Ableton Forum

http://nightscience.com/music/HeartyThing.zip [updated 05-24-05]

I got inspired by a scene from I Heart Huckabees.. let me know what you think. Is it worth reworking?

(My apologies for the zip, but my hosting company doesn't allow mp3's. stupid.)

I'm not putting this in the 'post your music" topic because I am looking for feedback and suggestions..

Has anyone listened yet? Care to share your thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

I like the overall groove... and the track..

if it where my track I would pull the hi hat down a little (the one that goes from left to right) & put the kick up a bit, but maybe that is just my personal mixing taste. Maybe the clap could do with some reverb as well. Deffinatly like the vibe though.

Thanks much, Carl. Your advice is appreciated, and on point.

In addition I plan to:

* remove the 4 bars before the breakdown
* clean up the percussion after the breakdown
* introduce some more melody variation

just listening again.. are there 2 kick drums later on?? I cant make it out... I think the kick needs a little more 'oomph' as well... hopefully a bit of reverb might make the clap sit better with the rest of the drums, as it is it sounds a bit detached from the rest of the sounds... maybe you might need to change the sound for best results..I dunno, also the clap is a little 'late' have you done this on purpose? If not it may be Ableton's lack of PDC again! Maybe youve done it on purpose though...

Cheers

Carl.

At first i thought 'Im not sure about the hi hatty / snare thing on its own to begin with' but then once everything kicks in it all work s really well together.

Id agree with turning down the hi hat slightly. I like the sharpness of the hat, my type of hat that hehe.

I can imagine that clap nearer the end having one hit at the end of a bar being swamped in reverb, then back to normal for the next bar. If you get me?

This isnt a type of tune id play personally but it all works which to me makes a good production. Nice little bouncy rhythms too and use of panning.

I like this track a lot, its really bouncy and squelchy - great sounds. I don't think the clap sounds detached and the hats are just right. When it kicked in after the breakdown it brought a smile to my face!

I do agree with taking out a few bars before the breakdown; the vocal bit is good but it repeats just a little too long.

Great track overall though.

I really like the rice-krispies theme at the start. yeah the hihats (or is it a metallic rimshot?) and the hats are slightly too sharp for the rest of the mix in the intro phase.

great choice and treatment of the vocal samples; but maybe less repetition of them might enhance how they fit. plus, having "exactly" first, is surely the wrong way around! You have further vocals later in the piece but they are a bit lost in the mix.

At 2.44 the signature riff comes in really nicely. After a while I'd have liked at least some phase treatment of the signature riff. It has the job of carrying the rest of the tune and would benefit from shuffling and alternation. It seems as though your inspiration dried up once you got to 3.46 or so.

The glassy pad is not enough in itself I reckon, to deliver on the high expectations that the listener has after such an interesting start. (actually it sounds a bit of a cop-out rather than a groove-builder IMHO) I think you've a bit of work to do on the last 1/3 of the track to give the listener some more candy.

Very good though, liked it a lot.

I like it! It's smartly crafted without being arrogant, coz there's freshness and humour in it... but Id change the vocals, even if they start well ("exxAKtly"), they quickly get boring and cliche. I think they diminish the aforementionned humour/freshness of the track...

But I really like how the song is taking off at the beginning!

Ben

Brilliant, thanks much for the comments, everyone! I'm soaking them in... look out for a revision this week sometime.

Hey all -

I've updated the original post to a zip with an updated version of this track. Let me know what you think of the revisions, if you don't mind!

thanks!

i think the bass needs more low end and the kick needs some more oomf. Consider a nice disco style kick. Nice and flat with a little reverb. Cool track sounds like some funky Metro Area.

yeah I still think you need a better kick drum in there + I think your clap sample needs to come back up in volume a bit. Id say down a bit more on the panning hi hat as well... again all this is just my personal preferance.