First song that lacks mixing problems (I think!)!

NumiGamer · 11-22-2011, 05:54 AM

Not bad I think. I want your opinions. Usually I can pick out mixing errors after I "finish" a track and it's been posted for a week or two, but I can't see anything wrong with it. Plus, I think I did a damn good job for a first attempt at house. Came out kinda trancey, but still. Opinions/ways to improve?

http://soundcloud.com/numi-1/am-i-deadmau5-yet

fido123 · 11-22-2011, 07:22 AM

Commenting on this song pausing as I hear things I think can be improved:

1) The snare during the build up kinda ruins the nice melodic feel. Needs less distortion IMO. Perhaps some undistorted drum sequences?

2) Those distorted snares all around 2:00 are kinda pissing me off again

3) Perhaps add some depth and take it down an octave at the melodic sample after 2:00

Overall pretty good =U

NumiGamer · 11-22-2011, 01:42 PM

While I must say I think they fit in the beginning, I see what you mean in the 2:00 area. As for the down an octave, not a bad thought at all. Now I'm debating going back and working on this track more to make it the very best it can be. Thanks for the input

**midnghtraver** · 11-22-2011, 03:22 PM

Yea, change that snare. I like your synths, and you have good song structure. However, that melody is really generic and predictable. Maybe if you spent more time on making a complex melody...

**Cavernio** · 11-28-2011, 10:57 AM

I don't make music electronically so forgive me if my terminology is wrong.

-When it kicks in at :42, I want more of an oomph. That entire section could use more...tone? I know I can't explain it right, (I'm sure I could if I knew how to make this type of music). I suspect I want a change in the tone of the high-pitched, fast, dinging instrument. I know you're already doing reverb/panning? on it, but I think you need to add more undertones to that instrument there, and probably for the remainder of the song. And I do realize you still want to 'save' something for 2:05, which is why I think you should alter the instrument itself, not just how you're altering reverb. Fido has addressed this too, just in a different place with a dif suggestion. It does get kinda squeaky by the end there.
-You do a pretty good job of this already, but I think you should make the back-to-back repitition a little less rote. eg: :50-:56 is the same as the previous section minus a small melody change at the end. And then you go for it a 3rd time exactly the same as the
1st iteration. But by like 0:53 I'm already waiting for something new. The 4th iteration airplane build-up thing is good for the next section I think though.
If it were me, I would try and add a whole other, probably not very melodic layer, to play around with from :43-1:11 or from :50 onwards or something, and play with THAT to make it not repetitive instead of alter what you already have there.
-basic harmony: I wish I could figure out specific chords to help you more, but I couldn't. So everything works out and sounds ok up until the very last 2 chord changes of the overall 8 bar melody. I'm trying to donk it out on my piano with little success to make another suggestion except that the F chord in the organ has got to go, and quite possibly the preceding D chord. (Errm, F and D on my low tuned piano, it might actually be Fsharp and Dsharp for you.) Maybe change the D chord both times it's played actually, just 1 note difference? Maybe still an F chord even too, but definitely not that F chord.
I know it's hard to make tonal changes to something like this, where it's probably so ingrained in your mind that it should sound the way it is, but I really think you should at least experiment with some other notes there. And honestly, it stands out so much because the I really think you made the first chord progressions sound quite neat.
I think I might know what's going on though...Are you using chords that are 'premade' in the organish part, like you punch in 1 note and out comes a chord? Cuz doing that would definitely explain why it's sounding off there, if you're stuck with some notes by default. Very bad habit to get into. You should turn off that settting/instrument for future songs, or only use it in early stages of your song creation...it will definitely hurt the tonality of pretty much any song you make.
I suppose alternatively you could change the outlying melody and the chords it outlines, but I don't think that's where the problem lies...sounds like you may have already changed the melody there in an attempt to get the overall tone better, but upon finding no nice resolution via altering the melody, put what sounded 'best' in there even if it didn't sound 'good.' (I say this because I have done this myself.)
-at 1:10 don't have the snares until 1:17. Consider changing their rhythm there too.
-2-2:30, again too repetitive. I know you changed the melody, but you gotta have more going on the background, or change your basic chord set in order to keep up the interest. Possibly both. It's very hard to have 'too much' going on for this genre of music, usually the more you have the better for the 'built-up' sections.
-Something as simple as changing volumes of some tracks in some places might help the repitition thing.

So I know there's a lot of criticism there, but I wouldn't have made any critique if I didn't think the song were good in the first place. Overall I think you did a good job. Am a fan of your transitions and the intro, and I like the overall flow and feel and melody. Keep up the good work!

11-22-2011, 07:22 AM	#2
fido123 FFR Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Age: 32 Posts: 4,245	Re: First song that lacks mixing problems (I think!)! Commenting on this song pausing as I hear things I think can be improved: 1) The snare during the build up kinda ruins the nice melodic feel. Needs less distortion IMO. Perhaps some undistorted drum sequences? 2) Those distorted snares all around 2:00 are kinda pissing me off again 3) Perhaps add some depth and take it down an octave at the melodic sample after 2:00 Overall pretty good =U

11-22-2011, 03:22 PM	#4
midnghtraver Icarus Moth Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NYC Age: 28 Posts: 2,064	Re: First song that lacks mixing problems (I think!)! Yea, change that snare. I like your synths, and you have good song structure. However, that melody is really generic and predictable. Maybe if you spent more time on making a complex melody...

11-28-2011, 10:57 AM	#5
Cavernio sunshine and rainbows Join Date: Feb 2006 Age: 41 Posts: 1,987	Re: First song that lacks mixing problems (I think!)! I don't make music electronically so forgive me if my terminology is wrong. -When it kicks in at :42, I want more of an oomph. That entire section could use more...tone? I know I can't explain it right, (I'm sure I could if I knew how to make this type of music). I suspect I want a change in the tone of the high-pitched, fast, dinging instrument. I know you're already doing reverb/panning? on it, but I think you need to add more undertones to that instrument there, and probably for the remainder of the song. And I do realize you still want to 'save' something for 2:05, which is why I think you should alter the instrument itself, not just how you're altering reverb. Fido has addressed this too, just in a different place with a dif suggestion. It does get kinda squeaky by the end there. -You do a pretty good job of this already, but I think you should make the back-to-back repitition a little less rote. eg: :50-:56 is the same as the previous section minus a small melody change at the end. And then you go for it a 3rd time exactly the same as the 1st iteration. But by like 0:53 I'm already waiting for something new. The 4th iteration airplane build-up thing is good for the next section I think though. If it were me, I would try and add a whole other, probably not very melodic layer, to play around with from :43-1:11 or from :50 onwards or something, and play with THAT to make it not repetitive instead of alter what you already have there. -basic harmony: I wish I could figure out specific chords to help you more, but I couldn't. So everything works out and sounds ok up until the very last 2 chord changes of the overall 8 bar melody. I'm trying to donk it out on my piano with little success to make another suggestion except that the F chord in the organ has got to go, and quite possibly the preceding D chord. (Errm, F and D on my low tuned piano, it might actually be Fsharp and Dsharp for you.) Maybe change the D chord both times it's played actually, just 1 note difference? Maybe still an F chord even too, but definitely not that F chord. I know it's hard to make tonal changes to something like this, where it's probably so ingrained in your mind that it should sound the way it is, but I really think you should at least experiment with some other notes there. And honestly, it stands out so much because the I really think you made the first chord progressions sound quite neat. I think I might know what's going on though...Are you using chords that are 'premade' in the organish part, like you punch in 1 note and out comes a chord? Cuz doing that would definitely explain why it's sounding off there, if you're stuck with some notes by default. Very bad habit to get into. You should turn off that settting/instrument for future songs, or only use it in early stages of your song creation...it will definitely hurt the tonality of pretty much any song you make. I suppose alternatively you could change the outlying melody and the chords it outlines, but I don't think that's where the problem lies...sounds like you may have already changed the melody there in an attempt to get the overall tone better, but upon finding no nice resolution via altering the melody, put what sounded 'best' in there even if it didn't sound 'good.' (I say this because I have done this myself.) -at 1:10 don't have the snares until 1:17. Consider changing their rhythm there too. -2-2:30, again too repetitive. I know you changed the melody, but you gotta have more going on the background, or change your basic chord set in order to keep up the interest. Possibly both. It's very hard to have 'too much' going on for this genre of music, usually the more you have the better for the 'built-up' sections. -Something as simple as changing volumes of some tracks in some places might help the repitition thing. So I know there's a lot of criticism there, but I wouldn't have made any critique if I didn't think the song were good in the first place. Overall I think you did a good job. Am a fan of your transitions and the intro, and I like the overall flow and feel and melody. Keep up the good work!

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