[Ascension]

Experimental/dubby chill track I just made. Lemme know what you guys think, I think it's pretty cool :):

http://soundcloud.com/ascensionsound/ascension-voices-below

[edais]

Yay!  Experimental is good!  I definitely like what you were experimenting with.  Some interesting stuff going on at times…good delay effects, and some sounds trail off very nicely.  The atmospheric stuff is clearer than I've heard in your tracks before.  Thumbs up for that.

If there was anything this track needed, I'd say glaringly it would be work done to the bass and kick.  The bass seems to cut off quickly, so I'd mess with the envelope maybe?  Specifically the decay and release…moreso the release.  Bass volume needs to go up too!  The kick is flabby and I don't know why.  Could be the sound itself, otherwise, do you compress it?  From my experience, it's not usually a good idea to, but I guess it depends on the sound you're going for.   One thing you could do is lengthen out the decay and release of the bass and put a little compression on IT (very low attack, slightly longer release, maybe…2 – 4 on the ratio?), then sidechain it to your kick.  This will make sure there is always bass presence in absence of the kick, making the lower end of your track fuller….don't know if you already do stuff like that though.  If you do, you just need to tweak it some.  Also important to note, that this is not necessary per say, because you are dealing with mainly bass hits on the offbeats and a low tempo.  Might help though… screw around with it.  

Good job. 🙂

[Ascension]

Thanks for listening and the response Phil.

I spent time making sure the bass sounds exactly how i wanted it to actually. I just use it as a “bump” sound, which is why it's usually just a 1/16th note on an offbeat. The release is short for the sake of headroom/space for the other sounds to come in. It's not meant to have much presence in the track (I think it sounds good with a sub in the system too, I basically didn't want the other sounds getting taken over in that case). Side chaining would take a lot of the roundness out of the bass that I liked, so I'm not sure i'd do that. I also change where the bass notes are at (some are on the beat the kick is on) so that might not sound the best.

I didn't compress the kick at all. It's a techno kick so there's a bit of resonance on it and I put a small amount of a small room reverb on it. I was using the kick more like another percussion instrument (like a tom) since that can get in the way of other sounds too on a bigger system/with a sub.

Most of how I mix my downtempo stuff comes from hearing it on bigger speakers than my monitors so I try to avoid the kick and bass from being too loud and drowning out the other sounds. I generally keep my kick and bass quieter because I don't have a lot of room between my other sounds.

[edais]

Oook.  Well, you're the ultimate decider.  Might just be my speakers/headphones then.  I understand not wanting other sounds to get drowned out.  But it sounds to me like the bass gets ultimately drowned out.  And about the release, if you notice, towards the beginning of the track there is a popping sound at the end of the bass hits where it cuts off.  Can you set the curve of the release with your bass instrument?  Because then you could set a really sharp concave curve with some release and it would get rid of that while still allowing the headroom you think it's going to take away from.  Personally, I just roll off the highs of my bass anyway so it doesn't interfere with most sounds.  Fortunately, it's really only noticeable when the bass is exposed, so you could just work on those sections individually if you really want to.  Anyway…

[Ascension]

The bass is just a saw wave in zebra with a lp filter. I could change the envelope amount on the filter, but not the curve.

I think with this style it's more fitting to have the bass further back in the mix. I can hear what you mean by saying it gets sort of drowned out, but I still think it sounds better back in the mix. I kind of think of it like having little pockets here and there where the bass sound can come through more so it moves your attention around from sound to sound without one being overly present the whole time.

I'm basically trying to teeter on movement with sounds and a chilled out overall feel- if that makes any sense.

[edais]

Sure!  🙂

[Ascension]

In case you couldn't tell, I thought about a lot of this while making the track 🙂

[zensphere]

I wonder how a soft open hat on the off-beats would change the feel of this track. It might make for a more flowing chilled-out vibe…

Nice work with the sounds in this one, Kevin!

Some real nice timbres going on.

I feel like the percussive elements could use a little more love, though. They sound somewhat dry and characterless in comparison to the rest of the piece, IMO…

I like the tension between light and dark soundworlds in this piece, too.

Nice work man!

[djgruv05]

Great track, Kevin. I'll listen to it, when I am relaxing. ;D

[Ascension]

I wonder how a soft open hat on the off-beats would change the feel of this track. It might make for a more flowing chilled-out vibe…

Nice work with the sounds in this one, Kevin!

Some real nice timbres going on.

I feel like the percussive elements could use a little more love, though. They sound somewhat dry and characterless in comparison to the rest of the piece, IMO…

I like the tension between light and dark soundworlds in this piece, too.

Nice work man!

Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely check those out.

I've found out that a lot of criticism I've gotten for some tracks, while might not work well for the track they're written, have definitely helped out in future works, so even if I don't think they'd fit into what I posted I really appreciate hearing different ideas and suggestions on what to do with my music. Thank you again Joseph and everyone who gives me feedback. Soon I will be able to make 1 million dollars with my music :p

[Ascension]

Rather than starting another thread, I'll post my other experimental track here too:

http://soundcloud.com/ascensionsound/ascension-eternity

108 bpm, gonna get some love in my next liveset for sure :).

[Author]

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