Encounters

IV4

DnBF Sheriff
VIP Junglist
Joined
Sep 13, 2010
hi IV4. very nice stuff. as i told you many times, your drums/perc. are spot on .. how do you get them so clear without overdoing it? good arrangement and flow of the track as well (encouters), i'm sure tony at HR will be interested. imo, 'every body fly' can't quite catch up to the quality of 'encounters'. just my personal taste ... excellent work overall !
 
hi IV4. very nice stuff. as i told you many times, your drums/perc. are spot on .. how do you get them so clear without overdoing it? good arrangement and flow of the track as well (encouters), i'm sure tony at HR will be interested. imo, 'every body fly' can't quite catch up to the quality of 'encounters'. just my personal taste ... excellent work overall !
Forgive me if my grammar is a bit off, i am halfway into a bottle of Sancerre.
So the two tracks have completely different mixing styles. I made the drums for everybody fly with the absolute intention of getting them as limited and compressed as possible. To do this I first loaded up a limiter on the entire track. I then used a sample I made of a synthetic kick and snare and used envelope shaping, pitched both, and time stretching to get them the way I wanted to. Then I cut out a snare from the amen break and a snare from the think break and repeated the process so that the three layered snare became in tune, and they worked with each other. Then I turned a processed think break into a rex file. I used an envelope controller to control the break's individual hits and a high pass filter to cut out low frequencies. I also, cut out the kick and snare out of the break. I then added another two or three breaks that were complementary and used the same high pass process. The most important thing I did was cut out frequencies that conflicted with the drums from everything else. I also side chained the kick to the bass which cause a click/pop in the bass and when @miszt went to mix and master this for me, that gave him hell. Hopefully, one day he will put out a tutorial about how he took 8 stems and made them sound so.... well much better imo. If you want I can pm you what my original track sounded like, vs what Miszt did.

For Encounters the drums were much more simple..... kind of.... I used a processed think break that was arranged in a simple pattern. I then layered in, gently other snares and parts of think break re-process or un-processed. I used an envelope shaper to control the hats and then began to rearrange sections of the drums at the end of phrasing. What makes this track completely different from the one above is the volumes and philosophy to make the track. In Everybody Fly I wanted to make as simple as a track as possible using as much as possible. In encounters I wanted to make a track as complicated as possible using as little as possible. One way I achieved this was by setting up the break, turning it to -12db and building an entire track around it. No limiting or compression on the master. All sounds outside of the drums were carefully eqed so the until everything sounded clear to me. A big problem I did have with the drums was the kick. In the break I never properly eqed out the kick, and when I added in a new kick, there was this weird resonance. I could not figure out for the life of me how to fix it until once again @miszt told me about it and fixed it in the master for me.

I would suggest that maybe you pay Miszt for a mix and master on a song that you are proud of... He has always been more than helpful at explaining how to make my mixes better, YEARS before I became a customer. But even better it gives you an a/b reference to see how a professional would mix your track vs you. It highlights your mistakes as well as solidifies you good qualities.
 
Cool tracks man! I personally think the drums could be improved though. While you have the dynamics really well balanced, which helps provide a really decent room sound, I think the kick and snares could be improved a little. The kick in Encounters could do with some attenuation around 500Hz for a deeper sound, and maybe some low end boosting afterwards. This is just my taste though. The kick in Everybody Fly is much better, but the snare sounds a little over-processed. Having read how you went about making it, it seems like maybe you've just added too many breaks in. I have the same problems with my snares sometimes, but it just sounds a little flat. Hope this helps, your arrangements are really nice.
 
A lot of time for Encounters. Nice warm bottom end and those drums, whilst they sit a little back in the mix, I actually like it that way. Not too imposing. Top stuff.

Every Body Fly isn't my cup of tea, however, it's mixed well and it's powerful. Top releases. Well done IV. Congrats on the first EP.
 
Cool tracks man! I personally think the drums could be improved though. While you have the dynamics really well balanced, which helps provide a really decent room sound, I think the kick and snares could be improved a little. The kick in Encounters could do with some attenuation around 500Hz for a deeper sound, and maybe some low end boosting afterwards. This is just my taste though. The kick in Everybody Fly is much better, but the snare sounds a little over-processed. Having read how you went about making it, it seems like maybe you've just added too many breaks in. I have the same problems with my snares sometimes, but it just sounds a little flat. Hope this helps, your arrangements are really nice.
Thank you for the critical thinking man! I just got to say with your comment on the kick in Encounters, if only you knew! That fucker gave me hell trying to get it right and to an extent I mostly sided with what you said. Until I sent the track to be mastered and the engineer said, "no way." One thing I am starting to learn is that sometimes it is better to cut more out than leave more in. That kick would be a great example, on some systems with the kick more beefy it creates a distorted fart noise, on some a nice warmth appears, and on others it sounds just ok. The kick you here now translates best to most systems I have listen too. And I am good with that.
Thanks for the excellent feedback by the way, please remember and pm me when you want the favor returned.
 
Encounters sounds pretty damn good on my laptop speakers, haha! Reminds me of something by Keeno, which is a huge compliment. This tune is mint man, does not need improvements imo! (although can't hear the low-end, because laptop speakers). My compliments!
 
Hey IV4 !congratulations for the EP ! I really like Encouters, the melody is so nice ! Did you play the piano by hand ? some notes seem a bit off which gives a nice organic feel to the track, it's very cool:) Also at 3:40 the reverse effect on the melody is very pleasant. Not a huge fan of Every Body Fly though, not really my style but it sounds nice anyway.

Well done! (y)
 
Encounters sounds pretty damn good on my laptop speakers, haha! Reminds me of something by Keeno, which is a huge compliment. This tune is mint man, does not need improvements imo! (although can't hear the low-end, because laptop speakers). My compliments!
Thanks buddy.
 
Hey man, the music/melodies in these are really great. i understand what style your going for but they feel like the drums could go way more original, little variation happening. but I really like the music and the way it develops, and its more of a preference in drums affecting my opinion
 
nice, I will buy it for a 2nd time ;) Yes, that good, think you underrate yourself a bit too much! But Encounters should be A side ;D
Its like vinyl... the secret track is the b :D

This was my fault in all fairness... Everybody Fly resonated with me a little quicker.

Thanks for support @lasiien
 
nice, I will buy it for a 2nd time ;) Yes, that good, think you underrate yourself a bit too much! But Encounters should be A side ;D
Thank you so much! Your opinions have always meant the world to me.

In other news, sorry I could not respond to a lot of these post. i recently had a death in family and have been dealing with that. I do want to say that the DnB forum production crew is fantastic and thank you guys for being you.
 
loving encounters man really nice piano and strings (are the keys a sample or did you write them? they sound kinda like there off the daredevil tv series?)
and production is sounding really good
 
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