Is this... GarageBand? 10/10 man. Keep it up.

everything sounds beautiful and crisp until all these dull squarewave leads and arps start fading into the drop. if you want to keep those more "chiptune" kinda sounds i think just lowering the pulsewidth on those square synths to match the main melody tone would help brighten them up a lot without altering the feel you're going for.

the piano sound is also a bit thumpy and unnatural. adjusting the timing so that notes aren't all perfectly in time and move the note velocities around so the important beats in the melody are accented will help this. none of the melodies in this track are very memorable but they're also not really "bad" - they just kinda plod along and don't touch on any of the big emotional ideas that the chord progression hints at. the melody synth is also not what i'd personally use for something so bittersweet sounding - a little vibrato might help it to sound more emotive?

the guitar playing through the drop sucks a lot of the tension out of the first wave of that chord stack, just cut it off with that last finger snap. once the beat comes in it sounds like the transients of the reversed kicks overlap those of the regular kicks? sounds kinda messy! i like how the 2nd half of each chorus has this little refrain leading into it. i'd like the little percussive part on the melody here to be the dominant though.

middle section is cool, i like the soft vinyl crackle and piano EQ after the house section but the piano feels muddy as it plays over the rest of the buildup so i'd either cut it or alter the EQ on it coming into this section. little disappointing that this last chorus doesn't feel any different to the first except for some minor changes in the refrain - would be good to cut all the pads and the melody out under that snare @ 2:51 and then slam them all back in when the chord stack drops back in, just to maximise the tension coming into that final run through of the melody.

the ending felt very awkward and honestly sounds unfinished, at least drop one last kick and crash down if you want to end suddenly like that. it really feels like it wants to drop straight into that middle vocal section again and then end on that.

very solid production and mixing overall. it's mainly sound design and structural issues that hold this back for me, as well as not really finding the melodies particularly interesting personally. i definitely see a lot of potential in this and i'm looking forward to hearing what you can bring to the table in the future!

This is an official NGUAC '18 Tryout Review:

The first thing I notice is just how clean the production is (and that you've left a nice amount of space to click at the beginning of the song in spite of NG's slightly unfavorable format currently). Everything sounds quite crisp and has its own space to breathe. It's a careful use of space within the frequencies. The synths that you've picked I think are great for the tone of the song's theme. The composition has a peaceful and happy feel to it, but it's also slightly melancholy which adds a crapton of emotion to it. I like how this song develops. The main theme is prevalent throughout the whole piece, but I never got tired of it since it sounded fresh each time, but the ending did end a little too abruptly. Maybe even a fading piano hit or two would have made it a much less sudden end. My only big complaint is that the drops are missing some fullness. I feel like it needed something else in the low end to help compliment the bass, or the bass just didn't sound full enough. Just something to add to the initial punch and warmth of the song. Probably all it needed was some additional layering or something an octave up to compliment it.

...Which, speaking of thos drops. I was absolutely sold with those drops. The build ups were good, but the way they add so much emotion to the main theme made me absolutely thrilled. I can't get enough of the sound. They came in so big too, regardless of some of the depth they were missing. It slightly reminded me of Marshmello's Alone, but I loved this so much more. I loved them.

I well enjoyed this piece and I think it was well deserved of the position it got. I'm looking forward to reviewing your next song in the Knockout Round.

Spadezer's Score: 8.25

I'm in love with almost every aspect of this song, oh my goodness. The breakdowns are this song's strongest points: I almost feel like the drop could have used a little more power in the chords, but that's my only real critique, because this song is nothing short of incredibly beautiful! P.S: those vocal chops at 1:53 :D
Good luck!

Very poppin! LOVE IT