TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Volume By Erik VIP (Music)]

The intro could’ve been a bit more creative than a fade-in, but I like the catchy beats and sound design. The sweep at :58 also sounds cool. My main problem with the piece is the lack of variety, especially in the harmonies. I wanted to hear some stronger, more dynamic melodic content, and also some more variation during the final refrain at 1:31. That said, the additional harmonies at 1:48, while short-lived, were a nice touch. The sweep at the end also cuts off a bit suddenly. I would suggest letting the reverb do the work of helping the atmosphere fade out. Overall, I’m enjoying the production quality, blissful mood, energy, and rhythmic content of the piece. I think you need more variety, more originality in the sound design and arrangement, and more creative sound design to keep my attention here, though. Keep at it, Eric-VIP! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
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
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7/10

Erik-VIP responds:

Thanks!

[Magicalpony444 - Drexonomis]

I like the quirky percussion at the beginning and the rhythmic content, but I think there’s a bit too much reverb on some of the instruments and the harmonic content is a little sparse. It sounds like a series of catchy riffs with little connectivity and overarching sense of progression. The breakdown at 1:20 was a pretty good idea, and I like how you incorporate the piano’s progression into the second half of the piece. That said, the ending comes on a little suddenly, and I wanted to see you find more ways of creating variety in this piece besides just adding and subtracting instruments over time. The breakdown at 1:20 is a good start, but there aren’t really any gradual transitions in this piece, giving the arrangement a bit of a choppy feel. Overall, solid work with the sound design, rhythmic components, harmonies, and production quality. The compositional details just need a bit of fleshing out. Keep at it, Magicalpony444! :)

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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8/10

Magicalpony444 responds:

Hi! Sorry for reacting to this too late. This is actually a pretty important song in my career (cuz all of my songs before this were garbage :P). I hope you have a nice day!

[Elevation]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the emotional strings at :19. The melodic content in this piece is beautiful, and the percussion is nice and loud and clear in the mix. The rhythmic content is a little hard to follow at 1:14, especially with the mixed choir, although I like the horns toward the end and the female drone. The last climactic section really hits the piece home. I think the piece has a couple too many sudden changes in dynamics (as opposed to gradual build-ups and breakdowns), but overall the structure is effective here too. The high production quality, sound design, atmosphere, and melodies really carry this track. Strong work, CloakedSoup! ^_^

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
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9.5/10

CloakedSoup responds:

Thanks man! Hopefully I can enter into the 1st round (I made it into the fill-in pool), because I've got some ideas cooking that should impress far beyond anything that I did here.

[Am i in your mind?]

I like the energy and breathy vocals at the beginning. The drum samples are a little cliche, especially the open hat on the off-beats, and the vocals get a bit repetitive after a while. The piece is pretty slow to progress, and I appreciated the structural contrast you offered at the breakdown at 1:30. I liked your use of the reverse crash in the middle of the atmospheric phrase at 1:52. The pacing is a bit slow here, but there’s a good sense of climax into 2:21, and the heavy bass at 2:36 is a nice touch. There isn’t a lot of dynamic melodic content in this piece, and overall the sound design, arrangement, and chord progression of the piece are pretty generic. That said, I’m really enjoying the sharp production quality, automations, sound design, and rhythmic content here. Keep at it, SASKID! :)

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
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.75/10

SASKID responds:

Thanks for your kind words!

So mixing is good, but be more original is what I take away from the review here. Very happy you enjoyed the elements and small touches that people usually leave out or don't notice such as the subtle reverse crashes and elements coming together.

Thanks for your score, and thanks for judging!

[AlieN - Dream Island (House/8-bit/Glitch-Hop)]

The synth riff at the beginning is catchy, although the synths themselves sound a bit harsh in the mix. The background percussion at the beginning also is a bit grating. The harmonic content of the piece is very repetitive, and the mix sounds a bit strained at 1:01. My biggest problem with the piece is how bland the composition is. The entire piece is essentially variations on the same short, simple riff, with little harmonic depth to boot. You have a good sense of rhythm and progression, but I want you to spend more time adding complexity to the composition of your tracks - richer chords, fuller textures, more layers of harmony (chords, melodies, back-up melodies, rhythmic riffs, dynamic bass lines, etc.). It helps to lay out the chords you’re using first, and then build patterns that fit within the notes of those chords. Still, this piece isn’t bad. The composition is just a little underwhelming. It’s still a catchy and flowing piece with some good harmonic ideas. Keep at it, AlienNinjaGD! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
5.5/10

AlienNinjaGD responds:

Thanks for your review!
I agree with all the things you wrote here.
Thanks for the advices! I'm gonna follow them.

[Heaven]

I like the breathy atmosphere at the beginning and the pensive guitars at :05. The production is a bit bizarre here. The mixing effects on the vocals are pretty heavy, and the guitars are very reverberant. I really like the lyrics, although sometimes the vocals sound a little thin and strained in the higher register (i.e., 1:10), and I wish the drums were a bit louder during the refrain too. Sometimes the vocals cut off before you really articulate the syllable you’re singing, like at “hand” at 2:04. Without the lyrics in the author’s description, I would have no idea what you’re saying. Overall, the piece is well-structured, although at some point a breakdown or solo would’ve been nice to give the composition a little more shape. The piece also gets a little repetitive by the end, with not enough variety in the instrumental tracks, harmonic content, or structure.

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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
7/10

JoePimpz responds:

I appreciate you taking the time to really listen and review my work. My forte is songwriting, so I tend to mix strangely. As far as mastering goes, I don't know a ton about it so I use unorthodox methods, which is likely some of what you're hearing. The opening was actually me breathing in as much as I could and uttering "damnit" because I kept running out of air during my first few takes and I was actually bracing for the pass-through lol

[FM 14 - Sweet Guidance]

I like the upbeat mood and synths at the beginning. The chord progression is a little generic, but the melodic content at :23 is fun. I think the drums could’ve been a little stronger in the mix, and the snare sounds like it doesn’t have quite enough lower frequencies. Still, I like the energy and drive this piece has. There are a lot of great melodies in this track, but at some point I wanted to see you offer some structural contrast by dialing back the intensity a bit. An atmospheric breakdown or minimalist bridge would serve this piece well, giving the composition some shape and allowing you to reach a more emotional conclusion at the next climax. Instead, the different sections of this piece don’t seem quite distinct enough from each other after a while, and it also couldn’t hurt to consolidate some of your harmonic ideas, as there are a lot of different fast-paced riffs in this piece. It’s a little hard to stay grounded in the structure after a while. Still, I appreciate the return to familiar content towards the end, even if the fade-out ending came across as a little lazy and abbreviated. Still, the sound design and atmosphere of this piece are really cool. I especially like the instrument at 1:53 - it was probably originally meant to sound like brass, but it’s so inauthentic that it comes across as just another quirky synth, and it blends into the texture here wonderfully. Cool piece overall. My nit-picky compositional concerns probably constitute my main issue with the piece. Keep up the good work, Pheanir! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.25/10

Pheanir responds:

Thank you for your feedback, this is the most in-depth review I've ever gotten.

Yeah, the things you said are true. I am mostly inspired by the Touhou project games and I have absolutely no knowledge about mixing or doing these things properly; I just "went for it". I could try to explain why I did things certain ways here, but that's probably redundant.

I always try to get better. Thank you a lot ~

[Idaku]

I like the dreamy atmosphere at the beginning and the synths. The bass at :15 really helps fill out the texture. There might be a tad too much reverb in the texture, but I think a bigger mixing problem is the excessive sidechaining, which impedes the flowy vibe of the pads. I’d also like to see more structural variety here over time. The instrumental hierarchy is the same throughout the entire piece. At some point, I’d suggest shaking it up - play around with the bass’s upper range more, or introduce a melodic synth on top of the pads. The clap that comes in later in the piece - around 2:05 - is also really quiet. Still, the quirky mood, atmosphere, and sound design in this piece are all really nice. Keep at it, BeeFef! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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?)
.5/1
Composite score
6.75/10

BeeFef responds:

well i doubt i made it in with that kind of score but thanks for the feedback

edit: the clap being really filtered down and quiet is intentional. I wanted to make it mellow and lo-fi and fit the vibe of the song so I personally like it

as for structure, it may not be the most interesting but i think the way i did it makes it kind of a relax/study track

[Did you know?]

I like the guitar riffs and intensity. I think the drums could be mixed a tad better. They don’t come through as loud as I want, especially the crashes. I like the panning on the guitars. The piece has very little harmonic or structural variety, though. The underwhelming composition is probably my main complaint here. You just need more structuring to keep this piece engaging - not to mention chord progression changes, melodic content, phrasing, etc. It’s hard to accomplish all of that in a minute, and this piece is no exception. Still, it’s a pretty good start. I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece. I like the flow, sound design, and energy. Keep at it, HighBallers! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
5.5/10

HighBallers responds:

Ha thanks man. This song was just a bunch of messing around. I got bigger better things coming!

[feelings]

I like the emotional piano line at the beginning and the crackly ambiance. The sound design is really smooth, and the texture is quite well-balanced. The lead guitar has some great melodic content throughout the piece, too. I think you could’ve done a bit more with the drums, as they sound pretty minimal throughout the piece. I also think the piece might’ve benefited from some more structural variety. The energy level here is almost constant throughout. At some point, I would’ve loved to hear an escalation of intensity or an even more dreamy, abstract texture - something to give the piece an overarching sense of shape. I also thought the ending came on a little suddenly. That said, the mood, sound design, production quality, and atmosphere definitely keep this piece afloat. Keep at it, ACXLE! :)

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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9/10

acxle responds:

thanks so much for the detailed feedback!