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-- [ Uplifting Trancestep (DnB) ] Marcus Lira - Halisen Mode

[ Uplifting Trancestep (DnB) ] Marcus Lira - Halisen Mode

After years experimenting with bizarre combinations and inhuman tempos, I decided to give it a break and go back to something I used to produce back in the day: trancestep. It's been a while since I last posted something here but I believe this tune is technically better than anything else I've ever shown (I hope so!).

This is, in summary, a 175-BPM fast epic trance tune with a growling bass line. Hopefully, this tune sounds less experimental (and more appealing to trance music enthusiasts) than the stuff churned out in the beginning of the previous decade during the "trance'n'bass" era. This tune has got lots of different melodies flowing at the same time over an aggressive bass line and a steady jungle beat.

Like some sort of baroque neurofunk, this is the perfect background music for bonfires, exorcisms, and romantic first dates. Enjoy :)

Halisen Mode (Demo Version) by Marcus Lira

All criticism is welcome.

not bad man. i didn't know you produced either.. it's pretty refreshing to hear something other than 4 on the floor edm in the prod pro forum

is the percussion a sample loop? ran through a slicer/sampler of some sort? as i listened, i really wished the kick had a little more punch in it..

overall good stuff though. not my style, but not bad at all man.

Mixing needs work - the bass is so overwhelming (on headphones at least) it drowns out most of the percs and the beat is practically nonexistent. There's also some bad kind of distortion here and there.

Chord progression and melodies are nice, though - when you can hear them from under the bass

Thanks Nate and Nick, I appreciate your comments

I tried to weaken the bass line a little bit (there were two synths doing that job, and I'm now just using one) and tweaked a bit with the volume - it should be easier on the ear now, and I hope it doesn't drown anything out. As an experiment, I tried to pitch the music up 3 semitones, and I think that may affect the bass somehow (though I did it from randomness' sake).

And the beat is indeed a sliced drum loop, Nate. I added a synthetic bass drum to strengthen the kick and I hope it makes the beat sound more energetic.

I'm going to upload the improved version in a few minutes.

sounds like a great fun dnb track. too bad its not mixed that well. i would suggest starting with the kickdrum out.

quote:

Originally posted by msz sounds like a great fun dnb track. too bad its not mixed that well. i would suggest starting with the kickdrum out.

Thanks but, what do you mean by "starting with the kickdrum out"?

presence and clarity starting from the kickdrum, on my speakers i could barely hear the kick. on my headphones i could hear it a lot more, however it was still muffled. (im talking about when the mix is filled up, not when there is few elements)

you quoted me wrong btw. would just think in a drum and bass track, the drums would be very important.

sweet track though imo.

quote:

Originally posted by msz presence and clarity starting from the kickdrum, on my speakers i could barely hear the kick. on my headphones i could hear it a lot more, however it was still muffled. (im talking about when the mix is filled up, not when there is few elements) you quoted me wrong btw. would just think in a drum and bass track, the drums would be very important. sweet track though imo.

Oh, gotcha! Thanks, I'm working on that right now

ya im trying to mix a jungle track to see if i could practice what i preach. im finding it quite difficult, the bass getting muddy, not really having any problems with the kick though.

Tune updated: now with a more lively beat and in Eb minor

quote:

Originally posted by msz ya im trying to mix a jungle track to see if i could practice what i preach. im finding it quite difficult, the bass getting muddy, not really having any problems with the kick though.

Yeah, this is by no means easy. If I don't get this right until the end of the week, I'll look for a more specific tutorial on how to master and eq fluffy drum'n'bass tracks

It seems good, but I cannot hear the song because of the mixing.

I think maybe you should turn down the gain on the master compressor. I see and hear a huge block. I think you are going for loud, which I think is good for dance music, but I don't really hear dynamics in the track. I think I hear subtle distortion in the breaks too.

Your song is very busy, and the thing is I don't even know how to solve the problems you have, because I often come up with the same problems you have in my trance productions. I also hear the bass and kick problems in your song.

I say, give your ears a break for a day or two, and work on the mixing after taking that break. You'll mix better with fresh ears imo.

quote:

Originally posted by -FSP- It seems good, but I cannot hear the song because of the mixing. I think maybe you should turn down the gain on the master compressor. I see and hear a huge block. I think you are going for loud, which I think is good for dance music, but I don't really hear dynamics in the track. I think I hear subtle distortion in the breaks too. Your song is very busy, and the thing is I don't even know how to solve the problems you have, because I often come up with the same problems you have in my trance productions. I also hear the bass and kick problems in your song. I say, give your ears a break for a day or two, and work on the mixing after taking that break. You'll mix better with fresh ears imo.

I think you hit the nail on the head - after following the advice given thus far, I think the quality improved quite a lot, but turning down the gain made the sound even clearer now.

I'm pulling an all-nighter in order to write my dissertation, so I'll just leave the computer working on it in the background. I'll give it a couple of tries and then I'll take the break you recommended. I hope I can make the tune sound better until then

Thanks!

I reckon it sounds much better now: the bass is softer, the bass drum is harder, and now that the compression levels aren't throwing the low frequencies against everything else, I think you can actually hear the melody throughout the track

What do you lot think?

Well, I liked it before.. and I still like it lol.

See, unlike some people, I can appreciate both fast and slow music

Yes, it's MUCH clearer and crisper now. Good stuff man! I can actually appreciate the pads now because I don't hear distortion or too much compression.

this inspires me to want to make some trancestep as well. I like how the bass works with the trancey sounds. Nice job Marcus!

Actually...

If you can put some sort of a remix pack together I'd have some neat ideas for this...

Thanks everyone

Just noticed something wrong with the tune: when I pitched the tune up from Cm to Ebm, I forgot to change the auxiliary bass line (which I thought I had deleted) and in some sound systems the main bass line sounds weird. I'm working on that as I type.

And I'd love to see what you can do to this tune, Nik. What exactly do you need in the remix pack?

quote:

Originally posted by Lira And I'd love to see what you can do to this tune, Nik. What exactly do you need in the remix pack?

I can work with the midi files of the synths/pads/bass alone but if you can provide audio tracks of them as well that'd be great.

Sure thing, Dr. Nik, you shall have them all by the morning

I'm off to school now. Thanks everyone for your attention and criticism. And, Lews, it's not my fault I've got ADHD

I remember the last one of these!
liking this man, really good!

You have nice melodies going on and some pretty cool choice of sounds. The bass itself is nice, but it's way too loud. I can hardly hear the drums! It wouldn't hurt to add a bit of variation near the end.

So yeah, I'd bring the drums out a bit more, especially the kick. Cool ideas altogether

Is it still loud? Hmm... gotta work a bit more on that then. And by variation, you mean in the melody? Or in the drums?

Thanks for your input

Ah man, I was waiting for more development on your track (my idea is simply if you don't have anything positive to say than better don't say it), and wanted to see if your improvement/rework/adjustment will produce better quality track/sound. I would agree with all of those above comment about your bass line was killing your other sound/melody and needed some rework. So finally after some adjustment to this bass (need some more for my ear) I can start to really appreciate this rhythm and nice melody you have going on in your track. It is a solid idea with nice base melody for potentially awesome track and all of those steps you are taking to improve this quality are correct IMO.

I'm very impress with the way you are taking this criticism and work with all of those suggestion and opinions to get this quality as good as possible, and your dedication is simply fantastic.

So stay on this path, work with your track and the glory will come my friend.

Cheers

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