Review my track and I'll review yours!

[dutcher]

Really looking for some feedback on this instrumentally track. Hate away! The more the better. Link me with something of yours to listen to when you respond.

http://soundcloud.com/matt-dutcher/kindling-remix

[Muzik 4 Machines]

that piano is way too loud, especially since the sound is not that incredible, putting it more in the Back would help "hiding" i's stiffiness (low chords are fine soundwise, but the hi part is just getting on my nerves, both are way too loud
the overall song: its REALLY LOUD, like too much limiting, there is absolutely 0 dynamics

great natural sounding drums, i love the snare sample

to much chimes and stereo percs to my taste
bass could use some definition, maybe a little dirt blended in would help it sit better in the lower midrange


edit pick any from my last album
http://soundcloud.com/muzik-4-machines/ ... r-mammals/

[citizenchris099]

I would tend to agree w/Muzik 4 Machines assessment of the dynamics or rather lack there of. Everything sits way to high in the mix leaving little room for subtlety. This may have been what you were going for though the for the most part this seems like a laid back song...a loud laid back song which is a bit of a contradiction. Its a decent track to be sure though I actually prefer the original take over the remix.

My track is linked in my signature. Let me know what you think.

[dutcher]

that piano is way too loud, especially since the sound is not that incredible, putting it more in the Back would help "hiding" i's stiffiness (low chords are fine soundwise, but the hi part is just getting on my nerves, both are way too loud
the overall song: its REALLY LOUD, like too much limiting, there is absolutely 0 dynamics

great natural sounding drums, i love the snare sample

to much chimes and stereo percs to my taste
bass could use some definition, maybe a little dirt blended in would help it sit better in the lower midrange


edit pick any from my last album
http://soundcloud.com/muzik-4-machines/ ... r-mammals/

Ok, too loud I can fix. I turned the limiter on my master channel up a couple decibels, I can turn that down. Can you explain what you mean about the dynamics? Like I should change some of the velocities?

I'm using Massive's "guitar" preset for the bassline, I chopped off all but the low end so I'll open that up a bit more. Thank you about the drums.

I listened to your first track, Live Elephant. That's an interesting style you've got there. At :44 you have a rogue sounding snare, I'm not sure something just sounds off about it. I liked the intro but it was kinda long - we're looking at a full minute before we get to the full sound.

From about 2:00 - 4:00, the main bit, I would have liked to hear some variation. You have the little synth in the background which is nice, but the rest of it stays pretty much the same that whole time.

[Muzik 4 Machines]

i meant the difference between loud and soft is really minimal, it robs the punch from the loud bits as the soft bits are almost as loud, live between a kick and a snare, the lonely hi hat is almost as loud so the kick or snare lose it's punch, same for the break and intro, the solo piano is almost as loud as the fumm drum bass piano percs mix, which make the arrival of the drums not as punchy as it could be if the piano was quieter in the break then BANG! drums and bass, now its more like piano...oh drums and bass, no surprise, no "oh, that kicked my balls when it arrived"



re: live elephant, it's the intro track of a concept 2 hours album, so it had to have a really really slow start(and live it's the soundcheck, hence the lack of real variations, try simulated vacuum or suburban electric tornado)

[dutcher]

I would tend to agree w/Muzik 4 Machines assessment of the dynamics or rather lack there of. Everything sits way to high in the mix leaving little room for subtlety. This may have been what you were going for though the for the most part this seems like a laid back song...a loud laid back song which is a bit of a contradiction. Its a decent track to be sure though I actually prefer the original take over the remix.

My track is linked in my signature. Let me know what you think.

Loud again hmm. I'll have to go back and turn down some of the channels.

I'm not meaning for everything to sit high, that's just the way the samples are. Perhaps I could piano roll them to a lower frequency? Or maybe just pick different samples?

I'm listening to your track right now. I like it so far. One thing that's getting to me is that you have this sound in the background that stays basically unchanged for the first about 6:30 and I'm starting to zone in on it. It kinda goes owooowahh owooowahh.

I liked the track, and I would recommend checking out General Fuzz, he has a very similar style and puts out all his music for free: http://generalfuzz.net/ (he also uses Ableton). The problem that I have with that type of - as he calls it - lush melodic instrumental electronica, is that it doesn't take enough risks. I've listened to all five or six of his albums and I like all the tracks. The thing is, I don't REALLY like any of them, and at the same time I don't REALLY dislike any of them. They all kind of blend together is what I'm saying. It's such a niche in the genre that doesn't appeal to a whole lot of people. I did like it though.

[dutcher]

i meant the difference between loud and soft is really minimal, it robs the punch from the loud bits as the soft bits are almost as loud, live between a kick and a snare, the lonely hi hat is almost as loud so the kick or snare lose it's punch, same for the break and intro, the solo piano is almost as loud as the fumm drum bass piano percs mix, which make the arrival of the drums not as punchy as it could be if the piano was quieter in the break then BANG! drums and bass, now its more like piano...oh drums and bass, no surprise, no "oh, that kicked my balls when it arrived"



re: live elephant, it's the intro track of a concept 2 hours album, so it had to have a really really slow start(and live it's the soundcheck, hence the lack of real variations, try simulated vacuum or suburban electric tornado)

Ok ok I think I'm getting it. In the breaks I have some of the instruments steadily getting louder until the chorus hits, should I not be doing that? Maybe if I kept everything at a sort of medium level through the break it would accentuate when the chorus hits more? I'm reworking the track and I'll put up a revised version probably tomorrow.

I'm listening to simulated vacuum. Once again, originality points. House music isn't really my cup of tea, but I do dig what you've done here. Something I noticed is that you have the vacuum sound in the beginning, so I'm expecting the song to be vacuum themed, but I don't hear any more reference to that specific vacuum sound throughout the rest of the song. I like your snare here and I really like that synthy bit that hits around 4:25. I would have liked to maybe hear a bit of that in the middle section of the track.

[Muzik 4 Machines]

thanks for listening

re: your breakdown, maybe build the intensity with velocity instead of volume, a softly played piano that gets louder and brighter instead of just louder, you could also use chord voicings to build the tension (starting with plain chords and changing to different inversions, adding extensions etc)

[dutcher]

thanks for listening

re: your breakdown, maybe build the intensity with velocity instead of volume, a softly played piano that gets louder and brighter instead of just louder, you could also use chord voicings to build the tension (starting with plain chords and changing to different inversions, adding extensions etc)

Thanks for the advice, I'll have a revised version up tomorrow. Hopefully we can exchange reviews again.

[citizenchris099]

One thing that's getting to me is that you have this sound in the background that stays basically unchanged for the first about 6:30 and I'm starting to zone in on it. It kinda goes owooowahh owooowahh.

The problem that I have with that type of - as he calls it - lush melodic instrumental electronica, is that it doesn't take enough risks.

It's such a niche in the genre that doesn't appeal to a whole lot of people. I did like it though.

with regards to your first point. Its harmonic drone component intended to outline the tonic of the given chord.

As for your other point I simply must take issue as you contradict yourself. Explain to me how creating music that has a limited potential to appeal to a large sector of the population is somehow not risky enough? Would it not indeed be taking few risks to create music that was some imitation of a popular genre?
It is in fact quite risky to make the music you want to make and put it out their regardless of whether you think it will be liked?

As far as charging goes....anyone can listen to my music for free. If you want to download it this will cost you a minimum of .50 cents. Not bad for a nearly 20 minute song. I consider my time valuable so to charge nothing would contradict that notion. Considering everyone who have purchased the song to this point have paid more than the asking price perhaps i shot to low.

[dutcher]

One thing that's getting to me is that you have this sound in the background that stays basically unchanged for the first about 6:30 and I'm starting to zone in on it. It kinda goes owooowahh owooowahh.

The problem that I have with that type of - as he calls it - lush melodic instrumental electronica, is that it doesn't take enough risks.

It's such a niche in the genre that doesn't appeal to a whole lot of people. I did like it though.

with regards to your first point. Its harmonic drone component intended to outline the tonic of the given chord.

As for your other point I simply must take issue as you contradict yourself. Explain to me how creating music that has a limited potential to appeal to a large sector of the population is somehow not risky enough? Would it not indeed be taking few risks to create music that was some imitation of a popular genre?
It is in fact quite risky to make the music you want to make and put it out their regardless of whether you think it will be liked?

As far as charging goes....anyone can listen to my music for free. If you want to download it this will cost you a minimum of .50 cents. Not bad for a nearly 20 minute song. I consider my time valuable so to charge nothing would contradict that notion. Considering everyone who have purchased the song to this point have paid more than the asking price perhaps i shot to low.

I guess I wasn't quite clear on what I meant. If I listen to this type of music without really paying attention, it all sort of blends together because the changes are so subtle and the sound stays "generally" the same for long periods of time. If you make louder music with a lot of changes, any mistake you make is much more illuminated. Don't get me wrong, I like the song and the genre, it's just that the only time I'll ever listen to it is when I'm doing homework or something.

Also, I wasn't suggesting that you should give the song for free. I was just saying that so you might be more enticed to check out General Fuzz.

[dutcher]

Alright here's a revised version, hopefully it sounds better.

http://soundcloud.com/matt-dutcher/kindling-reremix

[citizenchris099]

it's just that the only time I'll ever listen to it is when I'm doing homework or something.

Might be one of the best compliments I've yet to receive In many respects this is exactly what I'm going for

[citizenchris099]

Alright here's a revised version, hopefully it sounds better.

http://soundcloud.com/matt-dutcher/kindling-reremix

describe your master chain

[dutcher]

Alright here's a revised version, hopefully it sounds better.

http://soundcloud.com/matt-dutcher/kindling-reremix

describe your master chain

All I have on there is a limiter with .5 db gain and a spectrum analyzer.