Electro_Jason Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Hey everyone here is my new song "Rave Point". As I put in the description I feel this is a big improvement on my first song. I would greatly appreciate it if you could review and see whats good and what needs improvement. Thanks . [soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/cutting_edge_music/rave-point-original-mix[/soundcloud] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristancalvaire Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Well, just some constructive criticisms: 1. Dynamics! That clap sample you have going at the beginning is way, way, way too loud in my opinion. Try to keep your dynamics relatively tamed. Another example is at around 3:31, where the volume suddenly spikes, either due to side-chain compression coming undone or a limiter being slammed into. Don't do this. At ~4:24, you drop to what seems to be only the fundamental frequency in the subbass range. This is a really bad idea. Not only will some listeners' speaker systems be unable to reproduce this frequency, but it is quite a bit quieter than the rest of the song; and as such, makes the noise sweep that follows really, really painful if one's speaker volume is turned up to hear the sub. Try using subs with more higher frequency detail; imply the sub bass frequencies through the use of higher harmonics. And if you're going to give it a solo, make sure to give it enough volume to fill the box it's in! 2. It's a bit disjointed but does not feel deliberately so, so I'd work on transitioning better. For example, the noise sweep at around 0:27 comes from nowhere but doesn't feel like it should've, especially not for this genre. Perhaps start the noise sweep earlier, or have a separate noise sweep before the original one that smooths into the sweep. Eliminate that gap of silence. Throughout, it feels kind of, 'loopy'– in that it feels like you have 2 to 16 bar loops and just repeated them. I'd work on adding in small nuances here and there, and making each section more connected to what precedes and follows it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electro_Jason Posted December 3, 2012 Author Share Posted December 3, 2012 Hmm okay. I know what you mean. Tbh though most of these errors were made through mastering the song. I had real problems with this as obviously with this only being my second time mastering you can imagine how hard it was getting the volumes right. I take in everything you say though Tristan and I think I will take the track down, sort it out and put it back up again. I have a question though. When mastering I put a limiter and multipressor on the output 1 so that it killed it at 0.0 DB. I know I can't go above that but what happened was the drums sounded awfully quiet in the chorus. I then turned the hi-hat,snare,snare clap and bass kick up and it sounded a lot better. But I couldn't do this without turning EQing the drums to make it louder. That may be why they sound so obnoxious at times. So yeah, the question. Would I have to turn the drums back to normal volume then tone the synths down to power up the drums? Or is there another way around this without lowering the impact of the chorus? And I will fix the point mentioned at 4:24,0:27 and 3:31. I will also work on your "loopy " point . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristancalvaire Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 I have a question though. When mastering I put a limiter and multipressor on the output 1 so that it killed it at 0.0 DB. I know I can't go above that but what happened was the drums sounded awfully quiet in the chorus. I then turned the hi-hat,snare,snare clap and bass kick up and it sounded a lot better. But I couldn't do this without turning EQing the drums to make it louder. That may be why they sound so obnoxious at times. Please, please do not attempt to master your own music when you don't understand the principles of mastering as of yet. I'd ignore 'mastering' entirely– it's not only not just about making things loud, but is a very difficult art to learn. For the moment, I'd just work on the creative aspects of your music. What happened is, with all of your loud percussion on top of your loud synths slammed into a master limiter, the overall volume of the song was ducked down. This would, of course make the percussion sound softer as it's volume is being lowered to squeeze the entire song into a very small box. Rather than put a limiter and compression on your mastering bus, try this instead– if your music starts clipping (going into the red), simply turn the volume down. Sometimes you'll turn down an individual part, sometimes small fader changes to the master bus. Try to make your music fit below 0dB without the use of a limiter. Your music will be better for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electro_Jason Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Lol, right okay. I did lower everything to 0.0 DB but the main output sill came out as something like 5.6 DB. I will fix everything though then just put-like your tracks- Not mastered next to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electro_Jason Posted December 6, 2012 Author Share Posted December 6, 2012 Okay! So I fixed everything and I have to say it sounds a lot more better and tight. [soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/cutting_edge_music/rave-point-original-mix-free[/soundcloud] Hope you enjoy . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristancalvaire Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Okay! So I fixed everything and I have to say it sounds a lot more better and tight. [soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/cutting_edge_music/rave-point-original-mix-free[/soundcloud] Hope you enjoy . Much tighter, I can definitely hear an improvement! I'd still work a bit on making 4:26 translate well to multiple speakers and volume levels, and with that first noise sweep you may want to put a percussive noise (perhaps a kick drum) on the downbeat of the measure where the noise starts to play by itself. Good work, keep it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electro_Jason Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Haha thanks a lot! I think I will add a kick drum to that sweep I might even start it at the beginning of the build to deal with that problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apolychr Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 your drums are so out of time it throws the entire drop off.... not sure if that's the style you want?.... the melodies and cool ideas though man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electro_Jason Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 Thanks mate, although no I wasn't aiming for the drums to be off though..lol I listened to it closely and showed family and friends it though and they didn't seem to notice it. But I do know what you mean, you think it needs a major change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apolychr Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Drums are the most important part of your mix, if you fix the timing of it will tighten up your track TEN FOLD. If your drum track ALONE doesn't feel "bumping" or "energetic" then it needs to be reworked. Alot of thought and time should go into your drum work, for it will make or break a song. bounce the claps and snares to audio and visually see where the wave form peaks so you can put that bang on the beat. it will help you develop an ear for timing. also you're synths in the drop need to be sidechained more to the kick for a really big effect. haha so to answer your question... yes it is a major change. take some good amount of time and rework the whole kit maybe. It's good practice regardless. Sorry if i sound harsh i'm just trying to be informative. cheers, apolychr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electro_Jason Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 No you don't sounds harsh at all. I get what you mean though. I love the drums as I play them, but in electro music especially the beat has to be in a certain place and I can't do it by just painting it in, I have to manually drum it then sort it out. I will look in to it. And one more thing. When you say sidechain do you mean increas the send? Because I have already sidechained all the synths to bus 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apolychr Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 increase the amount the sidechain sucks in so the kick punches through and it will sound better. so basically if you are using a compressor to siechain it to the kick then just create more volume ducking out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electro_Jason Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Gotchya, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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