TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[smøl]

The distorted ambiance at the beginning sounds really nice, and despite the relatively slow pace of progression here, I’m really enjoying the sound design, including the warm pads at :29 and the reverberated hi-hats towards the beginning. The intro is very dragged-out, and I was itching for a few more moving notes by around the 1-minute mark. The texture is pretty thin, albeit well-balanced. I like the bass and the quirky atmosphere at around 1:30. The bells at 1:57 are nice, and the (banjo?) in the background adds some value to the texture as well. As always, the production quality is top-notch here, although the snail’s pace of the progression is pretty torturous tbh. There’s a distinct underlying tension to this piece, and I would’ve liked to hear some broader sense of resolve in the texture earlier. That said, I like how you juxtapose some contrasting moods in the texture at once. The cute bells sound really bright and even uplifting, while many of the background phasing synths are downright creepy. It seems that the bells win by around 3:56, with the cascade of chimes at the 4-minute mark adding to the dreamy vibe. This section serves as a nice breakdown for what is already a very chill piece overall. As much as I love chill-out tracks, I can’t help but feel like you could’ve done more to show off some of your compositional talents here, Skye. The piece starts coming together well when the banjo comes back at 5:42. That said, I’m not sure the sudden ending fits the character of the piece very well. Overall, I like the arrangement of this piece, I just wish there was a little more contrast in the dynamics and energy level. Still, you won me over with the mood, sound design, and clean production here. Keep up the good work, SkyeWint! ^_^

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
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
8.25/10

SkyeWint responds:

Hey there!

Appreciate the review. The flat energy level was actually one of the main points of this piece, primarily inspired by the artist Chrome Sparks. It's meant to be very progressive and gradual, slowly tipping its hand over time. Something you can space out to. I know that's not impressive in the style of something for NGADM, but it was my most recent track I've finished so I thought it was pretty appropriate!

[Ásum - Black Dog [Dance/Dubstep]]

I like the catchy synths and rhythmic content at the beginning. The drums are pretty overpowering, especially early in the piece when there isn’t much else going on in the texture. The mix is overall pretty strong, but you may have used a tad too much reverb. The melodic content at :55 is cool, and I like the sound design in this piece a lot. I think it’s missing a climactic melodic section or drop, though. It has a strong sense of continuity and flow, but not a lot of shape in the composition. The breakdown at 1:53 was good for some structural contrast, but after that you don’t do a lot with the harmonic development in this piece. The section from 2:11 to the end feels relatively bland and thin-textured, which was a pretty big disappointment to be honest. The piece doesn’t really come together to resolve some of the underlying tension, or at least offer an emotional height and/or moment of catharsis. The riser at 3:38 was a little melodramatic, and didn’t really lead much of anywhere. The synth at 4:17 sounded both unnecessary and harsh in the mix. Overall, you nailed the production quality, mood, atmosphere, and sound design, but the composition was a bit lacking, especially towards the end. Keep at it, DarkInRed! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
7.75/10

DarkInRed responds:

Thanks for review!

[-Waterfall-]

Cute synths at the beginning. The piece is a little slow to progress at first, but the atmospheric effects keep things engaging until around :30, when things really start to pick up. The mix is clear, and the sound design remains refreshing and well-varied. The bass at :53, while a little too loud, keeps up the energy and drive of the piece nicely. The chord progression of the piece is pretty generic, and despite the fun rhythmic riffs and smooth flow, this piece doesn’t have a lot of dynamic melodic content. I really like the sound design (especially the vocals and pads), atmosphere, and a lot of the compositional details too (that quirky chord at 2:00 sounds dope), but the structure of the piece is a little bizarre, and never really comes to a satisfying point of resolve imo. I would’ve liked to hear a melodic bridge or something to give this piece the structural variety it deserves. That said, the climactic section at the end was probably the next-best thing, despite the fact that it wasn’t varied much from the prior refrain. Overall, this is a solid piece. The production, sound design, and atmosphere are particularly good here. Most of my gripes here are pretty nit-picky, and often amount to missed opportunities more so than things that actively bother me. Keep up the good work, Pred! :)

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?)
.75/1
Composite score
9/10

Preds responds:

9/10 wow!! Thank you as always, its really a pleasure to have your constructive criticism, it is very useful. Like back at the day in the NGADM17, you helped me to improve a lot.

I really need to work on my melodies haha, thank you again man!

[Decisions]

I like the cute synths at the beginning, and the percussion at :07 is a nice touch. The texture is a tad thin and dry, and the bass at :15 is a little too loud and also sounds kinda dissonant and distorted. I think you need a more careful approach to mixing this piece, as the other instruments tend to duck under when the bass comes in. A lot of the effects are pretty cheesy, and there’s very little variety in the harmonic content or structure. I would’ve liked to see more dynamic melodic content here, along with some more phrasing and dynamic contrast. Right now, the structure of the piece is pretty flat, the energy level almost constant through the last ⅔ of the piece, and the sound design and production don’t do much to make up for that either. The fade-out ending is a further indication to me that you haven’t put much thought into the arrangement of your piece. I like the rhythmic content, cute mood, and drum beat here, but I think you needed to do a lot more with the composition to satisfy my standards. It’s a good start, though. I’d encourage you to keep working on this piece. Keep at it, Reddyfu! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
4.75/10

reddyxu responds:

Thank you. I will keep going and will keep practicing!

[Granary]

I like the spacious atmosphere at the beginning and the ominous mood. This track has a lot of bass, and the creepy synth at :15 was a nice touch. The slight atonality helps enhance the mood too. At some point, I wanted the progression to pick up a bit more, though. At :46, the beat is a little dry and generic, and the samples are not of great quality, especially the hi-hat on the off beats. I think the mix could be tighter too. The texture is well-balanced, but some of the murky synth lines get a little lost once the beat comes in. The composition needed to be much more dynamic and variational to satisfy my standards. You have a good sense of flow and harmony, but there isn’t a strong sense of direction yet. This piece is a minimal beat with a lot of atmospheric filler, but not much prominent melodic content, emotion/drama, or storytelling. Overall, strong work with the mood, atmosphere, and harmonies, but next time I want to see you clean up the mix a tad and work on fleshing out the composition much more. Keep at it, CyroNG! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
5/10

CyroNG responds:

Thanks for the review! I'll take most of your points into consideration to improve my future tracks.
-CyroNG/Cadmiae

[endK - Ruby Saloon]

I like the bouncy synths at the beginning, but the rhythm is a little hard-to-follow at times here. The melodic content at :13 is really fun, and definitely ties in well with the thematic content. The production quality here is great. Really well-balanced, crisp, clear, and full texture, and the mix is super loud and blends well. The re-intro at 1:05 is nice, albeit short-lived. I wanted to hear more of the walking bass at 1:10 and the rich atmosphere before you dove back into the melodic content. I also would’ve liked to hear a little more variation in the melodic content during the second refrain, although there’s a lot of harmonic variety in this piece as it is. The fast pace of the progression is really fun, and I love the sound design, production, and variety here too. Great work overall, EndK! ^_^

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

endKmusic responds:

Yeah, second part was kinda copy/paste, but it was a tough one nevertheless.
Didn't want to create more mess (I tend to do that >.<) with new ideas since I spent a lot on referencing this one.
Much thanks for all the input TL, appreciate your words as always. :)

[everything.]

I like the smooth synths at the beginning. The tone of the piece is both quirky and melancholy, which is a good combo. The percussion at :17 is creative, although the phone effects and static-y atmosphere at :35 kinda threw me off the flow. I would’ve liked to hear a stronger build-up into the climactic section at the 1-minute mark, although the powerful pads and danceability of that section was pretty cool. The sound design here is really cool overall, although I was looking for some stronger melodic content in here somewhere. The bouncy energy at 1:53 is nice, and despite the somewhat weak kick, the production quality in this piece is super high. The distorted vocals at 2:26 seem a tad out-of-place, and make for a pretty choppy stop-start transition ino 2:30. The chord progressions in this piece can be a bit generic and, despite the amazing atmosphere, sound design, and mixing here, I can’t help but feel that the composition is a tad underwhelming in some regards. The melodic instrument at 3:14 is really cute and quaint, but I think you seriously overdid it with the atmospheric breaks with the bizarre vocals. Overall, this is strong work, especially with the production quality and sound design, but the arrangement is pretty choppy and some of the compositional details didn’t quite work for me. Keep at it, BurneMusic! ^_^

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?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.75/10

BurneMusic responds:

Thanks, I agree with what you've said for sure
I'm honestly very surprised that you scored this so highly, hopefully I'll be able to impress more in the future :)

the track is pretty awful I'm aware

[Fractal Footsteps]

I like the frantic piano harmonies at the beginning and the energy here. I think a lot of the harmonies here sound really dissonant, starting with the line at :14, and the drums are a little haphazard and overwhelming at times. The texture feels really incoherent at times, and the progression takes a lot of sudden twists and turns, like the abrupt transition at :41. During the busier sections, the mix can also sound really muddy. I think you tried to do a little too much with this piece. I’d encourage you to try consolidating your compositional ideas a little more. Try working with only 3-4 percussion sounds at a time, and constructing harmonic riffs around a simple chord progression that only uses 5-6 pitches in total. That should give you a solid baseline of a harmonic framework. There are certainly moments here where you have a strong harmonic paradigm in place here, like from around :45 to 2:10, but otherwise there’s not a lot of cohesion in the harmonic patterns of these riffs. It can be hard to construct a meaningful harmonic progression if you don’t know a lot about music theory, but until you get a feel for how to keep the arrangement of you track cohesive and well-balanced, I’d recommend keeping things simpler. Originality is important in music, but I think it’ll be good for you to prioritize creating core harmonic motifs in the near future. Please PM me if you have any questions, or just want me to review some of your other work. :) Keep at it, BALDORF!

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.25/2
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?)
.25/1
Composite score
4/10

BALDORF responds:

I appreciate the feedback.

You seem to have a clearly defined idea of what music should be. I don't fit into that definition.

Aside from mixing and not being much of a drummer, everything is in the order I want it to be. If you don't like it, that's fine. But please, don't tell me how to make my music, let alone tell me to limit my use of notes to 6. It's insulting.