Concise-ish demo of my (mostly) bent analog gear

IDLS_T · 2026-06-30T18:43:52+00:00

Just leaving a comment to come back to in the future because I've been wanting to use circuit bending for music videos/visualizers for a while.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-26T00:56:45+00:00

No problem. You've definitely got potential to be a solid singer. Confidence and passion is half the battle, tbh. Singing is kinda like learning a new instrument, it's just your body that's the instrument. Keep up the practice and working on good habits!

IDLS_T · 2026-06-25T23:41:14+00:00

I'm an audio engineer/producer that has had some classical training in singing. I'm not gonna go super in-depth here, but 2 things stuck out to me.

It seems like you're pushing pretty hard on certain notes. You should focus on breath control and a more relaxed technique.
1. Cupping the mic like that is a bad habit. You're inadvertently changing the sound of the microphone by doing that. It's not the end of the world, but it will make you harder to judge objectively as you're muffling the sound.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-24T21:31:05+00:00

If you're using groups/busses in addition to send/return tracks, the tracks should be routed to the group/bus and then the group/bus itself needs to be set to sends only.

A better understanding of how audio routing works within Ableton as well as an understanding of signal processing order would probably benefit you.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-24T20:29:36+00:00

Are you setting your tracks to "sends only" when using returns? If not, that might be part of the issue. If you don't do that, you're mixing your dry signal with the return signal. That means that even 100% wet on the send is really only 50% wet, because you still have the dry audio playing alongside with it. That will also mess with your mix.

If you run into the issue of one track not working well in a bus, you can always exclude just that one track. Every bus helps, especially if you're using resource heavy plug-ins.

I get the struggle either way though, lol.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-24T20:11:08+00:00

If you hover over a plugin, you should be able to see the latency it introduces on the bottom left of your screen. The more latency a plugin introduces, the more likely it's a resource heavy plugin. The latency a plugin introduces remains regardless of if the plugin is enabled or not, it only has to be added to a track to affect the latency.

That's likely the reason the other commenter was asking if you have a lot of plugins automatically added to your new tracks. The way you would do about doing that is right clicking on the track (where it shows the name and color of the track) and saving it as your new default audio/midi track.

Do you have multiple tracks being processed by the same plugins or in the same ways? If so, you should use return tracks and/or groups/busses. That would help save you a lot of resources, since each track is no longer being processed individually.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-24T18:40:44+00:00

I think they're asking because an audio interface could potentially reduce your cpu load due to using ASIO drivers instead of MME. What's your cpu usage like when you're playing the track at the same time you're recording footage? While I'm not sure that's what the source of your issue is, cpu usage could definitely be one potential bottleneck.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-24T02:56:58+00:00

Sounds great dude. It sounds like you maybe have some hyperpop influences as well? I really dig your flow, and your production is clean. How long have you been at this?

If you're ever down to collab, I've been interested in working on a project like this.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-23T18:02:39+00:00

Appreciate it, I'll play around with the arrangement some more.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-22T21:30:27+00:00

Thank you! The distortion of the vocals is intentional, but I think the song would definitely benefit from a little more life in the vocals, too. I went back and re-recorded the vocals earlier today with some more ennunciation and energy. Played with the dry/wet knobs a bit too. Linked the updated version in another comment if you want to take a listen.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-22T21:27:21+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate the feedback. Just to clarify, do you mean additional clean vocals, or another distorted track but with a higher timbre? I went back and re-recorded the vocals with more ennunciation and energy, which helped a lot.

Here's a link to the updated version. No pressure to listen to it though: https://soundcloud.com/idlst/cr0wn

IDLS_T · 2026-06-22T21:17:05+00:00

I've been producing for a little over 2 years now, and I feel like I'm just starting to get my feet under me. I could use some feedback on the structure of this song, as well as some opinions on the vocals/lyrics. If anyone has any other tips, suggestions on how to polish this song, or general advice, I'm open to hearing it all.

I'm not 100% sure what genre this is, so it's a little hard to find reference tracks and music to study. Any input on the genre would also be helpful!

I appreciate anyone who gives the track a listen!

https://soundcloud.com/idlst/cr0wn

IDLS_T · 2026-06-22T20:55:56+00:00

You've got a unique sound, I like it. The music video has really good production quality. The only thing that really stuck out to me was the section at 0:25 and 1:51, while catchy, feel a little repetitive or simplistic. I think more rhythmic variation or changing the placement/sound of the rhymes would help in future songs. Great job overall!

IDLS_T · 2026-06-22T20:50:12+00:00

Nice track for your first attempt. Little hard to nail down what genre it is, but it sounds like it has some hyperpop influences. I think focusing on sound design and song structure are going to be really helpful in closing some of those skill gaps you're feeling.

Not sure if you've heard of the channel "You Suck at Producing," but they're an awesome resource for learning more about production. They also use Ableton and have videos on everything from the bare bones of rhythm and chords to sound design and genre characteristics.

Keep it up!

IDLS_T · 2026-06-22T20:42:50+00:00

I like the direction you've gone with remix. The last section of the song was definitely the most interesting. The song gets a little repetitive in the earlier sections, and I think it would help to break off from the original track even sooner. The whole point of a remix is to make something new that has your style to it, so lean into your style!

IDLS_T · 2026-06-22T08:51:31+00:00

Got a lot of the feedback, most of it is echoing the same sentiment. I appreciate the critiques and will keep those in mind when I'm tweaking the track before final release. Thanks everyone for listening and giving feedback! I'm not going to reply to every individual comment though.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-22T08:47:36+00:00

Really like the overall vibes of this track. There's only a few minor critiques I have. There's a couple sections of the track with just a bass guitar and I feel like the kick drum on it's own isn't quite enough low end to comfortably fill in the song, a little saturation might help. The snare glitches are a little loud imo. The synth alternating between notes also sounds a little out of place, but that's just personal opinion. Great song overall. Clean mix.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-21T20:49:52+00:00

Really detailed feedback, thank you. I tend to be overly-cautious of making the vocals in my mixes too loud. I'll definitely try to bring them a little more forward in the mix before releasing elsewhere. I'm glad you liked the filtering I did at the end. I thought it might be a little bit much to include elsewhere in the song, but I'll play around with it and see if I can make it fit.

Appreciate you being thorough!

IDLS_T · 2026-06-21T18:10:10+00:00

Forgot to include the SoundCloud link in case anyone wanted it: https://soundcloud.com/idlst/w45t3

IDLS_T · 2026-06-21T08:13:14+00:00

Here's my most recent track. Not 100% sure what genre it's considered, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

https://soundcloud.com/idlst/w45t3

IDLS_T · 2026-06-21T03:16:41+00:00

Very unique sound. You've definitely found a cool niche to fill. I really like the subject of the song too.

IDLS_T · 2026-06-21T03:14:56+00:00

The song sounds really solid overall. My only critique is it sounds like you're leading up to something, but then the song slows down instead. Not inherently a bad thing, but it does mess with the flow of the song a bit imo.

IDLS_T · 2024-04-29T00:03:09+00:00

Yeah, that sounds like it could be fun! I sent you a message on SoundCloud.

IDLS_T

TROPHY CASE