good song

keep it up;)

Apparently I’m a spam bot idk

So I wrote up a massive review detailing mix and fidelity techniques only for it to get lost/deleted when my tablet's cookies were refreshed for leaving the pop up review momentarily. LET'S TRY AGAIN, LIFE IS ALL ABOUT MISTAKES, WOOOOOOO D':

Great sound for only three hours work. Loved the cinematic vibe. That aux snare rhythm was tight, so was the hi-hat work. I felt like that trap snare was a little weak, it has good presence but you can fatten up that tone by layering another snare on top of it. I'd start by looking at a crisp 909 snare. Layering takes practice but it's such a potent force, all my tracks have 3-4 snares working together to make new snare tones. I like to merge each individual snare signal into one so that I can then send the merged signal into fidelity units to polish them all at the same time. I use Reason's Redrum, so before the merging the snares I have a little control in the drum machine over each individual sample's pitch, tone, and envelope. The "real" layering happens in the MIDI so if I want to I can use each snare sample simultaneously or individually for different parts of the song, combining them all only during the hook, drop, or chorus. Say in the intro if I need a weaker sound I can just use one or two snare layers. You can also do the same for kick drums and other instruments, layering is a powerful tool. I like to layer pianos behind synth patches sometimes...

The snare you're using might also sound alright with a little reverb on it. I like to use automation lanes to sparingly introduce reverb from time to time so it doesn't muddy up the mix unnecessarily or get too repetitive but your mix here is probably simple enough that you could get away with some constant snare reverb like some kind of 1980's pop act. Artist's choice, snares can ultimately sound however you want them to :p

Taking a second from fidelity technique just to say how much I loved those horns and strings. Orchestral elements in this track are tight. That guitar patch towards the end wasn't terrible but it's the instrument I think is the most out of place. Does your DAW have a choir? I'd try replacing that guitar patch with a breathy choir, transpose the melody over and maybe simplify it a little bit?

For such great orchestration I'm wondering where the orchestral drums are? Song is called thunder strike and you don't have a single drum swell or timpani? TIME TO GO BACK TO MUSIC SCHOOL TRASH-just kidding don't do that, music school is expensive. Instead, see if your DAW has some nice orch drums. Hook them up to a compressor/EQ, let them become the thunder. A lot of people over look how much atmosphere aux drums can create but something as simple as chimes or a vibraslap can go a long way. I love a good güiro, woodblocks are nice, or orchestral cymbals...

I think the sub bass could be pushed a little harder. I find a good distortion unit often does more to push tones than just using the fidelity tools, especially if it includes a lot of options and features (Reason's Scream distortion unit is my baby). Granted, if I'm slapping a distortion unit onto my bass I'm also using an EQ and a compressor to avoid clipping or tone issues. The compressor also give you the ability to control the bass patches' levels with a sidechain signal (watch a sidechain tutorial if you haven't, it's really easy when you get the hang of it.) Sidechaining just let's you control an instruments levels with another instrument's signal, the most common use applying the kick drum to momentarily duck the sub bass from the mix to get cleaner drum sounds. Sidechaining has other uses and applications but the most common use is for cleaner drums.

Impressive work from a three hour binge and I hope this review doesn't bother you at all. I want my music peers to sound as good as possible and that sometimes requires a little misunderstanding. I hope to see you around more TrashDragon, peace love unity respect <3