WORKS IN PROGRESS FOR AUGUST, 2010

[alexwright]

Thanks to everybody who gave feedback on my track, I've gone back in and made a few minor changes:

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[]^_^[]

[Grok]

Phigure: Not too keen on the melody but I like the style. Very nice production/mixdown! Will be interesting to see your future stuff.
Neff: Scary stuff. The wobble synth reminds me of the sound the big robot in Terminator 4 makes. Very cool. You should bring out the kick more, eventhough it's kind of weak it seems to interfere with the bass. Personally I would like stronger percussions overall. Stronger kick and stronger snare. I really like the synths though! They are perfect.
alexwright: Great intro. Mixdown is tight. Very nice stereo image. Sounds really pro. I know this style is popular but personally I would like some kind of melody in there and maybe make it less minimal in the bassline. The big bass drop at 2:02 is massive!


Here is my new WIP.

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As usual, any feedback is appreciated!

[Phigure]

Thanks to everybody who gave feedback on my track, I've gone back in and made a few minor changes:

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[]^_^[]

Sounds BIIIIGGG. love the space and the vibe. imo the blair witch samples or whatever are somewhat cheese, although they fit better than the average movie sample intro cliche

[Nacklewicket]

Grok - the intro no no the chip melody that comes in later - YES! the drums im not really digging but bass is neat!
curious to hear a full version good vibe

alexwright - digging everything from 0:47 - 1:50 but somewhat empty

heres a wip of mine
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kinda wobblish

[billy crystal meth]

FIrst time called long time listener.

Here's a tune ive started working on. Please provide any feedback you might have regarding the mix and whatnot.

Thanks

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[Sirius]

alexwright-- intro was mean, although i felt it was taking up too much room in the freq & muting the background abit too much,
or maybe the percussion needs turned up. the delayed wobs were bugging me abit, but its only the note change on the second bassline at the end, where it goes up & down. but still well done bro, has a nice flow! just get that mixdown sorted abit more! chea

grok-- that intros chea as. when it kicks in... that bass is taking up too much space ay! its muddying up the mix bigtime!
ya kik & snare... hell nothing is cutting the mix. need to bring those highs out bigtime. maybe a change up with the wobs would be a good idea, just to have variation in it.chea

billy crystal meth-- sounded like it was going somewhere else at the start ay. bassline sounds cheesy as, but ya might like that ah.
fix up ya mix & get things to sit in there own space more. you've mix a whole heap of genres in this one ay... hip hop, dubstep, trance, techno.... the list goes on. ya get lost in the track, like ya can't remember anything cause theres too much going on!!chea


& heres that part where I chuck in my new track!! hope yall like it!
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[deniss1]

@ alexwright like the base but i dont like the intro needs some synth lead
@ Grok very good. Nice synth and bass. Good job
@ billy crystal meth Nice but I think you need to change drums.
Here is a second version of my track.
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[Neff]

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didnt get much feedback on this any tips or things that neesd sorting?

[billy crystal meth]

billy crystal meth-- sounded like it was going somewhere else at the start ay. bassline sounds cheesy as, but ya might like that ah.
fix up ya mix & get things to sit in there own space more. you've mix a whole heap of genres in this one ay... hip hop, dubstep, trance, techno.... the list goes on. ya get lost in the track, like ya can't remember anything cause theres too much going on!!chea

Yes the bassline is supposed to be a little tongue in cheek perhaps it runs on a little to long.

I have been having alot of trouble creating space. I try to eq out unnecessary frequencies as much as possible but I find that doesnt really help and my mix sounds cluttered. Any tips?

[JemGrover]

billy crystal meth-- sounded like it was going somewhere else at the start ay. bassline sounds cheesy as, but ya might like that ah.
fix up ya mix & get things to sit in there own space more. you've mix a whole heap of genres in this one ay... hip hop, dubstep, trance, techno.... the list goes on. ya get lost in the track, like ya can't remember anything cause theres too much going on!!chea

Yes the bassline is supposed to be a little tongue in cheek perhaps it runs on a little to long.

I have been having alot of trouble creating space. I try to eq out unnecessary frequencies as much as possible but I find that doesnt really help and my mix sounds cluttered. Any tips?

it helps to have a "Cause and effect" type attitude. Don't think first off all that you can fill a track with sounds and it will all magically fit..
So (and bare with me, I'm not good at explaining, haha)
With that in mind; Cause and effect; You probably want to be getting a reasonably good, un-cluttered sounding mix to begin with (so that means spending a little extra time on finding sounds that compliment each other well) If something dosn't fit (CAUSE) EQ'ing ain't gonna help so start with sounds that fit well.
THEN EQ the aspects of it to tidy it up, and cut frequencies that edge out the impact of other sounds(effect)
Bare in mind, that's just how I look at things in my head and it's a slightly subjective view on things to a degree as my mind's gone all blurred from staring at my DAW all day, haha.

[djtelevision]

Nacklewicket-nice track! there's something a little off about the first transition, though, I can't put my finger on it.
Billy crystal meth-some of your individual bass sounds seem to run a little bit longer than they sound like they're supposed to. maybe it was done on purpose, I dunno
Neff-I'm digging the heavy vibes, and I like most of your sounds, but either you've got too much resonance on your kick or your kick and subs are interfering with each other in a weird way, because I'm getting a really high pitched, low sound on every kick. was that on purpose or no?

okay, here's 2 tracks. the first one is the first track I've ever arranged, and the second one is the second track I've ever arranged, and they were both done in flstudio alone, so they both kindof suck, but hey, give em a listen!
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[steeze]

@ djtelevision Just had a quick listen to both tracks, obviously everyone has to start somewhere and, assuming this is your first attempt at any kind of music production it's a nice place to start. There's a couple of things that i'll just point out that maybe you could improve on for next time. Firstly the intro to the first track goes for just over a minute with only a kick, snare and hi-hat without any sign of anything else coming in, maybe you could add a couple more interesting elements, perhaps a synth part, or if you wanted to keep it solely percussion for the intro maybe some shakers, bongos etc. maybe try adding some more interesting rhythms in aswell, rather than just having straight quavers or crotchets add some triplets or dotted notes to give your track some swagga Another thing that I noticed is that the basslines seem to be clashing, there's nothing wrong with having more than one synth patch for your bassline, however when they're both playing at the same time the frequencies tend to clash, everything needs to be given its own space in the mix. One thing that I do like about these two tracks however is how much progress you seem to make from the first to the second and thats the most important thing. Just keep practicing and your ears will soon get used to what sounds good and what sounds bad. Keep it up.

@Neff Really like that snare sound, really jumps out of the mix at you. Maybe try adding a couple more percussion elements than just kick and snare. Also try mixing up the drums and bassline a bit more, especially seeing as there isnt much else going on in the track, its really important that you try to keep things interesting by switching things up every 16 bars or so. Other than theres some nice dark sounds going on here, nice work.

@deniss1 Definitely my favourite out of the tracks ive just listened to, really like the intro especially the synth, strings and vocals, they all sound really nice together. However when it drops it just feels like a bit of an anti climax, just try working at getting the bass part to jump out of the mix a bit more, its nearly there, just feels as though it needs a bit more time spent getting the bass sounding interesting.

My newest track,
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Any crits shall be gladly returned

[amphibian]

@grok - mate absolutely loving it. I think the drums need to be less hollow, less reverb - as there is very little on the intro so it feels like the tune moves to a completely different space. Other than that, really like the lead synth and the intro is very cool

@steeze - that lead synth is dope. Sounds very alien, almost like a cricket chirping, but a melodic kind of chirp. Tuts on that sound would be tight The movement in the track is quite good.

@neff - for some reason that track reminds me of jurassic park. haha

@goldorak - really like your intro and the synth man, but I think it may be playing around the pans just a little too much, as it makes me feel a little dizzy trying to listen to it.

And if anyone is interested - my latest attempt at awesomeness:

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[amphibian]

@djtelevision - to be perfectly honest if these are your first two tracks, you're way ahead of where I was at with my first two (which were never put online, for good reason. haha). The two things that jump out at me the most are the lack of bass, and the absolutely massive amount of reverb on that snare. One thing to keep in mind is that heavy reverb is great for deeper tracks (but probably not that much) and when you have really busy synths like in your tracks, it's better to ease off on the reverb so that the synths become the focal point of the track. At the moment it feels that both your synths and the snare are fighting over who is leading. Great first attempts imo

[xhilr8d]

critiques from a noob:
@neff cool dark creepy bass sound there. i dig the progression. perhaps could use a bit variation in something later on in the track. maybe change in drums or more vocal samples placed in there somewhere.

@steeze i like the mood of this one. at points i imagined driving along the coast with the windows down zooming to it. nicely done lift and drops. i like your bass synth but personally my ears got a bit tired of it after a while. maybe automate something on it at times?

@amphibian smooth stuff. nice melodies. the ping pong panning got to be a bit much for me. all the sounds blend well together.
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now listening back to it i see much that could be cleaned up but still looking for further critique. so here's my first real attempt at dubstep:
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Thanks!

[Grime Syndicate]

@grok: Damn! I love it! Seriously, the notes you're hitting to the mixdown to the little chiptune sounds you're rocking, I love it. Wish I had something more constructive to tell you. I don't. Strong work. Bassline's a bit simple for my taste in tunes of this nature, but the other bits help hold the listener's interest. It helps that this track is right up my alley as far as what I enjoy anyway.

@Sirius: That percussion pops man. Which I like. You're use of space and minimalism I admire. You're quite a ways ahead of me in terms of mixdown. I've got no great suggestions that way. I feel like I've only got good things to say tonight. Really nice track, and that vocal is haunting in all the right ways.

@Neff: Oldschool classic dubstep stylee. That kick's not hitting as hard as I'd have it hit. You compressing it? Nice vocal sample btw. And I can tell you've got some epic sub bass pulsations but they're not coming through as epic. They're coming thru as sorta washed out. Maybe push the bottom end some. I'd say make room, but doesn't seem much else is going on down there, soooo, maybe that's how you were wanting it. Anyways, nice ethereal deep track. Again, good and haunting.

Ok, I'm gonna post my most recent track, which I just put together today. I know it needs some Eq and compression work, but I'd still like some feedback as to where and how. The second one, Crows on the line, I posted a week or two ago but got very little feedback. So yeah, feedback on both would be ideal. Thanks in advance.

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[Sirius]

chea for the feedback bro! that vocal is of my daughter, recorded her months back sing a waiata (maori song).
but ay ya track arent showing up ay!
edit... after i posted they did!!lolz. will have a look snish!

!!chea

[Grime Syndicate]

@steeze: Damn, that second track is fucking epic. Sounds like a film score, dubstep style. Really nice. Especially the rolling wood block or rim shot drumming in the last half. REALLY nice vibe. Just had to mention that.

[steeze]

Cheers for the comments guys, heres my returns as promised

@ Grime Syndicate Just listened to the second track, really cool man I could imagine it being part of the Metal Gear Solid soundtrack or something. Its sounding real chilled out but keeping a grimey techy feel. The bitrushed sounding bass part that comes in about half way through sounds a little to high in the mix, but I really like the higher synth part that comes in when it drops out. Cool stuff man

@ xhilr8d Really liking that flute and the bassline, not so sure about the very first section though, there's nothing wrong with how it sounds it just seems abit unneccesary doesnt add anything to the overall track. Maybe try layering the subby kick with a higher one that cuts through the mix a bit more aswell. On a positive note Im really liking the samples and the bass sounds, they compliment each other well.

@ Amphibian Nice sounding hats, very crisp. Interesting snare aswell. Loads of good ideas in this track, as soon as something feels a bit repetitive a new element jumps out at you and it grabs your interest again. lovely flow, dont have much bad to say about this one, good work.

[ironik]

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a track i been workin on