Trance Song 8 - EricMilligan

Thanks for the suggestion about Tonal Balance, Fidiu. I actually have the plugin, but hadn't used it. Am working with it now and I think it will definitely help me. Thanks again.

Eric

Thanks for the encouragement. I am embarrassed to admit that I've been at it much longer than you, so the just proves that I'm either a really really slow learner or just plain hopeless. :). I guess my best excuse is that I have a short attention span and really don't stick to one genre. Would probably make better progress if I did

Thanks again,

Eric

Thanks, rednebula.

I am planning to work on the track some more, so will see about setting the melody line a bit higher in the mix. Glad you liked the melody line. It really is meant for vocals.

Sometimes I get frustrated and do the vocals myself, although I am an absolutely horrible singer. But for this track, there was just no way I could do vocals on it. I'm getting some ideas for lyrics. Not much sense getting a vocalist lined up if there are no words! :)

Eric

Thanks, Heath. I don't think trance has to be boring and repetitive, although I agree that some of it is. I like a focus on melody. Perhaps that's why JoeFunktastic felt that this really wasn't trance.

I have had a tendency in my tracks to make the kick too dominant I think. I am trying to dial it down a bit. My wife calls my music "thump, thump music". That's not meant as a compliment, but it accurately reflects the way I have mixed kicks and bass in my tracks.

I think this track would be a lot better if it had real vocals. Just need to work out some lyrics. And, find a singer of course! :)

Eric

Thanks very much Ruslan. Nice to hear from you!

Eric

Thanks very much for the explanation. I use Logic as well. And I also use Ozone. Haven't used the dynamic EQ. I'm assuming that you are using automated EQ to duck beats because the drum tracks in audio files, not midi files. All the tracks in this project are midi, except for the sound effects (boomers).

So, I could get the same result simply by editing the midi information in the drum tracks? Either removing or muting the midi notes for the second beats?

I should use the EQ technique for tracks that are audio files?

Eric

Thanks, Jamid. I've concluded that although EDM seems like it should easy to make, in fact it is very complex. Producers need to master a whole variety of skills to produce something that is good. I have so much to learn, and so little time. :)

Eric

Thank-you for the feedback, Sweetcherries. I'm determined to learn how to do decent trance tracks.

Eric

Thanks for the advice, Nesmanga. I will definitely check out tracks from Perfecto Records. And NES Manga TV on Youtube as well.

Eric

Hi, Nicolo! Thanks for commenting on this track. I've tried for years to make a good trance track. I don't know why it seems to be so hard for me.

I supposed this could be synth pop. I think most of my tracks are probably in the pop genre. I don't feel embarrassed by that. Making a good pop track is not easy. Making a good EDM track is definitely not easy either.

From other comments it looks like I need to do more work on the bass parts and the kick drum track. I have about 3 or 4 kick drum tracks on the project, so there is more refinement required. MPOProduction has suggested, I think, that the kick needs to be tuned properly. I know that's supposed to be really important, at least for some EDM genres. I know how to do that, at least in theory. I guess it's time to practice.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Eric

Thanks for the feedback on the track.

As you can see from my reply to Kyle, I've had trouble getting the low frequency parts of the track to sit right in the mix. If I understand your suggestion correctly, you think I should use automation of tuning on the kick track to lower the frequency. Essentially, tuning the kick to the key of the song? Have I understood correctly?

Eric

Hi, Kyle. Thanks for the advice on this track.

I had written a nice lengthy response to your post, but something went “wrong” and it didn’t post. Lost the whole thing.

So, here is another go at it. I’ve got tinnitus, probably from spending too many years in front of loud guitar amps, a long time ago. Anyway, that apparently means that I probably have hearing loss for high frequencies. Consequently, I probably tend to set those parts a bit higher in the mix than I should. I think things are in balance, but they really aren’t. Anybody with normal hearing would hear the track as being out of balance. That’s not an excuse for how this track sounds, but it might be the explanation.

I actually had NO bass part on this track at all, but added a couple of layered bass tracks to the project pretty much at the last minute. I really never found bass sounds that I thought worked perfectly. The track got buddy real quick, even with compression. I ended up EQing the bass parts a lot to keep them focused and to keep the mix as clean as possible. But, it still was muddier than I had wanted. Clearly, I need to spend more time finding the right bass sounds.

Thanks again for the feedback. I really do appreciate it.

Eric