One Synth Challenge #83: MPowerSynth by MeldaProduction (Z.Prime Wins!)

[psmacmur]

Thanks so much for the feedback. I probably sound like a total n00b but what do you'll mean by "hotness"? I guess I have enough time this month to go back through my EQ and compression tutorials to try to improve the mix a bit. Just been focused mostly on the structure and composition. I'm not sure what to do with the melody exactly, might just be that the genre I picked for the song is a bit loopy. I hadn't considered looking at it from a vocals standpoint.

"hotness" is (in the context of mixing) the opposite of "dynamic range". So, your track's average dynamic range (more or less the Root Mean Squared difference from max) is probably in the 4-5 range. 12-14 is considered CD-quality, 10 is quite listenable if you turn it up a little, and you probably want something more like 6-8 for your genre --- you do want it to stand out in the crowd, after all, and louder sounds better up to a point. That point is around DR4, where most commercial EDM tracks land, at which point louder is exhausting or even painful. I run my mp3/wav output through the TT DR Offline Meter 1.4 and target DR 7-9.
http://pleasurizemusic.com/es/es/download

Hope that helps!

[ImNotDedYet]

Here's take 2 of my song idea, I think I added about six more instances of MPowerSynth. Tried to fatten up the bass drum and the bassline a bit, added some new elements, kicked the melody in a little earlier.

Thanks for everyone's feedback and encouragement, I do greatly appreciate it

https://soundcloud.com/soundgoddess008/ ... powersynth

The key to four on the floor stuff is to really automate and layer the stuff. For instance, I think your pad is too hot - the rest of the stuff would come out more if the pad was more in the background, so I'd turn it down. work on some automations of the sounds that provide the melodic stuff to keep the listener's interest for the sixteen or thirty-two bars that they're present. Filter automation or automating LFO/envelope modulation would work. Have something that's your primary musical element and have that poke out with the rest being just supporting. And on a personal note, I'd like the bass to have more oomph and lower register stuff.

Otherwise, I'd say that's a nice mix. I especially liked the stereo field you presented.

IME, four on the floor stuff doesn't do well in these comps so don't be discouraged if you find yourself in the bottom half - just keep doing what you're doing and learning with each song.

[psmacmur]

IME, four on the floor stuff doesn't do well in these comps so don't be discouraged if you find yourself in the bottom half - just keep doing what you're doing and learning with each song.

Too true. It surprises me how many EDM haters there are in a synth contest! I have this theory that a could do quite well and would be a good exercise. Need to bone up on music theory before tackling that, though.

[z.prime]

DOWN WITH EDM!!! LONG LIVE EDM!!!

[SoundGoddess]

Well it's too late this month to not "four to the floor" but maybe next time I can do something else...EDM isn't the only genre I can do lol, this song is more "traditional" song structure, for example. I hear more of a "song" type thing. Like I can hear someone singing with lyrics replacing the melody lines ~

https://soundcloud.com/soundgoddess008/null-v01d

This is me letting loose more but I was using my microbrute so it was a bit more hands-on:

https://soundcloud.com/soundgoddess008/water-on-mars

Here I was starting with a personal OSC for Hive and then I kept adding more and more stuff til now it's only about 60% Hive:

https://soundcloud.com/soundgoddess008/paradox-take-11

But IDK, my "style" just might not be popular enough for doing well in contests...still trying to find my voice artistically.

So long as my placement improves this month I'll be happy with it, I just want to see some 4's and 5's instead of mostly 1's and 2's.

[ontrackp]

HELP

This synth drives me crazy! I get lost in the trillions of sub-menues. I more or less found out how to use the modulation. But I cannot find the "keyboard" as controller or modulation source. I want to make for example the decay faster on higher keys. That is essential for acoustic sounds. But I cannot find the keyboras as controller source.
I found a big matrix under "midi", which is showing all controllers. But no keyboard there. Is any of those numbers the keyboard, but maybe only titled different?

I think it's in what they call the "Notes" modulation panel that's available in some places (sorry it's not in front of me). I find the labeling to be kind of hard to follow, and the modulation scheme is a little weird -- especially for midi. For instance, modulating with velocity requires using a Multiparamter, clicking on the little ion in the Multiparameter button-box, selecting "assign a midi controller" and then selecting the controller you want (note number may be in there).

[bjporter]

Well it's too late this month to not "four to the floor"

I love four on the floor/edm. As long as it's well mixed, interesting, and / or catches my attention it's all good.

[SoundGoddess]

Here's my latest mixdown, I made the bassline a little more interesting, tried to add some additional sub bass to the low end so that it has a bit more "umph". I played with some panning sweeps and stuff, although I'm doing some filter sweeps I haven't been able to really figure out how to get this synth to do what I want it to do in regards to automation. It's just not that straightforward the way Hive is, which is what I've been using the most lately. Also all the stuff I added is starting to hit on the CPU a bit more so I have to start thinking of ways to save CPU, was getting some underruns when I tried to add a bit of sidechain compression.

I dropped the levels a bit on some of the sounds like the "strings" and the "brass". I also fiddled around with the mastering. So I think it's a little cooler now than it was.

https://soundcloud.com/soundgoddess008/ ... powersynth

I tried to play around with the melody a bit to make it more interesting, but kept hitting a wall, I think I need to shelve the song for a few days and revisit it later since the song is kinda stuck in my head a certain way, need to listen to it with fresh ears I think. Let my subconscious process for a while.

[z.prime]

Well it's too late this month to not "four to the floor"

I love four on the floor/edm. As long as it's well mixed, interesting, and / or catches my attention it's all good.

Yes, I think specifically just having 4-on-the-floor drums / EDM has little to do with having a great track. You need melodic elements, just like anything else. And having good basslines helps a lot, with good sounds / arrangement and top production. Without these things, you will DEFINITELY have a hard time pleasing the majority of OSC participants. I won a while ago with some trance 4-beat stuff that was highly melodic, so it can be done, not as much to do with the genre as it's made out to be.

[wagtunes]

Damn it to hell! LOL

I said screw it and spent 4 solid days working on this. Now I can get some REAL work done. But I'll be damned if I wasn't going to enter this contest.

Track Details

Cubase 7.0.7

27 Instances Of MPowersynth

FX Used

Voxengo Curve EQ
Cubase Multiband Compressor
Cubase Compressor
Cubase Limiter
Cubase Stereo Delay
Cubase Expander
Ferric TDS

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... 60s-osc-83

[ImNotDedYet]

Well it's too late this month to not "four to the floor"

I love four on the floor/edm. As long as it's well mixed, interesting, and / or catches my attention it's all good.

Yes, I think specifically just having 4-on-the-floor drums / EDM has little to do with having a great track. You need melodic elements, just like anything else. And having good basslines helps a lot, with good sounds / arrangement and top production. Without these things, you will DEFINITELY have a hard time pleasing the majority of OSC participants. I won a while ago with some trance 4-beat stuff that was highly melodic, so it can be done, not as much to do with the genre as it's made out to be.

You're right - it might not be so much, four on the floor that is unpopular in these contests, so much as it's the lack of melodic content. Unfortunately, for much of EDM outside of the pop EDM that's popular these days and trance, there isn't a whole lot of melody stuff going on. Deep house, techno, dub, etc. aren't overly melodic, but I've heard on a couple of occasions when participating in these comps some great four on the floor examples that did no better than merely middle-of-the-pack. And I'm talking about songs that were mixed extremely well to my ears with great sound design - in other words, not my own stuff. (which when I accidentally listen to these days I throw up in my mouth)

I think the longer-term players here have a tendency to listen a bit more deeply from a mixing/sound design perspective and score better, but a good majority of people tend to underscore those types of songs due to the lack of melodic content.

[HitEmTrue]

I said screw it and spent 4 solid days working on this. Now I can get some REAL work done. But I'll be damned if I wasn't going to enter this contest.

I've been here long enough to know you couldn't resist.

[psmacmur]

The new version is MUCH better. I love the new rave lead, the track has a TON of power now, and my wife was quite impressed when she overheard me listening to it. You should definitely walk away from it for awhile... wish I was fast enough to get a track that far this early and come back a week later... and, when you do come back, I recommend working on transitions and flow, especially in the first third.

Here's my latest mixdown...

[SoundGoddess]

The new version is MUCH better. I love the new rave lead, the track has a TON of power now, and my wife was quite impressed when she overheard me listening to it. You should definitely walk away from it for awhile... wish I was fast enough to get a track that far this early and come back a week later... and, when you do come back, I recommend working on transitions and flow, especially in the first third.

Here's my latest mixdown...

Cool, I really appreciate your feedback. yeah I think I need to shelve it for awhile so i can listen to it again later with fresh ears.

[ontrackp]

Here's take 2 of my song idea, I think I added about six more instances of MPowerSynth. Tried to fatten up the bass drum and the bassline a bit, added some new elements, kicked the melody in a little earlier.

Thanks for everyone's feedback and encouragement, I do greatly appreciate it

https://soundcloud.com/soundgoddess008/ ... powersynth

I'm not an EDM hater, but I am easily bored by repetition of the same thing over and over and over and over. You have good sounds, there is a good feel, but there is so much repetition that I would give this only a 2, basically for lack of creativity. Sorry, but it's easy to repeat the same thing over and over with minor variations and the occasional overlay. I think you need:
- harmonic and melodic development
- progression of beginning to middle to end with a satisfying payoff

Ask yourself what is the emotional perspective -- or what is the story you are telling with this song?

If the genre you are in makes allowances for lengthy repetition, then I think you're fine. And maybe this would be a huge hit in dance clubs. However, to be competitive in the OSC, I think you need to rethink the overall concept. Figure out what you want to say with this, come up with some more diverse and thematic parts, don't repeat the same two chords over and over and over unless you have a really good reason to do so, and make it shorter. Producing an engaging 5 min + song is difficult. If you keep it to three minutes and cut some of the repetitions I think you would do much better, and would leave us wanting more, instead of wanting less. If you cut this version in half it would be much more listenable to me.

Sorry -- I don't mean to be harsh, but if you listen to the tracks that are submitted in this contest, you will hear lots of well thought out and musically detailed songs. Not just the winners, but across the board.

And for what it's worth, I never enter the OSC with the goal of getting a high score. I try to follow the path that the synth of the month sends me on and try to proceed with creative integrity. The OSC gives me a chance to flex my creative muscles, learn something new and get feedback from other (some very accomplished) electronic music producers. The process of completing a piece and interacting with other like minded composer /producers is very satisfying and it's fascinating to hear the work of the very talented participants.

Last but not least I would like to say that the overall production of this is very much improved from your previous entries. I suggest you should back off the dynamic compression (and aggressive EQ?) a little and give the mix some breathing room, but your improvement is dramatic.