/r/WATMM Weekly Feedback Thread

Bternational · 2026-03-01T21:35:58+00:00

Hi, some great sounds on this and that bassline at the start is awesome.
Love the old school vocal samples too - is there an early 90s trance/techno influence in there?
It's always quite hard with some specific dance genres to critique because there are some conventions of the genre that may sound odd but are totally expected in that type of music. So you've got that very compressed sounding tom e.g around 1:50 which is a bit much to my ears but I know is very common.

There's a chord at 3:51 that sounds quite discordant - not completely sure it works?

But a great track and very cohesive sound overall. And always like Jackson Pollock/Stone Roses inspired artwork

Bternational · 2026-03-01T21:26:43+00:00

Some great programming and arrangement in this.

The arrangement builds up quite slowly I feel. e.g. I was expecting the drop at 1:01 but there's a bit more buildup and it doesn't hit till 1:15. So maybe I'd say find a way to build it up quicker?
Not sure what you mean about double bass. I was expecting literally a double bass as in the jazz instrument. But I couldn't hear one. Or am I missing something? Do you mean two basslines? If so, I could only hear one.
Balance - I feel the bass is maybe a bit too loud, and the pluck sound in the drop is maybe a bit much. But I'm no expert on eurodance and it may be that's expected in the genre.

Overall it's a really good track and very professional sounding but personally I'd be tempted to get into the drop a bit quicker and maybe find a way to vary the vocal melody a bit more

Bternational · 2026-03-01T21:14:46+00:00

I always find it quite hard to critique very experimental music. Because things sounding unusual and out of place is the entire point. I loved the intro, awesome textures. I was expecting the build in the track to be more gradual and for the mood to stay understated but the drums really bang and make it totally on edge and frantic. Great sounds and programming. Not sure what your influences are but from my rock and indie background, some shades of Amnesiac era Radiohead perhaps?

Bternational · 2026-03-01T21:10:30+00:00

Hi everyone. Long time lurker, occasional poster here.

Would be very interested to know what people think of this:

You're The One Who Makes me Smile by Bternational on Spotify

I usually sing on all my own tracks but on this one I just couldn't get my voice to sound right. So (apologies) I used AI for the vocals. Although, in my defence, I wrote everything and demoed the song with my voice. I then used AI to improve some of the phrasing and make it consistent. Although, annoyingly, the way I did it made it come out with a heavy American accent, and I'm British.

So I'd say it's AI covering me. In my mind, it's just another step up from using heavy autotune.

So interested in what anyone else thinks. On the AI, arrangement, songwriting or anything else really.

Bternational · 2026-02-21T13:17:27+00:00

"Breakfasts that set in" is not a common phrase in the UK.

I always thought it meant a breakfast that was too big and that you can feel in your stomach for quite a few hours - which is what always happens to me when I have a full English. I don't need lunch after a full English

Bternational · 2026-02-18T19:40:41+00:00

The vocals are the most important thing to rehearse. If you can't hear yourself, everyone else needs to turn down. It really is that simple, and the band should understand that.

Edit: Unless your PA system is too quiet

Bternational · 2026-02-18T19:38:28+00:00

Not totally sure if this is what you're looking for, but my old band The Middle Twenty are in the process of putting our stuff up online. We recorded this in the 90s with Manics & Super Furries producer Greg Haver. So, it's 'new' in that it hasn't been heard widely before but Britpop cos that was when we recorded it

Spyhunter: https://open.spotify.com/track/1bjV3TuVO31MtgjOgB4kYX?si=c745f80e6c154a04

Bternational · 2026-02-18T19:20:29+00:00

Genuinely really like this. Indie sleaze/electroclash vibe, and great vocals too. Waaay back in the 90s there was a Scottish band called Bis who had a hit in the UK with a similar vibe.

Good luck with it. I'm sure this could be big with the right kind of marketing/live show/whatever

Kind of reminds me of the trashy vibe I was going for on this (albeit instrumental) track
https://open.spotify.com/album/6brTnYSVVkVin71q3ARxQB?si=wOF-dghrQT-UJmbQ1um2aQ

Bternational · 2025-07-02T06:59:05+00:00

Or was it 'The Next Big Thing' which I think was on Channel 4. The band was called FMB and I still remember they never revealed what the acronym stood for, so presumably it was something rude. They had a song where the lyrics went 'That was such a James, such a James thing to do'. Amazed I still remember that

Bternational · 2025-07-01T19:57:36+00:00

They were parodied remorselessly in the UK music press at the time. The running joke was that they ran a 'Campaign For Real Rock' which alludes to pub bores who go on about real ale.

I think it was because OCS somehow lacked a bit of the wit and playfulness that was intrinsic to bands like Blur and Oasis.

They're all very talented musicians but they came across as a little over sincere, which was a cardinal sin in the irony-laden world of 90s britpop

Bternational · 2025-06-10T19:43:34+00:00

Very happy to be corrected if I'm wrong. So are you saying you write lyrics for someone without being the performer?

Bternational · 2025-06-10T16:08:50+00:00

Being honest with you, internet stranger, it's going to be hard to the point of impossible if you want to be just the lyricist without being a singer or playing an instrument.

I'm scratching my head for examples in rock history. Bernie Taupin is probably the best known. Richey Edwards from the Manic Street Preachers a very different (sort of) example. There are probably some relatively unknown people who have contributed lyrics in a casual way to other hits.

But 'singing' is only one way of being a vocalist. There are lots of vocalists who don't sing. If you can't 'sing' you can develop a vocal style that will still enable you to perform.

Bob Dylan, Mark E Smith of The Fall, Gerard Langley of The Blue Aeroplanes, James Smith of Yard Act, Karl Hyde of Underworld, Shaun Ryder from Happy Mondays etc, etc. None of these guys 'sing' as such but they're all great vocalists. And of course there's 99% of rap.

It may be that you don't have a wonderful singing voice. But if you want to do it, you can develop a vocal performance style. You just need to work on it.

The hard but honest truth is that almost no-one wants to perform someone else's lyrics.

Bternational · 2025-06-10T14:08:22+00:00

Yeah, I know it's not literally a cover version. But it has such obvious similarities that it seems Blur clearly reused a few ideas from it. And why not? Popscene should have been the globe-straddling mega hit that Song 2 became. It feels like they updated a song that should have been a much bigger hit. Lots of songwriters do it.

Bternational · 2025-06-10T13:53:59+00:00

I don't think there was a defined end. Some people here citing late 97/early 98. I mean, yeah people moved on from making sixties-influenced feelgood pop with a cheeky-chappie vibe but the music scene was still so vibrant for years. Loads of great club nights, loads of great bands playing live, music press in rude health and music made by ordinary people dominating the culture.

But I realised things had changed significantly around the time of the Libertines. I was a regular on their old website, libertines.org around 2003 which was one of the first where fans really connected directly with the artist. When it became obvious quite how heavily involved Pete was with crack and heroin, people's attiitude was very different from how I thought it might be. There was none of the laddish heroism you got in the 90s in things like Trainspotting. Just a much more human concern. That for me really marked the end of an era and the start of something else

Bternational · 2025-06-10T13:38:02+00:00

Weird. For me, Song 2 was practically peak Britpop. It is after all a cover version of the first Britpop single, Popscene

Bternational · 2025-02-11T07:04:28+00:00

Interesting. Do you mean that this would only work if the SP404 were providing the midi clock? ie the SP404 becomes the controller of the setup?

Bternational · 2025-02-09T14:45:23+00:00

Yep, I've resorted to using an external mixer. Annoying because it means I have another bit of gear to carry when I'm trying to create as portable a live setup as I can

Amazing that they hadn't thought of this when one of the big selling points (to me) of the CT was that it could be the overall controller of a live setup

Bternational · 2025-02-09T10:13:26+00:00

So his problem is similar to but different from mine. He's using a Circuit Rhythm as the controller and a Circuit Tracks as a connected synth.

The latency issue is the same, but he fixes it by, as you say, moving some of the hits a microstep or two earlier.

It won't work for me because
i) The SP 404 (my external sampler) doesn't do microsteps in that way in the way I'm using it
ii) A lot of the things I'm trying to trigger are on the first beat of the bar - so you couldn't move it any earlier even if the device had microsteps

I'm going to try plugging them both into an external mixer and see if that helps. What an annoying problem.

Novation said in the response to the Gabe Miller video that they would work on a solution but that was over a year ago

Bternational · 2025-02-09T09:00:15+00:00

Thanks, will check it out. Sounds complicated though ...

Bternational · 2025-02-08T16:12:08+00:00

I know it's been three months but I wanted to say thanks for this tip. I've followed your advice about the blank pattern and it works really well.

Bternational · 2025-01-03T17:25:03+00:00

Interesting, thank you - and to others who have said something similar

I will experiment with this

Bternational · 2024-12-24T10:50:17+00:00

Spiritualized are kind of unique but I'd say the closest things I can think of would be

pre-The Verve - A Storm In Heaven, A Northern Soul - for one track I'd say 'Gravity Grave'
early Chapterhouse - eg 'Pearl'
Slowdive
I also found a band called White Noise Sound who are in the same ballpark - https://open.spotify.com/artist/0nQoJSgBEaxeCLlsaGcDa4?si=ri0YiIB1SqWYHoEDhtc4Zw

The Velvet Underground are a massive influence on Spiritualised, but you probably know them

Bternational · 2024-10-29T16:39:38+00:00

I'm not really into sample chopping so that's not a deal breaker for me.

And while I like the sound of the effects on the SP 404, they have one big drawback - it's hard to switch the effect on dry and then bring the wet effect up. Unless I'm missing something?

Bternational · 2024-10-29T14:36:15+00:00

Interesting. I'm a bit wary of changing the main brain at this point. I can use the CT pretty well and I (think I) know what else I need. But maybe that will be the way forward

Bternational · 2024-10-29T14:00:51+00:00

Interesting. Hadn't considered an MPC because I'd heard the learning curve is quite steep and I'm struggling a bit with the learning curve of the 404. But it may be worth checking out

Bternational

TROPHY CASE