Author Topic: Cause and Affection | deep/emotional/melancholy house  (Read 5244 times)

mcgold

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Cause and Affection | deep/emotional/melancholy house
« on: January 09, 2016, 06:08:45 am »
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tear it apart please

-wondering how you like the lead (melody and sound design)
-how is the kick/sub relationship?
-wondering if the bass is mixed against the lead well or if its distracting
-wondering how I did on the mixdown (/master attempt)
-thoughts on the lead in to the drop/the drop itself (~4:30)
-should I rework the string/keys chord progression during the breakdown
-is it good? is it done?



thanks a lot, i'll be sure to check your WIP out and give some feedback in exchange
« Last Edit: January 17, 2016, 12:16:12 am by mcgold »

wayfinder

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Re: Cause and Affection | deep/emotional house
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2016, 08:51:42 pm »
Only you can tell whether it's done or not ;)

I just had to switch to headphones, so take my opinion on the low end with a bit of salt, but mixing-wise it sounds like the kick could use a little more character/attack/prominence. The bassy lead works well with the sub.

I'm finding the slow vibrato on the bell/pluck to be more irritating the more I listen. If it's a deliberate effect, it would serve the track better in smaller doses (ie on something that's not playing the whole time). This would also alleviate another problem with the pluck, I felt some pluck fatigue around the 6 minute mark. Also I think there's one quite dominant frequency in there that tends to grate on some of the higher notes, maybe try finding that and EQing it sensibly. You asked about the melody, I think it's fine. It's a bit melancholy, which is nice.

The strings are nicely cinematic, although perhaps harmonically a bit simple for the gravitas of the sound. Perhaps you could look into some more complex chords. I liked the lead string melody in the later part of the breakdown, it gave a nice sense of of tension. I hesitate to call your drop a drop, it's so soft :) Which isn't innately bad, mind you!

I think the area that could be most improved are your accompanying drums, ie hats, claps/snares and percussion. I found the ornamental clap and snare patterns a bit basic and overdone. Some of the sounds you chose cover a pretty wide spectrum (shakers reach far down into the high mids, that sort of thing.) Cleaning that up will improve your track, but I recommend you listen to some more intricate patterns on tracks from the masters for inspiration as well!


mcgold

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Re: Cause and Affection | deep/emotional house
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2016, 03:06:40 am »
Thanks! that is all super helpful...yeah I have a random LFO mapped to some fine pitch modding to give the lead a detuning effect but yeah I could definitely automate it so its not on/as strong for the majority of the song, and just throw it in every so often for variation. I did some surgical EQing on it as well but I'll definitely work on that some more.

Good to know about the strings too--I thought it was a nice progression but I can definitely try to spice it up more, I kinda see what you're saying now

I'll also try to make the drums more complex--this was kinda surprising because it didn't seem too in the box to me (or at least I thought I had done a decent job humanizing the drums)....considering the clap doesnt come until the second drop (its just a wood block before) I figured I could just stick to the 2 and 4 with a hit here and there. I was experimenting with having a more latin-inspired clap pattern (like on the 2 and then two hits syncopated around the 4) so ill continue to work on that.

Heymac

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Re: Cause and Affection | deep/emotional house
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2016, 04:12:52 am »
Such a cool vibe. I really really like this track. I do agree with the pluck fatigue, maybe just eq that frequency a soften it a little. The strings are really good and they just build that tension and emotion just right. The clap after the drop is good but it sounds like it would sit better if it was a semi tone or two lower but my ears could just be tired. The horn is spot on and I really like this. 9/10 would buy on beatport.

mcgold

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Re: Cause and Affection | deep/emotional house
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2016, 12:36:42 am »
thanks a lot! really nice to hear, especially after I've started to lose hope in the track after editing and listening for way too many hours. Definitely gonna try to perfect that pluck since its the main element of the track. Also good to hear regarding the clap--i was a little unsure of it as well.

mcgold

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Re: Cause and Affection | deep/emotional house
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2016, 01:03:34 pm »
updated the track---worked on the string section a little bit, worked on the percussion a little bit, changed the clap, re-mixed some of the parts, edited the fx/detuning on the melody and EQ'ed to help with fatigue