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

[FAARE FACED]

@GregoryTJ
Sound design is really nice. Not fan of some kick rolls, i think they remove the glitchy style of the track when they're here (like at 23s)

@LilWUB
Day 138 looking for a snare, I'm getting low on food. If i don't come back please take care of my mom :D
I'm not a found of the sound design and lazer shizzle going on, and it's sounds a bit messy mixdown wise. Nothing is really punching. Your intro is nice.

@Alexandercunningham
Intro is a bit too long for what it contains imo. It's trap cmon all we want are 808 :D
The reverb automation on the vocal is sometimes a bit too crazy to me. I like the overall vibe tho.


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My WIP :

I'm concerned about the mixdown here (sub bass level, drums etc).
It's peaking at -6dB so it might be a little too quiet. And dont forget to turn DOWN the speakers after listening :)
Soundcloud

For an unknown reason, the widget doesnt seem to work, but the link below it does though.

[Mork-E]

@GregoryTJ

I love the intro, has that grimey snap to it. But when the drop comes It goes downhill for me, I don't like the high cowbell thingy and the whole part just doesn't seem to connect with the dope ass intro imho. But hey the mixing sounds dope. Just not my cup of tea

@Alexander cunninghams

The vox is dope as hell, love the panning on it. Intro is tight but I miss some power in the main part. You have a solid bass going on but it just doesn't give me that feel of wow this bass hits hard. If you would crank that up with some extra subs and a filter it would sound mindblowing. But I can't say it enough, I really like that vocal in there

@lilWub

You had me vibing untill about the 50 second mark, then it suddenly just looses its groove. And it took to much time for me to notice the groove is back. Sometimes you sound a bit offbeat too. Try snapping to your grid more unless its on purpose. I like your sounds a lot but it just misses some groove. Also love what you did around 2:50 in, with some nice temposyncing that would sound so funky

@Faare Faced

Sounds dope as fuck. I do however understand what you mean by your concerns over the subs. They just don't seem so punchy from time to time. But hey a little more finemixing could handle that I think. Looking forward to the full tune, followed.

and finally my WIP:

My concerns aren't really about the mixing aspect (I do appreciate some tips and tricks however). Im concerned about the variation, it just seems a bit dull after the first drop hits and Im a bit stuck on how to change it up a little. any tips?

Soundcloud

https://soundcloud.com/mork-e/mork-e-ak47-unmastered

thanks in advance

[FAARE FACED]

@Mork-E

First of all thanks for the support, this remix being for a competition, comments like yours are motivational :)

About what you said, it's exactly what i've been doing since I posted the wip here, trying to finetune the sub. I added a bunch now. I tried to A/B to "professional" tracks of the same style and it still way lower on a spectrum analyzer, even if it starts to feel right.
i.e. now my sub (at 45hz ish) sits at around -18dB, whereas on Undertaker from the Upbeats it sits at -12 or so if i'm not mistaken.
I'm not sure if I should let it as i feel with my ears or try to "copy" what I can hear/analyze in pro tracks.

Will mastering have an impact on this ? I'm not sure about the effects of master compression over the loudness of the various elements in the track.. if anyone has any knowledge about this it's highly appreciated :)

About your WIP i have 3 suggestions about variations :
1) I see you have a call for a bar, then a response for the following bar.
Instead of going A, B, A, B, why not try to A, A ,A, B ? (kind of what i did with my bassline on my wip)
I feel like the B "melody" reponse comes too early in your wip.

2) You could try to bounce to audio if it's not already the case and reverse/chop to find another phrase.

3) You might want to experiment with one additional effect on the FX chain (a pretty wet chorus can give the change you need to have a slightly different sound, either changing gradually or after 8 or 16 bars.)


I can't really say anything about the mix since i'm not at the studio now and listening on not that great headphones.

Keep me posted about this track :)

[dial_back]

@Stargazer - The wobble sounds a little thin, maybe thicken it up a bit and get a good variation going for the 2nd drop

@willryan042 - Vocals sound just a tad too loud at points. The clap sounds a bit weak on it's own and could use either some EQing or another layer. The reverb is a litte overwhelming overall.

@Darj - So good. Really feeling this one. Great techno vibes and I'd rinse the shit out of it.

@Icetickle - You nailed a pretty uplifting vibe with that. The mix sounds pretty good. I'd love to hear a nasty bass line come in though.

@GregoryTJ - Super bouncy feeling to that already. Digging it.

@Alexandercunningham - Drums need work. Mix up the hi hats a bit more. The kick sounds kinda lost in the mix. I like the vocal bits.

@LilWUB - Having the full bass come in without the drums before the drop really take a lot of the energy out of it. Maybe try to filter the bass build up and let it open as the drums kick in.

@FAARE FACED - It's a little quiet like you said but it sounds clean. I don't really like the vocal samples but I like everything else about it.

@Mork-E - Maybe double up some of the wobbles to a rapid fire pace? Alternating with doubling up the hat patterns?





Been working on this one again recently. Tried to thicken the bass and swapped out the kick. My ears are pretty fried on it at this point. Pretty much done with it now I think.
Soundcloud

[Mork-E]

Thanks for the advice peeps. I used a lot of it in my final mixdown. Here's the end result. Hope you guys like it

Soundcloud

[Mork-E]

@dial_back

Feedback for you my man

Love the tune but the stabby thing playing troughout the first drop annoyed me after a while. Ur basslines sound nice but my advice would be to add some power. They sound very dull after a while. Some reverb or distortion will definitly bring some power in there. Hope this is some usefull advice

[Giles Davis]

@dial_back

Love the bass you have going, lots of presence. The only thing that's really jumping out at me is that I'd like the snare to hit a lot harder, I think it would bring out a lot more power. At the moment it sounds slightly washy even against the hats.

@Alexandercunningham

I agree about drums from the jump, unless the ambient intro is what you really want. I like the bass you have, and think the vocals work well, I wouldn't worry that you're overdoing it. Arrangement is hard to give advice on, think about how you want the song to flow. I always put markers along the top of the arrangement view in ableton and try different things.

@gregoryTJ

The timing in the groove of the kick and snare sounds a little out to me, either that or the fact that you don't have much happening other than the hats by way of rolling time-keeping which is resulting in a bit of a choppy feel. Can't really critique too much seeing as it's only 2 hours work! Interested to see how it progresses!



Ok, my dub is (I'm hoping) nearly finished. I've tentatively called my draft of mixdown complete, but I'm trying to get some feedback on how the mix sounds as my room is horrific and I don't have decent cans either, so I'm worried there are holes/problem areas in the freq spectrum.

I added some limiting last night, and it sounds as though I've choked some power out of the kick/snare/whole mix. It just doesn't feel like it's hitting as hard today.

Other than that just any general tips/ thoughts massively appreciated

Soundcloud

[azuk]

@R3B_Official: Man that mix sound wack. You need to work on that mix. And yeah that growl is really really bad.

@ Gregory: I like the offbeat glitch hop vibe, the mix is definitely tight, the reese seems to be missing a bit of high end. I'd use some short reverb on just the highs and maybe dimension expander.

@ Mork-E: Love the vibe you got going there, the wobbles get a bit stale though, i'd change em up some more. Maybe a double time wobble?


Soundcloud

This is some ambient neuro I was working on with input from Icetickle.

[jetpack]

@azuk:
Definitely interesting. The drums, especially the snare, stand out a lot against the muddy, ambient leads. Not sure if that's intended, but it took the focus off of the bass and leads.

@Mork-E:
Really neat sounds you have there. Mix sounds tight. A breather somewhere would have been nice. The changes are so subtle, a break seems necessary.

@Dial_Back:
Drums sound nice. The open hi hat is too dominant for me. Reverb and a slight decrease will help. The basses are great, but need to be brought out quite a bit. The stabs and open hat gets repetitive. The congas sound great. Vocals sound good, too.

New track that came from a re-visit to an older tune. Mainly looking for mix suggestions. Keep in mind, this is just the meat and potatoes of the track.

Soundcloud

[Icetickle]

@azuk:
Definitely interesting. The drums, especially the snare, stand out a lot against the muddy, ambient leads. Not sure if that's intended, but it took the focus off of the bass and leads.

What leads? Are you high man.

@azuk: Great track, love the soundscape!

Soundcloud

I'm having trouble with dnb breaks. Any tips are helpful!

[FAARE FACED]

@Icetickle :
First of all I think there is way to much reverb on your beat.
In my opinion, a dnb beat has to be powerful through impactful samples.
Your kick has enough low end for a dnb kick imo, too much would not be nice. However it could use some more clicking and high end. Either with sample layering or EQing with a peak around 1 to 3kHz. Shortening the kick lengh could also help.
Your snare is not very punchy imo, it's drowned in reverb.
I suggest parrallel compression on your kick and snare to give them more weight. Some transient shaping would be nice too (but if you apply compression overall these elements, dont forget to put a slow attack in order to avoid destroying the transient that give the power.
The break so to speak is not loud enough to my liking. We can barely hear it between kicks and snare, and there is not even another instrument yet. If you start to fill your loop with stuff, you will not hear it.

[jetpack]

@azuk:
Definitely interesting. The drums, especially the snare, stand out a lot against the muddy, ambient leads. Not sure if that's intended, but it took the focus off of the bass and leads.

What leads? Are you high man.

By "leads" I meant the pad that is up front in the track. Relax, dude.

[Chaos_Official]

@azuk:
Definitely interesting. The drums, especially the snare, stand out a lot against the muddy, ambient leads. Not sure if that's intended, but it took the focus off of the bass and leads.

What leads? Are you high man.

By "leads" I meant the pad that is up front in the track. Relax, dude.

There are no pads...

[jetpack]

@azuk:
Definitely interesting. The drums, especially the snare, stand out a lot against the muddy, ambient leads. Not sure if that's intended, but it took the focus off of the bass and leads.

What leads? Are you high man.

By "leads" I meant the pad that is up front in the track. Relax, dude.

There are no pads...

My mistake, there is,clearly, only bass and drums in that track.

[Icetickle]

@azuk:
Definitely interesting. The drums, especially the snare, stand out a lot against the muddy, ambient leads. Not sure if that's intended, but it took the focus off of the bass and leads.

What leads? Are you high man.

By "leads" I meant the pad that is up front in the track. Relax, dude.

There are no pads...

My mistake, there is,clearly, only bass and drums in that track.

Leads are not and will never be pads.
There are not pads tho it's only one big atmo sample going on and on.
And it is not muddy for sure. There is only too much sub going on in the drop.

[willryan042]

@Alexandercunningham: nice dude! i like this super chill stuff. reminds me of some of shlohmo's stuff. bass is nice, only thing i'd suggest is mixing up the vocal or not using it as much. it gets a little bit repetitive. dope track though.

@dial back: like this man, pretty chill. snare/clap seems a little weak. i like the other percussion you threw in there, and nice work with the vocal sample. it kind of gets repetitive and the whole structure just kind of blends together. i'd try mixing it up a bit and separate the sections somehow.

@azuk: wooooorrrrdddd! i'm a sucker for this kind of ambient stuff. the gunshot and drop seem a little... unexpected or out of place. drums seem too subtle too, they get totally drowned out towards the end. I'd prefer it the bass wasn't so distorted/heavy, but diff'rent strokes.

@jetpack: digging the 8bit sounds in here. intro's nice, the sample seems a little long/boring/lacking something... not sure what it is. maybe tease some of your synths in there before the drop? some crazy synth work going on after the drop, might be a little too overpowering at some points. nice though!

Here's my latest, more of a chill downtempo/hip-hop track. I've just been trying to mess around with stuff at different tempos just to try something fresh. Something about some of the vocals doesn't sound right to me, especially the clip right before the drops. Let me know what you think!

Soundcloud

[GuardianGate]

@GregoryTJ : Fuck. That bass dude. It does feel a little too clean at times. Add some fatness to it and boom that would be a perfect track to me. I like the 8 bit style intro a lot.

@Alexandercunningham : no the vocal doesn't play too much. I like the vocals a lot. That pad that comes in at 1:13 could be louder IMO. Your sub might be a little too loud. Its kind of dominating everything except the vocals. Add more percussive elements to the track and I think a fatter snare would be good. But I love fat snares haha.

@Stargazer : I liked that intro a lot. Someone mentioned it being very owl city like and that is very true. I like the drop but it needs more energy. Maybe focus more on the wobble that comes in instead of keeping the focus on the lead. your drums are pretty great. They fit great into that song.

This is not at all my normal style of music but this just came out of me one sleepless night haha. Let me know what you think and thank you in advance for criticisms.

Soundcloud

[GregoryTJ]

@GuardianGate

I really like this track, the mix needs a tiny bit of fine tuning.
Not a fan of the rhythm change in the second breakdown, but that is just me.

[mthrfnk]

Feedback:
@GuardianGate: I liked the intro, but you could perhaps modulate the lead a little (filter wise) - it gets a bit repetitive. The chords stabs are nice, I'd cut the lead melody when these come in. The build is nice but it's too loud compared with the drop - you can see that in the waveform. You need to smash the hell out of that kick, it sounds really lame on the drop (boost the low end, add some distortion/waveshaping to saturate the midrange). Overall the track is pretty cool, just need to work on the levels and making that kick slap more.


@willryan042: Nice intro, the ambience is good and I like the panning of everything. I'm not to sure about the lead that comes in, it sounds kinda off note wise and doesn't sit nicely. The kick needs pumping up some to punch through the mix, the claps and perc are good. Pretty original track overall, just needs work on the mix and lead synth.

@jetpack: Damn that kick haha, imo I'd tame the tail of the kick a bit - it seems to sustain too long. Tbh I'm not a fan of the sample, it kinda comes out of nowhere and is way too noisy. The drop is pretty cool, but the drums get lost in the midrange synths a bit. Your kick could use some top end imo - maybe layer in another kick to make it punch harder.

@azuk: The beginning is nice, with good ambience but I kinda think the drop is really muddy - I lost the kick completely and the droney bass sounds really muffled to me, there's no defined sounds, it's just kinda mushy - it might work if you chop it up more instead of sustained notes and work it in and around the kick. Some top end distortion/excitation would really fill out the sound too.

@Giles Davis: I like the vibes with the perc and vocal samples but it gets a bit repetitive. The bass is nice and warm but it covers the kick a little. I like the rhodes sound you bring in. Overall I think the track needs a little more variation, especially with the vocals - even manipulating it in something like dBlue glitch would keep it fresh. Mix on the hats and perc is spot on though.


So this is something I worked on this weekend, I took a little break from music making and tried something different. It's not finished yet and the mix is rough as fuck but some feedback would be good, I can't decide if I'm going in a good direction:

Soundcloud

[GregoryTJ]

@Spectrafunk, the vocals annoy me a bit, and the robot one before the break doesn't fit... The percussion in the breakdown is really cool and the overall mix isn't bad.

The arp seems a bit standard in the intro IMO.

That thing over the arp I don't want to call it a pad, it is some sort of synth horn, it has some resonances that hurt my ears a bit. (INB4 turn down your damn headphones )

The glass clanking noise n the drop is a nice touch.

Keep working on it, it is pretty nice.