StaticNomad

Valvular and vulvular greetings!

Damn, your valves have been away from the featured tracks page for so long - an epoch, perhaps.

I put this through some rather expensive high-end gear and did a load of tests and all the data show that this is a nice track bro. Double blind experiments with random test subjects produced the same result.

Basically, this is badass proper dubstep - none of the commercial, histrionic crap I usually hear. That ain't the Valve style.

I was looking forward to pressing play on this even though it's classed as dubstep. As it's you, I expected you to deliver. And you really have.

Damn, where do I begin with this? Everything sits quite beautifully and it's all executed with almost flawless skill. Wonderful mix and it's not at all too loud. Only complaint is the very end as it seems to get cut off and not fade to its natural conclusion. Should be easily fixed.

Actually, I'm going to run out of words so I'll give this my customary detailed review another time.

Overall: for this you win a very large, dark and imposing Nice Track Bro trophy. It's going to cost me a small fortune to ship that huge hunk of steel so far and it won't be going through your letterbox. Look out for a huge crane lowering it onto your porch.

Also, in the age that you've been away, I've been extremely busy and have uploaded something like 10 tracks, which is about 2 albums of material for me (hey, one's 17 mins and contains loads of vocals - Old Man Tribal https://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/164627).

I'll just suggest one other as Crucethus and myself both think you'll get into it, seeing as we know jazz metal is your favourite genre. Look out for the concrete face smearing middle. You can hardly miss it.

Emperor Tritone
https://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/165037

Massive congrats!

Greetings.

More of your calm, peaceful jazz fusion chillout stuff, this time with no drums, as you've done before a few times.

0:12-0:14 lovely vocal type of sound. Definitely worth repeating that so you do.

That sound really helps add a floating feel to the whole thing.

0:39 I like the sound of those low notes. That instrument has a great timbre. I actually prefer those notes and playing to the main, busy lead.

1:50 shimmering sounds that fade in from time to time are a good type of atmospheric noise.

4:20 crazy high lead sound but not too piercing or weird.

I'd prefer this kind of thing actually without most of the lead work and with a good fat beat. But then that's more the kind of music I'm into rather than spacious ambient.

I still appreciate it for what it is.

Hi.

I like the big chillout vibe to this. Lots of beauty here.

However, I don't like all aspects of the drums. Specifically, the hat work. It just sounds like a million trap tracks I've heard. But I know some people love it and it's not terrible so go with it if you like. Good reverbed rimshot that I like. But the trap hat is still dry so perhaps doesn't fit.

Piano notes are very melodic and there are some other little synth sounds here and there plus some bells and calming pads.

I must ask what the point of having "C-Dub Productions" mentioned quite a few times. Is this some sort of jingle or ad for C-Dub Productions?

Good work.

Yo.

I like this. Not so keen on that dubstep drum loop. Just because I don't much like that sound that I've heard in a million dubstep tracks. But but but: lots of people clearly do love it and, when it enters, the whole track comes together and you sort of "know where you are".

"they are great so thanks!"

See: you already disagree with me so just go with what you like.

Very first fading in arpeggiated synth is nice and with a good pulse. Then good piano (?) chords. Interesting tone to that instrument.
Effected vocal is good and gives it some character.
Percussive element that's heard most clearly in the breakdown middle has a good sound and reverb.

Overall: this actually sounds a lot like many other tracks in this style. But it's good and deep and relaxing.

To give it a lot more character, I'd say completely remove that dubstep drum loop and go for different drums that do a similar job but aren't so cliched. Acoustic drum kits would sound less predictable for this style but then I would say that as I love acoustic kits (and have loads of them, as you've heard many times).

While I guess you'll keep the dubstep loop, at least give what I'm suggesting a go as you may find a very cool drum sound that takes this in another direction. It's too short so you need another direction. You can always blend the new drum sound with you dubstep loop.

Try adding some swing jazz drums - that would be interesting. Try playing some chilled out chugging metal guitar chords.

"I don't really know what I'm doing here bc I'm just kind of winging the entire creation of the song"

That is pretty much how I make every track!

Good luck

Hi. I like the choir sample. Very beautiful.

And it appearing throughout the track works just fine.

Good sub bass.

However, I really think you need to introduce some other elements as it's just a bit too minimal. I'd say you could do with something complementary to it ie something else beautiful - not just hip hop bass and drums.

So, try to build up some string parts or something. Pitched up version of the sample works OK but I much prefer it at regular pitch.

Otherwise, it's a pretty hypnotic piece but I feel more can be done with it.

Earth To Evisma!
Earth To Evisma!
Your banishment sentence has been rescinded.
Please return to Earth immediately - our very survival depends upon it.
Bring captured alien technology plus any new nice tracks bro...

~End of transmission~

No, I'm not an N word. More a C word - Caucasian. As in a white dude, though more like light pink than Michael Jackson pure white.

I hope you've watched Larry David's very intelligent and unusual Curb Your Enthusiasm TV show. In one episode, he completely satirises the 'my N word' thing by referring to his new black rapper friend as 'my Caucasian', which is very funny. This is in response to his new friend calling him 'my N word' (annoying that I have to self censor a direct quote from a show in case someone gets offended).

Not much more to say about your track - I just thought I'd answer some of your points.

" back-burnered" is not such an odd word but more odd verb construction. "Put it on the back burner" is pretty standard and makes sense.

Good to hear you enjoyed "I bid you bye bye". I think you like the simple, neat ones rather than my more elaborate ones. This latest intro is perhaps my most elaborate yet. Like a little short sci-fi story.

"The world would have went on without it."

Surely the world did go on without it? Unless we're living in some sort of post-Deuce Bigalow reality. If only that movie had never been released - just think how things might be.

Yes, my music is quite abstract as I'm always striving to make it deep and far out and psychedelic and not of this earth. However, I like to also root it in some earthier type of sounds. Blues and slide playing are really good for that. Though play it high and add delay and stuff and its shimmering qualities can sound quite otherworldly.

"Mine seems to be the building of something from a blueprint"

I think you're good at actually composing parts and making them happen whereas I don't really know how to compose so I just jam, see what I get, add more and more and keep editing all the time to give it some sort of pleasing shape. I'm still amazed you record all your bass parts twice, just for a thicker sound. I can't really do that as I do so much loose, jamming stuff that I can't remember what I've played so can't accurately redo it (only certain bits). But I did sort of do it recently in 9,000 Years Too Young.

Yes, still most disenchanted with the cello. Still no bow. Will get there eventually but have been not really playing it much, not sure if I'll ever get the hang of it. Fretlessness is so hard! Don't know how people can be so accurate. You have to be right on the mark otherwise you get a bad note.

Please search Youtube for a couple of Croatian guys called 2 Cellos who are cello virtuosos playing badass rock music. You'll love it!

Yo again.

Thanks for the reply. Good to see PlanetJazz has come back and will take your vocals and even send you the audio tracks to do your own version.

"i didn't know if the words would sound right over the track because of those very aggressive stabs throughout the verses."

Yeah, that's kind of what I was getting at. They're good stabs but interfere quite a bit with the vocals. So, maybe the timing of the stabs can be redone by PlanetJazz to fall more inbetween the vocal lines. Or maybe they could be removed entirely from teh verses. Just the bass and drums should be fine to accompany the vocals. Then the stabs will be more exciting when they return as a break from the vocal. Just my little idea for PlanetJazz, in case he reads this.

I look forward to seeng what the two of you end up with as I feel there's definite room for improvement.

Good work, all the same.

Hi. This isn't really my type of vocal song but the music is well made and arranged so I'll focus on that instead.

The drums are good and effective but I'm not that keen on your kick drum. Not that big a deal - I'd just swap it out for another. Maybe it's a bit "too rock", just not quite a suitable timbre for this track.

Nice little fading in intro with some harmonic beauty before the gently strummed guitar arrives. Then lead electric work is effective before the first verse. Piano also sounds and I think there's probably also a cello so quite a full arrangement within 20 or so seconds.

Left panning on the hat adds a good stereo spectrum.

The lead guitar breaks work really and then the same sort of playing is sat well behind your vocal. No clash at all. The whole thing seems well mixed. Acoustic guitar well recorded.

Good length and a gentle end with a bit more high string work.

Overall: fine work and my only gripe is with that kick drum. But keep it if you really like it.

Yo.

I'm really just commenting to say that I'm very much enjoying listening to this one again.

I couldn't tell from your track description if you've updated it (eg in the last two weeks) and I'm not sure if I'm hearing anything other than before when I reviewed it.

So, it's a rare review from me as I don't have much more to add on previous reviews. But I think it's worth saying that, a couple of months later, it still sounds great to me.
I'd be very interested to know how people's views might change/progress over time listening to my music. I'm sure that would happen quite a bit. Maybe it does with most music.

But for that to happen, I'd have to get round to releasing some goddamn material as I have so much of it. Probably about 12-14 albums now.

Big congrats again on a pumping, well mixed track.

Oh look - in the end I did say a fair bit. I just can't help it...

Greetings again, Mr Beatz.

Nice to know you value my input.

"Sometimes feel like as if I had a team things would turn out much better"

I totally agree and partly feel the same way. It's quite a challenge doing everything yourself: playing, recording, sequencing, audio editing, synth manipulating, mixing, mastering and so on. Someone live Spivkurl even builds his own physical instruments. Certainly not something I'm ever likely to do.

So, I'm forced to criticise what I do almost all the time. The main time I'm not is when I'm able to either just sit back and enjoy playing or listening back to compositions. But I can and will criticise at any random point as I try to notice anything that can be improved. And then I try to make that happen and often do.

I just try to bring a bit of that constant search for improvement to my Looperman reviews. Criticism can be a great thing and is kind of the definition of learning and working out why something does or doesn't work. A bit like a basic school essay exploring a subject or math problem in which you show your working.

"Just wish someone such as yourself were around as work on my compositions"

Thanks very much. I'm still looking (but not very hard) for that person or people. Hopefully one day...

Good luck with this track as I still feel it can be better though I don't know if you're planning on making any changes. I generally do to tracks I upload to the site. Not always based on others' views - sometimes I just notice problems when listening back to it outside the studio environment.

Hi Wordy.

I've already commented on the original version of this track in quite a bit of detail so I won't bother again here.

I think your added vocals are, predictably, good. However, there's a big overall problem: the mix is now just too busy.

So, if the top layer of synths could be partially/mostly removed as you're rapping, things would be a lot cleaner. Your vocals get in the way of the nice jazzy bass guitar runs. Not a criticism of you and I understand that you don't have the separate stems to mix - just the one MP3 file of the whole mix.

Second half you've left without vocals so it would be fine to get rid of the top layer of synths in the first minute (as you're rapping) as that stuff gets heard later anyway.

1:12 when you take a bit of a vocal break the other elements can be heard more comfortably again.

I guess the only options are either PlanetJazz sending you the separate elements to mix or you sending him your vocals to incorporate.

Good luck.

Hi.

On 1:11 it starts to get really cool. That chopped up vocal is awesome and I'm really feeling the reggae vibe. Everything has come together really well.

Long, slow notes before then are good though I feel the drum work could be better in the first minute. Hard to pinpoint how as you're doing a lot of stuff so I'm finding it hard to give specific suggestions on improvement.

0:28 to 1:11 is the problem section.

I'm actually thinking you might perhaps just start with those long, slow attack notes and then kick straight into the 1:11 section. That would be instantly appealing. Everything after 1:11 is also cool, with a fine flow, and you work your elements nicely. Very cool chillout vibe but with fat beats too - just the kind of thing I'm into and sometimes make myself.

2:52 reverse fill is good and creative.

I hope those thoughts are helpful and received for what they are - constructive criticism on good work.

Oh and it's also a good, appropriate title.

Take care.

My trusty Ozark is sending shimmering, arpeggiated "Yo, word up"s to your specific Ozark region. I'm harnessing the power of hurricanes and typhoons to propel them across the Atlantic. These words are being sent here in electronic format in case the shimmering greetings don't make it or your have your headphones on when they do.

I haven't been using this site this week but seeing your track moved me to comment.

I like your title and it's much less weird than is often the case.

Anyway: odd little intro plus your usual reverse intro fade in thing.

0:09 palm mute notes are OK. A cute sort of sound but very tightly played. This is grooving nicely. See - you can groove.

0:55 and we're getting much more badass. Only for 10 secs but the badassery will return.

1:30 problem with the distorted thin line in the background. Wants to work as something like a pad but doesn't quite. It interferes with lead elements. And at 1:46 as it hangs about in the mix.

2:00 badass is briefly back. That is a quality riff, propelled by pumping drums, well worth hearing a good few times.

No real complaints about the drums so far. Busy and doing a good job. I'm sort of not noticing them.

2:58 to end is a skilful ending. Much more carefully worked and measured than many of your "give up" fadeout endings. It gets quieter (like a fade) but the music keeps moving. And then we end on some delay - a lot like the kind of thing I do.

Overall: good, intelligent work that is close to making it into my Badass Evisma folder.

P.S. I have a brand new track I'm working on featuring lots of layered bass g that may interest you. Title I won't give away but you'll recognise it immediately. Let's just say it has something to do with you and 40A. Coming soonish to a website called Looperman.

Sup, gangsta?

Still is hip hop, for real.

You be kickin' it. It da bomb, da shit, da funky stuff. Much dopeness here, aiiit?

Now I'm a switch shit up back to da propr mother English tung stuff they lernd me at skool as I gets down to bizness:

I was surprised by your synth work here. Very reminiscent of 80s slammin hip hop. Before the later gangsta stuff, though some of that is awesome. Definitely an imposing synth intro and then it just goes on and on, guiding the whole track.

Bass is, unsurprisingly, cool and rumbling nicely away.

Little jazzy bass chords (?) early on give this some character.

And you're getting gongy right at the end, just for fun. And swooshy.

Seems quite a short track because it's fairly minimal, not involving many elements.

Might work best as a bit of soundtrack music. Perhaps a film/TV theme tune.

Overall: nice work showcasing your hip hop bro skills, bro.

Yo word up, my N word*

I see you have updated your wang. I have not had mine updated for a few years. Last time, I had it fattened and considerably lengthened and now I have The Dick You Can Trust.

Anyway, some changes may be difficult to notice here but the mix sounds pretty damn good. I remember when you used to post some thick block of toothpaste waveforms.

1:08 you've probably redone that distortion. Sounds better now - no complaints.

1:35 squealy weirdness still sounds awesome. And so it should. Maybe it still will in a thousand years.

2:24 new part not so keen on that instrument/s. Two layered synths, I think. It's the high one thats the problem. Line is decent but synth tone is a bit jarring. Could also do with slightly looser timing eg make it swing a bit

3:03 same riff but on the trusty old bass. The Bass You Can Trust. Riff sounds better on bass cos you can groove better on that than on keys.

My idea for you is to take the very first 2 seconds and try looping them over a fat beat. I'd probably try something like a hip hop one (you won't) and maybe a triplet metal one. Hell, it's me so I'd no doubt try about 50 different drum styles (via MIDI files and different kits).

I think that's a very cool part, with some menace and psychedelic beauty. Could make more of it as a sparser break in 2nd half.

Overall: you have upgraded this from Not Bad to Pretty Fine. Its strength can be raised further if you collect additional power-ups on higher levels and overcome certain musical endbosses.

I bid you bye bye.

*The one ending in -a
That's sort of theoretically OK to say
And write
Provided you're not white.

Regreetings.

Sure, you can try EQing an instrument while everything is playing. I do that as well as isolate it. I always spend various occasions isolating every instrument. Then, when it seems to sit right, I forget about it and let it just function in the mix.

And then, perhaps when stuck for ideas, I might go back, isolate it and see if I can fiddle with it and make more out of it. I often can.

I don't know which software you're using but that probably doesn't matter too much as they're all fairly similar these days. I'm pretty sure you can automate almost every parameter now. So, pretty much any control on any plugin.

I work in Cubase and Reason (run together essentially as one program) though things are slightly different in each one. But in both, you can pretty much do one right click of the mouse and then you get an option to go to the automation track. On that track (usually underneath your instrument track) you can draw and drag as many nodes as you like to make the EQ change however you like through time ie as the playback head passes your different nodes.

You'll probably also graphically see the controls on your EQ plugin, for instance, moving. That's the automation taking effect. It's really simple stuff and there'll be instructions in your DAW manual. Just search for 'automation'.

For widening, there are various tools. I mostly just use, in Cubase, the bundled plugins, with names like Stereo Enhancer. In Reason they're called something a bit different. There are also presets for those plugins so just give them a go and have fun.

You can automate that too. So, maybe move (automate) your guitar part to be wider in the chorus and "narrower" (ie no/less stereo widening) in the verse. Just an idea.

Hope that makes sense and helps a bit.

Hey again.

Yes, you're doing fine.

It honestly took me years to start regularly using EQ (and automating it) and my tracks are much improved for using it. Stereo widening effects have also helped a lot in terms of fattening sounds up. That's not really a sonic sculpting thing but it can help a lot when a sound seems just too weak.

I try stereo widening out on all my guitar parts, though don't use it if it's not helping. And I'll add it to drums, bass, synths, whatever seems to call for it.

EQ is cool for subtly sculpting sounds, removing high end noise, fixing messy overpowering bass and everything inbetween. Just cleaning sounds up isn't boring when you get into. Clarity is important!

I have no idea how to properly use EQ but I've learned a few things from slow experimentation over the years.

It's fun sculpting sounds with EQ and it can really help when you have a few elements in a mix and you want to make one stand out from the rest. So, maybe try having those slightly messy parts all playing at the same time and then individually playing around with the EQ to bring one out. Maybe one bar (4 bars, 8 bars, whatever) you might make one part stand out from that mix and then the next bar, make another stand out. You can do that by automating the EQ on each separate channel (so, for each part) and that's a fun way to make more of your mix of elements without adding any new parts. It can be quite subtle but effective and is well suited to hip hop, which tends to rely on heavily repeated elements.

Too much to say about this kind of subject and I'm no expert anyway so I'll just encourage you to experiment as it can be fun when you get into it. It can be a bit daunting and confusing but you have to find what works nicely for you rather than what anyone else tells you is the right way to do stuff. Maybe there is kind of a right way but it's more interesting and unusual to kind of make up your own way.

Best of luck and I will check on your other work.

Hi.

I'm not really into house but this sounds good to me.

Compelling intro chords and then a fat beat plus classic dance snare roll to get things moving (and repeated many times after that)

Some tight funky guitar and then a big ooooh vocal. Then a cool, vocally synth as a break from the vocal.

This is well arranged, in a pop style, and easily enjoyable. A bit of a summer classic indeed.

It's a pretty obviously chopped up and looped single vocal so it's a bit of a shame you don't have more of the vocal to work with. Some vocal progression would help a lot though what you have is catchy.

Fun stuff for the dancefloor.

Congrats!

Hi. This is pretty cool.

A very 80s hip hop sound with the 808 stuff going on.

I like your moody, suspenseful intro. And then there's good space in the track around the groove. And a good main bassline. Effected vocal is pretty cool.

Maybe it's a bit too sparse 1:42-1:45. Should add some new elements there as we've already here the previous ones many times. That breakdown needs more in it.
2:33 also a bit too much space. Needs a bassline rather than just that long, low hip hop bass drum.

All the same, good work.

Hi. Your opening bassline reminds me a little of Dre's excellent track The Watcher from his 2001 album ( I think).

Lots of space in the track and the delayed/reverbed drums sound good.

Then the vocal is really good. A fine, laidback rapping style and incessant flow.

Additional music elements are really well done and make an interesting soundscape. I like the bell sounds. And the piano.

Could maybe do with some panning on those different elements to separate them a bit better as it's hard to make all of them out.

A tight production in general so big congrats to you.

I'm working on a few hip hop instrumental genre crossover tracks right now (eg blues, hip, reggae and funk all in one track).

Here's an older, really mad genre-merging hip hop track I made - hip hop, jazz, electro, d'n'b, metal and Eastern banjo metal with lead saxophone so quite a trip:

Way Beyond Wrong

https://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/145971

Hi again.

By 'light' I mean weak, lacking in balls, attitude, edge, vibe, body etc.

I make a fairly broad range of music, which also includes a lot of chillout so I often use quite a few sounds on the lighter side of things.

I have to be very careful that they don't come out sounding weak and cheesy. There's quite an art to this. Clean guitar can sound very weak in the wrong context but sometimes adding distortion can be completely wrong so you need to go with the clean but make sure it's not sounding weak.

Various ways to fatten up and give these sounds more attitude but I guess you won't as these are no doubt the kind of sounds you're into. As always, if you like them, go with them and don't change a thing. I'm just expressing my opinion ie honest feedback.

I thought this one deserved some feedback as the musicality is good. Not my sort of sounds but would probably make more sense with a romantic vocal. I still probably wouldn't like it (ie if it were a cheesy vocal) but I do respect it.

Good luck getting to the 80s. There's some serious cheese to be found in 80s sounds so beware!

Hi.

I appreciate the musicality in this one. Makes me think of 70s rock quite a bit.

I don't love all the sounds as I find some a bit light (probably the high string part and brass). Actually sounds like it could be a successful 70s romantic pop song. Or romantic film theme tune.

That guitar lead starting 1:17 is really quite romantic but also quite a light sound.

This one should probably have vocals to go with it as I can hear all the necessary changes for a singer and you're guiding them throughout in terms of melody.

Very proficient arranging and instrumentation, a good length and a good, definitive end.

Not my kind of thing but I very much respect it.

Hey, great to hear that's your vocal.

You should put that in the track description.

I already know that you can sing but now I hear that you're into doing this sort of vocal, you should really go to town on it and build more similar vocals up to something bigger and better. Record a load of layered harmonies and make a very beautiful track. And try not to make it pop music though you can do that too, if you like (maybe on a different track).

I think perhaps the greatest example of what I'm talking about would have to be 10CC's all-time classic I'm Not In Love. Extremely time-consuming vocal production back in the day when doing these things was a lot harder. Read up on how they made that track as it's pretty damn interesting.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun05/articles/classictracks.htm

Just in case you don't know the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtBHfxU2wmc

Soldierly greetings.

Damn, it's a refreshing change to hear you do something other than pop music. I was expecting it to break into that any moment. But, no you kept it deep and solemn throughout.

Walking/trudging/battlefield/noise intro sounds fairly accurate and then we have a wailing voice. A little reminiscent of the exceptional Lisa Gerrard, of Dead Can Dance fame (perhaps one of the greatest singers alive).

Then the baby enters, wails then dies/is removed from the soundscape in a mushroom cloud of reverb and we're into just music - no ambient sounds/effects.

It's a great, emotive piano tone and then hanging string note does a fine job. Where is that vocal from?

And then it's over (too short). I'd listen to this if you made it longer, developed it and removed a lot of the battlefield trudging ie just got straight to the music.

So, develop it further, turn it into a full piece and you'll have an emotive, deep chillout track.

Immersive congratulations.

Yo, Zappo.

This is really cool stuff, as I expected.

Very chilled out pad intro and then some gentle tinkling keys and then a bit of high bass guitar.

0:46 some sort of little trumpet and then the keys get louder and better.

Drums and extra percussion groove nicely. Very dreamy, laid back but also funky stuff. A bit like some of the music I make.

promenade2239 will absolutely love this track!