Thanks guys for your listening!
I would be so happy to hear your feeling and criticism about this.
Which part do you like or dislike more?

 

i can picture some Kavinsky-ey vocals in this track, really nice. I do feel the lack of fx's to transition the sections of the track better, the changes are too sudden. But other that, it's a nice track

 

Kick could be "tighter." Sounds slighty smeared (I literally don't mean a lot). Other than that, it's got a nice overall tone and even freq balance to me. The synths have girth and don't sound pencil thin.

 

To be honest, I don't believe much in kick lol. I think it's just a disturbing element.

 

Let us change the spelling of kick to render it less disturbing, novel and quite possibly and hopefully, actually pleasant. How about this...kcik, or possibly ckik. In theory both new spellings work without much effort, no new letters and only a tiny shift in perceptual juggling. It might just go a long way in how we perceive the sound of this repetitive low thumping so prevalent in most modern day music. Let the future begin now...I mean now........no...now. Shite, it keeps on moving around. Well, we tried!!!

 

Thanks for sharing and keep at it
Can't really describe what I think about it as not sure what it is or how to begin but it is what it is.
Kick needs a bit of work as lexeed said and doesn't really come thu.
Check your "Bassy sounds" not messing up the frequencies but nice one

Good for u man.

 

Yeah its a good piece and I like the synth patterns you have and the old feel of the track. Very good.
But I must mirror previous comments on the kick and transitions between parts. Just add a few risers etc around the transitions and it will pull the whole track together.

 

Getting better. Thought there was a lack of percussion elements though. At 23 sec, where the slower intro stops, try putting some reverb just at the end on the bass, so you get a tail. Then on the fast arp that comes in, have some attack on it, and dial off the attack as the reverb tail dies away. Bring the hats in earlier and the snare in before the kick. With regards to the kick maybe try a sample from an old simmons electric kit, as I think it would suit the style. At 1:05 drop the kick earlier so there's more calmness before the piano solo. then when you come back in, bring the kick in as well. You want to come in with more umph than you went out with. It makes it sound like the tracks progressing. Same at 1:28.
Now, I didn't really like the gating or side chaining of the synth at the end. It was too harsh for the style to me.

 

Thanks guys for your comments.
About the kick, I just joked. Kick is very important and I will absolutely consider your suggestions for making it better. In my previous track, you told me about the risers and fillers but because of defining dead-line for my production, I could not work on them but be sure in my later work, you will hear something different.

I just used synthesized percussions even for the kick (for raising my sound-designing knowledge) and I admit that they need more polishing. I used reverb but just a bit. Using more reverb for this work caused sounds to be mixed-up unpleasantly.

The final side-chaining was for making feel of horse-riding (yes, It's unnatural for the end of song).

Btw, which genres are close enough to this one? I want to concentrate on them. It's enough already writing a 8 or 16 bar loop and simply repeating it for 2 or 3 minutes. Making a proper song and taking the listeners on a journey is intended. I would be pleased to guide me.

Thanks so much!

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 10, 2016

Just put the reverb on the track you want the tail from and automate it to the off position then just before the last note of the track automate it on, then off again when the tail has diminished.

Must admit I didn't thick about horse riding when I was listening.

Don't try to pigeonhole your work. At tis stage it will hinder your progress. Myself, I really don't think much about genre when I'm creating. It is what it needs to become.

Picture the journey in your mind, close your eyes and find a sound that fits. Don't just think about the melody of the journey, think about the rhythms and the pauses too. They are often a more important part than the melody itself.

 

Thanks @The Teknomage!
You and also other guys are so cool.

I am not a genre-specific guy and also have made all of my mini-tracks just self-experimentally. I usually have the problem of thinking structurally. I don't like imitation (specially if not done genuinely and smartly) but for my problem, I don't have many choices.

Without having a structure in mind, satisfying the listeners that have formed the habit of some expectations of what they hear in a various parts of a song, is not possible.

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 11, 2016

Dance Music Styles Demystified: search this on the sister site. Although it's dance, I think it will give you some direction on the general structure of things.

 

Thanks!
I have watched it already but I need to do it again.

 

I gotta tell you, with the strong opinions and personal standards you go by to become a "musician", this is a disappointment in my opinion. You have some variations and combined melodies that I can appreciate, but you are lacking exactly what you claim to stand for - composition.

"In my opinion: 99% composition (doing everything by yourself)."

First off, I think groove, sound and telling a story with your composition is key to draw the listener in. Unfortunately, I don't hear any of that in this production. People want a hook, some engaging sounds, flare, and effects with a track along with a chorus. In a composition it often follows a familiar pattern. You have your main theme to the song, the bridge and then a chorus and maybe some kind of solo here and there. Listen to any big producer or band and this is a common structure to a song. This track really lacks that unfortunately. The sounds are rather dry and need more boldness. Here's a metaphor for ya - what would you prefer? Cake without the icing or icing and the cake? Or, would you prefer plain food with no spices or food with spices? The average person would tell you they want both.

So, I get it that you really want a unique and "pure" sound that you can call your own, but I don't think it's helping you develop as a producer. Your production starts with 2-3 chords and a melody and then the 2-3 chords and melody 2x the speed, then some tinny hihats with a kick and suddenly fall short abruptly to a rather dull organ and carries off to a high octave synth and drops short to absolutely nothing. Frankly, I find it disappointing. 2 minutes for a "composition" is pretty short as well. Looking at all the tracks you have on your Soundcloud, it's evident you struggle big time "composing", since they reach only a couple minutes. One of the hardest parts of production is stretching the song out to 5 or more minutes and keeping the track interesting enough for the listener to KEEP listening.

I think if you broke away from your one dimensional strategy of "doing everything yourself" and actually borrowing some ideas from other artists, you could really go somewhere. You don't have to use samples either if you're that anal about it. I never liked or cared to do remixes of other peoples work when I started out, because I was all about being original and different from the rest. That actually really worked against me in the end because I became introverted. Doing the odd remix here and there has only helped me develop as an artist because I had to get out of my own mindset and understand the other producers mindset and combine the two.

If you are going by your 99% of being a "musician" is composition, I would say you have a long, long way to go. Here is a production I made about a year ago. All of it was midi and played by me except for the vocal which I cut and flipped around. You'll hear it starts with a gradual build and a simple one note of the bass, drops.....and then breaks into the main theme, builds once again, then drops to some ambience, slowly builds and comes back to the theme....so on and so forth. What made this track work wasn't the simple melodies I constructed, it was the composition which tells a story and carries the listener through.

Like I mentioned, the common composition consists of main theme, bridge and chorus.You don't have to get complex with key and chord variations if you have composition. If your "composition" itself, has variations, it can make for a good track, regardless of the simple melodies.



Anyhow, keep trying and try to open up and broaden your music abilities by excepting all forms of music. It could help you tremendously!

 

Last edited: May 14, 2016

What's your idea about this song and its structure?
The whole of it is just 1 bar loop with the velocity of midi events being changed.

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 14, 2016

Interesting. It's a kind of a Chill Hop style track. What makes a good track like this stand out is very subtle variations and undertones along with great layering. This track seems to have all that. This genre of music (downtempo) tends to have more of a long build or continuous loop with subtle change ups. Not much for chorus, just a theme which was the organ accompanied by the guitar and a slow build to that digital synth. Good track non the less. I particularly like the percussion with that organic kind of *batting utensils around*, sound! It has that one drop in the middle and then carries through to climax. This would be a good one to emulate for what you are doing, in my opinion. Make a nice build to a climax, but end it without it sounding too abrupt. With this track you find he doesn't just end it cold with silence, he has a violin and xylophone remaining after the drop and it fades.

The percussion was full of samples by the way.....actually, this entire track was pretty much samples! Probably done with Kontakt. So if you fancy that kind of production, you might want to except Kontakt into your life. Remember, you will still be able to play your midi keyboard and all the melodies and chords you want, the only difference is it's organic natural sound. You could benefit from it.

 

So simple request.
I'm working on my new track. I want you please listen to this loop. It's the main theme. Would you dance to it? I asked it because investing on something that people don't like is not so logical.
Thanks so much!

 

I wouldn't dance to it but if you had seen me try to dance you would understand why.

Seriously, how can anyone form an opinion on nothing more than an arp and a drum loop? You may as well rip any drum loop from a sample library and ask the same question. I would suggest you try and develop the track more and then ask so we have something useful to work with.

As for investing time on something people may not like there is a whole world outside this forum so just go with what you like.

 

Thanks! I don't have any problem in adding anything to make it complete but those elements would not change the main theme a lot. As you know, in a 4 minute dance track, around 30~40 seconds of it is fresh. BTW, playing with an ARP seems easy at first glance but it's one the hardest parts of any track making. My arps are special. You can compare it with other ones.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jun 8, 2016

It would need more rhythmic elements to make it really danceable, which I find easier to do before adding arps.
The main question you have to ask yourself is; Would you dance to it?