Score: 8
"this was good but could have been a lot better"
date: September 30, 2009
i think you have a really good concept here. but, it's mixed oddly and so it comes off as a little bit... off.
the drums shouldnt be sidechained out on this one. have a strong beat, because the ducking on everything else is driving the personality of the song, and the beat and rhythm behind it shouldnt just be ducking out. your bass drum is completely unhearable, and it would have been so fuckin tight if your bass drum, snare, and hats/crackling were hard and punchy.
second, it needs more variety even for just a 1 min run through of the meat of the song. try modulating into different keys so the song explores more.
third, sometimes it feels like the ducking is a little bit off beat. i think it's okay, but i dont think its really necessary if that was an intentional effect.
i could probably go into more detail but since its jst a short demo, work on it more for later. oh, and as a heads up, ur jst supposed to give a 1 min or so demo for the EP, so this is a bit long. but whatever lolz.
December 11, 2009
Author's Response:
I see what you're saying in terms of odd mixing. There are three parts to this track and each part was recorded over the space of about two month, which I think shows. Normally, it's not a bad thing to spend so much time on a track but the fact that I was trying something new and experimental definitely shows here, and not necessarily in a good way either.
I agree with you on the part of the bass drum, snare, and hats becoming hard and punching but the whole idea of sidechaining is completely subjective, I think. While some people like it, others absolutely despise it and I believe that in this track particularly, it creates a sort of hypnotic feel that works to ameliorate the track.
The variety is a good point as well and the off-beat ducking is due to the bass drum being slightly off-beat. I linked the compressor to the kick so that every time it played, it would cancel out all other noises and incidentally, I played that by hand so that explains the human error invovled in the process.
Thanks for the review.