Greetings and Salutations Earthmen!

I have finally decided to post my music here in the hopes that i can get some constructive criticism! I need all the input i can get~

I am totally self taught, and have no fancy studio or monitors or soundproofed room...YET!!! (i am working on it)

I hope to make some friends here and i hope you all enjoy this new track- it is in fact an extended mix of the original i made earlier this week..



please feel free to let me know what you thought!

cheers!


EDIT!

I have added the Remastered version, with no limiter or EQ on the Master track (so it is totally clean) and some tweaks here and there! i really think it sounds better than the original! The limiter was making the track too loud in the original!


Kicking Up Dirt (Extended Mix) REMASTERED VERSION

http://soundcloud.com/frito-zanzibar/modern-primitiv-aka-frito-8


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Kicking Up Dirt (Extended Mix) ORIGINAL


http://soundcloud.com/frito-zanzibar/modern-primitiv-aka-frito-2

 

your synth skills are very good. some great sounds and drum beats were intresting to me. bit long though.

 

hi!

thanks for your reply and input!!

it is appreciated!

this extended mix is about twice as long as the original, i was thinking i could split this extended mix into 2 songs, they would both be about 4 mins long then.. (about at the 4:30 mark in the song)

I can't get enough of NI's amazing Massive, but i have been messing with Sylenth recently.. i just love making weird sounds!

thanks again for your feedback!

 

As one of the other guys said, some really nice synth skills massive is great fun, where the tune is lacking is in the mix/eq it kinda sounds like the tune is trapped in a small box. But not to worry you've done the hard bit already (which is making the actual track) the mix can always be improved/tweaked. What DAW are you using might be able to give you some help on the mix.

 

thanks for the feedback, futureb!

what do you suggest i do to make the track sound have more sonic depth? I try to push my sounds all around the frequency spectrum, as in not just on the center audio plane ( i try to use alot of panning automation and expand the stereo separation of some sounds... also try to use reverb and delays to add to the sonic "fullness" of the track..

any ideas will help me considerably!!! I will take your feedback and make a new version of the track and post it here so we can listen to the differences!

I am using FL Studio to mix then i export all tracks to Cubase for mastering- not sure why FL Studio has a bad rep, i enjoy it more than most other programs (though i really like Ableton Live)

I just got that great Sequoia app (thanks to tracer and crew and Saint for his great site) so i was thinking i would teach myself that next..

though i really feel the DAW choice is not an issue, it's what you do with it..

So thanks again, looking forward to ideas how to make this sound better!

 

Absolutely agree its not all about the daw, was just asking as I use logic and have made myself some preset fx chains that i might have been able to give you. Are you using an analyser to check the output on your master, I found it was useful to compare mine to something that you know has been mastered and mixed well just as a start point. Have you compressed the track at all on the master or put heavy compression on your synth bus? could be what i'm hearing. The other thing it could be is the eq'ing, how hard have you eq'd each track sometimes cutting the sub and low on every track(apart from the sub bass and low bass) can free up a lot of space. Also I have been enjoying fab filter Q for eq'ing has some really sweet side/mid eq options. Looking forward to hearing the next incarnation of you track.

 

CHIPSTEP! Some great sounds, man.

 

Hi again futurb- thanks again for your awesome advice! i really do appreciate this-

I have 2 more remixes of this song in my actual project (one after another lol! i start a project and actively remix it as i go!) so any decisions i make about this song and it's mastering directly affect those two other songs, so they will sound better as well after i apply the advice i get here!

I have used the vst Elephant on my master track for final mastering, i found it can add dynamic boost without pumpung or artifacts if you tweak it to each different track.. i also have a final eq on the master track to boost the highs a bit, maybe that is making it sound a certain way? i have tried several "mastering plugs" including Maximus and some from the awesome Waves collection, but i found elephant is pretty good- again, i am a beginner compared to most people here in regard to the technical final part of recoding!! so again i appreciate the help!!


i can always post the track with a clean master track-

I also compress most of my final drum lines after i piece them together into one flat waveform

i do actively cut the unused or unneeded frequencies for each sound file with an eq, but i admit to being lazy in that regard sometimes...usually just the IL stock graphic EQ, i have a few other eq's but i never really have found a big difference in them in the final output, so i will look into the fab filter q you suggested-

really haven't tried utilizing side/mid eq options other than on making vocals come through synth lines or make drum beats pump etc etc..

I do have a few different analyzers, but i guess i never really knew what info to glean from them, other than using them to listen to some professional bought music i really thought sounded great and comparing it to my waveform displays.. it always seems like i am using all the sonic "space", but i really should educate myself about those *lazy pot smoker*



and thanks deadhenderson for the nice comment! glad you like it!

 

I have added the Remastered version, with no limiter and no EQ on the Master track so you can check the difference! and i also made some tweaks here and there! I added in more subbass drops, and took out some sounds and added others.. and added in more reverb and delay to some sounds to better fill up the sonic spectrum!

let me know what you think, and which sounds best-

i think i DO like the re-did newer version- it can be turned up loader with less distortion it seems!

nice!

 

That sounds ultracool...good controlling skills! and the sounds are really good.
I like the rich timbers of all basses. The layering and blends are very creative.
Absolutelly inspiring work.

 

Cool, I could tell straight away just looking at the waveform that I was going to enjoy the re-mastered version, you can see the increase dynamics the difference between the loudest bits and the quietest bits, also you can see the track looks less squashed. If i was going to put an eq on the master bus I might put a litttle cut at 300hz but not much else. But it could well have been the limiter on the master flattening the track. I do try and keep the master track free apart from sometimes a tube plug-in, but it is tempting to stick a limiter on to get that 'pro' loudness but sometimes it can destroy the character/dynamics of the track . Somtimes when I've finished a track I might play around with izotope ozone on the master to give me an idea for fx chains I might use) Also the analyser is good because once you know what what makes yours tracks sound good or different you can use the analyser to check that its there in subsequent tracks, esp. the eq analyser. The mid/side bit i was talking about is an option on some eq's that lets you play with the stereo placement so its different to sidechaining but lfo tool is useful for side chaining if you don't have a compressor with a key input. Anyway well done, you did some good work there and an already enjoyable track is sounding better, will have to get your feedback on some of my tracks soon.

 

thanks again future b for all your help! I am going to get ozone and some other isotope plugs people have recommended to me since i started hanging out here-

i have googled the mid/side approach you talked about and have found lots of material about it- thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

i have tried searching for your music here, but i can;t find any of your posts, got any links for us?



so now that this song is all tightened up, i will start to post the 2 remixes i have for it (they were in the same project so they should sound better too!)

coming soon: The Kicking Up Dirt Sessions Remixes!

Dirty Souls and Buried Alive!