Even though your song disappeared within 2 days, I was able to listen to it and I think it was quite good. It just needs some more detail work on transitions, some sections in terms of composition (there were some crooked notes before the last section) and the mix. What’s your plan? To continue or to stop?
Yeah got nuked because of me messing with some distributer. Yeah I’ll definitely continue it; it’s the cleanest track I managed to scramble and I’m insanely proud of how it came so far, so I don’t wanna “waste” it (sentimentally) 
Hm, no, that is not common.
There are way better stereo widing techniques: Chorus, flanger, micro-delays, pitch detuning or even sometimes haas panning. Or use a comb filter stereo effect, like waves PS22 or similar.
Make some elements in your song much wider, using the above technqiues, in contrast to others, e.g. pad or so. I don’t say that you didn’t so far, but it seems to me that the contrast is not very good, due using side gaining. Also slight pitch modulation is king, also for contrast. Side gaining should be only used at the very end, for even more width. It is very overrated and IMHO very bad practise. I also would go back to v2. The sounds are all very sustained, maybe you could give some of them a shape, instead a rectangle/gate like shape?
Also keep in mind that side gaining usually results in more perceived brightness, but it is fake. Also a common mistake is to side gain the very highs. The mid is the frequency range where wideness is perceived the most by the human ear.
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Listening to V3 I think the intro has improved a ton. Think it could use a little ear candy still at the transition. And maybe it would have more impact if that “lost beat”, where the full big production comes in early, is silent instead.
In fact I feel so strongly about this I quickly made a mock up for you.
Now the new section feels really impactful, doesn’t it?.
Also one with a quick riser. Just to illustrate the idea, my riser game sucks.
Around 50 seconds in you get that very catchy pattern. That rocks! It’s really good. Like I’m whistling along with it every time and moving my hands in time. Good signs!!
What would happen if the drums accented that groove some more? Keep the four on the floor kick but maybe add some ghost kicks, toms or whatever that play along with that rhythm.
Around 1:40 it loses confidence and around 1:50 it just becomes a mess. What if you really thin it out at 1:40? Just keep the pulsing thing going but make everything around it more quiet & dark. Think that might give it some interesting tension.
As you mentioned the section after that is obviously a place holder.
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I’m a bit stuck with this track:
It doesn’t have a strong hook, but it is kinda nice. The mix is quite possibly a tad bright, but I might be okay with that. Then again some instruments sound a little too fragile, maybe?
Not 100% happy with the transition to the long, held notes. And that part probably could use a counter melody but I have trouble coming up with something.
Anyway, thoughts, suggestions, feedback and such are all very welcome.
I’d drop a beat in at 1:38 and continue the theme you’ve been building. You could keep what comes after as an outro, but the song could use some meat, imo. It sounds like one long intro then an outro to me rn.
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yeah, I think that intro/outro observation is spot on. I was trying to do something without a beat again, for a change. But I suspect you might be right that just needs that. Thanks!
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At least it’s common for me and for many others. It’s a known technique. But yeah, in terms of stereo the mix needs some more work. Anyway, as I said, I don’t care about the mix at this point. I just have started composing, you know? I’m at the very beginning of the whole process. From now on everything can happen. 
I don’t add gain to the sides, I only widen the side signal of the high and mid frequencies. But as I said, only specific instruments are affected. Such as snare, clap, pads and some more.
I clearly prefer v3, v2 was too dull, and I’m not the only one who thought that way. You said the same. 
But I’m still not pleased so I’m still not finished yet. I’ve worked on the transients of some sounds, primarily on the “background synths”. The other instruments like the lead or the bass are not very suitable for not being sustained imo. Or do you mean to dull the tails?
That’s the goal. By widening the mids and highs become a tad clearer without getting harsh.
And personally I’v e got the impression that it creates some subtle “air”, too.
First of all, thanks for your effiort. Yes, you’re right, the transition needs to be improved. But I don’t like the gap that you’ve created. This way it sounds broken. I think I have to change the buildup. And maybe also the composition. I’ll get back to it as soon as I’m ready again.
The idea was a straight in your face track without too much playful elements. To keep the beat and bass VERY simple and to add some synths that layer each other. But yes, indeed I was also thinking of maybe to use more toms in between, not only for transitions. I just don’t want to overdo it, there are already many things happening that need to be cleared up.
Hm, at 1:40 the “sustained parts” are gone and at 1:50 the beat stops, too. What kind of “mess” do you mean? Are you referring to the frequencies of sounds, that are not perfectly aligned yet? I’m also not sure what you mean when you’re talking about the “pulsing thing”. Anyway, you’re right, currently I’m also thinking it’s a kind of “mess” in general, the sound needs more work. It’s quite ok already, but still not pleasing imo. But I’m not in the mood for making music atm, and Black Friday is always the starting point for intense work. So therefore I’m pretty sure that I won’t finish this song this year. Maybe I’ll leave it on my drive for another year, who knows?
The buildup (nothing else, only the buildup) reminds me of the buildup of this theme, I think from 0:46 you could star to build the song in a similar way. Bring some instrument layers, some subtle drums respectively percussions, a slight increase of energy just like what you’re always doing most in your songs. A great drum beat is not stringently required imo. Just something that creates a sort of rhythm.
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guess i’ll throw this in the ring. It’s close to done (needs mixing and mastering of course), but not quite. If anyone has brilliant ideas/feedback/criticisms, please share
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For the drunks
One of the worst for your ears, I have no idea how to continue. Should drink more… I have the feeling the soundcloud lowers the volume due the annoying transient mix. Does this sound different? (remove .xrns)
psydrunk.m4a.xrns (3.1 MB)
Trying to program a muted guitar sound in MSoundFactory, the filter section is really cumbersome to use though. Does this sound like a realistic muted guitar?
I dont think it sounds like a guitar but i think the composition sounds good though.
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Some weird psychedelic stuff found in Bitwig and freshly eqed, is the highs still too harsh? Can’t hear those frequencies on my speakers…
Was looking at the new Transit by Baby Audio which is a more advanced version of Endless Smile but then I thought how much is possible to do with the Doofer so here’s a very short WIP with my little doofer transition experiment.
Here’s the Doofer used.
Going forward I’ll try make 50% be the peak so that when it go past 50% it begin a drop fade/wash instead but I have some trouble figuring out how to get the curves for this, right now I’m messing with the formula device but wish it had some pre-build curves functions or that a custom LFO could somehow be used in conjunction with the Macro slider.
Anyway you’ll need MNoiseGenerator by Melda for the noise else the rest are native effects.
You’ll have to manually turn on/off the doofer when it’s being used.
Think I wish there was a WET/DRY feature on the end of the Doofer after the effects which can be controlled by the Doofer itself.
SB Transition Crush.xrdp (20.9 KB)
What Transit has and we don’t is the Noise/OSC gen and Pitch shift.
I might get this before BF sale ends unless I get satisfied with this Doofer/Melda combo.
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Just some quick thoughts, maybe I’m wrong here and there as my blocked nose mess with my ears.
Firstly I don’t think it sound harsh at all.
But there are resonances with the sound at 1:26 right?
The kick doesn’t sound that great or balanced with the rest of the low end, maybe try cut -4db between 200-300hz and a slight boost at 60hz and enhance it with a short top kick layer or have a look at the low-end of all the other tracks. Else I would find another kick.
2:20 the hihats (or loop?) could use some brightness, maybe a wide +2db boost somewhere in the upper mids or highs?
Try -3db EQ the bass between 300-400hz, it’s a bit boxy sounding?
Maybe there too many spacious sounds in the middle at the same time?
Ah, good advices, thanks, will try this.
Cool stuff, will try this later. Do you have MXXX, too? Might be more attractive, if done in MXXX completely, so it would be transferable to other DAWs (eg Bitwig).
It’s nothing fancy really you know but it’s a bit useful for certain genres.
I didn’t know MXXX but it’s too expensive for this, I’d rather spend that money on Softube or Arturia stuff or a new Mac 
Yeah hehe it was heavily discounted at beginning. It’s pretty much the Msoundfactory effect matrix, you can use any kind of Melda fx inside and wire it together…
Sounds great, I love it… I’d toss the first 11 seconds though and begin with the two snares from 12 seconds in… or maybe try some odd transition stuff from 0-11 seconds? I’d love vocals on this track.
I don’t have a “brilliant” feedback, but as I told you in the song thread I would use the “signature sound” of the song more often. And within the second minute the songs is pretty empty imho. I know it’s a matter of taste, it might be just because of the music style.
Maybe reduce just the ones of the “downsweep”. They’re not harsh, but more intense than of the rest.
999 € for a Melda plugin collection packed in a single VST? No thanks.
Thanks for the reminder. I’ve seen this when it was still in development. Looks interesting, I should consider this to buy, even though I don’t do that kind of transitions very often. But it seems to be handy.
Thanks! Yeah, I’ll probably redo the buildup from scratch. It might be necessary anyway when new instruments will be implemented. I haven’t done any music for weeks now, all I did is to improve the stereo image of the song as well as the mix. I dropped one background instrument and I’ve shorten another one. Currently it sounds like this:
Compare with the previous mix:
https://soundcloud.com/tnt-ffm/wip-v3/s-0KHgq9ujF5M?si=90e1a02e4b234594adf66a4f826552e6&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing