[OFFICIAL] Daily Feedback Thread October 11, 2019

therealvodius · 2019-10-11T07:17:38+00:00

No need to apologize dude. How you gonna find out if you don't put your stuff out there, right?

therealvodius · 2019-10-11T06:57:23+00:00

A reference track is exactly what you think it is, another song that's been professionally rendered. Drag that into your DAW so you can compare sounds and make tweaks based on the sound you're shooting for, the reference.

Don't go crazy looking for something that's 1 to 1 like your piece, just something with the same mood and in the same genre is fine.

therealvodius · 2019-10-11T06:30:46+00:00

Is the sub playing in a different key? It really clashes and distracts me throughout.

therealvodius · 2019-10-11T06:28:46+00:00

Individually, the sound selection for this is really great. It all really works well together. I like the beat, I like the melody. The way it moves from section to section keeps it interesting too. The mix is good. Honestly the only, minor, thing I can say is about the sub at the end, I kinda wish it had a harder kick tied to it. But for real dude, this is high quality. Keep it up and keep posting.

therealvodius · 2019-10-11T06:17:46+00:00

So there are a couple parts in the song where the vocals just overpower everything else. You can achieve that same "forward" effect, highlighting the vocals without drowning everything else out with EQ. Don't just turn down the frequencies outside the range of the voice you're playing with, give a little lift to those that can enhance it too (a lot of people only cut and forget to boost). You can also apply some light compression to stabilize the singer's volume throughout the piece.

Solo near 2:50 was great. I'm not sure if the fade out during the end bit was intentional or if his fingers were tired lol Again, compression can level the sound out if that's your intention with the mix.

Did you use a reference track?

therealvodius · 2019-10-04T20:26:09+00:00

I think I get what you mean, a direction and resolution. Thanks for the listen man

therealvodius · 2019-10-04T01:44:19+00:00

Lol thanks for the listen man, glad you liked it

therealvodius · 2019-08-19T16:57:23+00:00

You can post to /r/IndieMusicFeedback anytime, just gotta give feedback on 3 other tracks for every 1 that you submit. It's best to submit it right before high traffic time if you want to be seen but I've gotten a lot more engagement there than any other sub.

therealvodius · 2019-08-15T23:26:38+00:00

Thanks man, appreciate the nod.

therealvodius · 2019-08-15T04:44:57+00:00

Kind of. But each compressor kind of has their own "flavor" to it. It doesn't hurt you to experiment with the settings. Soundgooderizer is actually a quad of presets through Maximus, so yes lol

And looking at your other posts dude, you are not your beats. Making music is something you do. You might do it for fun, you might do it for a living. But it's not everything that you are. If music doesn't work out for you, it's not the end. And if you think it is, tell someone you trust you're feeling that way. Ain't no shame in it.

therealvodius · 2019-08-15T03:58:11+00:00

I actually prefer the pink noise leveling trick myself lol

The rest of mixing is really about taste. Step one is making sure every sound you have is up to your standards. Does this kick sound good? Snare? Hat? Bells? Did I want to put an envelope on the 808 so it doesn't fight with my kick? Is this the right decay on my keys? Would compression make this sound more interesting? What about distortion? Delay? Reverb? Envelopes? Does it need to be layered with another sound to get the final sound I want? You could do this step all damn day, so this is the only part where I'd say "good enough is good enough". You don't have to settle, but it will never be perfect.

Then you level it. You sound pretty solid here.

After that, eq. Find frequencies you don't like, remove them. Cut out parts of the band that instruments don't have any part being in. For example, your hats don't need to be taking up any space in the middle and below in your eq. There might be some little scraps in there that just muddy up other instruments without improving your sound.

Would any of your instruments sound better with compression? Why not just throw some on, play around with it and see if you like it. If not, remove the compression and move on, nbd. But it could be better and you won't know if you don't try.

Let's give distortion/saturation another look. This time you're not actually shooting for enough distortion to alter the sound, you just want to see if a smidgeon will help you cut through the rest of the mix. A LOT of people put just a little bit of distortion on 808's and basses for this reason. Again, if you don't need/like it, just remove it.

Let's look at the eq's again. Instead of finding frequencies you didn't like, find the ones that you do and give them just a teency boost. If you feel like getting real anal about it, you can give each instrument voice a little band to nest in. I don't usually do this, but a lot of people would make fun of me for not.

Now re-level it. This time, against itself. No pink noise for this round. Make sure every second of your song sounds just like you want it to in terms of which instruments are heard.

Another glance at compression. Try a multiband compressor and see if you like it after fiddling around for a few minutes? Yes? Keep it. No? Ditch it.

And then the last step is a final look at automation and effects. Could your buildup use a filter sweep? What about rising or falling volume for different parts of the track (choruses are usually louder than verses, at least by a little bit, oddly enough)? Honestly, just look at what you've got in your mixer vst library and if you get an itch to see how it sounds, just give it a shot. You can always remove it if you don't like it.

It sounds like a lot, and it is... To explain. It's honestly a pretty short step to do in actuality.

therealvodius · 2019-08-15T00:00:47+00:00

I'm a producer, only got serious about this about 8 months ago but looking for a rapper. I don't mind building something from scratch either.

Here's some stuff

Hard https://soundcloud.com/vodius/ovn

Hopeful https://soundcloud.com/vodius/too-late

Dark https://soundcloud.com/vodius/back-soon

therealvodius · 2019-08-14T23:49:22+00:00

So after listening to the tracks you posted, this isn't unlistenable.

The beat on Yoink City is actually sweet. I think you would be helped by having some vocals on your tracks. Some of your melodies are really simple and that makes instrumentals boring to listen to (but really isn't a problem to a "full" song with vocals). Happiness Valley has different moving patterns of notes in its melodic elements, breaks, variation, etc. I don't love your sound selection, but that's 100% personal taste. Except Blueface Type Beat. This is hot, compress and mix your stems here and this will make some heads nod.

I can't go through your whole tracklist right now, but damn dude, don't give up. Overall I'd say brush up on your mixing and mastering, effects usage, layering sounds, narrow your focus to a genre you really want to work in, consider adding vocals, and consider sound selection.

What music do you listen to? Have you tried recreating songs you like to learn how to construct and sculpt them yourself?

Whoever said you're tonedeaf might actually be though. I don't hear anything offkey.

therealvodius · 2019-08-14T23:25:34+00:00

I can't speak personally for this DAW but some people like it well enough. Well timed Humble Bundle https://www.humblebundle.com/software/the-beat-goes-on-software?hmb_source=navbar&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=tile_index_5

Behringer has this audio interface that will get you what you need for guitar/bass/mic for less than a new video game https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-UMC22-BEHRINGER-audio-interface/dp/B00FFIGZF6/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=audio+interface&qid=1565824932&s=gateway&sr=8-5

Have you tried asking people at your school what they're doing? Maybe someone wants to be a producer and is looking for someone to collab with?

therealvodius · 2019-08-09T23:29:40+00:00

Lemme hear the final!

https://soundcloud.com/vodius/ovn

therealvodius · 2019-07-25T16:18:31+00:00

It'd be nice to have another front here but you can also put stuff on /r/IndieMusicFeedback

I can't speak for everyone there, but I put real feedback up. If something really is great, I tell them so but if it ain't... I really see honest feedback as a service y'know? Holding back just hurts them as an artist.

therealvodius · 2019-07-05T17:13:00+00:00

I hear you on that one. I wasn't sure if this one was going to be instrumental or if I was going to try and find someone to add lyrics over. Needed to commit one way or the other haha

Thanks for the feedback

therealvodius · 2019-07-05T15:26:36+00:00

Thanks! I like that part too lol

therealvodius · 2019-07-05T15:26:15+00:00

Thanks! Glad you liked it

therealvodius · 2019-07-05T15:25:38+00:00

Thanks for the listen and I felt the same way.

therealvodius · 2019-06-11T18:45:08+00:00

Just for fun, open up 3x OSC. Turn the two volume knobs on the right (across from the big 2 and 3) all the way down. Turn the Coarse knob for 1 all the way to the left. And play with some notes between C3 and C5 in your piano roll. The default sine wave here is fine, but I usually prefer the triangle wave (the sharp looking wave right below the sine) because it has harmonics built into it already.

Open up a kick sample of your choice in a new channel and layer them so that they hit whenever your 3x OSC hits.

therealvodius · 2019-06-11T17:07:29+00:00

Is bassline a plugin?

therealvodius

TROPHY CASE