I love the foreboding atmosphere at the beginning and the faint vocals. The mix sounds a bit quiet and contained, but by :41 I’m really enjoying the Celtic groove, and also how it’s interspersed with more legato sections like at :51. The percussion and (are those Rhodes?) at 1:19 sound really cool, and I like how the texture of this piece gradually gets fuller and richer as it goes on. There are a lot of twists and turns in the mood, with 1:59 sounding pretty melancholic. The composition could’ve been a bit more cohesive overall, and there were definitely some transitions that caught me off guard - like 2:41. It’s always nice to hear your vocals, although during the final climax at 2:55 or so they don’t quite punch through the mix like I want them to. The percussion could also be a bit more crisp in the mix in places, like at 1:50. The outro is absolutely beautiful, though - not to be trite, but it truly does sound ethereal. Overall, I love the melodies and sound design here. Strong sense of storytelling with this one. Keep at it, Jordi! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
2/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
9.25/10

Man, this track is so fire! The instrumentation is arranged so well, and once you get towards the middle where the bass fills in the remaining space in the music, it becomes such a beautiful experience. I don't know how you managed to make me, a guy who really dislikes key switches, like them that bit more.

You're clearly talented, and I wouldn't be surprised if you got to at least top 5 in the Finals. You stood out pretty hard for me haha

Good luck!

Dude, when it comes in at :30, so cool!! Such an awesome cinematic piece you have here, I can picture the battle, the owls flying and rats riding the owls with little harpoons (LOL!). I really look all the percussive elements especially in the middle of the song. Nice resolution and fun chord progression around 2:00~, was not expecting the vocals either. So freaking cool! You are a very talented composer. The ending is perfectly whimsical <3, bravo!

The instrumentation and arrangement is insanely interesting to listen to, as always.

I'm torn on the execution, particularly mix. At points, it can get pretty sibilant. I would have approached things differently. For instance, the shaker volume and percussion transients are as perceptible and sometimes more perceptible/up-front than the rhythm section -- the low brass, bass, and so on.

The violins at 1:41 and organs are louder than the vocal elements in the section at 2:17, as well as the build into our final big section. In terms of transition and the space you have left to work with on the master, I would have added even more dynamic contrast between these sections. I would grow that gap in max dB as the song progresses for a more bombastic conclusion -- allowing for the vocals at the end to REALLY stand apart from those throughout.

If sibilance or boxy breath noise is stopping you from getting those (wonderfully performed!) vocals to sit right in the mix or perhaps making you fear bringing them up front, try rolling off highs or lows to taste, notching lower frequencies down.

Even de-essing in post via RX or another program can help. Getting them into the same sonic range/vibe as the other instruments, respecting microphone/room frequency responses, and approximating the same ensemble feel is paramount to blending live recorded vocals with VSTs.

I have one big problem toward the end of your piece. It isn't the level of the master, as cinematic pieces are often forgiving in this area, and it isn't writing, playing, singing, arrangement, or even sound palette. It's a single source of ultra high treble, the pipe/reed instrument way up there.

I'll try to explain.

In general, the higher something is in pitch, or the more distance there is between it and other elements of a piece, the louder it's going to sound in relation. I don't know what synth is playing 4 octaves + higher than the vocal line if it's not in fact pipes/reeds, but as the only thing in that gap, it's naturally going to sound screaming loud. It has quite a unique sound, one I like, but I would roll off some of the higher frequencies from that synth, and see if it sits better in the mix.

Alternatively, you can turn everything else up in proportion. I assume you are mixing on monitors -- I am listening on monitor headphones. It may be worth checking the mix in multiple environments, if you can't quite hear what I'm talking about, because the spatial aspect of your mix is bang on, but something is happening there in that range.

In short, wonderful composition. I liked it enough that I even experimented with turning the volume up and down, outside of my normal monitoring and reference range to see what happened. The result was, the lower end of your composition came more into perceived balance as I turned volume up, but the high end of that particular synth became almost painfully loud. So I tried it the other way. I ended up turning the song down by half before the pipe synth was more tolerable.

By chance did you mix this song very quietly? I was shocked when, like magic, once I turned it down, everything felt more balanced. The phenomenon must have to do with psychoacoustics and Haas numbers, which I am not as well versed in as I'd like to be.

Please let me know, as I will be very intrigued!

Very well done! Quite unique, lots of originality, it often lacks in cinematic music.
It sounds good all the way, everything merge well, that's a high potential for NGUAC top placements for sure!