The cute synths and the church bells were a bit of a bizarre combo at the beginning, made more bizarre by the completely different instrumentation at :12. The brass sample at :23 sounds pretty inauthentic, too, although you clearly have a good sense of harmony and rhythm. I think you needed a transition to foreshadow the change in texture at :53. A lot of the instruments you have in here strike me as being either generic or fake-sounding, like “choir” at 1:12 and the bell-sounding synths at 1:33. The portamento (slide effect) at 2:01 was a little cheesy, and overall this piece has a lot of minimalism. I think you needed some pads and additional harmonies to fill in the texture more, even during some of the low-energy sections of the piece. The extended section where only the beat played at 2:53 really didn’t contribute a lot to the composition, either. The piece is also pretty repetitive at the end of the day, with little variation on the piece’s main riffs and harmonies, and probably shouldn’t have been as long as it is. The ending was abrupt, too. Overall, I think the main thing you should focus on is adding atmosphere to your pieces - look into using effects like reverb and delay. They’ll help add some texture to your piece, especially during transitory moments, and will give your piece a more well-rounded sound. I’d also encourage you to try experimenting with dynamics, phrasing, and filtering - these are all ways of varying your piece over time other than simply adding and taking away instruments. Keep at it, man!
5.5/10