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Author Topic: "Falling Clear" -- My first song, advice sought!  (Read 7496 times)

NameAndForm

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"Falling Clear" -- My first song, advice sought!
« on: January 20, 2016, 12:21:10 am »
Hi folks, I'm kind of an Ableton noob, but been getting really into it the past couple months. This has my wife on vocals. I find mixing to be really hard, but it's probably because I have too much stuff going on at once.... I'm pretty sure I need to strip out some layers -- do you agree?
Any other advice highly sought.  FYI I mixed everything a few dB lower than 0, and later threw OTT and a limiter on the master, and tweaked until it was decent-ish. But I know I have a ways to go.  Thanks!!


EDIT: update -- I changed some stuff, stripped out some extra synths, added some vocal pitch correction (GSnap), changed the hihats, automated some stuff... Thanks for the tips so far!! I think the mix is sounding better. I took out OTT and just stuck with a limiter and Glue.  Here's the updated link:
« Last Edit: January 20, 2016, 08:06:13 am by dizzwave »
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Maxwellywell

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Re: "Falling Clear" -- My first song, advice sought!
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2016, 02:52:36 am »
Try spacing out the cymbals more for the slow, more "dubstep" part. Sounds pretty great for only a couple months of experience!
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nicezach

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Re: "Falling Clear" -- My first song, advice sought!
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2016, 02:53:20 am »
pretty cool for a first song. for critique I'd say, probably use auto-tune for vocals. your wife has a nice sounding voice but it sounds like she's off key for a few notes. maybe pull back on the verb a bit, and EQ her voice for sure.
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Xan

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Re: "Falling Clear" -- My first song, advice sought!
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2016, 02:53:01 pm »
Your bass on the down tempo part really lacks clarity/bite. In my opinion: If you strip out some layers layer and make it less legato, you can get a good groove going. Just a thought. The rhythm in that part is pretty straight forward. I like the glitching though.
But I like your arrangement there, nice change of pace.

For a noob, it's not bad. But a lot of these things will come in time, to be honest.
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JayDBe

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Re: "Falling Clear" -- My first song, advice sought!
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2016, 03:19:42 pm »
It's actually very good for a first song, I really love the style your going to. The "Woodblock pluck" (or how you wanna call it) starting at 2:00 is a bit off place in my opinion, it doesn't have to be there for me. Just like the downpart, it's not in style with the rest of your track.

My advice: listen to some tracks from Fehrplay, Grum, Capa,... to get some inspiration to finish it. Don't worry about the mixdown too much, it will come later ;)
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Xan

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Re: "Falling Clear" -- My first song, advice sought!
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2016, 03:38:06 pm »
Quote from: JayDBe on January 20, 2016, 03:19:42 pm
It's actually very good for a first song, I really love the style your going to. The "Woodblock pluck" (or how you wanna call it) starting at 2:00 is a bit off place in my opinion, it doesn't have to be there for me. Just like the downpart, it's not in style with the rest of your track.

My advice: listen to some tracks from Fehrplay, Grum, Capa,... to get some inspiration to finish it. Don't worry about the mixdown too much, it will come later ;)

I completely disagree with the 'not in style'. MY advice: never try and conform your songs to a style. Be experimental and try different things. I think the down tempo actually works very well as a nice change of pace.
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JayDBe

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Re: "Falling Clear" -- My first song, advice sought!
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2016, 03:48:15 pm »
Quote from: Xan on January 20, 2016, 03:38:06 pm
Quote from: JayDBe on January 20, 2016, 03:19:42 pm
It's actually very good for a first song, I really love the style your going to. The "Woodblock pluck" (or how you wanna call it) starting at 2:00 is a bit off place in my opinion, it doesn't have to be there for me. Just like the downpart, it's not in style with the rest of your track.

My advice: listen to some tracks from Fehrplay, Grum, Capa,... to get some inspiration to finish it. Don't worry about the mixdown too much, it will come later ;)

I completely disagree with the 'not in style'. MY advice: never try and conform your songs to a style. Be experimental and try different things. I think the down tempo actually works very well as a nice change of pace.

Fair enough, everyone has his own opinion :) As long as he's happy with the downpart, I'm good  8)
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NameAndForm

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Re: "Falling Clear" -- My first song, advice sought!
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2016, 04:09:34 pm »
I appreciate all the advice nonetheless! It's all opinions, and my non-producer friends all just say "it's really good!" (I'm sure you know how that goes). I'm tempted to let this track sit for a while and move onto something else. After I fix *just a few* little things.....  :o

Btw, just to clarify, it's true I'm an ableton noob, but I used to use hardware synths and Cakewalk back in the day (10-15 years ago!). But working with software is sooo much faster, I love it. I never completed a song back then that I was happy with.

Anyway, I agree that the "wub" lacks bite. I should figure that out. Since dubstep isn't my main area, I haven't really polished that. ;-)

Thanks again!!
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Xan

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Re: "Falling Clear" -- My first song, advice sought!
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2016, 04:27:34 pm »
Quote from: JayDBe on January 20, 2016, 03:48:15 pm
Quote from: Xan on January 20, 2016, 03:38:06 pm
Quote from: JayDBe on January 20, 2016, 03:19:42 pm
It's actually very good for a first song, I really love the style your going to. The "Woodblock pluck" (or how you wanna call it) starting at 2:00 is a bit off place in my opinion, it doesn't have to be there for me. Just like the downpart, it's not in style with the rest of your track.

My advice: listen to some tracks from Fehrplay, Grum, Capa,... to get some inspiration to finish it. Don't worry about the mixdown too much, it will come later ;)

I completely disagree with the 'not in style'. MY advice: never try and conform your songs to a style. Be experimental and try different things. I think the down tempo actually works very well as a nice change of pace.

Fair enough, everyone has his own opinion :) As long as he's happy with the downpart, I'm good  8)

Yes they do. But since he's new, I wouldn't want to say: do it this way or that way!
Give him/her time to figure out what style they like. For example: I cannot stay put on one idea in a song for too long because it bores me. All my tracks have multiple  ideas and that's how I like it. Others hate it. But that's just a taste thing.
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