KVR Audio

zircon · Post by **zircon** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 3:25 am

This is specifically modelled after the tracks TaQ did for various DDR mixes, such as Holic and Stoic. So, I don't really claim this to be my own idea, but I did want to practice the drum and synth style he used for myself. Just wondering if I could get some feedback.

http://www.soundtempest.net/z/zircon%20-%20cide.mp3

(not a creative name, I know)

Thanks in advance!

lindseyp · Post by **lindseyp** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 11:48 am

Phew... that squelchy lead is painful. I was so happy when it stopped at 1:08.

I don't know the artist you reference, but sounds like a CD I have. Way too manic for my tastes, but if I were you I'd asssert more control over the filters, they sound a bit random. And the filter on the main squelcher goes too high up IMHO.

sailorboy · Post by **sailorboy** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 2:16 pm

wow man your track rock a lot. i like it so much

sailorboy · Post by **sailorboy** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 2:17 pm

hey , it's too short

hlmst · Post by **hlmst** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 2:42 pm

no offence but IMO sounds bedroomish, unrefined and rather unpleasant.

zircon · Post by **zircon** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 4:40 pm

No offense taken. but it would be helpful if you could be more specific on what you didn't like - and perhaps if you could explain the term "bedroomish", because I'm not familiar with it.

I normally don't use squelch leads like that, but I'm pretty proud of this one specifically as it fits in the way I intended it to - I've heard similar leads in various acid house and psy/goatrance songs, and keep in mind this is a stylistic emulation. I actually did exert quite a bit of 'control' over the filter, which is actually two filters (northpole and the p-600 filter), both of which were automated the whole time. I can understand why you wouldn't like the sound though.

quincy · Post by **quincy** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 4:50 pm

Could do with some work on the mix perhaps, the bass and kick merge together too much. Sounds very un-processed, but that may be the intention.

Good psytrance type sounds though i'd say

mindflux · Post by **mindflux** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 5:08 pm

Yep, I also give your track a listen and here are some of my thoughts.

First of all, I'm very much into this type of non-stop hypnotic (whatever!) psytrance myself, and as such, your track was great stuff. So don't get me wrong if I only point out some negative points.

Generally speaking, your track sounds kinda old-fashioned to me, but maybe that was your intention? The main culprit are the sounds, which are kinda weak imo.

Like someone pointed out above, you could also consider some further processing. Especially the lead is too harsh sounding and too plastic, if that's the word. There's a lot of good movement going on especially with the filter, but more variation would be cool. Maybe use a bp-filter or alike in a classic psytrance tradition? Also, maybe you could consider introducing a second voice to support the lead (with filter movement etc)?

Nice maniac atmosphere btw. A big thumbs up!

lindseyp · Post by **lindseyp** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 5:46 pm

I'd better clarify. Even though it was too manic for my tastes, I thought it was pretty good overall!

It just didn't sound very polished. I think you could edit the filter controls afterwards to get them sounding much more intentional.

... and I do believe the resonance frequency went too high.. you could probably hold off at the 2/3 mark and it would sound great.

zircon · Post by **zircon** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:56 pm

Points well taken. I'll keep this in mind next time I try the genre. I can't say I've been a big follower of electronic music overall, so I don't think I intended for this to sound oldschool. As for the polish, any tips for that (besides the reso thing) would be appreciated. I think I used izotope Ozone to master this (only mastering software I have, but I don't always use it; sometimes I just manually EQ and compress stuff). Bass + kick frequencies bleeding is something I try hard to avoid, and I'll be the first to admit I'm still not great at that. I'll take your advice into consideration!

quincy · Post by **quincy** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 10:16 pm

zircon wrote:Points well taken. I'll keep this in mind next time I try the genre. I can't say I've been a big follower of electronic music overall, so I don't think I intended for this to sound oldschool. As for the polish, any tips for that (besides the reso thing) would be appreciated. I think I used izotope Ozone to master this (only mastering software I have, but I don't always use it; sometimes I just manually EQ and compress stuff). Bass + kick frequencies bleeding is something I try hard to avoid, and I'll be the first to admit I'm still not great at that. I'll take your advice into consideration!

Don't fret about not being too hot at mixing kick/bass, many people here(including me) would agree its a bloody difficult thing to get right.

If you figure the secret out please tell me!

Goa Head · Post by **Goa Head** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 10:27 pm

Cool.

I ,personally, think you need to ditch the delay on the kick drum when the bass comes in though.

Josmoker · Post by **Josmoker** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 10:41 pm

Hi Zircon,

Nice stuff, although I do agree that it sounds a bit 'old school'. The reason for that are mainly the drum sounds I would say. Hats, Snare, Bass Drum...
Maybe too much 909ish (I think that's the right number?

)
I would like hats and snare to sound 'tighter' for lack of a better word and the bass drum just needs to bang more and something else would help on it - at the moment it sounds a lot like just the sine wave with a pitch envelope. Some additional detail would help there methinks. Bassdrum is terribly hard to get right in psytrance, though...
Do try elogoxas Baxxpander in any case - I just love that it does to bass...
And keep trying, it can be a bit frustrating at times but it's worth it once you get there...

Cheers, Jo

TaQ-style psy/goatrance (DDR-ish)