Jim & Todds drum & bass practise session :)

Starting a drum & bass project with a mate and this was our first 'practise' run to get warmed up.. and the first time ive ever tried working on d&b - allthough i suppose thats where my roots are :)

There a few things wrong with it but im not going to bother going back into it to change anything as its just a practise, not intended for use anywhere.. but i still want to note whats wrong with it

Things ive noted are:

bass needs to be tightened up
couple of sections in the middle drag on - chop em out..
Change the pad in the break - maybe for a more subtle atmospheric effect
thats about it really but i know there is more - any opinions and suggestions are greatly appreciated here as i need to head my head round this stuff ;)

heres the track:-

http://www.crimson-multimedia.net/jimfish/toddyjim.mp3

:rambo:

hey jim, this is just the sort of stuff i play dnb wise, if its only a practise then its ok but imo the whole track lacks energy. sure its got dnb elements in it but no real hook. some of the tom fills are unecessairy and the pad seems to be very pre set sounding. also the track doesn't develop. i like the beat though and the fx based breakdown at 4:42 is ok. just my 2 penny's worth mate ;) :lol:

To be honest Jim, this sounds like every other d'n'b track I've heard, which could be deemed a good or bad thing, depending on perspective. I'll be honest - I don't like the genre at all, but what u've laid out seems to be along the right lines, and production is good as always.

What I think u've got goin for u is u're techno perspective on things, which I don't think comes across in this track, and I reckon u need to utilise that angle in what u're doin here, in order to be an innovator (I know u're capable) rather than a fodder follower.

I'm definitley no expert in this area of music, and so won't comment on structure of the tune etc, but it does sound like d'n'b, but not really Jim Fish d'n'b (if u see what I mean?!).

hehe, well yeah its not really anything like that on purpose..
This was more about seeing how sounds we are used to slower work at that tempo and getting a feel for the way the beats and mix work, as well as trying to get some waaaarp noises :)
We are going to do another couple likethis before we start making em more 'musical'.. the stuff we intend to be doing is much deeper logical progression style stuff.. hopefully :oops:

not bad jimmah. keep it up.

sounds pretty good , a bit old skool sounding, a bit like some stakka and skynet tune . could do with some more bass and some synths lines and just more general noises and crazy breaks. i like the bass there though plus it all sounds nice and clean which is good.

but i got a link to every dnb break ever which might come handy. a good website too for dnb - http://dnbforum.com/showthread.php?t=2088

Hey thanks JC, thats dead handy stuff :)

yeah im goinna do a couple more like this just peeing around with sounds and getting a feel for how it all sits, then we'll sit down and start doing somthing serious :rambo:
Ill keep posting the efforts if anyone is interested!

Sounds pretty bo! Can I get a rewind Jim? ;)

good start, it had plenty of energy for me, i agree on the bass being a bit loose