Guess where I was and what time of day it was

is the name of the new techno track I've done

Opinions welcome, especially regarding mastering/levels

http://s47.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3...D0CS0XWZOF9DVU

haha pretty wild shit man
I'd like to check it out again on the monitors at home

hehe well why mess about eh? ;) Thanks for giving it a listen. Here's a slightly tweaked version, in ogg format for a bit better sound quality... Lemme know what you reckon if you get a chance to check it out http://s64.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0...I01A5XEPTAZ2OX

I think going for a non-distorted kick would help this out immensely, along with reshaping the bass to sit with it.
Theres also some room up top to brighten the mix up a bit. Extending the hats further into the hi end will give the track even more energy.
The midrange is pretty full, and almost on the brink of too much, but manages to keep itself together. Could probably do with a slight bit more seperation and a tad bit of verb as some of the sounds seem a little dry. May also want to check on the timing of a few of the samples, as it seems a couple could be tuned a bit to keep the whole thing sounding slightly more concise.. not sure how you have those in there, if they're loops or just shuffled hits.
But overall its pretty damn wild !

Cheers for the feedback mate. Glad you're digging it overall. I agree the hats could do wit a lift, some extra definition up top is a good plan for extra momentum. There is a fair bit packed into the midrange, but it does kind of behave itself I suppose!

Where abouts would you suggest the verb goes? There's some on most of the parts, especially the tweaky high acidy zap noise. I'm a bit wary of muddying up the mix with any more and losing the crispness. How would you suggest using it?

Which kind of samples do you think need tuning, is it the guitar samples or percussive ones? Or something else?(the percussive ones are intentionally off kilter for a wonky feel, but the guitar ones might just be sloppy! It was sampled from live guitar playing).

The kick/ bass thang - I normally agree in principle its much better for a big bassline to have room to operate with a more discreet un-distorted kick, but in this case I was going for a definate effect of a very rude kick with a synth that swoops in and out of it. Sounds daft in theory I know but I checked the track on a pa a few hours ago and the bottom end holds up remarkably well when its bitchin loud too. So might have to agree to disagree with you on that one, even if I am wrong, I'm happy in my ignorance!

Does the higher end of the synth cut through enough where you are listening?

Questions question questions! Thanks again for taking the time to listen and offer advice.

by the way, I've listened back to it and I see now what you were talking about the timing of things. The part that threw me was that it wasn't actually loop samples (but you had no way of knowing the source as you ain't sat here!). It was a latency issue within Ableton with plugins making a couple of drum modules a bit out (as well as the guitar needing cleaned up), so when those drums were playing at certain bits the timing was noticably slightly off, esp on a snare and hihat combo. I hadn't noticed cos of the effect side chain on it.

I've also taken on board your comments about the kick, and shaved some of the lower frequencies off where it has the bassline in at the same time, and its much more punchy, but still with the sound I'm after.

Thanks again for your keen ears and good advice, you obviously know your stuff! Respect to you.

Well cool, Live5 has the plugin delay compensation to help with that sort of timing business, when things start to slightly drift..
Did you post up the newer one?

not yet. I've got a bought copy of Ableton 5 but the latency compensation doesn't seem to be making any difference. Its lways been tempramental on my laptop for some reason. Is there maybe some preferences thing I'm missing. i'll post the new one hopefully in the next coupla hours.

It may also depend on what sound card you are using with it.. what do you have?
If it's not a proper card that's ASIO compliant your timing could get very out of wack quickly.

Audiophile usb, not the best, but should be all right I reckon?

That should be fine yeah.

Here's a newer version

http://s50.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0...439620J20D1MJ4

This is crazy.
HAHA
I love it, total anarchy.
Only thing is, this comes across as very analogue, or if it isn`t, then it`s going for the very analogue sound.
However this mix lacks the warmth and width of an analogue production.
The kick could do with bags more warmth and bass.
The top end is just a little dull (in terms of frequency, and not in terms of being boring)
Overall the mix could do with more stereo width too.

But in terms of the programming going on here.....
fair play mate, this is the nuts, proper creative madness here, polish it off and release it.

Cheers man! :) Thats some really encouraging comments and advice. I've been in a bit of a production bubble lately so its especially good to get feedback like that from yourself. I've taken on board your sage advice and I'll try to get a new version up for tommorrow. Its all done in Ableton. The thing I was going for was CHUNKYNESS, so thats probably where the analogue feel comes from!

How should I get more stereo width on it? Panning individual parts or a stereo width plugin (don't want to take away too much rhythmic sharpness of course).
The kick has been a problem, with it interacting with the synth. I've shaved off some lower frequencies for punch, but could that have detracted from the bass and warmth of it? How should I get some more warmth there without muddying up the mix?
Top end - extra lift on quad comp? Or maybe bbe sonic maximiser?
The wheels have already been set in motion for it to get pressed monday (with a belting track from Cymbol on the A, and another more experimental track from me (the Double Helix track on this forum, think the link still working) also on the B. Hopefully I'll have enough time with some uber mailage to get a more polished version in on time if I send it saturday. I'm going to put it out on my wee label.

Sorry for all the questions! And thanks for listening dude.

I missed the updated version.. will check it when I get home.

here's an update to the update... waddya reckon? http://s58.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0...B3SDD02BSP62X4

btw I didn't maximise it to 0.1, as I gather its better to have a little headroom for cutting to vinyl, or am I totally wrong here?

Well don`t cut it if it`s not finished dude, nothing worse than having to let something go just because of time constraints that can be put back.
As for maximising, I really wouldn`t bother, it screws the sound and can actually make the cut worse, final recording volume has little relevance to how the cut will come out, it`s more the dynamics, and if you maximise and swuash too much, it`ll be a shit cut.

Totally agree with what you're saying there. I'm ideally hoping to have it spruced by saturday, but I'll only cut it if it cuts the mustard so to speak. I'll be playing at Jakn later in the month, and its a home crowd so was hoping to have some copies to flog then (but of course, no point trying to sell something that sounds substandard).

Have you guys had a chance to check the remastered version (visavis you previous advice) at all? I'll post the link on this post incase you scanned past it cos I posted twice in a row earlier.

http://s58.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0...B3SDD02BSP62X4


I've raised the upper dynamics with quadcomp and sonic maximiser and also beefed the kick with some saturation and eq. Extra stereo width is something I'm not too sure how to achieve here though.

yes this is crazy, but i like it :)

Yeah the top end is much better now on this

haha. this is cool track. u ve got your own style, deffo. this would be a real bomb when properly mixed and mastered,. this would kill people on the dance floor,, i'm sure :) nice and different. production, could be much more precise i think. do it wider, more warmth and you area winner. interesting stuff.

Kin hell mate your crazy.

Hats off this tracks the bolloks ,Very original.

Wicked :clap:

Wicked, cheers guys, glad you like the style of it. :)

Yesterday I took the opportunity to tweak the track on a couple of pas and I reckon I've now got it sounding how I want it. I hope it meets your standards folks! I think the synth is more defined now, and the kick pins it a bit better, but with depth too. The hihats and other percussion have had a lift too. Hopefully its a tighter sound now, with more energy.

It was working for me over the soundsystems and stood up at home so I'm going to go for it and press it. Hopefully I'm not being foolhardy and rash, but I think its sounding as good as I am capable of making it with the knowledge I have at this stage!

Thanks again for all the excellent advice and perspective, hope you like the final version...

http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2...S1A1KTGAAZ9OFJ