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:

- Please, god, give the poor PWM/square a break! It has nothing to do but constantly play 8th notes in the same patterns over and over. Using the same instrument constantly isn't explicitly bad, but raw waveforms are a little unique insofar as they can REALLY stick out. More to the point, it sticks out like a sore thumb and covers the little bell melody in the background, making the melody very difficult to hear. Additionally, with how constant it is, it can actually end up being very fatiguing to listen to since it doesn't have a break or even a variation in the rhythm. The perpetual intensity of the drums even in relatively calm sections also enhances this. Please give it some rest. Instead, it could be nice to focus on the chords and give a separate bridge with the chords, or isolate the bell synth and give it some harmonization on its own. It's also perfectly okay to just pause and let the music have a bit of space to breathe in quiet for a moment.

- Alrighty, that aside, your secondmost relevant issue is about transitions. More specifically, the extreme lack of them. The intro has a transition, and there are a few times where there are drum fills, but there are some ways to really enhance your transitions and make instruments feel far more expressed. Using more velocity variation, giving your instruments portamento and a delayed LFO to wiggle the fine pitch just a bit when a synth is held, using panning or changing chord progressions to temporarily increase tension before release - all of these will help express more in your melodies, and help your transitions. Remember, transitions in western-based music like this are about Tension and Release. This track does the Tension part very well, and builds into tense sections nicely, but it doesn't Release it. Instead, it frequently just cuts off the tension completely, making the transitions surprisingly jarring when the music becomes less intense.

Compliments to the Composer:

- You actually really have some nice organization and solid melodies in this track. Nothing sounds dissonant, and your drums are very solid and not too grating. For a chiptune-esque track especially, this does quite well in having a varied sound palette (though again, that pwm & square wave combo really takes up so much of the sound, making it harder to hear the other varied instruments). Space is cool indeed, my friend - I think maybe it might be worth looking at the FTL soundtrack. It's not quite as high intensity as your track, but has a large amount of chiptune elements and additional atmosphere/percussion techniques which you may find useful if you continue this style!

Final score: 6

very good!