TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Keys for days]

The production quality is solid, and the instrumentation is quirky, especially at :06. The riser at :12 sounds a little dissonant with the rest of the harmonies, and the atonality continues at :18. There’s a fun sense of build into :57. The melodies at :57 are pretty wonky, and by 1:27 the texture is pretty dissonant. The melodies get very repetitive after a while, and the church bells continue the atonal trend, which I’m starting to think is a little over-the-top. The texture is pretty well-balanced, but you overuse some of your risers here (like the one at 2:13). Harmonically, this piece sounds a little incoherent, yet the arrangement is still pretty generic and the melodies are repetitive. The ending is pretty sudden as well. Overall, the track is just a bit too experimental for my tastes, but I do applaud the instrumentation, mixing, and structuring. Keep at it, DjGrahnstetto! :)

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

DjGrahnstetto responds:

Thank you so much for your response.

[Never Happened]

I like the emotional piano line at the beginning and the atmosphere. The funky synths and chopped vocals at :16 are both valuable additions to the texture. I really like the clarity of the lead vocals and the lyrics themselves too. The sidechaining is a little heavy at :55, but the additional harmonies during the second vocal phrase are really nice. The piece really starts coming together compositionally at 2:20, though. The melodies there feel really cathartic, and the chopped vocals at 2:47 enhance that sense of emotional release even more. The repetition of the first two lines of vocals towards the end works well, too. The vocals are really good, btw. The only complaint I have with them is that you can sound a little more confident. Still, the sidechaining is honestly the thing that bothers me the most with this piece. The structure, sound design, atmosphere, and mood are all really enjoyable here. Keep it up, icantpronouncethis! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

icantpronouncethis responds:

Thank you for the in depth criticism for this song. It's one of my more serious song I've worked and it means a lot to me to receive those words. My vocals definitely needs a lot of work, and can easily be improved by practicing. There's definitely rooms to improve and hopefully I can fill those rooms during the competition. Thank you once again.

[Coat Check]

The bass riff at the beginning is catchy, although the vocals are a little too quiet. I also would’ve liked to see you do more with the mixing effects here. The clap at the beginning also sounds a bit cheesy and generic. The piece starts coming together more at :28, and I like the crisper drums and intensity of the vocals there. The rap part at :46 was really good. The lyrics are pretty clever, and the melodic content in the vocals at 1:05 is nice. I like the intensity at the end. Overall, I think my biggest problem here is the production. The mix is very quiet, and the recording quality is not great. The vocals keep getting lost in the texture, which is likely a combination of a subpar mic and poor enunciation. That said, you’re clearly a talented vocalist, and this piece is catchy, fun, and engaging throughout. Keep at it, ChessPiece19! :)

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

ChessPiece19 responds:

thanks for the in-depth review. I think the final mix on the album is slightly better.
I'm working a lot more on production for my next project, experimenting with all the effects on Reaper.

[Impure]

I like the dreamy mood at the beginning and the echo effects. The thinner texture at :33 right before the huge uptick in intensity was pretty effective as a transitional technique. The melodic content at the 1-minute mark was nice, too, and the bass riff at 1:38 sounds really cool. I thought you could’ve done a lot more with the drums in this piece, though. The crashes are really quiet, and there isn’t a lot of other content in that upper frequency range to fill out the texture, either. The harmonic progression is great at around 2:30, although it feels like forever since there’s been a good bout of structural relief by the time 3:16 rolls around. Glad you brought this piece full circle by bringing back the dreamy vibe from the beginning, but it’s still a pretty sudden mood shift at 3:16. The energetic outro at 3:50 was a nice touch, though. Overall, solid work, JDawg00100! This piece is engaging, melodious, and catchy. Keep up the good work. ^_^

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
.75/1
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

JDawg00100 responds:

Thank you for the detailed review!

[Disambiguation]

I like the quirky beats at the beginning. The big bass drum and hip-hop beat vibe well together, interestingly enough. I like the strings and ominous mood too. There isn’t a very strong sense of progression early on, although the melodic content at :58 is nice. The rhythmic content in the instrumental tracks is pretty simple a lot of the time, and I also would’ve liked to see you shake up the texture a bit more. An atmospheric bridge or something would really help give this piece a little more shape during the middle. Right now, it has a constant sense of tension and energetic potential that doesn’t really get resolved until the very end. The melodic content at 2:38 was really nice, though. The higher register part at 2:59 really helped piece this home and increase the emotional value of this track. The end came on a tad suddenly. Some more reverb or something there might’ve been advisable at the very least, just to give it that final touch of atmosphere. Otherwise, I thought you could’ve done a bit more with the drums towards the end, including giving them a more prominent place in the mix to up the intensity further.

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

Jmagnum responds:

Thank you :) Very detailed review as always. Will definitely take everything into consideration for future songs

[A New Land]

I like the guitar and echo-y drums at the beginning. The rhythmic content is pretty cool, and the mood is soothing, especially when the flute comes in at around :23. Great job with the sound design and progression here, even if the piece does take a while to develop. The string melodies are beautiful, although the transition into 1:11 was a little abrupt. The mix is also a bit dry, with not a lot of reverb or other mixing effects. A couple of the instruments have relatively sudden entrances that bother me a bit, too, like at 1:34. The melodies and harmonic content are beautiful here, although 1:56 was a little abrupt once again. The overarching structure here is interesting. I like the cello at 2:55. The texture comes together well again during the second loop. Everytime the structure resets itself, the transitions are a bit abrupt. Especially in such a flowing and atmospheric piece, I think you could do more to smooth over all of these rough entrances and transitions. Still, that’s my only major compositional complaint here. I applaud the sound design, harmonies, phrasing, and rhythmic content. I would’ve liked to hear more of the drums in the mix during some of the busier parts, but overall the production quality is also quite strong. You definitely took some compositional risks with this one, not least important of which is the sudden ending, but overall most of them paid off imo. Keep up the good work, Syamori! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
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?)
1/1
Composite score
9/10

Baumarius responds:

Thanks! I'll keep this stuff in mind when I finalize it for the game!

[Nitro]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning and the cute synths. The chord progression at :20 is a little wonky, but I like the drum beat at :38. The transitional synth at :37 is a bit cheesy, as is the bass instrument, too. It’s a catchy piece overall, but I wish you did a tad more with the drums as the piece progressed. There also isn’t a lot of dynamic melodic content in this piece, although the dreamy breakdown is really nice. Good sense of climax at around 2:30, too. I like how the kick gradually fades at around 2:50 until just the atmospheric elements are left to shine. I think the second refrain at 3:11 would’ve been a bit more effective if there was a little more variety vis-a-vis the first one. I was also looking for some stronger melodic content and variation in the harmonies at some point. The relatively sudden cutoff of the beat at the end also doesn’t work well for me. That said, the atmosphere, sound design, and solid production quality do a lot to carry this piece.

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

Kassich responds:

Thank you for taking the time to judge all of these songs! These contests are always very fun to take part in!

[Reality (demo)]

I like the smooth guitars at the beginning and the atmosphere. You have a great sense of harmony and rhythm. The vocals are :54 are pretty nice, but also sound pretty undecorated. They might need a little more reverb and other mixing effects. Sometimes the vocals also duck under the mix for the splittest second, like at around 1:50. I can’t tell if that’s because of the mastering quality or the recording, but either way it warrants fixing. Once you get into the higher register at around the 2-minute mark, the vocals sound a bit thin and strained, too. I enjoy the meandering harmonies, but I would’ve liked to hear some more structural variety here. The piece has a near-constant intensity for almost 2 minutes, which is quite a while without any sort of breakdown or bridge section. There’s actually an escalation of intensity at 2:15 before anything else, which helps make the piece feel climactic, but also doesn’t do much to maximize the dynamic contrast and emotional quality of your piece overall when the baseline is something like 1:08, which is also pretty full-textured and driven. The solo at 2:43 is pretty sweet, though, and overall I think the composition of the piece comes together really well. I also really like the lyrics themselves. The line towards the end, “I’m feeling the wrong way” hit me hard. The end comes on a tad suddenly, but the guitar amp fade-out helps alleviate that. Overall, solid work with the flow, melodies, and vocals. Some of the compositional details might need a bit of work, but the production, mood, and rhythmic content were also strong. Keep at it, ZappaFan52! :)

P.S.: Sorry to hear that you’re depressed. Let me know if you need someone to talk to.

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
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
8.25/10

ZappaFan52 responds:

The depth and specificity is greatly appreciated, I'll definitely keep all of that in mind going forward! Thanks again ^_^

[Lapse of memory]

I like the quirky synths at the beginning and the atmosphere. It has a nice sense of build throughout the first minute, but overall the progression is pretty slow. I thought there was a little too much reverb on the clap at :43 (and in general), but the harmonic content here is really cool. The white noise at 1:04 seemed a bit undecorated - could use some rhythmic variation or filtering. Either way, the drop is pretty cool, if a bit bland harmonically. My main problem with the piece is the lack of harmonic complexity. The chord progression is pretty generic and simple, and overall it doesn’t feel like there’s a strong sense of direction to the piece overall. Absolutely a lot of potential here, but it almost feels like I didn’t get to hear the second half of the piece, where you (supposedly) provide another emotional height, melodic development, a modulation or other harmonic variety, and maybe even an atmospheric bridge or something. Still, really good start here. I really like the sound design, rhythmic content, and atmosphere, and I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece! Keep at it, klru27! :)

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?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

klru27 responds:

Thanks for pointing out my lazy mistakes. I'm still glad that you scored it better than I expected! Newgrounds has been a nice place for me thanks to people like you! I'll try to bring better works later! :)

[Burning Rush]

I like the atmosphere at the beginning. The synth rolls were a bit much - I think they would be better if they had a distinct rhythm, but I like the bass instrument at :11. The kick could come through the mix a bit cleaner, and the melody at :22, while catchy, seems to have a few too many notes to be memorable. The chord progression is also pretty cliche. Honestly, my main problem here is probably the generic sound design and harmonic elements of the piece. The way the lead cuts off at 1:08 is a little sudden, and the harmonic pattern of the piece changes very suddenly there. Given the frantic tempo of the piece, it might be a good idea to put in a more spacious breakdown so that you can give the listener some time to adjust to the new harmonic content. You actually have one at 1:53, but unfortunately it comes after you switch up the chord progression. That said, I like how you combine the two main harmonic progressions at 1:45 and again at 2:10. The transition back into the refrain at 2:18 was good, but once again there’s not a lot connecting the sections joined by the transition at 2:41. You have the crash and drum fills, sure, but that feels like a bit of a Band-Aid solution. I’d encourage you to make your transitions more gradual. Ideally, the different sections you’re connecting would share a couple of instruments and even the same riff. The melody at 3:26 also kinda came out of nowhere. Overall, despite my compositional complaints, I enjoyed the blissful mood, energy, and overarching structure. This piece just needs a little more tightening on the mixing, some more creative sound design, and a smoother flow. Keep at it, Mutty99! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.25/1
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

mutty99 responds:

I'm happy you liked the energy, that means part of my "experiment" worked!

The instrumentantion choice has always been problematic for me, i think i should find new plugins for when i'm gonna come back this Autumn.
About the structure, the sudden transitions were voluntary: i tried to get inspired by the direct and simple style of Pokémon tracks, but maybe, following your review, i could've put more parts of my composing style. Understandable :)
One last thing: the 3:26 melody is a variation of the 1:30 one, i put it to make the mix less annoying and repetitive.
Glad you enjoyed the mix, i'll try to improve my style even more!