Song I've been working on... Thoughts?

[dsobolik]

I'd like a full critique of this song even if it absolutely sucks. I just want to know where I stand. The sounds were all made with Albino and Predator.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

http://www.twistedsessions.com/dsobo - Track is 145BPM

[buzzman]

Hey, i'll try to pinpoint a few things that comes to my mind when listening to your track in progress

 

Nice intro with the stretched voices... the part around 1:30 and a few bars forward makes me think of GMS-T3... Nice! In this part, when the fm melody start and when it stops again, it could be more flowting, and maybe some automation in the background melody... You put on the same sound again at 2:10, it would be cool if you used another sound maybe, or maybe changed the whole part? ... nice little break around 3:00, but you just put the same melody on again, this time a little more distorted... Ahhh... But at 4:00 the melody is much better, but at this point you are a little tired of listening to the same sound(if you change the part i talked about, it would change that IMO )

 

So all in all it needs a little more variation and automation.. I like the bass,kick,hihat composition... You just need to work a little with the soundquality.. But it's got potential!

 

Your track 148 is nice! But what's up with the track names? hehe

[dsobolik]

Hey, i'll try to pinpoint a few things that comes to my mind when listening to your track in progress

 

Nice intro with the stretched voices... the part around 1:30 and a few bars forward makes me think of GMS-T3... Nice! In this part, when the fm melody start and when it stops again, it could be more flowting, and maybe some automation in the background melody... You put on the same sound again at 2:10, it would be cool if you used another sound maybe, or maybe changed the whole part? ... nice little break around 3:00, but you just put the same melody on again, this time a little more distorted... Ahhh... But at 4:00 the melody is much better, but at this point you are a little tired of listening to the same sound(if you change the part i talked about, it would change that IMO )

 

So all in all it needs a little more variation and automation.. I like the bass,kick,hihat composition... You just need to work a little with the soundquality.. But it's got potential!

 

Your track 148 is nice! But what's up with the track names? hehe

Well after always thinking of titles I came to the realization that most of them never really meant anything, just adjective, noun. Nothing really jumped out at me when I wrote any of them. I literally just updated the song. It'd hard for me to do a quality mix considering I'm alternating between very old Altec Lansing computer speakers, ipod headphones, and Bose headphones- maybe that's just an excuse though :b. I've been too poor for monitors. So hopefully once Christmas comes around I'll come out above and will be able to pick some up. I'm going to try and change up a couple of the sections so the one riff isn't repeated too much.

 

Edit: That better? Changed some sounds, did some more variation on the melodies. Would the compression I'm using on the master channel in order to make it sound loud affect the sound quality very negatively?

[frozen dream]

Edit: That better? Changed some sounds, did some more variation on the melodies. Would the compression I'm using on the master channel in order to make it sound loud affect the sound quality very negatively?

yes and no - if you want to go play your tracks live you'd want a pumper boost on the master to make it sound nice at the venue where you're playing, if they would have nice speakers, this wouldn't be necessary, but that won't be the case most likely.

if you want proper mastering done, you need a clear mix without master compression, for that is part of the mastering process,

so any other way you need a clear mix without master compression, it's not recommended to work on music while there is an active compressor on the master, the whole signal gets altered and yada yada ...

so, when you're done making your mix and feel like putting it online or whtvr, you can just put a preliminary comp to punch it up a little (or a lot)

make sure you don't overdo it, good comps are unheared.

[dsobolik]

Thanks for the advice. I don't mix with compressor on. Compression is a tool I'm really a huge beginner at.

[dsobolik]

Alright- I think I cleaned it up somewhat decently(at least better than the previous) in the new version. Is there a special way to EQ around the kick without the kick losing it's "mmph?"

[buzzman]

Alright- I think I cleaned it up somewhat decently(at least better than the previous) in the new version. Is there a special way to EQ around the kick without the kick losing it's "mmph?"

I'll listen to your track tomorrow, going to bed now If you want to eq your kick, try boost it between 5000-8000 hrz, and lowcut it at 40hrz or lower(the lowcut doesn't allways work) And you should do the same lowcut with your bass... it's wierd, but it can really bring out the other frequencies(the important ones )

 

That's at least how i do it Probably theres another way

[dsobolik]

I had heard that before when looking through some tutorials and some people agreed and disagreed with it, sounds like something I should give a try though.

 

EDIT: Tried it on the kick and bass, but the bass peaks higher with the cut for some reason?

[buzzman]

I had heard that before when looking through some tutorials and some people agreed and disagreed with it, sounds like something I should give a try though.

 

EDIT: Tried it on the kick and bass, but the bass peaks higher with the cut for some reason?

Exactly, like you clean out the muddy sound by doing it.. If it's peaking TOO high, try to ajust the synthesizer

[karan129]

Just a honest critique. For my taste the track was a little on the weird side. You could try making adding different rhythms instead of using the same ones throughout. Also, try improve the "flow" of the track with transitions between different patterns. For a start its fine, one can see that you have put effort into making the rhythms and melodies.

[f0rce]

I think this is right, I use to do the EQ´in soooomething like this ! Remember , NEVER rise the curve above normal level. Adjust the sample or the source or whatever instead. Use smooth lowerings, like in the picture here http://data.fuskbugg.se/skalman01/EQKICK.jpg

 

 

This gives me best results, if u rise the curve the sound becomes bad. Anyway , keep trying

[buzzman]

I think this is right, I use to do the EQ´in soooomething like this ! Remember , NEVER rise the curve above normal level. Adjust the sample or the source or whatever instead. Use smooth lowerings, like in the picture here http://data.fuskbugg.se/skalman01/EQKICK.jpg

 

 

This gives me best results, if u rise the curve the sound becomes bad. Anyway , keep trying

Pretty much how i do it myself Allthough the lowering at 250hz i would place a little higher (maybe 500-600hz) but i guess that depends on how you program your syntheziser

[f0rce]

Pretty much how i do it myself Allthough the lowering at 250hz i would place a little higher (maybe 500-600hz) but i guess that depends on how you program your syntheziser

Yeah , I think it varies from "case" to "case" .. And from music genres also . hehe

 

Havent tried the 500-600 hz dip , will do ! =)

[qa2pir]

I think this is right, I use to do the EQ´in soooomething like this ! Remember , NEVER rise the curve above normal level. Adjust the sample or the source or whatever instead. Use smooth lowerings, like in the picture here http://data.fuskbugg.se/skalman01/EQKICK.jpg

 

 

This gives me best results, if u rise the curve the sound becomes bad. Anyway , keep trying

Why would the sound become "bad" if you "rise the curve"?

[f0rce]

Have you ever heard any improvements while doing this ? .. I dont hear it , sounds worse if I try. And the sound becomes unnatural, but.... Maybe you dont hear it

[qa2pir]

Have you ever heard any improvements while doing this ? .. I dont hear it , sounds worse if I try. And the sound becomes unnatural, but.... Maybe you dont hear it

I've heard so many people say this, but no motivation.

 

Seems like hearsay to me.

 

No need to get dogmatic, IMO.

[dsobolik]

If someone could be kind enough to critique...

 

http://twistedsessions.com/artists/1087/

 

Would these songs be an improvement mixing wise?

 

What characteristics do you look for in a good mix?

 

In the song Acid Frenzy I tried to make a small cut to let the high frequencies of the kick and bass go through. I don't know how effective I can be mixing though, as I have to alternate between iPod headphones, my laptops garbage speaker(s), and other random garbage computer speakers.

 

The song doesn't jump over 0db ever, but should I just be putting a limiter on it?

 

A lot of the information I come across with production has been confusing me a lot lately, hard to get a straight answer, differences in genre production maybe? That, or I probably just can't mix well yet.