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doktorLucifer
United States855 Posts
http://www.divshare.com/download/13655369-993 Also, I know I have over 500 posts already, but is it possible to get a name change? I misread the namechange post when I read it a few months ago, and since then, I've posted a few hundred times, and I feel a different name is just more suitable. :<  | ||
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sob3k
United States7572 Posts
Here is my constructive criticism from another music producer. 1. Your drums are pretty unusual for trance, almost getting into a psy type thing, thats ok, but they are also a bit messy around the midrange and generally sound like maybe your samples aren't of the best quality. The problem being the combination of the more complex percussion and the muffled sound of the samples is just muddying up the song when the other elements come in. The percussion needs some EQ/compression and/or getting some "cleaner" sounding samples. 2. Your piano lead/melody needs work. Currently it is just not interesting for a few reasons. One is the fact that the notes are all hitting so reliably on the beat, this makes for a very mechanical and "unfilling" lead. The second is that every note hits with the same velocity, especially with pianos, when you are using samples or a synth instead of a real instrument its super important to go in there and tweak the velocity/panning/or cutoff for some of the notes. It will sound 100% better and much more interesting. The third issue is that combined with the fact that the notes only occur on the beat, you have no chording either, your melody sounds like it is being played with one finger. Obviously you don't have to add chording, but either that or moving some notes into a more rhythmically interesting place with make the lead so much better. Your bassline/drums/and sawlead are already hitting on the beat, the piano needs to fill the areas inbetween. 3. Stop abusing that "spin-down" sample you put in every single drop and break (the one @ 3:30). It sounded nice the first time, but after so many uses the viewer recognizes it and it gets very old and amateur sounding. Find something else to get the job done on some of the transitions. | ||
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Two_DoWn
United States13684 Posts
Also, I know I have over 500 posts already, but is it possible to get a name change? I misread the namechange post when I read it a few months ago, and since then, I've posted a few hundred times, and I feel a different name is just more suitable. :< Just post in the name change thread on the tl feedback forum. Tell them why you want the switch, and they might help. I have a feeling they are more forgiving with the recent sc2 influx of people, as its much harder to recognize people now. | ||
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doktorLucifer
United States855 Posts
On December 31 2010 14:51 sob3k wrote: ok. Here is my constructive criticism from another music producer. 1. Your drums are pretty unusual for trance, almost getting into a psy type thing, thats ok, but they are also a bit messy around the midrange and generally sound like maybe your samples aren't of the best quality. The problem being the combination of the more complex percussion and the muffled sound of the samples is just muddying up the song when the other elements come in. The percussion needs some EQ/compression and/or getting some "cleaner" sounding samples. 2. Your piano lead/melody needs work. Currently it is just not interesting for a few reasons. One is the fact that the notes are all hitting so reliably on the beat, this makes for a very mechanical and "unfilling" lead. The second is that every note hits with the same velocity, especially with pianos, when you are using samples or a synth instead of a real instrument its super important to go in there and tweak the velocity/panning/or cutoff for some of the notes. It will sound 100% better and much more interesting. The third issue is that combined with the fact that the notes only occur on the beat, you have no chording either, your melody sounds like it is being played with one finger. Obviously you don't have to add chording, but either that or moving some notes into a more rhythmically interesting place with make the lead so much better. Your bassline/drums/and sawlead are already hitting on the beat, the piano needs to fill the areas inbetween. 3. Stop abusing that "spin-down" sample you put in every single drop and break (the one @ 3:30). It sounded nice the first time, but after so many uses the viewer recognizes it and it gets very old and amateur sounding. Find something else to get the job done on some of the transitions. Really useful information. Thanks. 1. I used a filter to try and filter lower frequencies out, since my drum samples are actually two drumloops. I typically use my own individual samples for this, but I wanted to try using drumloops. 2. The piano melody is something I think I heard from a Touhou track, which is just a melody I like. I already had the intent of changing velocities and such, but that aside, I just might do something with all my synth melodies, like that arp melody and the saw synth line. 3. The transitions I have are the spin down sample, a reverb kick with delayed crashes, and a regular crash. I'll have to dig around for more samples, but I don't think I'd know what to use until I heard it. | ||
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mmp
United States2130 Posts
My more critical take on it is that I feel like you're working with a melodic idea that's only really good for about 30-45 seconds of novelty. Much of the melody is repetitive and predictable. Second, you experiment a little with dynamic variation, but it seems like you're really only working between loud and louder (calm down, man). If you plan on working with simple melodies, you will need to find greater variation and coordination in your rhythmic instruments. The heavy synths are also... out of fashion let's say. Modern trance listeners want something a little less oppressive. Check out the rhythm and support instruments in The Summer by ATB: he's got a really simple melody but all of the other parts are working together to keep it gentle and focused. I would pull out the synths entirely, rethink what the piano melody is working toward, and then try to work a varied beat around that with dynamic phrases, maybe put some light synths back in where appropriate to fill chords. | ||
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doktorLucifer
United States855 Posts
Does this refer to the saws only, or also the style of melody I use for the arps? Maybe the way I think about trance has something to do with the fact that I haven't heard much of the newer stuff. I've listened to various releases from Tiesto/Armin van Buuren, DJ Orkidea, Richard Durand and Breakfast, but I think the stuff I like most is stuff like Levo Lution. When I'm listening to Earthlight, for example, the approach to the melody seems totally different than the previously mentioned artists. Hmm | ||
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mmp
United States2130 Posts
As for your melody, if you actually look at a piano you'll notice that it's playable mostly on the black keys. This is called a pentatonic scale and it's used in various styles of music. It's really easy to get something that sounds nice this way, but once it loses its novelty I think it's a turn off to a lot of listeners unless carefully crafted. I would stick to diatonic major/minor.  More stepwise motion. | ||
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doktorLucifer
United States855 Posts
So does something like this fall under this "tackiness," or is this an example of how I should use this sort of melody/synth style, if at all? | ||
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mmp
United States2130 Posts
On December 31 2010 18:18 Thesecretaznman wrote: So it's more the sound of my synth than anything else? I like hearing good melodies on this sorta trance synth, but maybe I'm using a sound that's too aggressive? So does something like this fall under this "tackiness," or is this an example of how I should use this sort of melody/synth style, if at all? The synths have been engineered differently than yours. They've got a softer attack and falloff, and they take a clear dynamic backseat to the opening melody, nor do they overshadow the beat. I don't like the rhythmic pattern so much but it is certainly pronounced (and is familiar when it is reprised at ~8:00). The synth melody is also more frontplace and "moving," while I think you use yours mainly for support (so it needs to back down from a loud aggressive role). It's a very different style from that which you ended up with, but it's subtle artistic choices at this point. If you want to emulate the good parts of this: Try identifying all of the repeated melodic "phrases" in the synth part as they are repeated throughout the song, and note the changing dynamics and supporting instruments. Write it down on paper and try to note patterns -- note when the melody is reprised and what happens in between dynamically. It's actually a simple melody and a simple structure but the composer tried to keep everything balanced. Also note the key changes. Are you happy with the chord progressions (I like some, don't like others)? Most trance doesn't play around with key changes so much, but chordal progression is very important to be thinking about. | ||
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Rustymike
Finland327 Posts
I don't first of all get why people are bashing the pianolines simplicity. Well obviously the notes are kinda predictable, and sounding like they come from a beginnerproducer, but people seem to forget these days that simplicity is beauty. Hell, robert miles - children anyone? Or this great track by Max Graham from 2010 I am also not too keen on people giving Trance notes and suggestions based on todays trance sound. This should be that way, that should be this way yadayadayada. How much is there left for the artist to be original, if nobody notices him if he doesn't have the same breakdowns and uplifts as everyone else. I say, look back in the trances timeline. Take the inspiration from what it used to be. Also, Mortal Kombat Theme is not freakin' Techno oh my god  I'd be blown if something like this gets released today with modern production standards. | ||
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sob3k
United States7572 Posts
On December 31 2010 21:40 Rustymike wrote: Ok lets hold back a bit in this thread. I don't first of all get why people are bashing the pianolines simplicity. Well obviously the notes are kinda predictable, and sounding like they come from a beginnerproducer, but people seem to forget these days that simplicity is beauty. Hell, robert miles - children anyone? Or this great track by Max Graham from 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HVdT3D820Y Yeah, except the piano lines in both tracks have done exactly what I recommended... | ||
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