Dubstepforum.com

@ GV1 : Sure, i'll send it you over soundcloud now

Okay i finished the track (i think), have much improved the eq from the last attempt
only thing i'm not happy with is the middle break section, any suggestions?

Soundcloud

@sniperdubb : Has potential, not really keen on that main high pitched noise you have though, i thinkyou should either have less of it BUT be more in your face/dirty when it does come in, or just change it for something else. Just my 2 cents though, from .48 onwards it rolls quite nicely.

@acrap : Really impressive considering you have only been producing 3 weeks ago. I love the build up just before the drop from :28 onwards. Some of the bass sounds could do with a little tweaking i think but overall great.

@masterjr : Great production, I think the snare needs some more oomph in it during the bassy parts however, make those drums stand out more imo

acrap wrote:@ mikeyp nice build up and vocals man, i think im putting vocals in my next track im still a newb.

thanks! and for your tune, you JUST started? man I didn't know how to make a melody three weeks in..or even three months in. intro sounds nice.
you should fatten up your yois and shit for the drop. sounds like you're using massive, mess with the voicing (voicing tab - increase the unisono # a little bit) and maybe add a tube to give them a little life.

i just started producing 3 weeks ago yeah, i appreciate all the positive feedback from you guys i have alot of spare time on my hands so im constantly watching a shit ton of youtube videos. i never liked fruityloops for some reason ableton seems so much smooth imo. i was only on fl about 2 weeks and been on ableton this past week trying to get the hang of it. was wondering if you guys knew any free dubstep sample packs other than vengeance and where to get them?

@ Macdaddy1129 - pretty cool intro , it gives a nice trancy feeling, at the drop i think the first sound is too distorted, the growl and the reese bass that comes afterwords sound a whole lot better, i personally would mess around with them a bit more

@ deafblindmusic - oh man really nice build up into the first drop, i was expecting something a bit heavier but that still sounded cool, love the atmoshpere of this one

@ stranger_sounds - quality work man, the vocals and the string give a warm fuzzy feeling inside ...like that string variation at about 1:30

Started this new project with a more darkstep feeling, i know i still have to work on the mixdown a bit more, its a bit o a mess at the moment. What do you guys think?

Soundcloud

@hudson

Love the sub bass and how the track slowly unfolds over time. My only suggestion is work on the voices that come in around 3:00. The attack makes them sound like a samples being triggered more than real voices and it sounds kinda cheezy. maybe some reversed voices might be cool too. If it's a synthesized voice, maybe think about getting a sample of a real singer and throw it in a sampler.

@danimal

Loved the sounds. they're all great. Maybe work on the sub bass a bit. My only big suggestion is theres a huge break from 2:05 to 3:40 and it kinda just drags on. I liked your main breakdown so much that I definitely think you can add more of that and less of that little rest section. Mostly I guess if I were you I'd work more on the song structure a bit more.

@craggle

Loved the lead bass sound. the scratchy fuzzy one. It's just over whelming. Along with the other swell sound. The main thing your song needs is more dynamics. More variations in volume. As soon as the song starts it sits a a forte or a fortissimo sound. get it down to a least a mezzo piano as some point in the song. This is something I've noticed while working with a DAW as opposed to playing live with a band. With a band it's so easy to get dynamics because you can do it by just, for example, on guitar strumming softly. In a DAW you have to set velocities in MIDI, work with synth sounds, automate volume and it can just be tedious. Sorry about the rant. Hope my advice helped


For my song, feel free to tear it apart. I definitely don't mind hearing harsh criticism(the song directly below is the WIP)
Soundcloud

Gonna go with live feedback on these, gents, so I'll type as I listen.

@Cryokinesis

First off, awesome name. Secondly, your track Substance D (Which I sincerely hope is a Scanner Darkly reference) ... Listening now. Digging the intro, nice and thick. Variety right where it needs to be, but not enough drums. A bit too much kick where toms could be. If you're gonna give it that much kick, at least have some other percussion in the background to distract from it, because kick overload makes groove hard to find. Drums in general need a lot of work. Look up "Rusko Masterclass" on youtube; he gives a lot of good tips about drum work. The drums sound okay, but they're way too straight. Need some syncopation on there. Dubstep is mainly about the drums since the bass tends to repeat itself, so make the drums sexy. Also, countermelody would be nice, even faintly in the back.

@Stranger Sounds

On your track One Day... Really loving the vocals. Give it a nice bit of flavour. Drums sound excellent. Very groovy, lots of good nature sounds for ambience... I'm concerned that the intro might go on a bit more. Might be a tad repetitive, even with the additional vocal lines. Kind of predictable after a while. Maybe either drop it like it's hot, or add some more instruments. Yeah, definitely goes a bit longer than needed. Gets a bit boring after a while, and makes me not want to listen to it anymore. Skipped ahead a bit on the waveform... Yeah man, change up that vocal sample, the "Uh-hooo". I get tired of it after a bit, imo.

@Db123

This groove makes me so happy. I can't stop smiling right now. On Arabesque, btw. Don't ever modify those synth sounds, they sound perfect as they are. AAAAH THAT DROP. YES PLEASE. PERFECT. DO NOT CHANGE THAT EVER. Skipping ahead a bit... Dude, there is nothing wrong with this song so far to my ears xD I friggin' love it. Nice kick roll. This makes me happy. God, that was a wonderful song. Next...

Suck My face - Aaah, yay, classic Rusko style reggae. Please check out my song a few posts back, it has the same kinda feature. Oh, sup Massive wobble bass. Not too happy about that buildup, but extremely happy about all the lovely panned synth sounds I am hearing, as well as the "vocals". Keep the panning as is, I like it. I like the arpeggio thing. Ooooh, no no no! That's not where the claps go! Other beat! Not the upbeat, the downbeat! Anyway, drop time. I love your drops, they're so friggin original. I'd like moar bass in the mix please, a lot more 80-200k. Even if it's just a low low low drone in the background playing one note, anything to get that bass fix.

Alright, and here's my new track. I'm very aware the drums suck right now; they're in progress, no worries. I also know the drop is a bit weak, but in fairness, it's my first drop, and I'm working on making it not suck. Any feedback is welcome, as long as it's constructive, meaning, don't tell me, "I don't like that synth.", tell me WHY you don't like the synth, etc. Enjoy!

Soundcloud

@stranger sounds, it sounds good. I like the vibe on the tracks and it comes together well.

@cryokenesis, I like the heaviness but it needs to be tamed with some eq. Theres some low mid freq in there that could make it heavier too. I like when you go 4 4 on the hat

@db123 the strings sound great, thats what Im into too. Composition. Tune grooves great. The bass doesnt fit quite. Its too tight of a sound. If you loosened it up here and there it could sound better. And switch up the 16 note LFO it goes no where. But I love the orchestration.

Heres my really short WIP its sorta DatsikishSoundcloud

THANKS FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK

@JTL i like how you thought to use the vocals. i think this could be really really good. i'm not too keen on the snare sample. but the faster drums near the end are quality. the mix needs work. nothing really seems to have any real presence in my opinion. Would love to hear the finished track!!

@BudSpencertron new orleans has gone straight in my favourites. really chilled vibe

@AndreiStephen Thanks man. which track?? its either a "Massive" or "Logic" sample that i've played with depending on which track.. your track - not really my preferred style but either way. idea sounds good. love the little bit at 0:20 but the mix seems quite harsh to me. lts of high frequencies. also. pump that sub mate.

@retop56 cheers. i like it. definitely could do with some filth. in my opinion you should pull back that high pitched bell like synth. its just a bit much. i'm not keen on the piano or whatever it is that starts from the beggining. something about it just doesn't sound "right". maype put it up an octave. i don't know... really good basis to work from though. nice work!

Soundcloud

Soundcloud

I don't think this warrants a separate thread but it's good advice... i think

last night somebody told me that taking the time to eq a kick or a bass before you have the track the way you want it. Let the drums and bass be muddy until you have a good drum pattern and bassline. I dunno, it really seems to have helped me since after reading the moneyshot thread I spent way too much time eqing all the elements in a track before actually getting down to writing a good song. The point is, why would you eq a drum before you know what the bassline is going to to? They're going to have to work together after all so you have to eq them to eachother and not one to the other. I hope that makes sense.

tuckerlinen wrote:I don't think this warrants a separate thread but it's good advice... i think

last night somebody told me that taking the time to eq a kick or a bass before you have the track the way you want it. Let the drums and bass be muddy until you have a good drum pattern and bassline. I dunno, it really seems to have helped me since after reading the moneyshot thread I spent way too much time eqing all the elements in a track before actually getting down to writing a good song. The point is, why would you eq a drum before you know what the bassline is going to to? They're going to have to work together after all so you have to eq them to eachother and not one to the other. I hope that makes sense.

yea man thats the point. you can clean up your sounds a bit before you build your track but you cant MIX the elements seperately. then yea its best to start with the low end. its partly because they are going to have to be louder in the mix due to the way our ears work. look up "fletcher munson curves" if you wanna find out more. its also harder to tell whats masking what in the low end if you have loads of higher frequency elements on top of it. i pretty much always mix bass, kick and snare first.....use the kick as a reference for the rest of the kit etc..... hope that helps anyone who cares!!

I like to do both, eq the drum and find a hard hitting one and then see where the bass is at. If anything its your sub conflicting with the kick. Thats a whole different story.

totoro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

paradigm001 wrote:I like to do both, eq the drum and find a hard hitting one and then see where the bass is at. If anything its your sub conflicting with the kick. Thats a whole different story.

don't know if I'd call it a different story. you do it the way the guy told him to try and prevent that problem. either way its either fixed with EQ or/and side-chaining. its still all mixing. an important bit as well. i ain't saying it as an arguement. more like "advise". well worth looking into though. http://www.tangible-technology.com/arti ... manage.htm might be useful

Standby wrote:

paradigm001 wrote:I like to do both, eq the drum and find a hard hitting one and then see where the bass is at. If anything its your sub conflicting with the kick. Thats a whole different story.

don't know if I'd call it a different story. you do it the way the guy told him to try and prevent that problem. either way its either fixed with EQ or/and side-chaining. its still all mixing. an important bit as well. i ain't saying it as an arguement. more like "advise". well worth looking into though. http://www.tangible-technology.com/arti ... manage.htm might be useful

Percussion is usually the first element of any track I produce, so I generally always do some level of up-front EQ, even before anything else is introduced. Like, you pretty much KNOW your sub is going to be hitting around 30-80HZ, so scoop your kick up front innit Everything else that's none-bass related is rolled off from 200hz up, and then slowly refine as more and more elements are added.

Heavy stuff, thanks for the link. Exactly the sort of thing I like to read.

@deafblindmusic love it. love the bass. Nice work!!

@paradigm001 nice melodies and general atmoshere. have to be honest though. i don't like it at all from 2:50 bit too all over the place, if you know what i mean.

mikeyp nice sample. drums sound a bit weak but it might be because of the level of the main synth seems to be covering quite a large frequency range. if you do that then you might wanna bring the vocals down(they're a bit harsh every now and then). i don't know but thats one suggestion.

NEW WIP
Soundcloud

@Standby Loving the funky vibe on this one. Great percs. I sequenced something similar in my WIP I think that one's worth continuing with (if you're thinking about ditching it). Rolls nicely.

@paradigm synths need to be turned down, too messy. But boy this one's filthy. Love it when it drops, just need to fix the mix badly... Show me the finished product!

@R3N3GADE lol, I'm a sucker for 8-bit sounding synths like that, absolutely adore them. Nice arp over the top too.. Where are the hihats??? Needs variation but shows promise. Did you program the synth yourself? Add in a hat after 8 bars and watch the track come alive. Drop lacks oomph, I'd like to see the synth from the first half continued over maybe? Somehow cut up.

Here's my new version of the WIP as of today, please leave a comment guys, I'm starting to think this is nearing completion... what do you all think of it? It'll be my first track that I can honestly call "finished"
Needs a mixdown/master (not sure entirely how to do either, will have to read!). Thanks lads!

WIP:

Soundcloud

jtl i fucking love that track man. good job

& thank you guys for all the feedback, I think i'll be submitting it to the contest tonight