Apr 12, 2009 11:50 am Love Trip-Hop here, so this sounds interesting.
I'll be giving it a listen later this afternoon.
Hi! Constructive Criticism Please ;)
Posted on Apr 12, 2009 10:09 am
burningcircle
Member Since: Nov 19, 2008
I'm a musician who produces a kind of triphop - electronica style, and I was wondering if I could gather some feedback and criticism on my works! Specially on the technical side ;D
I have a mixtape on the web which covers some of the songs I have been doing. It's only 3 minutes long and gives you a taste of what it's about, it can be found on endedge.com/mixtape.mp3
To be honest I'm not sure what genre these songs would fall under, like a more aggressive kind of Moby I guess. That's something I could use help with too!
Full songs are available on request. All feedback welcome! Thnx!
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Apr 12, 2009 11:50 am Love Trip-Hop here, so this sounds interesting.
I'll be giving it a listen later this afternoon.
Apr 12, 2009 06:53 pm Indeed there were some harder edge sounding bits in there. I will say from the small snippets that I heard it all sounds pretty well done. Although it is extremely difficult to judge a mix from a 20 second snippet.
The one critical thing I did find though is the difference in level from piece to piece. Not all but some pieces seemed a wee bit too quiet level wise and did not rise to the volume level of some of the others. One thing when doing a mix and hoping it gets DJ time in mixes is to insure that the level is consistent from song to song.
I would like to hear a couple of those entire pieces for sure. Might be able to give a better critique as a longer piece will allow more time to judge overall mix and how sounds are combined.
You can also upload some music here in your profile if you wish. Just go to the My Account tab and use the Manage my songs link and your there.
Otherwise, from what I heard it is music I would listen to hear a lot.
Apr 13, 2009 05:14 pm Hello Noize2u,
Thank you very much for kindly taking the time to listen to my mix. I did what you suggested an uploaded a song that is better mixed on my profile.
I've been in a real jam with my mixdowns for a long time, and I can't work out how to increase the volume without horrendously damaging the quality - for instance amplifying or normalising it in programs such as cool edit or audacity. What I've done with this track is used VST compressors and an amplication plugin, but it still doesn't sound right to me.
VSTs are my bread and butter, I am familar with them more than anything; are there any particular ones that are good for mastering? I've tried the Aradaz Maximizer for instance. Are there any which you would recommend?
Apr 13, 2009 09:08 pm I'll take a listen tomorrow as I'm a bit jammed right now for time. And I'll give you a rundown on how I get the volume up on my mixes.
I as well depend on the VSTi's for most of my mixes. Synthes were my mainstay for a long time.
Apr 14, 2009 06:31 pm OK, had a chance to listen to the full piece this afternoon.
First off I gotta say that piece is good. I was hard pressed to find anything really out of sorts with it really. Not to say it can't be improved, as there are very minor things that might change it for the better.
I'll ask a couple things first off though.
Did you use an over all reverb, or separate reverbs on different instrument tracks?
Are you running the tracks through a master stereo buss with any effects on that at all?
My only concern really is there seems to be a few places were the lower frequencies mesh a bit. Now it is nothing huge at all. I ask about the reverb as that may be part of what is happening.
Also, how are you monitoring when you mix down, headphones, studio monitor's??
And I see you list a GTG synth, the K1. Are you using that as the bass synth on this mix? Mik makes some killer synthes for sure.
On a side note, the piece of music does seem to combine some different genre's indeed. I almost felt a little Dub going on every once in awhile.
Apr 15, 2009 11:09 am Hey thanks very much for your comments. I know it needs some minor tweaking and improvement, and I will plan to do this by concentrating on effects and adding or tweaking percussion. This is the fun part though, not the hard part!
I used seperate reverbs on the tracks; for instance I put a reverb on the Drumatic, but did not on Addictive Drums and tweaked the inbuilt settings instead. I will use seperate plugins such as the delay on the sample etc. On the master bus, I used UpStereo and a simple compressor, to boost the volume.
Now this gets to what I was talking about; I see exactly what you mean about the bass and kicks being kind of confused. I have tried very hard to make the kick stand out but this often interferes with the bass; is the 'right' method to adjust and tone down the lower frequencies off all instruments instead of the bass synth, and give the kick more treble? To monitor I use headphones, I tend to keep speakers to a minimum.
Also about the K1 - yes I'm loving the sub bass sound, I am using it more and more now, even to compliment some songs that might already have a bass synth. It goes well with hihats and snares like no other and I love it for its breezy quality and easy of use, for instance it doesn't leap up and down between octaves. Well spotted ;)
I mean, to talk in human terms - the problem is always with the bass. I want to make the kick stand out, and to make the bass a formidable strength against the synths I use, but I hate the way that always seems to interfere by bringing the volume of the overall mixdown down to a whisper and into a meshed-up mess. I look at the waveforms of pop or dub songs compared to my own and I know that I'm doing something wrong; I just can't seem to work out if its an issue with the compressor, or just the way I tweak with the EQ. For instance I would love the kick in Delirium to beat up the strings a little more and for the basslines to be stronger, and upon listening to any commercial trance, hiphop or club song I don't see why it isn't possible that I can't reach that quality of mix. I mean, the damn waveform is right in front of me, I wish I could take it out of my screen and stretch it with my hands, but that isn't really an option yet
I will most definitely put up some tracks later so you can hear them. Liked your tracks also! Rated some too!
Apr 15, 2009 07:24 pm Thanx for the listen as well. I dont' really have any of my more electronic stuff up really. Those are just kind of old tidbits.
But on your bass and kick thing. Are you boosting any EQ at all? Its usually a better idea to find were a small cut will work rather then boost. But there are times on those particular sounds that a slight boost is needed in electronic music.
One thing I do an awful lot with synth bass and kick is to get the main instruments meshing pretty good, then start to work on the bass sound and kick. If you are using a bass sound like in Delirium, that is going to be tuff to get it really defined as it has no real attack portion to the sound and is a very sustained bass. But, it does fit very well in the song, so changing it drastically is not really needed. It does have its place in that mix even though it almost sounds too soft, it really isn't. In this case it does not hide the kick drum really at all when listening here in the studio. It works very well with the string like pad you use that also has a pretty low octave sound to it. But they compliment each other well.
On the kick if anything you might bring up a little lower mid in the EQ to help boost the attack sound of it. And if there is a reverb on that maybe either try it without a reverb or use something like a small room type reverb that has a very short attack and almost no sustain to it. Just enough to give it a bit of ambiance is all that would be needed there.
I guess I would try backing down some of the reverb and see how it sound to you then. Too much reverb when used on individual tracks can really highlight the low frequency and make things sound melded together.
As for the compressor on the master buss for volume. Be cautious with it. I rely more on leaving myself headroom in the mix and then bringing my final level to wherever I need with the master output for final mix. I'm not a huge fan of over compressing on the master. That can sometimes cause the whole mix to sound mushed together as well.
I wonder if its possible that UpStereo pluggin maybe has a bit too do with it as well. If used too much it can do the same. That type of pluggin can be good to use, but only in moderation.
I'll be curious to hear whatever else you put up. As I said, I really like Delirium and that is stuff I love to listen to here and while driving.
May 20, 2009 08:23 pm Wow that was like a pleasant flashback to Tangerine Dream, and I liked it. It would be great to have a bit more volume on the mix. But I will interested in future post.
May 21, 2009 10:55 pm Ya, Bluesdues has it for sure. Tangerine Dream indeed.
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