First, the reverse crash cymbals throughout the track are very, very harsh. Way too loud. They hurt my ears.

The kick has a good bit of low end (maybe a little too much), but it lacks a good "click" -- it is lacking in mids and highs. The same counts for the bassline. That's probably the main reason that this song does not have a lot of "drive": the kick and bass sounds along with some percussion are mainly responsible for the "drive" in a trance song -- you can get them much more powerful by choosing kick and bass sounds that have a lot of punch, and in technical terms, that means some mids and highs, even in the kick and bass.

I recommend that you spend time making a few loops with only kick, bass, and percussion, and try to get those really interesting. A good kick and bass should not be boring.

As further tips, try many different kicks, and very many different bass sounds and rhythms/arpeggio patterns. EQ is also very important for bass and can make a world of difference, so try tweaking that as well. Experiment, experiment, experiment, and you will get better.

Also, never forget to listen as much as possible to tracks you like -- try to find out how certain elements of those tracks were made. This can be extremely inspiring.

quote:

Originally posted by ftbmusic First, the reverse crash cymbals throughout the track are very, very harsh. Way too loud. They hurt my ears. The kick has a good bit of low end (maybe a little too much), but it lacks a good "click" -- it is lacking in mids and highs. The same counts for the bassline. That's probably the main reason that this song does not have a lot of "drive": the kick and bass sounds along with some percussion are mainly responsible for the "drive" in a trance song -- you can get them much more powerful by choosing kick and bass sounds that have a lot of punch, and in technical terms, that means some mids and highs, even in the kick and bass. I recommend that you spend time making a few loops with only kick, bass, and percussion, and try to get those really interesting. A good kick and bass should not be boring. As further tips, try many different kicks, and very many different bass sounds and rhythms/arpeggio patterns. EQ is also very important for bass and can make a world of difference, so try tweaking that as well. Experiment, experiment, experiment, and you will get better. Also, never forget to listen as much as possible to tracks you like -- try to find out how certain elements of those tracks were made. This can be extremely inspiring.

I agree with this. Also the song sounds over compressed, the distortion from it is very obvious at some points

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quote:

Originally posted by ftbmusic First, the reverse crash cymbals throughout the track are very, very harsh. Way too loud. They hurt my ears. The kick has a good bit of low end (maybe a little too much), but it lacks a good "click" -- it is lacking in mids and highs. The same counts for the bassline. That's probably the main reason that this song does not have a lot of "drive": the kick and bass sounds along with some percussion are mainly responsible for the "drive" in a trance song -- you can get them much more powerful by choosing kick and bass sounds that have a lot of punch, and in technical terms, that means some mids and highs, even in the kick and bass. I recommend that you spend time making a few loops with only kick, bass, and percussion, and try to get those really interesting. A good kick and bass should not be boring. As further tips, try many different kicks, and very many different bass sounds and rhythms/arpeggio patterns. EQ is also very important for bass and can make a world of difference, so try tweaking that as well. Experiment, experiment, experiment, and you will get better. Also, never forget to listen as much as possible to tracks you like -- try to find out how certain elements of those tracks were made. This can be extremely inspiring.

Thank you for your feedback.

Do you have any tips on improving the mix. Mixing is giving me a lot of trouble and i just can't seem to get it right.