ValveDriver

Your loop arrangement is pretty good. It covers all the standards of dubstep formula, and the mix isn't all over the place.

Good job.

Take care.
V.

I have FL mobile, but rarely use it for anything more than a "sketchbook" to take down ideas. So I don't know how detailed the mixer is, or how in depth you can really go with the whole thing.

That being said, here is my suggestion to help with the mix.

Dynamics and automated motion. Right now, even though there is stereo separation, everything is still sitting in the middle. Try panning different elements of the drop to different spots on the left to right scale. With everything being in the middle it's all fighting for the same spaces and the frequencies are essentially tripping over each other and crowding up the joint.
Not only will that free up spaces for everything to come through more clearly, but it will give a much fuller, and dynamic sound. Making it bigger and and more grandiose.

As far as levels go, the volumes are all good. At least through my headphones. Everything seems to be sitting in the mix just right. Nothing really jumps out, or ducks behind. The sidechaining is a little heavy for my own personal taste, but that's just me. I've never really been a fan of that. So, take that bit of criticism for what it's worth.

The percussion is pretty good. The hats and cymbals are a little low in there. Maybe boost the volume on those. Again, if you can, maybe put a stereo separator on the claps. Widen them out. Bump the hi-hats off center just a bit.

I'm assuming that this is all original, and not a mix of loops...even though it is Looperman, home of the loops. So, again, take my opinions and criticisms for what they're worth. If they help, great. If they don't, then no harm, no foul.

Overall, excellent work. I'm looking forward to hearing what you come up with in the future.

Take care.
V.

This is not at all what I was expecting it to be. I was pleasantly surprised. Thank you for sharing this.

Take care.
V.

I'm generally not into the more mellow, atmospheric type music. But, this was good. It gained, and kept my attention from beginning to end, and there were no mixing elements that stood out as needing adjustment. You clearly put some time and attention into this, and it definitely shows.

Keep up the good work, I look forward to hearing more from you.

Take care.
V.

For the most part, this sounds pretty good. However, the synths (loops?) at 0:45, 1:53, 2:48 need to come down in the mix. It's sitting too loud right now and overpowers everything else until the strings come back in.
Maybe add a dimension expander to give it some extra size. Or some panning and stereo effect for a widened dynamic.
That's about my only real criticism.
Everything else, like I said, sounds pretty good.

Keep up the good work.
Take care.
V.

Excellent work! I went and listened to his original. (I'll be listening to more of his work). I can see how you would categorize it as a Tremonti style. It does have kind of a late 90's feel to it. I was never a huge fan of his bands, but I can appreciate the talent.

I know you're a fan of the classic rock, but what about Eddie VanHalen specifically? I can hear a lot of his style in this one. Maybe it's just me. But it reminds me a lot of "1984". Which, is a good thing. I loved that album.

Speaking of collaborations, why have you and Evisma never collaborated? Between your guitars and his bass... I mean, come on man, that's what legends are made of!

Sure thing, hotrod.

I'm digging the "Just For Funsies" series.

This one sounds like someone took The Waitresses, The Art of Noise, Yellow, just a drop of Dee-lite. and threw them in a martini cup for that shaken, not stirred vibe.

Nice work!

Take care.
V.

I've never really experienced lo-fi until recently when I listened to one of Danke's tracks. I was hooked immediately.

This track is fluid. The motion and the dynamics keep it moving seamlessly. I love the transitions between the deep "wet" ethereal reverb and dry breaks. There are a LOT of elements in this thing. Not one of them is out of place, or commanding all of the attention. I think, for my money though, the bassline that comes in at 1:10 is the real star of the show. That groovy-A-F, and smooth line just keeps everything tied together and creates the perfect surface for it all to skate upon.
2:56 - The guitar is the perfect compliment to the bass guitar. Honestly, I'd liked to have heard more of it peppered throughout the whole song. The tones, and effects on it allow it to fit right in. About the time I'm really getting into the trippy groove that it brings, it's abruptly over. That, my friend is the ONLY criticism I have of this piece.
I will, over the next few days, be listening to more of your work. If it's all this good, I would suggest looking into publishing and putting out there beyond Looperman.

Take care, man.

V.

DjDarkLight.

Ok, first, let's talk Mixers. If you're not, you need to be using one. If these are all loops, each loop should be assigned to it's own mixer track.
Now, let's discuss levels. Louder isn't always better. This entire track is too loud. Not because my volume is turned up, but because it's clipping through the entire thing. If you have these in a mixer, you need to bring all of the volume levels down to about -5 to -3 db then adjust them individually until they are all about the same...in your speakers. Not necessarily the meter. Once you get them where you think it sounds good, then check your meter. If it's bouncing above the 0db line, or peaking into the red, then it's too loud and clipping will occur. That's what it's called when it sounds like it's cracking the speakers.

Now, let's talk spacial dynamics. Everything in this track is centered. There is no panning, or real stereo effects that allow everything to sit in it's own place in the mix. When you leave everything centered in the mix, it all just lays on top of each other, crowding up the same space. Then, it just becomes a wall of noise.

Now that I was painfully hones about your track, let me reassure you that you're heading in the right direction. With more experience and practice, I have no doubt that you will be able to put out some quality work. Keep it up!

Take care.
Valvedriver

I don’t know, man. But it sounds like a backing track that fell out of the 80’s pop charts. Back when they first started to get really crazy with the synths and sampling. There was a lot of...umm...interesting....tunes back then.

Honestly, it’s pretty catchy. Not a bad little experiment, really. Especially if you had fun doing it.

Take care.
V.

Leon, it's been awhile, my friend. I was MIA for awhile, and it appears you may have been as well. I hope all is well with you. I hope you're able to stay safe in the midst of this crisis we call life in 2020.

I noticed in the featured section that none of your work was there, so I had to come dig for it on your track page. I'm glad I did. This is an amazing piece.
It seems whenever I hit a spot in life that leads me to create the dark, sloppy, raw and aggressive tracks where I just push out all of my frustrations, you have a song that is just the opposite that fills in the space left behind. This is no exception. It's calming, it's clean, it's uplifting.
I read in one of the earlier comments, (I think Joe's without scrolling back up to double check), that you need to cut an entire album. I agree with that. You are absolutely talented, and skilled enough to put one out and be successful with it.
This one gets the hat trick from me, brother. The Comment, fav and save!

With all sincerity, Take care my friend.
Aaron.

Well, based on what I hear, and for what you're using it for, your voice is worth using more. And, you should. I don't know if this was just a trial run as a showcase, but I'd like to hear about another 2 minutes of this track.

Keep it up, man. So far, it sounds like you ave what it takes.

Take care.
V.

What's happnin?

Yeah. It's pretty cool to hear this one again. I had almost forgotten what it sounded like. It was a pretty fun little number to work on, too.

I do hear issues with the mix. We can talk about that later.

Hopefully, Mr. E. can find Parallax. I kinda forgot what that one sounded like, too.

I guess, at some point, I should probably add my contribution, huh?

Anyhow. Get a hold of me about the mixing and whatnot's.

Mr. V.

Two notes in and it's already celestial.

It's very wide open and spacial. Dimentionally, not cosmically. I think the first statement aleady covered that.

I think, while drums are a strong point for you, I also feel they are a hinderance sometimes. Like you rely too much on them as a means of badassery. This intro seems to not only widen the aural spectrum, but your own personal horizons.

Ahh. Now for those drums. I like the snare there. Kind of a glitchy snare roll thing.

Speaking of glitch. 3:53 synths. Nice use of the glitch. These pad swells are a nice lead in to the classic Nomad cello sound. Which effects do you use on these? It sounds like a Chorus with a delay, maybe a touch of reverb, and possibly EQ'd with the higher frequencies cut out a bit?

Oh...wait..5:50-6:08. It sounds like there may be some clipping.

Nice, a return of the glitch.

Your drums in this one are a bit more restrained and subdued. Instead of the star of the show, just a supporting role. It works.

8:56- here's where we start the waves of blooming pads. Both synth and choral. Nice way to take us to the book-end outro.

I don't know, man. It sounds to me like Ms. Quail has influenced your playing. Or at least your creative process. I personally like the way it played. It has plenty of badassery in it's own style. It may not be a heavy riff laden drumfest like you used to do, but it doesn't need to be. I know you've been on a bit of a dry spell, but with this one, it sounds like you've rediscovered your voice. It seems as if you have matured as an artist.

Yup, dude, this is a very well arranged and composed piece. I look forward to hearing more. Maybe not duplicates, but at least in the same family. Or, to put it simply, Nice!!! Thats with 3 exclamation marks.

Latorzgatorz

Leon, how are you? Well I hope!

The beauty of art is that even though the creator has a message, or feeling they want to convey, it's often still interpreted so vastly different than intended. I listened to this piece several times. (I downloaded it to add to my playlist.). Though, to you it was about Autumn, to me, it envoked feelings of a gentle spring rain. Which, is no matter, because I love both seasons.

The first couple of times through, I felt that it needed some lower end strings. Cello, or what have you. But as I kept repeating, I came to the conclusion that everything is exactly how it should be. The string work in this is definitely excellent, but the piano is the star, here. This is an amazing piece! As someone who creates pieces that are hard, aggressive, and sometimes, brutal, I truly admire artists like yourself that have the ability to create such works of soft and elegant beauty.

Fav'd and downloaded, my friend. Thank you for sharing!

Take care.
Aaron

This is actually pretty cool. It's almost captivating in it's repetitiveness. I like the fact that it doesn't follow any structural formula. It's just kind of keeps rolling on. Trippy, man. Trippy. I like it.

Take care.
V.

This is a pretty neat little track. It almost has an Adventure Time thing going on.

For a first attempt at a full track, you did pretty good. Keep it up.

Take care.
V.

As someone who generally creates dark and aggressive music, I have a deep appreciation for artists like yourself who can create such pleasing, and mellow works like this one.

Kudos to you, my friend. Keep it up!

Take care.
V.

Not a bad track. The mix of elements seem to work well. I think you could almost classify this as chill out, too.

Taking your time to put out quality instead of quantity is a wise choice.

Keep up the good work.

Take care.
V.

Orlando, how are you doing? Well, I hope.
I'm never surprised, but always pleased with what you come out with. Especially when it'in collaboration with Ed. I feel safe in saying that the two of you are two of my most respected and favorite artists here.
Thanks for sharing with us.

Take care.
Aaron

I'm not sure why your family would hate this. This is pretty freakin' sweet. Hell, if I could download it, I would.
It almost has a Sade quality to it.
I don't know who's singing, but I really want to hear more of her.
The mix is good. Everything is nice and clear. Good work!

Take care.
V.

Hello.
This has a nice 80's vibe to it. Like, it could have come straight out of 1984. I like it. Good work.

Take care.
V.

Hey man. How’s it goin?

I agree with Danke in the sense that it has a bit of a DepMo feeling. But, I think even more so, it’s very reminiscent of Assemblage 23.

It’s a good tune. It’s a nice full mix. Good use of the ‘pellas. It may just be the headphones I’m listening on, but the bass synth seems to be a little buried down behind everything else. Other than that, good work.

Keep it up.

Take care.
V.

Hey dude. What's happnin?
Let me start with the fact that this isnt my genre of choice, so I don't have a very extensive knowledge on the in's and out's of what it's supposed to sound like.
With that being said, here are my thoughts:
First, your voice. I don't know why you seem to think it's not good. It's clear, you're on time, the rythm fits the beat, you're projection is strong. You don't seem to be hesitating. Dude, that's your voice. Embrace it. Based on what I heard, you ARE a rapper. Run with it, amigo.
Second, the music. Again, I don't know the genre, so I'm listeneing with fresh ears.
Lets start with the beat. It's very minimal. Which is a good thing. It's not crowding the place up. Even with its minimalism, it's still varied, so it doesn't get boring. I don't know if you're using loops, or if you programmed them yourself. If you did program them, excellent work. If they are loops, excellent choice.
I dig the use of the vocal sample. It's almost like another piece of percussion.
The gated squarewave synth is good. It brings a higher octave into the mix. That way, it doesn't seem like everything is competing for the same low end. Which, sometimes, I'm guilty of myself.
Third, the overall mix. It's very clear. It's nice and wide. Everything seems to be sitting exactly where it should be. Nothing is clipping, or ducking. The hats are crystal with no sizzle, the kick is nice and deep without squashing everything else.
The vocals are sitting perfectly front and center. This is a good mix. My only complaint is that it's only a minute long. Keep working on this until it's at least a solid 3 and a half minutes, dude.
Fourth, your presentation of yourself to us, the listeners.
You have what I refer to as the "##### Check Off List."
That's where, instead of just stepping up and saying, "this is my work. Enjoy it!" You list off all the things you don't like about it, or that you feel isn't good enough. That just puts all of the flaws into the minds of the listener, and as they listen to it, they can check off all the ##### that you listed. Your job as the creator is to create for us to hear. Your job is not to decide if we should like it or not. 99.9% of the time, my friend, nobody will even catch the mistakes that you think will ruin it. I can't tell you how many times I've posted a track with a cringe in the back of my mind, only to have comments of the highest praise from some of the most talented and respected members here. What I'm saying is, if they didn't catch it and say anything, then it wasn't anything to worry about. Do yourself a favor, and toss the clipboard.
Alright, man. I've been up on this soapbox long enough. Bottom line, dude...with this track as my only exposure to your work, I'd say you have a pretty good handle on what you're doing. Get yourself a little confidence, and keep doing it.

Take care.
V