retro dance track - recycling of some ideas

[tomtom1]

Hi folks,
down there you find some leftovers of my previous "dance-track"... I still like it. What do you think?
The mix is unfortunately flat like pancake... still... And maybe the bass is too dominant?
Like always: be "brutal" honest... That's the only way to learn something. Have a nice day! Greetings tomtom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrGl8QnmvZ8

[layzer]

good retro electro. i dug the composition, sounds and mix.
very enjoyable! got multi plays from me.

[tomtom1]

Thanks for listening. To be honest: it was never intended to sound "retro" - but i just don't like most of the new synth sounds, too aggressive in my ears. So most sounds are made again with the 20 year old subtractor synth of propellerheads (it's only mono)... So it sounds automatically not that modern...

[layzer]

i just don't like most of the new synth sounds, too aggressive in my ears.

i hear ya there!

i can take modern sounds in small doses
but my heart is into the old retro 80's sounds
especially the bass and electronic drums.

[ChameleonMusic]

Good tunes in there that weave around each other effectively - enjoyed it!

Overall the mix seemed reasonably balanced...very listenable, but yeah, it's definitely 'flat' and 'narrow'!

[tomtom1]

[...] very listenable, but yeah, it's definitely 'flat' and 'narrow'!

Hello Mark, thanks for your comment. I really appreciate that you take the time to listen to all that different stuff on KVR and to my little noobish tracks and also to write a comment. But "flat" AND "NARROW" ... ... to read that: it hurts this time like a slap in the face. But the bad thing is you're so damn right. And i don't know how to solve the problem yet (a lot of problems i think is causing the synth i use - it's only mono - i didn't figured it out how to widen a mono-signal).

To anyone who maybe reads that: any ideas to solve this is a not too complicated way?? ... now i will go underground and will not post a track again, until i even get a little depth and width to it...

[ChameleonMusic]

[...] very listenable, but yeah, it's definitely 'flat' and 'narrow'!

Hello Mark, thanks for your comment. I really appreciate that you take the time to listen to all that different stuff on KVR and to my little noobish tracks and also to write a comment. But "flat" AND "NARROW" ... ... to read that: it hurts this time like a slap in the face. But the bad thing is you're so damn right. And i don't know how to solve the problem yet (a lot of problems i think is causing the synth i use - it's only mono - i didn't figured it out how to widen a mono-signal).

To anyone who maybe reads that: any ideas to solve this is a not too complicated way?? ... now i will go underground and will not post a track again, until i even get a little depth and width to it...

Apologies for causing any music tech angst! Never my intention...

One simple truth when mixing... FLAT and NARROW are always strongly connected... I don't have the time to explain that in depth, but the simple fact is that effective use of stereo spread has a significant effect on the sound stage from front to back!

As, I said, the mix is very listenable and balanced in many ways.

Mono synths and other sound sources... There is no inherent problem here with either DEPTH or WIDTH whatsoever... All my tracks have various parts in mono from time to time - vocals, bass, gtrs etc etc to help them sit in a mix correctly...

Width - just pan 'em... In a balanced way and generally not to wide unless for a specific reason.

Depth - various techniques I mentioned before will work just as well on mono sounds... Variation in levels of certain sorts of reverb... EQ settings... Volume... Pan position etc

EDIT: Have you got your stereo master output set to mono?

Just asking as I've just had another listen whilst sweeping across your mix from extreme left to extreme right and apart from the expected volume 'bump' in the centre everything sounds exactly the same at various pan positions to me.

[ChameleonMusic]

NOTE: just tell me to 'go shove it' at any time if this all starts to piss you off!

Ran your track through some stereo analysis and it came out a little weird...

First 30 seconds looks like this:

First 30 seconds.png

So 100% identical on either side that I would call this 'DUAL MONO' rather than proper STEREO

Compare it to the first 30 seconds of one of my recent tracks...

30 secs ChamMusic.png

Each side has a certain balance to it, but they are not identical at all...as it should be most of the time in most music.

However, the plot thickens as just after the 60 second mark, your piece changes suddenly and dramatically in terms of its STEREO...both sides are then quite different indeed!

Don't know what's happening as I don't have your DAW files, but it is definitely a little unusual...hopefully this might help you analyse it?

[tomtom1]

NOTE: just tell me to 'go shove it' at any time if this all starts to piss you off!

oh hello mark,
I hope you didn't take this "flat and narrow thing" too seriously . Some Sentences for explantion:
someone writes: flat and narrow - my mind reads: dull and lifeless - or: cheap and amateur. But on the other hand i have no serious ambitions with my "dance"-music; I registered in the hope i could "learn" something or see something new - oh and i learned a lot. I'm a through and through classical musician, studied years (way too long... ) to reproduce organ / choir music in the "historical correct way" - and i have the possibility to earn money with it - even in the pandemic. So you can say anything about my pop-music... but if someone will criticize my interpretation of J.S.Bachs Toccata - that would cause a serious fight

Now back to the track... that's really weird - i think it's the non-existing panning. About 60sec i panned something left and right - for the first time - yey. Next time, when i come back from underground- i will pan more - and better. And i'm looking forward for any further help. Thanks for your time!

[ChameleonMusic]

I hope you didn't take this "flat and narrow thing" too seriously

Nope...don't take anything very seriously on KVR any more really.

someone writes: flat and narrow - my mind reads: dull and lifeless - or: cheap and amateur.

Nope - I just meant FLAT and NARROW...you need to disengage that classical musician approach here and activate ya 'Producer' mode!

As a classically trained musician myself I can see how those terms might come across differently...I

Try these for size...first in the world of classical music and then in the world of Music Technology...

Modulation // Polyphonic // Chorus // Phase // Solo // Monophonic // Parallel etc etc etc...

[tomtom1]

you need to disengage that classical musician approach here and activate ya 'Producer' mode!

ha ha ... i will try it!