Description : Hey everyone, back again! Looking for some feedback on this new tune. I Learned a whole bunch making this thing, would love to know what y'all think of it. Constructive criticisms, and or if you liked it or not. If you have a fun title suggestion I'd love to hear that as well. Thanks again for the listen, I appreciate it.
-B
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Comments (18)
If you have time take a listen and give BadNode some feedback.
You really captured the 80's sound with this track! Nicely done! I actually agree with Lek that it would be a great track for vocals.
I have a couple of suggestions if you were to do any further work on it. Several members have suggested it needs a bit more embellishment/variation. You've got a good ear for melody, so one suggestion I have is to repeat the melody line a maximum of 8 bars, not more in any section of the song. That's basically two phrases of the melody. Since you seem to have a good handle of generating memorable melody lines, disciplining yourself to compose more variation should be do-able.
It's a thing I struggle with myself. You get attached to a melody and just like to hear it over and over again. But, without at least additional elements every couple of bars, that tends to wear thin. You also seem to have a good sense of adding additional elements/counterpoint parts, so getting more variation that way works as well.
I found the part starting at 1:03 where the high arpeggiated synth takes over the lead to have a drop in energy, compared with the part with the lower pitched lead melody synth which preceded it.
Generally, a track should build in intensity and excitement. You definitely can have short parts which drop the energy level down, and you do have that later on, but this is an extended section which I felt needed more.
If there was a vocal, the backing of this section would be OK, except that the high pitched synth part might conflict with the vocal. I'd be looking for a different synth patch for the arpeggiated line and probably would shorten this section by at least four bars.
All that said, I definitely really liked the track. One "test" I have for the instrumental tracks I hear on Looperman is whether a vocal melody line starts forming in my head as I listen. When that happens I find that I invariably like the track, regardless of whether it's perfect or actually ready for vocals. It happened with this track so, at least for me, you've got something very good here. :)
Wowzer, Eric! I thank you for the thorough and complete analysis. Earnestly! I am fairly new to all things music production, so this is such a valued response. As I am still learning things, or better understanding things music wise I realize the less I actually know about it all! I'm still trying to building my confidence in my decisions I make musically, but often I feel limited and whether it be a lack of knowledge or pure ignorance I often feel I get stuck or reach a point where I don't know where to go. So again, you as well as others have given me much to look forward to as I hopefully improve. I will certainly be attempting a handful of the suggestions yourself and those below have made and see if I can't give this little lady the sparkle and attention she needs and deserves. So keep your eyes and ears peeled for a V2 in the future! I so greatly appreciate the feedback and encouragement and more-over taking the time to listen! Nearly everyone I've encountered on this site is super helpful, knowledgeable, and empathetic to the dream and craft. I'm a very grateful to be a part of the looperman(person) community!
-B
man sounds so good, you are definitely a master of your craft! sounds radio ready to me the mix is on point and those synths sound lush - Perfect bro just perfect!!!!
Hughey! Thank you I'm honored that you took a listen! Such high praise coming from a mix master himself! Really admire your style, so I appreciate your feedback here! Keeps me inspired man! Thanks!
-B
Ok, I was there. In the 80s when all this was happening live. If you had put this in a mix with other tracks that were actually produced back then, without telling me, I most likely wouldn't have questioned it being there. The reverb on the kicks and snare, the "kick/snare/kick/kick/kick/snare" beat, the brassy synths, the bouncy bassline. It's got it all. I think as far as the mix goes, there may be just a little too much clarity in the top end. I seem to remember it being just a little muddier. But, man...not by much.
I think the "missing element" that every one seems to be searching for, (aside from Robert Smith style vocals)is guitars. I know it's 80s synth style, but considering we were just coming out of the "classic rock" guitar driven decade, they were still a prominent feature across the board. Even in the then infant genre of rap. There needs to be some reverb drenched, low gain guitars in the backing rhythm section.
I wonder if the other artist that Lek can't put his finger on is Gary Numan. It kind of reminds me of him. Maybe just a touch of super early "With Sympathy" era Ministry. Or even some Eurythmics. Damn, there were so many good ones!
Valve, thank you for your review and feedback! I think some reverbed LA studio sounding guitar might be a really fun thing to try out on this and I'll definitely be experimenting! In my head I heard a saxophone solo somewhere so that might be something I investigate next too! Such kind words, It really motivates me to keep at it! I love the sounds that came out of the 80's and 90's and they constantly inspire my music. I hadn't heard of Gary Numan I am ashamed to say or the Eurythmics but I thank you for introducing me as now I have some new tunes to listen to and learn from!
Hi, this reminds me of very early Depeche Mode (Vince Clarke era), the bassline slightly later - 1982ish. I don't know if you intend for this to be a standalone track or you want vocals. It needs vocals really I think or if not, some more variation in the track. It reminds me of another early 80's band as well but can't put my finger on who. Nice feel though throughout - well done.
Lek, thank you for your feedback, I always envisioned this as a purely instrumental track personally, but I could see someone with more talent than my self adding vocals to this. I am planning on revisiting this as I hopefully improve and seeing where I can add some new touches to it! Again thank you for the feedback and kind words! Inspires me to keep working and making music! Cheers!
-B
Yep, nice synths as most people are saying! Mix sounds fine to me, good variation in the structure, maybe a little embellishment here and there to keep us on our toes. Enjoyed the listen!
Thanks Diskonnect! I appreciate the listen and feed back, I think you're right as are some of the others, it needs something else somewhere to give it a little pop and flair. I'm hoping when I learn a little bit more about productions and have some more tools in my belt I can revisit this and give it what it needs. Thanks again! Cheers!
-B
Hey Sunny! Thanks, that's super kind of you to say! The synths are all software based and all free to use. All I've done is tweeked and appregiated some of the presets. I used Surge, and the PG-8X. Hope that helps, and thanks again for the listen!
Hey, thanks! Yes you can absolutely use this in a yt video. If you remember, come back and post a link here, would love to see what you made! Cheers!
-B
I have always wanted to make a synthwave track just like this.
Great job on the arrangement of the track. I would have to agree on working on the mix and also I really feel it was missing something that would have sent it over the top, possibly a different lead or instrument. But overall, really good.
Keep up the work!
Thank you so very much! I would agree with you, it does feel it's missing something but I've not the skill or creativity to figure out what it is at this time, I'm hoping when I improve I can revisit it! Thanks again DsideK!
Description : Feel free to check out the video on YT as well (Alan McLaren Project - Upside Down) of this 6min journey from electronic to rock with some psychedelic moments...
This is my latest, but also one of my earliest tracks.... any feedback is more than welcome, thanks :)
Description : This is a strictly groove track where the elements of ambient meets electronic funk and Hip Hop. I play all instruments on the track excluding guitar solo which was performed by my friend Art Miller.
Description : A demo of one of my current projects. The chorus vocal sounds like "Aaaaraashe" to me. The song is in C# minor with a nod to C# pythagorean on the chorus. The beat on the verse was inspired by the Peter Gabriel song Intruder.
Description : This is one of my earliest productions that I did at the start of my recording career. I did not have a keyboard at the time I made this song, so I improvised and used my sister's iPad and a 5 dollar GarageBand application instead, and plugged the headset jack into into my PT6 rig and did my best to turn each individual track (which were mono and there were about 25 tracks or so) into a stereo image. Then recorded vocals over it. My computer was so old and slow that I had to mix my music and then BOUNCE it to a new session - four times. My computer (which had 512 MB RAM and an 80 GB hard drive) couldn't handle more than 8 tracks at a time or it'd stop working because the processor couldn't handle it. Took me FOREVER to do. But I got it done. Had a lot of fun doing it too, even if it isn't my "best" work. I'm still happy with it, considering I didn't have many tools to choose from at the time.
Description : Long time lurker first time poster, pretty new to production n stuff, this is my first track in Ableton Live.
was going for a darkwave/synthwave sound, reminiscent of Justice, Carpenter Brut, Perturbator, ect.
Looking for some feed back, constructive criticisms or even just your thoughts if you liked it or not. This is just a rough cut on this current WIP, just the bones of it if you will.. If you have some cool title suggestions, would love to hear those too.
Thanks for listening.
-B
Description : Far out mid-tempo fat beat deep chillout grooves with Eastern/Arabic and slightly menacing vibes, huge delayed synth bass and a great palette of psychedelic layered and intricate sounds (mostly synths) and a stirring, epic feel. Even has guitar solo section reminiscent of some 80s power rock which is then followed by a brief synth harp solo. I began making it straight after staying round the flat of the flute player from the legendary Ozric Tentacles - easily the greatest ever space rock band. I made this in about 2001 and still think it might be my best track (and it's nice and short, for a change). My production skills were much weaker in those days (no EQ, compression or mastering used here) but, somehow, this one turned out pretty much just right. Feel free to disagree. Now sit back and get ready to trip extremely far out. If you manage to return, let me know how that trip was...
Description : Got some spare time finally...just started on some random ideas basically (lets say kygo meets alan walker). A blend of dubstep,edm,downbeat,tropical etc.
It's still a work in progress, so i would appreciate your honest inputs. Thanks to all those whose loops I have used in here, sorry I don't have time to search them out.
Edit-added some more filthy sounds from my previous tracks and gave it some ending. Advice will be helpful.
Description : How does it feel to do a more than 2000 miles Roadtrip? Well, it is fantastic. The biggest freedom I have. I need the "Autobahn", different countrys, different moods, rain & sun, something to eat, a ferry and off it goes in a 30 yrs old Merc. I wanted to bring the feelings into a song. And here we are. The initial “Groove” does come from a cheap Casio Keyboard I bought at a flea market. Listen to a simple 60s. sample beat. Thanks to our community for some loops and let’s start the engine.
I give links to your page in the description. Your music rocks man!!
I have a couple of suggestions if you were to do any further work on it. Several members have suggested it needs a bit more embellishment/variation. You've got a good ear for melody, so one suggestion I have is to repeat the melody line a maximum of 8 bars, not more in any section of the song. That's basically two phrases of the melody. Since you seem to have a good handle of generating memorable melody lines, disciplining yourself to compose more variation should be do-able.
It's a thing I struggle with myself. You get attached to a melody and just like to hear it over and over again. But, without at least additional elements every couple of bars, that tends to wear thin. You also seem to have a good sense of adding additional elements/counterpoint parts, so getting more variation that way works as well.
I found the part starting at 1:03 where the high arpeggiated synth takes over the lead to have a drop in energy, compared with the part with the lower pitched lead melody synth which preceded it.
Generally, a track should build in intensity and excitement. You definitely can have short parts which drop the energy level down, and you do have that later on, but this is an extended section which I felt needed more.
If there was a vocal, the backing of this section would be OK, except that the high pitched synth part might conflict with the vocal. I'd be looking for a different synth patch for the arpeggiated line and probably would shorten this section by at least four bars.
All that said, I definitely really liked the track. One "test" I have for the instrumental tracks I hear on Looperman is whether a vocal melody line starts forming in my head as I listen. When that happens I find that I invariably like the track, regardless of whether it's perfect or actually ready for vocals. It happened with this track so, at least for me, you've got something very good here. :)
Eric
-B
-B
-B
I think the "missing element" that every one seems to be searching for, (aside from Robert Smith style vocals)is guitars. I know it's 80s synth style, but considering we were just coming out of the "classic rock" guitar driven decade, they were still a prominent feature across the board. Even in the then infant genre of rap. There needs to be some reverb drenched, low gain guitars in the backing rhythm section.
I wonder if the other artist that Lek can't put his finger on is Gary Numan. It kind of reminds me of him. Maybe just a touch of super early "With Sympathy" era Ministry. Or even some Eurythmics. Damn, there were so many good ones!
Excellent work! Keep it up!
Take care.
V.
-B
-B
-B
Great job on the arrangement of the track. I would have to agree on working on the mix and also I really feel it was missing something that would have sent it over the top, possibly a different lead or instrument. But overall, really good.
Keep up the work!
I love the vibe.
Great track.
I would focus on the mixdown.
Well done.
Maj