I need some feedback

Music Production Track Feedback
1

I need some help by my second track about my mixing and arrangement!

2

Hey @KoNz

Well, the levels on this track is just sick :confused: , therefore it’s hard to have a fine & critical listening, it’s really too loud and induce lot’s of distortion. Start by cutting down that track level by -4 or even -6 dBFS and it will make it better.

I can’t tell if it’s the techno rumble kick only causing this or other sounds as well for now, but it’s really way too loud :wink:

Adjust levels, re-post on SndCld and edit your previous post here on the forums with the new link, it will make it easier to have a listen, thanks.

3

Hi,

thx i will try it!

4

If you rendered the audio file directly from your DAW, then you must be clipping on the master channel, in this case my advise would be to disable any compressor, limiter or effects that you putted on your master.

Then set the level of each individual track to -∞ ( no sound ) and starting by the kick, re-adjust your levels and re-balanced all tracks and check your master channel meter so that you don’t exceed -6 dBFS on the meter. That will give you the headroom to use compression, saturation and a limiter to push the levels further, but still be sure that you never exceed -2 or -3 dDBFS and that your meter is not clipping.

Hope that helps :slight_smile:

5

Thx that you spend time for me!
I have no compression, limiter or maximiser on any track.
Every channel meter is low master to.
I rendered the audio file directly from my DAW and than I let Landr master it.

6

OK, then try to use the tip I wrote in previous post, put all individual channels level to -∞ and leveled back your mix track by track starting with the Kick. If you using Landr, be sure to render a 44100 Hz 16bits audio file and to have a -6dBFS head room on your master bus.

Once you’ve got this audio file with such headroom out of your DAW, if using LANDR, try the “light” or “middle” algorithm, don’t go straight for the heavy mastering :slight_smile:

It’s a trial and errors process and Landr won’t replace what an engineer could do, even if it can do some good for your mix, your track has to be correctly leveled before and already quite well balanced, it won’t do all the magic for you.

8

ok second try
wehe i load it up to Soundcloud something sucks the sound…
the original file is much better…

9

Yea, listening to it right now. The Kick seems like gone ( well, lost it’s lo-end at least ) but hey, it’s already much better in terms of overall levels IMO, don’t you think ?

I can pin-point an issue with the kick and bass that don’t seem to work with the rest of the track now. The bass is slightly out of tune from the rest of the track, which can be a desirable effect in Techno to get that rumble feel, but since it’s quite loud and playing off tempo, it’s taking over the rest. Maybe a less pronounced de-tuning or shorter rumble effect on the bass. I.E : around 4.24 and before, the bass does not fit the track for me, but then at 4.39/4.40 it fits really better because a bit more in tune. That’s what I mean by that. Also do you side-chain your bass to the kick BTW ?

For the rest, still some levels adjustments in terms of levels ( that nice plucky synth is loud in the mix IMHO ) , but yea, you have an issue with the kick & bass, don’t know if it’s SoundCloud ( normally they don’t apply normalization to audio when you upload ) have you listen to your track in another room than where you produce ? It might be that your mixing environment gives you a not so flat audio image that will make you compensate or add frequencies when not needed.

Arrangement wise it’s an interesting track. I like the underground feel and at the same time you manage to keep some more airy synths sounds that are filling other frequencies, so that’s a good thing. Those low end atmosphere sounds in the background are nice too, the beat could be more elaborated but at the same time you may want to keep it simple and quite linear to maintain that kind of minimal techno feel.

Like I said, take the time on the mix-down stage, balance your mix as much as possible, you don’t want to have to big “jumps” between channels levels, especially if you plan to push the track via Landr online mastering afterwards.

Once you’re happy with the overall dynamic & levels for your track, next enhancements could be done using even more reverb and effects and adding more percussive elements to the beat, but that’s another step.

Good work and keep it on, just take your time, it takes a while to find right balance and levels, later it will be more like an habit and you’ll get there.

OK, that’s all for me now… Will be happy to listen again when you think you get there with the track :slight_smile:

Cheers !

EDIT : Didn’t look before, but now that I see it, as a subscriber you can watch the tutorials, on levels there’s this one with Kirk Degiorgio which IMO is good : Understanding Loudness and Metering with Kirk Degiorgio | Tutorial 01 - Plug-in Gain Staging Metering Device

Also got to listen your “Withe Lake Rush 2018” track on SndClnd, it’s a good track too :slight_smile:

10

Hey thx for your feedback!
Lot of work for me now…
Nice idea for the course. I will see it soon.

1 Like
11

Take it easy :slight_smile: It’s a kind of never ending learning process anyway, the most important is to keep the fun & interest while learning new things, so keep making tracks & experiment, even if you think your work is not perfect :wink:

Cheers !