Hello! This is a review for the NGUAC competition.
I've gone over one or two general categories of issues specific to your song, and one section of things I think also deserve complimenting. I prefer being very direct with my critique, none of it is meant to offend. Thank you for your understanding!
Constructive Criticism:
- Repetition is certainly useful in music, but there is absolutely a point in which it gets tiring. In this case, you seem to be using one singular rhythm for your rhythm guitar. Even in the case where the chords change, the base rhythm remains the same. This isn't wrong intrinsically, but B sections in music tend to change up the rhythm as well as the melody and chords. The reason for this is to provide a contrasting experience to the A section. It may be more interesting to change to straight 8th note rhythms or alternatively just do singular chords per measure or two, allowing room for other elements to come to the forefront. This also would be a wonderful excuse to have some dynamic variation, another way to help give the listener some respite and a point of comparison to appreciate the rest.
- Speaking of dynamics, let's look at the mixing and sound design. The dynamics remain the same because the background remains the same consistently, but it also seems to be burying some of your synthesizers under the guitar and vocals. The guitar itself sounds awfully "thin" as well, lacking bass. Try synchronizing a bass guitar with your normal rhythm guitar, and centering it around your kick pattern. Additionally, limit the track to -1.0dB after first reducing all instruments by around -10dB.
Compliments to the Composer:
- Your vocals are honestly funny to me with just how edgy they are, ahaha! They're very solid, as are the guitar patterns you play. A lot of the synths are solid as well, and you do organize the music into discrete sections very effectively.
Final score: 7