New Demo

[trychome]

Im just looking for some feedback on a demo i just made good or bad.Soundcloud

[Mindforce]

Ok in all honesty the drum programming is horrible. You definitely didn't make it boring and repetitive, but in achieving that you just made it too hard to follow the beat and feel the rhythm/song overall.

I reckon the synth sounds are pretty legit, though I didn't hear any sub bass at all... Which is basically rule number 1 of dubstep. It REALLY needs a good strong sub. Umm... Melody was good, but you really needed to change it up. It got faaarr too repetitive and boring.

The mixing was really bad. The snare majorly clashed with the synths and just... Fuck, like, I really hope you can hear that yourself when you listen to it! But if you can and don't know how to mix it better, there's SHITLOADS of info and help about mixing drums and stuff on these forums. Just look in the "Production, Hardware & Technical" board and spend hours and hours and HOURS reading through all that stuff.

Also, the drum samples that came with FL Studio really don't sound good. They're too acoustic sounding for this track, and most electronic music in general. And for dubstep you (often but definitely not always) want some quite heavy or "thick" sounding drum samples. There are tons of free packs on the internet you can download, just google "free drum samples" or something like that. There's also a thread on this forum (I think it's in the "huge guide to producing dubstep") that has hundreds of links to free samples. Seriously, spend some time building up a big sample library with tons of different sounding drums and stuff.

Anyway good effort man. It sounds like this is your first attempt at dubstep and producing, in which case it's a pretty solid track. So just keep at it and keep improving!

I hope it helped

[zerbaman]

I'm not really sure what I heard man, I don't wanna put it on you, but I'm being honest.
I mean, work on your EQ skills man, that's a must, open up a visual equalizer, so you can see what frequencies your sounds are hitting and balance things out a bit more. One tip, try to turn things down rather than up while EQing.
It sounds like you're using FL, so the Parametric EQ2 is your friend man. Hope this helps

[zerbaman]

There's also some quality threads on this in the production forum, you should defo check that out!

[trychome]

Yea this is my first attempt at dubstep production and I've figured out that its a bit different than indie music lol. Is ableton any better than Flstudio, and yes that is what i have been using. As far as EQing goes im completely new to that so an "Fl Studio EQ guide" is my project for the day. But thanks for the info and ill post a few more by the end of the week. Maybe better, probably worse haha.

[overture]

Yea this is my first attempt at dubstep production and I've figured out that its a bit different than indie music lol. Is ableton any better than Flstudio, and yes that is what i have been using. As far as EQing goes im completely new to that so an "Fl Studio EQ guide" is my project for the day. But thanks for the info and ill post a few more by the end of the week. Maybe better, probably worse haha.

It's all about what's better for you, obviously they both have their good and bad points but in the end they are all basically the same. Personally I use FL because it's what I've always used and I find it really easy to work in, if I'd started out using Ableton I'd probably be saying the same thing about that. If you are using FL now and feel like you can get the hang of it then definitely stick with that.

[trychome]

From when i made this track i'd been using fl for about a week so im getting better and most likley gonna stick with it. Is this your track above?

[overture]

My advice would be just stick at it, if you enjoy making music then keep making it and you will definitely see improvements. Just don't worry too much for now about perfecting a kick drum or spending hours EQing or you'll get where you can't finish tracks because you lose the creativity, I have this problem quite alot but I'm getting alot better with it lol.

Yeah that's my track, took me ages to finish and I still ain't 100% happy with it but I keep improving on every session so it's all good.

[Mindforce]

I still ain't 100% happy with it

I swear I never finish half my tracks cos of that! Everytime I listen to a song I've released I realise "Shit! Why didn't I do [insert change here]??" Hahaha.


Yeah I'd say stick with FL Studio. It's more important that you fully learn the generic tricks and techniques of producing, as your first priority. Then after a few years of experience, if you realise there are specific things you want to be able to do that you can't do with your current DAW, or you realise a different workflow would suit you better, then it would make sense to change. But when you're learning and still an amateur, it doesn't really matter what DAW you use.

Fully knowing your DAW inside out will help you to produce MUCH more than anything else will, and swapping DAWs early on will just delay your learning for no real benefit. If you know your DAW inside out from experience and still aren't happy with it, THEN change.

For a while I personally doubted that I was using the right DAW "for me". Especially seeing as a lot of dubstep producers use Ableton. But the more I get to know FL Studio and get more fluent with its functions and learn more tricks etc, the more happy I am with it as my DAW.

Anyway hope that helps too man

[trychome]

Better? Worse? Im not sure im mixing just right yet it still sounds choppy. Soundcloud

[Noslo]

I don't want to be too rough. While this isn't a fantastic job, like the others have been saying, don't let it stop you from working. What I think is really valuable is to compare what you are working on to pro tracks by some of your favorite producers. Try and get the mix to sound like some of theirs. Don't feel bad about drawing influence that way. You also learn a lot about your DAW that way by poking around for hours trying to emulate someone's style or sound. Keep at it man!

[Noslo]

Also, don't neglect your crash cymbals and white noise! Those two things are really valuable transition instruments! It keeps the tune from sounding flat.

[Synth Scyther]

interesting attempt at the live dubstep sound. I have been trying to perfect the live aspects of creating the crunchy wobbles and throbs with a bit of difficulty, rather than it being pre-recorded. I have the gear, but need three hands. lol. I taking it to the point of custom building a totally new instrument for it.. but anyway, the whole indie garage band sound made me respect the attempt. However the drum and symbols to kinda clash. The symbols should be closed, and overall, effects filters are your friend. Also, add some wah, flange, or something to the keyboard to give it depth. Know your audience enough to know that will be more entertaining to them. Other than that, I would say passion is everything, if you are excited about your music it will show up in the sound. The title says it clear as well.. "the march". I don't recall ever seeing any dubstep dancers ever marching. As electronic as dubstep is, to me it feels like gooey liquid pitch that sticks to everything... figuratively.. not a cold mechanical march. Don't be afraid to compare your own work to tracks that inspire you. That's the quickest way to learn.

[trychome]

Yea i can tell theres a lot of kinks but i got post production kinda figured out now its about making better mixes have you listened to the newer one?