WIP Thread - GIVE FEEDBACK TO OTHERS BEFORE POSTING!!!

[almostskate100]

@RARRR_: (Hater Hop) That is a groovy bassline - I really dig it. The vocal samples add a great deal of character to the track. The percussion is sounding crisp and well-defined. I'd maybe try adding some cymbal crashes towards the second half just to give it a little more movement and maybe extending the release on those midrange bass stabs so that they linger for a little longer before fading away? Be careful about too much repetition as you progress further with this track, cuz I think that bass patch might get to be a little too much. (Carbon) This track is really dope so far. The bass patches are really well crafted and flow into one another pretty perfectly. It's hard to give good feedback on your two WIPs, since they are obviously just small snippets of what is to come. But I think both tracks should be awesome when finished. Be sure to post them up on here once you get further along.

@axxessdenied: I really like the changes you made to the guitar track. Seems to fit a lot better in the mix now. I think the glitching at 1:00 might need another look at...it gets a little messy, but I can see where you were going with that. I think the snare fits a lot better in the mix now. The woodblock-y sounds that come in around 1:05 are a little too loud i think. Maybe try pushing them back in the mix a little bit with some reverb? Vocals sound better this time around. Actually, now that I hear them in the second drop, I would take out the woodblock sound all together. But that's just my opinion. Overall, I think you made a lot of progress since the previous iteration. A few minor changes here and there and it'll sound super polished. The fade away at the end is super cool too.

@Living_Tragedy: I think the drum levels sound really good, especially the kick and snare. I think the synth sound that comes in at 0:32 is a little too harsh / distorted, although that was probably intentional. But I'd still maybe smooth it out a little bit, maybe with some compression. Overall, the synth sounds are pretty solid - I don't think it sounds too "tutorial-ish," as you put it. They'd only sound like that if the rest of the track was shittily mixed, in my opinion, but you've done a good job with the mixdown so far. The arpeggiated synth that comes in towards the second half is sweet. I think that for the style you are trying to achieve, this track is really successful so far. I'd be excited to hear it with some fat sub underneath Good work.

Here's another WIP:

Soundcloud

[axxessdenied]

@RARRR_
thanks for listening!
Yeah, Infected Mushroom is definitely one of my inspirations for going this direction with my music. But, I'm trying to find my own sound / style. So, I'm actually glad that it's not exactly what you expect
What parts sound like trap? I'm not one of those guys that really pays attention to sub-genres and small minute details that define genres. I just love to play whatever comes to my mind and try to use the vast variety of music that I enjoy as an influence
I definitely feel like the song needs a bit more low-end though when the kick isn't there filling it in.

@almostskate100: thanks for listening again! glad you think it was a big step forward I'm going to try and mix that woodblock sound a bit better, i kind of neglected that element a bit. maybe i'll replace it with something else or put some heavy processing on it and make it work, haha! Definitely agree with the glitching.


I'm at work right now, I'll be back to check out the last few songs posted in a bit

[Divane]

@axxessdenied

Some nice ideas right there man!
I was confused by the kick, too. it is so powerful compared to the guitar. I would try to add more high end to the guitar since it drowns in the mix a bit. Also I like the idea of a 808 sub at 1:05

[axxessdenied]

@RARRR_: http://soundcloud.com/djrarrr/hater-hop
This sounds pretty good so far. But there's not really enough yet to really critique too much, haha! Post up some more soon.

@Living_Tragedy: https://soundcloud.com/official-silver/dubstep-wip
Sounds pretty good! Did a good job on the mix so far I think. Can't wait to hear some more! I really like what's going on towards the end of the clip! I could hear the drums pretty well and don't think it sounds like you followed tutorials! Keep it up!

@almostskate100: http://soundcloud.com/unimode/afterthoughts
I really like the ambience that's going on. But, the bass is really distracting. It's incredibly boomy and muddies everything up and makes it a bit harder to hear that awesome ambience in the background. I would tighten up that low end first and smooth out that bass a tad. Should sound much better! I would throw in a bit of legato on that bass on some parts to change it up a tad. Could sound interesting! But that's just something that came to mind while i was listening so I figured i'd toss it out there



@Divane: appreciate it!!! I'm gonna try to add some 808 sub with some of the vocal parts and see what happens! Going to work on that guitar tone some more as well.

[npcompl33t]

@zen3013 sorry didnt mean to miss you! You must have posted as i was typing my feedback. You've got some really interesting sounds - It seems really ambient and no single instrument really grabbed my attention - not sure if that is what you are going for or not.

@Living_Tragedy Dude - your track is sounding awesome. What synths did you use to make it? The only thing i might suggest is scooping the mids/low mids a tad to give it a bit more clarity - it sounded a bit fuzzy during the drops (but i am really nitpicking here - it is sounding great man). I cant wait to hear the full track.

@axxessdenied That kick is sounding much better I think you could probably take the ratio/release up a bit on the compressor - especially when you have the kick repeating on consecutive beats (like the part at about 0:55). I think you could probably bring the guitars up a bit as well. The part at around 1:35 is sounding like it is really coming together - keep up the good work man.

RARRR_ Cool sounding synth - your kick is fighting for some of the lower frequencies with it - ive had some luck with center killing the low end on some of those low ending synths so they send their bass to the side while the kick hits you from the front - but it can really change the timbre so you have to just experiment with it.


almostskate100 I cant help feeling like that bass is out of time - it doesnt really seem quantized at al - it might be because of delay on some stuff I cant really tell but it is driving me crazy lol.



I think im about to send this track to get mastered so if i could get another round of feedback on it that would be awesome. I changed it up a bit and took of the mastering i had on it.

Soundcloud

[Kibb]

@almostskate100: i absolutely love the ambiance on this. superb attention to detail. like the others have said, i'd take a look at the bass again, but other than that, i really enjoyed listening
@npcompl33t: your bass noises are extremely well done, but i feel as if you could to more to fill up the track, so to speak. for example, i'd add a bit more reverb on the snare in the first half, and add a couple more open hats to keep it moving a bit.

[kale]

axxessdenied: the only thing i think you should improve on the intro bit is the marraca sound, the rhythm feels a little uneasy, but in the right direction. sounds cool though like it.


would really love some feedback on this WIP my first post in this thread, please let me know what you think, and yea its hella distorted and limited on the master of course, I don't get into the volume mixdown until I got all my instrument tracks in place, nor is there meant to be a drop yet.

http://soundcloud.com/p00k-1/taptest6

[AppleSmack]

@kale

Add some compression to those drums, because your drums are being severely muffled in the background. I would also EQ a lot of those synths and compress those as well.

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I am just looking for critique on this track. I feel that it needs more and I am not sure what to do with it.

Soundcloud

[Samuel_L_Damnson]

If the drums are not cutting through the mix. compressing them will not help (it will probably make it worse) and it will possibly make your drums sound flabby and weak. Its more about eqing out space from the synths for the drums to sit in. I dont think i have ever compressed a drum track in electronic music. You should be able to just set the gain of each sample in a way tht makes every hit audible.

[kale]

thanks for the feedback, but yeah, i havent even got anywhere near messing with volume levels i just felt like uploading that see if anyone digs where im headed with it musically tho.

[npcompl33t]

If the drums are not cutting through the mix. compressing them will not help (it will probably make it worse) and it will possibly make your drums sound flabby and weak. Its more about eqing out space from the synths for the drums to sit in. I dont think i have ever compressed a drum track in electronic music. You should be able to just set the gain of each sample in a way tht makes every hit audible.

Compression on drums in EDM isnt as much about controlling the volume - edm kicks sound the way the do because most of them have their transients crushed via compression. If you want a big house sounding kick you have to use compression (or use a sample that has already been compressed).

[Samuel_L_Damnson]

If the drums are not cutting through the mix. compressing them will not help (it will probably make it worse) and it will possibly make your drums sound flabby and weak. Its more about eqing out space from the synths for the drums to sit in. I dont think i have ever compressed a drum track in electronic music. You should be able to just set the gain of each sample in a way tht makes every hit audible.

Compression on drums in EDM isnt as much about controlling the volume - edm kicks sound the way the do because most of them have their transients crushed via compression. If you want a big house sounding kick you have to use compression (or use a sample that has already been compressed).

I dont.

[npcompl33t]

I dont.

And more power to you man - the beauty of music is there aren't really any rules. I normally wouldn't say anything but I think we can all agree there is a steep enough learning curve to all of this without thinking that it is a cardinal sin of producing electronic music to do something that is pretty important to achieving the sound of a lot of EDM.


From a great book on mixing dance music you guys should check out if you are looking to learn more about mixing dance/electronic music (link below):

"Once the basic kick element is down it will most likely benefit from some compression but the settings to use will depend on the genre of music. Typically, house, techno and trance will benefit from the compressor using a fast attack so that the transient is crushed by the compression. This produces the emblematic club kick while setting the compressor so that the attack misses the transient but grips the decay stage allowing it to be raised in gain to produce the characteristic hip-hop, big beat or drum ‘n’ bass timbre."

Link
http://lit.gfax.ch/The-Dance-Music-Manu ... dition.pdf

[mthrfnk]

Not sure who was posting WIPs and who was just giving feedback out, anyways:

@kale: Sounds quite primitive, also the background fuzziness really detracts from everything. Sort out your levels/distortion/clipping etc - I had to stop listening to your track because it was slightly painful I know you said you've done no mixdown but you probably should aim to mix a little as you work to avoid the horrible clipping artifacts you've generated as a result of slamming everything into your 2buss and then limiting it. As for the melodies, they soudned quite cool

@npcompl33t: Nice intro, I think I've reviewed this before. Still not a fan of the hats but it suits the track fine. Basses sound good (maybe better than before?). Snare could perhaps use some real top end bite - aside from that the drums are good. Overall nice job - especially the tempo changes.

@almostskate100: Lovely ambiance, bass sounds nice and warm, although perhaps you could sustain it in parts rather than sharp bursts. Reminds me a lot of asa and stumbleine, did you record the perc and crunchy noises yourself? Overall this sounds great - not really sure what to suggest to you


Meant to finish a remix tonight, made this bass and ended up making a bit of a track out of it... probably sounds like shit unless you have a decent sub/monitors (or it might just sound shit )
Soundcloud

[mtl6]

mthrfnk- pretty dope sounds you got there. Mix sounds pretty good on my headphones. I would just treat that guitar synth like a real guitar and start soloing over that nasty bass

AppleSmack- I like everything you have but the mix sounds a little funky to me. Like the drums are really loud at first but then they kinda get lost after a bit. But I really like the pad you use in the background, pretty sexy stuff

npcompl33t crank that snare up I can barely hear it and it deserves to cut through the mix. Everything else is pretty spot on nice sounds you got



here's mine... i can't tell if its done or not. definitely needs to be mixed down but what do you guys think?

[mthrfnk]

mthrfnk- pretty dope sounds you got there. Mix sounds pretty good on my headphones. I would just treat that guitar synth like a real guitar and start soloing over that nasty bass

Thanks for the feedback.

As for your track, sounds really nice in musical terms. I'm not really a fan of trap so I don't dig the hats - but you've done them well. The vocals sound great, who did the vox? The mix already sounds quite good although is lacking a bit of bass omn the synths maybe? Overall digging the melodies and vibes, just not the hats but thats personal preference

I knocked up a second new WIP track this afternoon, slightly cheesy but it's nice and chilled too

Soundcloud

[Living_Tragedy]

@mthrfnk The intro sounds good. Don't think I like drums, they sound too weak but I think that's just personal preference. Like the vocals, they fit in the track well. Sounds a bit repeatitive and samey... Mixdown sounds good though. Liking it.

@mtl6 I think the piano (or whatever that is) would sound better with more release. I think some underlying pads with a bit of lowend would do wonders to this track. Not quite sure what else to say. Not really good with this type of music.

@AppleSmack That kick hits way too hard for me. The snare needs a layer of a higher frequency snare with more release. The lead I think isn't in tune with the stabs or at least in sounds wrong. I like the synth in the drop a lot (very Da Funk) The drums are getting drowned out in parts. Cymbals need stereo widening. Keep up with this.

Main thing I tried here is music theory and the bass. Just general feedback for me here please guys.

Soundcloud

[SaveMidnight]

living_tragedy-the little stutter effect should be a little more pronounced, or not there at all. It has a really full sound, so good job there. The drum pattern is a little simplistic, and the percs could hit a little harder. Also, as good as your lead bass patch sounds, it could stand to come down a little bit.

mthrfnk-( I need You )The plucky synth is a little cheesy, and it does have that end of an 80's movie vibe, but its well done. The snare seems to get cut off in a strange way. The reverb tail is there, but the end of the snare isn't, if that makes sense. The addition of the guitar around 2.XX doesn't help you if youre trying to avoid the 80's vibe, but if you're rolling with it, then more power to you. Track has character and weight, which is more that some tracks can say. The kick could come up a bit, and you could maybe incorporate a big washed-out snare for emphasis every once in a while, and it could have a bit more movement in it and between it's transisitions. But other than that I haven't really got much for you. Good job.

(retrospective) Has some good ideas, The bass seems off to me, its got weight, there this weird high end on top of it that I don't really like. That pitchbend is nice though. Maybe have the section playing at :57 playing under that bass.

mtl6-Nice take on trap. Musically its all there. But those hats are a little to fast for the pace of the song. Maybe take the hats to 1/2 that speed and keep everything the same and see what that does. Also, do a little more with the claps. I don't mean more claps, I mean variation in the way that they are used. Right now they seem like they're there because they should be, not because they contribute anything meaningful to the song.

npcompl33t-trapstepfuturedubFTMFW. but seriously, this is produced very well. DBZ sample works well. The first couple of times. But then you kept using it and I didn't like it anymore. The sound design on the drop is good, but something melodic or musical underneath or sitting on time would have been nice. Not necessary, Nice. Anyway, The third drop is underwhelming. That might be on person, but it killed the energy Imo. If anything, that should have been the 1st drop cause it had a nice riser after it occured. Good job overall though, some of these trapstep things take the worst of the two genres instead of the best.

My WIPs

Here are my two WIPs. One is a drumstep song that has been a nightmare to produce. The other is a dubstep/future garage thing that actually came pretty naturally.

Soundcloud
Soundcloud

[mtl6]

thanks all for the previous feedback, back to the studio soon for me.....

houston- first track, i like it. it needs more bass in the middle part though! the part really deserves to have a pounding kick or bass and maybe its just my headphones but i hear a lot more mids and highs than low end freqs in that section. cool idea though. second track... honestly i like each individual component in this track but i feel like it needs another element to make it a cohesive song. my ear just needs some kind of melody to carry me forward through the track. like you have a solid pad but i need some kind of pluck synth or sample something to really get the song grooving in my head. know what i mean? pads can only do so much to keep my interest idk.

living tragedy- huge is an understatement. really like how big this is sounding so far. listening on my headphones i feel like the snare needs some work to fit with the rest of the mix. also, my personal preference would be to throw a bigger (/more wet) reverb on the crash cymbal. sounds to close in the mix and i think it could be more airy, but thats just my preference. cool bass noises though.

mthrfnk- listening to the intro now... don't think its cheesy at all i actually like this melody a lot. i think you might feel its a little cheesy because there is absolutely no tension in the track. like everything is almost too perfect melody-wise. some places i would increase tension would be at :50 to :54 which could use some pitchbending up or down to introduce the bass. also, i would throw a random incidental in around the 1:41 mark to highlight that last bar and give the listener some preparation for the little breakdown in the middle. i could keep going on, but i guess my point is, you have a really great foundation for a track but it needs a little drama. you know best where to put it.

here's my new trap remix. not sure if you guys like trap at all but lemme know what you think. thanks
Soundcloud

[Divane]

I'd like some feedback on this one.
I am interested in hearing what you think about the overall mixdown.

Soundcloud