Official NGADM 2021 (and NGUAC) review upon request

As I start my listen, before getting to the main part of the song, when the vocal comes in at 0:48 I can tell it's over compressed. With the way the vocal comes in, it feels like my ears are getting closed off similar to what happens when you yawn. At this point there's only 3 things happening I know the compressor shouldn't be working hard and ducking other sounds down just to make way for the vocal sample, and the waveforms I can see aren't even maxing out the player here. It's causing other big issues in spots like the impact at 1:28 and with the break at 3:20. Because the impact is heavy on the sub frequencies lower than what I can hear, the whole mix has to quiet down just because you're peaking the compressor. The 3:20 area sounds like it should be a nice break from the main energy from the main content, but with how loud and present the chords are my ears still feel like they're getting hit with a lot of sound. Before you do any mastering or compressing if your song is peaking past 0dB or even -3dB your mix does not have enough room to breath. Your song will sound a lot more organic and have a much cleaner sound when you start mastering it at that point and will make it more interesting I think. Really this is the biggest issues I have with the song as a whole. With the way it is now it might sound good on a phone speaker, but with my headphones I feel like the song is trying to play with big room air in a room the size of a closet. This issue took your score down a bit for me since I think this is an oversight that dampens the sound of the track to a large degree.

Moving past that though the song has a lot of good work in it. It sounds really professional and progresses and develops in a way that's expected. It has a pretty decent groove and I definitely don't mind it playing in the background. You have professional sounding samples and chop it up in pleasing ways, and you have nice fills with drums too (which I'm assuming are splice samples). For the most part I like your composition. I appreciate that your builds are not cliché by taking every sample and increasing it in pitch and quantity, you leave good room for your vocals to take up, and when the main groove hits it has a good flow and groove. Unfortunately I have two nitpicks. After the first build the main drop feels a little mediocre. It could be because your build is too intense for the main drop, but also the writing for the main section isn't all too interesting. The chords and the bass I think I have issue with. Referencing songs like Control by Matrix and Futurebound, Droptek by Ruptuer, and Out there by CloudNone, each main section of a groove doesn't seem to have the chords the most forefront. If they do they aren't a static and repeating quarter note. The other nitpick I have is that the overall energy and themes used for the song are a bit similar. In a way it stems from a similar issue from the first nitpick, but the song also feels a tad generic which is why I say it progresses and develops as expected. I'm not saying it necessarily makes a bad song, but with critical listening it come across as less interesting and not unique. It's the art of balancing on the thread of is it predictable in a way that the listener can make sense of what's coming up and also bringing something surprising and unexpected. Telling a good joke runs on a similar principle (first time I've made a comedy comparison). You build up the listener's expectations and then you add a fun and interesting twist.

Overall a solid good song with a crowded mix. If the overcompressed issue wasn't there I'd probably listen to it on my playlists

Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.

I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!

Constructive Criticism:

- Tasteful. Let's look at your mix, since that's what could use the most work. Your intro and the majority of this track are fairly overcompressed, but it's actually really easy to resolve that. You can master your track with a threshold at -1.1dB instead of where it is now, and keep your makeup gain where it is to make it so you have a broader dynamic range available. This would help you resolve the issue of your vocals being buried during the bulk of the track, while also still giving space for your breakdowns and keeping the sound from feeling quite as squished. Otherwise though, the mix is actually very satisfying.

- Aside from the mix, my critique is relatively much smaller, so I'll just note a couple more things here. For example, the initial atmosphere in the introduction is... quite different from the rest of the track, being almost creepy and also dissonant compared to the rest of the music's tonality. It isn't to a huge extent, but this could definitely be improved and perhaps made thinner to transition in from the prior 'silence' more effectively. That said, if this is meant to transition seamlessly from a previous track, this is functional. Also, at 2:26 and 3:56, you use TRIPLET rhythms. These are fantastic, and I will forever be disappointed that there wasn't at least one hypermeasure of triplet-focused dnb rhythms for variation after 2:26. I am similarly a little disappointed by the lack of impact in the first drop - it might have been better to make that more intense and reduce the intensity of the second drop for contrast in the middle instead.

Compliments to the Composer:

- Wow. I'm actually super impressed by this. You have a solid intro, good development into the first real drop, multiple breakdowns, variation in rhythm through the chords, solid mixing, and lovely bits of 'ear candy' dropped in throughout the whole track. I really dig it, and would gladly listen to it in a mix of my other medium bpm DnB tracks. This doesn't sound like "noob music" at all, my dude!

Final score: 9.4

it has good mix, and instruments, I like the intense intro and the fast-paced arpeggio running from left to right.
The problem is the compression/mastering, make sure to prioritize the vocals more next time ;)
Also, the first build-up and the drop don't go well to each other, one that is intense, one that is straight-up relaxing.
One final note, don't ya think that this is too much for a liquid DnB? I mean, liquid sounds more minimal, I'd say this is normal DnB