TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[On The Prowl]

I like the bouncy synths at the beginning and the blissful vibe. The chord progression is a little simple, and the breaks at :31 are a tad cheesy. The progression of the piece as a whole is also a bit bizarre, with sudden transitions at :52, 1:14, and other places. The piece cycles through a number of riffs without having a strong overarching sense of direction, which worries me from a compositional standpoint. There are certainly some good ideas here, but they just seem stapled together without any broader sense of storytelling or build. The way the piece is arranged is haphazard, in other words. I also think you should’ve varied the harmonic progression a bit more. Despite the different iterations of the riffs, the chords get pretty repetitive after a while. There’s also not a lot of dynamic melodic content in here. That said, I thought one element of the piece that was particularly strong was the mixing. All the instruments sound clear, crisp, and loud throughout. The rhythmic content of the piece is also enjoyable - it’s catchy and danceable, and the instrumentation is pretty good too. The composition just needs a bit more ebb and flow, and the arrangement needs to be smoother - those are the core of my concerns here. Keep at it, Immitis! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
2/2
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?)
.5/1
Composite score
6.25/10

Immitis responds:

The most constructive criticism I've ever received, thanks!

[Industrial tournament]

I like the cute synths at the beginning and the warm chords, but I think the rhythm is a bit overly complicated. I had a hard time finding the beat until the drums came in at :17, and even then there was a bit too much going on rhythmically. By contrast, the texture is very thin, with only 2-3 instruments taking up most of the space in the mix for the entire piece. You have a number of cute riffs here, but the composition just doesn’t sound as fleshed out as it should be. You needed some stronger melodic content here, and also some structural variety. I’d encourage you to add some contrasting sections to this piece that go beyond 1:50 in terms of varying the instrumentation and harmonic structure. The overarching ABA structure was a good idea, but unfortunately the composition here just comes across as too simplistic to be effective as a stand-alone piece. I’d recommend looking into increasing the density of the harmonies by adding a melody on top of the existing chords, or a bass line, or something. There isn’t much to say about the mixing and mastering here - the mix is quiet, but not unclear or distorted.

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
4/10

GameDevWannabe responds:

Thank you for the reply. Very useful advice ! Gonna improve !
:D

[Sytrus Session 2.0]

Cool rhythmic elements of the kick at the beginning. The fade-in at the beginning isn’t the most creative way of starting a piece, but I like the frantic arpeggios at :19 and the sense of climax into :30. The mix is very wet, which sometimes affects the quality. For example, the clap from around :38 onwards sounds very indistinct. The melodic content is nice, even if the synths were a bit cheesy at times. You have a good sense of progression, flow, and harmony, though, and overall the compositional elements of the piece are quite strong. I like the harmonies that come in at 2:24 a lot, and despite all the different melodies and variations this piece maintains its cohesion quite well with a pretty rigid harmonic structure. One thing I think the composition is missing, however, is a proper breakdown. There’s a pretty strong sense of energy and urgency throughout, which gets a little tiresome after a while without some structural contrast. The modulations towards the end were fun, even though the melodic part at 2:43 already sounded like the major climax of the piece. Overall strong work! I think I wanted to hear more drums in the mix, a little more effort on some of the harmonic details, and maybe some more creative instrumentation. Otherwise, great job with the melodic content, atmosphere, rhythmic components, and structuring. Keep it up, Feandesign! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.25/10

feandesign responds:

Thank you!! I'm really glad you enjoyed most of it. I usually don't make my tracks fade in out of nowhere, but that was kind of an exception since I used a synth preset that plays right after pressing a key (I'm wondering why didn't I think of using a pad instrument or at least making a simple automation thing instead haha!). You're definitely right about the indistinct clap. The reason is that I actually put a reverb on it and lowered some things in the EQ, so it would sound kinda like the clap sample from Kid2Will's Fire Aura, of which by the way I'm a real fan (and I bet you can even hear some similarities between these two). I used more cheesy sounding synths in there intentionally, to match the feel of NG Audio Portal's mid-late 2000s techno. I guess it would sound way better if I let myself have more VSTs than just Sytrus on this project. I surely agree that the song would be nicer with a deeper breakdown or something, I'd need to work on those in future projects. Absolute thanks for pointing it out! I also have just realized how tiring the drumline is, especially the kick sequence itself. I really should've improved it and maybe made it go faster at some point (I think that's what HJfod actually meant, not the beats per minute stuff because it's pretty rapid already). I believe that mixing/mastering is for now the worst part in most of my songs, especially these from 2018 - I still use headphones when composing new stuff and I know I shouldn't - maybe regular speakers with a subwoofer will do a better job, I'll need to try that. Thank you so much again, I was really pleased reading this review and hopefully I'll come up with something more awesome on NGUAC 2020 hehe :).

[EYW - Heavy Rain]

The rhythmic elements of the piece are pretty good, but overall the texture is very thin and poorly balanced. The piece almost entirely consists of jarring, loud, distorted, and percussive sounds with few moving notes or meaningful progressions. There are also a couple of sudden transitions, like at :48 and 1:29. Besides that, there just isn’t a lot of substantive material in this piece for me to critique. It has very few moving notes and scarce evidence of textural depth or mixing. Let me be frank: this piece sounds like you’re being heavily limited by the production tools you’re using. As @WolfgangMiakoda alluded to, there are plenty of free digital audio workstations that would easily allow you to do more with your talents. I’d recommend GarageBand or LMMS, depending on what type of computer you have. Good luck! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
0/2
Instrumentation and sound design
0/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
0/1
Composite score
1/10

EverythingYouWish responds:

Not one of my good ones.

[Daft_Funk]

Catchy beat at the beginning. The little bass swell at the very start was a bit bizarre, but I like the relaxed vibe of the piece. Some of the panning is a bit extreme. Generally, it’s a good idea to keep rhythmic instruments (like the drums and bass) front and center. A lot of the compositional details here are really nice, though, like the funky riff at 1:48 and the occasional triangle hit and distorted guitar at 2:31 (and other places). While the piece is pretty engaging and fun, it also is missing some more advanced compositional elements, like dynamic melodies and structural variety. The fade-out ending is a testament to the fact that there isn’t a strong sense of direction in the piece. The mix, while clean, is also very quiet, which you can fix with some mastering tools like compression. Overall, there’s a lot to like here - the sound design, mood, rhythmic components, and texture - but the structure doesn’t quite have the ebb and flow that I want it to. It would help if you created a more distinct breakdown in the middle of your piece, or maybe a melodic bridge or something. Either way, it’s only a couple of my compositional parameters that are really holding your score underwater here. The rest - instrumentation, originality, atmosphere, etc. - work really hell in this piece. Keep at it, DjRemedy! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
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
6.25/10

djRemedy responds:

Thanks, TaintedLogic! Best of luck to everyone!

[Electrical Speed - DJ Frank]

I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the gradual build-up into the fun beat at :14. The harmonies are very much in the chords, which wouldn’t be a problem so much if the progression weren’t so cliche, but I enjoyed the melodic content at :44 and the supporting arpeggios. The mixing is also quite solid. The texture seems full, well-balanced, and clean. I liked the bridge at 1:15, but I think you missed a big opportunity to add a more climactic section towards the end of the piece. It never quite reaches the same emotional height of :44, despite the prominent lead playing a pleasant syncopation at 1:28. My main problem with the piece is probably the lack of originality, in the sound design, arrangement, and chord progression alike. Still, the production quality here is top-notch, and I really enjoyed the rich texture created by the arpeggios and the well-balanced frequencies. Keep up the good work, DJFrankMusic! ^_^

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
.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
8.25/10

DJFrankMusic responds:

The best advice I have done in life, I do not speak English, (at this moment I am using the translator), sorry if my words are not coherent. :) Thank you very much

["Wonder" (6/10/19)]

I like the chill mood at the beginning. Good sense of atmosphere and drive to the piece at the same time. The drums are creative and energetic, while the pads and synths really maintain the flow. The progression is a tad slow, but the piece really starts coming together when the bass picks up at :53. I was itching for some more melodic content during this section, though, as I wasn’t sure exactly what the piece was building towards after the 1-minute mark. The second minute of the piece feels really dragged out, although those rich chords at 1:59 help take the track in a new direction. Excellent sense of build into 2:40, although the prominent melodic content I’ve been waiting for never really comes. The emotional height is still pretty sweet, but a really dynamic and full melody would help advance that moment of catharsis. I like how the thrill of the emotional height gradually dies over the last minute, but I still wish you had at least varied that main riff a little more. The strongest element of this piece is probably the production quality - the mix is as clean and polished as a knife fresh out of the dishwasher. The instrumental palette here is really appealing, and complements the structural arc of your piece really well. Most of my complaints here simply point out missed opportunities rather that things I actively disliked about the piece, which is certainly a good sign. Keep up the good work, DJ-Saidez! ^_^

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

DJ-Saidez responds:

Yay

Yeah, a few people told me it was kinda repetitive, and I can see why. But practice makes perfect!

[Electro Dance]

The beat at the beginning is pretty good, although I think you put a bit too much reverb on the kick. By :20, the bass is really driving the piece, and the little end-of-phrase synth riffs and theremin-sounding thing at :41 are valuable additions to the texture. I also like the atmospheric instrument at :56, but I’m not sure that it goes so well with the more hard-hitting danceable elements of the piece. There’s a collage of instruments thereafter that, by themselves, also sound pretty cool, but at this point I think the track starts to lose its sense of cohesion a bit. There isn’t really much melodic content or overarching shape to the piece. At some point, I wanted to see you do more with phrasing, dynamics, or another aspect of structuring that would offer the listener some relief from the repetitive bass riffs and simplistic beats, like a bridge or breakdown section. The glitchy section at 2:33 begins to take the piece in that direction, but I think it’s too little too late in terms of creating some structural variety in this track. It’s a cool beat, and you definitely have a good sense of rhythm, harmony, and sound design, but I don’t think you told a story with this one as much as you could’ve. Otherwise, the mixing is fairly good and I do like the mood and atmosphere of the piece. Keep at it, CompXsco! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
7/10

CompXsco responds:

Thanks

[Buzzer]

I like the catchy bass riff at the beginning. I think the bass is seriously distorting the drums in the mix, though. I think you should explore using tools like filtering, compression, and the like to add more clarity to the texture here. That’ll help make your drums punchier and the entire mix less muddy in the bass range. While there are definitely some good ideas with the bass riffs, the composition is otherwise quite lacking. There’s not a lot of mid-range or treble tones anywhere in the piece, and very little melodic content or meaningful progression of ideas. I think you should try layering more harmonic material on top of the existing notes you have to add some complexity and a sense of direction to your track. It’s clear to me that you have a good sense of rhythm and flow, but it’s hard for me to assess a wide range of compositional skills from this track because there’s just not much variety in the piece. There are also several points, like :22 and 1:15, where stereo distortion (also called peaking or clipping) is clearly audible, which is a sign that you haven’t put a lot of effort into mixing and mastering your track. In FL Studio, you want to press F9, remove the limiter from the master channel on the window that pops up, and turn down the volume levels when you first begin your project. Then, you can use some of the tools I mentioned earlier, like compression, to increase the loudness and thickness of the texture after you finish the composition. I know all of this probably sounds really overwhelming, but honestly on Newgrounds the best indicator of popularity is decent mixing and sound design. Please PM me if you don’t understand something that I’ve written about today, or you just have further general questions. I hope you keep working on this piece, and also that you understand that creating a complete and polished track might require a little more effort. Best of luck! Let me know how I can continue to help you going forward. :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.25/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
.75/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.25/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.25/1
Composite score
2.5/10

ChoNoTuTe responds:

Thanks for your feedback! Actually I made this track using 1 troll tutorial from Youtube. I know that this song isn't the best quality.