I love prog breaks and have wanted to make a breaks track for a while. This is a little all over the place, it was recorded yesterday and I've got about 4 hours of work on it so far. Very basic breakbeat track I made yesterday while enjoying this lovely overcast weather :) Not a real solid overall hook for this so to speak I recorded most of the melody in 1 take just closed my eyes leaned back and made music with no intention of direction.
the section after the first sweep at 30 seconds could use some sort of rhythmic foundation to add to the snare. You can highpass the beat if you don't want the main beat to drop. It sounds even more weird when the bass comes in.
Those snare rolls are a little too dated. Investigate ways to manipulate with granular synthesis or something more current. The actual beat is weird for break beat. Unlike 4 on the floor edm, the kick and the snare have about the same weight. Your kick is definitely overpowering the snare. The snare is also rather trance ish and over compressed. The kick is also very 909 and not typical of break beats that usually double say that kick with a real kick.
As far as the actual composition, I find you just have that one synth that seems to daddle but not really go anywhere. The actual dynamic of the track is very monotone. Which begs the question why the drum rolls if you aren't going to anything different ?
I think that you need to really get the kick snare and bass grooving before you do anything else.
kevin shawn
quote:
Originally posted by Mad for Brad
the section after the first sweep at 30 seconds could use some sort of rhythmic foundation to add to the snare. You can highpass the beat if you don't want the main beat to drop. It sounds even more weird when the bass comes in.
Those snare rolls are a little too dated. Investigate ways to manipulate with granular synthesis or something more current. The actual beat is weird for break beat. Unlike 4 on the floor edm, the kick and the snare have about the same weight. Your kick is definitely overpowering the snare. The snare is also rather trance ish and over compressed. The kick is also very 909 and not typical of break beats that usually double say that kick with a real kick.
As far as the actual composition, I find you just have that one synth that seems to daddle but not really go anywhere. The actual dynamic of the track is very monotone. Which begs the question why the drum rolls if you aren't going to anything different ?
I think that you need to really get the kick snare and bass grooving before you do anything else.
Thanks for the review very in depth :)
1 - I've never done an "intro mix" and it's pretty dry. It does need something to tap your foot to I agree.
2 - Snare roll is uber dated I'm still looking for what fits me best as far as "transitions" or "tempo changes" go...(Snare roll, white noise, reversed stabs/crashes, etc...) This is a big struggle for me I'm open to any and all suggestions.
3 - This kick is the same I use for most of my productions that's a bad habit again I agree 100% very 909 sounding it should be more 808 and fat with a little release. Needs more boom :) That snare is random I tend to like more clean percussion sounds. Breaks should be a little ghetto and a little dirty.
4 - Composition is lacking because I don't have a good form as the topic going on right now in the production studio suggests :)
I'm still learning any suggestions PLEASE shoot them my way I want to learn as much as possible.
Richard Butler
It's only in it's infancy so it's hard to give too much input, but what I do like a lot is the very rich bass - you can use that as a starting point I think as it's a great sound.
darthseph
It's great to see a waveform that isn't drowned in sound. =0)
I also enjoy the feeling in the track right now. I can't really say much more though since its still a big WIP.
MSZ
sounds like you had fun making this one. not sure what to say, im not going to pick at it because its technically pretty good. keep having fun!
Owsey2008
Since it's juvenile I probably won't have much to say, but I'll try nonetheless.
Those stab plucked synths are really nice! I especially enjoy when a little variation comes in around 2.00. The main lead is a little too prominent IMO, but it's not really a bad sound.
I found the drums very uninteresting and simple. If it were my tune I'd definitely try to improve upon the area.
Nice stuff so far, Kevin. Are you going to develop it further?
EddieZilker
I like it as a proof of concept. Lots of original ideas. It's an excellent foundation for a song which could progress a little more. Definitely a creative use of ducking and the essentials of breakbeat are there. I do hope you continue working on it.
I'm not keen on the snare attack builds, in their current form, but unlike those who dismiss them for being cliche' - that occurrence according to a 2002 Remix Magazine article - I think it needs a lot more finesse. In fact I think they became cliche' because they're kind of labor intensive and difficult to pull off well and not because they inherently suck that badly as a track element. A lot of producers botch them and it's easier to crescendo with effects and that ubiquitous white noise sweep (another concept which isn't given as much effort as it deserves; present company excluded, of course).
