I like the airy synths at the beginning. The chord progression is pretty unconventional, and also rather fast-paced compared to the beat. The texture comes together nicely by :38, and I also like the piano at :43, despite it being pretty far back in the mix. The quirky synth melody at :57 also hits the spot. Overall, the arrangement of the piece feels a bit formulaic, though. You switch up the texture every 4 bars or so, but there isn’t much ebb and flow in the texture within those 4 bars. I wanted to see you find more inventive ways of creating variety - filtering, automation, dynamic contrast, changes in energy level, key changes, etc. The sound design and moody atmosphere of this piece are still really neat, and I like all of the individual harmonies. I just wanted to see you do a bit more with the composition here. Also, the mix might have a tad too much reverb in it for all of the harmonies to come through clearly once the texture gets busy later in the piece. Still, this is a catchy and smooth-flowing piece with some cool harmonies and a nice, wintry mood. Keep at it, Zone18069! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.25/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.75/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
7/10

Interesting choice of chords for the intro. The slow arpeggios are sounding good. I feel the string pad could be doubled, chorused, or widened to good effect, and perhaps delayed rather than reverbed. Ping pong is lit.

I do like the languid feel of this piece a lot. However I feel it is a bit over compressed for the arrangement. Not bad at all. Wish it were longer! I was really enjoying the development of your drop.

At the very end chord, something is clipping in the right channel.

Either way, definitely something to be proud of. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!