3:06 is my favorite part tbh. This whole song is really cool. I like your ideas. What ever you do, KEEP MAKING MUSIC! Much love, -mango

I like the ominous sound effects at the beginning, and the light-hearted piano riff shortly thereafter as well, despite the sudden shift in the mood. The airy strings are a nice touch too, although they sound a bit inauthentic (and it’s especially easy to tell when you layer the two lines on top of each other). Manually adjusting the note lengths and “humanizing” them a bit more might help with that. The long pause at 1:02 was a bit awkward, and I was a bit thrown off by the abrupt switch to fully electronic elements, although I like the blissful mood and crisp beats. The clap sample is a bit cheesy and generic, later on at 2:00 you start blending the bass and strings together nicely, and the climactic section at 2:36 has a really rich texture and well-balanced harmonies. The modulation at 3:00 was also a bit on the cheesy side, and I think you also could’ve transitioned into it a bit more smoothly. Stop-start transitions like this can be effective sometimes, but I think you’ve overused them a bit here, and it makes the arrangement come across as a bit choppy. Also, you have a habit of cranking up the volume when you want something to sound intense/climactic, like at 1:02 and 3:35. I think it would sound a bit more natural to automate the knobs on the compressor or reverb plug-in instead. Overall, I really like the sound design, mood, variety, and melodies of this one. I think the arrangement could’ve been a bit more flowing, and some elements of the chord progressions and instrumentation were a tad generic. Still, it’s a cute and catchy piece with some solid mixing overall. Keep at it, Magentanide! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.75/1
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

The intro up to 20 seconds is almost inaudible to me

Nice writing onto 35 seconds
The string instrument sounds dry and there could be better treatment of it with attention to attack modulation, velocity, and reverb.

1:11 sounds like you got irritated, walked across the room, and picked up your DAW haha

Overall, that's a very interesting approach. Sounds like you heard my critique and went over to do what you do best :P

But for the keychange, it sounds like a lot of the same elements. Nothing is particularly low quality -- I perhaps would prefer less string volume at 3:23. But something is happening, or rather not happening. Think I'd like some swooshy transitions, chimes, or whatever, to solidify transitions. But great shifts in style. That's much appreciated.

Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!