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E-Core Junior Member
United Kingdom
89 posts Joined: Apr, 2009
Posted - 2009/10/03 : 19:39:21
Hi people,
I've just been playing with this track I've been working on,
Can somebody give me some tips and advice on what I'm doing right and what I should change?
acidfluxxbass Advanced Member
United Kingdom
5,000 posts Joined: Apr, 2008
Posted - 2009/10/04 : 21:16:24
quote:Originally posted by E-Core:
Put it on youtube..
Anyone?
Right having a good listen. Sounds nice. Here's what I'm picking on:
- String introduction should be more gradual, since it kinda takes over the kick and bass.
- When the kick and bass stop, the string level jumps up.
- Snare roll was very loud compared to the other layers.
- Melody saws were very mellow and shone only when the kick was not present. I believe thats a limiting issue..
- The saw loop got boring for me within the first few bars, the loop is almost consistent through the track apart from the melody.. All i can advise here is to use some creativity, some different sounds and experiment.
All-in-all, a solid track, only a few mix-down and mastering issues affected the sound quality in the end.
Meathead Advanced Member
United Kingdom
4,217 posts Joined: Sep, 2006
Posted - 2009/10/04 : 21:30:02
quote:Originally posted by acidfluxxbass:
Right having a good listen. Sounds nice. Here's what I'm picking on:
- String introduction should be more gradual, since it kinda takes over the kick and bass.
- When the kick and bass stop, the string level jumps up.
- Snare roll was very loud compared to the other layers.
- Melody saws were very mellow and shone only when the kick was not present. I believe thats a limiting issue..
- The saw loop got boring for me within the first few bars, the loop is almost consistent through the track apart from the melody.. All i can advise here is to use some creativity, some different sounds and experiment.
All-in-all, a solid track, only a few mix-down and mastering issues affected the sound quality in the end.
Agreed with all of this.
I'm guessing you've had a go at mastering/compressing this track yeah? Sounds like you've over done it a touch. When the kick and bass stop for the breakdown the strings are way too loud and then again when the kick and bass come back the strings drop.
The saw loop needs to be dropped at some point. It's there almost all the time and does nothing. Whilst it is there change it up a bit; play with filters, panning, bitcrushing and other FX. Do something with it.
When the pads/strings come in and the kick and bass are still playing you may want to filter out their (pads/strings) low end. Sounds quite muddy and could be another contributer in the mastering issue.
Overall, while it's an ok track, it just repeats itself over again, doesn't do much and gets quite boring. Try changing up the structure adding in a completely different middle section or something, or make the track a bit shorter.
It's very mellow and not very dancefloor friendly, which isn't strictly a bad thing as it could work well as a freeform or breakbeat track but, it needs something doing with it to keep people interested.
The production isn't terrible. Other than a few levels and mastering issues, it's ok. I do quite like the bass, sounds perfect for a Freeformy tune ;).
__________________________________
"Music creates order out of chaos; for rhythm imposes unanimity upon the divergent, melody imposes continuity upon the disjointed, and harmony imposes compatibility upon the incongruous." -Sir Yehudi Menuhin
Mortis Advanced Member
United Kingdom
7,493 posts Joined: May, 2004
341 hardcore releases
Posted - 2009/10/04 : 22:23:36
quote:Originally posted by Meathead:
quote:Originally posted by acidfluxxbass:
Right having a good listen. Sounds nice. Here's what I'm picking on:
- String introduction should be more gradual, since it kinda takes over the kick and bass.
- When the kick and bass stop, the string level jumps up.
- Snare roll was very loud compared to the other layers.
- Melody saws were very mellow and shone only when the kick was not present. I believe thats a limiting issue..
- The saw loop got boring for me within the first few bars, the loop is almost consistent through the track apart from the melody.. All i can advise here is to use some creativity, some different sounds and experiment.
All-in-all, a solid track, only a few mix-down and mastering issues affected the sound quality in the end.
Agreed with all of this.
I'm guessing you've had a go at mastering/compressing this track yeah? Sounds like you've over done it a touch. When the kick and bass stop for the breakdown the strings are way too loud and then again when the kick and bass come back the strings drop.
The saw loop needs to be dropped at some point. It's there almost all the time and does nothing. Whilst it is there change it up a bit; play with filters, panning, bitcrushing and other FX. Do something with it.
When the pads/strings come in and the kick and bass are still playing you may want to filter out their (pads/strings) low end. Sounds quite muddy and could be another contributer in the mastering issue.
Overall, while it's an ok track, it just repeats itself over again, doesn't do much and gets quite boring. Try changing up the structure adding in a completely different middle section or something, or make the track a bit shorter.
It's very mellow and not very dancefloor friendly, which isn't strictly a bad thing as it could work well as a freeform or breakbeat track but, it needs something doing with it to keep people interested.
The production isn't terrible. Other than a few levels and mastering issues, it's ok. I do quite like the bass, sounds perfect for a Freeformy tune ;).
The only other things I would add to this is the bass is too muddy, needs to be a bit sharper. Maybe try shortening the notes to give it some separation from the rest of the track (if it where me I'd change the whole patch). Try getting a sub underneath it too to give it a bit more drive too. Clap is a bit over powering and the snare roll also phases with the kick. Defiantly need to get those levels sorted and I agree about taking the low end off the strings, they are really meant to sound nice and rich but these sound a bit grubby. When the strings, bass, saw and snare are all playing the whole track turns into a frequency phasing nightmare.
Not a bad tune but it does need a lot of work on the mixdown.
__________________________________
"Maybe in a day and age in which even our rappers can't get to the end of a verse without having an existential crisis, we should find a place for happy hardcore"
E-Core Junior Member
United Kingdom
89 posts Joined: Apr, 2009
Posted - 2009/10/05 : 07:06:34
Thanks for the comments it is much appreciated, I will do my best to rectify the things that are wrong. And I think I need to learn to master properly, I've tried doing it a bit myself but this is the first time I've tried so obviously it isn't the best.
And CDJay I know I was quite proud when i made that bass lol :P
If anyone would like that as a sample or as V-Station Presets (it's 2 different basses layered) then let me know :)
Meathead Advanced Member
United Kingdom
4,217 posts Joined: Sep, 2006
Posted - 2009/10/05 : 11:13:23
quote:Originally posted by E-Core:
Thanks for the comments it is much appreciated, I will do my best to rectify the things that are wrong. And I think I need to learn to master properly, I've tried doing it a bit myself but this is the first time I've tried so obviously it isn't the best.
And CDJay I know I was quite proud when i made that bass lol :P
If anyone would like that as a sample or as V-Station Presets (it's 2 different basses layered) then let me know :)
Hehe i feel the avatars may be causing confusion ;)
__________________________________
"Music creates order out of chaos; for rhythm imposes unanimity upon the divergent, melody imposes continuity upon the disjointed, and harmony imposes compatibility upon the incongruous." -Sir Yehudi Menuhin
acidfluxxbass Advanced Member
United Kingdom
5,000 posts Joined: Apr, 2008
Posted - 2009/10/05 : 11:35:27
quote:Originally posted by Meathead:
quote:Originally posted by E-Core:
Thanks for the comments it is much appreciated, I will do my best to rectify the things that are wrong. And I think I need to learn to master properly, I've tried doing it a bit myself but this is the first time I've tried so obviously it isn't the best.
And CDJay I know I was quite proud when i made that bass lol :P
If anyone would like that as a sample or as V-Station Presets (it's 2 different basses layered) then let me know :)
Hehe i feel the avatars may be causing confusion ;)
everyones sharing the hu album cover :D
i had my own for a while, i even designed a hu5 version!
E-Core Junior Member
United Kingdom
89 posts Joined: Apr, 2009
Posted - 2009/10/05 : 18:53:01
quote:Originally posted by Meathead:
quote:Originally posted by E-Core:
Thanks for the comments it is much appreciated, I will do my best to rectify the things that are wrong. And I think I need to learn to master properly, I've tried doing it a bit myself but this is the first time I've tried so obviously it isn't the best.
And CDJay I know I was quite proud when i made that bass lol :P
If anyone would like that as a sample or as V-Station Presets (it's 2 different basses layered) then let me know :)
Hehe i feel the avatars may be causing confusion ;)
My god that's exactly why I thought you were CDJay! Ha ha
Sorry Meathead, but thanks for the feedback anyway :)
Mortis Advanced Member
United Kingdom
7,493 posts Joined: May, 2004
341 hardcore releases
Posted - 2009/10/05 : 19:38:11
I've been thinking about this track. E-Core, you said you had been trying to experiment with mastering on this track? Obviously if the mastering isn't up to scratch then the mixdown wouldn't sound as good as it might be unmastered.
Try putting up an unmastered version so people can hear the original, it might not have as many issues as the one you've put up. If you're putting up a poor quality copy then surely the feedback would be based on that copy and not the original? You might find some of the things people have picked up on are not actually a fault with the track but a fault with the mastering.
__________________________________
"Maybe in a day and age in which even our rappers can't get to the end of a verse without having an existential crisis, we should find a place for happy hardcore"
Meathead Advanced Member
United Kingdom
4,217 posts Joined: Sep, 2006
Posted - 2009/10/05 : 19:51:21
^^^Didn't think of that, very wise idea. Throw an unmastered copy up E-core :)
__________________________________
"Music creates order out of chaos; for rhythm imposes unanimity upon the divergent, melody imposes continuity upon the disjointed, and harmony imposes compatibility upon the incongruous." -Sir Yehudi Menuhin
That's so much better. Hardly any of the things people picked up on are present in this version.
__________________________________
"Maybe in a day and age in which even our rappers can't get to the end of a verse without having an existential crisis, we should find a place for happy hardcore"
Meathead Advanced Member
United Kingdom
4,217 posts Joined: Sep, 2006
Posted - 2009/10/06 : 23:09:30
^^^What Mortis said. All of the mastering issues seem to have gone. Now it's just a case of adjusting some levels. The bass for example seems a touch loud, but not that much. Just play about with some levels, again, really not that much though.
When you say...
quote:Originally posted by E-Core:
limiters switched off :)
What exactly do you mean? What was you using to master the track beforehand?
__________________________________
"Music creates order out of chaos; for rhythm imposes unanimity upon the divergent, melody imposes continuity upon the disjointed, and harmony imposes compatibility upon the incongruous." -Sir Yehudi Menuhin
E-Core Junior Member
United Kingdom
89 posts Joined: Apr, 2009
Posted - 2009/10/07 : 09:21:40
quote:Originally posted by Meathead:
What exactly do you mean? What was you using to master the track beforehand?
Well, not so much the mastering I tried, but I use fruity loops and their is an effect called Fruity Limiter' .. I switched it off and everything seemed to sound more clearer, the first version has it on and the second one i posted up has it switched off.
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Posted - 2009/10/03 : 19:39:21
Posted - 2009/10/05 : 22:09:30
