not, it’s hard to keep most listeners engaged when the energy level is constantly high for more than a minute or two. The “reset” at 2:48 helped bridge the gap before the new melody comes in at 3:00, and I like the build-up into 3:38. This piece has a ton of bold key changes, which in general you pull off quite well in the context of a given transitory moment, although having so many of them still makes the arrangement seem a tad disjointed.

Overall, the composition is really dynamic and creative, if not as cohesive as it could be. The sound design is good, but the mix could be a lot more polished and sharp. Serious props for submitting such an ambitious project as your NGUAC tryout! Keep at it, MutatedBacon. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

MutatedBacon responds:

Thank you so much for your feedback!

[OXYGENE]

I like the cute, frantic synth riff at the beginning. The bass riff at :13 sounds a bit clunky, with a couple of notes in the lower range that are very close together in pitch (which usually creates a muddy texture). There are a lot of sudden transitions here, and the pace of change is also very fast, making for a bit of a disorienting arrangement. A lot of the individual riffs and compositional details are cool - I think the pattern at :58 is particularly catchy. That said, I wanted to see you flesh out the structure of this piece with some more gradual transitions and maybe some more polished-sounding instruments (the bass in particular sounds like a raw square wave). I’d encourage you to revisit this piece with largely the same structure, but double the length of time between each major section and more elements in common between adjacent sections (it could be the same drum riff, bass line, or otherwise). Crashes, sweeps, and drum fills are also a good way of foreshadowing that a major change in the texture is about to occur before it does, which might make some of these transitions less jarring. All of that said, I really enjoyed the rhythmic content, upbeat mood, and energy of this piece. Keep at it, MorictoMusicia! ^_^

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

MorictoMusicia responds:

ty! ye, i think the 0:58 melody's pretty catchy. Tysm for the constructive critic!