Taken from the detroit techno chapter of Laurent Garnier's 2003 book Electrochoc. The quote itself is from Mike Banks a techno pioneer:

"Our music goes beyond us. Sometimes, I compare music to what a vampire obtains from the blood he sucks: eternal life. The energy we pass on stays behind and can touch people in 200 or 300 years time. I'm on earth to inspire other people, and maybe people who are not even on earth yet.'"

And this one really stuck with me too, it's simple but effective:

"You don't make a record for fun, man" - Derrick May

A few comments off the top of my head. I'm assuming you're going for an Anjunadeep type sound based on the tags.

- I like the overall melody and vibe. It almost sounds more like a rock instrumental sometimes than a dance track.

-Biggest problem: The kick is weak. I would turn its volume up and sidechain the bass and possibly some of the other tracks to the kick. Maybe use a different kick sample with more low-end thump.

- The bass for the first half is weak and subby. I actually like it as a sub bass but it needs something in the mid-bass range. The mid bass that appears after the drop is much better but it maybe is a bit too loud. The higher lead sounds get lost once that one appears.

- The arpeggio that starts at the beginning gets monotonous before the drop

- Sometimes I hear notes that clash with each other musically. Example: 2:50-2:59

- The clap (snap?) sound after the drop is lost in the mix. The bongos that start at 3:20 end up getting the focus, and in this kind of music those should be in the background with the kick and snare/clap out front.

- I don't think you're using very much reverb - the lead sounds could use some.

Keep working on it, it definitely has potential!  As for what to focus on for learning, I'd say the best thing is to get a couple of reference tracks that have a sound you'd like to reach and work on getting each part of your mix closer to that. If you haven't studied EQ and sidechaining those two would definitely help get a better mix.

Cheers man, I appreciate it big time! Yeah I'll look more into the mixing side of things as I haven't been focusing on that side of things too much. I just got a subscription to Sonic Academy so I'll look at some of their mixing and mastering stuff.

Any other good resources for arrangement, composition, layering etc. that I should know about?

Hi everyone, I've been producing for a bit now and am getting the concept of arrangement and theory alright, but my biggest issue seems to be sound design, especially when it comes to layers such as my bass lead etc. I've looked at remakes of popular songs and tried recreating the methods they use, but when I'm making my own stuff the sounds I come up with or even when I choose a few presets it never sounds right. Any tipsor tutorials?