Hey guys it`s me again.
This time with a little different type of song. Not really sure what kind of genre to put this in...but then again I´m not that bound to genres...
I used mostly Komplete 8 and Maschine for the sounds. Converted it all to audio and arranged and processed it in ableton live!
I also did a rough self master on this one with a little bit of EQing, maximizing and multi band compression to glue the mix together.

http://soundcloud.com/towa22/hurt-beat-premaster

Feedback and your opinions of any kind are very much appreciated!

Enjoy!

Edit: Made my first changes and just replaced the file, so listen again and let me know what you think!

 

Constructive: There isn't enough punch to the kick. I think it is too deep and low. The song about a minute too long (it gets boring). The effects feel random. And that sweep at the end doesn't fit, just fade it out a bar earlier.

Unconstructive: Keep what you learned and ditch this song.

 

I don't know but I like this track. Nice work Towa22. But eliminate some annoying frequencies at midhighrange through eqing.
And keep this track around max 5minutes. Try to make it intresting with some breakdowns or diffrent parts and build ups aso.
I am a newbie either. I can recommend to learn music basics like on "macprovideo music theory".

Greetings

-alpha0ne-

 

Thank you for your comments. Nice to get some feedback on something "experimental"...

The song is definitely too long, but for a work in progress I like it to have just more stuff and then cut out parts to get the mix I want. I don't really know about the randomness of the effects. Are there certain parts you can point out?
The sweep at the end doesn't fit the song, you`re right. I was going to fade it out after the last flute sound, but I tried the effect and just left it there... not gonna be in the final version though.
Now to the kick... I know, that its not very punchy and it is deep. But I was actually experimenting with drum sounds for this one and I kinda like it. I didn`t want to go for those big mainroom house drums, because I thought it wouldn't fit the song.
Was trying to give it a different feel through it...maybe I failed, but for me the drums are actually ok.

I won`t ditch any songs I made, especially when they are basically an experiment to begin with. I love to learn from those and I love to see how people react, good or bad. I do this stuff because I like it for myself and I want to improve.
So getting this song to a level I`m a 100% comfortable with is actually the goal here. You`re feedback gave me something to think about and new ideas how to change certain parts. But to ditch a song, just cause probably most people won`t like it isn't really my thing ;)

Nice to hear you like the idea of this track. As said before, it is definitely too long...I will go through it when I have new ideas to improve it over all, so I can rearrange it and process it to get the sound right.
I think it will be more interesting after I rearranged it and maybe I will put in another breakdown...but over all I didn't get the feeling of it being uninteresting because there are too few changes. More of a length issue at this point in my opinion...
The problems in the midrange are actually from experimenting with stereo width and placement...sadly I won't be able to fix everything by eqing there. But I will look at the mid ranges and make it cleaner...there are definitely some problems with the main synth layer interfering with the other sounds!
I already watched the music theory videos. Nice videos to recommend for everyone. I still like it to experiment and I`ll probably never be a 100% on the "theoretical right" side...

Either way, thank you for your comments. It really gives me new ideas and an impression of other peoples thoughts.

 

I think that is quite good.
the mallets, the whistles, the drum rolls, the glitchy/stuttering breaks... these are nice ideas, and you should keep them, but this synthie lead sound should be a little more 'embedded' and needs more movement...
and reconsider your 'compression'... this track as a kinda 3min interlude thing should be effectual.

 

Hi,
thank you very much for the feedback. I´m having some problems with the synth lead sound I have to figure out...I basically made a mistake, designing the sound, that isn't an easy fix anymore. But after rearranging, this will be the main part to fix.
Thanks for the hint on compression. I squashed the dynamic range quite a bit, which doesn't really support my intentions. I probably put down the upward compression on the synths and FXs a notch and definitely take something of the master, where it was limited quite a bit.
Better to be a little quieter witch more range to make it more atmospheric...

Cheers.

 

Hey everyone,
I made my first changes to the Original file. Just listen to it again and tell me whats on your mind. Its about a minute shorter now, I got rid of some frequencies and some layers and I put down the over all compression quiet a bit.
Not the final version, but I think it should be much better now!

 

I don't know so much music but to my taste ...

1 - Intro last too much, i think people will get bored after the 1st minute waiting for a change that never comes.
2 - Personally i think this needs some more changes either in rhythm or in harmony or both (perhaps if you add some melody this will add also some more interest)
3 - It's good as experimentation and to put into practice what you're learning
4 - Drums are too much in the foreground
5 - I agree with you about ditching songs or little pieces of music one makes (my teacher used to tell me "work on that before going to new ideas" which at least to me sometimes it's really hard *yes* )

So, you asked for it ... Carry on with the good job!
Kind Regards!

 

Hey, thanks for pointing out your thoughts in detail.
I actually never divided the song into parts for myself, so its basically all intro...;) sure you can point out a main part,
but I want it to be more progressive than cut into parts. I think the term "interlude", rimshooter used, probably fits the whole tune more than anything else...
I`ll think about changing some rhythmic parts, or maybe adding some melodic parts here and there, but not too much,
as I want this to be continously building without too much change. Which can be boring for some... no doubt about that!

The thing with the drums is a little weird...they were a little too quiet in the previous version and now they seem mixed in ok through my headphones,
but the hats and snare seem to be too loud when listening through speakers.
I made changes to the stereo field in Ozone 5 which could actually cause this... now the drums remain loud and at their location,
but the synth and stuff has been spread into the stereo field even more. I will experiment with that... good thing to discover for future projects!

I think your teacher was right, but I also have to say that this is very hard. I go to a lot of new ideas in between my projects...I just never abandon previous ones!
I`ll always come back to them after a certain period of time, especially after I`ve learned new things to test them with my old projects.
I also think that this is the best practice over all, because its so easy to get lost in a project. Better to get your mind free, or into a completely other project and then get back to the old ones fresh.
Thats basically why I never stop experimenting with other genres and sounds. Its the best way to find your style and get separation from the projects that are most important to you.
I actually come from a rock/metal background and I will always switch between all the genres out there to keep myself fresh and create something different.

But again, thank you for you comment.
Always helps to get new ideas. May it be for this project or for future ones ;)

 

I like this a lot. The marching band drums are a great idea. It's not too long. "Too long" depends on where you are, what you're doing. Not too long if you're driving down the highway with 50 miles to go.

 

Thanks mate. Nice view on the length issue. I totally agree!

 

version 2

Constructive: Around 2:28 the hard snare hit (not the ghost notes) is overwhelming. Maybe velocity is too high? I understand that you like the kick sound; it is your song. But the kick drum audio (noticeable around 4:37) is overlapping with the bass. You could try making the bass a little funkier. The bass volume is good, just make it so it is played harder (harder doesn't equal louder). Know what I am saying?

Unconstructive: Over all, better.

 

Hey, thanks for listening again.
I will check the snare velocity. I basically punched them all in with the Maschine controller...so I´ve got very different velocities on the individual hits. Very possible that a few are too high after processing.
I`ll also check some of the frequencies of the very low kick...maybe I just filter some out when the bass is playing at the same time.
Good idea with the funkier bass...havent thought about that, but I can imagine that this will work very well with the overall flow. Next time I go through it I´ll try a more natural slap bass with a little more groove. Should be nice...

Thanks for the feedback again. This really helps to improve my little experiment!