Please critique my latest

Cool ambience. Nice introduction of new instruments and new parts in the course of the song. All the parts are sitting real well together.

There's a little crackle in one of those synth parts. But nothing too terrible.

Something weird with the kick in your drum loop - there's a rushed double hit somewhere in there.

I noticed a little skip around :24.
 
TripleM,
Thanks for the listen. These are midi drums, but no drum loops. I know what you mean about having some rushed notes. It's probably a timing error with Sonar. I tried to mix as much out of the box as possible, mixing everything live, from synth, through DA7 (digital mixer) to disk. Out of necessity, I submixed the snare, bass drum and hi hats in Sonar for further processing. Anyway, my point is, I'm using massive automation of DA7 with lots of midi control messages, and sometimes, it gets a glitch which throws off the timing. I thinned out alot of the control fades, and it helped alot, but still seem to have problems occasionally. Maybe I need to tweak some Sonar settings.

Mainly I was interested in how the mix sounds in terms of tonality, (too bright, too much bass, too much mids, etc.) I know this is way different then alot of tunes on here. It's very busy, but I don't know how to change that without greatly affecting the vibe.
 
Well, the response has been overwhelming but I haven't given up yet. I cleaned up the bass drum timing a little, and brightened up some of the none cymbal parts, as well as an over all high end shelf increase. I also cut some mid bass slightly. I think it sounds more vibrant. Any comments are welcome. Think epic film score.

Thanks! :)
 
Nice overall sound - lots of sonic variations. I even like the drums but that thing happening with the kick is disturbing. It happens at quite a few places but particularly at 3:07 there's something like a ritard with an extra beat in there - like the drummer got happy hands and liked the sound of his toms too much.
I have absolutely no idea how you did any of this - the tech terms are way beyond me. But I know what I like and this is fitting the bill. I don't hear any mix issues at all. There's even enough dynamic variation to keep it interesting for five minutes - cool!! It's very full sounding and nothing sticks out like a sore thumb so I guess it was worth the time you spent. I think this would sound good on a huge stereo system played at an insane loudness level. (When "Tubular Bells" first came out we couldn't find a system big enough to handle the sound we were looking for!!)
Nice work - looking forward to some more - the writing is very nice, too!!
~Milan
 
Milan,

Thanks for the listen. Yes, at 3:07 it switches to 6/4 time for one measure. Good observation :). That was intentional. I like to throw in surprises once in awhile. It's all done with synth and sampler/romplers. I worked real hard on getting a good drum sound, so your comments are appreciated. I know there are some bass and kick interaction timing problems still there, so I will need to do some critical listening tonight and try to fix them all.

Thanks again
 
WOW

Man, Is that FAT or what ?

This is awesome, I am going to listen to more of your stuff. I am a hard rocker at heart but this totally grabs me. Very nice work, " please sir, I want some more".
Peace, Silver
 
Overall pretty nice, but maybe clue us in on the exact method you are using to do the drums. The missed beats are kind of distracting. Not to be harsh, 'cause it's a great song. Just a detail to be worked out. If this were a live band I'd be saying, "yeah, they're pretty good, but they need to fire that drummer."
:confused:
 
Christopher,

I play the drums by hitting keys on a synth keyboard. As far as missed beats, are you talking overall, or just in some places. I experimented alot on playing different drum patterns, and
ended up with this. I'm really all ears, and really want the harsh opinion, cause, that's how I learn to improve.

Thanks
 
If you're using Sonar, maybe you could use the drum editor.

Heck, I've played drums longer than I've played guitar and still can't quite keep a beat on a keyboard or the pads on my drum machine.
 
Well,

I told you I spent a LONG time on this, and most of it was on getting a good tonal balance, because I was learning a new system (DA7 mixer), which is a bit different than what I was accustomed to. Because of that, I grew somewhat immune to timing inaccuracies, but after digging into it last night I found that not only the drums were off, but the arpeggiated synth part in the beginning was off, and that has a major interplay with the bassline. That sounds REALLY ugly when you solo just those parts together. Anyway, it requires more extensive surgery than I originally thought, so I will need another evening to work on it, but I was thinking about changing the kick track a little by adding another beat in there to follow the bass. Originally I wanted to keep it sparse, because the mix was already very dense, but it might need that extra kick to really make it move. I also tried a simpler kick, where it only hits on the 1st and third beat, alternating with the snare. That almost works too, but maybe too sparse.

Thanks for all the cool responses, and I hope to have the improved version up tommorrow. :)
 
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