How do you guys generally equalize your lead layers? Do you keep your layers within the same frequency range or do you equalize them so that the layers exist in separate frequency ranges?

+1 to Frank Zappa 

Steve Vai, Nujabes, Joe Hisaishi, Plini, Sithu Aye, Nobuo Uematsu, and Ryuichi Sakamoto are some artists outside of electronic music that really influence the way I write and are relatively weird depending on the listener.

The square waves at 0:26 are a bit too loud.

I'm with marrow on the drums. They seem to be not balanced well enough with the synths.

I found the Yoshi sample to be quite hilarious at 1:08. xD

The breakdown is beautiful musically. Would be cool to hear it with something like a chamber orchestra, but that might be too expensive! And you're on the right track with the chorus as well.

I have a few comments regarding mostly sounds:
- Might be cool if the "banjo" evolved somehow during the intro - a filter sweep or something
- The click of the kick is too loud, sounds almost like the metronome was left on!
- Ride sounds toyish, I would change that sample (check out http://www.michaelkingston.fi/kingstondrums/easyrider.html), maybe give some life to it by varying velocities (and samples maybe), and also pan it more to one side, and maybe add reverb.
- The one-note riser is not very effective to me, maybe some FM riser might be better. Or sidechaining it to the kick and adjusting the panning might also help. Now it just sounds like a lead that's never in tune!
- That boom kick in breakdown should be louder
- The breakdown needs more layers/pads/atmospheric stuff to keep it interesting. The string sound alone sounds a bit dull.

Would like to hear a louder version next time, so that I don't have to crank my volume knob

Thanks so much Arktopolis for your feedback.

I've lowered the transient on the click drum since I posted this up a few days ago. I was also concerned about it being too loud. The funny thing is that the "banjo" is actually a synth but now that you mention it the sound does seem like a needs a bit more variation. I agree with the boom kick as well being too quiet. I actually added ambience/atmosphere into the breakdown since I've posted this as well.

I should also note that there is going to be more vocals. I only did a quick take to see whether my sisters vocals would be right for the track. :O

As far as the ride goes the reason why it might sound toyish is because like you said there's not any variation in velocity and no panning so it has that "red robin" effect. Maybe a little bit of reverb will help it blend in more with the mix though.

The riser isn't sidechained atm so maybe I'll do that and see how it affects the mix.


I took off the mastering chain before I uploaded this which is why it's to quiet so sorry for making you crank your volume knob..

Hi guys. Tonight I'm here with a few questions regarding lyric writing.

I'm curious about what do you guys think makes great lyrics? Also, if there are any of you out there who write your own lyrics what is your lyric writing process? Does poetry make you better at writing lyrics or do you think they're related in any way?

I write lyrics every now and then for my sister to sing over my music and I haven't been doing it long enough to really define my taste. I have noticed certain "cliches" that I tend to gravitate to or words that I tend to overuse. Often when I catch myself using these phrases I'll try to think of something else.

One thing that I've noticed is that I really enjoy lyrics that create some type of a scenery to the track. One of the lines I've written go something like this...

Shooting stars light up the night.
They'll follow you forever
Disappear into the sky
Make a wish across the earth.

What do you enjoy in your lyrics?

Ughh... my head hurts. I can't help it Zauzau if I misinterpret your posts. They always have a condescending tone to them when I read them. 

I didn't think it was possible for perfect pitch to be developed which is why I just decided to go with "born". I thought that you had to be born with it. I tried taking a perfect pitch course once from David Lucas Burge and failed miserably. I've never heard of anyone "developing' perfect pitch.

Yes I take things literally... Maybe I'll try a less science and more tits approach next time.

Once again... I'm not going to get into the whole "which instrument/genre/production" is harder argument. It's too much work and it's starting to give me a headache.

So yeah, if you haven't taught drums, then you really shouldn't be talking about "how easy" it is as if you have taught them or have encountered a true beginner before.

I said in the beginning of that post quite clearly....

In that case I will most likely not be the one to persuade you. I can only speak from my own experience as a multi-instrumentalist.

I found picking up drums to be simple as a beginner. But yes you are right not everyone is me.

Except the 50 track requirement. Make that 100. I still stand by that. Come on man, I don't know why you can't seem to grasp this idea, when it's been mentioned so many times before, by people much more successful than you and I. It's a proven method for progress. You HAVE to make a lot of tracks when you're starting out, and you will suck in the beginning. You will suck a lot over and over again, but with every track you finish, you start to suck less. Do I really need to post that Ira Glass video yet again, or the NGHTMRE one?

It's not that I don't grasp the idea zauzau.... I literally have a poster of that in my room so I can see it everyday I wake up in the morning...



Yesterday I listened to the first track that I made ever and I compared it to the one that I'm working on right now. I'm light years better than I was from that first track. I'm not against finishing tracks. I'm trying real hard to finish the one I'm working on right now. (25hours in according to projecttimer) I just don't think that there needs to be a "finished track requirement" in order to ask for feedback... Like seriously of all the people who post in the "finished track section" how many people do you honestly think have finished 100 tracks? That's more than Seven Lions and Madeons discography combined...

Oh, and for the record, I am not a 'bro'. I'm actually a lady. But you guys can keep calling me that though!

  Okay you know what now I'm really done with you zauzau.

Zau.. I agree that ear training is important. The point of mentioning my story was to show that just because you play an instrument doesn't mean that you have good ears. It's playing by ear, transcribing, active listening, improvising, music theory and etc... that will help someone develop their ears.

What annoys me is that music theory is what helped me develop my ears the most and then you mention this...

If you are reading this and happen to fall within the category of people I mentioned, please stop whatever you're doing, yes, even stop reading that music theory book you're reading.

I'm not going to bother with the "which genre of music is more difficult on a beginner level" thing. I haven't taught drums. I have however taught guitar and piano. From my experience of once being a beginner... dance music production is just harder. 

Also... I never interpreted your thread as this...

some people should just give up, because they lack "musical ability" at all (represented as "hearing what they're doing"), then I strongly disagree

.

Now you're just putting words in my mouth.

What I have interpreted your thread as is a highly annoying way of saying "work on your ears".

All of the "sad state of music" "drop music theory" "I don't check out beginners" "50 track feedback requirement" "downloading daws is unfair" is what makes reading your post make me want to pull my hair out.