I like the atmosphere at the beginning. The mood is pretty haunting, especially with the pitch-bending on that shimmering synth. It begins to sound a bit atonal at :40 or so, which is actually rather refreshing. The progression is rather slow-paced, though, and I’m concerned that, while the sound design and atmosphere are great, you’re not really demonstrating a good variety of compositional skills with this piece. The dissonance at 1:36 sounds really sweet, and I’m beginning to admire your sense of harmony along with the instrumentation and moodiness of the piece. That said, I think that even an ambient track needs a little more structural variety and melodic content to be competitive in this contest. It’s always pieces like this that I’m really torn about because, while I would absolutely enjoy the piece as background music for a game or movie, I’m not sure it’s quite developed enough to constitute a stand-alone piece in my mind. All of that said, I think you absolutely deserve a spot in the next round, and I hope the other judges agree. Flesh out the composition a little more next time, and you should be well on your way to a 9-range score from me. Keep at it, Dantonsgo! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
.5/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.25/2
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?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.5/10

Nice Atmosphere!