NGAUC Review
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First off, my apologies for the extremely late review -- but, better late than never!

What worked well:
- Very interesting and relaxing track.
- Great (but subtle) melodic content!
- Excellent use of pads to augment the bass, arp and beat.
- Very pretty (but short) ending!

What to consider for next time:
- More melodic work!
- The overall production is good, but the mixing is a little lacking. I agree with Skye when he says that after the 1:47 mark, things get a little swamped.
- The ending, while nice, was just far too short I think. Furthermore, the sound just cuts to nothing! I would have loved to hear more of that piano in other parts of the track, too.

Great song! I really enjoyed sitting back and listening to it, and I did so more than once. Keep it up!

Score: 8.2/10

So, you've made it to the final round. You've clearly proven yourself. Time to judge by NGADM standards - scoring will be harsher as a result. In any case, here are some pointers for improvement.

The Good:
-Interesting panning and gating in the beginning. This is definitely "miscellaneous".
-Great arps and a nice bass, though it gets very buried around 1:10.
-Overall very creative use of sounds.
-Oh, fantastic ending. I love how it shows the melody.

The not-so-good:
-Mixing is okay, but it's not anything special. Things get somewhat buried, especially around 1:47 and after.
-Not too much of a theme, though this does have a very central chord progression and ideas. Seems very much like organized chaos.

Final score: 8.2/10. Absolute biggest thing bringing this down is the mixing. Improve that and you'd have a very solid piece. Beyond that try to have things vary a little bit more, and change up the mood throughout. Definitely an alternate idea, though! Unrelated: This immediately reminded me of alternativesolution. http://alternativesolution.newgrounds.com/ maybe you two should say hello to each other.

I love the warm pads at the beginning. It kind of has an organic, almost bright sound, yet at the same time the sweeps at :15 work beautifully. The percussion is a bit dry. I think some reverb might've helped enhance the atmospheric vibe you created here. I think you need a stronger transition at :46, and perhaps at 1:02 as well. You have these cool swells, like at 1:16, but they don't really lead much of anywhere. The progression to this piece is cool, albeit a little slow-paced. You have a full texture and a really unique soundscape here, which I love. I will say that I think you could've heightened the drama/emotion a lot more. You seem to be creating a sort of "after the storm" affect at 3:07, yet you never quite hit a concrete arrival point IMO. I could understand the argument that the emotional height of the piece is 2:19, but I still felt like you could've done more to contribute to the cathartic mood there. The production seems solid. It's a cool piece. You definitely didn't disappoint. You just didn't necessarily go as all-out as I was expecting. There are a few sections - like 1:02 to 1:30 - that seem a bit structurally flat and could use more phrasing to, again, heighten the emotion. Add more phrasing/dynamic contrast here, and this'll be a really solid piece, my friend. Keep up the good work. ;D

8/10

Man love this groove, chord progression, and ambient sounds! I think you developed this quite well as I can easily follow the linear motion throughout. Beautiful work! Love everything about the arrangement and structure on this one. Perhaps my favorite you've done despite it only feeling like a minute long.