[Drum'n'Bass] Corneum

This is probably my first track from the Drum’n’Bass genre and yet I am not sure if it sounds like a proper Drum’n’bass, I tried to make it as experimental as possible and I hope You like it :slight_smile:

Synths used: TwinBass, Noizefield 4 Tune, Hive, Charlatan

I think it is the right direction. Especially the bass is cool; the drums could have some more variation and some more hihats…

Thanks for the feedback, I concentrated on the percussions a little bit more in my new drum’n’bass :slight_smile:

I love the bit at 1.46.

yes direction seems right in structure. maybe a bit too slow…what is the bpm? dnb mostly ranges above 160 bpm, I find 174 be the most uplifting tempo, not too slow not too fast, just right for the breakbeats to dazzle the mind of the listener or to bring some pace into the 2step…

but I think the mix balance is not yet quite there in the drum&bass realms. you must see how the style was invented, and that coined a certain sound signature in the mix for the resulting genres. your mix has a balance like traditional music, i.e. big sized spacious drums, lower bass contained within a similar or even same level to the kick thud, big snare etc… dnb evolved from substantially pitched up drum breaks and pitched down basslines, so a dnb signature has the traditional mix balance shifted/transposed up on the drums and down for the bass…making the bassdrum hit higher, i.e. around 70-110 hz with only little lower thud or ringing, and the snare and hats hitting much sharper/crisper than a traditional drumkit. These aesthetics have then later been refined even more and synthetically, giving the drums a more “compressed” balance yet making them hit nice despite the high tempo and also giving them a kind of “spacy” feel compared to traditional drum mixes. This also frees room to make the bass real big and slick, all the low sub perception of the listener sound be ready for bass fundamentals booming uninferred giving big weight to the bassline while the rhythm is riding on top of it. That is drum & bass - a big dark badass bass, and ontop of it a slinky, light and contained rhythm is riding, that is much more compressed in “size” than the bass.

Also I think you didn’t get the bass timbre, it is partially mixed like one would mix lead synth or distorted guitar…to make it squelchy yet dark and big you need to moderate the high frequencies, concentrate the bass timbre focus on the lower mids. And have the higher freqs of the instrument strongly moderated and have them reinforcing the bass timbre with noisy cues, rather than doing their own tonal business like you did with the shrill ringing stuff. It is quite some art to mix and layer such basses so they seem glued and contained as “one thing”, and not like some individual sub and mid/top synths doing their own thing each. Also your bass instrument kind of wide spectrum band tonal action, now and then killing all other elements in the mix, also overshaddowing the drum, this is not right…if restrained within certain freq ranges, it should leave space to the rhythm and pads in any case, and could also gain more character that is desirable for the gerne.

Also your tune is a bit too painful to my ears due to the shrill bass synth noises. Maybe rethink this. In a Club I would have left the dancefloor to go to the chill zone instead, until more friendly sounds are back.