Hi everyone,
This is my first ever track posting for a tune i’ve been working on over the past couple of weeks…its a very minimal tech-house/techno track (I think!)
I’m really eager to get some feedback/suggestions for improvements on it, it feels like there’s definitely something cool there but need to take it up a level so would love some opinions (constructive preferably!) to make it sound better.
I’m a total rookie when it comes to production so please be gentle with me when giving your opinions :D!!
Its unmastered and still very much a work in progress but any opinions will be greatly received and appreciated!
Cheers in advance for anyone who takes the time to have a listen/comment
Check it out on the following link
Stream DJ Shiva 1404 music | Listen to songs, albums, playlists for free on SoundCloud
Peace
Hi guys,
Would really appreciate some feedback on the tune i’ve posted…can anybody spare ten mins to run their ears over it and offer any opinions on it?
Cheers in advance!
Anyone at all, would really appreciate some feedback??
First thing I noticed was too much of the track was panned to the right, would personally try and make sure everything is more stereo balanced.
Another thing is the bass overpowers the kick waaay too much. It helps to use the kick as the sort of reference point in terms of the decibels of each of the elements in the track and the bass should never be louder than the kick unless its DnB or Dubstep IMO (maybe some forms of darker techno and obviously things like Indie Dance and Electronica where the rules dont matter as much).
It actually reminds me of Deadmau5’s Stereo Fidelity track: - YouTube
nice nice loops but not really my thing, i agree with mistro 
although that bass over powering the kick might become a trend some day 
Hey guys,
Thanks a lot for taking the time out to listen to it and reply…its the first tune i’ve really done so I needed the feedback!
I will have a look at those issues and try and sort them out as best I can.
Cheers again
After some really helpful advice from the two guys above i’ve had a go at improving my minimal tech-house track “tamamafini”.
If anybody can take 10mins to listen and comment i’d be eternally grateful. Any comments on the mix or arrangement or even anything on the tune itself, it would be really helpful!
Cheers in advance
Listened to it again and its much better now. The panning is more balanced now (I do think at times you need to compensate for the C-Hat with maybe some shakers on the other side, but this isnt a major problem at all) and the bass and kick are better. That being said the bass does still overpower the kick a bit, I think more side chaining or just eqing out the fundamental frequency of the kick from the bass would help ever so slightly. Or just ducking the bass entirely by an extra db or less might help ever so slightly more.
Definitely an enjoyable track.
Hi mate, thanks so much for taking the time out again to listen and comment…I really appreciate it. I took what you said into account and i’m happy that you’ve considered it to be improved.
For the bassline itself I was really trying to get the same effect that sinisa tamamovic has in a lot of his tunes…this one being a prime example of it.
The bassline just seems to stand out a lot for me against the kick which was what I was really trying to go for.
It might be a bit more eq'ing of the kick, like you suggested, that will help bring the bassline out more without having to pay the price in terms of increasing anything?
I'll have a mess about anyway and see what I can do with it. Unfortunately my speakers, as loyal as they have been to me the past 10yrs, are not the greatest so i'm probably being slightly hindered in bein able to make a final judgment on it!
I was wondering if you found the arrangement/transitions and, in particular, the breakdown interesting enough or did you feel like there was more that could be done with it?
i've listened to it so many times now its nearly impossible for me to take a step back and be subjective about it but i'm struggling to get feedback on the track as a whole rather than just the technical aspect of it!
It might be a bit difficult for you to comment on that if its not really your thing style-wise but if you do then please just let me know...it would be much appreciated!
Thanks again for the previous comments though
Im not the best in regards to commenting on track structures. If you want my honest opinion I think it works in a sense that everything flows, you have the risers and you have the effects and what not but it just feels somewhat off…
Maybe the risers have too much mid content which needs filtering out cause it sounds very muddy during the transitions.
Take my comments with a pinch of salt, my transitions are horrible, I dont know how to build up and create those tense moments just before a powerful drop, I dont even know how to do the breaks and fills right so its not really my area (then again neither are mixdowns :P).
Also in regards to the track you posted up I think the great thing about that track is the timing of the kick and bassline. Its like the bass literally swoops into the kick and out of it but they dont clash because of timing at all.
No thats fair enough mate, listen you’re the only one taking the time out to listen and comment so, at the moment, its the only feedback i’m getting. I’m definitely going to take on board what you’re saying…
For the record, I actually completely agree with what you’re saying! It does flow and it does have the effects etc but there’s just something not there that needs to be there and i’m just trying to figure out what that is!..I mean its a minimal track so its not like its supposed to have thousands of things going on at the same time y’know but there is something else thats missing. Maybe my effects parts are a bit too samey throughout the track?
When you say the risers may need some mid filtering are you referring to the filter sweeps that i’ve placed on the master channel or are you referring to all the reverb/delay tails that are just going on throughout the track?
Haha, well I think we can all think a bit like that when it comes to production mate (especially on mixdowns…don’t even get me started!), your opinion has definitely helped me out so far though!
Yeah I know what you mean about the track and its kick/bass, they both just sit over each other perfectly…do you think that is a sidechaining thing or clever bass programming from the start…or a combination of both!
Have you got any tracks posted up?
I’d be really interested to hear anything you have goin on, do you have a soundcloud page or anything for me to have a gander over?
Hey mate, your kick and bass are def not sitting well together. It’s partly a mix levels issue as the bass is overpowering the kick. The bass sounds like it has a fast attack so it’s quite punchy. The problem then is g=having two punchy sounds (kick and bass) occupying the same freq range.
Sidechaining and mixing will help but I’d suggest taking a good look at what freq they’re both operating at and making surgical cuts with EQ at that range in the corresponding instrument. So for example, if the kick is hitting at 110Hz and the bass at 75Hz then make a very narrow EQ cut at 110Hz in the bass channel and a very narrow cut at 75Hz in the kick channel. It might give them both room to breathe.
Hope that helps.
Hi mate,
Thanks a lot for the comment, i’ll definitely take a look at the sidechaining and eq’ing and see if I can get the bass sitting a bit nicer against the kick.
Once i’ve had a go at it would you mind having another listen and let me know if you think its better or not?
Thanks again mate
Hi Guys,
I’ve had a mess about with the sidechainin and eq on the kick and bass to try and get them sorted out.
Any chance you could have a listen and let me know what you think?
Cheers in advance
For your first track its good. Cant really say what Id add to be honest. Im only on my lappy speakers so cant really comment on the bass. Keep it up man. Put it this way Ive heard alot worse on Beatport
I definately think youve used the same filter sweep too much, try some variation.
I actually would never personally put effects on a master channel other than master effects like Saturators, EQ’s and Limiters. Might be better to bus (group on ableton) your elements and put the effect on the bus, you could therefore change up the effects by using the effect of a filter sweep on each of the groups differently or even use different effects entirely for each of the groups.
I havent heard of many people who put the effects on the master channel itself.
The bass and kick feel like they sit better now btw, but that being said the kick sounds weird. I heard Jon’s comment about surgical cuts and I definately agree with him, but I think youve cut the kick in a weird spot, maybe you put a high Q on it and that can result in a bubbly/boomy sound on crappy EQ’s (like abletons built in one).
I think EQing the kick and bass is f’n hard btw, so dont get down that its not going perfectly, it’ll get better over time.
For that track I think its careful bass placement more than anything, its levels seem to sweep up and drop back down just before the kick hits again, the result is they don’t clash at all.
Heres my SC: Stream Amjad Saeed music | Listen to songs, albums, playlists for free on SoundCloud
Im a lazy producer lol, any feedback I get I tend to use on the next track instead of just working on a single track till its just right. Keep it up with this one though, sounds like it’d work nice on the dance floor if done right.
Thanks a lot for your comment Andy, means a lot mate. To be fair laptop speakers can be very deceiving so if you do get an opportunity to hear it on some proper speakers then please let me know what you think…would be much appreciated.
Mistro, thanks again for your detailed feedback. I’m not sure about the filter sweeps in a style sense more than anything now…the more I hear them the more i feel they don’t belong there…you don’t normally get those kind of fx in minimal tech-house and they just feel like a lazy way to transition (i say lazy, it took me bloody ages to get the resonance and freq automation sounding any where near right but you know what I mean!) so I do think these will be coming out and I will work on other ways to build into drops.
I’ll also have a look at the current automation and see what I can alter to make it sound a bit more varied in places.
Haha, I did surgically eq the kick with the high q but what I didn’t realise was i’d cut it as much as i possibly could…don’t think that was my intention, i hope not anyway!
I am using the ableton eq eight as well so that may be another reason like you say.
I will work on the eq’ing again, my main concern was to get feedback that I was heading in the right direction in terms of getting the relationship between the kick and bass right which seems to be the case (hopefully!)
Its definitely not something i am going to get disheartened about…I think 90% of producers (pro or otherwise) are pretty vocal in their opinion that getting the bass and kick working together as they should is the single hardest thing to get right so I know that i’m not anywhere near a point where I can be confident in what i’m doing with it!
Would be nice to just be able to click your fingers and get it done tho wouldn’t it ;)!
Thanks for both your SC addresses, will start following you both and have a listen to what you’ve been creating and i’ll hopefully get another version of this back up soon.
Thanks both for your positive comments as well, the important thing is feeling like it would work on a dance floor…if you feel like it would then its definitely worth perservering with so thats what i’ll do!
Cheers guys.
P.S Mistro, thats an interesting tactic to adopt…you not even tempted to go back to some earlier work and apply what you’ve learnt since…you could be sitting on some absolute gold there mate :)!!
Hey Shiva, hope all’s good dude?
I’ve just had a listen to your track. Now I’m in the same boat as you production-wise so I’m not gonna be able to give you any mind-blowing professional advice but I’ll let you know my honest opinion.
I think the kick sounds really muffled, like you’ve put a filter on it and swept too far up and cut some of the bass frequency. I like the arrangement, it’s very Picotto sounding and everything works well together.
I agree with what you said about it missing something although I cant put my finger on what it is… Maybe think about changing some of the transitions as they duplicate quite often and your ears get used to the sounds.
You should be really happy with your first attempt though mate and take everything people say as constructive, rather than negative!
Oh and take Mistro’s advice and try not to stay on one track for too long. By all means try and tweak the faults but move on before you end up hating the track.
It’s all a learning curve at the end of the day!! 
Hi En1gma, alls good in this part of the world…hope life’s treatin you well too mate
Thanks a lot for the feedback, really appreciate it…will definitely take another look at the kick again…really struggling with the eq’ing of it at the moment but its to be expected i suppose!
I think overall, the transitions are whats making sound a bit samey really…I’ll dig out some more effects and see what I can do to vary it a little bit.
Even a few more fills dotted about the track might help it a little bit?
I’m not one to get downhearted about comments…i welcome them to be honest. You know on these types of forums you’re not gonna be bombarded with trolls who just tell you your efforts are sh!te like youtube or whatever…the comments on here are always going to be constructive and it really helps because the amount of little tips you pick up on the way really help.
I’m goin to take a step back from this tune for a bit now and try and work on something else. Like you say you definitely do run the risk of hating the work you’ve done and thats the last thing I want!
Thanks again mate, if you have anything you would like me to listen to then please let me know. I can’t offer the most profound technical advice but I like to think I know what sounds good so please just give us a shout/link and i’ll gladly take a listen.
Speak soon