Finished this remix finally! I feel like it's got an old sound reminiscent of the 2011-2012 era of house music, what do you guys think?

https://soundcloud.com/joshhart/heartbeat

https://clyp.it/p3vbrgyq

messed about with a midi file of isometric and came up with this a few hours later

https://clyp.it/pkb3un03

I'll be replacing the lead melody with something different, the one there currently is a placeholder (I used the melody in a previous song I've made)

EDIT: I've replaced the melody and added some cool chords https://clyp.it/sqt3u10i

I'm a little unclear on your question. Are you saying asking if a 3.5mm to USB adapter - which would allow you to plug your headphones into your computer's USB port - have the same effect as an audio interface?

If that's what you're asking, then the answer is no. An interface is helpful because it has converters that convert analog to digital signal and vice versa. They are high quality, almost certainly better than the onboard soundcard in your computer. I don't think something like the Audio Technica ATR2USB compares to something like a proper interface like a Focusrite Scarlett. Focusrite Scarlett Solo comes highly recommended as a starter USB interface.

Yeah, that was my question. I knew it likely wouldn't be the same as an audio interface, but I just wanted to make sure. And I had no idea Focusrite made a Scarlett Solo, that was a surprise!

So I want to get really cheap decent setup. Currently my speakers are Logitech X-2300's, some of the best speakers Logitech has ever manufactured, and they have a volume control that also has a headphone input, typical for any speaker setup. These speakers plug into my onboard 3.5mm jack. Yeah, I know it's really bad to produce with that but it's all I've got. I'm thinking of getting a pair of Audio Technica M20X's, because it would be a really good upgrade from using Sennheiser CX-300 II earbuds primarily for producing. The only problem is, is that I would be plugging those headphones to my Logitech speakers which are connected to the static mess that is the onboard 3.5mm.

Would using a 3.5mm female to USB male adapter be just as good as using an adapter? I'm thinking that it wouldn't, because everyone would be doing that if it was, but I have my suspicions. How would the quality change? Would the static mostly go away to a point where monitoring with the M20X's would be actually doable?

Thanks.

https://soundcloud.com/joshhart/pulse

I spent most of the summer working on this, hope you guys like!

The quality actually isn't bad at all, it's coming through very clearly for me. It could've just needed some time to render and process on Soundcloud.

Love the intro with all of the different sounds being modulated and mixed around. When the main melody comes in, I was honestly kind of surprised with how "basic" of a loop it was, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's very catchy, and like I said the synths sound great. I think the kick could come out just a bit more in the mix with some more high end, maybe couple a quiet high hat along with the kick to make it stand out more, but the bass and rest of the percussion come in sounding nice.

Haha, love the deadmau5 hit there at 1:13. I think he uses that in "Animal Rights" if I remember correctly.
I like the filtering out starting at 1:41, it sounds really cool with the synth you made. Did you produce that in Sylenth? Massive? What did you use?

1:57 - wow that synth comes in clear as a bell. Great mixing on that one man. Love the flanging/phasing work too, it sounds like Daft Punk meets deadmau5.

I like it man! I think the main melody does get a little too repetitive after a while, but your sounds are mixed perfectly and the track never gets "boring" - there's always elements pushing it forward.

Nice work!!

I'll try the hihat on top of the kick idea! I didn't think of it because I did it a long time ago and it sounded really bad, but I could probably do it better this time.

The only synths I have in the song are a quiet sub bass with 3xosc, and a Sylenth patch which is the main sort of "lead," if you will. And all it is is the cutoff in Sylenth that was messed with. Basically, the entire song is that basic loop (which I'll try to make some variations to, if possible) and the cutoff being automated in a lot of different weird ways

The intro is recorded midi data of me playing an E multiple times and tweaking a knob. The really weird part after the first drop is essentially the same thing, it was a thing I made a long while ago when I didn't have a midi keyboard yet, I just randomly pressed some keys and tweaked the cutoff knob in Sylenth all to hell, and it was done! And the part where the Vox effect comes in, I tweaked 2 knobs while it was playing, an X and Y parameter for IL's Effector Vox preset.

Thanks for the feedback!

/u/Huntroxic released a few midi files (http://bit.ly/2aEcLvd) of some of the new live edits Porter has been playing recently. One of those was Shepherdess, and it was a song I've wanted to remix since I found out about it. Here's what I have so far.

https://soundcloud.com/joshhart/shepherdess-remix-demo-5/s-0oc5S