Sleepless Dreaming - Moranimal

[Moranimal]

I don't really know how to define my sound yet, nor do I really think this track is exactly the sound I'm looking for. I am however looking for feedback, tips, and suggestions to see what direction I am going in.

-Thanks
Soundcloud

[ReachZenith]

I like your ideas in here, though as far as things to look at that you could work on perhaps would be at the 26 sec mark and your drums. The spike at sec 26 was a tad harsh to me compared to what was happening before it, maybe a reverse crash would help that a wee bit. The drums need some work as far as how punchy and how well they cut through the mix. I can't really hear to much of the snare. Work with eqing and maybe some compression to help with that. Hope this helps and I hope I didn't come across as a douche. Good luck and keep at it man!

[Moranimal]

no doucheness taken, it's what I'm looking for. This is my first real track that I've been able to finish, I'm still trying to figure out how to give it the right sound in some spots. Like I can't seem to make my drops hard enough or really slam the way I want

[ReachZenith]

Try using a crash cymbal and really experiment with your sub at your drop, it'll help with the whole "kick in the chest" feel that you might be looking for. Also using a sweep along with your kick build up will add emphasis to your drop.

[Moranimal]

Some people say to resample? I'm not quite sure what they mean

[ReachZenith]

I'm not so sure resampling is needed for this style. I don't do it in any of my tracks, but resampling is, simply put, layers of sounds on top of each other to make a really beefy sound but the rest of your track would need to sound just as full or else it can sound a bit off. Look up Dodge & Fuski Tutorials on YouTube they explain DubStep production really well. I learned a lot from them.

[Moranimal]

Thank you, that's what I was looking for

[Moranimal]

So should i be using reason instead of fl studio?

[extremesociety]

Use whatever you know how to get the best results from. Both Reason and FL Studio are competent programs to make the musicz on.

[ReachZenith]

I actually use FL Studio, and it just takes time to learn everything that a/the program has to offer. Just gotta be patient and keep at it, the knowledge and skill come with time.

[AdamRhodes]

What sequencer do you use?

[AdamRhodes]

Sorry, just noticed that you put FL Studio.....

[extremesociety]

I'm a Logic guy.

[Moranimal]

I just bought a mpd 32, any tips on how to set it up and use it to make dub? I'm a little confused. I've seen videos of people using it really well, however I can't achieve the same results.

[ENDIGO]

First off, I freakin' love that segment you have at the very beginning. The composition of the drums, the high-passed guitar, and the eclectic sample underlying the rhythm. The most helpful thing I've picked up when learning how to eq and mix was to use reference audio as well as visual aids to remember frequency ranges, as hints on where to adjust volume and eq. In other words

Reference Audio -> pick your top 5 favorite tracks, preferably ones that you think are mixed/mastered really well. Listen to them on repeat on your speakers, and learn how your speakers react to these tracks. Play them at different volumes, learn the sweet spots of your speakers (like, how loud they have to be for the sub bass to come clean WITH the snares for example; different speakers have different sweet spots, and knowing what your speakers' sweet spots are will give you a world of knowledge on how loud and how soft you should mix each component of your track).

Visual Aids -> In Ableton, there's a utility called "Spectrum", which probably has different names in different DOW's, but I know it's a common utility that FL studio has in some form. In a nutshell, it tells you what frequencies are being played at what volume in realtime. If you learn your speakers' sweetspots, and you feel the sub bass too loud, you can usually see what this looks like in the Spectrum Analyzer. Simply by turning the subs down until you hear it more balanced, you'll start to see what it SHOULD look like in the spectrum analyzer. Similarly, you can use a simple EQ on a synth to cut out the subs, and you'll see what this does in the spectrum analyzer very quickly.

As far as overall volume, it's something that people forget is RELATIVE. If your track begins very softly, a louder drop will always hit hard. Not the other way around. For example, on this track, look at the wave form image on this track's soundcloud embed at the top of this thread. At the 26 second mark, you have a substantial increase in overall volume with the jagged synth until about 33 seconds, and then it goes back down in volume. If you simply turn down the volume in that quick section, everything thereafter will have a higher PERCEIVED volume. If you follow that principle throughout your track you'll immediately begin to see better results, and those drops will be that much closer to having the power you're looking for. Remember, to make something sound louder, you have the option of making everything else softer