Dubstepforum.com

Darj - Great build up to the bass, this si what I'd class as proper Dubstep if I were to describe this to someone new to the genre. Its sounding good in the aspect of being clean and tidy etc I just feel its missing something maybe like an old school movie quote type voice sample could fit in there every 16 or something. This is something I like alot though and something I would listen to on the apple branded phone lol Great work

Sinestepper - You smashed it here mate, I could imagine Shiverz or Lost dropping this perfectly in one of their sets. Only thing id say is the bass may need to come up a tiny bit. I could here it and feel it on my sub but just wanted a bit more, but thats just my personal preferance. You got a definate follow on SC just from this track cant wait to here the finished version, Id even purchase this!!! Great work

Nhaztaljik - Not something id choose to listen to myself but i can aprreciate the production values. sounding crisp nice drums etc id just bring down the mids a tiny bit, only a small touch but i feel it could make a difference. both are good tracks i like the switching up of the mid ranges like when you drop the suttle yoys in the 1st track, it takes a bit of know how to get that right and you sir have, keep up the good work two great tracks here that i can see a deffo demand for when they're done

Here's my wip constructive feedback and critique would be more than welcome, also any feedback given will be replicated its only fair. FYI I am aware Ive used a Massive patch before anyone mentions that, not because im lazy but because i like it, and no its not brutal electro before that puts anyone off

Soundcloud

Skang wrote:@coogcoo bassline is reealll yucky lol, maybe change up the percussion/drums a little bit to keep it interesting

@brisance love the minimal aspect of the tune, and digging the synth sound as well the bass

@suparaiden64 your mids are drowning out your drums, work on your mixdowns and EQing

Here's my new wip

Soundcloud

wow cant beleive I missed this track, all im gunna say is this my my ears very happy hurry up and finish it Not even bum licking or anything like that this is exactly the type of music I love!!! Great stuff!!!

Hi there!
@ Geeza;
Nice intro mate.
Quite a wonky track haha. Not really fan of the pad going on. Heavy sound tho, lower freqs seem to be perfect.

@ Skang;
It's getting a dungeon feel but I know you can do more to the track. The womp seems a bit dry aswell. Maybe some reverb/delay?
Some nicely tuned percussion would make that tune heavy and dark as fuark!

@ Nhaztajik;
Ye sub is present haha. Nice anti-climax intro. Those light high passed drums in the intro are fitting aswell. Your sounds are sitting well in the mix but I feel that you could make the drop 'heavier'.
The second track has a nice intro aswel but again, just goes into the drop without any climax (or that could just be your thing, if so, I apologise! haha)

@ Darj;
Holy fuck man. Those drums are SPOT ON. Perfect in the mix. Big tune man.

@ Danimal
God, I want to make love to that snare all night long.
Kick seems a bit too high in the mix, that could be just me.
I'm dissapointed that you decided to wobble it up with a gnarly bassline.

@ Cheeky;
Nice laidback tune. I would turn those hats down, they're right in the face. But I guess that's a mixing preference.
Drums sound crisp.

@ TheGlacialNetwork;
The sound gets quite repetitive after a while, the pad was really refreshing to the ears.
Impressive drumpattern at the drop but I don't know if I like it or not haha.



EDIT: I've put it on Private so you should click on the link, hope this doesn't bother anyone.
It's something I've been working on for quite some while and I feel stuck. I feel that the drop isn't really connecting with, either the vocal and the intro.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as I give lots of feedback everytime I post in this topic.

Soundcloud

Thank you!

@ cubicle: Nice work thus far. I like the snare and the cymbals. Kick seems like it could be lowered in pitch a bit but overall sits well. I like the sounds and automation, although the actual melody (the notes or the key) sounds a bit cheesey to me IMO. Also the sub is big but sounds a bit muddy to me. It's powerful but lacks clarity. Also the sub is all but lost in on the synth that with the high resonant filter automation.

@ Skang: I like the drums. Like the first sound with heavy feedback @56 but it definitly sounds like it needs to be cleaned up. I like what you're going for but it seems a bit overboard IMO. Like the sub, and the atmosphere. You might introduce a different hat rythym with more of a swung 16ths feel to get a better groove going. The 8th note hats seem to get a bit monotinous after a bit. All in all really nicely done.

@ geeza: I like the snare, although it could be Eq'd a bit, the attack sounds like it's got some harsh highs in it. You might vary the cymbals and their sounds a bit. I would honestly do away with the pad and go for something else. I like the lowpassed reese type sound. All in all it kind of sounds like it doesn't have a destination. It sounds like you have a lot of decent parts in there but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere IMO. Still a great tune though.

@darj: This is a really good track. The only thing that I can see is at parts the sub sounds a bit too rumbly and I would honestly either take out that rim shot or change it up at points with something a bit snappier and with some warmer high end. Definitly an awesome track though!

@nhaztaljik: You have some pretty epic sounding melodies here, particularly in the second track. The sound design on those pads and leads is really awesome (or is the second one an orchestral sample?), but you sort of lose me after the drops tbh. The dubstep synths aren't bad persee, but after those leads and pads, I'm honestly expecting something bigger, and they sound sort of haphazard and messy. The drums sound really nice but after the drop, they sort of get lost under the mix. You definitly need to bring them up or bring everything else down. I like the fills in the first one as well. All and all well done.

Ok so here's my newest WIP that I started yesterday. I've started about 15 tracks in the last month but haven't had the patience to get any further than a loop or 2. The drop in this one is still sort of meh but it's all I've been able to come up with thus far. Would love to hear some opinions as this is the first time I've tried anything in this style.

Soundcloud

Heya guys, I left these on your soundclouds as well (in case you would rather have that heh)

@cmgoodman1226 - Whao, out of this world track man! That build is very epic, and when the that reese like bass starts moving, oh man is it nice! It is (at least from what I usually hear) is not the usual style of drop, but man it is a very nice way to transition into that meaty bass! I think, personally, at the beginning build up section, you snare is a bit overpowering. Not as in its all I can hear, but to me it stands out a bit too much. I would try seeing what it would sound like you quieted the snare in the build up, or put a filter on it, something so it is a bit softer, and then when the reese kicks in bring it back out so its nice and punchy!

Overall sick track, and I really want to hear the finished product of this one!

@Geeza - Interesting! The bass is a bwong bwong which is actually is pretty powerful sounding. Personally I am not a fan of the sounds that play over the bass, those twinkly sounds (I am sorry, I have no idea what to actually call them so I resorting to that word ) I would try something different, to me that sound is just to light and feathery for the bass. I think for the second segment of bass bwongs, you should switch up the notes and pattern used, but not dramatically. Something adding the 7ths, and maybe having the pattern be the opposite to the previous set (instead of going up, down, up - do down, up, down?). Those are just my opinions tho, overall I like the groove of the track and it is turning out fairly nice!

@Cubicle - I love that snare sound, I just thought I would say that. Really the only think that irks me is the bass repetition of the note pattern for every instance of the bass, since it is really the only think carrying a melody. I would change this up to add a bit more variety to movement of the piece. For the intro, maybe you should have, right before the bass segment begins, have a snippet of the lower pitched vocals dry. The piece itself is coming together, and you do have a clear direction. Just incorporating a bit more elements in the melodic structure would really help give it a bit more life.

Ok so now I plug myself. xD

I have been working on this for... 3 or 4 ish months.. Yea... The thing is, I have gone back and forth a lot on this track, and it had so many problems when I started (cause I was relatively new to producing). Anyway, the last instance of it that I had up here, the bass was screwed up. I didn't layer it with a sub, and I tried to compensate that with EQing, which screwed up everything, so again I went back and re did the whole thing (man was i depressed about it heh). BUT now I feel like it is coming together, I have learned a lot from that back and forth path I took with this track, instead of just trashing it. Anyway, I know it is not near perfect, or even mediocre BUT for a beginner I think its respectable? It is still a WIP, so I need to finish it @_@. This is my third track, and for me it has been a real trial and tribulation-esque journey for me. I need to realize I will get better with time...

Some things I can comment on that maybe you can give some advice with
- The piano generator sounds bleh. I have had people tell me it sounds way to fake (someone even said god awful which was.. hurtful xD). I am using FL Keys, so I really do not know what to do to make it sound more natural. Any thoughts?

- The snare is too soft? It doesn't have a huge punch. Compression? Is that the key?

- I know that the piano may be too loud, and the vocals to soft. I have not done any mixing/leveling yet, which I need to >.> soon.

Those are just a few things I can comment on right now. Please, any feedback would be greatly appreciated, as a beginner it really does help.

Soundcloud

-Sorry for the long post... I like to... Talk, I suppose.-

@cmgoodman1226 I really like that. I really enjoy this style. I like the slow attack you use on the fuzzy noise inthe beginning and then how it kicks in at the drop is really nice. I would personally just redo the first drop again with little variations. Coming along really nice.

@mthrfnk I liked that a lot actually. there is some room for improvement. I really liked the intro beat you had. Really made my head bob. I liked how you built your sounds up on top of each other and then dropped them all together. I always like that. For the second song, it’s awesome. I agreed with TheGlacialNetwork when he said at 130 you need a little more variations. But other than that awesome remix.

@Nhaztaljik haha man those are awesome. I liked intro on the second and the drop was pretty damn good. You have skills man. I don’t know much about what could improve.

So i just started this. Im gonna add a lot more i hope. I just found this acapella online and I really liked it.

Soundcloud

@peri
like the intro and yeah try finding a different piano but really nice melody, your bases are overpowering the snare what i like to do is high pass all my midranges at 275 hz , that way my drums have plenty of room and sub can show its powa. over really nice and way better than what i was putting out 3 months in. check out some of halftones stuff if you think you need punchier bare but to me they sound fin, just need to be brought out in the mix

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback on my previous tracks again.

Here's my feedback for everyone else:
@Gaol: For me the intro vocals were too loud and slightly offputting, I dunno they sound a bit off. I like the backgound work though. As for the drop - it's pretty heavy but seems a little too noisy and the synth work needs a little more variation. I'd also punch up your drums - the kick really needs more punch. Maybe try panning your hats around too? Some good ideas, just needs work.
@PeriKardium: I recognise this maybe? Think I reviewed it for you before. Piano work is sweet, I really wish I could write stuff like that, my lack of formal musical knowledge sucks Drop is pretty sweet man. However the main synth may need bringing down really slightly and the vocals needs bringing up. As for your snare, try bringing up the eq at 200Hz and compressing it more, maybe also dip your eq on your synths at 200Hz too? As for a better Piano, there are free alternatives and paid ones - try a few out. Personally I use Orchestral VST. Good work though man.
@cmgoodman1226: Pretty deep intro, I like the sidechained synth a lot. I like the track as a whole, your percussion is good. I don't have much to say other than that. Good job.
@Cubicle: Not sure about the main synth to be honest, seems a little too digital. The vocals aren't my sort of thing but they seem to mix well. Drums seem good too, I'd just work on getting everything to sit together well and cleaning the basses up.
---------------------------------------------------------

A new track from me, 96bpm again. Not sure about some of my piano work, I'm having difficulty composing a decent chord/melody combo.

Soundcloud

Track was mixed on headphones, and very roughly mastered, some things probably sound shitty on other peoples systems.

Any comments, feedback and plays/comments on SoundCloud is really appreciated

Thanks.

@mthrfnk - Hot damn man, that beat is sizzilin'! What I think maybe you could do for the intro beat is maybe throw a filter on it to give the whole drum kit a sort of "old school radio" feel, warm and fuzzy. Once the main meat of the song comes in bring it back to a clean sound.

The piano in the intro is nice, but what I think you might want to consider doing is on top of the notes playing, add another line that is an octave higher that is playing all the chordal notes, so it goes 1-3-5-3. I think that would sound pretty nice, might want to play around with that if you get the chance!

Overall the tune this nice warm, 60s feel to it! The chord progression, to me, is very reminiscent of those old psychedelic 60s British rock tunes!

Whatever synth has that reverse feel to it really adds to the track man, that was a spot on choice!

I like this tune man, it's got a sexy groove and warm feel! Keep it up, brotha!

Hey mthrfnk thanks for the advice. The vocals are definitely WAY to loud. ill fix that. Im thinking about adding a high synth to the drop. something more melodic. I dont know but i want to finish this one.

@mthrfnk The drums have a real nice swing to them, but I'd have to agree with what you wrote yourself the melody is bit boring and the mix is a little rough.

@ Gaol Definitey some potential here. The bass could do with gaps in it, long drawn out notes like that with no gaps just causes fatigue

@ cmgoodman1226 Really like this, mix needs a little work, would like to hear this one finished thou, its bit like a mix of el-b & joker. I like it.

@Cubicle ya got a really nice punchy drum sound, not to keen on the bass thou I just think its a little thin sounding, sounds like its got a lot frequency content around 1 kHz, things get a little muddy behind it, have you tried sidechain the bass with the kick and snare? maybe by 2 or even 3 dB

Heres something I'm working on at the moment. If you like what ya here make sure to start following on soundcloud & hit like on facebook:
http://soundcloud.com/darigan
http://www.facebook.com/dariganmusic
Soundcloud

@skang: Nice grooves and percussion samples! Maybe try adding a segment that has the shaker/tambourine slowed down for a contrast to the feel. Maybe it's just my tastes bit it feels a little dry. In my head I was imagining background noises and slowly moving panned sounds that would build up.

@geeza: The snare was a bit too loud for me in the beginning. Try variation of the timbre of the snare in the intro. Maybe bandpassed. At least somethign so it isn't the same sound throughout the song. The melodies were interesting.

@cubicle: Whoa! Good job the vocals. Aside from the vocals it reminds me of Downlink. Maybe try more variation in the synth sounds. Make them groove and gel more.

@gmgoodman: hahahahahah you use the same melody as my friend's song. Which is a variation of the melody in my sig tune. Your track grooves nicely. I like the ghost snares/rim shots/clicks/knocks whatever. You should try some higher register leads over the main theme for variation. I would suggest listening to some music with musicians improvising solos and you could get some great ideas for licks to go over the main melody. The production was great too, so keep that up!

@perikardium: Nice piano! I hate to be "that guy" but it's a little over apparent that you used massive haha. Try changing up some parameters son! I like that it was melodic even if a bit too "robo"-ey for my tastes. It just seemed really loud and noisy and not unique enough for those kind of sounds. Check out some sound design stuff and keep at it!

@gaol: That synth that holds out that note for so long at the beginning was annoying imo. lol This track was ...interesting haha Kinda weird but it was really different to my ears. I would make the drums sounds change and flow better if I were you. I liked the "idea" of how the song sounds but I don't think the drum sounds were executed for it very well.

Here's something I did recently just to clear my head. It's unorganized because I was just trying out different things so disregard the structure.

Soundcloud

Votard: I see what you're trying to here! To get a spacey dark vibe… But the elements aren't working that well together! Give your percussion work some more space! The synth line is just to prominent
And yes, try a little bit harder on the mix… Because it ain't right on the moment!

Darigan: The intro is a bit to long! Make it a little more interesting (aka play some more with the bells, these are nice!) Groove is tight, sir! Make it a little bit interesting with short pauzes, weird panning, dropping some elements a bar or something!
BUT FUCK IT… Search a label, mate! And send me the parts, would love to do a remix

Spotlight: Groove is nice… I really love these kind op hip hop drums! Synth is in every aspect a bit to much… It's there whole the time, it's not that nice of a sound and your notes choice isn't really that nice!
Those drums need jazz! SAMPLE SOME OLD JAZZ RECORDS, bruv! Listen to nujabes and be inspired!

Here's mine... It's a tad weird, but hey... 3 songs in 1, why not? It took me 2 hours to make it! Hope you like it and got some nice tips!

Soundcloud

@Geeza: i like the dark vibe of the track. it actually kind of reminds me of some old bass mekanik tracks. cool stuff

@Cubicle: to me the drop sounds fine. the only thing that i can really think of is that to me it sounds like the mids and highs of your wobble are hitting some of the same frequencies as the vox which makes them get lost or indistinguishable. on a good note all of your stuff sounds really clean!

@Cmgoodman1226: i actually really love this track, please continue with this one. i'd love to hear it finished! i would suggest bringing down your hats and other various perc, cause to me it sounds like they're kind of taking over the track.

@Gaol: this is deep. i enjoyed it, and i'm only going to suggest a few things on the vocals i feel like they could use a bit of delay to fill up some of that empty space. to do this you should bounce the vox to a new track with the delay on it, and a compressor after the delay. on the compressor switch to or on sidechain depending on what you're using, and use the original vox signal to make the delay duck when the singing is actually happening. keeps the vocals clearer while still filling out some space. oh and your snare could use a little compression just to bring it up in the mix a little. cheers!

@Darigan: loving the d'n'b feel on that track. i have to agree with societyloser1, your intro does feel a bit long. percussion sounds great, and same with the bass. big ups on this tune!

alright... here's my track. started this at 16:00, so it doesn't really have any eqing done. there are also a few things im going to fiddle about with.

Enjoy!

Soundcloud

@The Jaft I really like what you have there. You already know about the eqing so you know your drums are kind of lost after your drops. other than that this is going to be a great track when its done. your drum beat on the transition to your drops are so good.

@societyloser I liked the hat work and the bass arrangments. really good for 2 hours haha. your right it is wierd. the third song, or whatever, was my favorite. bring in those ambient sounds a little more.

@Artie Fufkin I thought the piano was good. I thought it worked well with the melody. This track is awesome. I liked all the little subtle things going on. Your production is top notch as well.

So i used some advice and added variation after the drop. I'm not sure if I like it yet though, I took that single not out from the intro so I dont have anything there yet now, I added some delay which still needs work, and I added a second drop.

Soundcloud

societyloser1 wrote:Darigan: The intro is a bit to long! Make it a little more interesting (aka play some more with the bells, these are nice!)

The Jaft wrote: @Darigan: loving the d'n'b feel on that track. i have to agree with societyloser1, your intro does feel a bit long. percussion sounds great, and same with the bass. big ups on this tune!

Thanks Societyloser 1 & Jaft I'm actually really happy with that advice cos its just reinforced something I felt myself already. I have a few ideas to spruce up the intro & I actually got most the track done now and its just ovfer 5 & 1/2 minutes so if it comes to it I can always get rid of 16 bars at the start. I'll check out both your tracks and give yous a bit of fed back when I get back to the studio, just on the laptop at the moment with no speakers.

And to anyone one that likes the tunes 'start following' on soundcloud, and like the facebook music page, links in sig

@The Jaft - Ya got some nice synth work but its kinda taking over the track the drums and everything else is lost behind it. The drums are bit repetitive and again a bit lost in the mix, I see ya said it needs a bit of eq, you should also try sidechaining compression

@societyloser1 Really cool track, nice groove, love the hihats, its got a nice structure the way the track moves keeps you interested, at the section around 1.50 the low end gets a bit messy you should try clean it up a bit. A few synths over the top of this would be really nice infact listening to it ya could do a really cool acid synth over that & having the same synth sound coming and going through out the piece would help mold the different sections together a bit more.

Thanks for the feedback people like I said I'll replicate any feedback given.


cubicle - Tracks sounding good at the mo, but like you said I think the drop is lacking. Not really a big fan of mc's on dubstep but this kinda works in the sence of your letting the track ride by itself instead of just constant lyrics, when that happens i tend to feel dubstep starts falling into the realms of dark grime, but you did a good job. Only one thing I werent feeling was the mid range at 1.39 onwards thats just a personal music tastse thing though. Great job its sounding good atm!!!

cmgoodman1226 - Great track so far but again as I said to cubicle the drop is lacking as youve said yourself, but with this type of track you need only a sutble drop anyway. I like the subs and the drum beat you have down. if i were to compare this to another artist id say Burial which isnt a bad thing at all The snare is very weak for me though I dont know if that intentional but id layer it with another just to make it stand out a touch more, i feel like you said to me that i dont know where this track is going and although its great atm ,dont get me wrong the production values are great, i just dont feel I could listen to this for say 3.30 to 4.00 mins long without loosing my attention. Im not slating it in anyway that again is a personal music taste issue. Great stuff so far I'll look out for the finished product on SC!!

Pericardium- I think you touched on the probelms with this yourself. As a beginner yourself this is a great effort so far but as youve said the key points for me were vocals only a touch too low, piano over powering and the snare is almost no existant when it drops. To be honest i really enjoyed 00.15 to the drop i was proper into it, then the noise came and the sub. the sub levels are to high imo and the drums really need to be sidechained to actuyally feel them. The arrangement is good, I cant say I like this track though (im still stuck in the 2002-2006 era, im a 'brostep' hater to be fair) but like ive said before to other i can appreciate the production values and can see why alot of people will like this track. great stuff, keep learning new techniques and youll be making pure bangers in no time


again thanks for the feedback everyone to anyone ive missed ill be back in a few days!!!

Heres a track i've been working on for the last couple days since i came on this forum. check it out any critisim is welcome


Soundcloud

Hey everybody! I have this tune that is almost done, I just need to do a switch up on the second drop and add some more sounds but I'm getting stuck on what kind of sounds I should throw in!! Please listen and give me some feedback! It would help me finish this track sooner, and I'm sure all of you agree that not being able to finish a track fucking sucks ass!!!! Let me know what you guys think. Cheers!!!
Soundcloud