Official AIM Review!

Intro sounds like 70's and 80's space movie music. Very synthwave. Mix is super harsh on those highs though. Watch out for that.

Also don't really like that piano synth. Could have better stood in the mix as a saw or triangle.

You've done a really good job crafting an atmosphere around your basses. What's killing this piece for me is a lot of volume fluctuation and very harsh highs and mids.

I especially like the switchup in the bass between verse and chorus. Really brought the track together and kept progression going even when I wasn't sure where you were going melodically.

Also liked your lead writing.

I disagree with TL. I found myself wanting more bass, less lead.

Also, what's with the long tail of silence on the end of the piece? Might trim that.

Thanks for turning out to this year's competition!

---Official AIM review---

Cool work with the pitch bending at the beginning. I love the ominous mood and quirky sound design. The bass at :21 is a little loud, and I would’ve liked to see you do more with the drums at :32. The progression is a little slow, and the drum samples also sound pretty generic. The transition at 1:25 was a little sudden, but I like the use of the sub-bass there. The pads at 1:36 completely hijack the texture, but maybe that was the point. I like how you seem to be going in a different direction with the piece at 1:47. I guess my biggest complaint with this piece is that there’s a lot of minimalism and simplicity in the texture. The main melody is pretty generic, although I like how you incorporate more dynamic melodic content at times (2:08, 3:12). Overall, the piece still felt pretty slow-paced and repetitive imo. Most of my production concerns are actually more about the balance (I thought the drums could’ve been a bit stronger at times, and the bass a little less, etc.). Overall, though, it’s a catchy and enjoyable piece with some especially cool instrumentation. Keep at it, ET16!

8/10

The spacey-plucky bits at the start sync'd up really nicely with the floating astronaut inspiration. I found that you did a nice job within the music style of conveying a space theme. The simple notes in the intro and outro seemed to reinforce the loneliness and expanse of space itself. Nice work!