Ableton Forum

This is a 3 track mini set, and my first attempt to make house music. I'm new, but don't go easy on me! What do you think? Constructive criticism?

http://soundcloud.com/bruce-k/dnr

Excellent job for your 1st attempt. Some ideas I have for you is to work on getting the sounds to gel little better. Maybe a bit more compression will help on the 2 buss or group tracks. The sound is very sterile. A byproduct of ITB mixing but can be less noticable with some saturation. Most of the mix also seemed dry. This may have been your preference but it lack room ambiance and space so it was like in your face. The music is good and I definitely enjoyed listening to it. Thanks for the share and look forward to hearing more from you.

Not really my thing but i'll try and make some constructive comments all the same.

Whilst, i'm sure you're a big fan of trancey house, getting away from the very straight forward kick/clap/kick/clap 4/4 beat would help you stand out from the crowd a bit more, otherwise you're going to get lost in amongst the others.

However, It's no worse than any other trance tune, though perhaps you could also do some filter tweaking in order to breath some life into your synths as they all sounded very static.

Also, perhaps you should spend a bit more time on recording your guitar if you're going to play along. Work out a more interesting set of chords rather than play along to the two notes of the song.

Your arpeggios would also benefit with a bit more care and attention, they're too straight forward giving the whole tune a really ploddy feel.

So on the whole, considering this is your first stab then it's actually very good but as for everyone, there's always room for improvement.

Jarvisimon wrote:Whilst, i'm sure you're a big fan of trancey house, getting away from the very straight forward kick/clap/kick/clap 4/4 beat would help you stand out from the crowd a bit more, otherwise you're going to get lost in amongst the others.

I agree with you here 150%, and I can get pretty creative with other kinds of beats. However, isn't the '4 to the floor' beat, the primary element that makes house music 'house music'?

If you wouldn't mind, could you give these tracks a listen? I made these when I was just learning the BASICS of ableton. However, they are in no way what I'd consider 'mixed products'. But I'd be curious to hear what you thought of them, musically.

http://www.pcjock.com/track02.mp3
http://www.pcjock.com/track03.mp3

Thanks Jarvisimon!

-Bruce

I think the whole thing sounds rather flat. You have the main elements covered, but it needs some effects, such as reverbs, delays, sweeps etcs to give it a fuller, more rich sound.

Very good work for a first try though - I could only have dreamed of making such music when I was just starting out