Original Message 1/37                 Date: 25-Sep-01  @  01:54 AM   -   Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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I'm looking for some feedback on my newest tune, "Day Turns Into Night."...Especially regarding the arrangement and whether the vocoded vocals should come in sooner...Also what genre would you label it? Thanks very much for your help

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Message 2/37                 Date: 25-Sep-01  @  07:15 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

k

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dunno mate - it's definately a reggea feel tho isn't it.

___________________________________

I had an idea for a script once. It's basically Jaws except when the guys in the boat are going after Jaws, they look around and there's an even bigger Jaws. The guys have to team up with Jaws to get Bigger Jaws.... I call it... Big Jaws!!!

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Message 3/37                 Date: 25-Sep-01  @  07:16 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

k

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the vocals are great by the way - what's doing that?

___________________________________

I had an idea for a script once. It's basically Jaws except when the guys in the boat are going after Jaws, they look around and there's an even bigger Jaws. The guys have to team up with Jaws to get Bigger Jaws.... I call it... Big Jaws!!!

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Message 4/37                 Date: 26-Sep-01  @  02:43 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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Believe it or not that's my Virus b's vocoder! And it gets such a bad rep...all it takes is a little tweakin'. Yeah it definitely has a reggae feel with the chords on the offbeat

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Message 5/37                 Date: 27-Sep-01  @  06:40 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

panama

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sounds good man! I dug the strum rake
sound! quirky and fun - nice melody.

From a mixing point: the bass levels aren't
right. The bassline has too much low end to it.

If your having probs, get a pair of hi-quality
headphones, and they will treat you right...
Acoustically, the bass needs a bigger speaker
than a near field to master, but from what I've
learned and heard, a pair of Sony MDR-7506
will level the bass things out...

Sony has a way of using your head and body
to form a consistent bass level, and it's so
acurate, its blows me away.

Another idea for figuring the bass problem out,
is if you use a sub woofer in your mix, or a
near field that goes below 50hz (acurately)...
You might have a mis-placed woofer in your
room or your room acoustically is drowning
out the low end frequencies... Move your gear
into a kitchen or a place rather than the one
your working in. Something that is big, and
has a high ceiing... your compensation for
leaving the low end big, could be the problem.

oh, and the mdr's aren't good at loud
volumes... so if you turn them up, it sounds
like shit - preventive measures by the Japs.

chinaski

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Message 6/37                 Date: 28-Sep-01  @  08:53 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

roller8

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Um, where exactly is this track at?

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Message 7/37                 Date: 28-Sep-01  @  11:39 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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It's right in the music section of this site...currently on the top 40 Reader's chart I think...Don't go to mp3.com cause that's just my old stuff

You have a good point about the mix being a little heavy in the low end. The thing is, I made other mixes/versions of this tune that were less bass heavy, and I didn't like them...The feel wasn't right to me.

Could it be that the fact that it sounds too bass-heavy to some is just a matter of opinion? Of course I think I remember hearing something about the kick should always have more low end than the bassline, and I don't think that I made sure of that in this mix...

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Message 8/37                 Date: 28-Sep-01  @  11:53 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

bedwyr

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dunno if that's so true about the kick/bassline thing, maybe the other way around?
s'ppose it depends on the style, drum&bass has a higher kick with loads of sub 4 the bass, always thought the kick hits you in the chest, bass in the bowels  ...

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Message 9/37                 Date: 29-Sep-01  @  02:42 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

LunarSeaWeapon

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sorry mate not my cup of tea!it sounds quite dated(home keyboard sounding)and lacks direction!!!!!

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Message 10/37                 Date: 29-Sep-01  @  04:58 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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Kick in the chest, bass in the bowels   those words are so true man. Thanks again all for your comments -- both the good and the bad. It's actually comforting to know that some people don't dig it because I'd rather stay underground than go mainstream...appeal to the select rather than the masses ;)

BTW Lunar I checked your Monkeys Track to return the favor...the beat is nice at first, but unfortunately it is way too stagnant and repetitious for my taste. To be blunt it sounds like a 7:30 minute intro to me. Percussive tracks are nice when they are done right -- i.e., interesting fills and rhythmic changeups -- but your's was just seriously lacking this as well as originality sorry bud

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Message 11/37                 Date: 29-Sep-01  @  11:59 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

xoxos

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make a mental note to ignore anything i ever post lunacy w if dated isn't your thing  

kick lower than bass? where are you hearing these fairy tales sensoniq?

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Message 12/37                 Date: 29-Sep-01  @  12:54 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

xoxos

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i think the 'home keyboard sound' is due to your tendency to not quantise. in lo-fi, where the rilliance of the sounds isn't as gripping, it's emphasized. personally i wonder how much quantising would really harm your tracks  

that said, i'll say the other thing you know.. big sensoniq fan here.. i loooove melodic phrasing, and this track has the same easily perceptible feel for interplay between parts thye all do.. reiterating for the benefit of others.. you've got a great sense of a unity of motion.. it's not emphasized in this track, but sensoniq has a habit of taking a phrase and putting it together with several parts. the way the swirlies come in at the break demonstrates sheer apprehension of interplay.

i'd like to see the day when you settle down a bit and put more time into it tohugh.. but why should you when there's so many nice grooves to put down. could be my imagination but on this one i'm thinking the high saw part is the basis on which other parts were built and could use more.. ?? articulation of some kind.

don't feel anyhting dated (apart from maybe the quantisation effect) melodies and harmonies are energy and always feel utterly Now when they come together (the way you tend to make them, over and over again) i feel like i'm moving through an aesthetogenic universe.. different keys add to the sense of motion.

sorry about this butt kissing, but if you must, you must.

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Message 13/37                 Date: 30-Sep-01  @  12:16 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

LunarSeaWeapon

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i cant understand why peoplewould want to make music which sounds dated xoxos???surly the idea is to create some thing cutting edge!!!

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Message 14/37                 Date: 30-Sep-01  @  03:13 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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Hey Loony Tune are you blind? xoxos just said he didn't hear anything dated in my track, so don't be asking him a question about that with three question marks at the end got it??? Save it for your post dude...Sheesh, you sure got an itchy trigger finger on these posts Yosemite!

xoxos you have a good point about quantization...Right now I set the quantized timing to about 50% so that there is still some human feel left in the track, but maybe it's time to quantize everything out the wazoo. The high saw melody was actually one of the final additions, just before the vox. You are right, I should've played around with it more...like vary it up a little each time

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Message 15/37                 Date: 30-Sep-01  @  03:56 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

LunarSeaWeapon

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so what did he mean by "make a mental note to ignore anything i ever post lunacy w if dated isn't your thing   " .that seems to imply that the stuff he makes sounds dated!
i think your a little bit too touchy mate chill out!!!!

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Message 16/37                 Date: 30-Sep-01  @  07:55 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

milan

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Sensoniq, nice happy track mate. especially like the vocal, and no, i dont think that it should come in earlier. this way its kinda like the iceing on the cake, ya know?  

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Message 17/37                 Date: 30-Sep-01  @  11:11 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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yeah that's what I thought too, which is why I saved the vox for the end...

Thanks for everyone's comments...I won't be offended if we just let this thread die as it seems to have been pirated by Captain Loony Sea Weapon. Arr shiver me timbers I hope you're proud of yerself Lunatic

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Message 18/37                 Date: 01-Oct-01  @  12:52 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

xoxos

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cutting edge cutting edge give it a rest. it's all part of the palate/palette really. the sound i'm going for is cutting edge but it's also dated. i particularly love the sound of 40's big bands, exotica, bossa nova and new wave. in that order exactly. i want sounds that feel old and new. i need both for my aspirations.

yes. imagine ellingtonia performed by the astral body of the computer from neuromancer, which could beat up the computer from the matrix in a fight.

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Message 19/37                 Date: 01-Oct-01  @  04:15 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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seen. I think the moral here is dated schmated...One man's junk is another man's treasure...that sorta thing

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Message 20/37                 Date: 01-Oct-01  @  06:04 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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xoxos I can mail you a free demo CD of these tunes plus other choice {"melodica" picks, hifi of course  ...even classics like Pink Yellow Sunset. Email me from my mp3.com page if you are interested

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Message 21/37                 Date: 01-Oct-01  @  10:04 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

xoxos

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dddd d dd dd d dd d d d d d dd d d dd d d d dd d d d dd d d d d dd d dd d d dd d dd d d d dd d ddd dd d dd d d dd dd d dd d d d d ddo do d do o o o o do do do do d o o o do do do o o do o o o do dod o do o do o do do do o o o o o oooo ooo on n on on on n oon n n nn n nn n n nnnnn n n n nn n n n n n n n n n e enen ene enee ene ene e ee e e e e e emee e e e ee e e e ee! ! ee e e e !!! !!! !! ! !! ! ! !! ! ! ! !!!! !!

cc aff c cc ca c c aa a a a f ff ff f f f ff e ef e fe e e ee eeieieeiieieiii nn nn n n n n n nn n e e e e ee e ee ee .ee.e e.e.ee....e. e... . . . . . .

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Message 22/37                 Date: 01-Oct-01  @  12:21 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

pat_magrath

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got a around to listening to a few tracks.....really like ur feel for the groove spot dude...some day im gonna get into these melodic tracks when i got some spare time and shit....i like the way ur head thinks with the music aswell...its quite a friggen art to make a track like that! keep pumpin the shit for the people! .......... respect

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Message 23/37                 Date: 01-Oct-01  @  12:24 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

pat_magrath

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another thing....u got me goin round the house humming the notes to that track...so it definately left a lasting impression...which is a fucking good thing.....

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Message 24/37                 Date: 03-Oct-01  @  01:29 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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Thanks for the props Pat...

For those of you who missed Day Into Night check out my newest tune "Rhythm vs. Melody", a track that pitts these two elements against one another

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Message 25/37                 Date: 03-Oct-01  @  10:41 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

xoxos

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quantised!!! and liking that. feels like it should be twice as long.. got me smiling in seconds after the bass hit but some of the transitions seemed to beg for being more drawn out. course who cares about that if you get to go through 25 different grooves on one cd? feelgood album of the year i'll bet.

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Message 26/37                 Date: 03-Oct-01  @  05:47 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

sensoniq

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Yes quantized...glad you noticed! Of course once it's
quantized, I find that the hardest thing to do is to set the
track delay time for audio tracks that have been
converted from MIDI...I guess because of latency or
whatever, the audio track is always a few milliseconds
off from its corresponding midi track and it sometimes
takes a valiant effort fiddling with the "track delay" to find
that sweet spot again...If you listen carefully you'll notice
that one of the 4-bar string phrases is a little bit rushed
because I didn't do the track delay right, or at least it
sounds that way to me.

Thanks for the compliments xoxos. In all honesty
though, do you think the melodies are too simple and
cheesy? I had much more intricate ideas in my head but
I decided to just keep it simple with one simple 4-chord
progression. I guess in the end it's a matter of
preference -- some prefer simplicity and others prefer
intricate melodies...Maybe it's time to just go all out on
the next one...

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Message 27/37                 Date: 03-Oct-01  @  05:48 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

sensoniq

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Oh by the way I'll have your feelgood album of the year
in the mail by Friday... 

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Message 28/37                 Date: 03-Oct-01  @  05:53 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

bedwyr

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um, record ur midi stuff (like a kick) then play the audio and midi at the same time & set the delay for least phasing ? - dunno if this is a logic/cubase thing

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Message 29/37                 Date: 03-Oct-01  @  06:08 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

sensoniq

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Good idea bedwyr thanx...I never realized the obvious
like that and that method sounds like it should do the
trick (I use VST)...

Of course sometimes when layering audio tracks for
thickness (i.e., say a string section) a little bit of phasing
can be a good thing because it can make the sound a
bit richer in the right spot...can't it?

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Message 30/37                 Date: 03-Oct-01  @  11:14 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

xoxos

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too cheesy for me? hmm.. right now i'm thinking my 'sounds most like..' is going to be erasure, helen reddy and old english rounds where each line ends in an "-o."

had a dream a long time ago where i was playing some of my imaginary music at a party and everybody liked it tho it had cheesy lines, because it kept moving.. i realised that sometimes the instinct to fight the 'cheesy note progression' factor ends up killing some good, or at least personally important songs. i thought the track was underdeveloped, but maybe fighting that would kill what might be a more important 'do another track' factor for you.

sometimes you have a melody and you can squeeze in notes or transpose or turn a bit around, but sometimes it's best left to be what it is.

a question on latency - my computer's so crap i'm going to do one instrumental audio only.. (plus my sysex experiments have killed the main patch in my song twice - that can really be a damper) does each take have different latency? if not, why don't you just have a dummy first audio track so the latency on all successive tracks is the same??

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Message 31/37                 Date: 04-Oct-01  @  02:33 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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I could swear that sometimes I have to set the audio track delay to a positive value and other times to a negative value...But now I'm worried that could just be my perception? Now that I know how to test the latency definitively I guess there's only one way to find out...

You hit the nail on the head, man...Writing new tracks makes me very happy; working on pre-existing tracks does not. It's like the excitement of what I'm gonna think of next is too irresistible to bother with anything else, know what I mean?

But, creativity does come in spurts and I seem to be on a plateau ever since the WTC...although I'm sure the trough is not far down the road...When it arrives I hope to still have all my original files cause that'll be the down time to work on them

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Message 32/37                 Date: 04-Oct-01  @  03:16 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

damballah

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hey, sensi, you on a mac or a pc?

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Message 33/37                 Date: 04-Oct-01  @  03:31 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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PC...500 mhz PIII w/ creamware pulsar

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Message 34/37                 Date: 04-Oct-01  @  03:54 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

damballah

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ok, you should be able to go into your asio multimedia setup that you ran when you first installed it, click advanced. You'll see a column for your setup that'll tell you the buffer size in samples, say XXX samples (write it down). Now launch Cubase, go to options menu, audio setup, system. In the lower left, there's midi to audio delay. Set that to -XXX samples (the number you got from your setup). click ok. to test it take a 4/4 kick pattern and copy it to both a midi track and a vst instrument track (you have lm9 or some soft drum smapler, right?). they should now sound in unison with no flamming. that way you shouldn't have to fool with individual track delays.

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Message 35/37                 Date: 04-Oct-01  @  09:33 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Jasper

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I really like this, it's got a nice sort of breathing feel to it.

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Message 36/37                 Date: 05-Oct-01  @  01:58 AM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

monkeyboy

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i have to agree this tune does sound a little dated, but so fuckin what? superbly arranged imo, great fun...definate reggae groove going on...reminded me a bit of black uhuru stuff. the name kind of fits too. i rate the vocoder at the end. keep up the good work=)

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Message 37/37                 Date: 05-Oct-01  @  07:53 PM   -   RE: Please critique my new track

Sensoniq

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Thanks guys, when I'm writing tunes sometimes I get a little frustrated that I don't have any artists to really compare it too (not sure who it will appeal to), but at least you guys like it...That definitely helps keep me chuggin on...Aww group hug eww just kidin' ;)

damballah thnx for the track delay advice -- I'm gonna go test it now then start a new tune and hopefully not have to worry about setting those damn track delays!

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