LoL I did say exceptions. And I was thinking current EDM, where it always evolves out of existing genres.

But the track is ok. Just a stepping stone on his/her musical journey. Has some cool guitar parts in there. Its in tune and at least it has an arrangement and isnt just a snippet.They'll get better

 

Yep, electronic music is iterative. One must find the exact balance of "new" on a already established style. Bring too few "new" and you-re cookie cutter. Bring too much "new", chances are you just get out of your public's comfort zone, not a setting a trend.

Now, electronic music has it's underground zone (not experimental, just underground) where these rules are slightly loose - not too much though. But this very op track is mainstream. In mainstream you must obey the rules, simple as that. Obey the rules for a year then you feel all the subtleties and you can iterate aka create distinctive productions. Try to reinvent the wheel and you're a new foster.

Also, this track brings nothing new, this is the reason it can't set a trend. Any damn top100 edm track has a little something even though for untrained ear "they all sound the same". So we established it's mainstream, doens't set a trend, doesn't fit any style properly. This track doesn't fit. And honestly, how many artists do you think had set a trend on a genre they don't quite know?

Music evoles at the speed the public is able to to sustain comfortably, this is a fact. It doens't matter who did it first rather who dit it with the best timing.

It would be nice for the op's to mention in the future "I don't plan a music career, i have no idea about styles, i just felt the need to make a track" - at least we know who're we dealing with -- I mean you'll know as I'm out of ferdback biz.

 

@jayxflash Why are you so harsh? It almost seems as if you're pissed off, just because someone thinks differently. I'm not arguing against you, it's nothing personal. Still you behave as if I insulted you?

However, if you really think -as you stated- that only those who do what you say make a music career, it really isn't any more to say in favor or against it. I'm still curious though, where this "absolute thinking" comes from. And why nobody gets help if he doesn't want to start a music career in the business world of EDM? I'm sure there are a lot of people here, that do music not to make a living from it, but because it is their passion. Why shouldn't they get help as well?

To not derail this thread further, I invite you to answer me in a pm. However, I still think you're a nice guy

 

The 1st part of his second post...........................

and this didn't give you any clues then?

Does it have to be? The OP was trying something new to him, which he states at the beginning.

I guess some people can't relate to making music for the joy of doing it, or the joy it may give other people listening to it. Money Money Money..............

 

I suppose I don't expressed myself clearly enough as English is not my native language and frankly I don't even want to explain myself. I don't believe that a very targeted form of help (more snare, less bass) should come from the first track - because will result in a track in "stitches". Music is about dedication. I would like to hear "hey this is my 10th track, what do you think?" I rarely hear that. I only hear "hey this is my first"... And the second is not coming anymore and not for my hostility or other's, but because they give up. Because they must learn shit in order to make the process of making music enjoyable. You're not helping by saying "hey boost 200 Hz 1dB" or "great job", you rather keep them on life support IMHO.

Mainstream music is called "mainstream" because a sub genre lasts roughly one year. Then it blends with something else. People that listen to mainstream have already better alternatives than yesterday's music. They are professional listeners. I use simple terms like "product" and "sales" to describe the overall success of a track, not because I think the sole purpose for making music is money.

But when making music "for fun" I simply don't get why asking for feedback. Is obvious that the first dozen or so of songs will suck. I mean come on, a little self critique? Just putting the track in the context of other similar track and one can realize if the track is good enough or not.

"The joy of making music" - said no one in their first years of making music, ever. At least, no one that after few years wants to get some hundreds of plays and streams.

PS: Guys, I really don't want to look acid, or aggressive or similar. I am just expressing my point of view in this matter. Maybe a professional approach in making music is not the place on this forum, which is totally fine with me.

 

I knew you're a nice guy, and your post proves it! I understand your motivation much better now. You are on these forums much longer than I am and therefore have a lot more experience with the "our music"-forum. I feel your frustration and understand it. Because

this is just true! And experiencing people that give up after song one may not have started at all. But on the other hand, how do we know if the next guy asking for help is dedicated or not? We simply can't. And should we punish those who are because of those who aren't? I hope not.

Me neither. It doesn't need to go into that much detail as to say "mids around 2k should be eq'ed down by 1dB" or whatever. But general tips and tricks won't hurt either. Maybe that guy will surprise you with a second, third and fourth song! And who knows, maybe the op does like your genre specific approach and listens. With my posts I just wanted to point out, that it is not the only way of learning.

You're still into the profession image. It mostly isn't "for fun", as in "not taken serious", but "out of passion". It's like an urge. And when a newbie posts her first song here, it doesn't mean it's the first song ever. Most have already made experiences (although there are exceptions for sure). In the case of the op, he is into metal and wanted to try something different. That might not mean he's dedicated to tropical house, edm or so. He might just want to widen his horizon. And that's a good thing. Don't just look at one genre, it will make you stagnate. You won't get fresh musical ideas, miss interesting drum beats, other ways to transition between parts, etc.

I for one have gone through decades of learning (including the literal bloody fingers while learning to play a steel-stringed guitar, and learning the correct hand posture on a piano -still shake my head when seeing videos of modern keyboard players), and I still suck. I'm still just scratching the surface of music theory. If I can help someone make bigger steps than myself, I will. Music is just too important for this world, than to let it in the hands of a few, of an elite only. And encouragement always works better than punishment. Even dogs are treated so (at least nowadays), and we are human beings.

Let me point out that my last words are NOT IRONIC, but sincere and honest: Thank you for your post, as it made me see your frustration clearer. I understand you now!

 

The arrangement is lacking, you can definitely put alot more hours into this song. Theres still untapped potential here, you just have to dig deep. after that I would say find or make better transition effects. If for some odd reason you decide to keep them please dial back like a few members suggested. Also make sure you cut the 1-2k range since its so boxy. Some of the guitars and synth are fighting for space you might want to make a choice on which to keep.

 

Hahaaa......the superliquidsunshine "shades-wearers" debate forum!........FFFFIGHT!!!

 

How dare you???

 

OK...Let's go at it! If I kick your butt I keep all the microphones and preamps in your studio, if you win you can walk my dog all winter long. Deal?

 

I'm not really qualified to comment on the structure or genre as I don't really know what Tropical House is
However thanks for putting it up as is always good to hear other peoples music .
Personally I don't really think a song always has to fit a certain genre specific formula to appeal.
If people like your stuff enough then they will always find some kind of category within which it can happily reside.
I guess that's also how genres remain dynamic in nature and continually evolving.
However like others have said some genre specific guidelines are generally a wise choice as mostly they are present for a good reason.
I suppose my best advice would be to write, practise as much as you can & take inspiration from as many diverse genres/cultures as possible.
Always take on board the constructive criticism that most people provide and bin the needless negative criticism that serves no purpose whatsoever.
Keep working hard, don't ever give up on your musical ambitions and have fun whilst your doing so.

Thanks for sharing & best of luck

 

Welcome to the Monkey House, @Kloud. I wholeheartedly agree with you on the need to categorize. The appeal of a song stands outside the container, of the tag people would label a piece of music. I wonder why it is so very important to put things in boxes, to designate and classify, to scrutinize, it's just like telling truthful lies.

 

I agree on the genres matter, but there are some guidelines you might want to follow.

Say you want to make hands up, cheesy dance music. Great, but you have to use a strong kick and an offbeat bass (and cheesy vocal samples obviously). It's just how that style developed. Now, if you want to make a hands up track, you want to please the listeners of this particular style. How? By following these simple guidelines. Of course you can talk about experimenting, adding or removing stuff, bla bla, the usual. There are lots of variables here, so there is nothing wrong with doing stuff as you want.

If you want to make a commercial/more approachable style (the discussion is different if we talk about underground, I think Jay mentioned this), than you are kinda forced to do certain things.

There's a but. But what if you don't care about commercial and pop stuff? What if you want to make a tropical house track, the way you want with your current skills and experience? Nobody is holding you, obviously. It won't turn out as a perfect tropical house track, because you still lack the experience and because you wanted to add something yours, or maybe remove a typical sound or whatever you get the point. All my first ten, fifteen tracks were just this: experimenting with stuff trying to do something but I wasn't really sure of the genre/style. Did I care? Not really because of many reasons, one of them being the most important (that others mentioned, especially my mate Teknomage):

I really enjoyed it when I finished the track. Watching my first "serious" song completed, with a good arrangement, and a "kind of" mixing, well, it makes you happy about yourself. And this is the energy that keeps you moving forward. Showing it to relatives and friends or on the internet; hearing what other people think.. Still today, on my MP3, I have loads of my tracks which I'm proud of.

I wanted to make a short post but this turned out big. Let's shorten the attack on the amp envelope on this post: if you are happy about what you're making, don't even care about genres and stuff, it's not like it's your job; if you're happy and are advancing, imo, you still need to know how styles and genres work and developed, and most importantly you need to listen a lot of everything.

This is just my opinion, peace!

 

Deal!! I'd gladly jump at the chance to spend time walkin' down the road with a 'mr. dog'. But, only if he's a 'dog-of-da-good'. If he's not, then I must decline, my good sir.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Marley definitely falls into the 'dog-of-da-good' category. Plus 99% of the time he's good to go without the dang leash. As a matter of fact he decides where he would like to go exploring the great majority of the time. I just tag along. We're all just people, us as well as the other species that we share our spaces and hearts with and we all deserve as much freedom to be ourselves as is possible. I just prompt him at the streets to keep him from getting hit by moving vehicles and from peeing on people's flowers, everything else is all about Marley.

 

I am going to advise you little on the mixing as the first thing that struck me as a shortcoming while I was listening to your music is that it lacks punchiness, energy… Mastering can solve some of this, but only a little. My advice on this is to try to use a stronger side-chaining effect so you can increase the level of the bass and the drum section, specifically the bass drum while also with this you can make the other instruments louder and more prominent, but again you need to adjust the side -chain compressors more toward that specific pumping effect that groves along with the music that is nowadays seem to be very essential. I also agree with the others here about the white noise effect as that is a bit too loud.