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@mthrfnk That track is dope. Adding that DNB at the second drop is what that track needs. That main sound is so sick.

@Filthor I love me some DNB. Need a solid sub under that. The actual filth needs to be longer. Liking the track.

@niteshift holy fuck dude. Such great vibes coming off this track. That drop is perfect in my mind. Its mellow and filthy at the same time. maybe give your drums a little more presence. The kick seems a little lost maybe.

So I have been working on this for a day now. I have worked on it some more since I exported this but mainly just mixing better and I changed the hats because they got annoying to me. Let me know what you think.

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Gaol I like it. Everything is perfect, pretty much. Maybe a tad muddy, but nothing serious.

niteshift Well put. Intro sounds are cool and fitting. Not hearing much sub. Perhaps it's just too low for my system haha. My speakers are kinda mediocre. Work on the mix maybe?

SMOR3S Oh my that's beautiful. I'm not going to criticize anything. I can't criticize anything.

Just some random face-smashing sound fx here:
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jrisreal (man I always read jizzreal -.-): did you quantize those notes or did you want that laid back feeling? I really like the piano melody even though I think it's sometimes too much off beat.
niteshift: I can hear the sub, but needed to turn up the volume of my sub. my track got a similar problem, I maybe try to add a sub that is an octave higher.... but not sure if that works. I like your spacing and the use of reverb to get that full sound.
smor3rs: Your drums are a lot better and everything sounds smoother now (guess you reworked your EQ's and mixdown) Good job.

I'm still looking for some feedback on that track, regardless which topic ( ideas, sound design, ...)
Thank you guys..

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I recorded directly from piano so no quantizing

@goal, your song has a nice atmosphere for sure. bass might be a bit too loud because i cant usually hear it on my monitors XD. i really liked the sub work but i cant say im a big fan of modern talking. <of course personal preference. your drums sound well sampled though for sure. and of course, vox sound awesome.

@jrisreal, like others have said the melody goes on and off time a tid bit. i like the percussion and the idea of the song itself for sure. pads sound nice as well. i would make the drums a bit louder but it sounds nice and chill where its at really. chop up that sample and put it on time manually if you can(or just rerecord it)

@manudiao, your song is definitely very good, great production value, would probably compress the drums to get a little click for a song like this, but they still come through regardless. love all of the sounds really. melody is great, its all crisp. good work man.

this is my latest wip, i need some vocal samples/drum fills =/ and my bass pops a tiny itty bitty bit from too much attack (sorry =P) but please inform me how to fix that and still have a quick attack, and anything else i could do to improve it. thanks
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@eye-sic modern talking is gone haha. I took that out after I exported this. It's way too noticeable

@gaol (last posted wip) I think the parts that have vox on them are f-ing great but I felt the drop/break. Was missing something. I believe what its missing is little chopped up bits of the vox part. I want to listen to it again with better speakers but it rocked hard on my lousy phone speakers even at extremely low volumes.

@ Eye-SiC;
Seems like there isn't a lot of dynamic range left.
Sub seems a bit too high aswel.
Your sounddesign is pretty sick, love the bassline but I think the snare could be a lot more 'in-your-face'. Seems to have a bit too much reverb.

@Manudiao;
Love the vocal work in the intro and the little glitches are sick.
Production wise, this is sick.
I think you could use a lot more sounds to create the vibe. It just doesn't have the 'WOW IM HYPED AS FUCK NOW' feeling, if you know what I mean.
With tracks as these you need to have a constant fast vibe, my opinion tho.
Sound design is good. Mixing wise it isn't too bad neither, may need a bit more EQ in the high frequencies.
Snare is also a little bit too quiet compared to the kick, but not much, like 1dB.

@Jrisreal;
I'm wheeping here man, such an emotional track
Might neeed to quantize those notes, it has a nice vibe to it without but I think it's a bit too much.
Nice work on those drums aswel, they're fitting perfectly.

@ Gaol;
Where the fuck do you all find these vocals.
The groove on those hats is sick, might need to give those drums another 8bars to shine.
Really not a fan of the drop, can't comment further on it. Really noticeable MT tho, might layer that up with something.
Also seems that the MT line is out of tune sometimes.

@ Niteshift;
Intro has a pretty dark vibe so I can already guess what's coming .
Pretty sick sounds man, but I honestly think they need a bit more low end.
Mix sounds tight aswel.
Big track!

@ SMOR3S;
Nice vibe and love the piano part.
I don't think those panned snares are a good idea tho, you'd be better off with a panned drumroll or something like that.
I think it needs a bit more variation.

@ travis baker;
Sick vibe man, those drums are perfect.
I can't honestly think of something to comment on.
Production is perfect, mixdown is sick.
Good work man!

@ Darj;
Love the atmosphere on the intro.
Some sub notes seem a bit too powerful but that could be my monitors aswel.
Big production.

@ 1stfiest;
That intro synth is amazing!
I don't feel the piano tho, seems so stock and doesn't really add to the track.
Seems out of key aswel on some parts.
Love the vibe.


Please bare in mind that it's constructive criticism, i'm in no way trying to break your tracks down or anything else.
Now for my track: made this in less than 24 hours but it took me weeks to finish and after a week of mixdown I really need another pair of ears.
Soundcloud
Would love some feedback on mixdown, production and master.
Thank you!

Cubicle wrote:@ Eye-SiC;
@ SMOR3S;
Nice vibe and love the piano part.
I don't think those panned snares are a good idea tho, you'd be better off with a panned drumroll or something like that.
I think it needs a bit more variation.

I have always been one for panned snares, but does anyone else do it? + are you saying drum rolls @ the end of every 8 bars?

@Cubicle: Nice vibes and melody. I feel the "shouting vocal" maybe a little too loud at points. The bass is nice, although could perhaps be slightly louder. Percussion is spot on imo, coming through nicely. Overall the track seem well put together and the mix sounds nice atm.

@Eye-siC: Kick is quite boomy, although I think it suite the style. The sub seems to be stealing a lot of headroom - it's a little overpowering and everything else is being drowned. Midrange sounds nice, but needs to be more in your face, try and fix this in the mix. Overall some other elements would be nice - since you have the same bass/midrange throughout, perhaps add another lead or high end for the 2nd drop.

@manudiao: Intro sounds nicer than last time. Still loving the vocals. Drop sounds nice although it's little muddy a points, the midrange drowns the kick sometimes and there seems to be a lot of white noise around, perhaps tame that back a touch. Really only can suggest working on the mix - everything else seems like its done.

@jrisreal: Nice piano, reminds me of Moby or Massive Attack on the intro. I would try quanitzing a few of the notes, like others have said. Some delay might sound nice on the piano too. Another nice touch maybe some vocal "ooh" or "ahh" pads accompanied by some foley - would make a really nice soundscape.

Updated one of my WIPs, mix is still not quite there:
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@mthrfnk: love the guitar, did you record that yourself? The vocals (both the muted sort of speech and the high pitched sample) work very well. I’m also digging the bassline, it’s fat but doesn’t distract. I think in terms of the arrangement, this sounds done to me. However, now on to the mix (THIS IS ALL JUST MY OPINION, YOU’RE THE SOLE CREATOR AND ARTIST IN THE END, so, yeah...): The drums are simply too quiet and lack vitality in my opinion. I think they could use even just being turned up a little bit. Maybe try using some parallel compression on the kick and snare to beef them up a bit. As well, i would say layer on another snare. I think especially on a tune like this harder hitting drums really help to carry things along.

@Cubicle: I’m going to try and give you mixdown advice as best I can, since that’s what I think you’re asking for? Ok, so I’m listening and the notes honestly aren’t jiving with me. The vocal sample is really cool, but to my ears it doesn’t match the plucky lead synth. Maybe this is a weird suggestion but if i were you i’d chop up that vocal sample into individual words and pitch them so that it better matches the synth, or change the synth line. I wish I had more constructive crit than that, I’m sorry if that’s just a really lame thing for me to tell you. However, the mixdown is really nice. I can hear every element, they’re all at the right volume, and the rhythms are spot on. It’s just the notes that I’m not happy with! Please feel free to PM me if you want me to try and go into more details or anything.

@Eye-siC: I’m not hearing your bass pop actually, it sounds very good, so perhaps it’s not an issue? I’m listening to it on studio monitors, maybe it’s different on headphones. I actually think the bass could be turned up a bit more, or perhaps even layered a bit more. Since it’s the focal point of the song, really make it stand out and drive the tune. It’s almost there, but I want it to be one of those, “oooh that bassss” moments. And, IMO, it just needs to be a bit more front and center for that. As well, the pads, are a little too repetitive. Since the bass is the focal point, they could probably be fucked with quite a bit. Or layer more of them. Maybe even throw some crazy little melody in the background. Overall though, great work man.

These are all just my opinions, any of you can feel free to PM me about any comments or advice if you think I can help. Honestly impressed though overall, it's been awhile since I've posted in this thread and I feel like choons have improved.

Alright, so here's what I've been working on. It's just straight up dubstep i suppose. I'm pretty happy with the arrangement, but I'm still unsure about the mixdown, drums, or whatnot. Whatever you think it's lacking, let me know. Thanks in advance!

PS: This is my WIP soundcloud, my actual one is soundcloud.com/gnar-wall (In my sig)

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@Eye-siC "Blast off" WIP
As said before, I find the kick a bit too loud. I dig the sound design and the chopped "machine gun" style of the bass, but I think it's way too repetitive and would benefit from variation. Also, the string in the back maybe deserves more space, because it's great.

@niteshift "Searching" WIP
I like the atmosphere. The intro is maybe a bit long OR lacks variation. It love the guttery (is this even a correct word in english ? ahaha) deep monsterish bass. I also like the variation in the "levels" so to speak. Not in terms of volume but more like what's in the back, overwhelmed by a bass that comes up front before going also deep in the ambiant back. Really great overall.

@Johnst "Duped" WIP
Not a big fan of the intro nor of the mid range saw wave, it sounds weak. Sound design is really nice on the bass. It sounds far away but still present in a way, and it has a really nice "grain"/noise if you know what i mean. I think the piano is too low or at least not hearable enough.


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My WIP :
It's a track I've been working on and off for weeks because of my studies, and i listened to it so many times I can't even criticize my mixdown anymore. I'm kind of lost. Plus the fact i'm new to production so to speak so I don't have a lot of experience in mixing.
Of course, If you have feedback on anything else, go ahead, anything is warmly welcomed, but i'm mainly interested in mixing on this.

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EDIT : I did some minor changes on the track, and since there was only 1 comment on it so far I figured out I'd better ninja replace the WIP with the new version

Johnst wrote:@mthrfnk: love the guitar, did you record that yourself? The vocals (both the muted sort of speech and the high pitched sample) work very well. I’m also digging the bassline, it’s fat but doesn’t distract. I think in terms of the arrangement, this sounds done to me. However, now on to the mix (THIS IS ALL JUST MY OPINION, YOU’RE THE SOLE CREATOR AND ARTIST IN THE END, so, yeah...): The drums are simply too quiet and lack vitality in my opinion. I think they could use even just being turned up a little bit. Maybe try using some parallel compression on the kick and snare to beef them up a bit. As well, i would say layer on another snare. I think especially on a tune like this harder hitting drums really help to carry things along.

Thanks man, I agree about the drums - been trying to get them to punch through (they sound fine on the intro/breakdown but as soon as the leads/bass kick in they get drowned). Might try more volume/EQ sidechaining and some parallel comp like you said. As for the guitar, the acoustic is from a guitar modelling synth and the electric is from a Kontakt sample collection. I can never get my notes well enough in time when I try to record my halfassed attempts at playing my guitar haha.

As for your track, I love the little kick-synth stabs on the intro. The basses on the drop are nice too - fuzzy and warm. Not too sure on the dub piano that kick in tbh, I think another synth sound might be a little better (personal oppinion). Drums are punching nicely and the mix is sounding okay. Only one other suggestion - try and stereo spread your mids/high end and add a touch of reverb to get your basses booming more.

FAARE FACED: Wow not my style but its great. It stays interesting most of the way through. Great sounds! Incredibly heavy! Nice work man.

Johnst: Awesome. Old school vibes Love it so far. Nothing to complain about.

mthfrnk: Sounding greatas always. Id like to hear the snare a bit more. But like you said the mix isnt there yet but the tune is really great.

Cubicle: Haha love this one. Vocals are on point! I can't really hear your kick though (if there is one) Other than that great tunes.

Some great tunes im really impressed.

Heres mine. Rough draft of something let me know what you think.

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mthrfnk wrote:Thanks man, I agree about the drums - been trying to get them to punch through (they sound fine on the intro/breakdown but as soon as the leads/bass kick in they get drowned). Might try more volume/EQ sidechaining and some parallel comp like you said. As for the guitar, the acoustic is from a guitar modelling synth and the electric is from a Kontakt sample collection. I can never get my notes well enough in time when I try to record my halfassed attempts at playing my guitar haha.

Yeah, I find probably one of the most frustrating aspects of producing to be getting my drums to stay clean and clear in the mix once everything kicks in. It's fucking tough! Honestly, i'm not really good at it either, so i can really only help you so much. Obviously picking the right samples is a major major aspect of it, but that can be difficult to do once you've already built a track around a beat.

I think when it comes down to it it's never one thing that'll help though. Seems to always be a combo of small things, such as 1) correct samples, 2) parallel compression for fattening, 3) light sidechaining, and also i think 4) scooping out the frequency that the drums peak at on pretty much everything else (did I word that right?).

I don't know if this video is Kosher in terms of doing things the "right" way, but it helped me. Also, it's for ableton, so maybe that doesn't help a ton, but here it is:



[/quote]As for your track, I love the little kick-synth stabs on the intro. The basses on the drop are nice too - fuzzy and warm. Not too sure on the dub piano that kick in tbh, I think another synth sound might be a little better (personal oppinion). Drums are punching nicely and the mix is sounding okay. Only one other suggestion - try and stereo spread your mids/high end and add a touch of reverb to get your basses booming more.[/quote]

Thanks for the feedback! I think you're right about the piano, I've gotten some complaints from other people about it too, so either I need to completely replace it or just change it substantially as you said.

I like the idea of stereopanning the mids/highs, i just get nervous since I use monitors and I often have difficulty telling how far apart something is till i try it on headphones and go, "oh fuck". I think for the basses i'm going to try putting a send reverb unit, thank you for the suggestion.

FAARE FACED wrote:@Johnst "Duped" WIPNot a big fan of the intro nor of the mid range saw wave, it sounds weak. Sound design is really nice on the bass. It sounds far away but still present in a way, and it has a really nice "grain"/noise if you know what i mean. I think the piano is too low or at least not hearable enough.

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, i know what you're saying about the mid range, i might try and layer a sine on it at least to give it some more weight. The bass is actually sampled and processed, but i like how it turned out too. Grain is exactly what I was aiming for . The piano might just go, I'm not sure it's really adding anything...

So feedback for your tune:

Super dope intro. Those horns (?) are evil as shit, i love it haha. oh damn, that bassline is fat as fuck, well done. How'd you get that? The only critique i can really think of is that the kick has too much high end, it sounds very "close" whereas the reverb on everything makes everything sound literally behind the kick.

Johnst wrote: Super dope intro. Those horns (?) are evil as shit, i love it haha. oh damn, that bassline is fat as fuck, well done. How'd you get that? The only critique i can really think of is that the kick has too much high end, it sounds very "close" whereas the reverb on everything makes everything sound literally behind the kick.

Thank you. I'm having trouble with that kick but the thing is, at this point I don't really want to change it because I think i'm too far in the making of the track, and changing the kick would change the whole identity of the track.
I'll try to deal with that "distance" thing.

About the bass :

Well this bassline was one of my first serious attempts at making a reese and the thread about it here on DSF helped alot.
Basically the processing is the following :

- Massive with 2 saw waves detuned by 0.15 via the pitch of each (and not the pitchcontrol in the voicing tab), plus one squarewave in format. One of the 2 saw has a huge phase modulation on it. Brauner tube, dimension expander for the fx. Filters are in series.The first filter is a double notch, and the 2nd one is left untouched for the moment.
- Camel Crushed "Dark Crunch" preset tweaked (filter disabled)
- Ohmicide : Odd Porridge on the low end, Standard Jellyfish on the mid and Standard Squared on the high end
- Wow filter bandreject vowel between Ü and E, envelope follower negatively related, some negative LFO sinewave and also modulated by the stepsequencer. Overdrive is pretty high (30), it helped to fatten the sound imo.
- Then I splitted the freqs using an intrument rack of 3 multiband dynamics.
- Nothing on the low except utility to put it in mono
- Mid : Subtle flanger (20%wet), overdrive around 2.9kHz, huge phaser "talkie" preset tweaked, with a really high wet amount (65%), Saturator (Mid range phattener preset) tweaked (and 50% wet), Camel Crusher "More beef" preset tweaked (filter and compressor disabled), Ferric TDS (nothing on the dynamics knob, high saturation (50),
- High end : D82 sonic maximizer (a bit of "process" knob), Overdrive around 3.1kHz, Saturator "A bit warmer" base preset tweaked with a very small amount of drive, reverb, filter delay

Then, after splitting, on the overall :
- Wow filter bandreject vowel between Ü and E, envelope follower negatively related, some negative LFO sinewave and also modulated by the stepsequencer. Overdrive is pretty high (30) again.
- EQ : removed the freqs where the kick is, same for the snare, some little boost around 900hz, big and large cut around 2k (-8ish dB and Q is 0.71) because so much distortion was just filling everything...
- iZotope Trash for the compression (pretty huge : 2.5 ratio)

Once all the processing was done (without bouncing into audio), I went back to massive, and took care of the 2nd filter. It's a bandbass. The cutoff of the bandbass and the mix between filter 1 and filter 2 are both automated by the same Performer in massive. I drew some modulation, using especially the 3 mutiple peaks on the bottom, at a speed of 1/4.

This method of not bouncing until the end is nice if your computer can support it, because then when it sounds great you can start messing with the filter to make it sound even better. I really dig that method.

I ended up with an 8 bar loop. I bounced into audio. And then I chopped it up to write the bassline of the track.

Schoolwork has kept me from production lately so its been a while since I could get on and check out some tunes, anyways...

@FAARE FACED: track is heavy man, it sounds great just how it is in my headphones as far as the mix is concerned. I personally prefer a little more variety in bass sounds, but that is my preference and not really a critique.
@ Johnst : Bass have pointy spines and are slippery when wet, that's why everyone is always dropping em... Your track's arrangement is on point. You obviously know what you're doing in regards to sound design. There are a few points where it is difficult to hear the kick, but I am listening in headphones so if it is an especially subby kick that might be why. Also there are several wobbles (the one at 47secs stands out) that could use some more eq on the top end as the higher freq at the peak of the wobble seems to be unbalanced with the low end, unless of course it was your intent for it to sound as it does.
@ mthrfnk: As per usual your track sounds pretty sweet man, though you must have expected that someone would ask, where da drops at? In all honesty though track is super chill. The vocals really add a lot of emotion. Only thing I would do is maybe pull the high electric piano down a couple dbs.

Here is my latest WIP, right now I'm still working on arrangement mostly, but I do mix as I go so feedback on the mix would be appreciated as well. Right now the track is just and intro build and drop. Im not sure what direction I want to go with it, and I'm not quite sure that I like the transition from intro to drop, but once I get the song more fleshed out it should make more sense. My friends whom I jam with occasionally are in a jam band, so they heavily influence me with their endless jam sessions. (hence the key) Anyways, I'm going for a up beat feel at the beginning, and then the drop is supposed to come in and ruin everyones day. Let me know what you guys think!
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jclarkiev:

Your snare drum could use some extra top end stuff layered over it it sounds kinda flat. Love that 'live band' influence you can really hear it XD
Nice panning at about 1:00
Great nasty sounds in the drop, love it.
The beat is wicked, but the snare definitely needs some work.

antman

Loving the idea man, there's not much to go on in terms of feedback though. Everything sounds really nice as it is.

FAARE FACED

This is awesome. Nice drop. The mix sounds good. The snare is awesome. The bass sound could use a little more variation. The whole thing is mixed really nicely though, i wouldn't make any changes to that.


This is my WIP. Its a remix i am doing, but i'm thinking of getting rid of it and starting again in a different style because i'm not sure its working. Thought i'd get you're opinion first
thanks for any feedback!

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mthrfnk - man i absolutely love how you worked your synths and i love the synth bass too. the song felt like it was building up and i was waiting for some type of climax. although i think that's because you mentioned the knife party inspiration and you did a great job there, i could hear the knife party inspiration. i think i was waiting for a knife-party style monster changeup. everything you've done so far i really like

1stfiest - love the pads, very lush. i agree with what's said above about making the drums sit in the mix a little more, also maybe a light reverb on the snare?

manudiao - damn you have skills, nothing to add here. excellent work


as for myself, it takes me forever to work on songs that's for sure. usually i like to infuse trance with drum n bass and it usually has an uplifting type of sound but this song is more experimental for me. it starts off melodic but not overly uplifting then in the middle i flip it to an old skool techstep sort-of-feel with some heaviness (working some heavy metallic sounds in addition to the classic "Tighten Up" rides) but not dark, then it flips back. the melodic phases aren't overly uplifting and the techstep phases aren't particularly dark, that's where the song's name comes from. hope you guys like it

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