FINISHED TRACKS FOR FEEDBACK-- OCTOBER 2010

[paravrais]

@paravrais: Wow i'm digging those instruments in the intro. Breaks are nice, did you make those yourself?
I absolutely love the switchup to the minimal bell piece. Mixing and levels are good. Overall great track!

Yeah I did man, well I didn't record it myself but I did chop the break up and sequence and EQ/process the parts myself. Got a lot of automation on the sustain of the clips to give it that slightly glitchy feel.

Like your track man, nice mixdown, nice sounds etc, everything is working together pretty nice. Especially like that high pitched synth even though the sound is a bit basic for it it works well. Like the darkness in the atmosphere and the melodies are pretty sweet. Drums do the track the justice it deserves and the whole thing feels well executed. Would have personally use slightly different sounds for the main growly lead. Maybe have had the low mid section more prominent but that's just personal taste. Overall good job

[Ongelegen]

This one's *almost* finished. Would love some feedback
Soundcloud

The intro is awesome, love it. Nice sound design. Just before the drop there is a bit clipping, at the end of the drum rise, might wanna fix that. There is also some clipping before the 2nd drop. Don't really feel the sound of the main wobble, but like how it bounces, does the track name justice. Fix the clippings and you got yourself a good track.

[toot]

@toot-- thanks-for-the-pen-naomi-v2, intro is too long. Like the atmosphere in this one, though some parts could use some more articulation. Mix is kind of strange, especially at the end, though it does bring some tension.

I really agree with you on the mix side of things. Any advice? I've been asked to do some live shows but feel like my stuff won't translate well at all onto a system.

Cheers in advance.

Soundcloud

(will leave more feedback tomorrow)

[RatRaceProducing]

paravrais/ some eerie vibes going on. Nice work on the snare, is it a roll that uve chopped up or a single snare sample youve sequenced? Bassline is dirt, nice sound. Its got a nice minimalistic sound to it. original. not mega exciting but decent tune. Cant say the mix down is too bad but a touch quiet. Other than that good job.

Project Ex/ that my friend is a very original sounding track. Sounds well mixed. Some lovely sounds in tehre proper glitchy and ghostly. Sound nice n clean, has a sexy riddum. Like crunky n grindy. pretty repetitive but i cant say i got bored at all but i love that nasty hook you got. good stuff but sounds like it could use a bit of finishing in terms of the structure. Good stuff tho bruv. Can i get a Hq dl?

Impey/ Your intro is toooo thin to last this long brv. Melodies are nice but you need more filling. Nice relaxed sound, nice steppy production. Sub sounds pretty nice to be fair and the chords suit the track. Mix down seems pretty good and the track progresses nicely after the epic long intro lol. Pretty hot track here i would have shook it up a bit more on the final break though, the track doesnt seem to climax as such. Good stuff this is the 2nd ive heard from you and its a goodun, !peace!

A-list/ ive heard a track with that sample at the start as well, did sum1 swipe that from you or is it a sample? Do you make your own synths? if you do that bass synth with the sub is nasty. crisp and ripped sounds sicko. percussion is simple but suits that driving nastyness. This sounds nice mate, well put together needs some touching up on the mixdown imo just on those mids . you sampling or sequencing it from scratch? keep making bangers like these! !peace!

Traffikz/ Not feeling that kick mate, got too much tone for my liking. BAss synth is a nice idea but its too thin imo. needs to be "wider" u get me? That high synth that comes in sounds checked in there "above" the track. needs to be brought down to the track, compress it a lil. Maybe a bit dry as well. I find myself waiting for some more to happen with this tune. Some good ideas here and the glitchyness is sick just needs tweaking and finishing.

Toot/ some lush melodies here but the intro gets dull and reptitive. it rolls along too much needs a bit of glitch. The mixx down needs some serious work. There are frequencies crashing everywhere, it makes it sound a big mess. You can sort alot of this out by leveling the samples out volume wise. You can "cap" the samples volume with compression (this is best to read a tutorial and then just play it by ear). You will also need to use an equaliser. to chop a few of the frequencies away in some sounds to stop the freq distortion. Can probably help you a bit more with this if i knew what you use to make tunarge?

Theres a few more, keep posting n ill keep listening. Take it easy all, the katy perry remix is my new one, check it!

[paravrais]

It's quiet because I don't assfuck my tunes with a limiter like some people on here XD call me old fashioned but I like dynamics in my music :p

[narrator]

It's quiet because I don't assfuck my tunes with a limiter like some people on here XD call me old fashioned but I like dynamics in my music :p

here here

i dont put anything on my master channel. even for previewing purposes..

[Ongelegen]

Project Ex/ that my friend is a very original sounding track. Sounds well mixed. Some lovely sounds in tehre proper glitchy and ghostly. Sound nice n clean, has a sexy riddum. Like crunky n grindy. pretty repetitive but i cant say i got bored at all but i love that nasty hook you got. good stuff but sounds like it could use a bit of finishing in terms of the structure. Good stuff tho bruv. Can i get a Hq dl?

thanks man. I'm still putting some finishing touches on it. After that it will be available for download

[reignstep]

- toot : nice track man, i just felt there could be more sub all over the place, now you just drop it note by note , imo i'd be better if you'd let the sub flow with the rest of ur tune

- traffikz : i alrdy commented on that one no?

- impey : liking the track, but for my taste the drums aren't crisp enough to match the sub. try some compression on the kicks , & some more EQ on the snare

- paravrais : i really , really liked your drums, but the rest of the sounds didn't do it for me. the bass was nice , and i see ur point with wanting to give stuff headroom with the decibels-wise, but you need to tighten up some of the sounds, like the 'bells' they should be more in the foreground.

here's my finished clip of my track, looking for some feedback

Soundcloud

[paravrais]

@ Reignz - Guess it comes down to taste, I deliberately put the bells in the background because I liked the subtle effect it gave, definitely wouldn't raise them any more XD Your tune is kinda cool, I love the intro and the melodic sounds in the background at points are nice though a bit quiet. Personally I couldn't stand the second "bass" noise that came in after the drop and it sorta ruined it for me. EQ all seems pretty solid, just work on the synthesis for your lead growlyness I'd say.

[RatRaceProducing]

Paravrais/ why do you bitch that no1 reviews your track and then come up with excuses when people give you there thoughts or tips lol . No1 has slated you infact i quite enjoyed your tune, its just a lil quiet. A limiter is a compressor. So the gain would effect volume but would pump the track, so i can tsee how that would make your track louder on the whole. i use a stereo enhancer and volume nobs to level my track, im not to bad at mixing but my weakness is the final master just like you! I actually use the limiter/compressor on single sounds and not the master track, but i use it for quite the opposite of what you think, it used for "limiting" the volume. The compressor simply creates a volume envelope and you can set a threshold on the envelope to tighten your sounds and samples up. Each sound has its own frequencies and they are not necessarily going to all sit together nicely. You can chop some freqs or drop the volume on them a bit to prevent the clashing, you can also compress that will cut the sample volume to stop it "intruding" other samples sonic space. you get me?

Nout ment by this just being helpful.... i think lol. !peace!

Just noticed my katie perry mix appears to have been deleted from soundcloud. Do soundcloud delete some remixes? My dashboard says tracks have been "hidden" due to me going over my allowance but i still have 1hours 30 mins or so left and its the newest track thats been deleted. Any ideas?

[paravrais]

Paravrais/ why do you bitch that no1 reviews your track and then come up with excuses when people give you there thoughts or tips lol . No1 has slated you infact i quite enjoyed your tune, its just a lil quiet. A limiter is a compressor. So the gain would effect volume but would pump the track, so i can tsee how that would make your track louder on the whole. i use a stereo enhancer and volume nobs to level my track, im not to bad at mixing but my weakness is the final master just like you! I actually use the limiter/compressor on single sounds and not the master track, but i use it for quite the opposite of what you think, it used for "limiting" the volume. The compressor simply creates a volume envelope and you can set a threshold on the envelope to tighten your sounds and samples up. Each sound has its own frequencies and they are not necessarily going to all sit together nicely. You can chop some freqs or drop the volume on them a bit to prevent the clashing, you can also compress that will cut the sample volume to stop it "intruding" other samples sonic space. you get me?

Nout ment by this just being helpful.... i think lol. !peace!

I'm not making excuses per sé, just answering the feedback I've been given. Like reign said he thought my bells were too quiet, I'm not saying he's wrong, maybe others think so too, I just meant that that's how I wanted them, just letting him know it wasn't a mistake in the production that slipped through if you get me?? and as for your comment that I answered, It's deliberate that my song sounds quiet, it's not been mastered and I don't squash the fuck out of my mixes with a limiter, it's gonna be quiet.

I know what limiters and compressors are XD In fact from what you've said I'm sure I know a lot more about them than you do. I mix my tracks to -6db and then use a limiter to push the track up to just hitting at 0db but just before the limiter really kicks in. This makes the track easily loud enough to be played on home systems/out but without squashing any of the dynamics of the track and making it sound flat. Just turn the volume/gain up on whatever your listening on if it sounds quiet to you. It's bad practice to do your own mastering and it's also a totally different skill to producing/mixing down a track. Sticking a limiter on your master and pushing your track up way above 0db isn't gonna make it sound like a professionally mastered tune you hear on a cd, it's gonna ruin your track and I'm not gonna pay to have my tunes professionally mastered right before I post them in the 'finished tracks' thread am I XD also if your just turning the volume up on your track till it sounds as loud as mastered tunes to you then your gonna end up with massive amounts of clipping :s not good.

Also you don't need to patronise me by saying "Each sound has its own frequencies and they are not necessarily going to all sit together nicely. You can chop some freqs or drop the volume on them a bit to prevent the clashing, you can also compress that will cut the sample volume to stop it "intruding" other samples sonic space. you get me?" I know how to EQ, I think that's evident from any of my tunes, I haven't been producing for a week :S I'm not claiming to be a great master of it but I clearly use it. Also FYI you don't wanna be using a compressor if something is sounding too loud in your mix, you wanna fix a problem like that either with EQ or by adjusting the volume on the actual synth itself. So many people seem to think that the master faders are the only volume control these days :s in fact, compressors are often used to *add* more punch to things though that's not something I do often as I like to get my mix right without the use of them whenever possible.

EDIT: I always tend to answer feedback whether it be good or bad, just like to get a bit of a convo going. Seems rude to just give/receive feedback without responding again.

[StarvinMarvin]

Soundcloud

No, more comments on my first dubstep? :/

[RatRaceProducing]

Mastering may be a different skill but it never hurts to learn your industry no? I never push the volume up with a compressor. It makes the sound Pump. I produce at 0 db as much as possible. You can indeed use a compressor to limit the volume in a track. on singular samples, the compressor can be used for all sorts as well as an effect. Mastering is all about bringing the total volume of the track up without destroying the dynamics of your track.
Can i ask why its a bad habit to master your own track?
When the total volume of the track is brought up, certain freqs in your track will become more prominant. Now using and Eq we both know will cut or at least lower the volume of the problem frequencies. I use the compressor to help map the sound scpectrum. just as an example. Compressing my kick and bass together by routing them to the same mixer track. All this does for me is seperate the 2 sounds and allow me to bring the lower freqs in the kick into play. Obviously if you over do this you will crush your kick. Im not saying one or the other im saying you can use them together to get desired results. you can never guarantee, as you probably know, that a sample has a flat volume, specially when we often load them with automation. So using the compressors can help flatten the volume out in the first place. This gives you more of a reference point for tweaking individual frequencies or frequency groups.
Also if you export the finished track as a wav. and put into another mixer, you can set the threshold for the duration of the track and pull the necessary frequencies to the front using the EQ no?

I cant understand how you think "squashing" your mix will make it louder. A compressor makes a sound quieter. The gain simply adjust the volume gain or reduction post compression no? i.e. if you compressor the first 20 m/s of the sound to -15db and then push the gain up to 5db. thats the volume range pre and post compression. Hence the "pump" sound. You can use this to your advantage as well for effect, usually best to set a trigger sample up though as its a pig trying to get it perfect using your ears and eyes and the timing setting on your compressor. Dont take it to heart bud im not having a pop. Keeping the production chat alive :p

What sequencer are you using?

You got any idea about my soundcloud question? would soundcloud have removed the remix as it was a bootleg?

[paravrais]

Lol, I'm on my phone now so can't type a proper response but there is so much wrong with that post I dont know where to begin :s firstly it's a bad idea to master your own tracks because after working on a track for so long your gonna have noticed anything your gonna notice. It's always a good idea to get some fresh ears for the mastering. Plus you should NEVER add eq to your master. If your eq'ing isn't perfect then go back and fix it in the mix! Also you really don't wanna be mixing to 0db :s that's gonna make your mastering engineer cry if you ever send a tune to be mastered or get signed. Check out the 'mixing and mastering aka the moneyshot' thread in the bible and read all of it. I'm sure it could really help you.

Never heard of soundcloud removing bootlegs myself but I guess it could happen.

Will try and get on a comp later and write a more detailed/technical response but I'm currently on the way to sodding Wales so god knows if I'll have net access there.

EDIT: I've got no beef either man. Did annoy me a bit that I felt you assumed I knew a pot less about mixing/mastering than I do but it's all good. I use ableton reason and reaper btw (not all at once though XD)

[RatRaceProducing]

The engineers didnt cry at ora recording or jigsaw or dangerbox, or any of the other labels i have had releases or remixes on?

Maybe no Eq on your master mixer no, but if you master the wav. or the final product of course you have to tweak the Eq, thats how you keep the dynamics the same when bringing the volume up. The mastering begins on the original project but your final master is usually done seperately from the project like you said earlier. An engineer might only have you wav. to work with. In this case whats he/she gonna do just wind the volume up? course not. They will adjust the freq volumes to even the dynamics out as they are taking the volume up. I dont Eq my master track, but i always run the wav. through my sequencer again so when im bringing the levels up i can adjust the broad frequencies. I do my mix down on some decent headphones not reference moni's. Do you make all your own synths etc?
My master volume sits at 100% on FL and i adjust the individual samples to suit. obviously my tracks are not perfect but you have heard them yourself the mix down is not of poor quality . I dunno bout you but im all self taught, my tracks are mixed entirely by ear and not by following any procedure or "rules".

EDIT: To be fair mate its not i thought you new nothing about it its obvious you do from your tracks, its my poor ability to explain. It becomes babble rather than technical. Its ment to be an example of how i might use it. But im turd at putting it in to context. The skill/work is in the knowing of what the software and features do, how you apply them to get your desired sound is down to you.

!peace!

[paravrais]

I don't use presets if that's what your asking?

So you seriously gave a track to a mastering engineer with no headroom and they didn't say anything and you feel you got a clear and punchy master?? :s

I mix by ear yes but I always set my kick to between -10 and -12 db to ensure I have plenty of headroom then mix around that.

[toot]

Toot/ some lush melodies here but the intro gets dull and reptitive. it rolls along too much needs a bit of glitch. The mixx down needs some serious work. There are frequencies crashing everywhere, it makes it sound a big mess. You can sort alot of this out by leveling the samples out volume wise. You can "cap" the samples volume with compression (this is best to read a tutorial and then just play it by ear). You will also need to use an equaliser. to chop a few of the frequencies away in some sounds to stop the freq distortion. Can probably help you a bit more with this if i knew what you use to make tunarge?

Thanks a lot for your reply.
Firstly, many peeps have said the intro is too long...in my mind it's not an intro, it's an integral part of the track. I'm a big fan of Reich, Glass and Riley and was trying to reflect some of their ideas of repetitive, slow moving harmonies in this.

As for the mix, I do use eq and compression (I work in Logic) but just seem to be shitty at getting most of my electronic tracks to sit right. Almost everything I do sounds muddy, despite low cutting everything as much as I can. I'd really love some help with this as I've been making tunes for quite a while and it's still getting a clean, punchy mix that usually escapes me.

[RatRaceProducing]

Hi toot,

There are lots of different way to achieve the desired results. The key is knowing your equipment and then you can work on how to implament it for the greater good.
In your track there are a few simple things i would look at first that would achieve a lot more clarity straight away. I would start by seperating some sounds in the stereo spectrum. The track is not exactly thin but the sounds all seem to be in the same "place". look at panning or even adjusting the stereo seperation on some sounds and see how it effects it. The synths and basses are too over powering. There are some slight volume issues to look at and also too many mid frequencies in the track. You have to try and fill the synths out without making too many sounds prominant in the same frequency. Your layers each need to cover a sector or a serious of sectors on the frequency table. i.e. 1 pad that cover some low mid, 1 pad/synth that covers the mid/ high. You also need to listen to where the depth of your created sound is. You dont want to chop out the freqs that give the sound its drive.
try playing 2 of the main layer together, put a panametric Eq plugin in the mixer track for one of the sounds, now slightly raise the volume of one of the sliders on the equaliser. Now change the frequency of the slider from high to low or low to high slowly and listen for when the distortion/clashing/clipping becomes most noticeable. This will give you an idea of what frequencies are causing problems. This is a good way to start until you begin to just know how different bands of freqs sound when they clash. You then drop the volume of this frequency or small set of frequencies until the clashing becomes less prominent or even disappears. Its never usually that simple but it will get your working in the right direction. you can usually adjust the "band width" of frequencies your are adjusting. in most cases you will not need to entirely cut the frequencies out.

I hope this helps a bit see what results you get and come back and share them!

EDIT: Just to let you lot know, soundcloud have e-mailed me regarding my katie perry remix. They are worried i am infringing copyright laws. Ill try and set them straight but look like they might start cracking down on the bootlegs, so watch what you upload boys and girls!!!

!peace!

[Johnst]

@paravrais: soooo sick. i agree with you on the bells, they're at just the right volume, any louder and they would overpower stuff. i find the bassline to be really interesting as well, notes wise and synthesis wise, it's just gritty enough to punch through and be highlighted but without overpowering. also, i the find the fact that your able to keep your sub bass and your kick punchy annoying. i know the theory behind how to do it, but i haven't been able to yet . ok, the drums: spot on. simply spot on. nice breaks, nice samples, excellent eqing. they fit right where they should. overall, the track has a good dancy push to it but is still chilled. would be stoked to hear this come on at a club.

if you have a moment to review mine a little, it'd be much appreciated. you gave me helpful feedback last time, so i thought i'd ask again. it's really more dnb/half time dnb/(drumstep? people here seem to hate that word...), and it's very distorted, maybe too much. probably not your style, but let me know what you can anyways. thanks, and great toon!
Soundcloud

[Bledbox]

This is the final version of my remix for the Pendulum competition, the original was dnb but I changed my mind and came up with this!
Would be good to get some comments and plays on the soundcloud player so it gets some attention
Soundcloud