Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

I like the gritty bass at the beginning and crisp drum kits. The frantic synths at :26 are cool, especially paired with that ride cymbal. You could’ve filled out the texture a little more with some higher-pitched frequencies, but the catchiness and sense of build into 1:15 helps keep me engaged. There was a tad too much reverb in the texture at 1:16 for my tastes, but the rhythmic elements of the post-chorus at 1:41 were pretty cool. The ominous synth at 2:05 serves as a nice bridge in an otherwise hectic piece. The distortion on the pads at 2:30 was a nice touch, and it all leads nicely into the climax at 2:50. Overall, my main complaint here is probably the lack of harmonic depth. The texture feels very bare throughout, despite the intensity of the beats and bass. At the very least, I’d suggest using mixing tools like reverb and compression more generously to try to make a richer texture instead of leaving the core rhythmic elements of your track sounding so...dry. Still, the energy and ominous mood do keep me engaged here, and I enjoyed the sound design and production quality, even if the mix is a little quiet. Keep at it, CobraGRW! :)

Mixing, mastering, and balance
1.75/2
Structure, transitions, phrasing, and variety
1/1.5
Melody, tonality, harmony, and texture
1/2
Instrumentation and sound design
1/1
Emotion, atmosphere, and catchiness
1.25/1.5
Originality and uniqueness
1/1
Overall (how do the elements above interact?)
.75/1
Composite score
7.75/10

Appreciating the unusual (for DnB) rhythms.

Just some mixing critique for up to 0:47 -- hihats could probably stand to come down some. I want a little more 8k hz on your snare. Maybe do some gated reverb on the snare to make it gritty. I sense a love of industrial drums in your sample use and mixing. If you want that nasty super reverbed sound without the muddy tail, try gated reverb, and any normal reverb you have I would take the wet signal down and turn the low cut up to about 280 hz. Those sounds get in the way of a strong kick and especially bass.

I actually am having a hard time hearing your bass throughout the song, so it comes out mostly drums and lead to my ears. Are you mixing with effects on the master channel? Try mixing your track with your computer volume down as you go. You will find you make better mixing decisions -- and make sure master FX are off first. This will go a long way toward helping you with that punchy, clean, aggressive DnB sound.

To get frequencies out of the way for your bass, I would recommend cutting everything below 250 hz on all your leads and other synths, as well as reverb sends liberally. You can also lightly sidechain your kick and bass so that they work in tandem to get that nice gritty punch.

Great work on your track. Thanks for coming out to NGUAC!

Really wacky song and I love it