I like the pensive mood at the beginning and the quirky sound design. The texture seems well-balanced, and I like the phasing/filtered synths. The mix is pretty quiet, though, and I think the kick is a little too prominent in the texture at times. Despite the enjoyable atmosphere, sometimes your instruments don’t blend well together, especially the punchy clap at :30 with the other, more mellow aspects of the texture. There also isn’t a very strong sense of structural variety over time. The new section at 1:14 offers some textural changes, but the piece still has a pretty consistent energy level and thickness of texture. I like the sound design, mood, atmosphere, and harmonic content overall, but I think the composition could be more dynamic. The choir sample at 2:01 sounds pretty inauthentic, and the chord progression at that part is a bit cliche. The piece comes together well by the end with a notable escalation of intensity, and despite the lack of prominent melodic content and my issues with the mixing, there’s a lot to like in the quirky textures and flow here. Keep at it, Shadow-ghost! :)
Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.5/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.75/2
Instrumentation and sound design
.5/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.5/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.75/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
8/10