Hello, xehao

There are games that I want to make unofficial custom levels with your music.
The games are "A Dance of Fire and Ice" and "Rhythm Doctor". Please see the website for more info: https://7thbe.at
The game devs ask users to get explicit permission, so I want to ask your thoughts.

A summary:
- I am not affiliated with the game developers. Unofficial custom levels will not be included in the game until an official contract is signed.
- You will be credited as the song composer.
- The custom levels are not generating any revenue. However, the games are commercial.
- Some parts of the song may change reasonably to match the gameplay.
- The song will be redistributed from the Steam Workshop in lossy OGG format.
- You can set any limitations on what can be used or not (originals, remix/bootleg, record label, etc.).
- You can contact the game developers via email: auth@7thbe.at

Please refer to the full terms in case you wonder: https://7thbeat.notion.site/f9b45fdd77a24a349eadb8773fb7135f
Here you can see how verified artists are maintained: https://7thbe.at/verified-artists/

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please let me know what you think!
(Please note that your responses will be made public for the record.)

Best regards,
Zesocas

cool

god, the vibe you're going for here is immaculate - big men i trust vibes with the low slung beat, clean chorusey guitars, and sweet ethereal backing vox. i really love the ending, especially right at the end how the vox reverb tails off, very lush sounding!

i think the drums feel too clean and could use some tape saturation or something to give them some more character. generally everything in the mix feels like it's trying to pop out and cut through and i think this track would benefit from a more subdued tonality - start with lowpass filtering and bringing the bass guitar down. love how the guitars sound overall - i think the lead needs some delay or a low plate reverb or something, but only just as the vocals come back in to smooth this transition and give the lead some unobtrusive sustain.

i appreciate the intimate and vulnerable sounding main vox but i think they're too dry and forward, and would benefit from a more naturalistic approach to pitch correction. and also some tape saturation. honestly just blast the whole track thru some tape sat, it's such a vibe here haha

I like the relaxed mood at the beginning. The sound design is great, as is the groovy bass line. The vocals at :28 sound soothing and conversational in tone, but also could’ve been more up-front in the mix. It also sounds like some of the articulations on the notes are a little odd, almost like you aren’t staying a consistent distance away from the mic when you record. “I just WIISH we cOOUUld,” etc. Honestly, it’s a fine line between being expressive and being campy with this sort of thing for me. But in the grand scheme of things, that’s a pretty small detail.

The guitar solo at 1:05 is really refreshing and blissful-sounding, and one of my favorite parts of the piece is the second half of the vocal bridge at 2:02. I thought the vocals sounded a bit mumbly and strained at 1:55, though - working on breath control would be a good next step for you.

Overall, really nice work with the moody vibe, rich atmosphere, instrumentation, clean mix, and progression here, Xehao! Thanks for coming out to the NGUAC again this year. Been a pleasure having you! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.5/1.5
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
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.5/1
Composite score
8.5/10

I think vocal mix leaves a bit to be desired for the lead -- it's quiet in relation to the rest of the track, and for intelligibility it needs not to be hidden. Given a wetter treatment and bumped up in the mix it would fix any of my other gripes, such as the BG vocals being louder than the lead. Great composition overall!