The WIP thread - work In progress

Renoise Songs
82

Yeah, I think that’s why the pro’s tend to mix quick. No chance to start second guessing themselves. Just get it done, out of the door and move on.

2 Likes
83

I like it, it’s very hypnotic, but I would change some things:

  1. I would add more modulation to the acid line and mabye add more resonance (and distortion?, maybe more reverb) as well. It sounds to lovely as it is now.

  2. the keys at 1:42 are too loud, maybe throw them out completely (they don’t fit well), also the keys that are answering those sounds do not fit well. Instead I would bring the acids line more into the front.It’s enough imo to carry the track and it would make it more hypnotic.

  3. Clap can be louder with maybe more low end. The kick could also be more clearer and louder.

  4. The sound scape is very dense in general

1 Like
84

Thank you all for your feed back. Here is the latest version. Still looking for more feedback if your willing.

Here was the old version to compare.

4 Likes
85

I like the old version better :smiley: . The new version sounds even more compressed. But maybe that simply doesn’t fit my taste and other people like it more.

86

Listened again with Speakers. Sounds pretty good. The only thing I would change is to ad more modulation on the 303 line and make it louder. The keys fit, but maybe I would decrease the volume just a little bit.

1 Like
87

This song is a work in progress, it changed so much over the last year that I barely can recognize it. Inspired by synhwave and demo music that I like, and TNT.

3 Likes
88

Thanks for listening & the feedback @lilith I think you’re quite right in your observations. The acid line definitely needs some more of something, yes.

The keys are difficult. Surprisingly, or maybe not? They are VSTs I layered in after the fact. And they don’t feel quite at home. Lowering their volume may help indeed.

The soundscape is rather dense indeed. On the one hand I really like that. But it may be a bit too much, yes. Gonna mess with it some more. Thank you!!

2 Likes
89

@hai_nguyen_dinh What kind of feedback are you looking for?

Sonically I think this is pretty strong. The bass may be a bit too loud and growly. At least it is for my taste. And maybe I would find the kick a bit too punchy as well. Though I suppose that is part of the genre. The bell-like sounds are wonderful.

Composition wise, I feel the kick intro is rather weak. Or to put an other way, a bare kick isn’t gonna hook anyone.

You’ve got some lovely sounding melodies around 2m10s. Why not open with a variant of that, then go into your kick and progress. Think it will also improve the story of telling of your track.

Right now, to me at least, it feels like there is no real arc to it. You’re going places, but to me they don’t feel really connected. I think if you could turn into more of a focused journey you could have some powerful stuff.

1 Like
90

The kick is still too loud and the high pad is too soft, everything else sounds good. Aber Hauptsache es dreht sich. Immer weiter und schneller… :wink:

Again you’re on a early 90s Acid Trance style trip. The composition is good, but the balance isn’t. It’s VERY muddy all over the place and the kick doesn’t have punch. The drums should stand out more, a hat is required to complete the beat and you need to separate the frequencies especially of all those long synths and the long bass.

The current mix is much better than the first version, now there’s some energy in the kick and the “hit hard section”. Imho the hat is still too loud, it’s almost twice as loud as the snare and still needs to be turned down.

Too much honor. :slightly_smiling_face:
It seems you worked on the low ends, it sounds better than the version I’ve listened to. The kick and the synth bass finally have some bass respectively low ends. You know what I’m thinking about the composition. Now I also think the mix is quite good. I just have to agree with @eretsua, starting with a kick only doesn’t work nowadays. I would drop the first seconds and start with kick and bass at the same time, that’ll do it. Regarding the kick, maybe it would improve the sound if the tail wouild be a little longer.

3 Likes
91

Just uploaded a new version (mixed on speakers now)… es dreht sich … :smiley:

I took out the mids of the kick as suggested by @ffx and high passed the snare a bit more. Did some panning as well. Oh… and some more automation…

… and I cut it down to 3:30.

2 Likes
92

Merry Christmas!

93

Thanks TNT!! I appreciate your insight. I always struggle with the mud region. Especially after I’ve been working on the track for a while. I’m gonna try again fresh ears tomorrow. Thanks!!

BTW, I’ll be on the 90s acid trip for the foreseeable future. I’m looking for something there that I haven’t found yet. :slight_smile:

1 Like
94

@lilith ilith, I think that has improved quite a bit. Especially the lighter kick helps a lot for me.
That transition slightly before the 1 minute mark is fun, btw. I do still feel that the tune could use a little growth when the same pattern from earlier returns around the 1:40 mark. Something small to make it feel like a progression, not a repeat. Could be as simple as an extra sound softly doubling the melody. Just something to indicate it’s a new section. Otherwise, you’re getting very close to calling this one done, I reckon.

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95

Dudes, I appreciate your input very much. Thanks :slight_smile: I’m new to this kind of music so there are many things that haven’t struck my mind.

Yeah, I will change the opening, originally it started with bass + drums, but I changed it to this because for a while it was better for my live show. But it’s definitely not that interesting as an individual track.

And will have a look at that kick-stuff too. Damn, I thought it was tight and punchy :slight_smile:

1 Like
96

I’d play with an EQ on the dubstep sound to cut just a little bit of boxiness, maybe that’ll bring out some highs but if it doesn’t then I’d boost a tiny bit mid-highs to give it more presense, just a little bit.

I agree with TNT that a hihat layer is a bit loud, try listen at high volume and it’s noticeable.
The hihat at 2:20 is pleasant but at 1:01 it’s piercing a bit right!?

1 Like
97

I took @lilith 's and @TNT 's excellent suggestions to heart and drastically changed my mix. The kick hits harder and overall it’s far less dense, but is it enough? What else can I try to improve this track?

4 Likes
99

What makes you think that?

By hi drums you mean on the hihats and the clap?

101

Much better imo! Now the kick is present and it almost has a Detroit techno vibe. Did you humanize the hi hats? They sound quite static. You could try humazing them and maybe add a filter with very subtle variation or strongly highpassing it from time to time . The acid line also sounds much better now. Here you could try modulating the Reverb (making it more wet sometimes.). But it’s already almost perfect imo.

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102

Another idea. Sometimes it helps to add a subtle polyrythmic percussion sound to keep it more interesting, e…g. a modified subtle clap every 13 or 23 lines or so… It doesn’t have to stand out a can be very subtle

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103

Thanks Lilith! I’ll see what I can do about they hihats, they are quite static indeed. Humanizing their timing is going to be hard as I only have the audio recording. It was hardware jam. But I’ll figure something out.

Think another polyrhtymic thing and reverb could be good, too. Gonna give that a try tomorrow.