Concrete Island - Crash

[The_G]

Managed an arrangement; curious to see if/how it works.

Bounced at 24/44 with -6db headroom. Nothing on the master channel.

https://soundcloud.com/the-g-music/crash/s-S7c1b

[jordanneke]

Mate, the arrangement works for me. Even the white-noise that I cringed at initially, was done very well. The first instance of the white noise is a bit too cheesy.

The one point I don't like is the kick. Do you have a hat or a snare layered over the top? It has way too many high frequencies and is far too snappy. Almost can't distinguish between that and the percussion.

Other than that, it's pretty dam good

Edit - It sounds like you were influenced by that Maceo Plex track you posted

[The_G]

Mate, the arrangement works for me. Even the white-noise that I cringed at initially, was done very well. The first instance of the white noise is a bit too cheesy.

The one point I don't like is the kick. Do you have a hat or a snare layered over the top? It has way too many high frequencies and is far too snappy. Almost can't distinguish between that and the percussion.

Other than that, it's pretty dam good

Edit - It sounds like you were influenced by that Maceo Plex track you posted

Thanks! Very glad you like it.

You're right about the kick. I'm going to play with the sample parameters and compression settings, to see if I can't tame that snap. If not, I'll have to go with another sample.

Oh, and yeah--I probably was influenced by that track. I've been listening to a lot of deep techno lately.

[zukenbauer]

very nice track you got there but you need to work a bit on that kick, deeper one would go nicely with this track.
That pad sound that comes in at 1:15 really adds nice atmosphere, love the way it rolls off.
I think everything fits perfect except that kick, which is not bad either, just need to close it a bit

[seventh serpent]

the attack of the kick is very interesting imo
in my opinion the mix could be improved... cut the bass of the groove elements and effect to make them more clear and maybe compress a little bit what you want to hear more in face..
the withe noise effect is very nice
the arrangement its a bit no sense imo.. the song its chill... it doesnt start good... but i'm finding criticism its not bad

[dubdub]

Not sure what kind of processing you used on the groups and individual tracks but the whole mix feels oversatured and/or overcompressed, nothing really has space to breathe, everything feels bit squashed. Some more stereo width could help aswell.

[The_G]

Thanks for the input, guys! I'm working on the kick as we speak.

dubdub - I was playing around with Vice One on the drum bus, so that's probably what it is. It's a very characterful compressor but can be a bit of a blunt instrument. I'll mess around with the settings, but I'm pretty sure that's what you are picking up on.

I was also demo-ing Neutron at the time, and using it exclusively on individual channels, but mostly using it for EQ and not the compressor, which I did not care for.

I'm two weeks away from my AKGs and monitors, so I won't be doing detail work, but I do have my ATs so I can tackle the big picture stuff in that timeframe.

[TimBuys]

G, I think there is definitely potential in this track. It's still a bit messy here and there and some noises are too far in the background, but you will probably fix that yourself in later stages of the track. I am going to have to disagree with Jordan on the white noise, but then again you might be better off going with his advice. Looking forward to hear some progress updates!

[Aurongroove]

The dynamic is a bit "needle-y" especially the clip of the kick.

it exaggerates the dreaminess of the synth elements, and makes the track sound like a mushy cake with steel razor blades jutting out of it. It also makes mix physically uncomfortable to listen too and the kick sound like it's little more then the loudened 'tick' of a high hat.

Are you 'boosting' high frequencies of various elements quite a lot? (like more then 3db per EQ?) or compressing with strange thresholds?
As a general rule of thumb you should EQ most things in your track (especially the high treble regions) by subtracting frequencies, rather then boosting, and if you must must boost, do so gently.

Those 16s hats are nice, and the distorted crunch you get when the 'hiss' interacts with the rest of the elements is great.
The musical development after the breakdown makes sense and shows a good instinct for arrangement.

More of the middle and lower end of that kick needs to get through, but I suspect the problem would fix itself once the high trebley-ness of the mix is fixed.
It sounds like either too much high treble EQ boosting, or, strange compression practices.

[The_G]

I've done a new draft. Some changes:

*EQ on kick
*Ratio on drum bus compression lowered
*Individual pieces re-EQ'd.
*Attention to width of stereo image
*1st pattern now drops out when final one comes in

https://soundcloud.com/the-g-music/cras ... v2/s-HHHMT

**Still not really happy with the kick

[The_G]

Are you 'boosting' high frequencies of various elements quite a lot? (like more then 3db per EQ?) or compressing with strange thresholds?
As a general rule of thumb you should EQ most things in your track (especially the high treble regions) by subtracting frequencies, rather then boosting, and if you must must boost, do so gently.

Nope. It's a sample with light EQ work and a 2.5:1 ratio compressor, which is now 1.5:1 (and that's a marginal improvement, but doesn't completely solve the issue). In other words, it's the sample. But nothing else I try quite fits what I'm going for so I'm stuck at present.