Collab with newbie? - progressive, melodic, trance

[therealchimmike]

Anyone interested in collaborating with me, a newbie to ableton live intro?
Critique, tips, tricks, guidance all welcome.

I'm a hobbyist. Not looking to make a career, just make some good music. Progressive, melodic, trance, chill.
Influences: lane 8, yotto, A&B, old school Oakenfold, Dinka, BT, Myon, etc.

[therealchimmike]

https://soundcloud.com/user-505573888/c ... incomplete

^the track. incomplete, needs a pad or synth lead badly, I think. Also doesn't have the depth that I want.

[mrblackbat]

Hey there, I'm probably in a similar position, though time restraints probably mean I can't actively collaborate much!

In my opinion there's a lot to be said for working withing the limitations of Live Intro, though I think the limited number of scenes would end up bugging me.

On your track, haven't had chance to listen on proper speakers yet, so I'll comment on musical ideas rather than production etc. As such this is all entirely subjective based on my opinipn, no rights and wrongs!

I like the intro, especially the little stutter on the drums. However to keep that fresh, I might consider also creating another loop without it, you can then drop it in at key moments to surprise.

I also felt that the drop out at 1:35ish was perhaps a little early for me, it felt like there's a lot of potential for exploration of the main groove first.

With the ideas at 3:11 that felt quite jarring; I like the idea itself but perhaps one to set aside for another track?

[therealchimmike]

Thank you for the feedback!
I decidedly gave it a different feel at the later point in the track, but if listeners find it jarring I need to revisit.
It's also obvious to the ear that I gained a little bit of skill as I developed the later portions.

Here's the complete version. I feel like I got creative block on it and I still think it needs a synth or pad lead in there.

https://soundcloud.com/user-505573888/c ... k-complete

[mrblackbat]

I wouldn't over think it, you have a finished track!

The Ableton book 74 Creative Idea is available still here https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/ideas-o ... usic-home/ and there are some sections in there that I find useful, particularly on finishing (which is my main problem). Essentially, they make the suggestion that finishing songs requires practise and so making more tracks and finishing them is the only way to get better at it.

I think there's quite a lot of merit in just closing the projec and declaring it finished, then moving on to something else (though I really struggle as shown by the fact I'm still messing about on this song https://soundcloud.com/matthew-darwin-2 ... =clipboard). One tip to force this behaviour that works for me, is to back up the files to an external NAS or the cloud or something, then delete them (once you've validated the backup!) from your laptop. That way, it takes a bit of time to copy it back down to your machine to re-work on it, which might be annoying enough to force you into working on something else!

So I'd move on to something else, and by doing so, you may end up having the inspiration that really allows you to finish this track!

[jujuonthebeat]

Hey. Like the idea. I'm a newbie too but some thoughts as I was listening:

Drums in intro: Clap is a little too sharp in contrast to the rest of the drum beat. Also the drums could use more finesse - it sounds like a pretty straightforward beat albeit with the slight stutter, but think it starts to get boring after a while so it could be worth trying to vary the beat

1:17 transition: Needs a little more depth here, seems a little abrupt / doesn't quite flow smoothly or build the anticipation for the next portion