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Sand Glass

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Author Comments

hey newgrounders.
this is my first drum & bass track produced in reason 4.

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ar...

guh, been a while since I checked out your page. Changed to reason huh? I remember the shift... except I was moving from garage band. Took me forever to figure out how to run the kit through a filter. I'm curious why your not uploading to newgrounds anymore though. Sometimes you can get some really nice feedback that when taken seriously can propel your sound development. Those kinds of reviews are rare, but worth it. With that in mind, let me try being helpful....

Try throwing some delay on the hats. This technique when employed correctly can create instant dynamics. You waste less time playing with note velocities this way. If you're looking to get a rest in there without deleting the notes leading up to the rest, try automating the delay to bypass or try automating a duck in the volume. You can automate practically everything by just right clicking and selecting "edit automation." That will automatically create an automation lane in the sequencer for whatever you choose. Try it on the bpm and you'll see what I mean.

It doesn't sound like your panning at all. Panning helps create space/emulate live acoustics and it gives off the illusion that things are actually louder than they really are so you can turn everything down. Just keep in mind that the bass is usually kept towards the center. Try panning up the mid and hi frequencies to create a little bit of space in there.

The bass lines have a really old school jungle sound to them. Not sure if you've ever tried the more contemporary approach since this is the first track of yours I've heard in years, but you can get some of those really solid darkstep reese sounds by taking a synth, setting up two oscillators with sawtooths waves, then slapping on a scream distortion and playing around with it. You can generally effect the synths lows and highs with the mixer's channel EQs but the scream gives you more control over those anyways. Play with it.

Im not sure how much layering you do, but it doesn't sound like you're doing much... or anything at all. You an get much fuller drum sounds by layering the kits pieces. It takes a while to get the technique down but you can get a much fuller sound through layering. It might make the most sense with the drums. Lets say for the snare, a good way to get a full sound is to get three to four different snare sounds. You'll want a lo, mid, and hi sound so it attacks the entire sound spectrum. Any additional snares are there to give character to the sound. You can layer synths this way too to get some really complex sounds.

It doesn't sound like you clip in here but if you're ever having trouble keeping things under control, slap an m-class mastering suite onto the built in output. The output should be the first thing you see at the very top of the synth stack when you start up a new track. I like to try mixing my track properly though first before playing with that.

I feel like those pads can take up a little more space. Like I said earlier, panning could help, but I think some reverb on that synth that comes in at 00:12 could help too. Not sure. On the subject of reverb, as the remainder of the track gets more complex through layering, you won't want the long decay on the snare. It would probably muddy up the mix unless employed sparingly. Not sure what your using to get that sound, but you can always automate it in/out ;)

If you need clarification on anything or want anymore feedback, just send over a pm or ask. I love being helpful but I've almost ran out of space to type things. Keep in mind, this review isn't meant to be harsh or critical. It's just trying to be helpful :)

Mitrox responds:

Well actually I use FL8 most of the time. I wanted to try out Reason 4, and it's a powerful software. I still haven't learned the full aspects of it though. Eventually I will. Yes, that is true. Some artists on NG do give indepth reviews, such as this one. The reason I will not upload on newgrounds anymore, is because I do not stand out on here, nor do I get a lot of publicity. Which I am not looking for at the moment. Even though the reviews are helpful, i'll find my way and try to keep my ears grounded down to earth as possible, so that I know what sounds good and what doesn't, and clearly none of my work does.

Oh yeah, I know how to do that, but it's a pain in the ass doing that on reason 4, so I admit I do get lazy when it comes to automating. Which i'm going to have to work on. It's definitely a lot easier automating in FL though. However, fixing up this song won't be an option, because I do not have the file no more. So that's cancels that out.

You are right, I didn't pan at all. This was my first dnb song on Reason 4, so i didn't actually take the time to pan anything.

Oh yeah, I know how to do that. I learned that technique a while back. It's just making a reece on Reason is rather weird. It's a lot easier to create in FL.

Nope, I didn't do any layering at all. That's probably one of my difficult areas to master. Yep, the pad is slim and I didn't really put to much effort into this song.

Like I said though, most of my work is just practice, right now I'm far from making anything decent. Eventually I will start producing more sophisticated sounds though.

thank you for the constructive review though. \m/

aLLRIGHT...

i hate caps lock.
nice song, kinda dry tune...

great song

I heard this melodi in many places before, and always like it!

MITROX

I HAVENT TALKED TO YOU IN AGES!!!!! PLEASE!! give me your MSN and/or AIM :P

ps. it's synthnavigator, dj bill, what ever i was named when i showed you my stuff.

and you HAVE to check out my trance stuff. <3

Not bad my man.

What could have helped this piece out is as Nosferatu pointed out, some variation. Perhaps a bit of melody thrown in, or some varied drum beats?

The bass is fine, and the drum beat is fine, all it is is that variety is the spice of life, you know? Still it is a step above the usual Audio Portal fare, and that is an accomplishment in and of itself.

This is a good track, and if it is your last, as you so claim, it's a good finish.

Mitrox responds:

You're right, i could of added some more drum variation and more sound effects along with more melody.

which i will do in my future tracks off newgrounds.

thanks for the critique review dude.

stuff like this is helpful.

Credits & Info

Artist

Listens
2,634
Downloads
73
Votes
8
Score
4.50 / 5.00

Uploaded
May 12, 2009
10:15 AM EDT
Genre
Drum N Bass
File Info
Song
4.6 MB
2 min 1 sec

Licensing Terms

Please contact me if you would like to use this in a project. We can discuss the details.