Desperate Transition (Cosmic Techno) - Woask

[Woask]

The break is a bit cheesy, i would agree. I probably will focus more on the melody synth to modulate it more. That's it. Do you have other things you would add/delete/improve? How do you like the track so far?
Every critic is welcome.

[kuchenchef]

Overall it's a "wow" from me. The Green Velvet-ish drums, the minimalistic "kitsch" melody, the soundscape, for this genre it's really good. I can perfectly see this in an Ellen Allien techno set. What I didn't like is the female vocals. It's not the melody or the idea, but the sound just doesn't fit. It sounds like it's playing in a different song. Maybe it works better to replace this melody with an instrument with lots of delay. Beside that me gusta mucho.

[Woask]

sad that you don't like the Vocal. I think it's like that one thing you will remember after hearing it. And the combination of that female and the Synth Vocal results also in the track name --> The transition from one to the other. But i am happy you'll like it anyway

[kuchenchef]

Why I disliked the vocals is not the melody of it or the idea of having that vocal. It's a nice melody and it could add some nice flavour and, as you say, something memorable. It's the sound itself. I cannot really tell what it is, it sounds like not belonging to this song, more like it belongs to a different genre. Maybe it's something that can be fixed with some fx.

[Woask]

Allright. Allthough I don't know if I can fix it I am happy you tell me I really need these kind of critics

[Tekalight]

Hey there @Woask

What jumps out during 1st listening is the Kick & Ride really too loud. That ride works for me at 1:40 for example, but if you listen at 2:10 it's then push too far. It's a rather long percussive sound, if you raise the volume and don't use a lush reverb and shorten the length of the percussion, it doesn't really work IMO. Why simply not using another percussive sound instead of modulating this one ?

The atmosphere sounds in the background are also masked behind the kick rumble, try to re-balance your Mix, put your faders down, start with the kick lower than it is now and then bring on the other elements one by one.

Arrangement & sounds wise I like the minimal approach and the way you managed to build tension using those Fx sounds & percussive elements, also not sure about the female opera vocals in that track like @kuchenchef mentioned, it's a nice vocal but perhaps not for this song, something like the Carl Orff "Carmina Burana" staccato choir voices will work better if you'd like to put something with this opera-drama feel in the track. But that might lead to crazy results as well, pure personal & creativity insight here

[Woask]

Hahaha I checked which Vocal you mean... First moment I wasn't sure you're serious. So you want the full epicness But I know what you mean. That man choir fits really well. Maybe a bit better than mine. Just have to find something like that... Thanks for the recommandation!
Mixing wise: You often criticized that my Kick is to loud. And everytime I don't learn from it
So thanks for the always helpful critic my man!

[Tekalight]

Mixing wise: You often criticized that my Kick is to loud. And everytime I don't learn from it

Do you cut unwanted low end using a High Pass Filter ? Try using this all the time ( with most kicks, unless it has been processed that way already, you can easily cut between 30 & 45 Khz ). Then set your Kick channel output around -14 dB, it could be even lower depending on the kick. If you start to mix from there you'll make yourself plenty of room for mixing, also your monitors ( well, don't know if you mix on monitors or headphones ) will less struggle to replicate those low frequencies, you'll have more clarity for mixing. The length of the kick plays a big role into it as well, depending of the choice of your bass sound : both a long Kick & Bass sounds will conflict and fight for space for example.

Last point is that when we use reference tracks, it's good to keep in mind that those ones have already been mixed/mastered, therefore the reference level from those mixes is much more louder than what we really start with before getting to mixing/mastering.

[kuchenchef]

To me the volume of the kick sounds ok. My first thought was that it reminds me very much of Green Velvet's Flash. But don't trust my ears. They got destroyed in the techno wars of the mid 90s.

For the vocals, it sounds more like it's taken from a symphonic rock song or however that genre was called. The only band name I remember is Nightwish. Maybe or probably there are techno remixes of that kind of music to see what others did with similar vocals.

[Woask]

yes I am already doing that and I keep it in mind. Thanks!

[Woask]

I updated the track and lowered the Vol of the Kick in some degrees. What reminds you of that track? xD
I would change the Vocal but I don't find a better one...