TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Quit Time]

I like the relaxed synth chords at the beginning and the airy beat at :30. The mood is really cute and dreamy, although the piece is a little slow to progress. I also think the progression is a bit formulaic, as the texture only seems to change every 4th bar, which gets pretty predictable after a while. You also could’ve gone for a little more contrast and shape with the composition here. The instrumental hierarchy is very similar throughout, and at some point I think you could’ve used an injection of energy or other structural variety to add some emotional appeal. You clearly have a good sense of rhythm, sound design, and harmony, but the arrangement of the track could’ve been more creative here. The sudden ending sounds a bit jarring given the chill mood of the track. The mixing is pretty good, too, although it might’ve been a bit cleaner with some stereo widening on the more atmospheric harmonies. The piece was also missing some lower frequencies throughout. Adding a nice sub-bass or something would’ve really helped fill out the texture and add a sense of drive to an otherwise sleepy and repetitive piece. Still, you had me sold on this one with the quirky instruments and pleasant harmonic content. Keep at it, masterakuma99! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7/10

masterakuma99 responds:

Thanks for the very detailed review!

[pawles22 - The Fairy Glade]

I like the relaxing mood at the beginning. The high-pitched chords on the downbeats sound a bit too emphatic given the rest of the texture, and I also thought the sound design could be more polished. The kick at :32 doesn’t do much for me, and I definitely would’ve liked to hear a more prominent rhythm section in this piece given the repetitive harmonic content and slow-paced progression. My main complaint here is how underwhelming the composition is - the texture has very little variation throughout the entire piece, and instead cycles through the same generic chord progression for 4 minutes straight. I think your piece needed to sound much more dynamic than this, my friend. I wanted to hear you add and subtract instruments over time, change up the rhythmic and harmonic content, have different sections with more (or less) energy, and create some more melodic content. Instead, this piece is uber-repetitive and structurally simplistic. Otherwise, the piece isn’t bad. You clearly have a good sense of harmony and atmosphere. Still, it’s hard to assess a lot of my compositional categories here because you just didn’t do much of anything to create variety in your track over time. I hope you’ll keep working on this piece - it has a lot of potential. Keep at it, Pawles22! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
0/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
0/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
4.5/10

pawles22 responds:

I'll consider what you said. Thank you!

The song is technically 2 minutes long, it's just looped. I've already stopped adding these extra loops to my songs though.

I know that this track doesn't have variety, but I actually wanted to keep it simple (my other tracks are probably as simple as this, but here I especially like it). After all, it meant to be a chill, background music (I just couldn't see this variety in this song myself). Maybe it was a bad decision to on my side.

Thanks again!

[BreakdownMatrix - Submission-01 [Dance/Gamemusic]]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. The dreamy arpeggios are great, and I like the frantic drums and bouncy synths at :14 a lot. The production quality is strong, and the piece has a good (yet rather fast-paced) sense of progression. There are a lot of transitory moments in the first minute, and I kept waiting for a more distinct climax before a stable emotional height. Perhaps 1:23 is that section, although I would’ve appreciated some more harmonic variety and dynamic melodic content to really sell the emotional impact. My favorite part is 2:10, which has a great, dark, eastern vibe that’s also very catchy and blends seamlessly into the section with the arps at 2:35. That said, the final iteration of the refrain melody at 3:07 was very rushed, to the extent that it doesn’t quite feel satisfying by the end. I think you need to pace your piece more carefully next time. It’s like you want the piece to progress from build-up to drop to post-chorus to bridge to build-up again in a very narrow timeframe, but that’s pretty jarring for the listener, especially on the first cycle. This could easily be a 5-minute track - don’t sacrifice coherence because you’re overly concerned about a piece being repetitive. That’s probably my main complaint of the piece, and I think it’s part of the reason why the composition doesn’t have the emotional impact that it could here. The rushed structuring leads to a point where it’s hard for the listener to pinpoint a distinct “arrival point” during the climactic sections of the piece. Still, this track has some strong mixing and mastering, sound design, atmosphere, and rhythmic work. Keep at it, Kyrowo! :)

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
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
8.5/10

Kyrowo responds:

Thank you very much!

and yeah - the whole structure is still kinda hard for me to realize due to my confused mind:D But I'm working on it! It's one major point I have to consider for the future that im already dealing with :D

Thank you for your kind review and rating! I'll try to improve everything you mentioned there :)

[The Deeper Green]

I like the fun synth riff at the beginning - sounds like comic mischief. :) The volume automations at :28 are a little bizarre. Usually, volume levels change either suddenly at a transitory moment in the piece or gradually over the course of a section, not in a 2-3 second window. The melodies at 1:10 were nice, but didn’t always vibe well harmonically with the synth riff in the background. I liked the airy percussion and ambiance, but I think this piece needs a bit more structuring and shape to it. The composition doesn’t quite feel fleshed out enough to me yet, and you just started a cool new melodic idea at 2:03 when the piece ends. I also think the mix has some balance issues. The melodies aren’t quite prominent enough in the texture for my tastes; I wanted them to be sharper and louder, especially the ones at 2:03. Part of the problem might be that there’s a bit too much reverb crowding things out in the texture. Still, my main concern here is that the piece doesn’t feel structurally complete or interesting. I’d highly encourage you to keep working on this piece, but for now you have a good start with the sound design, mood, atmosphere, and melodies. Keep at it, SI-7! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
6.5/10

SI-7 responds:

Thanks for the comprehensive review! I definitely think structure is one of my weakest points right now, and that's going to be the next thing I look at after figuring out how to properly use chords. I agree that the mix isn't too great in this piece. I also probably shouldn't have made this my first time to use compression, and I definitely shouldn't have started with a multiband compressor.

I really appreciate the feedback, it helps a ton. :)

[Sinister [Drumstep]]

I like the cool off-beat groove at the beginning and the quirky synths. The drums could’ve been a bit more creative, but overall the melodic content is catchy and I like the sense of climax into :44. The lead at :55 sounds a tad generic, but I like the drop at 1:07. The chord progression is a bit cliche, too, and I would’ve liked to hear some more harmonic variety in the piece after a while. The piece also has a pretty uniform energy and volume level, despite the brief moment without the drums at 1:51, so you could’ve played with that a little more. The creepy melody at 2:25 sounds really good, and I like the injection of energy at 3:07. The ending also came on a bit suddenly - I think the fade-out could’ve been more gradual. My favorite element of the piece is probably the production quality - the mix sounds really clean, despite an excess of reverb at times. Overall, solid work with the sound design, production quality, and harmonic content, even if I thought the piece could use a little more structural variety and such. Keep it up, DrayxMusic! :)

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
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8/10

DrayxMusic responds:

Thanks for the feedback. Will keep that all in mind for my next composition!

[coolssh3 - Edge of the Universe (Melodic Dubstep)]

I like the emotional appeal of the strings at the beginning. The string samples seem to be of pretty good quality, too. The drums at :26 are a little too loud, and have a ton of reverb to boot. The production quality seems good, although the pace of progression is a little slow here at times. The first major point of climax comes at almost 2 minutes in, which is a long time to wait. The drop at 1:49 has a catchy rhythmic component, but I think the descending bass line is a bit too loud, and completely hijacks the mix from the drums, which should be louder there. The re-intro at 2:50 is nice, and I’m enjoying the piano melodies at 2:58. I would’ve liked to see you vary the drop the second time around at 3:51, and also change up the harmonic progression at some point during the piece. I also think you begin to overuse the riser at 4:57 after a while. Overall, I think the biggest weaknesses of the piece are the lack of variety and generic sound design and harmonic content. Still, the piece has a smooth flow, cool drums, and a nice airy atmosphere. Keep at it, coolssh3! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7/10

coolssh3 responds:

Thanks for the feedback, I'll be sure to keep this in mind for the future. (The previous message was deleted because I thought this comment was for a different song soooooo woops.)

[Cs - 'Slippery']

The riff at the beginning is catchy, although I think the synths you used sound a tad unpolished and generic. The crashes starting at :21 are a little too loud, and the snare might’ve even been too soft, although I really like the catchy riff at :32. I think the piece could use a little more harmonic variety and contrast, as it gets pretty repetitive after a while. The second refrain at 1:25 sounds pretty similar to the first, and overall I thought you could’ve done a lot more with the composition here. The transition at 1:04 is also a little sudden. Some filtering work or maybe a drum fill would probably help make it a bit smoother. Overall, the production quality is pretty good and there are a lot of good harmonic and rhythmic ideas here, but I wanted to see you do a little more with variety, phrasing, and the compositional details. Keep at it, Csucskos! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
6/10

Csucskos responds:

Thank you!

These kind of detailed reviews help me immensely. I'll definitely get back to this track to perfect it, although it is an older track.

To be honest, the second refrain is exactly the same as the first one, as I didn't want to bring anything jarring into the melody, to make sure, the listener feels safe after the adventure, getting back to the familiar melody. I'll experiment with more variety, but finding the balance between variety and familiarity is always hard.

I don't feel the same about the transition, maybe because I've already listened to this track many times. I'll make experimental changes there to see if that makes it better, but I'm not sure if it really needs that.

Anyways, you had a great deal of good points, so thank you for giving directions about what to look into more.

[Twilight Forest]

The chord progression with the strings at the beginning sounds really unique, although the string samples themselves weren’t my favorite. The anti-climax at :40 wasn’t great, although you clearly have a lot of experience constructing cool risers and transitions. The harmonic content of the piece needed a bit more variety, and overall the arrangement of the piece is very choppy and the structure seems incomplete. It’s definitely got a fun, quirky mood and a solid production quality, but I think you need to flesh this out a little more in order for the piece to come together in my mind. Right now it feels like a couple of disjointed sound design and transitional ideas on the same track. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but you have pretty much all the other elements - sound design, mixing, flavor, harmonies - and it’s just the composition that needs work. Keep at it, ElderlyKite! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
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

ElderlyKite responds:

Thank you very much for criticism! I'll try to improve next time.

[Sommeil]

I like the dreamy electronic piano at the beginning and the arpeggios. The atmosphere in this piece is beautiful, and I like the sound design a lot too. The texture isn’t always as full as I wanted it to be, but the frequencies are pretty well-balanced. Sometimes, it felt like the mix was missing a lot of upper-range pitches, and the sound design at around 1:18 is a bit bizarre. I wanted to see you do more to maximize the emotional appeal of this piece. The last ⅔ or so is very minimal, and I think the composition would’ve benefited from an injection of energy and climax at some point. The dreamy textures are nice, and you did a nice job with the harmonies and rhythmic content too, but the composition needs a bit of a stronger sense of shape and direction here imo. Still, the sound design and atmosphere sold this piece for me. Keep at it, Zechnition! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

Zechnition responds:

Thank you for the review, I agree with all the points you made! I didn't make it into the competition but I'm still very happy with my score. Hope to see you here again next year.