I like the somber arpeggios at the beginning. The piano sounds like its pitch range has been constricted a lot, to the point where it sounds a bit unnatural. I like the slightly grating pads you made out of the piano and the legato melodies that play over them starting at :34 or so. The production quality is pretty good, but the drums are very flat. I think they need some more compression, and probably a boost to the mid-tones too. The variations in the drums at 1:20 were welcome, but otherwise the piece is a little slow to progress, and could use more harmonic variety later on. The volume/filtering automations on the piano bass line at 1:52 were very creative, but the string arpeggios at 2:15 sound very inauthentic, to the point where you’re probably better off replacing them with something that’s meant to sound synthetic. Overall, though, I enjoyed the sound design here and the rich textures throughout. The harmonies could still use some switching up at some point, but the mixing and mastering, atmosphere, structuring, and compositional details are all strong here. Keep at it, Clefergers! :)

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

spicy chord progression! feels like ratatat doing a cover of a c418 song, which is awesome. really enjoyed the composition but i'm not hot on the mix. every element feels dark and smokey, and i'm not sure if it's because you rendered a low bitrate mp3 or if it's because you lowpass filtered everything. that heavy compression on the piano sucks a lot of life out of the track and puts immense pressure in the midrange of the mix, as well as creating these really ugly pops whenever a chord is played. everything is very dry and mostly quite narrow, too. would love to hear a brighter version of this with a little more space and dynamics. great piece of music though!

important notes on my NGUAC review process: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1476427/18#bbspost26965604_post_text