Just finished one likkle sound system banger I want to share with you. Hope you like it
Enjoy and get madder
One Love

Edit: Bass and minor fixes. Better?



Dubwise out

 

Last edited: Apr 12, 2022

Is this a new trend in dub music to have no bass?

 

This would surely skank hard in a session ! Good job

 

Thanks mate, glad you like it!
One love

 

This is what happens when mixing with KRK monitors

 

Hmmm.. mixed on HS8. Proofed on the Justice Rivah Sound System and 2 Club PA. So I'm interrested indeed whats wrong with that bass. Always willing to improve things

 

Doh K, I have to admit there was a lack of airmoving in the bass indeed. Should be nuff better now, please give it another shot and let me know.
And just want to mention, I post my tunes here cause smtms people give really useful advice here and I learn a lot. So keep in mind that the only information one can extract from critics like "Is this a new trend in dub music to have no bass?" or "This is what happens when mixing with KRK monitors" that smtng might be wrong. Just tell me my bass sucks and, if you know it, why. But thank you anyway, this answers made me relisten, rethink, rework, and I hope its more eggshaking now.
Audiosex rocks
1 love

 

Bit of feeback, appreciate you are going for a modern DUB sound but would give it a breakdown, have just the bassline playing before bringing back the other elements and maybe a siren or vocal thrown in occasionally to add interest and maybe an oldskool jungle type snare pattern, also the kick is perhaps a bit busy all the way through and maybe too clicky an attack. Maybe take the reverb off the chord stab now and again or add tape delay, maybe try something more organ sounding or less static?

 

Brrupp, thats wha I call detailled opinion! Give Thanks
yehea, its called Stepper. If you listen to other works of mine, especially the dubwises, you may notice i've alredy implemented some of yuh hints, I can follow yuh thoughts. And I've got a nice Siren. And I like the Kick but yes, maybe its a bit too prominent.
So let me explain how it comes to this:
I HATE Dub-Techno. And I hate how many good Sounds play this cheesy shit smtimes. So, as i'm natively from the Jungle/Techno side, I tryed to show my mates on Justice Rivah you can make cheezy tech stuff with still some real roots inside (don't know if I did it). Cause I love Dub and I love Techno. And I fkn HATE whats called Dub-Techno. Cauze its STEPPA, baby
But when pple start makin fun of my bass I get depression and can't sleep, so I REALLY hope its more suitable to most systems now
Give thanks, @grabme , for takin yuh time to think about my work
Aaand, I've posted this by mood yesterday, but maybe i'm gonna make a dubwise of this too, where I can come back to throws and sirens and cutouts like you've said.
1 love

 

I think you need to work on multiple fronts: there are a bit too much mids so the song still sounds very mid-rangey (for any pop music standards for that matter, not just for dub). When the midrange is just a tiny bit more powerful than the subs, it masks the perception of the subs - it’s a very subtle balancing act to nail the tonal balance perfectly

And therefore the oomph is just there but doesnt feel like a “heavy” meaty, ballsy bass. And this is another aspect: bass must be more tightly controlled in the lowest octaves and needs a bit of thickening in the upper octaves. Can’t say more as the solution is always context-dependent.

Finally, I have great troubles in picking up the kick drum. It has just that tock in the midrange and I have no clue if there is something in the low end. If there is, needs proper sidechain of the bass and more or less the same rms, to carry similar as the bass. It will also help with the groove.

Maybe my taste is different, but this is how I’d approach the song for a beefier sound.

 

DUBWISE OUT

 

Nice one, it changes from what I listen usually, really like it as it is, just some suggestions:

- On the bass track (and on the bass track only) you could try to play with (tape?) distortion / overdrive / bit crusher, like for example add a rythmic spike of it at some moment (for the chorus?) to enhance greatly the energy and "urgency" of your song.

- ...It lacks vocals! Your song is exactly the kind of where vocals could be very welcome and really enjoyable, so I had a "strange" idea about it, perhaps you will found it stupid, but I submit it to you exactly as it came:

There do is great Jamaican poets (examples: here and here), so you could try, during the couplets, to flow in some spoken verses / extracts from old or contemporary poems. Here, the spoken words have to be subtle, nothing prominent (What about a dark, profound male voice with a lot of delay / echoes?). I'm pretty sure this addition alone could give to your song a special dimension and could transcend the "dance" aspect.

And for the choruses, I think you should try to put some female voice, no need to be a complicated thing, it could be just a short phrase, or even a single word, the only important thing is that it should be a very melodic, sweet hook, if possible in relationship with the theme / ambiance of the couplets (or "verses", but I prefer to say "couplets" to not be confused with the verses of the classical poems)...

It seems complicated, but in fact it could be very simple: you could decide that at some moments of your song, you add a dark male voice who speaks short poems: this is the couplets. Then you could decide that at some other moments, you put a nice melody, song by a sensual / spiritual female voice: this is the choruses. That's all.

 

I liked it. I might try a little something on your kick to make it less clean sounding. you have one little ghost/sidestick pattern that is a little bit off beat, because it was played that way. But you might be able to take a tiny bit of the bottom off that sample and have it sit nicer. it's a little "clunky" because of the rhythm of the sample. it sounds good. Is it Falcon in there on your drums? nice.

 

Thank y'all for takin yuh time to listen that careful and all those constructive critics and suggestions!! As some are matter of taste, some hints of you point out some technical issues in a very useful way. I'm reading. I'm reflecting. I try to fix things, starting at measuring and treating my crappy room.
Nuff love for all the feedback!