Anyone feeling this? WIP

Yo. Did this just now, its a bit different than what I normally do. I’m trying to go for a more abstract vibe, but idk, is anyone feeling this direction? I’m kinda feeling it but what do you guys think? I didn’t master this, just exported so idk about the mixdown.

https://soundcloud.com/primerofficial/wip-clip/s-B1iwL

1 BigUp

Wouldn’t call it really experimental - needs more wonk/grit for that imo - but liking the vibe. Feel like it needs something more distinctive percussively but not sure what. Keep that ambience tho.

sick, thanks man. I get what you mean about the percussion, I’ll experiment with that. Should I go more experimental, like more wonk and grit? Or just keep this steady vibe, obv with some more work in the percussion.

You’ll never hear me saying something should be less experimental so… yeah. :nerd:

There are plenty of dubstep tracks with great or unusual ambience that ultimately wind up sitting on top of boring beats (also in dnb before that; also not saying your beats are boring, just think the backing stuff is stronger).

I would almost say do some crazy drum experiments separately and then find one that clicks with the vibes here somehow instead of trying to build a new drum track inside the project as-is, but that’s more of a personal workflow pref for me. What’s important is doing justice to the vibes though with a complimentary drum track that’s as vibey as the fx, you know?

Check the Madshit thread for inspiration, or fire up some Lotic, Arca, Rabit, or Sd Laika maybe.

Was this done with resampling or realtime signal chain?

1 BigUp

Thanks for the resources! Yeah, I’ll definitely work on the percussion. Its resample, I used a granular synth, Alchemy in Logic, chopped it up, distortion, then lotsa reverb.

Very cool. Make sure you post up whatever you come up with here! :sunglasses:

absolutely!

1 BigUp

@_ronzlo Aight, got busy but I fixed it up a bit. Made it a little more wet I guess, sidechained more, idk, how does it sound? Again didn’t master it so the mixdown might be meh

https://soundcloud.com/primerofficial/wip-clip-reworked/s-ETHpY

i like how broken down i sounds like at 8 secs, but i think you used a healthy amount of that to stop it being obnoxious, i think from here id maybe bring in something a bit heavier and clearer to contrast the nice muddy ambience you built

Definitely getting warmer m8. Have you thought about experimenting with where you put your downbeat accent?

Thanks. Muddy as in good muddy? Or is it actually too muddy lol. What ideas did you have in mind for the heavier contrast? Like a distorted bass, or some bigger percussion?

Thanks man, no I didn’t think about that. I thought about time signature, I did an 11/4 track once that sounded pretty good but 4/4 felt okay for this one. I kind of like where the downbeat is right now but what did you have in mind?

deffo good muddy, i think a sharp distorted bass would sound good to just power through the mix, im sure youll come up with something good :slight_smile:

Not so much an odd time sig (altho that’d occurred to me too) - if you do it should still groove though, like 7/4 or 12/8.

Rather, instead of putting the snares exactly on the 2 and 4 (or 5 and 9 on a 16 step seq., whatever) - nudge one of them in either direction incrementally, optional for the other - like that old UKG swingy bruk shit, tbh.

Not saying it’s surefire, but when it works it REALLY works with a track where the ear is listening to the space more… gives it a kind of loping life.

Thanks man! Yeah I’ll experiment with that

Interesting idea, I’ll definitely try that!

Yeah I tried 7/4 once and it worked quite well, never did 12/8, but I’m probably not gonna change the time signature for this one, though I do want to do a full track in an odd time signature.

I almost wanna nominate this track for the discussed “handoff collab” we’ve been discussing elsewhere…

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That’s actually really cool, I’d love to see what people do with it

1 BigUp

@_ronzlo
Okay, I think I finished the track. At this point, I don’t want to make a lot of structural changes. My main concern now is this mixdown. I’m far from a mastering engineer, so my mixdowns probably sound like garbage. How does this sound? I haven’t listened to it on anything but my headphones so it could be rife with problems

https://soundcloud.com/primerofficial/wipmixdown/s-Nnn2S

LOVE the intro; still really feeling the overall vibes - and I’m super wary of interpolating my tastes with attempts at critical objectivity, so here goes:

I like this tune, but feel it’s at an aesthetic crossroads. The dark/fuzzy/weird/wonky sounds hint at something even deeper and more chaotic, but the melody [of the processed vocals] and the “traditionality” or predictability of the drums want to go the opposite direction. (Again - to me.)

Now, this can still work as the tension between those urges can be manipulated… and your attention to detail is great, lots of little pieces of candy for the ear here… but you could also nudge this track farther toward one of those two axes as well to good effect.

My vote would be to go down the dark and twisty path and abstractify it more, but abstraction for its own sake is a dangerous thing. It has to be genuine and say something. If you’re not feeling that, there’s nothing wrong with that. If you took it into the melodic/structured tangent more you’re wrangling all those wiggly odd sounds and trying to make them all support the main theme, which can also be tough.

All of this talking is really making me want to have a go at it LOL. You still down for the handoff ting? Do you have stems? What’s yr DAW?

PS: You also have a new follower on SC. :smile_cat:

1 BigUp