Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
Post Reply
dubdub
Asphyxiwank
Posts: 2454
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:49 pm
Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Post by dubdub »

youtu.be/y_DeSoZZico
youtu.be/Xo-ch5oD7-s

I really like this EP and was very impressed by the very high sense of energy and impact these tracks have. I feel like at this point my stuff holds up to a lot of things released "professionally" but hearing these at first it made me kinda depressed because my stuff just has zero energy in comparison. But I also felt like they were SUPER loud and perhaps a bit fatiguing to listen over longer periods of time? Not necessarily "harsh" but just like, a bit to dense? So I went and checked and they measure at about -5 RMS, which is of course super loud - too loud?

However, even doing RMS matched comparisons my stuff didn't really hold up in comparison. I guess part of it is that they have a super efficient energy distribution in terms of really just focussing HARD on the frequencies with the most psychoacoustic impact. When RMS matched, my stuff had more lowend and lower midrange solidity but just didn't have that energy, especially in the upper midrange and that hihat transient range. My stuff did best when loudness matched by ear but still wasn't as energetic. I don't necessarily love the upper midrange tilt and clickyness these tracks have because you are really sacrificing warmth, body and smoothness, especially on the kicks but I do really like the energy that gives you, I guess :lol:

I guess I just wanted to know what people think about this kind of approach to really going to town for maximum density, energy and impact and if it's possible to overdo it?

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Post by Lost to the Void »

These sound just like they are to me. Absolutely dynamically dead.
No punch in the kicks, no low end dynamics worth speaking about, the hats have zero snap to them, just a dull tick. The horrible psytrance "lead" in the first track is just dead.
2nd track is marginally better, but basically same issues, it`s flat and dead and lifeless, there`s no movement in the spectrum, no vitality or air anywhere.
the fucking claps in that 2nd tune have zero impact, they are the deadest claps I`ve heard....
Fucking horrendous masters.
I had no idea there are people still doing this kind of dynamic butchery.

I don`t get any energy from this, quite the opposite i was instabored by the sound.

If you can`t do better than this then you might as well give up mate, this is shite.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

collide
Smore
Posts: 259
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 1:22 am
Location: Germany
Re: Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Post by collide »

I feel the same. These tunes sound completely dead.

User avatar
Amøbe
Moderate
Posts: 1590
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2016 4:15 pm
Location: Copenhagen
Re: Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Post by Amøbe »

I have to agree with the others, but what I am most curious about is, why that you - of all people - like this aesthetic? I find you to be one of the best producers on this site at achieving a mix that is not flat :D

dubdub
Asphyxiwank
Posts: 2454
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:49 pm
Re: Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Post by dubdub »

Amøbe wrote:
Tue Nov 24, 2020 10:18 am
I have to agree with the others, but what I am most curious about is, why that you - of all people - like this aesthetic? I find you to be one of the best producers on this site at achieving a mix that is not flat :D
Good question, not sure. Usually I hate a midrange heavy and brickwalled sound but I liked it here. It's possible I'M just being tricked by the loudness (=density), tbh.
Lost to the Void wrote:
Tue Nov 24, 2020 3:16 am
I don`t get any energy from this, quite the opposite i was instabored by the sound.
Yeah, with energy I didn't really mean dynamics, more like energy literally, e.g. brickwall of sound.
Last edited by dubdub on Tue Nov 24, 2020 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

dubdub
Asphyxiwank
Posts: 2454
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:49 pm
Re: Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Post by dubdub »

I was A/Bing with this recent track of mine I posted over in the feedback forum:


User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Post by Lost to the Void »

dubdub wrote:
Tue Nov 24, 2020 10:52 am
I was A/Bing with this recent track of mine I posted over in the feedback forum:

Your production is way better than this shit, as is your music in terms of creativity.
Sometimes I feel you are a little too hard on yourself, or are chasing something you will never achieve because you won`t know when you are there.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

collide
Smore
Posts: 259
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 1:22 am
Location: Germany
Re: Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Post by collide »

dubdub wrote:
Tue Nov 24, 2020 10:52 am
I was A/Bing with this recent track of mine I posted over in the feedback forum:

Great track! Instant DeepChord vibes.

illit_
Gazza
Posts: 264
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 12:12 pm
Re: Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Post by illit_ »

Yeah these are overdoing it. Maybe due to it being a YouTube channel? IDK if the mixes and masters are different on bandcamp or whatever but I can imagine if it is purely a YouTube channel it'll be a different market of people. A tune this loud comes on, through an algorithm of related tracks and it will stand out because it is balls to the walls louder than anything else, it would perk up attention. In a musical setting though it's totally useless.

Your setting the bar for my productions when I post on here! Don't sell yourself short.

User avatar
Lost to the Void
subsekt
subsekt
Posts: 13518
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 pm
Re: Is this a good production aesthetic to have? Or are these tracks too loud?

Post by Lost to the Void »

illit_ wrote:
Tue Nov 24, 2020 9:21 pm
Yeah these are overdoing it. Maybe due to it being a YouTube channel? IDK if the mixes and masters are different on bandcamp or whatever but I can imagine if it is purely a YouTube channel it'll be a different market of people. A tune this loud comes on, through an algorithm of related tracks and it will stand out because it is balls to the walls louder than anything else, it would perk up attention. In a musical setting though it's totally useless.

Your setting the bar for my productions when I post on here! Don't sell yourself short.
That's the thing, I don't think these stand out at all. It's generally vitality and fizz that generates that initial excitement when deal with hard compressed stuff.
Nilz was a master at this.

This shite has no fizz at all, that top end is so clamped down and dull. It's a really good example of how multiband compression can absolutely murder vitality.
If they just relaxed the top end and controlled it with something a little more natural, you could get the same loudness but with loads of vitality.

This has been killed across the board. The lows are restricted, and dynamically dead. The mids are just flat. And the top end has no life and no air.

It's like it was mastered on Landr or something.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
New Shit
Techno is dead. Long live Techno.


Post Reply