I posted this in music at first, but I kinda realized that that was the wrong place. So, it seems like from reading this subforum, about half of you like dubstep and half don't. [b]IF YOU DON'T LIKE DUBSTEP DO NOT READ BEYOND HERE OR LISTEN TO MY SONG.[/b] I want intellegent responses on what I can improve, [b]not[/b] dubstep sucks. Your musical tastes are subjective and they don't bother me, I just don't need your crap posts taking up space in my thread, thank you.
Now, onto the actual post; I started messing around with fruityloops occasionally about four months ago and stopped. Then I went back and listened to one of my old 8-bit music producers that I really enjoyed ("Monster! Monster!"), and discovered that they were making this genre of music called "dubstep". Not having time to listen to it right then, I downloaded a few tracks and played them in my car, and holy shit- It was like my brain was melting out of my ears. So I decided for once in my life that I should dedicate myself to actually finishing something (I really have a hard time finishing things, and I have a notebook full of guitar songs that never got finished), so I did. I completed this song, and although it's right below two minutes, I'm still proud of my work, as this is my first production with FL and my first attempt at dubstep. I want constructive criticism, because I want to improve. If you think it sucks; I'm ok with you saying "You're song sucks" but include why, and how I can fix it.
The soundcloud encoding kinda fucked with the gain and the bass, so it sounds a bit funny (if you hear an echo-y type effect on the wobble bass, that's what I'm talking about). If you just want me to upload it to an upload site let me know.
[b]Some of you may hate that it has spongebob in it[/b]
Get over it, it's two parts, and spongebob was my childhood.
Without further adieu, here it is, and please, be gentle.
[media]http://soundcloud.com/andrewglesener/spand[/media]
It's really hard to critique something like this. Everything is just, like .. really bad. :(
I can't forgive you for making me pause "Word Problems" by Deadmau5 to listen to this.
It's kind of really bad...
I wont post my beginning works I guess. Does anyone that is reading this use FL?
I seriously didn't want "this is bad", I wanted FL advice, help me out.
I didn't know that "Creative Works" was so damn critical.
1:05 pretty much sums up this. I don't know much about dubstep at all, but I can tell you this is quite bad. It sounds very fuzzy and static-y, and it just isn't very interesting to listen to.
[QUOTE=TJCTakSUn;27653921]I wont post my beginning works I guess. Does anyone that is reading this use FL?
I seriously didn't want "this is bad", I wanted FL advice, help me out.
I didn't know that "Creative Works" was so damn critical.[/QUOTE]
Yes I use FL, this song is too beginner to take seriously but i'll try and give you some general feedback.
Intro: You put a sample from spongebob in there because you've heard it being done by many dubstep producers. The thing is they don't just put a sample in then instantly kick in to their song, the sample usually means something to the song. Yours, as far as I can tell, has no effect whatsoever on the song. Also, your intro is :11 seconds long. Read up on song structure because I can't be bothered talking about that its far too basic, all i'll say is that Dubstep intro's typically last around 1-1:30 mins.
Main: Read up on drum syncopation, and how to make a wobble bass. I'll start with the drums. You've got the right rhythm (kick on 1, snare on 3) but using a clap on its own without any added effects or layered snare underneath does not sound good. Ok with the wobble bass, google it. I'm not gonna go into that because you need to learn by doing but all i'll say is what I said in the Music forum thread, watch the cutoff. And the wobbles don't sound good, you're just throwing wobbles in for the fun of it there's no structure and melody to them that moves the song forward.
Just take that weird bleep synth sound out, read up on chord progressions for that and for general information.
Outro: There isn't one, and fair do's if this is your first track because I think everyone who's made a song has at some point neglected their outro because it doesn't seem important, but it is and you should work on it for future productions.
EQ/Mastering: If this is your first track you were probably pissing about and haven't read up on the more advanced techniques of EQ-ing certain sounds in your song to make them fit better. You can tell this track hasn't been EQ'd because you can hear 'Fruity Compressor' doing its work when you're bass comes in, it turns volumes down so that one sound doesn't drown out the rest of them. That wasn't soundcloud, that was you, but its alright I didn't know jack shit about EQ'ing til I started getting more into it, but do look into it because otherwise all of your songs are going to have that weird volume dip effect.
Overall: Like I said read up on the things i've mentioned because they will make your productions that much better. Follow the advice given by people, don't post your first tracks because although to you they may sound good, they probably aren't for everyone else. Unless you can honestly believe that someone would like your song, don't put it out there.
To be honest it sound like someone is about to call me and my phone is interfering with my system. Or I'm rubbing the input jack on my finger with the volume all the way up. That's the only way to describe it.
And I don't mean that in a 'woah this ch00n is a banger' way, I mean it actually sounds like that. It's dull, develop your sound man.
Creationism corner is brutal, bro. The bass is just really weak, and the wobble is super weak as well. I can barely tell it's wobbling at some points. Just work at it harder. Getting a really fucking filthy bass for dubstep is a super hard thing to do, but it will make or break the song.
Bass:
Lower it's volume. Use a smoother cutoff wave to get a smoother wub wub sound, and maybe raise it an octave and add a smooth sub bass. Work on using automation for the wobble speed, at the moment it's horrible and not in time.
Drums:
Awful, the pattern is ok but you seriously need better samples. The snare should have fairly high reverb, maybe layer up a couple of snares with the clap.
Samples:
Random and not really relevant, but I liked the second "drop," it's just a shame the actual song isn't great. The buildup there with the spongebob sample was fairly nice however.
High sound:
Get rid of it, it's horrible and adds nothing. You could try using strings following a chord progression to fill the high frequencies.
I can't forgive you for making me pause Meowingtons Hax for this.
You made me pause my actual dubstep to listen to this?
No need to be so harsh, he's trying his best and everyone starts somewhere. It's bad, yeah, but it does show some inspired ideas. The execution is lacking but that's what pratice is for.
Speaking of which, I believe improving your productions should be split into five parts.
Learn music theory- If you know your music theory you'll find it much easier to build your ideas into something that sounds good.
Get good samples- They're easy to find, just search the internet. freesoundproject is a great site for drum samples.
Learn your DAW- This tends to be picked up over time, but the more features of your DAW you can use the better sounds you will get and the more options you have.
Get some ideas- It's easily to pump out stock songs that sound average but have nothing unique about them, but to have a really good song you need to add ideas of your own which work. You're actually getting there with this, you had some fairly nice ideas in this song it's just the execution that is lacking. I'd focus more on learning to use your DAW/VST's whatever you're using to get good sounds, and find some new drums, then you're good to go.
I also think rather than starting a new song you should work on this to improve it so you can compare it to your original and see how you've improved it and learn from it.
EDIT: I forgot the fith^
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