Looking to get some input on this track I put together a while back. I'm thinking about reworking some of the arrangement and the mixdown, possibly replacing the synth bass for an acoustic or electric bass. It's in the style of late 90's early 2k atmospheric d&b (think ltj, seba, blumarten, etc). Any thoughts, opinions, crits would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

With every piece of music I write I wonder who is intended for. If you go for the sound "en vogue" 15 years ago, your public is only the sentimental dnb freaks which were unable to move forward to today's dnb. The track itself is good but since you are not LTJ, it would be difficult to step in his territory without bringing something new to the table. If you want to rewrite it, give it a 2017 identity mixed with 2000s flavour. It's not easy, but this is the difference between good producers and emulating producers, in the end.

PS: The track is 3 years old I see. And 43 plays. Don't take the "reheated soup" path. Create something new and something better. Cheers!

 

Wow! I can't comment on the mixdown since I can only listen through laptop speakers but this arrangement is incredibly refreshing! Definitely captures that era/style of DnB without limiting itself to that era. I would definitely change the bass sound, it doesn't seem to fit with the other elements, I might ditch it all together or try to clean up the sound a little more and use it sparsely through the track maybe during the breakdown. If you decide to go the bass guitar route I usually run Trillian and through Amplitude and possibly through your favorite tape saturation if you like that sort of thing. Seriously though, absolutely fantastic work! The reverb is used so well on those individual drum hits and when you brought in the Amen it just amplified the intensity that often that style of kick snare . . . kick snare drum and bass that makes it really boring to listen to.

I don't want to toot your horn but who knows if you send it to the likes of Bukem or Hospital what might happen, it's definitely on that caliber! Great work!

 

@jayxflash damn dude . . . that's a little harsh! Especially considering the fact thats most of what the DnB Scene here is primarily consisted of the folks that fell in love with it in the late 90s/early 2000s those are the folks that got it through the hump before EDM and all that happened and are the heads that are going to be there when the vogue crowd disappears. DnB is the genre that refuses to die in that respect, it has moved forward for sure. I'm not saying all the new shit, cause there is some straight fire that's been coming out lately but the "modern" sound often feels kind of dumbed down for the average listener and not as complex as it could be. Especially in regards to variations in drum stuff on the tracks. Super compressed kick drum and snares sound good but they sound better if you vary them throughout the track and don't just play the same old kick snare pattern. That's what I miss most about jungle, is that you really didn't anticipate what was coming next you just were along for the ride

 

You hit the nail in the head The track is definitely old and a bit dated, which is why I'm looking to give it a more modern sound/feel. I do make quite a bit of drum and bass in different styles but normally dont post online because I'm usually not very happy with stuff I make. Right now I'm in the process of putting an ep together and this is one of the few tracks I think I can salvage. Cheers for the input, it really is helpful. Thank you!

 

Damn! That's gotta be the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my music. You have me all amped now after that glowing review haha! Thank you so much, seriously!

Yeah that bass sound always bothered me and I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it doesn't feel right. I remember not being able to find something that worked and just settled on it. I do play bass guitar so hopefully I'll be able to get a more cohesive sound out if it, otherwise I'll just keep looking until I find something that works. Thank you again!

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2016

I'm not a D&B freak. so I'll just comment on it as a track in it's own right. It's well put together, ebbs and flows nicely, and is unobtrusive. That sunny Sunday, beachfront bar, chilling with friends vibe. The only thing I would say, would be to maybe remove the last 1 minute of the track. At about 5.56 it starts to sooth down into what would be a sweet outro, but then there's another minute on the end that feels like it's stuck, Kind of spoils the vibe really.

Who cares if it's not up to the second 2016 style. Does everything have to be only what's current flavour of the month to be good. Then again I'm old and old skool. At the end of last year I ditched the DAW in favour of hardware, and about a month ago I bought a 1998 Yamaha RM1x sequencer.

 

Don't send it to Bukem. He's a lovely guy but has a tendency to buy up tracks and shelve them (which is why I haven't signed anything with him). Top geezer though!

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2016

DNB scene was not as niche as, let's say, hardcore rave/happy hardcore (Scooter, Dune). If I were to make a happy rave song I'll have to follow the 20 yers old recipe in terms of sound & structure because this niche didn't evolved (to my knowledge at least).
Going back to DNB, from Europe to South America to North America it has a lot of fans. And it evolved. The old "jungle" remained in a shade because it's an entire genre based on the (in)famous Amen Break drum loop. There's only so much you can chop, twist and rearrange a drum loop before becoming boring. And now I am getting back to my point: when a style is changing, we, producers must change with it and bring something new and just a new melody is often not enough.

You will be surprised how many unsatisfactory tracks (from your point of view) are welcomed by the public. Put one or to of those and see how they react. Tag them properly and make sure they are finished, not 1-2 minutes spnippets.

 

very good looking sir, but ill say this, your synth bass and some other synths elements have to much high frequency in them. 90s drum bass had little over 10-12khz, LFP on those parts and then Try sticking a good tape sim on the master and rolling of the top end to 16khz. other then that, great arrangement and work.

 

Cheers for that! Yeah the ending is was basically there to extend the end of the track for mixing on vinyl. When I made this track I had considered the possibility of one day cutting a dubplate... of course, there's no need for that sort of thing now if you're mixing digitally, but me being an old fart, I was still used to the way tracks where cut to wax back in the day. The newer version will definitely have those additional measures removed.

 

Good Looking out! (see what I did there? haha)

Man, I'm so out of the loop with so many new labels, I wouldn't know where to begin to send stuff. I've considered Fokuz, Citrus, Horizons, and Celcius... those are a few labels which I think I might have a chance if luck will have it. Not sure if I'm at the caliber for the big labels... I'm hopeful but also realistic.

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2016

I'm not particularly fan of electro dnb in general, but this sounds nice to my ears. Maybe you could try another arrangement but IMO, it's very good as it stands now

 

Erm What? Scooter as well as Dune both were (or in case of Scooter still are) chart-topping mainstream acts.

 

I know Scooter still have a big enough fan base to have shows even in the present times. But "chart-topping mainstream acts"? In what country? Here's top 100 Shazam in Germany: http://www.shazam.com/charts/top-100/germany

For me & my friends back at the begining of the 90s - we had this hardcore/happy rave euphoria for like 2 years then we all moved on. Then the mainstream in dance music became Faithless & an entire current of "EuroHouse" built around it. So yeah, they were chart toppers on Viva, but pretty much that's it.

 

Certainly pleasing to the ear, def a mid to late 90s feel. If anything the loop gets a bit repetitive, esp the percussion and overall lacking anything memorable but I guess thats the style. I actually like the synth bass , sounds FM, could perhaps have a bit more dynamics.
There were a few welcome changes later in the track that could have been brought in earlier and the arrangement needs some work with some nice synth lines or musical changes to hold the interest...But overall a lot better than some modern DnB I have heard.

 

Shazam top 100? I'm talking media control charts, the relevant source for charts in and around Germany, the Dune's and Scooter's core market.

See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_(band)#Discography
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_discography