Post your Tracks - Give Feedback here

dasdog

HBO have a great documentary Life of Crime. There's about ten songs in this half of them which are mine but the theme is lads from New York in 1998 a decade after they were first documented.

https://soundcloud.com/dasdog/theblagardstenyearslater

mordeith

Sky King wrote: »

Hi all - trying to get back into production now after about 6 weeks of general craziness in work with no free time for music. Been working at this one on and off for over a month and i am sick of it... so here it is, warts an all!!!

would appreciate opinions thanks guys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw05Iq3jung

Pretty retro vibe with the synths in this one but nicely put together. I wasn't mad on it an first listen, but it's a grower. Great sound on that snare/clap. Like the vocal hits as well.

Sky King

Chairs budday!

Tomohawk

My latest track, sounds like Industrial Electronics, created using Sony Acid drum/synth samples and RubberDuck (oldskool virtual acid and techno software-synthesizer)...feedback welcome!

https://soundcloud.com/tom-mcfadden-1/rd-fart-trance-jam

http://rubberduck.en.softonic.com/

Sky King

Yeah I like that industrial vibe a lot - it's a sound I love tricking around with myself. Would love to hear some good vocals over your track though.

Tomohawk

Unfortunately I don't know any vocalists/haven't the setup at the moment to record them anyway...something I'll have to look into in the future. That and proper mastering, I never compress/master any of my tracks, just a old habit!

Sky King

Yeah it does need a bit of mastering TLC... no offence

Tomohawk

Right so took your advice and I've added 3-band EQ and gentle compression using Iztope Ozone in Soundforge, appreciate if you can give another listen...

https://soundcloud.com/tom-mcfadden-1/rd-fart-trance-jam

mordeith

Tomohawk wrote: »

My latest track, sounds like Industrial Electronics, created using Sony Acid drum/synth samples and RubberDuck (oldskool virtual acid and techno software-synthesizer)...feedback welcome!

https://soundcloud.com/tom-mcfadden-1/rd-fart-trance-jam

http://rubberduck.en.softonic.com/

Nice and heavy. Sounds like it could fit right into the Matrix soundtrack.

Cheers for the link to Rubber Duck as well. Looking forward to having a mess around with it.

da_hambo

Hi lads. Im based in Wexford but from Cork. Started getting serious with Ableton last few months. This is a tune I put together in a funny key then found a remix competition to match it. Im happy with my melody development and put a bit of time in with risers and skip snares to mix it up. Mastering and fx wise Im a bit clueless besides a bit of sidechain compression and reverb. My monitors are an old hifi and Im using Ableton Intro on an old laptop with a midi keyboard.

It's a rolling bassline late 90s style Trance track.

Go easy on me

Sky King

Sounds to me like your vox are in the wrong key brah!

*Disclaimer - I am not an expert

da_hambo

Sky King wrote: »

Sounds to me like your vox are in the wrong key brah!

*Disclaimer - I am not an expert

Is that just the meeee bit around 2.48 until the breakdown? I suspected this bit alright. The vocal is in d#major and i tried my best to match my wip to d#major also but may have missed a few notes.

Can i drop this section of vocal by a semitone or two? Can we do that in Ableton twist a vocal to match the key we want?

Sky King

Your track is in Cm and your piano riff is using a I - III - VI - VII progression, ie the piano chords are Cm - Eb - Ab - Bb

If the vocals are in Eb like you say, then they actually should work because Eb is the relative major of Cm and has the same chords in it... I dunno, they just sounded a bit gnarly to mine ears

da_hambo

Sky King wrote: »

Your track is in Cm and your piano riff is using a I - III - VI - VII progression, ie the piano chords are Cm - Eb - Ab - Bb

If the vocals are in Eb like you say, then they actually should work because Eb is the relative major of Cm and has the same chords in it... I dunno, they just sounded a bit gnarly to mine ears

Just looking through the chords there. You are spot on! I am very impressed that you can name the chords by ear. Yup the vocal on the remix site said its in d#major but could be wrong? That chord progression has shown another problem because Im pretty certain my lead is in d#major which wouldnt fit with Cm? Thanks for the help.

Sky King

I am very impressed that you can name the chords by ear.

Don't be impressed. I'm sitting beside a piano :pac:

Yup the vocal on the remix site said its in d#major but could be wrong? That chord progression has shown another problem because Im pretty certain my lead is in d#major which wouldnt fit with Cm? Thanks for the help.

D sharp major is rarely used as a term. We generally say e flat major or Eb for short. Don't worry about why this is... the notes and chords are the same.

If what you're saying is true then it should be in tune and my ears are fkered lol

mordeith

da_hambo wrote: »

Hi lads. Im based in Wexford but from Cork. Started getting serious with Ableton last few months. This is a tune I put together in a funny key then found a remix competition to match it. Im happy with my melody development and put a bit of time in with risers and skip snares to mix it up. Mastering and fx wise Im a bit clueless besides a bit of sidechain compression and reverb. My monitors are an old hifi and Im using Ableton Intro on an old laptop with a midi keyboard.

It's a rolling bassline late 90s style Trance track.

Go easy on me

http://soundcloud.com/hambolicious/hndmade-feel-this-way-dave

Killer kick, but the noise riser at is at 0.14 is a bit short and harsh. Nice old skool rolling bassline. Vocal is a bit loud in the mix IMO and like Sky King says it's a bit off (not that I know f*ck all about chords!). I think the piano is a bit soft sounding for the track. Maybe a more synth sound would fit better. Lovely riser at 2.03
Dropping the bassline altogether at 3.30 is a bit of jolt. Might sound better with a deep filter cut rather than losing it altogether. Piano works a bit better after the drop but still sounds a bit too 'real' for the track I think. Nice chorded stabs at 4.54. Again that's a great kick

da_hambo

mordeith wrote: »

Killer kick, but the noise riser at is at 0.14 is a bit short and harsh. Nice old skool rolling bassline. Vocal is a bit loud in the mix IMO and like Sky King says it's a bit off (not that I know f*ck all about chords!). I think the piano is a bit soft sounding for the track. Maybe a more synth sound would fit better. Lovely riser at 2.03
Dropping the bassline altogether at 3.30 is a bit of jolt. Might sound better with a deep filter cut rather than losing it altogether. Piano works a bit better after the drop but still sounds a bit too 'real' for the track I think. Nice chorded stabs at 4.54. Again that's a great kick

Cheers mate. Thats what I need because everything sounds great on the old hifi speakers ! Yeah was on two minds about the synth was messing around with some happy hardcore piano arpegs before this so they just kinda slipped in. Thanks again. Must revise the mix.

Ps. Think I figured out the vocal. It is heavily warped. Very awkward to beatmap. Tempo increased and Ableton Live Intro doesnt have complex function. It could only be warped as beat texture or repitch which might explain the off-key bit?

Sky King

Repitch would definitely explain the off key bit.

If you sped it up, then you pitched it up unless you had ableton set to maintain the pitch

lb1997

Sky King wrote: »

Repitch would definitely explain the off key bit.

If you sped it up, then you pitched it up unless you had ableton set to maintain the pitch

Sky King you sound like a bit of an expert in this area so maybe you could help me understand this better:
when experimenting with ambient melodies and all that warm and fuzzy stuff
I find it very hard to incorporate minor notes into the tracks without it sounding off , I've never studied music as I felt ,and still do, thats its unnecessary. (there was great pianists that composed everything by ear,, I think :pac:?)
now I've gotten this far into the post and realise that I dont really know what my question is, and if theres even an answer.
I guess what im trying to ask is can a monophonic piece use both minor and major and still sound warm?
(if this post isnt complete nonsense to you because of my lack of proper musical vocabulary and knowledge then id appreciate if you'd try to assess it)

Sky King

I find it very hard to incorporate minor notes into the tracks without it sounding off , I've never studied music as I felt ,and still do, thats its unnecessary.

You're wrong.

Sorry to put it bluntly, but you are. 100% wrong. The very best music is written by people who understand music theory (with the exception of really far out kinda stuff like aphex twin or whatever... or unless you are exclusively using pre tuned samples).

Trying to write anything other than minimal (or any simplistic) music without a basic understanding of melody theory is like trying to play a round of golf with one club... actually that isn't a strong enough analogy.... it's more like trying to paint a beautiful painting without knowing how to mix the colours together.

Sure... black and white can make bloody good and interesting paintings sometimes! But... what if you have images in your head and emotions that you feel which you just can't express using black and white? There's a range of colours out there but yoy are not sure how to achieve them from the primary red yellow and blue. What do you do to capture the beautiful turquise sunset? Randomly start mixing colours for hours and hours until you get the effect that you want.? By trial and error?

Because that's exactly what you are doing. It;s dark brah!!

See, because I know my theory, I know an G chord leads nicely into a C chord and that any major pentatonic scale will sound oriental. To you this might seem like black magic that I can seemingly generate great melodies instantly... but all I am doing is playing basic chords and scales that anyone who learns a music instrument beyond a basic standard can play. It's easy peasy once you know what you are doing. It;s the full palate of colour at your fingertips.

(if this post isnt complete nonsense to you because of my lack of proper musical vocabulary and knowledge then id appreciate if you'd try to assess it)

Sure. Go and learn your theory!! Then you'll be able to ask me meaningful questions. You'd have the essentials in a few weeks if you put your mind to it.

I find it very hard to incorporate minor notes into the tracks without it sounding off

By 'minor notes' are you referring to the black keys? The sharps and flats? These will always sound sweet if everything is played in the correct key.

Here's an exercise. Load up a synth on your DAW and start pounding on e flat (look it up if you don't know which one it is) as your root note and just start to venture out onto all the other black ones - you'll come up with a jackin bassline in no time at all.

By the way I am mostly self taught and I am by no means an expert. I only started learning this stuff a few years ago, when I was 25.

lb1997

Sky King wrote: »

You're wrong.

Sorry to put it bluntly, but you are. 100% wrong. The very best music is written by people who understand music theory ......................................................... ..............................................................
.....................By the way I am mostly self taught and I am by no means an expert. I only started learning this stuff a few years ago, when I was 25.

you may not be a musical expert but your an expert at giving advice.
Aphex twin is my one and only influence yano haha
It may sound silly but I enjoy tons of artists however RDJ is the only one that influences me to actually create my own music and to someday become as good as him
I see what your saying though, great comparison with paints !
I do feel sometimes that im just randomly pressing keys till it sounds good but my style of production is what has sustained me , I find that i tend to layer lots of simple melodies to make something good and more complex so it doesnt really present itself as a barrier.(until now)
I think I'll definitely learn the essentials now since all im doing is wasting time from not knowing them.

...and yeah by minor notes i meant sharps and flats,
my problem was when playing mono-phonetically I couldnt go from any white key to any black key and have it sound good,
hopefully when i study up ill know why and how to pull it off

Sky King

Bill Hilton will teach you everything you need to know about melody theory. Don't worry yourself about all the technical jargon he is saying in the early stages, just watch what he is doing and listen to and appreciate how he constructs music using simple chords.

Replace his piano with a polyphonic synth and you're in clover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ImCB4vqnEE

lb1997

Sky King wrote: »

Bill Hilton will teach you everything you need to know about melody theory. Don't worry yourself about all the technical jargon he is saying in the early stages, just watch what he is doing and listen to and appreciate how he constructs music using simple chords.

Replace his piano with a polyphonic synth and you're in clover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ImCB4vqnEE

cheers:D!

keithkk16

New one from myself. Built for the dance floor
https://soundcloud.com/scoob89/bistopreview

lb1997

keithkk16 wrote: »

New one from myself. Built for the dance floor
https://soundcloud.com/scoob89/bistopreview

class job man!
there something about the hihat during the intro, id prefer it a bit softer or something, but no biggie

mordeith

keithkk16 wrote: »

New one from myself. Built for the dance floor
https://soundcloud.com/scoob89/bistopreview

Love the second half of the track after the xylophone type hits come in. Lovely delays during the second break. Personally I'd like a more organic clap and the kick sounds a bit filtered (or all the high end has been taken off in eq) so it seems a tad dull in the mix. Good energy though.

Sky King

That's a nice tune Keith. I'd pull the hats back in the mix just a touch.

Also.... It sounds a bit like a low quality MP3 rip though is that what you did? I have noticed soundcloud gives awful results when you upload wavs to it.

keithkk16

Sky King wrote: »

That's a nice tune Keith. I'd pull the hats back in the mix just a touch.

Also.... It sounds a bit like a low quality MP3 rip though is that what you did? I have noticed soundcloud gives awful results when you upload wavs to it.

Cheers man, yeah I always upload wavs to soundcloud didn't really notice much of a difference until you said. Better off uploading mp3s to soundcloud ya reckon?

Sky King

Well wavs are supposed to sound better of course but I have noticed soundcloud destroys them. This goes against everything that soundcloud is selling as a benefit. I just find that I get better results with mp3s.

Having said that - perhaps the problem is at my end so don't take my word for it!

Sky King

Here is my latest. It's electronic of course, but don't expect jackin beats at 120!! It's very much verse chorus verse and downtempo. Love to hear peoples opinions though.

Let's be having ye!!:

https://soundcloud.com/johankalifornski/silakosis