WIPs/unfinished tunes for feedback * no finished tunes *

TheHiddenProducer · Post by **TheHiddenProducer** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:49 pm

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

hasezwei wrote:the wobble itself is fine, but the bass underneath sounds too quiet on my (shoddy) system. compared to for example ikonika (which was playing before i clicked the link) it's like there's no sub at all.

Okay, I'll bring up the levels on my sub channel

BevOh wrote:Just beef up the sub mate and make it with a longer attack and side chain to the kick and snare so they can cut through the mix.

Ah, I see. I side chained only the kick, but I will def side chain the snare as well. Never really played around with attack, but perhaps this is a good opportunity to experiment.

Heartless wrote:Need moar midrange

Yes, I noticed that as well! Thanks.

jrisreal · Post by **jrisreal** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:51 pm

I showed this to my friend dmisreal and he freaked out man thats his new favorite song, no joke. he left you a souncloud comment

ChadDub · Post by **ChadDub** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:16 am

Dude this is mixed/mastered amazingly. My speakers are really really low and I can still hear it clear as fuck.

deafblindmusic · Post by **deafblindmusic** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:35 am

It's been a long time since I used Reason, but there is a graphical EQ in there, this is what I mean by a notch;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Peaking-eq.svg

Basically you are looking for a targeted frequency range in the problem area, with a narrow 'Q' , typically to find something that's troubling you in a mix, use a very narrow Q, with a high boost and sweep it back and forth over the frequency whilst the sound is playing, then when you find it, you can pull it down -3 to -5 db or so and effectively nullify its effect in the overall sonic spectrum.

Trust me, mixdowns are some of the most frustrating and dull parts of the creative process, at least for me, and it is a skill in its own right - unfortunately most electronic musicians these days have to be artist, producer, engineer, mastering engineer all at the same time, when traditionally these roles have been filled by at least 2-3 people. And it takes a long time to build the skills in all the various areas. And nobody, ever, no matter how good they sound, knows as much as they could do. Just remember that

hasezwei · Post by **hasezwei** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:06 am

ChadDub wrote:Dude this is mixed/mastered amazingly. My speakers are really really low and I can still hear it clear as fuck.

no. it's ok but not amazingly. the lead as well as the snare have way too much lowend cut away for example. there's a very audible gap between sine/sub and wobble which isn't a great thing in 90% of cases. it's a lot better than most mixdowns around here but it sounds more like someone's trying too hard not to break the 'rules'.

OP, i'm not trying to diss your tune or anything, i just wanna suggest you keep pushing forward instead of saying 'alright, i won't need to worry about mixdowns from now on'

Ldizzy · Post by **Ldizzy** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:36 am

hasezwei wrote:
ChadDub wrote:Dude this is mixed/mastered amazingly. My speakers are really really low and I can still hear it clear as fuck.

no. it's ok but not amazingly. the lead as well as the snare have way too much lowend cut away for example. there's a very audible gap between sine/sub and wobble which isn't a great thing in 90% of cases. it's a lot better than most mixdowns around here but it sounds more like someone's trying too hard not to break the 'rules'.

OP, i'm not trying to diss your tune or anything, i just wanna suggest you keep pushing forward instead of saying 'alright, i won't need to worry about mixdowns from now on'

cosign on the very separated mix. it is clean tho. cleaner then what most people would tend to mix on a tune with such stylistics, which is a good start.

still, there is a problem. i think it is what ur post is about anyways!

from where u are... (controlled sounds) u could try to put some life back in the mix... ease down on the big eq cuts... and then try gel sounds together spectrally... using distortion/saturation to blur the separation between ur sounds...

i also feel a little imbalance in the stereo image...

its a good start really

Ldizzy · Post by **Ldizzy** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:37 am

also, to "fit" something in a mix , meaning to find a spot for it, ur better off introducing it in the very first stages of ur mix...

maybe u could put it right after the drums... find a good balance between just that and the drums.. and mix the rest accordingly, uve got to settle for core elements, and elements of lesser importance..

dmisreal · Post by **dmisreal** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 10:40 am

jrisreal wrote:I showed this to my friend dmisreal and he freaked out man thats his new favorite song, no joke. he left you a souncloud comment

its true

MexicanKangaroo · Post by **MexicanKangaroo** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:24 pm

My monitors and headphones are in repair atm, so I'm listening to everything through shitty laptop speakers... so bear with me.

@BenJonesLikeWhoa It's a bit hard to comment on mixing on my speakers atm, but the first one is way too overlimited. I can hear definite improvements with the 2nd one, it's much clearer but there are still sections where one bit is loud and then one bit is softer, it's kind of noticable on my laptop for some reason. Are you using a limiter, or compression? It sounds like some velocities on the MIDI notes (particularly the lowend sounds) are inconsistent, and is kind of squashing everything else to compensate for it. If you're using compression, make it softer (reduce the threshold).
Its pretty solid tune wise, really feeling the intro. As far as wobbles go it sounds pretty good, maybe a tad generic but not too brosteppy.

@Downfall All I can hear is a beat with bongo drums over being echoed slightly lol, but by the looks of the wav it feels really dark, the sub must be good hehe. The tuned percussion is really nice.

@Thrilla The pitch bending plucks in the intro are a really nice touch. The fading risers fit perfectly, the 'white noise hats' (I think) stand out a bit to much, maybe lower the levels a bit on it but keep the hats. The midrange 'bass' is tad too loud compared to the other elements at the drop, but good tune overall, maybe a bit empty at the gated chords. Sounds pretty flawless other than that, nice vibes going there.

@brzzzz cant really comment on anything, I genuinely don't what to be looking for...:\ Not in a bad way, I'm just not feeling it until the drop (personal taste). The bass though at the end is really nice... but it just feels really empty there. Work on the snare or bring out by raising the eq a bit. You want a really punchy one that goes on for a long time eheh... but not too reverby, otherwise it'll muddy the mix! I won't go too much into layering, but try to use different sounding snares. Compress it a bit with long attack and release to add a little punch to it. The camelshack transient shaper makes prettym much every snare sound good while keep the levels lol, but if you don't have one, chuck a distortion plug-in on and turn it up very slightly... this creates the 'drive' in the snare hit and keeps levels low at the same time. Sidechain it slightly to the bass and it should mix fine!

@deafblindmusic You better pm me when that track's finished...

)

Okay, so hopefully this is my last wip... how far do you think it is from being finished? I took out the tune coz I thought it was pretty lame and wasn't neurofunky enough lol... too much?
Soundcloud

deafblindmusic · Post by **deafblindmusic** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:52 pm

MexicanKangaroo wrote:@deafblindmusic You better pm me when that track's finished... )

Sure thing mate, I've started mixing it, it's got some stereo separation issues and frankly too much stuff in the mid-range, trying to wrassle that to ground. Still much work to do

BevOh · Post by **BevOh** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:09 pm

@krage really nice percussion in the intro. drop was really nice too. i feel like it needs to switch up a bit more in some parts tho, could be because im really ripped but i kinda felt a bit bored in parts, not to say the track doesnt have awesome energy cos it does. end part especially. feel like that needs to hit earlyier. like too much in the first verse/part. maybe everythign is just taking ages atm

@darkdubz feel like you need a bit more variation aswell man, the wobble is kinda to similar the whole way thru, imo id give it a bit more processing/modulation on the main bas. but thats just me and i dont see my opinion as being very valid anyway.

@thrilla very interesting intro man, i like it. i feel like this track would drop so much harder if you had something in the breaks in the bass. even if its not a bass. like a sample or something. i dno. feel like it needs it to keep the energy cos that drop was set to be huge and then it kinda falls off just when u think its going to hit harder.

also gave some feedback further up the page but yeah. heres this.

Soundcloud

Thrilla · Post by **Thrilla** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:20 pm

@bevoh
Good start to the track, usually when there are a lot of different sounds and synths it sounds to clashy.. but you've pulled it off.

@MexicanKangaroo
Really digging it, the drums are sick as are the bass sounds. and the samples you have in it compliment it quite well also..

now i've edited it a bit, change a few things around, added some drum fills. criticize.

Soundcloud

tuckerlinen · Post by **tuckerlinen** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:30 pm

Atticuh: The drums need work. Bring them out more. Eq the kick more like _[]-[]-___ if that makes any sense. I liked the melody on the keys but it needs motion as well. I dunno phaser or something. Some pan, velocity adjustments. I think I see what you’re going for with the tune and I like the creativity but the elements aren’t defined enough for it to come through.

Cycle Logic: I like the flow of the drums. Maybe make the clap louder. The kick and the bass are overlapping. I would make the bass subbier and just tighten up the kick a bit. I like the tune loads but that kick is essential and it’s not as present as it needs to be. Eq the sub a bit lower freqs. I envy your style.

Ascent: It is a bit bareboned but you have some great hats going on. I like it a lot. Post it again later when you’ve added more.

Nftfhx: Not the tune I thought was coming from the intro. A bit on the bro side for me but I have to admit I would love to hear this out. I’m a sucker for the trancy sort of brostep. It is fun, I’ll give you that. I’d make that trance arp more pronounced and way more low end.

MexicanKangaroo: Not enough going on. Trim the fat on that sub in the first half. I’m not sure what’s making your bass so faint. Way too low. Maybe you’re processing the sound too much. Not sure, I really don’t know much about it.

Deafblindmusic: I really like this track. It’s evident you’ve spend a lot of time on it. You’re trying to get that midrange buzz down I think I read? That would be cool, especially at that last bit if you cut the buzz and brought out that smooth synth in the back. I mean it’s great now though, I’m going to listen to it again because there were so many things I only caught glimpses of.

Benjoneslikewoah: Work on your highhat arrangement. It’s been awhile since I’ve heard new wobbles that I was into. It’s simple and subtle. Also that klinky sample in the back is great. No change you ever lived in Ruston? Knew a Ben Jones while I was there—he was a musician but wasn’t into this stuff.

Bevoh: Interesting progressions. I would bring the levels on all of that way down and build a better song into it. It doesn’t really carry itself but it could be something that works. Mix the thing so you can hear the drums.

GirlStep · Post by **GirlStep** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:48 pm

I'm looking for a lot of feedback on this one. Considering this is my first real song I'm still pretty lost in some palces.

Soundcloud

Downfall · Post by **Downfall** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:11 pm

Does anyone know if it is possible to phase invert in reason 5?

deafblindmusic · Post by **deafblindmusic** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:18 pm

tuckerlinen wrote: Deafblindmusic: I really like this track. It’s evident you’ve spend a lot of time on it. You’re trying to get that midrange buzz down I think I read? That would be cool, especially at that last bit if you cut the buzz and brought out that smooth synth in the back. I mean it’s great now though, I’m going to listen to it again because there were so many things I only caught glimpses of.

Cheers! Total time about 2 days. The mid-range is definitely cramped because there's literally 5 synths all in the same register (my habit tends to be cramming as much stuff into a track as possible

), there is a newer version I haven't uploaded yet that has much better separation through panning and some EQ work, but I think with some more EQ and filter work and some panning I can give everything enough room. Thanks for taking the time to listen/feed back.