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:

- I'm really... kinda impressed that you have a bass which is so steady and consistent that it makes a solid rectangle through almost your entire waveform. It would probably be a good idea to give it a break sometimes though, outside the second section with a different bass (even some lighter sidechaining would be neat). Which relates to this overarching point - this track is really repetitive. Hip-hop tracks often run into this issue when they don't have singing or rapping over them, where they lack much variety. In this case, the little plucky sounds repeat nearly the entire time, without much variation in the drums or chord progression at all. Without a singer/rapper, it would help this piece a ton to have some melodies, changes in chord progression, addition of new instruments to weave in and out of the track... generally, keeping it variable and engaging over the full runtime.

- Secondly, let's talk about the mixing. As it is, the drums stick out quite a bit but don't really sparkle like they're often intended to in hip hop. You can actually enhance the treble freqeuncies a tad in the snare and high hats (though careful with the hats). However, the rest of the instruments could also be a tad louder relative to the drums, especially without a singer. Lastly, this is mixed somewhat quietly in general, and it would be worth simply putting a limiter on the track as it exists now, with a threshold of -1.1dB to make sure it stays at roughly the same volume compared to other music.

Compliments to the Composer:

- So, this might be repetitive and have a few mixing improvements to make, but don't let that get you down. You have a really cool atmosphere here with those little plucky sounds, the filtered pad in the background being gated during the drum sections, and a generally chill drumbeat. This is really chill and enjoyable overall, and I'd love to hear something with more development but a similar vibe.

Final score: 7