a wild d'n'b tune appears!

twist3d0n3

twist3d0n3

twist3d0n3

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hi chaps

had today off work due to having a dentist appointment, when i got home i decided to have a little blast on Logic. This is what materialised 4 & 1/2 hours later.


i'm just looking for a bit of feedback really - what do you think of it? it's nowhere near finished, but i wanted to get an idea of what people think should be changed/improved so i can turn it into a proper stomper!

note: i've only used my 40 quid headphones with this, since i can't use my speakers at the moment (and i wanted to chill on the sofa whilst doing it!)

cheers!
 
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I quite liked it, well done :) I think it should have dropped at the 1:05 mark though and needs to drop harder. I also think it needs some sort of hook to it (not even sure how to explain it), but I'm not sure you could do it without almost starting again.
Maybe it's a little to intelligent style drum and bass for me.

Here is a sort of example of what I mean by the hook. A basic melody that the tune is built on.
I would also like to add that I don't have a clue about making music, but have listened to Drum & Bass for close to 20 years ;)

Keep it up though!
 
thanks for the feedback mate :)

intro/drop: aye, i have a nasty habit of making the intro too long, so i'll be pruning that back at some point! Not sure how i can make it drop harder, unless i reduce amplitude of everything building up to that so the drop stands out more... i'll have a fiddle with that.

hook: i'm not so sure this sort of tune is a hooky kind imo; i think it's a bit too dark for it. The video you've linked is very easy going/light hearted d'n'b, which i think suits hooky stuff more - i'll maybe try and work another synth into places, either removing what's already there or seeing if i can get an arp to blend in over the top.

once again, thanks for the feedback fella, it's helpful :)
 
Having listened to it again today through my speakers at a decent volume (it was late last night and I couldn't really do it justice), I really quite like it. I was wrong about the hook thing I was going on about, its fine. I still think the intro is just a little too long, but as a dark drum and bass tune it works. I'm not sure how to explain it, but different drum and bass gives me different feelings and this tune makes me think of something quite futuristic, almost like a street scene from blade runner or that old Amiga game called syndicate. Probably sounds a bit mental, but it's just the way I feel the music :)

Like with this tune for example, makes me think of some sort of epic lazer fight for some reason!


Turn it up and see if you can see what I mean :p
 
brutally honest; fresh is bloody good at production; although i find some of his tunes hit and miss. used to love camo & krooked also, but they've been so samey for too long now... but either way, that tune is sick (soft spot for both of them really!).

i'm liking the futuristic feel you describe - i was going for a darkstep style tune, quite techy, and i think i've got that vibe; i just don't know how to carry it forward.

if you were raving it up and this came on, what would you expect to happen?

this is a little experiment :)
 
twist3d0n3 said:
brutally honest; fresh is bloody good at production; although i find some of his tunes hit and miss. used to love camo & krooked also, but they've been so samey for too long now... but either way, that tune is sick (soft spot for both of them really!).

i'm liking the futuristic feel you describe - i was going for a darkstep style tune, quite techy, and i think i've got that vibe; i just don't know how to carry it forward.

if you were raving it up and this came on, what would you expect to happen?

this is a little experiment :)
Click to expand...


Ok, to be honest at the moment I don't think this tune would drop in room 1 of a rave, it would be more like a room 2 tune where the more intelligent drum and bass crew hung out, and I think they would like it. I am more of a room 1 sort of guy if that makes sense :confused:

Regarding that HC tune, it was probably a bad example to use, but it was the first thing that come to mind and I was tired. What I was trying to get at was that he uses a quite simple hook or melody or whatever you want to call it and just keeps building layer upon layer on it and sticks with it mostly throughout the tune, giving it a sort of theme.
As I said, after listening to what you have done so far, I think I was wrong about having to give it a continuous theme. It works as it is, but just needs a little more flesh to it. Take it with a pinch of salt though as it's quite a personal thing as to what makes a good tune, there is no real right and final answer!

Just a thought though to give you something to think about, if it were my tune I would look at having some sort of 2nd higher pitch bassline that sort of does a 0--0--0--0-0-0 beat (hope that make sense as it's very hard to describe :p) at roughly 1:30-31 mark and 1:36, 1:42.5 and does something different at 1:47,48 ish. And maybe carry that on or do something along that rhythm on and off through the track.

Hard to explain as I said, and I think making tunes is one of those things where if you keep listening to it over and over you get lost and not know what to change.
 
I would echo the theme (Hook) comment to some degree. While the tune does have it's theme though I feel it gets a little lost for a number of reasons.

I really like your synthesis, nice frequency spread and dynamics.

You beats though I feel need some work, they lack dynamics and variance , very much kind of on or off affair.

This I think adversley effects the overall effect of the tune, it's hard to make a good drop if you haven't built it up right first !

Another thing I feel makes the tune lack a certain flow is the fact you go into a 'middle 8' after your first drop instead of returning to verse, makes the tune feel rather odd IMO.

My advice would be

1. Add another verse with theme before your middle 8

2. Try and reference your theme during intro/outro and drops.

3. Develop some more subtle variations on your rythms.

Otherwise everything seems to work pretty well.

Also I hate Gabba beats so I pesonaly would get rid of that, though my opinion may be biased on that one.

Good work though mate keep it up, bit of spit and polish here and there and you'll have them stomping in room 1 yet ;)
 
ok, i've managed to get a few hours working on it over the weekend, bit busy today to do any more to it, but i'm addressing the points you guys are raising :)

the drums as they stand are a copy/paste job, just to get the general layout of the tune in place. it's generally the last thing i play around with when writing stuff, as i find it can get a bit tedious dealing with tiny little chunks of drum samples :p

i've finally listened to it through my monitors, and one thing that really struck me was how loud the hi hat was! i've completely redone the eq/compression for the drums, and stuck in some parallel compression which really livens them up. i've got the balance of each synth/drums and bass sitting quite nicely now, and i'm starting to fiddle with variation in different parts of the tune.

when i get a decent amount of time i'm going to work on shortening the intro, as i completely agree it's a little long, and doesn't really fit the context of the drop.

if i get a chance later, i'll upload version 1.1 for you guys to have a listen to and see if you like the changes :)

as always, many thanks for the feedback!
 
Looking forward to v1.1.

Also regarding drum paterns, I always feel less is more. My approach is minamalistic on the grounds that too many drum sounds 'muddy' your frequencies masking the synthesis that is the main interest of the tune and pushing it into the background rather than giving it space to shine.

Nice work though fella got any linkage to more of your tunes?
 
That's actually quite nice now, seems you've fixed the problem I had with it.

I never posted about it because I wasn't sure how to put it but it just sounded quiet, like I could hear the background more.
 
over the weekend i should get a bit of time to work on this some more, so hopefully i'll have a near-finished version available :)

thanks for the feedback again!
 
Nice one man thats really come on.

Personally think your beats are a bit loud in the mix, perhaps you could bring the synthesis 'forward' more.

Also regarding intro's/outro's length isn't a problem in fact as a DJ I'd say it was an advantage, what can be a problem though is too distinct a rythm pattern, becomes difficult to lay over another tune, try to just hint at your rythm with as few sounds as possible.

Otherwise nice tune mate, haven't got round to checking out your soundcloud yet but I will.
 
sorry for not getting something ready for anytime soon; been working my way into radio (internet) work. i'll hopeuflly have something up to date for this coming weekend!

i'm on every wednesday @ 8-10 on tdm radio

if this isn't allowed, please delete :)
 
it's been a fair while since i posted in this thread; been massively busy with work and other commitments.

here's a slightly improved mixdown. still have to sort out drum patterning, but managed to get the intro more 'uniform' with the rest of the tune. i've not shortened it as of yet, as i'm still deciding whether it works in it's current form or not.

as for tweaking, i've transformed the drums from sounding quite muddy into something 1/2 decent :D the snare pokes through a lot more now, which was partly down to the some amplitude changes, but more importantly sticking an eq on one snare shot. i added a small boost @ 100Hz and 500Hz, which makes it sound sooo much beefier! the kick drum now has a slight reduction @ 100Hz, which seems to take the distortion away from it, whilst still sounding big and hard hitting.

i've also stuck a linear phase eq on the master out, and applied a small amount of eq at various frequencies to get a better balance over the spectrum. lastly, a limiter has been applied to the master out which seems to help make the song sound louder and bigger overall.

anyway, have a listen and see what you think :)

 
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