I like the cutesy synths and jazzy harmonies at the beginning. The treble tones in the lead synths might be a bit too prominent for my tastes, but the production is clean and loud otherwise. The melodies are nice, and you keep the texture interesting with the rhythmic elements and sound design changes. I like the more mellow breakdown at 1:07 too with the more orchestral sound design. The progression is also really nice here - smooth transitions at 1:09 and 1:35 help channel the energy well. At times, the drums might’ve used a bit of a boost in the mix, and I wanted to see you vary the melodies a bit more later on, but the dreamy 8-bit section at the end was a nice change-of-pace that helped bring the piece full-circle. Overall, this is a really enjoyable piece, 314leafcutterant! 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
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8.5/10

Interesting piece, with a lot of space and verb. I have no complaints about writing, instrumentation, or pacing. Transitions are very nicely done.

My sole gripe is how little center channel I hear. Most everything sounds as if it's been spreadilated, and the 20k and above in the mix is quite up there for each instrument, but especially your hats. Nothing melodic ever reaches those heights, so it's a little jarring to hear a hihat and reverb tails almost as loud as the melody.

There's a bit of boxiness to the overall sound. I recommend cutting 250 hz and below on all of your reverbs (to taste of course) and centering your bass at these frequencies. There are plugins to make this happen. I just forget their names.

The sine bass is somehow a bit loud and also nearly inaudible at the same time. I think that's just characteristic sine waves. I recommend pulse, saw, square, and ramp over sine -- sine waves take up a lot of room in the mix to be heard and are best as a sub bass underneath another bass, imo.

Other than that, really enjoyed the piece and think you did a wonderful job arranging. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC! (again)

I really loved the outro <3.