please feel free to give advice and opinions on this track. I would be happy to learn something new!
J.L.
Hello.
You have some nice elements going in there, but the mix is just not there. It seems you have produced for a while, but hit a limit in what you can do in your mixing because you simply don't have the monitoring to hear certain things.
I'd advise you to upgrade your speakers and you'll hear that certain things like the main lead being too loud, a kick that does not stand out in the mix.
At the very least, do a comparison of your mix with a professional track that sounds similar and try to emulate the mix levels with your own
Richard Butler
Before you spend out on monitors it has to be said a lot of pro's only have cr'ppy monitors, and some guys on forums like this just have headphones, but get good results. As but one example, the main interview in this months FM mag with Eddie Thoneick, reveals he has old very basic Fostex monitors, in fact the very same I have, mmmm.
Grumm ony has entry level Yamahas, yet has had some considerable sucess.
In an ideal world you should have best monitors and listening enviroment possible, but I'd say before that expense, plenty of people have proven they ger great results without decent monitors.
No, for me it starts with sound selection and manipulation and that's where you need to focus IMO, as the sounds your choosing are quite weak and basic - close your eyes and you could be listening to preset sounds at a trade fair.
You need to become much much fussier and more self critical.
The tune itself is ok, but it could use a syringe of groove - again be much more exacting and self critical and truly compare with sucessful pro releases.
It's too easy for us producers to give our own work a more sympathetic ear, and be too in love with our own sounds. Somehow the trick is to turn off the love filter and properly listen to what we do
I'm still learning the ropes though
Vancouver
thanks for replying. I am one of the guys who only use headphones when producing. I bought a high quality pair of sonys. I do notice that my tracks sound much better when I listen in the headphones! Compared to pro releases (and also alot of your guys tracks on here) I notice mine falls short on sound quality. I dont know if its because I use reason or because im clueless on how to create the proper fx or what. I am really keen to learn. and Rich I know exactly what you mean about becoming more self critical. Ive made tracks that I thought were just killer and after going back and listening a month later I realised they were so cheesey and bad. I really wanna learn to create that crisp pro sound. ill keep playin around I guess till i can figure it out.
J.L.
While I agree with Richard about sound selection before equipment, investing some money into producing equipment will always yield benefits. I spent many years producing as a penniless student using only headphones and cheap 20$ speakers, and while I got pretty far with that, I eventually hit a brick wall.
Pick up a used USB midi keyboard for about 50$, a pair of m-audio av20's for about 50$ and you'll start finding yourself to be able to do a lot more.
When you are ready and able to plunk a bit more money down, I recommend something like Native Instrument's Komplete 7 for about $500 which pretty much covers all your synths and sampling needs, and then an audio interface and some medium-end monitors.
Specific things regarding your track.
1) There is this reverb on the bass or kick that is making the entire mix very muddy. Try to avoid reverbs on bassy sounds at all costs, unless it's for a cool temporary effect. Also, there seems to be a tail to your bass which is creating this wall of undesirable bass, making the track very messy in the low end. Try shortening the time of your bass so it's a bit more choppy and punchy.
2) The kick and the bass don't mix well. This is where mixing on headphones is tricky, because it's really hard to hear the low end detail very clearly to notice what's wrong. This usually is a combination of the choice of kick and bass, your EQing and compressing of them, and the dynamics of them.
3) Most of your synths are too loud... Reduce by maybe -6 dB and they are too bland. Try to learn how to arrange your patterns so that it's more groovy. Also cut by maybe -10 dB for all your synths below 500 hz as it's just creating extra muddiness in the mix
4) Your percussion programming is actually decent, and it varies quite a bit.
5) The arrangement of the track is quite stagnant. It just seems to move from point A to A. Try listening to some other tracks to see how the track progresses
6) The chords you picked can make for some interesting melodies, but you need to figure out how a melody that is catchy, memorable, yet not cheesy sounding.
Vancouver
thanks J.L. for such an in depth review. I really appreciate that and its exactly why I wanted to get on this forum and be part of the community. Even tho Ive been playing around making tracks for a few years I know almost nothing of the technical aspect. I am going to go play around with the reverb/bass problem and see what I can do about lowering the volume of the synths without having it too quiet. Can you please give me an example of how to arrange the patterns in a more groovey way. thx again!
Richard Butler
quote:
Originally posted by Vancouver
Can you please give me an example of how to arrange the patterns in a more groovey way. thx again!
I had another couple of listens and found it grew on me and yes I think your percussion shows skill too.
As fro groovey synths I think if you maybe try step away from the natural timing playing style your'e doing and just expoeriment with more unusually placed notes, otherwise there's always this tendancy for us guys to end up sounding like some 80's keyboard guy jamming away in a shopping centre boulevard!
I suppose groove comes from finding unusual timing placements of notes and then making those synths really pump with side chain - where the SC source could be playing an impulse outside of just the usual 4/4.
PS - don't go by my sythns in the break on my new WIP here as I realise the timing and sound is lame, so will be makiing changes!
VERtIKAL
Great track!! but try changing your synths to Nexus2 and boosting them up a bit. It will sound more pro (IMHO).
Vancouver
thanks vertikal! Nexus2 is a plugin right? I only have reason 4, can I use nexus with reason somehow? Im really trying to create fatter , warmer sounds but Im not sure if reason just doesnt sound that way or if I dont know how to work it properly. What do you guys think?
Originally posted by VERtIKAL
yes, nexus2 is a sample based vst synth. I think you can get the sounds you want from it. Check it out here:http://www.vengeance-sound.com/eng/nexus.html
Cheers!
I read comments even like 18 months ago where producers said it was sounding dated and cheesey, but I've never heard this synth myself. Is it good then?
