What makes a good track ?

[bugsky]

I think it's all about character / personality.

It doesn't matter how many big synths or complex drums you have or if you have a PHD in music composition, people generally tend to connect with songs that have personality seeping out of them rather than based on musical correctness.

I've always believed that the reason humans have this obsession for making music comes down to a yearning to reproduce the sound of thought, the feelings of emotion and the memories we return to. The closer we get to recreating this somewhat undescribable 'presence' the more likely people will be drawn to our sound.

I like to relate this to how comedians try and bring the everyday thoughts and events that happen to us onto the stage and into their act - the feeling of familiarity and realisation that, as humans, we are more similar than we think is comforting and, most of all, pleasurable. This can range from light-hearted family jokes to taboo ones. Music too can be mainstream and poppy, to experimental and somewhat taboo too. Each extreme tries to connect with the different emotions and shifts in personality that we all experience.

So to me a good track is one that I can almost picture the character behind the track - not just who actually produced it - and being able to almost personify the track as a living creature in my imagination; including its feelings and intentions.

[neeeil!]

something that makes me bob my head in 4/4 instead of half time
i like to bounce rather than lean and skank!

[tripaddict]

What makes a good track ?

Everything.

you could sit and talk about this till the cows come home.

Energetic and melodic is my preference tho.

[DZA]

If you like it....

You really take pride in posting stuff like that don't you?

How do i all im saying is no one else can tell you what a good track is

[nowaysj]

Good answer bugsky, and I'd like to contrast your response with deadly's. Originality is key, but it is merely the byproduct of the personalized, nuanced expression that bugsky is talking about. I've heard some original shit that is souless.

For me, different genres have different draws. But in terms of dubstep, it's a track that can shut my fucking mind down. Good dubstep is like getting hit in the mind with a hammer. A while ago, someone said to me, "I don't like dubstep, it makes me feel like I've got Down syndrome." I was like, exactly, that's why I love it.

[stereotactic]

Something that makes me want to punch a kitten in the face.

Seriously though, what makes a good track to one person is totally different to another. For me, anything that evokes an emotion, whether it's screwing my face up with nastiness and making me want to brock out all over the shop, or like being submerged and washed over by electric silk... On the other hand, some others don't want to feel anything, they just want something throw away that is catchy (hence why mainstream pop has such a high turnover of tracks). It's all a matter of perception.

Dubstep is similar to drum and bass, when drum and bass wasn't being used in car and hand cream ads. There was something at work there that people 'didn't get'. It was fast, abrasive, alien. My personal take is that if something cannot be grasped by the majority, then it holds something special for the minority. Dubstep is the same, the elements that make it what it is just cannot be quantified by most people.

[wayoftheworld]

obviously anything with lfo ---> fil cutoff

[jsills]

Sound quality
feeling/emotion (anger, sorrow, joy)
original drum sequencing
creative synthesis
smooth transitions

[tripaddict]

[nowaysj]

Sound quality

For me, the least important of things mentioned.

[Hazed]

Most has been said already, but personally, changing it up on the second drop, changing drum patterns up etc. is usually what i like

Just avoiding being too repetitive in general really

[Depone]

All to their own, but for me I know a good track when my body, normally my head (but sometimes my penis) involuntary moves.

[serox]

Okay, in your own way.

I want to hear what you guys think a good track is.

My views for a good track is; placement of sounds, how the drums interact with the sounds, smooth transitions and how the Synths sound. (Fat usually gets my attention.) (Not fat women though, i try to avoid them at all costs lol.)

A good hook is all that matters.

If a track has a good hook the drums, the mix and the bass hardly matter to some degree.

[jsills]

Okay, in your own way.

I want to hear what you guys think a good track is.

My views for a good track is; placement of sounds, how the drums interact with the sounds, smooth transitions and how the Synths sound. (Fat usually gets my attention.) (Not fat women though, i try to avoid them at all costs lol.)

A good hook is all that matters.

If a track has a good hook the drums, the mix and the bass hardly matter to some degree.

very interesting point, everyone loves a good hook. pretty sure thats why i like joker so much, very catchy synth hooks every time.

Nowaysj I wouldnt say sound quality is first on my list, but quality content sounds better if its clean and well mixed (for the most part)

[Janaj]

What makes a good track?
I think it depends on the genre...
For hiphop, its melody, originality, ...
For soundtracks, its the sound, chords, ...
For dubstep its LFO on the bass, the Sub bass, drums, ...
For DnB, all of the above (for me)
And thats why I think ppl prefer only some genres... every1 has different feeling for the music and listens to different elements

[tezifon]

groove

feeling

soul

[serox]

Okay, in your own way.

I want to hear what you guys think a good track is.

My views for a good track is; placement of sounds, how the drums interact with the sounds, smooth transitions and how the Synths sound. (Fat usually gets my attention.) (Not fat women though, i try to avoid them at all costs lol.)

A good hook is all that matters.

If a track has a good hook the drums, the mix and the bass hardly matter to some degree.

very interesting point, everyone loves a good hook. pretty sure thats why i like joker so much, very catchy synth hooks every time.

Nowaysj I wouldnt say sound quality is first on my list, but quality content sounds better if its clean and well mixed (for the most part)

A mixdown would have to be extremely bad for it to ruin a track that has a good hook. If you can make a good hook then you prob can make a simple groove with the drums using 5 channels. You are right on joker tho, he has a melody in all his tunes.

[jolly wailer]

totally thought the OP liked fat women before this thread...


good thing thats cleared up

[serox]

All tunes have a different beat and there is no beat that stands out as the winning formula. some go 'boom......kshh......boom......kshhh" some go "boom boom boom kshhh" lol

The hook, the melody is what people will remember. A simple 2 bar loop that sounds good and is easily recognizable is what people will remember in a club. They wont remember a track for any EQing lol. When they hear that hook it will stand out, if it is good.

[Blue Patterns]

I like when I listen to a tune and it leaves room for me to imagine elements that aren't there...

random example: I can play "Root" in my mind throughout the day. I swear it has certains things popping off in the song. and no matter how many times I've listened to the tune over time, when I go home at night and play the song...I've clearly imagined elements....they am not in the song

that shit still shocks me everytime. it's sorta like confusing memories with dreams/deja vu type shit. 'did that actually happen or was I dreaming?'


so yeah...this sorta thing-thing is makes a song good to me. I now leave small shit out of my own tunes...cuz I figure it's a good thing.