I like the high-pitched string drone at the beginning. Some of the other instrument choices were a bit cheesy, especially the inauthentic piano and thin kick drum. I also think the drums could’ve used some more compression, just to make them sound punchier. I like the flute melodies at :51 too, although the piano line gets a bit buried in the mix there. The transition back into the electronic melodies at 1:19 was really smooth, although it was a bit jarring when you went in a different direction again at 1:30.

Overall, though, I really like the composition here. You clearly have a good sense of harmony, rhythm, and progression. I think it would benefit you to get some higher-quality samples, though, especially for orchestral instruments. I’d suggest PM’ing @LD-W and joining the NG Audio Pub on Discord. The Resources tab there is full of great sample libraries and tips on where to find more.

As for the mixing, especially during the busier sections, it might help to use equalizers more often. Also known as EQs, they’ll help you filter out the frequencies in the harmonic instruments (i.e., pretty much everything except the bass and drums) below about 200 Hertz. That’ll make all of the instruments sound much clearer because instruments with a similar frequency range tend to distort each other, especially on the low end of the spectrum. You may already know about equalizers, but you should use them way more often, is the point. It also couldn’t hurt to dial back the reverb a tad, but I don’t think that’s the main problem here.

Anyway, I really like the melodies, variety, atmosphere, and progression of this one, and I hope you’ll keep working on it. Keep at it, INH0! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
7.5/10

I actually quite like the blending of instruments and synths here! The 1:19 part being my favorite, it felt a bit short compared to the other parts of the song. In my opinion, big parts of the song having no drums combined with the drums being somewhat weak kind of reduces the impact the track has. I also think adding in some risers and slightly adjusting the melodies could give a very nice result. Good work :)

no, i think it definitely sounds like a good solid effort at trance - i think you got the sound design and structure down. that being said, i think the melodies aren't particularly great (some notes are somewhat dissonant in a way that doesn't really sound right), and obviously there does need to be a lot more effort in adding more layers (not to nitpick but i think you do want to sidechain the instruments to the kick) but i think you definitely made a solid effort.

i will say though, that i come from a background of making music based upon ASOT and likewise "mainstream trance" so i do have a *very* different perspective on what makes a trance track trance, but i can understand that you probably don't and so it's expected that you probably wouldn't necessarily make something that "conforms". but, regardless, even though it's not the trance i necessarily know, i think this could be considered trance.