The result of a good 2 nites of work

[Kudos]

Folks, have a listen to one of my projects. I started it probably a couple of months ago, and like all my projects, I return to them to work on them some more. This one was left a bit basic with crap bits in it, but in the last 48 hours I've managed to turn it on it head and it's sounding...well...like I'm finding my sound!

get it from http://homepage.ntlworld.com/k_u_d_o_s/AllMix3.mp3 (6039Kb).

I've done the best I could to get it sounding as close to a properly mastered track (I went to all the trouble of compressing and tweaking just to get a good output, but I'm still on a learning curve! I think the bass needs clearing up a bit, and I think the kick needs to come in a few fractions of a millisecond earlier (amongst other things to tighten up).

I just can't seem to get the volume of the output to a level which matches ripped mp3's from CD's. I've tried normalising, and things like Waves UltraMaximiser. Any tips on how to get it boosted properly?

Also, any comments on the music itself also welcome :smokingrasta:

K

 

[andrew]

hey kudos -

you 're got some really nice sounds here! - the main thing i think needs work is the rhythm section - not sure if it's the mp3 but i couldn't hear a kick drum in the mix really. The bass could do with more punch. try varying your high hat patterns, and that snare , either is the wrong one or needs to sit in the mix differently , perhaps use some reverb!! also some more percussion would be better.. finally - i think you could do with a few more breaks, to keep the listener interested..

keep at it matey!!!!

andrew

 

[Abstraction]

yes this is a fine track indeed, but i'm with andrew - i cant hear the kick most of the time and your bass needs more BASS.

i love the intro, and i love the lead sounds. brilliant.

also if your having a problem getting it as loud as you would like it, make sure you have EQed everything so that the whole frequency range is being used as much as possible all the time. good eq is, i find, as important as dynamics processing if your going for loudness.

:sun:

 

[Kudos]

Yeah, I've already had a go at getting a better sound, and I've dramatically improved the bass. The kick still needs some work, but it's definately clearer at the moment now. I think it's not so clear because it's tuned to the bass at the same frequency. It's a very clean kick (one that I made myself), and bass end of it is mostly at one pitch. I shall have to try other kicks out - one that doesn't have a definate pitch would probably work better methinks.

I've realised that what can limit the track having enough volume, is having some parts louder than the kick/bass. Looking at the waveform of other tracks in Traktor for instance, gives me a good idea of how loud the kick should be - nothing else seems to be louder than it. I noticed when I normalised my track as an mp3, there was something limiting it, and it turned out to be one of the parts at the very begging which was going through a filter with too much resonance, so it was screaming for a split second causing a massive (but just a blip long) peak in the audio. This prompted me to go through each part and check that they weren't peaking louder than the kick.

There aren't very many breaks in it because the clip I produced for you guys to hear was simply the project as it is - unfinished. I' m the sort that tends to start from the middle, building up layers of sounds which all go together well and then I arrange it out to a full track later on. Certainly what I've got here has easy potential and I doubt I'll have a problem arranging it.

I can't help thinking that it's sounding SO much like Infected Mushroom. Every time I jam along to it looking for a new sound it just sounds more and more mushroomy. Maybe I should just go ahead and let it turn out mushroomy - I just don't want to be considered a copycat that's all!

K

 

[Faction]

Don't worry about that... just write the music that comes naturally to you and you'll find that (although you might not) people will see your personality and original creativity shine through.

Hell... it worked for me and all I wanted to do at the beginning was sound like Simon P.!

I'm sure other people will have other ideas but if you're worried about sounding too much like other people, I'm afraid the only suggestion I have is to listen to trance without trying to find out who wrote particular tracks you like. That way at least you won't focus on particular artists, and it might open you up to music you might not have paid so much attention to before.

Opinions, not facts...

 

[JPsychodelicacy]

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Kudos @ Jan 17 2004, 10:07 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> I can't help thinking that it's sounding SO much like Infected Mushroom.... [/quote:7fcd43172a]
Well, as long as it doesn't go into an endlessly strokey-chin noodling lead section with Tim Burton movie-style choir sweeps, you should be OK.

Seriously though, you've got to expect your early stuff to wear some of your influences on it's sleeve. When working within a genre, it's hard to get a distinctive sound right away, because what comprises the genre is the stuff that's already out there - it's subconscious, and you may not even realise you're doing it (Edit - When Colin started, Simon P practically *was* the genre!).

I'd agree with the others that the kick drum needs a little more punch (sometimes turning it up and fiddling with EQ is all that's needed), and that a little more variation would be nice, but your sound is really crisp and clean, and you've got some really nice 'creeping tendril'-style leads going on in there.

Looking forward to hearin how this one progresses...

J.