Dollhead - Yommy

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Aurongroove
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Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Aurongroove »

I'm still not sure what I make of this one.

I took a gamble with several things, and now I can't make the call.

I'm especially interested in opinions about what the bass end is up to.
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by tsaro »

Ok, this is...weird.... :v

Don't really know what to say here, except that after the 1 minute mark you've taken that doll head theme of yours pretty much to the next level.

The bass seems to rattle my sub slightly so I'd say it should come down a db (or two). Not really a fan of the percussion here, too much focus around the (high)mids. And that rattling percussion later on just seems like overkill, since I had the idea your rhythm was pretty much filled out already. Does bring to mind a disturbing image of an all dolls marching band though, so if that was your idea, fair play to you :P

There's some decent sounds buried underneath that mess, but I simply don't have the mindset to be able to appreciate it for what it is... This track kind of makes me nervous by listening, which is to be fair a skill in itself. I applaud your perseverance for actually turning this idea into a song, and not starting to chew off your own arms and smashing your speakers about half way through :lol:
how far do you want to go

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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Aurongroove »

Wow, thanks for the feedback, it's awesome hearing the strange imagery you saw.
I am going through a bit of a phase alright!!

Glad you loved/hated/was disturbed by it.
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Mattias »

I'd say you need some multiband compression to fix this mate.

Might come with serious feedback later
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Prophän »

Very disturbing atmosphere, it made me feel uneasy by the end , so I think your track gets to the point, however I only listened to it trough my laptop's speakers so can't say much about the musical elements, bass, etc at the moment

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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Aurongroove »

@ Mattius
jesus man, ballsy humour.

Thanks for listening, and out of sheer curiosity I extend to you the challenge, in friendship, of giving your ears a run for their money during your "serious feedback later".

You tell me what what processes I might have used to on this post mix, have I used compression or not, and have a used multiband compression or not, have I used reverb or not.


@Amon Derrich
It's always great to read about the imagery/feelings people pick up listening to tracks! it's this kind of imagery that really gets me going.
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Mattias »

Aurongroove wrote: jesus man, ballsy humour.
That's how I like it.
I was unable to get your track into today's schedule however. I hope to give it a run tomorrow.
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Planar »

You make very weird music, Aurongroove, the kind of thing a DJ playing the graveyard shift puts on to get people off the fucking dance floor because they want to get home and go to bed. As with your other tracks, it's all very clear when I listen through shitty headphones, nothing seems too off to me. I think it is dry and not much reverb has been used, but it kinda works without it. The issue is stylistic and I just don't get it. But I'm sure some other people would love it.

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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Aurongroove »

Cheers Planar,
The problem is what DJ would even hear this and think "hmm, I could work this into a set"
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by jordanneke »

Yeah, I can't hear any technical issues at all. I really dig the male chorus type sound, reminds me of talking heads for some reason.

I'd love to hear a 'normal' mix with that as the star

Just that your music is too unsettling for me to listen to.

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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Root »

Aurongroove wrote:Cheers Planar,
The problem is what DJ would even hear this and think "hmm, I could work this into a set"

haha.. i heard this and my first thought was: "this would be fucking nice to play in the end of clubnight" :D ..i'd say one can play everything in a set, when it's applicable and comes at the right moment. You have to bring the people to the point where they even dance and go crazy to such a weird track.

No mixing issues, well done! Your low end is good, i can feel the movement but it's not pushing away the rest of the track. I thought about making it a bit more crisp in that little part from 2:14 on, without the vocals or whatever this is :D.. not sure if a more crispy bass would fit with the vocals and the rest.. but only with the beat it could be more groovy.
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Aurongroove »

Wow! fuck. Great insight.
I think you've hit the nail on the head of what's been bugging me.

it wouldn't suit 'per se' (like I'd have to move some furniture around), but it does make it very clear what I've been trying to listen for.

Well done, you get... 10 QI points.
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Lost to the Void »

Kinda reminds me of Wonky Techno (does that still exist) something that Jerome Hill might play, although the groove is extremely stiff, about the only musical comment I would make is that the groove is very flat, it doesn`t swing or move in a way that is conducive to getting people moving.

Mix wise it`s fairly messy.
Overall the mix feels very flat dynamically, no variation, as if every channel has a peak limiter on it.

Low end is quite dull, lacking real sub movement (am on the mastering mains here and the subs are barely doing anything). The kick is punchy but also lacking real low end weight too, and again, it seems rather overcompressed and stiff.

The mix is very squeezed in mono wise too, so it really makes the centre image feel closed and cramped (and dominated by the vocal-ish pads), the sounds that are in wide stereo sound completely outside of the mix, more free dynamically, which further disconnects them from the overcrowded centre.

Overall the mix sounds very mid-weighted and centre weighted, like it`s mostly coming from a very small circular image in the phantom centre, which little vertical (treble to bass) or horizontal size.

It`s a very strange mix and quite hard to analyse. I think it`s probably down to overproduction/overprocessing. All the life has been squeezed out of it, and it takes away from just how fucked up and disturbing it could sound.
I would look at relaxing EQ cuts and curves, backing down on any compression or limiting and maybe readdressing whatever has been done on the master bus, and also opening up the centre image a little to get some more separation.
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Aurongroove »

Thanks LttV, if anything the processes I used are far less complex and fewer in number then your ears are telling you!
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Lost to the Void »

It`s not really about complexity more about overcooking it.
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Mattias »

Good evening,

I'd say it's possibly a combination of already heavily processed samples and a bitt to ambitious & excessive use of compression and or wave-shaping. Likely by an older plugin of sort?
Hard to say for sure.

I'd say the mix would benefit from adding some weight under the kick (which might be limited? heavy processed samples again maybe..) and dip it a little in the higher mid while increasing the hi-hat elements and pan them slightly. The bleepy percussive synth seems be the only thing that really pops out. The snares should pop out more to create tension.

Also the mix ends up busy with all the layers of synths overlapping each other after a while. Hard to tell what to do with that. Maybe kill your darlings and remove one or two completely?

Due to the nature of the track being very mid forward and tilted in the lows and hi's I'd take a guess and say it was produced at quite loud volume, maybe loud volume in headphones even, due to the slim width of the space in the track.

It's an odd track but it got it moments for sure. The arrangement structure is not exactly casual.
I quite like the Silent Hill voice-pad.
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Aurongroove »

Interesting propositions Matt.
But it's nothing like that really, I make stuff at a regular volume, 90% of my sounds are synthesized rather then sampled, and I use very few effects, least of all dynamic ones (compression / limiting).

Thank you for your insights.
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Mattias »

What does regular volume mean?

Quite unexpected in a way that the drum sounds are synthesized. The synth sequences are not surprising, obviously.
Perhaps you mold and shape the synthesized sounds with quite excessive EQ?
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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Prophän »

I gave it another listen, I liked the pads and the other scratchy type sounds, I like the idea and the weirdness of the track, but I think it may greatly profit from some more low end

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Re: Dollhead - Yommy

Post by Vilius J »

That bass is so lush. Makes me feel lazy dizzy and drunk for some reason :D Like it !


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