1st DnB track

E

EevilTwynne

New Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
Nowthen,

https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Feeviltwynne%2Fsolacide-master

this is my first attempt at a full DnB track, so I wanted to try and get some feedback to see what people in the know think of it. It's a bit of a weird track as it's pretty slow (160bpm), and I didn't follow a particular song structure as such. I've applied EQ to specific instruments and across the mix, but does it still sound muddy/messy? Also does the automation/level changing need taming a bit? Finally the ending is a bit sudden, but I wasn't sure how to finish it off.

Anyway all feedback would be much appreciated, but please be gentle it is my first effort.

Cheers

Nick
 
i like the breaks here, the melodies are good but the bass seems to be over powering in the low end. perhaps some sidechaining on the kick to have in stand out a bit. as for the end, maybe pull out elements every few bars to bring it to a close, the less going on in the end, the easier it will flow in to the next when spinning tracks together. overall good work man

here is a remix i put out a little while ago for the recent beatport remix comp of noisia and black sun empire's Hideous
wasnt a winner but lemme know what you think!

https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fchemical-sounds%2Fhideous-joes-disfigured-remix
 
This is kind of just all over the place. Sounds like you are playing with the different sounds which is all fine and dandy, but nothing holds the sound together.

I would start slow, too. Learn how to get power out of a slower tempo. It'll allow to make faster tracks that much better! Check this out. It's one of my earlier tracks and it's less than 160 bpm, but it still has a lot of energy to it.
https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fanikom%2Fnight-transitions
 
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Thanks for the advice. I definitely think I've got too big a frequency range in the bass, and it overpowers the other stuff and muddies it up. I'll try sidechaining with the kick, and see how that sounds. I definitely see your point about the ending too, stripping the song back to finish is the mixing friendly way to go.

Loved the Hideous mix, sounds very professional. I can definitely see how having a sparser arrangement makes the song much tighter and creates more distinct parts. The little buildup round 3.14 is awesome. I need to work on transitions like that.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the feedback. I think I went a bit for the kitchen sink approach because it was the first Dnb song I'd done. I need to have a better idea of structure before I start next time, and will definitely try and keep it stripped down.

I'll definitely to put a slower track together and still try and keep the energy, that's good advice and will definitely help me learn the craft. I love the breaks in your tune, they keep rolling on and the different melodies are really hypnotic. Again it feels much more stripped down and tighter than mine, which I will work on for next time.
 
Interesting style for sure :) I dig it, but that's not a reference I'm afraid as I'm very mucht into chaotic compositions myself. The song is pretty dense, there's a whole lot going on the whole time. Like how you play with the stereo field by pushing the pads completely to the side. But you can do the same with the drums, a bit of panning can get sounds out of eachothers way and makes everything sound less cluttered.

I also have the feeling you overcompressed the complete track. Personally I'd drop the volume of about everything but the drums a bit, and/or tone down on the compression. With a bit of extra cutting in frequencies to avoid overlap, you get more "loudness" without more volume. Every sound just has more space to sound, so to say.

This said, I'm an amateur producer, so please take all comments for what they're worth: my personal reflections.
 
Thanks a lot. I agree that there's too much going on, like I said earlier I think I went in with a kitchen sink mentality and need to work on the less is more approach to give all the parts room to breathe.. Panning the drums is not something I thought of or tried out though, so I'll definitely experiment with that. I did compress the track a fair bit, and stuck a limiter on the master, which wasn't cranked, but was pushed, so it probably did squash it all down a little. I appreciate the advice, I've already learnt a lot from this one post.
 
You're welcome :) When panning the drums, make sure you keep the kick dead center. Most of the time my snare is there as well, and the rest panned around those two.
 
I play guitar and sing a little bit (badly), and I've recorded a couple of blues and more folky songs before I tried my hand at this. My production skills were even more lacking on most of the stuff, but I've done a fair bit of reading on the subject, and have better knowledge on the subject now, it's just learning to put it into practice. This is the kind of stuff I've been doing.

https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fnickchilds1%2Fhard-time-killing-floor
 
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