Evolution & Frequency - homebrew dubstep - General

Evolution: [URL]http://soundcloud.com/mandc/evolution[/URL] Frequency: [URL]http://soundcloud.com/mandc/frequency-vip[/URL] I just thought I'd whack a couple of my latest finished beats and saw what you guys thought of them, made in FL9 various vst's/samples and that. Evolution is (personally) my best tune so far and Frequency is actually at 170bpm so it's not really dubstep but I think it's alright. Give them a listen, tell me what you think, it's all cushtey man.

That 8-bit style sample gets quite annoying in Evolution. Also the breakdown at 0:55 is very muddy and the notes clash. Other than that it sounds like a decent dubstep track. Frequency is a little better I think- I like the melody. That rise at 0:22 is quite annoying- in it's lower frequencies it clashes with the bass. I'd say the bass gets a little 'farty' in the lower notes. Maybe try transposing it up a few notes to stop that from happening? Or trying a different bass. Sounds pretty cool when it goes into a shuffle rhythm at 2:50- I wasn't expecting that! Although the drums do not go into a shuffle rhythm with the synths, which sounds kind of odd. You maybe should have tweaked the drums in that section so they play the shuffle rhythm too. The rise at 3:40 is pretty nice, and the section afterwards feels pretty nice and heavy. I'd maybe add a heavier kick drum. At 4:08 are you using FL Keys? I hope to god you're not :v: Yeah, pretty decent tracks man. Hope I've given some constructive feedback.

Waheyy, thanks man. Didn't expect that at all and i totally see what you're saying, I might have to mash up latter section of Evolution with some new pieces and melody. I get what you mean by farty, the bass in that particular section sounded weird to me too. The reason the kick doesn't seem that heavy is because I'm pretty shit at mixing down at the mo so I might fix it up when I get better skillz. Thanks for the kind words and crits :3 Oh! and yeah that is FL keys, I forgot to change the font, thanks for pointing that out aha

Use less standard waveforms in your basses, the usual array of saws, squares and sines sound like ass for basses.

[QUOTE=I like cats;23303451]Use less standard waveforms in your basses, the usual array of saws, squares and sines sound like ass for basses.[/QUOTE] This, definitely try to use as out there waveforms as you can find. And to get more punch out of your drums you might wanna try throwing a compressor on them. Your drum samples could stand to be more texturally interesting as well, though. Not bad, though. Ahhh, you used FL Studio samples and synths, that makes sense now. I use FL Studio myself, but most of the stock stuff that comes with it isn't too great, you might try looking around for some decent free vst synths and drum sample packs.

[QUOTE=gnome;23307964]This, definitely try to use as out there waveforms as you can find. And to get more punch out of your drums you might wanna try throwing a compressor on them. Your drum samples could stand to be more texturally interesting as well, though. Not bad, though. Ahhh, you used FL Studio samples and synths, that makes sense now. I use FL Studio myself, but most of the stock stuff that comes with it isn't too great, you might try looking around for some decent free vst synths and drum sample packs.[/QUOTE] I don't see where you got that I used default FL stuff, because I don't touch any of that. For Evolution I used Massive, Albino 3 and FM8 for that bass and synth and my drum samples come from 'Deadly Drums 2' and 'Pack sampli dla Gala' sample pack. For frequency I used some free vst's called Analogue Warfare 2.5 and Minimogue VA. I have gbs and gbs of samples from loads of sites. The drums [B]do [/B]have compression on them, I can mix down, just not very well. In fact I'm slightly offended by your comment, because where in FL can you find any of that stuff? If you're remarking on the fact that frequency has FL keys in, I've already said that I forgot to change that font, because the font I use is a savage processing hog.

[QUOTE=huggybear_13;23325530]I don't see where you got that I used default FL stuff, because I don't touch any of that. For Evolution I used Massive, Albino 3 and FM8 for that bass and synth and my drum samples come from 'Deadly Drums 2' and 'Pack sampli dla Gala' sample pack. For frequency I used some free vst's called Analogue Warfare 2.5 and Minimogue VA. I have gbs and gbs of samples from loads of sites. The drums [B]do [/B]have compression on them, I can mix down, just not very well. In fact I'm slightly offended by your comment, because where in FL can you find any of that stuff? If you're remarking on the fact that frequency has FL keys in, I've already said that I forgot to change that font, because the font I use is a savage processing hog.[/QUOTE] Put all your faders down then start with just the drums volume up, that's a sure fire way for easy mixing. And a little distortion (I mean, LITTLE) on the drums never goes far wrong.

[QUOTE=I like cats;23326048]Put all your faders down then start with just the drums volume up, that's a sure fire way for easy mixing. And a little distortion (I mean, LITTLE) on the drums never goes far wrong.[/QUOTE] Thanks man, that's a nice little tip actually.

[QUOTE=huggybear_13;23325530]I don't see where you got that I used default FL stuff, because I don't touch any of that. For Evolution I used Massive, Albino 3 and FM8 for that bass and synth and my drum samples come from 'Deadly Drums 2' and 'Pack sampli dla Gala' sample pack. For frequency I used some free vst's called Analogue Warfare 2.5 and Minimogue VA. I have gbs and gbs of samples from loads of sites. The drums [B]do [/B]have compression on them, I can mix down, just not very well. In fact I'm slightly offended by your comment, because where in FL can you find any of that stuff? If you're remarking on the fact that frequency has FL keys in, I've already said that I forgot to change that font, because the font I use is a savage processing hog.[/QUOTE] For some reason I thought you said you did use FL Studio stock stuff, dunno why, but chill out man, I'm just trying to be helpful. No need to be offended. The drums may have sounded a little like stock samples because they're lacking the punch I was describing, so try upping the gain a little on whatever compressor you're using. One thing I would recommend, this might just be personal preference, but use a snare that doesn't sound like a distorted 808/909 clap. Or you could layer another snare under what you currently have, couldn't hurt to try and combine. It's good that you're using Massive and FM8 for the bass, they're really good for that, but probably the reason I thought it was coming from stock synths is because, like I said, there could be more interesting waveforms, or maybe just a more interesting distortion to go into the texture of it. Oh yeah, and one thing you can try to do to avoid the "farty" quality in the bass, atleast on the Massive synth is to go to the "voicing" tab, and change the number of unison voices, then maybe slightly detune the pitch cutoff under "unisono spread". It'll make it sound a little bit fatter.

[QUOTE=gnome;23333086]For some reason I thought you said you did use FL Studio stock stuff, dunno why, but chill out man, I'm just trying to be helpful. No need to be offended. The drums may have sounded a little like stock samples because they're lacking the punch I was describing, so try upping the gain a little on whatever compressor you're using. One thing I would recommend, this might just be personal preference, but use a snare that doesn't sound like a distorted 808/909 clap. Or you could layer another snare under what you currently have, couldn't hurt to try and combine. It's good that you're using Massive and FM8 for the bass, they're really good for that, but probably the reason I thought it was coming from stock synths is because, like I said, there could be more interesting waveforms, or maybe just a more interesting distortion to go into the texture of it. Oh yeah, and one thing you can try to do to avoid the "farty" quality in the bass, atleast on the Massive synth is to go to the "voicing" tab, and change the number of unison voices, then maybe slightly detune the pitch cutoff under "unisono spread". It'll make it sound a little bit fatter.[/QUOTE] aha that's alright bro. The reason i think you're not hearing the drums as loud as you could is because they're just clipping. I really, really need a good lesson in mixing down, I've tried tweaking loads of variables and shit but i just can't grasp it. I agree with your point on waveforms though, I could experiment a bit more. Thanks for the tip but that 'farty' bass was from a different vst but i'll keep that in mind if it ever happens. Oh and I do layer samples, it just seems that particular combination displeases your ears :(.

Oh no, not all that displeasing, I just hear more clap than anything else. If you already do have something layered with it, try turning the other part of it up. Also, there's probably a similar option to tweak the number of unison voices in the vst you're using, but it might be under a different name. You could also try detuning the oscillators slightly away from eachother, like say 1/3 of a note up or down. And don't get me wrong, you've definitely got something good going, just needs some textural tweaking here and there for the most part. Good LFO work on your bass synths, and I like the higher main plucky synth you have going from the beginning.

[QUOTE=gnome;23338111]Oh no, not all that displeasing, I just hear more clap than anything else. If you already do have something layered with it, try turning the other part of it up. Also, there's probably a similar option to tweak the number of unison voices in the vst you're using, but it might be under a different name. You could also try detuning the oscillators slightly away from eachother, like say 1/3 of a note up or down. And don't get me wrong, you've definitely got something good going, just needs some textural tweaking here and there for the most part. Good LFO work on your bass synths, and I like the higher main plucky synth you have going from the beginning.[/QUOTE] Ah yes I see what you mean now, I've tried making the snares blend too much, thanks. This is the vst i was using: [img_thumb]http://rekkerd.org/img/articles/angular_momentum_analog_warfare_25.jpg[/img_thumb] I think the part you're referring to is on the Oscillators? If so then i'll have a good play around with it to give it a good fix. Also thanks for the kind words and I hear all that you're saying. I checked out some of your beats and I quite liked what I heard was wondering if you were up for a collab or something some time. I feel that you could give me some good pointers and maybe you could learn something from me! :P

Yeah, experiment with detuning slightly to get a little phatness in your sound. And sure, I'd be down sometime.