Feedback Request - First Real Track (Downtempo Remix)

[Butterfried Bacon]

I've requested one feedback in the past on my first complete original track, which was actually a practice track in which I tried to learn how to use some of the gadgets and gizmos in my DAW. I'm not too fond of that first track after all this time. After completing that, I took some time off to learn more about music theory, digital productions, etc.... I had tried doing a few remixes in the past, but things didn't go well. Oh, there were some nice parts, but there were some parts where I struggled with custom instrument creation and things just sounded bad so I never completed them. So a few more months went by in which I went back into study and experimentation mode.

Now I've completed my first remix for a competition for Danny Darko's track "Freedom", featuring vocalist Solara. The original was designated downtempo at 80 BPM. I kept that tempo. Most of the other entries seem to be rather hard and dubsteppy. As one who doesn't care much for dubstep, I obviously didn't go that route. I do like some new age music, however, so as I started working on this remix, it just seem to ask for a new age-type accompaniment to the vocals. So that's what I ran with. The result is vastly different from both the original track and from all the other remixes.

I spent about a month and a half on it when I wasn't working, about half of which was spent mixing to try to get that right, or making minor adjustments to the music itself. I guess at my current level of skill, this is about the best I can do until the next song, which I've already started on.

Even after completing this one and submitting it, I started noticing a problem: There seems to be a slight pitch clash between the synthesized choir and one of the other instruments, creating a rather rapid "wawawawawawawawa" effect in certain parts, unfortunately. I'm not sure if anybody would have noticed it if I didn't point it out first. Sometimes I think my own ears are doing it from having heard it now about a thousand times.

Also, I didn't want to crush the dynamics. I did do a little "light" mastering on it, but the chorus should come out a bit louder than the verses. For those who seem to expect kick beats to knock the grills off the speakers, I deliberately avoided that. I wanted them to be kind of soft with a hint of thump.

How people say they can "throw together" a remix in a couple of hours creates a mystery for me, though I've noticed that some remixes are short, simple strings of repetitive notes with a lot of sound effects layered in. I bellyached over every note and every velocity setting.

I've only gotten one bit of feedback from a friend after I shared it with him. He said it was definitely easy listening (hopefully not in the Tony Bennett sense).

I'm not sure what kind of feedback to ask for since the actual music itself is such a subjective thing. I like the music itself. I referenced some Sarah Brightman tracks to try to match what I was hearing as far as sound quality and leveling goes, though I'm sure I fall short of her productions. I guess all-around feedback is what I'm looking for, taking into consideration this being a first remix and a first real track aside from the previously mentioned practice run.

https://soundcloud.com/mythostream/dann ... tryx-remix

Thank you for your time. I'm desperate to find out what people think of it since the song has no feedback on Soundcloud from about 17 or 18 plays, two of which were my own for testing.

(Note: In the future, I'm planning on changing the "mythostream" in the link to "mythozchtryx" since I changed the profile name on my Soundcloud account, just in case someone finds this post after I change it.)

[Dave B]

Nice remix - sounds good on the desktop speakers I have here.

My only two comments would be about the low end. First, the kick that you are using is a little indistinct. Either use a deeper sounding one or swap it out for something else entirely (a nice taiko drum with a swash of reverb type thing?)

And I'd kind of expect something to be there in the bass line (low orchestra bass?) very subtly to give it a bit more depth. Even if it's only in the choruses.

HTH

[Butterfried Bacon]

Nice remix - sounds good on the desktop speakers I have here.

My only two comments would be about the low end. First, the kick that you are using is a little indistinct. Either use a deeper sounding one or swap it out for something else entirely (a nice taiko drum with a swash of reverb type thing?)

And I'd kind of expect something to be there in the bass line (low orchestra bass?) very subtly to give it a bit more depth. Even if it's only in the choruses.

Thank you for the reply, and for the compliment!

There is a basic sine bass in there all the way through it, but when I was testing it in the car, it seemed way too strong so I backed off on it a bit. It's now playing two octaves at once for both bass and sub-bass at different velocities, but perhaps it could be a bit stronger. Right now, the higher octave is from MIDI F#4 to D5 in the verses, and F#3 to D4 for the sub-bass. Even with equalization, it started to overpower and wash out the rest of the music if I raised it much more. Do your desktop speakers have a subwoofer, too? Mine do and I'm able to hear the bass with my setup, and it is rather subtle. But the difference is definitely there when I toggle the bass off and on in the production file.

At first, the kick hit way too hard so I backed off on it, too. I also cut the attack on it a little so it wouldn't be as punchy. Perhaps I filtered out a bit too much of the high end of the kick. I did cut it off at about 250. I might be able to control the high end of the kick by using a clap or some other clacky instrument, lowering the pitch, and turning the dry down most of the way, turn the wet up and add a little reverberation. I've never tried that before. So many of my kick samples seemed wrong for this song.

I don't have monitoring speakers. I have an old set of Altec Lansing 5.1 speakers and some Sennheiser studio monitoring headphones (HD 280 Pro). I usually create with the headphones and then EQ and mix both with and without the phones. I know music CAN sound pretty good through these Altec Lansings. I just keep mixing and EQing until I get mine to sound like some other track I like a lot since that's the only approach I can use without monitors. ...and I'm not sure if I will be able to get monitors. I'm about to move into an apartment, and though I've read that it's a good idea to mix with the volume turned down pretty low, it would be hard to resist the temptation to turn it UP UP UP to see what it sounds like at higher volumes. Then I'd be evicted. lol

But yes, after listening to the finished product, it almost felt like those who have listened to it had their thoughts and I somehow picked up on it psychically... the chorus parts need something to warm them up a bit, like some subtle French Horn sounding instruments, or maybe some subtle cellos. The chorus sounds a little chilly and thin.

Thank you again for the comments, and I'm glad you see it as a "nice remix", especially after I worked so hard on it.