(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

a cheerful midtempo synthy jam - i was a bit surprised to catch this kind of mood from a song about a workout image, but i think it works pretty well with the cute, cartoony, pixelly style of the characters and scene; like i'm imagining this as a scenario in a kitschy, anime-like rpg like Grandia and suddenly it fits perfectly. the driving rhythm of the vocal samples also helps to bring home the theme. the energy level of the track stays basically the same the whole time, which from a musical perspective i might prefer some breaks or some crescendos or some extra variation, but again with respect to the workout theme, it works! interestingly it appears like the track is clipping quite a lot but i don't actually hear it - thought it was worth mentioning that it might be good to keep a limiter on it though. the ending effect of drowning the song in reverb is neat; i wish it didn't cut off at the end lol, it'd be maximally satisfying to hear it fade down to nothing. but yeah, overall i think this is a really solid take on the artwork you chose. it's cute and fun!

AIM 2023 Judge Review

For music being inspired by people working out at a gym, this is chill and comforting, but it also still has a bit of a gym vibe to it (and not just because of the vocal samples). This feels like an early morning workout when almost no one is at the gym and you're just starting to get into your usual routine.

I love how forward the bass is and how it still manages to feel like it balances out with the rest of the sounds. The softer sine melodies help to add a warmth and height to the texture and the way it repeats the same pattern over the bass changing chord progressions makes for some pleasant and comforting tones. Even the "work" and "sweat" voices heard throughout a large portion of this track help add an even fading rhythm that seems to convey the idea of a workout in a gym being machine-like even though it also can be kind of relaxing at times.

For the most part, I think a lot of the sounds work well here, even though it feels like there's a bit of a stuffiness from all the reverb. It's interesting how the reverb gets amped up at the very end of the track, like it's culminating to the end of your routine and it's time to go back to normal life (or at least how I would interpret it). At first I thought the piece's hard cut at the end was because it was meant to be a loop, but the dynamics at the end don't really match up with the beginning, so I don't think that's the case. But this piece definitely could have faded out its tail rather than having it end so abruptly, resulting in a little "pop" once we reach the conclusion. When exporting, I'd go for the "leave tail" option rather than "cut tail" and if the tail is too long, either add a volume automation to fade out the master or do it in post in Audacity. Help the track feel like it ends more naturally to silence rather than abruptly.

Aside from that, I like this track a lot. Something about the way the art is focused and the colours reflects a lot in this entry for me, and I enjoy just casually replaying it for the mood. Everything generally hits just right in this piece in a satisfying and comfortable manner.

👍👍👍