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Hey DSF crew!

New one is in the sig. I would appreciate any feedback that you guys have!

Cheers in advance.

PS - Feedback will be reciprocated.

first of all: awesome idea. awesome awesome idea. the whole concept of the track is really cool.
what i liked most:
- the echoed blip @ the first drop
- the "ooaah" or whatever it is that's in between beats the same way like that blip. that one's my favourite in this track.
- the vocal samples
- general atmosphere
- minimal approach to bassline, lots of sub and just a bit high end. nice. reminds me of those icicle/joker d/kryptic minds (i suppose) basslines.
- how it works perfectly without a melody

now what i didn't like:
- the kick. it sounds... hard to explain, my ears got tired of it really fast and it reminds me of what i thought techno sounded like when i was a kid. it's too tonal i guess, hard to explain. whatever it is, i don't think it's cool.
- the clap. not sharp, not snappy, doesn't really cut through the mix.
- general lack of high end, it sounds... well, like the whole tune's been lowpassed a bit. maybe that's soundcloud's streaming quality
- i think the buildup around 1:30 could fade/echo out longer into the beat, highpassed of course. maybe sidechain that even a bit to get some movement going.
- lastly the bassline. now i said before that it's great, and it is. just a thought tho: for example in the bar @1:54-ish, in the pause that would normally be used by the blip/ooah-sound it goes on a tad differently. but not different enough methinks, maybe distort and highpass that, give it a bit of space via delay or verb to add to the general crispness of the tune.


now i wrote a lot of criticism i know, but don't get me wrong! it just takes fewer words to tell what's already great/finished. i love your idea so far and would like to see it finished (could be a good contender for the planned demo panel!)

lastly, some examples to clarify what i meant with all the high-end stuff:


LOTS of high frequencies going on in those tunes, even though their basslines are fairly dark n minimal.

cheers, hope i could help.

Quite like it but the 'snare' is FAR too quiet. Really annoyed me the whole way through. Would have liked the pads a bit higher in the mix too. Good vocal work in the breakdowns. Gotta agree the track needs a more balanced mixdown and it's a bit *too* minimal. The trick with minimal is to make something sound like there's not much going on with a casual listen but when you pay closer attention there's loads going on beneath the surface keeping it interesting.

Cheers for all the feedback guys!

Having listened to the whole thing on several different sets of speakers now I can see the flaws with the mixdown. Its still a WIP really so Im going to go bck and try some of the suggestions ref adding some high end to the bassline.

And yeah.... the clap does suck a tiny bit gonna be looking at that too.

Once again cheers guys, you have restored my faith in the dubs section!

Peace

The clap - I think it suits the track, it don't need a big whacking snare, but it does need some work. Adding a few layers panned about, could add some really width to it, also some saturation/distortion could give it more presence.

High end - Yeah this tune does need more high end, but not to much, because it would give some brightness to it, this track is dark.

Atmo's - Is great, but I think their could be more of it, more noise, more delay, more pads, but don't go over board with it just a little more.

Style - I like the vibe you got going it's really dark, and moody, but their is no element that makes this track stand out that I would remember, and make me think of it. It's more reminiscent of the old days, but if thats what your going for, your doing it well.

Bass - I love this bassline, and wish I could make them like this

3za wrote: Style - I like the vibe you got going it's really dark, and moody, but their is no element that makes this track stand out that I would remember, and make me think of it. It's more reminiscent of the old days, but if thats what your going for, your doing it well.

that's why it could still be a masterpiece. tunes didn't always have to take the spotlight, remember this one?

i can still brock out to that for hours (especially with tempz on top), but there's not really anything outstanding to it. just drums, bass and space. apart from that blip (of which coincidentally JFK's track also has one )

i'd say before adding other elements finish what you have, there's still time to do a VIP later on.

paravrais wrote:Quite like it but the 'snare' is FAR too quiet. Really annoyed me the whole way through. Would have liked the pads a bit higher in the mix too. Good vocal work in the breakdowns. Gotta agree the track needs a more balanced mixdown and it's a bit *too* minimal. The trick with minimal is to make something sound like there's not much going on with a casual listen but when you pay closer attention there's loads going on beneath the surface keeping it interesting.

The song in your sig is ultimately awesome

3za wrote:The clap - I think it suits the track, it don't need a big whacking snare, but it does need some work. Adding a few layers panned about, could add some really width to it, also some saturation/distortion could give it more presence.

High end - Yeah this tune does need more high end, but not to much, because it would give some brightness to it, this track is dark.

Atmo's - Is great, but I think their could be more of it, more noise, more delay, more pads, but don't go over board with it just a little more.

Style - I like the vibe you got going it's really dark, and moody, but their is no element that makes this track stand out that I would remember, and make me think of it. It's more reminiscent of the old days, but if thats what your going for, your doing it well.

Bass - I love this bassline, and wish I could make them like this

Thanks for the feedback mate! Much appreciated.

If you use Kontakt and want me to tell you how I made the sub then drop me a PM. Thanks again man

I dig it! I agree that the snare is a bit too quiet, and the kick sticks out a bit too much.

I like the minimal vibe, but yeah, it does kinda sound like a loop after a while...I would vary up some patterns and play around with automations; listen to some dub and see how they can keep a minimal loop interesting without editing too much. Keep it up!

Taken the tune down to work on it some more. Cheers for the help so far guys! Will repost when Im done.