Hey guys,

I'm looking to get some insight that's more objective than my own and I'd appreciate a few comments...

I have a track that's already finished, but I received some criticism on one of the synths in it. I think it sounds fine, one person hated it, and I haven't been able to get a straight answer from anyone else. I went back in, did some tweaking, and I'm still not sure if the result is better or worse. So I figured, why not ask the experts!

I'm posting two very short (30 seconds) clips, so it won't take much of your time. The only difference between them is the synth in the foreground. I'd be grateful if some of you could give 'em a listen, let me know which version you think is better - or if you don't like either one, how you might go about improving that one instrument.

Original Version - "Dry" with no fancy fx or anything.

New - with decimator, tube, and stereo doubler.

Thanks in advance!

Aaron

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Hey. Trust me when I say the 'New' version is dead . It lacks life, vibrance and most of all, groove. The original has a GREAT funk groove going on and its destroyed (decimated if you will ) with the effects. Stick with the original and you will have a bloody awesome funk house tune going. I will definantly look forward to hearing the full track .

Cheers,
Zac

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Its not the synth thats the problem. Theres something off key going on there. When the note slides at 0.04 I'm pretty sure. Either that or somethng is detuned.

The second one does sound tighter, but like Darksword says it lacks vibrancy. You might be able to bring it back with an exciter, but then its going to sound very processed, especially when you fx it that much and then end up compressing and limiting it come mastering time. I'd try tweaking the original synth patch some more to get the desierd sound. In my experience, if a synth doesnt sound right, no ammount of fx or mastering is going to fix it.

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sound design on the main synth is rather boring aswell...... Compres it a bit add some distortion eq the high freqs a bit add some delay and a bit of reverb.... Everything in small amounts...

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IDarkISwordI: I agree completely about the other version sounding dead, and thank you by the way. The track is already done - I usually don't post them on TA, but I'm more than happy to send it to you (and I'm always looking for a good pair of ears ) - give me a shout on PM or MSN.

I think the stereo doubler was what was killing it, so I took that off.

Axolotyl: There is definitely nothing off key or detuned; it's maybe just the acid slides that sound weird with the musical context missing. But anyway, I took your advice and went back to edit the synth - added LFOs to modulate the filter cutoff and res, and added some automation to the distortion and LFOs. I think it helped a bit...

fr0st: I guess I was a little misleading when I said plain vanilla, there is already tons of compression and reverb on both the synth and the track. I just meant that there were no insert effects on the synth bus. But I did try adding some delay within the synth, and I think it sounds a tiny bit phatter without losing too much edge, so thanks for that.

Once again I appreciate the advice guys. I'll post the updated version after work if anybody wants to comment further...

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My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here

I downloaded both versions, and they're IDENTICAL. What's going on?


Anyway, I would have to agree with the person who said they "hated" a synth in it. The lead stringy/trumpety synth is really retro, and gives it that mario brothers "retro" melodic 8-bit video game feel. What genre would this track fall under?

quote:

Originally posted by Rob I downloaded both versions, and they're IDENTICAL. What's going on?

Same here...I can't tell a difference