NGAP 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST REVIEW
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It's always refreshing to hear 8-bit like this. Pretty good job on it!
What I like about this is that it's very light. You don't overload the track with counter-melodies and heavy synths, opting for an approach which is a bit more minimal. This makes it possible to appreciate the melodies and particular accompaniment a lot more than if you threw in all you had with an all-out ensemble of 8-bit glory. The original had somewhat of an 8-bit vibe to it and you did a good job of expanding on it over here.
Now, even if this approach has its advantages, it unfortunately works as a double-edged sword here. It ends up making it feel restricted and unsatisfying. The key is to nail keeping everything simple and elegant and still giving your track enough content and intricacy to make it highly enjoyable to listen to, and you left that part out of the to-do list. That, and unfortunately this gets a bit repetitive as well. I got a bit bored listening to the motif at 0:51 being repeated so much, since it's pretty much just one note for the most part. It sounds especially good in 8-bit form but that doesn't give you an excuse to keep it going for so many bars. Lastly, work on your ending, since even that is pretty unsatisfying!
Overall, you've got good ideas and this was a perfectly pleasant listen, but you should be more ambitious with your submission instead of holding back, which is the impression I got after hearing this track.
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SCORE: 6.5/10