Techstep track made with EnergyXT2

[codec_spurt]

Well, I didn't get much love over at the other thread at the music cafe, so I have packed up all my toys, put them into my pram and wheeled it over here.

I pondered whether to just post it here or not in the first place. But I wanted to do a little experiment. I wanted the opinion of professional/semi-professional producers. So I did my experiment, got my results (which was being totally ignored), and here you are:

If my botty seems a little sore, it's coz it is.

Here is the track:
http://soundcloud.com/quarter-space/illian


I went off on one about the eqpt. used, but it seemed I bored people to death.

So I just put this track up here and say: this was done 100 percent in EnergyXT2.
Can't remember the plugs.
It took my three weeks to make. Five days a week. Eight hours a day.

I made it after being totally deaf in my left ear for some reason for three months. So my hearing was not totally recovered, but it sounds good to me.

It was monitored on KRK RP8G2s. And when I took it into the hi-fi shop in town and played it on a 10,000 quid system, it sounded shit with no bass.

However, I have just played it on my new Tannoy Reveal 5 inchers and it sounds as good as anything Ed Rush or Dom and Roland did. Please knock me down, give me feedback etc. I can take it. But the Subs are perfectly booming, kicks are knocking, highs and mids are pronounced without being fatiguing or harsh. My mix sounds like a proper Techstep Dom and Roland or Ed Rush mix that has been mastered. Not quite as good obviously but ball park.

This is the thread I deleted about this at the music cafe. http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 4&t=402858 before regathering and reapropriating the toys, for those such interested.

EnergyXT2 can kick it!

Cheers.

[SWTrex]

Being an energyXT guy,I always read posts in the eXT forum. (I wouldn't have even opened the post from the Cafe!)

Knowing that us eXT guys need to support each other (because we get no love outside the eXT forum), I had to listen. And listen I did...for all 12 minutes...on my Beyerdynamic DT770's.

So after listening to techstep (an new genre for me) for 12 minutes, I felt obligated to post a reply. So...

Nice job. Production sounded really good to me - I always like to hear "space" in a mix, which you've given it.

I really like the the drum programming and the sounds of the hits. This is something I'm not very good at, so I appreciate hearing good beats.

I don't listen much to DnB or any kind of *step,so I can't comment on the composition.

I am always interested in hearing how sounds are made. Care to share any of your plugs or techniques? What did you use for all the percussion sounds? What reverb did you use?

Thanks for dragging this into the eXT forum.

SWTrex

[codec_spurt]

Thanks.

I don't remember the plugins at all, because I recorded it on an old computer five years ago. I just remember that it was EXT2.

I do, however, have a dvd with the project on. It was big. This little beauty has about 4 Gigs of info on it, even if it is 12 minutes long. I know it can be edited down - maybe 8 mins .

I have the DVD around here - I saw it when cleaning up. I will post what plugins were used. What the hell, for my Energy XT brothers and sisters - I will give the source files and the finished render. I can't remember what I used to home master it. It is pretty squared off, but not totally flattened. I could easily make it another 3dB louder, but no interest in that.

The reason I put this up at the cafe was I thought there might be some proper producers with proper ears and proper speakers. And people with knowledge of the cutting edge production that those Techstep guys did. I play all sorts of stuff on my speakers, but NOTHING sounds as good as what these chaps achieved.

All I know is that this sounds as good as anything by Dom and Roland and Ed Rush. That is a massive claim to make. I am sure it wouldn't sound as good in a club, but I am getting such sweet sounds out of my Tannoy Reveals. And they can be brutal too on a bad mix - they fart and they screech, but this mix was balanced and I took a chance of putting it out there.

More and more I think that yes, having big Tetradron stands on spikes with Mopads for isolation, really DOES make a difference. I have been a bit impatient. But I don't really care. I would have posted it at Gearslutz if I wanted a professional opinion.

Anyway.

Thanks a lot for giving some feedback. It means so much. I will dig out my master dvd with it on and give you a copy of the source, so you will have all the midi files and be able to see what the vsts I used, were. I'm really curious myself now after five years.


Moral of the lesson - do not go buying 10,000 quid sound systems from hi-fi shops in Taunton.

[codec_spurt]

Being an energyXT guy,I always read posts in the eXT forum. (I wouldn't have even opened the post from the Cafe!)

Knowing that us eXT guys need to support each other (because we get no love outside the eXT forum), I had to listen. And listen I did...for all 12 minutes...on my Beyerdynamic DT770's.

I have an exclusive HP mix for you I would like your opinion on. Those are pretty decent headphones. It is a strictly HP mix, so I would love to see if it translates.

If it doesn't sound great on them, it failed.

I'll dig it out and sen it over to you. I have the full REAPER source files too, so you can remix/rob if you like.

[SWTrex]

Glad to do it.

[Sendy]

The only thing I really don't like about it is the rhythm of that low bass part, it's very syncopated, but it sounds off. You can hear it in the intro and it continues through the whole track. It felt a bit sloppy in the timing.

The beats, good mixing, sounds good but at around 8 minutes when you bring in the reverb send it really comes to life, making the prior beats sound a bit lacking in background texture. They're well mixed, everything is there apart from that background filling in the beginning, leaving them feeling a bit like they only inhabit the surface of the music until that 8 minute mark.

That said, I'm a fan of textured beats, tending towards breakbeat. Either way, I enjoyed the rhythms and general sound of it.

[Nielzie]

Nice drum programming! Did you use the internal EXT2 drumpad sequencer for this?

[codec_spurt]

Nice drum programming! Did you use the internal EXT2 drumpad sequencer for this?

I might have used it for layering but I think I used a drum machine.

I will give a run down of the plugins used when I dig it out.

I usually use about 3 or 4 drum sources.

Anyway, I will just put the source file up and everyone can see what was what.

cheers.

[codec_spurt]

The only thing I really don't like about it is the rhythm of that low bass part, it's very syncopated, but it sounds off. You can hear it in the intro and it continues through the whole track. It felt a bit sloppy in the timing.

The beats, good mixing, sounds good but at around 8 minutes when you bring in the reverb send it really comes to life, making the prior beats sound a bit lacking in background texture. They're well mixed, everything is there apart from that background filling in the beginning, leaving them feeling a bit like they only inhabit the surface of the music until that 8 minute mark.

That said, I'm a fan of textured beats, tending towards breakbeat. Either way, I enjoyed the rhythms and general sound of it.

Wow, that's a pretty good critique. I'll listen back and see what you mean about the sloppy beats, but it may be intentional as I am a bit of a stickler with my beats being synched to sample level. Sometimes when I dance in a club I look as if I am about to fall over, I like f**ked up lop-sided shit. But then again, you should be able to pick up on that too. Maybe I did something wrong. What makes if even more interesting is you say that things change around 8 minutes.

I really need to dig out the source files and see what was going on with this. Anyway thanks.

I never really got my answer as to whether this mix was comparable sonically to Dom and Roland or Ed Rush.

But thanks for all the input anyway. Really useful.


cheers.

[seismic1]

Ok. First up, I'm not a Techstep/DnB/Jungle afficionado, so feel free to treat anything I say with the derision it probably deserves. I've also had a few drinks, but that shouldn't be any impediment to my ignorance.

I've played this 4 or 5 times tonight on the Rokits at a reasonable (not particularly loud) volume, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. There was something about the kicks on here that sounded really "warm and friendly". I liked the pacing of this and comparing it with that Ed Rush/Optical track was interesting. I think I preferred your track from a purely musical perspective, although I think you could possibly shorten it by 2-3 minutes, make it more concise (n.b. I have been known to make the odd 12-minute stretchfest myself, so I shouldn't be giving advice like this). The mix was great (gotta love EnergyXT), with lots of room for the various instruments to co-exist. Oh yeah, I really liked the way you threw those PPG? sounds into the mix, and some of the glitch-like effects between 3 and 4 minutes were sweet.

So this exercise was probably more educational for me that for you. Hopefully I can crank up the other system tomorrow morning and give it some wellie.

After writing this, I decided to read the earlier comments. I can see what sendy is saying about that bass timing, but I didn't notice it until seeing her comment. Even after being alerted to it, I didn't mind it. I listen to a lot of Prog-rock anyway, and my bass playing was never on time, more like a bus service.

Sonically, I didn't notice any deficiency in your track. I thought it stood up well against the Rush/Optical track.

[seismic1]

I just played it again on the Arcam/Missions. It sounded much cleaner than via the Rokits. Much more impressive. The more open soundstage provided by this setup did highlight the bass timing problem mentioned by sendy. The detail in the percussion became more readily apparent when I pushed the volume up. The mix didn't sound squashed either. Nice and clean with excellent dynamics. Not tiring to listen to.

Good work

[codec_spurt]

Ok. First up, I'm not a Techstep/DnB/Jungle afficionado, so feel free to treat anything I say with the derision it probably deserves. I've also had a few drinks, but that shouldn't be any impediment to my ignorance.

I've played this 4 or 5 times tonight on the Rokits at a reasonable (not particularly loud) volume, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. There was something about the kicks on here that sounded really "warm and friendly". I liked the pacing of this and comparing it with that Ed Rush/Optical track was interesting. I think I preferred your track from a purely musical perspective, although I think you could possibly shorten it by 2-3 minutes, make it more concise (n.b. I have been known to make the odd 12-minute stretchfest myself, so I shouldn't be giving advice like this). The mix was great (gotta love EnergyXT), with lots of room for the various instruments to co-exist. Oh yeah, I really liked the way you threw those PPG? sounds into the mix, and some of the glitch-like effects between 3 and 4 minutes were sweet.

So this exercise was probably more educational for me that for you. Hopefully I can crank up the other system tomorrow morning and give it some wellie.

After writing this, I decided to read the earlier comments. I can see what sendy is saying about that bass timing, but I didn't notice it until seeing her comment. Even after being alerted to it, I didn't mind it. I listen to a lot of Prog-rock anyway, and my bass playing was never on time, more like a bus service.

Sonically, I didn't notice any deficiency in your track. I thought it stood up well against the Rush/Optical track.

Well u are spot on really. The track is far too long. The kicks at the beginning are way out, but they are still within meter. They all confirm to the bar. But well spotted. They are disjointed for sure.

The track is just too long. It should be half the size.

You have confirmed for me really - this track can be played on 5 inchers or 12 inchers - it will still sound as good.

Thanks for the feedback. It really does mean a lot when it comes from someone that like this kind of stuff.

I am humbled. This is more than I ever could have asked for.

Thanks mate. I really really appreciate it.

[codec_spurt]

I just played it again on the Arcam/Missions. It sounded much cleaner than via the Rokits. Much more impressive. The more open soundstage provided by this setup did highlight the bass timing problem mentioned by sendy. The detail in the percussion became more readily apparent when I pushed the volume up. The mix didn't sound squashed either. Nice and clean with excellent dynamics. Not tiring to listen to.

Good work

Thanks. I don't know what to say.

That is such a great compliment.

This means a lot to me.

I am genuinely touched.

[codec_spurt]

And totally made in EnergyXT2.

One serious piece of audio software.

Backed up by a couple of the boys that know what they are talking about.

God, I love my XT2!

[seismic1]

Just to clarify this. My "main" system uses a pair of Mission 773 speakers (with 5 inch bass units) rated at up to 125W. I'm using an Arcam FMJ A19 (rated at 50W per channel, but a lot more efficient at delivering it than my last amp) to drive them. In my lounge, with the volume control set just below halfway, and no other people in the room. The output can be described as LOUD and clean. I have never tried to listen at higher levels, because it probably wouldn't be comfortable. I have no reason to suspect that your track wouldn't sound great on much larger systems than mine.

I love EnergyXT2, even with its quirks.

It looks like there is an update due in the near future. I've been running 2.7beta for over a year now in Win7 64 without a single crash, although I've had some VSTi tuning issues, which I think may be audio driver-related.