TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Alexantoro49-DMS]

I like the cute synth riffs at the beginning, but some of the instruments themselves sound a bit unpolished and/or generic. There’s also a lot of white noise in the background in places, like around :10. Production-wise, the mix is pretty quiet, and the arrangement of the piece is very choppy. There are a lot of sudden changes where almost every element of the texture is changed out for something else, like at :52 and 1:56. You clearly have a good sense of harmony, rhythm, and melody, but I think you need to give the composition of the track a lot more cohesiveness. It sounds like an entire album full of tracks in one. I want you to work on creating gradual and smooth transitions, ideally with multiple common elements on either side of the transition. Don’t get me wrong - there are a lot of good ideas here, and I can tell you’re a talented composer. It’s just that all the different elements of the piece don’t feel like they’re a part of the same story right now, and the piece as a whole doesn’t have an overarching sense of direction or ambition. I think you need to seriously consolidate some of your ideas here, but regardless I enjoyed the mood, instruments, full texture, and rhythmic content. Keep at it, Alexantoro49! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
0/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
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
6/10

Force64 responds:

Thanks for the review, I know that I have to improve so many things :p

[Return]

I like the airy piano riff at the beginning and the sassy strings and dramatic percussion at :06. There’s a great anticipatory vibe about this piece, and the mix is rather well-balanced and clean. Nice job offering some dynamic contrast to the listener at :37. There could’ve been a stronger sense of progression through the breakdown at :37, but I’m enjoying the furtive tension and emotional appeal of that section. I think you could’ve used a stronger transition into 1:25, but I’m liking how the texture comes together a bit more by 1:40. The melodies at 2:05 hit the piece home well. My main complaint here is probably regarding the abrupt transitions. It also couldn’t hurt to flesh out the composition a little more. If you didn’t usurp the texture every 15 seconds, it would help the arrangement feel less choppy. Still, top-notch work with the production quality, sound design, and atmosphere. Keep at it, LunyAlex! ^_^

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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.25/10

LunyAlex responds:

Hey, thanks alot for the detailed review!
Very constructive and encouraging simultanously!
Still working on them transitions. I'm happy my mixes seem to be improving slightly.

Thanks again!

[Your World Is Unraveling]

I like the dramatic swell at the beginning. The swell, ticking in the background, and synth on the off-beats combined to give the atmosphere a bit of an ominous feel, so I was surprised when the descending arpeggios at :05 sounded so blissful and cathartic. There’s a good sense of climax into :51, although I think you could’ve used more treble tones in the texture there. The percussion was creative, although I wish the snare was a bit louder and punchier in the mix. In fact, the mix as a whole is pretty quiet, despite the unique sound design and flowing composition. Later in the piece, the strings add a new dimension of wonder, and also lead the climax into 2:09. I think the piece could’ve had some more dynamic melodic content, and the structure could’ve been fleshed out more, but overall you nailed the atmosphere, mood, sound design, and progression. Keep at it, Vocaloutburst! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8/10

vocaloutburst responds:

Thanks a ton for the feedback! This track was made before I got mixing and mastering tools and I also got a better laptop as well, probably gonna remix the whole thing soon. Really glad you enjoyed it!

[Unmotavation]

I like the drums at the beginning and the groovy bass guitar riff that comes in shortly thereafter. The drums sound nice and crisp, and the recording quality is pretty good, although the texture isn’t as full and rich as I would’ve liked. You have a good sense of harmony and progression, but I wanted to see you take some more risks with the composition and flesh out the structure more. The mix is a little quiet, but other than that I don’t have any complaints about the production. This piece just needs a little more harmonic variety, melodic content, and flavor. Keep at it, Jfloyd! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
5.75/10

Jfloyd responds:

Thanks I really apreciate the time you guys took and the feedback. Just getting into serious recording and the review really helps me to progress. Thanks again

[XenoXenon - Beneath The Sunset]

I like the emotional appeal of the piano at the beginning and the tasteful use of reverb. The strings at :24 sounded lovely, and the pizzicatos at :37 add a cutesy element to the texture. The piece is a little slow to progress at times, and I would’ve liked to hear some stronger melodic content earlier in the piece, but I appreciated the dynamic contrast you offered at 1:15 and the atmosphere provided by the piano arpeggios. The horn melodies that start fading in at around 1:42 are a valuable addition to the texture, and the percussion helps give the piece some energy and drive during the final section. I think you could’ve gone for a bigger climax towards the end to maximize the emotional qualities here, but I like the cute piano melody at the very end. Production-wise, the texture is pretty well-balanced and clear, although the mix is very quiet throughout. Overall, I think you could’ve taken some more risks here with the composition, but you nailed the sound design, atmosphere, and melodies. Keep at it, XenoXenon! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.5/10

XenoXenon responds:

Thank you so much for feedback :)

[Neon]

I like the smooth synths and atmosphere at :11, but the vocal sample at the beginning sounds a tad generic and unnecessary. The piece is pretty slow to progress, but the texture is well-balanced and the ascending synth arpeggios in the background add a lot to the piece. I wasn’t a huge fan of your drum samples at :51. The kick has a bit too much treble for my tastes, and the snare is pretty cliche and thin-sounding. The production quality is indeed good, although I think the composition is a bit underwhelming, especially during the first half. I liked the more prominent bass line at 2:18, and the bright stabs at 2:38. That said, the piece is missing some dynamic melodic content and harmonic variety. Despite the lovely atmosphere and fun sound design, I think the composition is pretty bland and flat overall. I’d suggest you keep working on this piece, though. It would change a lot if you simply added a more engaging melody towards the end. Keep at it, quantumdylan! :)

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
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

quantumdylan responds:

Thank you so much for such a well thought out critique, it means a lot to me. I'm definitely going to take this to heart when I come back to the mix post NGADM.

And yeah, I think this was one of the weakest of the three synthwavey tracks I'd been experimenting with, but it seemed to be the safer option for auditioning and the like. I'm still learning how to make these sort of tracks and good critique is incredibly helpful!

Thanks again, you rock!

[Illusion of Time]

I like the ominous atmosphere at the beginning and the sense of anticipation at :08. The additional drums at :27 help fill out the texture, although the pace of progression here is pretty slow. The melodic content at 1:13 is really refreshing, and the production quality here is rather strong. The prominence of the atmospheric content at 1:45 is nice, although I think the piece could use more structural variety in general. It has a sense of underlying tension and continuity. At some point, I wanted that tension to come to a head and the illusion to be revealed in a more dramatic way. Instead, despite the cool solos and beautiful atmosphere, I’m not sure you maximized the emotional appeal of this track. The section at 3:36 definitely helps hit the piece home, but it doesn’t necessarily resolve the tension-filled atmosphere, which remains the underbelly of the solos until the very end. Still, I deeply admire your guitar skills, production quality, and sound design here. Keep up the good work, MintyFreshThoughts! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9.25/10

VortexVisionz responds:

Thanks for the review! I can agree with everything pointed out. I’m still in the early stage of learning music production, but all things considered I still manage to make some decent tracks. Many thanks!

[Odyssey]

I like the anticipatory string riffs at the beginning and the frantic energy and tension underlying the piece. The percussion helps fill out the texture nicely, and the melodic content at :40 is a nice change-of-pace after the intense beginning. The progression is a bit slow-paced until 1:34, but I like when the texture gets richer and fuller there. The breakdown at 2:05 was strong, and had some pleasing atmospheric components in the percussion and ascending synth lines. The production quality is strong here too, although occasionally there’s a tad too much reverb in the texture, and the mix overall is pretty quiet. The outro at 3:29 could’ve been a bit more creative, but overall I like the progression here too. Strong work overall, especially with the sound design, harmonic content, and atmosphere. Keep it up, SirQuebi! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
9.25/10

Quebi responds:

All I can say is wow. While I do think you're being pretty generous in some areas, it's really heartening to see how much I've improved over the past 2 years. Thank you

[Re: MiXX]

I like the cute synths at the beginning, but the riffs are pretty frantic and hard-to-follow melodically. Some of the percussion and harmonies (like the ones at :32) sound a bit unpolished and grating in my ears, and occupy a bit too much of the mix to boot. The melodies at :57 are really cool, and I love the retro feel of the sound design. The piece could use a bit more structuring at times. It has a constant energy and drive that could use some contrast with an atmospheric section or breakdown at some point. The composition comes together pretty well towards the end, with some climactic melodic content and a strong sense of conclusion. Still, this piece is really fun, cute, and flowing, with some cool sound design and melodic content as well. Keep at it, DCMegaFan! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

RetroCarrot responds:

![UPDATE]!

Listen to the new version, now on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/re-mixx-final-34057285