16-06-2011, 01:19 AM
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First time at band camp
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 6
Rep Power: 0
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REVIEW : Summer11 Mix002 > Josh Basculez : DjKerrn
Many thanks Josh, for coming forward and asking for a review. You posted two tracks, and I will soon review the other !
DRUMS:The kickdrum is on the medium - as it sounds to me it is a straight-forward clean WAV sound file. What you might want to do is use an equalizer and reduce mid range and maybe a bit of the sub/base frequencies. This way, you'll keep the "punchyness" and the "crispness" of the sound. Last but not least, add a active of a passive sidechain to the kick as I can hear the sub/base of the kick drag along all the way. Sadly, there is only one additional echoing drum except the kickdrum. Especially in techno songs, having a variety of other drums is a key element. At least add a dominant snare or clap and some hats. I recommend having each snare & clap and the hats on separate channels and also use a equalizer to filter out the base frequencies (on the snare channel) and the mid range to base frequencies on the hats channel. A few hits/crashes would also be great. 1/5 BASE / BASELINE:With the baseline, you used a casual base,base+1oct, which repeats throughout the entire track. Only suggestion I would have hear is to add a slight sidechain to the base in addition to using two bases. ONE for the cool sound which it has now, the other for the actual base. Note that here again you can "filter" out the frequencies of the treble sounds and some of the mid range sounds, to keep the crisp base sound. 2/5
MELODY / HARMONICS:Ok I've heard many songs online, from people who say they know how to make music. Many can't and they just fail at simple harmonics, keys and note placement. In your song, you have a common melody and straight-forward placement. Then you add a corresponding second melody with a synth somewhere at 1'00. Thumbs up for that ! Only downside is, this is repeated 3 times throughout the song. 2/5
SOUNDS/ SYNTHS:Your choice of synths is good !
1.) Pipe flute
2.) Pads
3.) Base
2.) Kickdrum
3.) Echo pipe snare
4.) Lead synth saw/wasp
5.) Support synth coarse square
6.) Kick echo with stereo delay.
2/5
PRODUCTION / MASTERING:So here's where it get's interesting : This is a mix ; I can clearly here the switches between the sections. You either mixed complete sets together or individual sound files as in separate saw/wasp into etc. When the first kick drum punch, hits the floor, there's no intro for it - it just happens. Then the base just comes out of nowhere and joins the club. There should be some sort of transition connecting the sections in your song. With sections I mean; each time something major or a completely new element is added to the mix. Especially on the drop and breakdown. Last but not least, there's too much repetition in your song: Add a element into your song that will be the key element which is repeated only once. Otherwise your song sounds like it's being looped and spiced up 3 times over.
As for the production, you have to place more detail on mastering. To do that successfully, each channel should have a equalizer that is set to reduce certain frequencies and very delicately, amplify others. This reduces the noise that is not needed. For example, a saw/wasp doesn't need base frequencies and certain mid range frequencies on certain levels. If they are removed, you will hear other sounds "take their place" - suddenly the snare and base get more attention and sound clearer. It all comes down to removing or reducing that which you don't need and to get that crisp clear sound out of a track.
In addition, you can add compression to the master channel and some other channels. Note that for example a baseline, might vary in volume - sometimes it's louder and sometimes quieter. A limiter takes care of that for you. It will always increase/decrease the sound at such a level, that it will be kept at a certain threshold. But what's great on your track, there's hardly any distortion ! But what you must work on is the volume on the channels. The basewasp is sometimes much too loud compared to the other sounds at some sections ( 2:23 - 2.38 ). 2/5
Final Word: RATING : ★★|★★★★★ [ 2/5 ]
The mix is ok but not spectacular and probably composed in 30 minutes. A few common sounds with a bold kick-drum, a common baseline and a repeating melody. I'm missing the summer feeling, as the song was entitled "Summer11". The song contains no distortion, but lacks drums that would actually turn it into a nifty techno song. There's no catchy melody in it but the key placement and tones are good. Also it uses a very interesting beat placement of 6/6(3) instead of 8/8(4)
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k the music industry.
Personally, I'd prefer Summer11 Mix002.
12-06-2011, 02:25 AM
Linear Mode
