I like the tranquil mood and medieval theme at the beginning. The hip-hop beat pairs really nicely with the majestic strings and harps. The bass might be a tad loud, but overall the mixing and mastering is really strong here. I like the flute solo at 1:14 a lot too, and the string solo at the end hits the piece home nicely. I also like how the piece comes full circle by the end with the distinguished-sounding harpsichord - makes the piece more loopable that way. :) The composition here could’ve been a tad bolder and more dynamic in places, but overall this is really strong work, Young-Kingler! Keep it up. ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.5/10

Medieval hip-hop? Me too bro. Me too.

I think your 808, percussion, and string lead are too loud relative to the dulcimerish lead.

Your flute writing slaps though.

By any chance do you use Mixcraft? These percussions sound familiar.

I think there are too many kicks in your main drum loop. It sounds pretty cluttered. Your hihats also don't seem to be all that much varied. It feels as if the piece itself actually is quite busy throughout with no real time to breathe. I would recommend some study of song structure, weak and strong beats, etc., and reparsing out this idea later.

Typically when I write a beat, I start with just 4 measures, copy paste, then change the last 2 measures of the second half. Bingo, one drop. Copy and paste that, repeat the process changing the last 2 bars. Repetition legitimizes. That is then my final drop, or my last 2 drops.

I will then take elements of this and write an intro, one verse, and one bridge if I feel like it, using a lot of the same elements but not all -- otherwise it will again just sound like a big mess of drops/choruses. I typically will have a 4-8 bar intro, half a drop, a verse of 8 or 16 bars, a full drop, a verse, drop repeats, bridge, drop and outro.

I have a list of freebies and samples you might enjoy hiding in my newsposts, for hiphop and electronic music. Be sure to check that out.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Wow, nice! I love the mix of the two styles.