https://soundcloud.com/seandonnelly2199/sean-donnelly-amulet
Dark, charming, hypnotic, a slow burner.
Thanks for the listens. Feedback always appreciated!
Yep, that’s could be some interesting long intro/burner before dropping the full track 
As it is now, in terms of arrangement, it’s definitely more an intro than a full track but some nice creativity and the stereo image is good in this one What I found is that since your kick & bass are louder than the glitchy Fx sounds & atmo & synth elements, you could rise the level of those, perhaps in a progressive way with some volume automation to let those nice effects & sounds burn in and to keep with the intro feel.
Don’t make it too long and monotonic though, it’s important to create interest, that’s why those glitch & fx needs to be heard more, to catch the listeners interest 
Thanks for the feedback bro!
Based on your helpful comment I updated the track. I hope you enjoy and please let me know your thoughts
https://soundcloud.com/seandonnelly2199/sean-donnelly-amulet
Hey there Sean,
Though there is a serious improvement comparing to the first one, you’re still having a big issue with dynamic range, this is again due to levels & gain staging. This is SoundCloud Sean, it’s not Tomorrowland Festival live scene 
and while your all mix is low in volume, your kick is a festival killer one !
You know what, this Techno Kick sounds really nice, the tonal, punch and rumble are there and that’s great, but even if we can now hear the other elements much more than in the previous version, this kick & it’s rumble are sucking all the energy from your track.
If you start your mix with this Kick so loud, it’s not possible to correctly gain stage the other elements and retain a full mix acceptable loudness & minimum Dynamic Range. You still need some, even in Techno.
Expose report :
In this case you probably needed to sacrifice other elements levels to maintain an acceptable final Mix level, or you had to put a peak/limiter on your master, I don’t know, but the result is that this track is absolutely not loud and you need to crank up the volume knob in first place, but because of the Kick & rumble peaking near 0 dB it doesn’t work.
Remember that your channel levels addition themselves when reaching your master channel.
Start mixing with low levels, remember the audio workflow : Midi/Audio Source Volume → Effects → Channel Fader → Master Fader and that your Channel Fader are “Post” faders and that you need to adjust your volume at the audio/midi source either from the plugin/instrument output knob or using a utility or in Ableton Live you can also put an empty Audio Effect and make a Macro knob to the “Chain” volume. Try the included download ( Using Live 10.1 here )
-inf to 0 Fader.adg (2.5 KB)
Also in another topic we talked about Voxengo Span, try out those custom presets I made, one is for K -14 Monitoring & the other one is for full dBFS. I have tweaks some advanced settings in Span so that the response time & visual is much more detailed than when using the default presets, you will have more harmonic content information and a faster display to follow your tempo. Just unzip this on your desktop, start Live, load an instance of Span and use the Presets/Load feature from the plugin to load each preset from your desktop. Once you have loaded a preset you can use Span Presets Menu Options to save them. Have a try to see if that suits more your needs.
TEKA-Span Custom Presets.zip (8.5 KB)
You can use this ( or Live “Utility” Audio Effect ) as the 1st plugin on every track & use it to gain stage all tracks in your mix, with the goal to keep at least -6dB of Head Room when reaching your Master Channel. Once done & having a good Mix balance you can then use compression & limiting to increase the final Mix volume.
Another important point regarding Mix Levels & Balance is to work with a Reference Track to set a target, I already mentioned that in other topics, this really helps.
Next to the volume & DR issue, I also wrote this in my previous comment[quote=“Tekalight, post:2, topic:34675”]
Don’t make it too long and monotonic though, it’s important to create interest, that’s why those glitch & fx needs to be heard more, to catch the listeners interest
[/quote]
Though this is going a bit better, you should drop some classical percussive elements like hats and make some variation to that 4x4 kick, stop it at some time, change pattern, use snare rolls to create tension. Check that set from Charlotte de Witte and listen to the intro Charlotte de Witte at Ultra Miami 2019 (Carl Cox x Resistance Stage) - YouTube
So get inspired, work your magic but please review your levels & gain stage & mixing approach when it comes to online music, I know it is very tricky comparing to listening to your music quite loud in a room or outside, but that’s it, you can’t use the same levels & references for online music. Just remeber it’s more easy to start mixing at low level and increase the volume & loudness using Limiting & compression afterwards than starting loud and being left with no room.
Hope that helps, cheers !
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Some other things that also came to mind…
At this point, since volume seems to be a very recursive issue in your productions, I’m really wondering if your’e trying to apply the “Mixing at low levels first & gain staging” tips, and if you do, then the problem could also come from your listening environment.
Are you mixing on Monitors or headphones, is your room treated for audio or not, do you think you can trust your monitors, headphones ? This is really important and the best way to learn & test about that is to listen to your mixes in other rooms, on different systems like the Living Room Hi-Fi or the Kitchen MP3 radio, burning CDs and listen to them in a car…etc.
There’s absolutely nothing “Flat” in the audio world, not one piece of equipment and no one room is, except maybe for a laboratory Anechoic Chamber, LOL. So it could be that your monitoring & listening environment is causing issue like lack or too much frequencies and therefore you will compensate this when mixing. i.e if your monitoring/room results in a lack of low frequency & bass, you will boost those in your mixes and it will sound wrong in a more even & flat room, same goes for hearing too much of certain frequency ranges, you will then tame those in your mixes and they will almost disappear in the “good” room, you got the picture.
Mixing on headphones can help since it can avoid those room modes & issues but it"s not easy as well and you need to have trusty headphones, not coloring too much the sound. So it’s always aiming at the flattest audio response and learning about the week points of your listening environment.
And seriously, as mentioned before, there a load of tutorials on Sonic Academy to learn about all those things as well as making Techno tracks in Ableton from start to finish, everything explained & showcased by recognized & talented producers + the in-house tutorials from Sonic Academy team. So again, I can’t recommend enough to get yourself a subscription and to jump in the tutorials.
At this point, you have to find a way to master & nail those levels & gain staging issues, otherwise it’s gonna be difficult to get good results.
Cheers !
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Thank you for the feedback. I’m make sure to use it to better the track That’s a lot of effort you went to and I appreciate it!
I agree the kick is absolutely dominating the mix there. I guess I was afraid of it sounding too wimpy and mixed accordingly haha.
I downloaded Voxengo span but I haven’t got around to testing it out yet. I will in the near future for sure. I will pay particular attention to it when I work on this track again. Thanks for the presets!!! Good tip on inserting a utility on each channel first. I’ve been doing this on a lot of my newer productions. I’m making it a habit not to touch the channel fader. Another great tip with the working with a reference track. I’ve a few that I particularly like the sound of.
I agree the arrangement of this track needs a lot of work. Great mix there by Charlotte btw!
Regarding mixing, to be honest for the past few months I’ve not been thinking much about it. I’ll insert eqs, compressors, distortions, reverbs, delays etc anywhere I see fit. I’ve just went on instinct and doing this has got me exactly the results I want. There was a time I used to do as you said and it hampered me creatively. I was so worried about mixing/mastering that I wouldn’t put a reverb on a synth for years (no lie lol) incase I was somehow hampering my mix.
However, I take your point very serious. In my future productions I will still have my wild, creative, anything-goes sessions but when it comes to finishing a track I will ensure that I dedicate several sessions to mixing and mastering where I will take all your tips on board
Thanks for all the tips Stéphane!. I’m very grateful!
P.s I’ve a new track uploaded. It was actually completed a few months ago. I’ll upload it shortly. As always I’d appreciate a listen from you Cheers!
Well, it’s a good habit as a starting point IMO ( while working on getting the sound you want ), when you’re happy with your sound on that channel, you can then use the channel fader to mix it against the other tracks, at some points you will have to re-balance several channels to keep things quite even & balanced ). Or you can leave all the channels faders to 0 dBFS and send them to new audio tracks that you can use as group/busses and re-balanced the mix from there.
Totally agree with the creative process and I know that following rules & taking care of the technical side is cumbersome and counter-productive but though it’s great when experimenting things and trying to lay down ideas, it soon becomes much more complicated when you want to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and make a full track. At some point, you need to follow some rules, especially when it comes to levels.
Glad you liked the Charlotte de Witte set, it’s a great demonstration that classic sounds and simple arrangements can work very well. You might like very much Boris Brejcha work as well, it’s more complex and creative, just google his name and check his mixes for “Cercle”.
Cheers !
Great tip on keeping it simple with classic sounds. While it’s great to experiment there’s a reason why some sounds are continually used.
I love Boris Brejcha! I’m a huge fan of his track ‘Lost Memory’. I’m checking out that mix now. Cercle are doing awesome work! Imagine getting to play in those settings!
I’ve a feeling we like quite a few of the same artists. I’m also really into Dusty Kid, particularly all his tracks on ‘A Raver’s diary’. Also his track ‘Psika’ is a hell of a trip!
Yes “Cercle” does amazing venues & events, only the locations are already incredible.
TBH, I have my limits with Techno and too hard stuff, it’s like for Trance, I like it subliminal but Psy-Trance and harder genre like Goa is not my primary liking. One of the artist I like most is Stephan Bodzin ( search for his “cercle” show too BTW, amazing spot & set ! ), I also quite like Marc Houle as well, and yes, I probably only knew “Psika” from Dusty Kid to be honest, Vitalic would be my cup of tea for that genre.
Older guys but still rocking it for me. After that I will listen more easy going stuff like Melodic House and nowadays artist like Enanmour, Lane 8 or Lutrell, very different but that depends of the mood of course.
That’s what music means to me, it has to be an extension of your feelings & emotions, so I won’t be happy loving only one specific genre
Already listen & commented on your other track “Ben”, much more happy with this one, serious progress.
Keep it on !
Cheers !
I recreated the Kick and Bass from that Lost Memory track for you.
Lost Memory Presets.zip (133.3 KB)
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I was meant to see Stephan Bodzin recently but ended up missing him 
Marc houle is right up there for me as well… ‘why are all the vocals pitced down so low low low… this is how we make techno!’ haha. Checking out Vitalic now. That vocal work is superb.
Love Lane 8. His productions are so clean. They seem simple but obviously a lot of work has went into them with subtle modulation etc. I know of Enamour and Lutrell but need to check out more of their work. I agree with the feelings and emotions. I’ve been particularly feeling a lot of Ben Böhmer’s tracks lately. I’m the same. I don’t think there is a genre I don’t like. Just techno is my favourite!
Thanks for the constructive comments and words of wisdom!
Cheers
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Thanks Phil! Downloading them presets as we speak! It must be nearly a decade since I was last on these forums haha
Pretty close 
Cool stuff & very nice from you Phil, thanks.