Hey Sonic Academy community. I am an unapologetic, unabashed noob. I have composed and produced my first electronic track in Live and would like to share it with you all.
I would appreciate any feedback and commentary, particularly if it helps improve my mix and production. Harsh and abusive namecalling is welcome as well.
Download Trails - Mix 1: Stream Trails - Mix 1 by Neil James | Mpls | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
To give you a little background, I’ve taken a more circuitous route into electronic music. For fifteen years, I’ve played guitar and been the primary songwriter for a thrash metal band. While never signed and small potatoes in the scheme of things, we’ve achieved modest regional success and have been able to share the stage with some really big acts.
As I’m getting older, my goal is to get to a point where I can create and produce music but am not relying on others to do so. Consequently, I come into the world of electronic music with what I believe is more knowledge of rhythm and music theory than your average bear, but I’m somewhat lacking in my knowledge of electronic music in general and woefully bereft in production abilities.
Before composing, I spent months studying electronic music. I read the entire Ableton manual, as well as Rick Snoman’s book on dance music production. I watched 35-40 Sonic Academy videos and took very detailed notes throughout the entire process. I know you’re not going to ever learn to drive from a manual alone, but I really wanted to get as firm a grasp on the fundamentals as possible in the hopes that I don’t learn bad habits early in my developmental process.
Ultimately, my goal is to marry both of these genres and cross over into a KMFDM/Nine Inch Nails type of art (In fact, if Sonic Academy ever did a KMFDM or Nine Inch Nails tutorial, I’d probably renew my subscription for another year.)
Anyways, I just thought I’d share some back story on how this track came to be.
Thanks for all your feedback. It is much appreciated.