NGADM Review

Your track is something out of its era and seems to borrow from many decades of musical experimentation. I definitely liked that aspect - the over all sound design from the late 80s/early 90s but with more modern production.

The things that stick out most for me are a good use of the instruments chosen and good rhythm. You did a great job on those and they hold the whole piece together through good composition. It makes for an interesting listen throughout.

On a less positive note, I wasn't really drawn in by the vocals as I had a hard time discerning the qualities of your voice through the way it was produced. Sure, it creates a certain feel to the song but I have to admit it bugged me. Still, having vocals is better than not so I wasn't harsh in that area.

Speaking of production I felt that different aspects were masked at times due to an imbalance in the mix and some clashing frequencies notably in the lower mid register. For example the kick drum comes through harshly, most obviously during the intro and in the last, louder section. Another minus for me was the way the auto-tune introduced the tell-tale artefacts in a not so pleasing way. It spoke of someone covering up issues rather than using auto-tune tastefully.

Obviously the other judges rated your song higher than I did so don't pay much attention to the scores I gave you, you won anyway so my subjective opinion on the matter isn't so important.

Scores:
Composition: 4
Production: 3
Sound Design: 3
Instrumentation and Performance: 4
JeNeSaisQuoi - genre and case specific, also synergy: 3

I like the smooth electric piano at the beginning and the vocals. The piece has a full atmosphere and a soothing tone quality that I really like. I’d love to know what the lyrics actually are, because despite the comments you made in the author’s description, the piece comes across as pretty serious in nature. I think the vocals could’ve been a bit more prominent in the mix, though, and the mix as a whole is pretty quiet. The quirky beat at :48 is really nice, and despite some relatively cheesy synths I’m enjoying the sound design as a whole. Much of the middle couple of minutes of the piece sounds rather minimal, but the melodic content at 2:00 helps keep my attention. I like the subtle addition of the pads at 2:36, but I think the transition at 2:46 could’ve been a bit more gradual. At the very least, some reverb to bridge the gap there would’ve been advisable imo. The pitch-bending at around 3:30 is really nice, but otherwise the final refrain sounds a bit undecorated, almost resigned in a way that matches the tone of the lyrics. I think some more variation on the final vocal friends - as well as a less abrupt ending - would help hit this piece home more. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the mellow tone, rhythmic content, sound design, and production of the piece. Keep at it, glutenfree! ^_^

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1.25/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1.5/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
.5/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
1/1
Composite score
8.25/10

Wonderful production. Very colorful. Pastel colors. Minimalist pastel colors and slow camera pans of people doing various things in slow motion to a pastel sunny background.

Very catchy, as well.
Congrats and good luck!

Your vocals are really good! Love the vocal melody especially

Great song. You can read a lot into the lyrics if you want. The autotuned voice makes of more fragile and emotional. It works well with the otter instruments and mood of the song. Good luck in the ngadm.