NEW SINGLE - DISPARITY (Looking for feedback)

dude7691

New member
Hey guys :)

Got a new DNB track out today, called "DISPARITY", which is the first track of my upcoming EP, "NULL AND VOID". It's a drum and bass track with techno and groove inspired elements and is intended as a soundtrack. The release of this track will be followed up by the subsequent release of 3 more tracks over the coming weeks. All feedback is very much appreciated and I would love to hear what you think of it!

Cheers :)

Link to Soundcloud: DISPARITY by Will. B | Free Listening on SoundCloud
 
It's mostly good. I feel like the arrangement doesn't really go anywhere tho. It keeps on building up, and then not reaching something.
The sounds are pretty well balanced with each other.
 
Hi Steve,

Thank you very much for your feedback! I know what you mean yeah, it's kind of a more minimalistic dnb style, and my first proper dnb production so I just wanted to make sure it was technically as good as it could be and I think the musical element suffered a bit due to my lack of experience with this genre for sure. I'm definitely paying more attention to the musical side of my productions to make sure they're truly interesting and dynamic rather than just getting all the sounds well balanced. Thank you again :)
 
When it comes to the mix itself, the only thing that stuck out as unusual was the super-quiet drums in the intro.
 
It seemed OK to me. I see what VHS was saying about the drums in the intro.

Low end might be just a bit heavy. I know it should be heavy for the genre, but this is pretty low-end-heavy. Check it on a big system and see if it's boomy.
 
Hi Steve,

Thank you, I'm glad to hear the mix was okay. That was my first proper dnb production so I'm happy I managed to get it decent first time round, for quite a complex piece technically as well.

Are you referring to the hi passed drum fill inbetween 0:10 and 0:20? Or just the drums in general in the intro, would just be helpful to know exactly which ones you mean so I can alter it :)

Thanks again
 
Hi Triple,

Thank you for your comments, same question as I asked to VHS, do you mean the drum fill between 0:10 & 0:20? Or just the drums for the entirety of the intro?

Yeah I have done my best with the low end, but it's good to get another opinion too, I have KRK 8's as my monitors so that might be why partly, and a small room with big speakers never goes well for mixing. I'll stick the track back through my spectrograph and see if I can pick up and peaking areas and adjust the limiters.

Thank you :)
 
Are you referring to the hi passed drum fill inbetween 0:10 and 0:20? Or just the drums in general in the intro, would just be helpful to know exactly which ones you mean so I can alter it :)

Yeah. It sounds like there's a kick and snare (or equivalent) in that fill too?
 
I was talking about the drums in the entirety of the intro.

On the low end, I'm not sure you have a problem. I was listening on nearfields (small monitors). But from what I was hearing, I think you should check the low end on a bigger system. Everything might be OK. But it's worth a check.
 
I think the mix and samples you are using sound good. The composition is pretty good too, except that I second what VHS says...it gets to a point where it just sounds like the same thing over and over with no climax....no direction...Not sure how you would solve that with this genre
 
Yeah. It sounds like there's a kick and snare (or equivalent) in that fill too?

Yeah I think there is, I high passed it though to remove them as best as I could without removing the hi hats & percs. I work with a studio currently and they were talking to me about DJ markers? So using fills & reverbed kicks/snares to help the DJ mix it into a set better. I'll take a look at the volume of that, it's meant to be a subtle background fill not the main drums, they just come in once in a while to give a bit more humanisation to the hi hats :)

---------- Update ----------

I was talking about the drums in the entirety of the intro.

On the low end, I'm not sure you have a problem. I was listening on nearfields (small monitors). But from what I was hearing, I think you should check the low end on a bigger system. Everything might be OK. But it's worth a check.

Yeah it is a little heavy I just went out in my car and it was a little bit too heavy, well spotted! I'll sort that out tomorrow. Thanks to soundcloud pro I can change the file without having to reupload haha, thank you for that info. Very helpful. What was it about the drums in the entirety of the intro you felt was off? The drum fill from 0:10-0:20 is a little too quiet yeah, but did you feel the rest of the drums during the intro felt off? In terms of volume or just arrangement?
 
I think the mix and samples you are using sound good. The composition is pretty good too, except that I second what VHS says...it gets to a point where it just sounds like the same thing over and over with no climax....no direction...Not sure how you would solve that with this genre

Hi Bruthish,

Thank you for your comments, it's good to hear my sound selection & arrangement was on point with this one :). I understand what you mean, and I feel the same when I listen to 99% of drum and bass in all honesty. The standard formula of "intro, drop 1, breakdown, drop 2, outro" doesn't really provide much room for movement so it takes some real out of the box thinking to do what the best producers in the world do who really get that sense of progression with their tracks, and even they get it wrong a lot of the time. As there's no lyrics to add variety, the composition is much harder in terms of getting it to sound like it has movement. I tried to switch it up halfway by adding an interlude and bringing in a new bassline and sort of merging it with the first half to give it a sense of continuity. I appreciate your feedback, it is very much appreciated and I'll do my best to apply it :)
 
Hi Bruthish,

Thank you for your comments, it's good to hear my sound selection & arrangement was on point with this one :). I understand what you mean, and I feel the same when I listen to 99% of drum and bass in all honesty. The standard formula of "intro, drop 1, breakdown, drop 2, outro" doesn't really provide much room for movement so it takes some real out of the box thinking to do what the best producers in the world do who really get that sense of progression with their tracks, and even they get it wrong a lot of the time. As there's no lyrics to add variety, the composition is much harder in terms of getting it to sound like it has movement. I tried to switch it up halfway by adding an interlude and bringing in a new bassline and sort of merging it with the first half to give it a sense of continuity. I appreciate your feedback, it is very much appreciated and I'll do my best to apply it :)

See, I was about to suggest adding vocals to it 'cause the DnB I'm most familiar with is Pendulum! :D
(And the standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge progression creates some pretty good movement.)
 
See, I was about to suggest adding vocals to it 'cause the DnB I'm most familiar with is Pendulum! :D
(And the standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge progression creates some pretty good movement.)

Yeah it's just about practice really and adding subtle changes to create that sense of progression still make it easy to follow. I love pendulum too haha, they're actually one of my greatest inspirations and some of the first dnb artists i started out listening to!
 
Yeah it's just about practice really and adding subtle changes to create that sense of progression still make it easy to follow. I love pendulum too haha, they're actually one of my greatest inspirations and some of the first dnb artists i started out listening to!

Any DnB producer who claims not to like Pendulum is probably lying or intentionally being disagreeable! :D
 
It feels a little too chaotic. Its hard to get in the flow for me. but the Mix is quiet okay.. maybe the kick could punch a little harder.
 
Back
Top