Post your latest music tracks/WIP's and comment!

theotherguy said:
Cover of "Hands on the Bible" by Local H:
www.kittsplace.com/klingenco/biblehands.mp3
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Impressive, it gave me a couple chills. I haven't heard the original, but I like your cover. You've come a long way. Your vocals are much more refined and your style is focused on your strengths. Keep it up.


Ambient... slow... staticy... heat wave induced... thing.

37C
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I like it. sounds like it could be part of a movie soundtrack. a part of the movie with no dialog where it shows one of the characters reflecting on events


I might post some stuff soon. I've been pretty busy with other things lately though
 
I've been super busy with work and parties and stuff so I haven't made alot of music, which is a shame because me and the other half of kompakt duo are going to meet up with the producer of vibrasphere any day now, and I need to get EP's out for some labels that are interested. Good news is that while work takes up alot of my time, the salary is ****ing incredible so I'll make a studio for myself next month.

But anyway, here's a WIP for the kompakt duo project.

http://media.putfile.com/kompakt-duo-inside-lights-wip

peace out!

So I actually did enough to a track to call it finished. You can hear at the end that I could even keep going with it, or extend some sections, but for now I'm done:

http://media.putfile.com/Naud---Stage

It starts out kind of ambient, then it gets all...trance...house...thing.
The drums are very simple but I think they fit well enough.
Some parts are probably a bit weird, like that one sound that's out of sync between 1:40-2:10. I was trying to do something there and it didn't work, but I just left
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I enjoyed this one! I think the 909 hats or whatever kinda killed the odd-90's dark vibe. But it's great that you vary the theme abit. I think the background sounds, vibes, are the most attractive aspects of the track.
What's with the trainspotting track melody somewhere near the end? :p HAHA!

NeptuneUK: Thanks for the commentary! DYDID is ace! keep on trucking mate.
 
CrazyHarij said:
I've been super busy with work and parties and stuff so I haven't made alot of music, which is a shame because me and the other half of kompakt duo are going to meet up with the producer of vibrasphere any day now, and I need to get EP's out for some labels that are interested. Good news is that while work takes up alot of my time, the salary is ****ing incredible so I'll make a studio for myself next month.
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That's f*cking awesome dude.

CrazyHarij said:
http://media.putfile.com/kompakt-duo-inside-lights-wip
Click to expand...

This is f*cking awesome dude.


What's with the trainspotting track melody somewhere near the end?
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I dunno lol

Edit: BTW I found out a way to save mp3s from putfile, in case anyone hasn't mentioned it already: Open WMP > File > Open URL > putfile mp3 url > *it plays* > File > Save As.
 
theotherguy said:
When you were a kid:
http://www.kittsplace.com/klingenco/Whenyouwereakid.mp3
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I don't want to derail the thread or distract from the song, but I think we should have a talk about mastering.

a) How much time do you spend in the mastering stage?

b) What 'makes the mix' for you?

The only reason I ask is because that track is very... very loud. But not in what I consider the good way. I'm sure you're aware of the loudness war, and that music needs dynamics. Constant loudness is practically interpreted by the brain as noise.

Your track never really goes above or below about -4db. The VU meter hovers around that area for an entire three and a half minutes. The singer's voice is soft clipped and has very little dynamics. It is hard to make out the drums and the bass guitar.

Now, let's compare it to, say, sea's Melodeath. This is much more enjoyable (just from a comfort level) to listen to because it has dynamics, because there is a large degree of difference between the drums, the bass and the guitar; because the guitar plays at a moderate level while strumming and then brightens and loudens in the solo. The drums are punchy: the peak level of the hits are much louder than the bass and the guitar.

This is what the difference in dynamics looks like:

loudnessqr0.jpg


I don't want to sound like an ass, it's just things like this bother me. It may be that you intentionally mastered your track as such, but I don't think it ameliorates the finished product but rather deteriorates it.

KineticAesthetic said:
Interesting. So, you have one of the original synths?
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Why yes, in fact I just acquired it today. Quite a spiffing device. It took me five hours to patch anything out of it, but I managed to grab a sample before the machine blew the transformers on the powerlines in my neighbourhood. Old gear is quite demanding.

http://media.putfile.com/Rocksausage-Patch
 
Agreed with viper, I can't hear the drums well at all. And the hat is too panned for my liking.
 
Oh, I think it was a good tune too, just marred by the production.
 
Viperidae said:
I don't want to derail the thread or distract from the song, but I think we should have a talk about mastering.

a) How much time do you spend in the mastering stage?

b) What 'makes the mix' for you?

The only reason I ask is because that track is very... very loud. But not in what I consider the good way. I'm sure you're aware of the loudness war, and that music needs dynamics. Constant loudness is practically interpreted by the brain as noise.

Your track never really goes above or below about -4db. The VU meter hovers around that area for an entire three and a half minutes. The singer's voice is soft clipped and has very little dynamics. It is hard to make out the drums and the bass guitar.

Now, let's compare it to, say, sea's Melodeath. This is much more enjoyable (just from a comfort level) to listen to because it has dynamics, because there is a large degree of difference between the drums, the bass and the guitar; because the guitar plays at a moderate level while strumming and then brightens and loudens in the solo. The drums are punchy: the peak level of the hits are much louder than the bass and the guitar.

This is what the difference in dynamics looks like:

loudnessqr0.jpg
Click to expand...

a) Very much, ironically, to get the wall of sound.
b) A wall of sound.

But to appease you, I will bring down to volume and do less aggressive maximization.

Here you go:
http://www.kittsplace.com/klingenco/whenyouwereakid2.mp3
 
They just lack a punch. They're just kind of hanging in the back, they don't really accentuate the beat or rhythm of the song.
 
Vegeta897 said:
They just lack a punch. They're just kind of hanging in the back, they don't really accentuate the beat or rhythm of the song.
Click to expand...

lrn2differentkindofmusic

The drums are fine in the second rendition. You're right about the bass being gone, but I didn't miss it because I didn't hear it in the first one... :p
 
This really doesn't have to do with different kind of music. Listen to any rock/punk/whatever music, the drums are well defined. It's called good mastering.
 
Your mom knows good mastering.

Cock mastering.
 
It's not that they're "soft" they just don't stand out in the mix.

Argh, people not understanding. I know what the **** rock music is. Go listen to any rock song. The drums ALWAYS are prominent. They don't have to be "punchy" per se, but when they stand out they back up the rhythm of the song so much better. There's no way you could NOT prefer it. It's not a matter of preference. Drums can be soft but still more noticeable.
 
I don't want to derail the thread or distract from the song, but I think we should have a talk about mastering.
Click to expand...

I was interested in talking but you went off on the same anti-loudness rant every wannabe-musician does without understanding what mastering is about. what you don't like is bad loud mastering, there's plenty of people who do it good and for most danceable music it's pretty much a must. there's compressors that take 20db out of a song without it sounding more than 3-4db. and it's all about how you mix the song pre-master.. it's really difficult, i'm not good at it at all, but I know it can be done well, it just takes a good ear and thorough knowledge of how mastering components work.

practice makes perfect!
 
In case anyone is interested, here is what I do:

on my music creation software, I have volume levels for each individual sound track, and I can vary the volume of each sound track over time as well.

So I just adjust everything so that it sounds the way I like it. the drums sound the right volume as compared to the guitar and bass, etc.


The Master Volume adjusts the volume of all the sound tracks as a unit without changing the individual sound track volumes I have set


I keep the Master Volume loud enough, but safely below clipping levels, then I export it as a WAV like that.

Then I open the WAV with Audacity and the volume of everything is proportionatly right, but the gain of the entire song is low. So now I have the track loaded into Audacity, I just click, "amplify max - do not allow clipping"

Now the song is set to the correct gain, I export it to whatever file type I desire. I export it as MP3 in order to keep the file size small for uploading and sharing over the internet
 
Vegeta897 said:
There's no way you could NOT prefer it. It's not a matter of preference. Drums can be soft but still more noticeable.
Click to expand...

Aye, EQ the drums for sure. Despite popular belief, rock, and most things made from it are very dependent on drums, not guitars. You don't need to bump up the volume levels on your drums, just EQ them, maybe compress them a little bit.

Softer drum sounds are generally achieved with different sticks, maybe brushes, and a lighter hitting technique. You should get the source of the recording to sound like you want it, the less you have to master the song, the easier and better it is for you.

In the end it's all YOUR choice what to do with the song; maybe people will love it, but not everyone is willing to dig deep into a song to get pleasure out of it.
 
CrazyHarij said:
what you don't like is bad loud mastering, there's plenty of people who do it good and for most danceable music it's pretty much a must.
Click to expand...

Dance music is often music lacking dynamics. All it has is a very strong and constant rhythm that is easy for people to follow, or it starts quiet and goes louder and louder, if you want to talk about being a master at mastering start talking about whole orchestras and mastering.

I was interested in talking but you went off on the same anti-loudness rant every wannabe-musician does without understanding what mastering is about.
Click to expand...

The loudness war isn't something every "wanna-be musician" rants about too. Go talk to an album producer and they'll rant about it too, then tell you that they have no choice to compress everything like crazy, because it's what the industry demands.
 
I heard that everything on the radio is compressed, so the quietest sounds aren't that much more quiet than the loudest sounds.

Radio doesn't even support the full frequency range either. My house speakers go all the way down to like 14 Hz. it's inaudible, but I can definitely feel it. I think radio only goes to 40 Hz or maybe not even that low.


I love dynamic music, but it can be too dynamic IMO. It's annoying when listening to certain classical pieces. It's got this part you can hardly hear, and so you turn it up, then moments later, horns blaring and earth shattering drums, and it just goes back in forth. You can't listen to it when people are sleeping in the same house.

It reminds me of trying to get the perfect temperature for a shower... one little touch and it's scorching - tap it the other way and it's freezing. Good uncompressed mastering is a very fine line.

EDIT
As for the track by Theotherguy, it's really really good. (I listened to the last one , 3) Problem as I see it is definitely that the riff guitar is too quiet, and the vocals are too loud. I agree that the drums can be louder too, but don't need to be (at least in the latest version) Anyway, the volume levels are the only thing separating this track from a pop hit.
 
Nice track Qonf but I'd have liked to see it grow a bit more.
 
VirusType2 said:
I heard that everything on the radio is compressed, so the quietest sounds aren't that much more quiet than the loudest sounds.

Radio doesn't even support the full frequency range either. My house speakers go all the way down to like 14 Hz. it's inaudible, but I can definitely feel it. I think radio only goes to 40 Hz or maybe not even that low.


I love dynamic music, but it can be too dynamic IMO. It's annoying when listening to certain classical pieces. It's got this part you can hardly hear, and so you turn it up, then moments later, horns blaring and earth shattering drums, and it just goes back in forth. You can't listen to it when people are sleeping in the same house.
Click to expand...

When it comes to radio it really depends on the speakers. Radio is heavily compressed for several different reasons, but it's very very effective with journalist reports where you have to make sure a guy standing in the middle of traffic is heard sufficiently. You're entirely right about classical music.

Fliko said:
Dance music is often music lacking dynamics. All it has is a very strong and constant rhythm that is easy for people to follow, or it starts quiet and goes louder and louder, if you want to talk about being a master at mastering start talking about whole orchestras and mastering.
Click to expand...

Loud mastering is an art in it's own right. I'm not saying every type of music should be compressed, but the compressor as a tool can be used in so many different ways rather than just making things louder (evening out attack transients and percussion effects etc). For dance music it's pretty much a must.
The loudness war isn't something every "wanna-be musician" rants about too. Go talk to an album producer and they'll rant about it too, then tell you that they have no choice to compress everything like crazy, because it's what the industry demands.
Click to expand...

No it really depends on the engineer.. A LOT of engineers get paid major cash for doing that, if they don't like it they should master for indie bands or smaller artists.. I'm doing coke now so i can't keep my head in check but basically mastering, production etc is not just about compression but shaping the mix bus, or individual aspects of a track, into the way YOU want it to sound.. (Or the industry, if you're a platinum selling artist)
 
Put a few grams of coke in a bottle of sherry and shake it up for a bottle full of frothing, mind blowing techno essence.
 
theotherguy said:
Don't really like this one very much:

www.kittsplace.com/klingenco/Reality.mp3
Click to expand...

why? Because you have heard it too many times? Why do you say that you don't like it?


anyway, I thought it was excellent. I wish you would let me hear it with the vocals somewhere between -9 or -18 db lower. You're killing me.

I want to turn it up and jam, but the vocals are just blaring.

EDIT - Maybe it sounds different on your stereo. My speakers - so-called studio reference loudspeakers, have very detailed mids, and I often need to drastically EQ to lower the vocals - sometimes to a huge degree. The problem with that is that it lowers every sound in that frequency range.


My favorite parts:

lyrics
chorus
crash cymbal
the vocal fx used on some parts. Your music always gives me chills when you use the vocal fx
the melody or backup guitar or whatever (could be a little louder but I might be nit-picking here)
ending with the doubled up kick drums
the lead guitar outro
 
This is my latest, and, if I can be immodest for a second, definitely greatest track.
http://media.putfile.com/wut-31
I've finally mastered one of the hardest dance music techniques, the gated saw.
Tell me what you think, and if you like it, add me on MySpace.
 
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