WOAH
COOL
I LIKE THE INSTRUMENTS. A LOT. especially the square sounds :3
Reviews for "Catalyst"
Drewpy responds:
Wow! Umm... Thank you!!!
Good classic sounding trance tune mate. And not too generic either, it's smooth.
You are already aware of the mastering so I'll skip that part :P Love the part around 2 minutes, but after that I feel that the song ends a bit abruptly, it sounds unfinished in a way. I would add at least one extra minute. The beginning should have had a slower and longer build to it. The drums would have sounded perfect to me if the hi-hat was just a little bit more quiet. I've already looped about 4 times, just throwing out some constructive criticism to make a good song even better :d
Drewpy responds:
I did indeed rush the ending of this song. I was getting bored with it (that should have been a red flag) and wanted a finished product as fast as possible. But I've learned my lesson!! Thanks for the criticism, it really helps!!!
You know, I was just thinking about that old Mortal Kombat movie, and I'm getting some of those sames vibes from this, especially with those 303 arps going on. Anywho, let me try to break down a couple of things.
Is it just me, or is that kick like super duper stereoized? You can roll with your own flavor of style, but I'm not a fan of it. I take the more conventional approach of putting the kick smack dab in the middle. Keeps the mix nice, tight, and structured for me. And I don't know if that's just the kicks messing with my ears, but the whole track sounds like it's really lonely in the middle. Like, the snare and leads are all by themselves. :( Maybe you could have fitted some more ear candy inbetween the gaps?
I'm not sure under what subgenre of techno this would fall under, but it definitely doesn't fit within the more orthodox palette that generally comes to mind. If anything, I think it would be better suited for the video game genre, specifically because it sounds more like a theme on an older video game console than techno. The dryness of the track in general doesn't make a solid case for the strange choice of genre either, but you can call it whatever you want. I'm just a guy with opinions!
You strike me as the kind of guy who is a fan of arps. Me too! The real takeaway from your barebones track, if anything, is the interesting lead. It's kind of catchy, but much too sporadic sounding to be very memorable. Part of what contributes to that I think goes back to the overall dryness of the track. You've got to have some sort of flow with each instrument so that the track doesn't sound totally lifeless. A subtle use of reverb is good for this, but I would also recommend designating each instrument to a specific area on the EQ spectrum. That way, they have their own place to sound off and make the mix sound like they belong there. [^_-]
Drewpy responds:
First of all, wow thanks for the review. This is probably the most in depth piece of advice I've ever received ever. I get what you're saying with the kick, and I was honestly just trying a bunch of stuff out. The eq range thing is next on my list of things that I've got to figure out, so that's what I'm working on now. Thanks again for all the detail and helpfulness!!! Like seriously. Thanks so much.