Thanks to people on this forum for already giving me great advice in my older posts. I struggled with completing songs. It was not until people here helped me out that I could do it.

Now I've finished 2 tracks and I want to improve. Where can I improve? Based on what you hear in these tracks I made.

Track 1


Track 2


Edit: Distortion and loudness problem fixed.

 

Last edited: Aug 27, 2021

Bro the level is insanely hot in a bad way !! do you not hear the distortion ? maybe im too old lol
Anyway the melody is ok and the drums too ,it goes well with your energetic intension lol ..maybe too repetitive ,its basically 4chords so try to make a real pause , i mean much longer that your break to create tension use pad and rise fx ...theres my 2cent , Good luck

 

Thanks for the advice, yeah I guess it is has to be energetic anyway to be an EDM track I just named it that randomly. Not sure why its distorted like that. I guess I exported it in a bad way. I'm a beginner at this. I'll export it again and re-upload.

Do you mean the "bridge" right before the final chorus? Is that what you refer to as the break? I should make that section longer?

Edit: the distortion was because Soundcloud reduces sound quality, which I did not know. Solved now.

 

Last edited: Aug 20, 2021

You need a lot more work on it, firstly it is way!!! too loud and distorted to beyond endurability, it was painful at average listening level. Realize listening at high levels damages your hearing, more so if it is as distorted as this. A suggestion would be to get an appointment to have your hearing checked, once the damage is done it is too late for regrets, Protecting ones hearing is a musicians first priority and their livelihood. It doesn't matter if you're mixing thru headphones,just keep the levels lower and clear.

 

Re-uploaded. No distortion.

 

I fixed it now.

 

Hey, I think you made great progress from the last time you posted.

I like the piano harmonies (the progression is ok) and everything else fits. Especially like the second one. I think the ingredients are all there.
Ways to improve IMO:

The first one - melodies don't really imply each other. I feel there should be either some kind of connection ..or contrast between them. Give the lead sound of the "main" melody more powerful sound. There are blocks of 16 bars where nothing happens (repetitiveness), and infinite ways of dealing with it, like light percussion, a plucked counterpoint melody on the second 8 bars. Automate volume, filter, pitch, delay.. Add "ear candy", risers, downfalls, sfx..

The second one - like it! I think it could turn out really nice, I would work on that one. Remember, like others said - (sometimes) less is more. Try also subtracting elements, don't just add things.

As said, great improvement. Thanx for posting and good luck!

 

I will just add you should think about adding more "Space". reverb, delay, but also panning and volume to give stuff it's own spaces.
if anything but intended elements is dead center, consider moving it anyway. 3-5% pan max, where you almost won't even notice; but often you can get away with more than you would expect. over the course of a big mix it can really help seperate things, especially if you are layering lots of stuff already.

 

Thanks a lot! Thanks for helping me from the beginning.

The first track was my first try at making a full EDM track and I was clueless. I was still experimenting. I made the second track by analysing some popular EDM songs to see what certain producers keep the same during the song and what is made different. I think I understand arrangement better now after few years of not understanding it. I agree the first track needs a more powerful lead now that I think about it.

Thanks for suggesting so many methods I can use to fix the repetitiveness, I appreciate your help. I will look into all of these.

Thank you! I really need to work on mixing more, I just got the hang of composition. That's a great idea, I could pan some elements and add reverb to instruments and the percussion and cymbal loop.

Thank you for also being someone who gave me advice from the beginning.

 

You are a beginner and we can hear it. But we've all been there before we got some releases. So not to worry. Obviously the mix isn't quite there. You could try to ad reverb to synths (for instance the lead). It all sounds really dry and just like presets been thrown in. Again, we've all been there.

The best tip i can give you at this stage is; buy sample magic AB, throw a professional track in and compare it to yours. Then you here what levels are out, of you lack something (bass), depth (reverb) etc.

A professional level does not come in a day... it probably take years from now on... not to discourage you but i am just being realistic. Just take your time and learn everyday.

 

Thank you for your feedback. I will certainly look into that plugin for reference tracks to improving my mixing/ mastering. I don't mind to wait years to learn to mix properly, it took me years just to make full songs at all