Lane8/Anjunabeat inspired track

Music Production Track Feedback
1

Finally completed a 4th track. I think I am starting to grasp my head around different concepts with music theory and creating a quicker workflow within my own DAW. I started this track from a 8 bar arpeggio loop and built else everything around it. The intro definitely needs some more work done, I feel as if I am missing a whole section but I can’t come up with any ideas for now at the moment and chalking this track up as another learning experience.

I have constantly checked my mix in both mono and stereo throughout while conjuring up this track and I still don’t understand the relationship between both mixes. Will a track in mono always sound different from its stereo counterpart? Or is it supposed to sound just as good or close to it?

*edit, I just noticed the sub bass is wayyy too high. Ill have it fixed when I come back from work

1 Like
2

Hi there @andytheyoo

You’re probably uploading the corrected version now since the SndCld link isn’t working anymore, I had a listen to the first version and it’s a nice track. Will comment and try to answer your questions about Mono/Stereo mixes when the new link will be updated then :wink:

Catching up later, cheers !

3

@Tekalight

I have fixed the sub bass levels and corrected the arrangement from first edit.

1 Like
4

Hi again @andytheyoo

I like this track, it’s appealing & you did a pretty good job with mixing as well as for the arrangement :slight_smile:

You perhaps still have a tiny bit too much low end and at some points in the track you have peaking levels going into the red ( mainly because of the transient heavy lead /pluck synth playing in the intro & transition later in the track ) but really those are minor issues. A slight boost in the 2.5K / 3K frequency range could be nice too IMO, but doing this, pay attention & tame your ambient white noise which is already quite present.

I wasn’t sure about this intro and this synth sound choice when first listening to the track, this synth sounds more like a kind of “future-bass” style synth comparing to the more chilled style of the all mix but listening several time to it, it actually creates a nice variation in the track.

I like the different synths layers and the way you’re progressively bringing them into the track & blending them together, nice work, it keeps the track interesting even when listening to it several times.

So yes, nice one & great work :slight_smile:

About Mono & Stereo Mixes :

Except if you’re working with a 100 % Mono audio material source ( like a pure mono channel audio recording ) and on a true mono ( single output ) channel in a DAW, nothing is really mono inside your DAW because everything ends up to a stereo output and there’s always 2 channels out per track.

What’s happening inside DAWs when setting a track to Mono is that an equal audio signal is send to both speakers while in Stereo, two distinct audio signals are send to the respective Left & Right speakers ( we just considerate a standard 2 speakers monitoring/listening setup here ).

So because of the way our ears perceive sound, an equal audio signal sent to the Left & Right speaker will make our brain think that the sound is coming from the center point between those speakers, especially if we’re standing in the middle.

In Stereo, 2 distinct audio signals are send respectively to the Left & the Right speaker. Theoretically if those signals are both the same it should sound exactly like in Mono, but again, because of the way our ears perceives sound and extremely short micro-delays + the way that sound travels from each speaker to our Left & Right ear, it will actually sound slightly different and less centered.

Now if those 2 distinct audio signals are different ( in pitch, delay & time, level or other effects ) it will result in a more wide/spacey perception of sound for our ears & brain, and that’s where it’s getting interesting actually.

When listening at a centered position between 2 speakers, the Mono mix will most of the time sound more present, loud and right in your face because of that centered sound perception from our brain, the sound travel seems shorter to us.

In Stereo and using even 2 slight different audio signals, our ears & brain will perceive the sound more wide and a bit further away giving us this perception of space, time and deepness of audio field.

So the relation between the two is really about contrast & audio placement in space. Though this is less obvious on headphones, a 100% Mono mix could sound a bit lifeless because the exact same signal will come from the center of the Left & Right headphone driver. On close back monitoring headphones the difference can be hard to catch because the drivers are isolated, but it should be more obvious with open back headphones because of the vents around the drivers leading to a listening experience closer to speakers. That said, the easiest & best way to compare a Mix in Mono & Stereo and the balance between both is on monitors & speakers.

If you mix 100% Mono, you’re loosing that chance to create wide & full mixes and the ability to use effects like delays, pitch and reverb to their best to create space and deepness in your mix. Another problem can be that many instruments can fight/duel for the same frequency range, especially in the low end spectrum.

If you Mix 100% Stereo, chances are that you will run into phasing issues and a lack of clarity, presence and mixes loosing punch & sounding dull or “distant”, you get the picture.

So yes, it’s really a matter of creating contrast, because our ears & brain need something to sit in the center in order to “re-place” in time & space different sounds coming from Left or Right and creating that perception of a wider sound.

Back in the days, DJs had to make sure that their mixes where Mono compatible for clubs, because the PA audio systems they were playing back their mixes where mostly Mono, this is less & less true nowadays but still it’s good to pay attention to Mono & Stereo and to keep a certain amount of Mono content in your mix, especially for important & low end elements like kick & bass.

In the case of your Mix, you did quite well and when switching to Mono listening, your mix is perfectly centered and a bit louder than when listening in stereo, something you can also compensate to taste when doing your final mixing/mastering on your 2 buss channel.

If you haven’t done yet, I suggest you to watch this nice & very informative tutorial from Nate Raubenheimer aka Protoculture/Shadow Chronicles about creating wide Stereo Mixes here on S.A

How To Create Wide Mixes with Protoculture | Tutorial 01 - Introduction

And again, nice track & good work, keep it on :slight_smile:

Cheers !

5

Hello @Tekalight!

I’d like to take a moment and thank you for your contributions to these forums. You have always given me feedback on every track I have posted since the beginning and have given me a lot of information/guidance on many different subjects which have helped tremendously! I’m starting to build up more confidence in my tracks and it inspires me to keep pushing on.

I do have one question regarding M/S capabilities while using FX, reverb/delays. I always use Voxengo span to keep my eye on correlation levels. It seems, regardless of what I do post FX, I see the meter dipping into the negative zones, is that something that I should be avoiding or something to just consider in the bigger picture of the track?

1 Like
6

Hi again @andytheyoo

Thanks for your words, much appreciated :slight_smile: and I’m glad to read that previous feedback & comments have been helpful to you, but hey, you’re the one doing the hard part of the work in the end, so keep that confidence, it’s very important to have that positive feeling, that really helps too :wink:

So M/S capabilities while using Effects…

Well IMO, Mid/Sides mixing is a good technique to help you keeping things under control, but it doesn’t always do the perfect job on it’s own. Reason for that is the tools that we are left with when it comes to M/S, and basically it falls back to one which is Mid/Sides EQ. Now some effects plugins have more or less efficient build in M/S features, Brainworx & Plugin Alliance does well in that regard, plugins like their bx_rooMS reverb can help.

The points to keep in mind when using effects such as delays & reverb are " what’s actually going through the effect ? " and " how do we get those effects back in the mix ? ".

Though M/S EQ can help with the first one, it’s sometime necessary to use other tools like filtering or/and gate which also leads to the second point : it’s far more easy to control what’s going through any effect if you’re using a dedicated send/return channel for that effect.

So if you just need to add a slight delay or reverb to a sound, it can be done directly on it’s own channel and using M/S EQ can help to keep things under control as well as the Dry/Wet mix knob of the effect itself ( if there is one ).

Now if the effect is intended to be more pronounced and heard in the mix, it’s good to use a dedicated send/return bus/channel for that. In this case, the Dry/Wet effect mix knob should be set to 100% Wet and you can then use filters, gate, compression placed before your effect to control what’s going through it, you can also control the amount & send level going through the effect and even do some post-fx processing like levels adjustment or EQing, compression or even filtering again. Some people will tell you that you have to respect rules when it comes to what to use Pre & Post FX, I believe that there’s no real rules, what matters is how it sounds in the end.

So having your main effects on dedicated send/return channels/buses gives you a larger amount of controls. If you can record back the wet signal only and blend it back into your mix, it can also offers you another level of control & adjustment.

There’s often unwanted energy in both Low & High frequencies spectrum, and even inaudible energy for the ears but it’s there and it could be triggering your effects. M/S EQs sometime won’t cut those enough, that’s where filtering comes in handy.

At some points if you’re not getting the results you want, it might be worth going back to your source material and maybe too heavy transients or too long audio tales are causing issue when passing through the effect. A compressor with a short attack will help taming harsh transients and you can use fades for too long tales.

Now for the Span correlation meter dipping into negative zones, you could double check phases or M/S mixing issue using another free Voxengo plugin : Multi-Band Correlation Meter Plugin [VST, AU, AAX] - Correlometer - Voxengo which should give you more information. MAAT Digital also recently released MAAT 2BC multiCORR which is reasonably priced and also works outside your DAW.

Hope that helps !

7

hey great work.
I love the arp and the piano chords they fit together nicely. There is nice flow of energy throughout the track. I like the contrast you have between the different sections.
If this was a track I produced I would maybe add some high pads or atmospheres to complement the piano and arp in the lower energy parts of the track. I’m not feeling the bass stabs it seems very aggressive for this type of track, I know your wanting contrast I don’t feel thy fit
I would add some ambience and maybe take away the bass stab
but overall great track, I really enjoyed listening
thanks

8

@fred29 Hey Fred! Thanks for the feedback! I too also think the bass stabs don’t fit the track as well. Honestly I was just stuck and couldn’t think of a good way to start a intro so I just loaded up a vst and haphazardly put some things together while learning things on the way. I will definitely be revisiting this song in the future when my production chops get better! Until then, Cheers!