My mixing, now with reverb. What do you think?

[Spring Goose]

I'm sure you're all trying to help, albeit different methods. "all your music is rubbish!" i wouldn't go into somebody's thread and say that.

[Gamma-UT]

If you know what you like and this is it, why are you asking other people for feedback when it upsets you?

Maybe you've created a new genre and everyone else is wrong. It's a possibility.

[vurt]

their comments are on them, how you choose to reply is on you

wags may go a bit far sometimes, but he is trying to help. in his own way
he just wants you to push yourself.
if you look past his turn of phrase, you will see that im sure.

you do seem like youre willing to listen, and ypure reading up on some good fundamentals with the rick snoman book.
dont be so defensive (even to aggressors) and try to take onboard suggestions as just that, suggestions, not people telling you what to do.
then you decide which suggestions work for you

[Passing Bye]

I need to rework all of my songs, regard arrangement, length, interest/excitement. I know that, but i said i'll do it in my own time. I'm thinking about it. I can't do things which i don't know how to do. In the meantime you told me to carry on putting my songs up here.

You're going to find it easier going through life if you don't find passive-aggressive ways to misinterpret people – especially when they have good intentions.

The bold bit is the problem.

From what I can tell, you're making some grand assumptions about the way dance music works and because of them, you've gone piling up a blind alley full-throttle.

I've played through a few of the pieces posted here and they have one fundamental issue: they don't groove. I get the impression you're looking at making these tracks as though it's just assembling a kit of parts. Four-on-floor beat, percussion 1, percussion 2, hats, arp, bass. Stick them all together, do some mixing and bingo! Dance magic.

The fact you've got X hundred tracks is a symptom of this. The unfortunate reality is that music of any kind but dance more than anything relies on the interplay between elements. Move things around and they either work or don't work. Rick Snoman's old videos (or Mr Bill or someone like that for more recent stuff) are instructive because of the sheer amount of arse-grinding attention to detail they use. Sometimes they'll agonise over the micro-placement of elements only to then throw them away because it wasn't quite working.

You're focused on surface details (post more tracks, post fewer tracks, pan this, EQ that) when the core question you need to answer is: does this groove? If it's not grooving, why not? If you remove things, does it groove better? If you move things around, does it groove better? And it's not simply a matter of applying swing or a groove template (though that might help).

Once you've got that, things like arrangement and mixing are going to come a lot more easily because the moves will to some extent suggest themselves in terms of "need more tension here", "need to make it more laid back there". Right now, your arrangements seem almost random (like the dub one, which just seems to stop and start for no reason).

Try to work out how Marcel Dettman can combine a kick with some background noise and still have something that's danceable (hint: there are tiny elements that follow the kick that make it sound as though it's bouncing in some way). It's not a skill anyone learns overnight (should they wish to). Maybe you think this stuff is easy because the final sound seems so basic and simple. It isn't. Simple but good is frickin' hard.

Don't know who disliked it or why, but this is really great advice, spot on!

[Spring Goose]

their comments are on them, how you choose to reply is on you

wags may go a bit far sometimes, but he is trying to help. in his own way
he just wants you to push yourself.
if you look past his turn of phrase, you will see that im sure.

you do seem like youre willing to listen, and ypure reading up on some good fundamentals with the rick snoman book.
dont be so defensive (even to aggressors) and try to take onboard suggestions as just that, suggestions, not people telling you what to do.
then you decide which suggestions work for you

Thanks Vurt.

[Spring Goose]

If you know what you like and this is it, why are you asking other people for feedback when it upsets you?

Maybe you've created a new genre and everyone else is wrong. It's a possibility.

I'm just putting my songs on here because i can, and see what happens.

[empphryio]

Spring,
You wrote:
"I didn't want to model my tracks on Marcel Dettmann or another producer or another DJ's tracks."

I think you should spend some time quite purposely trying to sound like others. Doing so is a much quicker way to learn. It doesn't mean you will have sacrificed originality. It's just like learning to talk. First you mimic. Not doing so can often be like trying to re-invent the wheel. And then the steam engine, etc. It's going to take a lot longer to get good that way.

[wagtunes]

their comments are on them, how you choose to reply is on you

wags may go a bit far sometimes, but he is trying to help. in his own way
he just wants you to push yourself.
if you look past his turn of phrase, you will see that im sure.

you do seem like youre willing to listen, and ypure reading up on some good fundamentals with the rick snoman book.
dont be so defensive (even to aggressors) and try to take onboard suggestions as just that, suggestions, not people telling you what to do.
then you decide which suggestions work for you

It's called tough love, the kind I needed.

Should I post some of the comments I've received over the many years I've been here? The best one was Brainsiztor's. I should go find it. It was a classic.

Granted, I still have a long ways to go, but I have improved a lot over the last 6 years. And the only reason I did was because I got sick and tired of people telling me that my music and mixes sucked.

Maybe that tact won't work with him. I don't know.

Anyway, I've said my peace and I'm done. He can now do whatever he likes. My conscience is clear.

[jancivil]

Stravinsky actually taught that the best way not only to learn, but to compose was to find a model to work from.

I reserve judgment on quality almost always. What I heard was one bar loops for drums, no variation, over and over again, so no interest is going to accrue for me, no reason to pursue a critique. But that’s not different per se than things people apparently buy, and en masse.
IDK what the goal is.

None of this shit grooves if you ask me.

[Spring Goose]

What I heard was one bar loops for drums, no variation, over and over again

like techno. it is techno. i said it's techno.

[Passing Bye]

This grooves tho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqz8c4ZP3Wg

[wagtunes]

This grooves tho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqz8c4ZP3Wg

Not listening to 2 hours of techno but oh yes does that groove. All the subtle nuances. If I charted this song second by second and wrote down all the subtle changes, it would probably take me 2 hours just to go through the first 3 minutes of the song.

The OP really needs to listen to this as much as possible, the way things come in and go out, the drops, the breakdowns, the whole thing. This is absolutely one of the best techno pieces I have heard. The vocals especially are so cool.

Thank you for sharing this.

THIS is great Techno.

In the meantime, I'm about 5 minutes in and can't turn it off. I am REALLY going to hate you if I listen to the whole 2 hours.

[Passing Bye]

Enjoy, it's worth it, awesome set!

[wagtunes]

Enjoy, it's worth it, awesome set!

Still going 8 minutes in. At some point I do have to turn this off because I have things to do.

[vurt]

it is pretty cool. but its not really "minimal"
at least not the bits i scanned.
the boris brecht video i mean.