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:

- Please be careful with the amount of reverb you're using. Right now, this track has FAR too much, especially in the bass frequencies. There are a couple problematic effects with too much reverb which impact your mix. Firstly, notice how boomy the bass becomes with all that reverb. Reverb fills up a mix in general and reduces clarity of other instruments, but as you get into lower frequencies that effect gets MUCH stronger, as bass frequencies frequently overpower other ones. The other problematic effect of too much reverb, which this track suffers a lot from, is how it "flattens" frequencies. Think of it as comparable to blur on an image - sharp and precise lines turn into blobs of color and it's harder to distinguish individual elements. That is effectively what reverb does to sound, and why it needs careful application - just because it makes things sound 'bigger' doesn't mean it makes them sound 'better'.

- While it's hard to hear under all the reverb, I do want to make the point that with the exception of 0:57-2:14, you use the same melody the entire time. Further, this uses the same chord progression throughout the entire track, and the lack of much dynamic variation keeps the entire track sounding very flat. Try having a B section with a different chord progression and a countermelody based on the first one, especially as a breakdown. Breakdowns also work great to ADD reverb in, because reverb on lower volume instruments adds size and ambience to contrast with the denser, crispier atmosphere of a really good drop.

Compliments to the Composer:

- Okay, outside of my criticisms, the drumline punches through all this reverb pretty well, and especially given how well it contrasts the excess of reverb everywhere else... that drum groove BANGS. It's honestly the best part of the entire track. Groove and punch go together really well. I think without all the reverb and with a little more variety, this track would be a great listen. As-is, it's still pretty satisfying, just a bit fatiguing and hard to hear the detail.

Final score: 7.5