(techno/dubstep) Anti Sentient

[MindTheft]

Hi again,

Squeezed another one out of Reason, what do you think?

Cheers

[mashers]

I really like your use of sound in this. The production is great and it sounds lovely. Your use of sound and texture is very nice. There is something missing, though. I felt like the track was building to something, but it didn't come. There was only one real drop, and it was slightly disappointing as a drop usually contains more atmospheric sounds, rather than just dropping out most of the instruments. This meant that the contrast between the drop and the main track wasn't great enough, which makes the drop feel less like a drop and more like a continuation of the track.

I think this has a lot of potential, and there are a few things you could do to get it there. I think this is a track that would work well as a vocal, as there isn't a main lead hook. The main hook is in that bassline, but the track is too long for one part to carry the lead like that the whole way. A good example of a track which uses a similar style of bassline-as-lead-hook is Believe by Chemical Brothers. It is very repetitive, but the vocal lead breaks it up.

You could add a lead line over the top of the bass. There is space for it in the mix, and it would add interest. This can be done in conjunction with a vocal, or keep it as instrumental only.

For the drop, you need to make it more dramatic. That means breaking down to something more minimal, more atmospheric, and then come back in big, loud and brash. That contrast is what makes the track exciting. A great example of this is Roykssopp's Night Out. When it deviates into that long jazzy part, everything gets washed away in reverb, the choir comes in, and then suddenly you get that big orchestra hit and you're transported back into the main hook. That part is absolutely magical. You have to think about the journey the listener will be on when they are hearing your music. When I hear Roykssopp's Night Out, I live for that moment when it all drops back in. You have to make your listener be on the edge of their seat, waiting for that moment they know they love.

One final thing is that all the best electronic music makes judicious use of "one time only" hooks. A little chirp on a synth, a cool little twiddle in the bassline, some weird little lead part, a quirky fill in the percussion... those things will make the listener sit up and say "what the fuck was that? Do it again!" But don't Keep them waiting, hoping it will happen again, but don't give them everything they want. The anticipation of that cool little part coming back in will keep their attention, and if it doesn't happen again, they will listen to the whole track again because they want to hear it. This is the problem I have with a lot of dubstep - every drop comes where you want it to and comes back in with a big hit and hook where you want it, every fill is exactly where you want it to be, every cool little nuance keeps happening over and over again. It becomes too predictable, and there's nothing to hope for or feel excited about.

Great music is like great sex. Peaks and toughs in intensity to keep it interesting, things which happen once and then don't happen again for a long time (if at all) to keep you guessing, enough of the good stuff to keep you interested but not so much that it becomes repetitive, and it should ultimately leave you feeling satisfied enough, but still wanting more

[MindTheft]

Wow, thanks for the great feedback mashers! Thank you for taking the time to listen, and consider what could be better about it, I really appreciate it.

I totally hear what your saying, I know lots of tunes that tease like that and I keep going back for more.

With this one, I really wrestled with the mix for a long time, I was close to trashing it at one point, and my current method to fix mix problems is to loop a section until I get it how I want it, and along the way, to keep myself interested, I tend to change the arrangement to something pleasing, resulting in section after section that pleases me. I do like the track as it is, because I love relentless energy, but I will certainly take note of what you are saying and make more effort to hold back on my next track.

Thanks for the homework too! I’ll re-listen to the tracks you’ve pointed to, and take note from them.

Cheers!

[DrGOA®]

Good track!

[MindTheft]

Good track!

Thanks!

[MindTheft]

I really like your use of sound in this. The production is great and it sounds lovely. Your use of sound and texture is very nice. There is something missing, though. I felt like the track was building to something, but it didn't come. There was only one real drop, and it was slightly disappointing as a drop usually contains more atmospheric sounds, rather than just dropping out most of the instruments. This meant that the contrast between the drop and the main track wasn't great enough, which makes the drop feel less like a drop and more like a continuation of the track.

I think this has a lot of potential, and there are a few things you could do to get it there. I think this is a track that would work well as a vocal, as there isn't a main lead hook. The main hook is in that bassline, but the track is too long for one part to carry the lead like that the whole way. A good example of a track which uses a similar style of bassline-as-lead-hook is Believe by Chemical Brothers. It is very repetitive, but the vocal lead breaks it up.

You could add a lead line over the top of the bass. There is space for it in the mix, and it would add interest. This can be done in conjunction with a vocal, or keep it as instrumental only.

For the drop, you need to make it more dramatic. That means breaking down to something more minimal, more atmospheric, and then come back in big, loud and brash. That contrast is what makes the track exciting. A great example of this is Roykssopp's Night Out. When it deviates into that long jazzy part, everything gets washed away in reverb, the choir comes in, and then suddenly you get that big orchestra hit and you're transported back into the main hook. That part is absolutely magical. You have to think about the journey the listener will be on when they are hearing your music. When I hear Roykssopp's Night Out, I live for that moment when it all drops back in. You have to make your listener be on the edge of their seat, waiting for that moment they know they love.

One final thing is that all the best electronic music makes judicious use of "one time only" hooks. A little chirp on a synth, a cool little twiddle in the bassline, some weird little lead part, a quirky fill in the percussion... those things will make the listener sit up and say "what the fuck was that? Do it again!" But don't Keep them waiting, hoping it will happen again, but don't give them everything they want. The anticipation of that cool little part coming back in will keep their attention, and if it doesn't happen again, they will listen to the whole track again because they want to hear it. This is the problem I have with a lot of dubstep - every drop comes where you want it to and comes back in with a big hit and hook where you want it, every fill is exactly where you want it to be, every cool little nuance keeps happening over and over again. It becomes too predictable, and there's nothing to hope for or feel excited about.

Great music is like great sex. Peaks and toughs in intensity to keep it interesting, things which happen once and then don't happen again for a long time (if at all) to keep you guessing, enough of the good stuff to keep you interested but not so much that it becomes repetitive, and it should ultimately leave you feeling satisfied enough, but still wanting more

PS, I really like Hungry Animals

[mashers]

You're very welcome mate. I totally get what you're saying about putting it on a loop. I do this using Blocks in Reason. Then I mute everything in every block and bring things back one at a time in particular sections. It's a fun way of working I'm glad you didn't trash this as it has potential as I said! I'm really happy my feedback has inspired you. Oh and thanks - I loved working on Hungry Animals. It was such a fun concept to explore from start to finish and I was really happy with the end result

[O1B]

"Face-Off" Track. I love "Face Off"- type Tracks.
Do you use an outboard "Heater"? or, Straight from Reason?

I ran it thought a few things. Damn. That track is well laid for final Pressing.

Hi again,

Squeezed another one out of Reason, what do you think?

Cheers

[MindTheft]

"Face-Off" Track. I love "Face Off"- type Tracks.
Do you use an outboard "Heater"? or, Straight from Reason?

I ran it thought a few things. Damn. That track is well laid for final Pressing.

Hi 01B,

Thanks for the reply!

Not sure what a face off track is, hopefully it’s something good?!...

Also not sure what a heater is, if it’s something to do with monitoring the sound quality, then no, what I do do is bounce the song to audio file when I think I’m close to where I need to be, and then play it through as many stereos as possible to check how it sounds compared to other songs by artists I look up to. Did that about 16 times for this one.

So yeah, pretty much straight out of Reason

[MindTheft]

You're very welcome mate. I totally get what you're saying about putting it on a loop. I do this using Blocks in Reason. Then I mute everything in every block and bring things back one at a time in particular sections. It's a fun way of working I'm glad you didn't trash this as it has potential as I said! I'm really happy my feedback has inspired you. Oh and thanks - I loved working on Hungry Animals. It was such a fun concept to explore from start to finish and I was really happy with the end result

Cheers mashers, I’ll also check out the muting method.

I’ll leave this mix as it is, but maybe I’ll do a kind of “subdued” version of it, keeping what you’ve said in mind.

I might even grab some vocal samples to take it in another direction - that’ll be a new challenge, I’m only just getting to grips with things as it is!

Cheers again

[O1B]

Take his Face ... "Off!"

Great Movie! The Music was awesome at the time. Prodigy-style.

"Face-Off" Track. I love "Face Off"- type Tracks.
Do you use an outboard "Heater"? or, Straight from Reason?

I ran it thought a few things. Damn. That track is well laid for final Pressing.

Hi 01B,

Thanks for the reply!

Not sure what a face off track is, hopefully it’s something good?!...

Also not sure what a heater is, if it’s something to do with monitoring the sound quality, then no, what I do do is bounce the song to audio file when I think I’m close to where I need to be, and then play it through as many stereos as possible to check how it sounds compared to other songs by artists I look up to. Did that about 16 times for this one.

So yeah, pretty much straight out of Reason

[MindTheft]

Haha!

Yeah I remember that movie.

It is a bit Prodigy style - my tribute to Keith, I guess.

R.I.P. Keith.