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Xamanist - Am I the Universe - 140 bpm - Progressive Goa
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Xamanist
Xamanist
Started Topics :
49
Posts :
938
Posted : Jun 1, 2016 12:16:13
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Xamanist - Am I the Universe
From my upcoming album "7", full track mastered by Colin OOOD.
Is the Universe in me or am I the Universe?
Enjoy and comment please
Peace & Light
https://soundcloud.com/xamanist/xamanist-am-i-the-universe
  Sérgio Xamanist
facebook.com/xamanist
soundcloud.com/xamanist |
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RhinoCeros
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
28
Posts :
305
Posted : Jun 14, 2016 19:44
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i like that kick, Pumping nicely  overall the song is quit pleasant Nice production....
I think at 4:24 if you could add a sub bass EG the kicks are "doom" so EG:: 1doom 2doom then bass 3boom and 4boom
Doom doom; boom boom is what my imagination is seeing
Keep shining
Peace - Love - Light and Harmony :) |
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Xamanist
Xamanist
Started Topics :
49
Posts :
938
Posted : Jun 21, 2016 12:18
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Thanks! I can see you have a great imagination, do you create or mix psytrance?
Sérgio Xamanist
facebook.com/xamanist
soundcloud.com/xamanist |
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RhinoCeros
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
28
Posts :
305
Posted : Jun 21, 2016 20:18
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I like to try make tunes not typical psytrance though but i think i am always getting better with my productions .. As for djing not yet i did 12years ago. now i am trying to make some fat beats lol As for the imagination i like to dream Maybe i will dj again one day.
Keep making cool tunes
Peace - Love - Light and Harmony :) |
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Xamanist
Xamanist
Started Topics :
49
Posts :
938
Posted : Jul 7, 2016 12:25
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Good luck and inspiration for those fat beats
Sérgio Xamanist
facebook.com/xamanist
soundcloud.com/xamanist |
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RhinoCeros
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
28
Posts :
305
Posted : Jul 11, 2016 15:21
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Peace - Love - Light and Harmony :) |
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basefree
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
15
Posts :
49
Posted : Jul 11, 2016 17:02
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Hey. I listened to your track and a few things came to mind...
-You have a good intro pad (it contributes to the aesthetic of the track pretty well).
-The twang synth you introduce sounds underdeveloped. After listening to the whole track I would probably make it a little less fat, turn down the reso a bit, and eq out some of the highs to get it to fit with the background swirl arp and the freq theme of the kick/bass.
-You need less decay (maybe a little amp attack too) on the bassline and possibly more sidechained compression between the kick and the bass. Your low-end is missing both a little bit of thump and roll so I would play with that. I get that you're trying to make it subtle but it could still use those tweaks.
-The first twang composition is really poor.
-The gritty synth sound that comes after that seems really bland as well--not at all hooky or rhythmic and sounds very "stock oscillator"-like. It gets a little better over the next several bars but you could still make it sounds a lot better I think.
-When the twang sound come back in around 4:00 it sounds like it has way too much presence in the mix.
-I would put more stereo separation on the background arp at times. That would help hold the track together better and give it a boost to it's overall aesthetic--you might need to do some minor additional eq'ing to make that work.
Anyways, that's what came to mind. I think you nailed the overall mold, mix, and aesthetic about 80-85% but it still has a bit to go to get glued together better imo.
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Xamanist
Xamanist
Started Topics :
49
Posts :
938
Posted : Jul 13, 2016 17:02
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On 2016-07-11 17:02, basefree wrote:
Hey. I listened to your track and a few things came to mind...
-You have a good intro pad (it contributes to the aesthetic of the track pretty well).
-The twang synth you introduce sounds underdeveloped. After listening to the whole track I would probably make it a little less fat, turn down the reso a bit, and eq out some of the highs to get it to fit with the background swirl arp and the freq theme of the kick/bass.
-You need less decay (maybe a little amp attack too) on the bassline and possibly more sidechained compression between the kick and the bass. Your low-end is missing both a little bit of thump and roll so I would play with that. I get that you're trying to make it subtle but it could still use those tweaks.
-The first twang composition is really poor.
-The gritty synth sound that comes after that seems really bland as well--not at all hooky or rhythmic and sounds very "stock oscillator"-like. It gets a little better over the next several bars but you could still make it sounds a lot better I think.
-When the twang sound come back in around 4:00 it sounds like it has way too much presence in the mix.
-I would put more stereo separation on the background arp at times. That would help hold the track together better and give it a boost to it's overall aesthetic--you might need to do some minor additional eq'ing to make that work.
Anyways, that's what came to mind. I think you nailed the overall mold, mix, and aesthetic about 80-85% but it still has a bit to go to get glued together better imo.
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Thanks, I really liked your input and the time you took listening to it!
Feel free to check my other tracks here at the workshop forum
Sérgio Xamanist
facebook.com/xamanist
soundcloud.com/xamanist |
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basefree
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
15
Posts :
49
Posted : Jul 17, 2016 01:24
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Thanks, I really liked your input and the time you took listening to it!
Feel free to check my other tracks here at the workshop forum
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No worries man. I try to do my best to give some honest, detailed feedback. I hope it helped.
Do you want them reviewed? If so shoot me a link/links and I'll be happy to take a listen.
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Xamanist
Xamanist
Started Topics :
49
Posts :
938
Posted : Jul 17, 2016 16:53
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basefree
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
15
Posts :
49
Posted : Jul 18, 2016 00:23
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Ye man. Happy to review them. It's a nice break from production and I kind of want to see this part of the forum be a little bit more feedback-oriented anyways. Sorry for the long post but hopefully you'll find it well-organized.
Part 1:
- Low-end: The bassline is kind of mundane. To be honest it doesn't really seem like it has any real character to it. It's like you get hooked into it once it starts and then grow quickly disinterested in it as there isn't really a lot of complexity in the sound. There's a lot of cool stuff you can do to make basslines sound more interesting but for this one...I would start by bringing it out a bit more. It's got a nice drone to it but you kind of have to strain to hear it and if it was clearer in the mix I might be able to give you some better ideas on how to make it sound a bit more interesting. You can really see what I'm talking about around 3:53.
- In the intro you might consider doing something with just the percussion to lead into the track. A slight volume fade in doesn't really do justice to the track I think--after listening to it for a bit. The percussive effects in the beginning (especially the snare hits) could be a great intro if you worked with that a bit. (I realize now it's a preview lol so I'll have to wait and see what it is you decide to do with the intro).
- Percussion: I'd tighten up the hihats a little bit more. They sound like they have slightly too much decay on them--the ones hitting on the first two 16ths into the off-beat. And then around 1:43 they sound a bit too represssed. I know there aren't as many notes hitting during that slight break before the riffs come in but you might consider opening up the decay a bit at that point just the same to give that part some more body to it. There also aren't really any real percussive riffs outside of the running 16th notes with occasional breaks for the off-beat hi hat. One of the coolest things about percussion is that it's largely what connects the low-end to the high-end in terms of groove and rhythm. So the low-end provides a lot of groove and the leads provide a lot of trance and rhythm--percussion is cool because you can largely control the energy and mood of a track just by composing hihats/snares in between the generalized low-end and the more complicated leads. I'd try to play with creating more complicated percussion riffs as Psytrance is the most advanced form of music on the planet right now, it's 2016, and I feel people deserve more than just standard 16th-16th-off beat-16th riffs.
- Leads: The leads are probably your strong suit to be honest--but this is only the second track of yours I've listened to outside of what I downloaded on Ektoplazm a while back. I say this for two reasons: (1) They're synthesized/mixed well and (2) They complement each other very well in terms of aesthetic--gives all of your track a very clear style which is a plus. In this track there are a few reso sounding things that happen that I don't entirely understand...Around 3:25 for instance, that whole break, there is this weird reso effect that I don't entirely understand the purpose of. Your sounds are in general holistic/slightly squeegy so it almost doesn't make any sense to put in this kind of effect--it's counter to the theme of the leads of the track/the general aesthetic and doesn't happen often enough to warrant the argument of juxtaposition. Also the ending fm style chord synth could use a lot more presence. It doesn't have to be a speaker splitter but it could definitely have a lot more energy than it does. I'd just try eq'ing to find some nice body to the sound--ie: eq it down, as you've probably already done, then eq certain parts back up to get the type of body that you want.
- The hihats that are rolling in the beginning are quite nice.
- The snare could be mixed a little better.
- The reso effects around 2:05 could be a bit more dynamic. All your sounds could be a bit more dynamic in general but this effect in particular could "sound more like itself"--ie: sound slightly more digital which is what I think you are going for. It doesn't really sound like a synthesizing problem as much as that it could be nicer with maybe a light phaser (with automation), some harmonic eq'ing, and perhaps some cutoff/reso changes controlled by velocity to really get some more depth to the sound.
- Same concern about the bassline as the track above.
- I like that you bring the intro hihats back but you could lead into them instead of just dropping into it--especially because they're rolling the way they are and you almost need to introduce them a bar or two before.
- With this track I just feel like the overall vibe could be brought out a bit better. You got this kind of playful, carnival-like theme going on and this nice ethereal/digital complement happening but I don't feel like it's brought out very well. It's there but it's kind of just noticed and not really engaged or forced in a way that would really light up the listener I think. If you want to get into this point more...feel free to message me and I might have some more ideas.
- The high-end bass is nice here but you might want to cut some of the highs out a bit as it loses it's effectiveness/aggression after the first few bars. You could also automate it to make it go with the groove much better and give the track a bit more dynamic style to it.
- At 1:53 that high-end effect that sounds really mysterious and almost like a pad (it could actually be a pad depending on how you synthesized it) could have more presence in the track. I think it's too far in the background and played as an embellishment.
- You would do well to introduce hihats and not just drop into them--same as above. Both dropping and introducing have they're place but there are some times you should clearly introduce in my opinion. I'm thinking around 3:15. You introduce the hihats with a reverse crash and you could just keep the anticipation vibe going with an intro to the off-beat hats, a slight break, and then drop into the main rhythm--if you see what I'm saying?
- I really like the continuing groove that's still happening at 4:25--you played that for just the right amount of time.
- Still though...the percussion I feel is not really doing it's job. If you listen to the percussion in the first 2 seconds of the preview and see how much presence and drive it has--how much it actually contributes to the whole track--you can see where it falls short throughout the rest of the track. It's just kind of "there."
- Look at this snare's presence compared to the snare of the previous track and you'll get why I mentioned the snare with regard to the previous track.
- Come to think of it. In this track...the snare has too much body with respect to the off-beat hihats. It's like the 16ths are too "ticky" (too little decay), the off-beats are right where they should be, and the snare has too much body for the percussive section--not an overwhelming amount but it just seems like the snare doesn't really connect the two hihats very well. Check 3:41 and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. It sounds better in that mini-break after 3:41.
- As this is just a preview I would want to say that I like the main riff and groove that you've created but you gotta change it up effectively for an 8 minute track for that to work. So I would caution you about relying too heavily on that particular groove and would encourage you to both build UP from it and also come DOWN from it a couple times in the track--not just continuing on to a more advanced stage of the groove perpetually.
- You oddly enough might want to try some stereo separation the snare a bit no that I'm listening to it for like the fourth time. If you layered it. I would start with the low-mids of the snare and stereo-separate that first and see where that gets you. Then I might boost the high-ends of the snare a bit to harmonize with the off-beat hihat. That might sound better, idk.
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basefree
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
15
Posts :
49
Posted : Jul 18, 2016 00:23
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Part 2:
- Not enough bend on the bassline. It sounds truncated. If you're going to truncate it I would make the bend cut out quicker. If you wanted it to actually be a bended bassline I would extend the bend more. It sounds kind of awkward being not exactly in the middle but in any event kind of takes away from the groove.
- Right away I would bring out the snare more and cut some of the noise out of the noise-hat. The percussion works better in this track but that relationship between that hihat and the snare is kind of weird as they seem to be competing for the same frequency and, for that, I would cut some of the hihat out and boost the snare's presence slightly.
- I really like that wobbly synth in the beginning but feel like it could whip more--something to think about for future compositions. You could try messing with the attack on the filter envelope (if that's how you're whipping it), or the decay, or phaser speed automation, or auto-pan speed, or chopper depth/time, etc...there's lots of ways you could whip it more.
- The bass at 2:57 is probably the bass with the most character so far in this list...as far as that goes in terms of giving you a benchmark to see kind of what I'm saying. It could work better with the kick but it's still got more character as a bassline.
- The change in the lead around 4:23 needs to be more pronounced. I feel like there's just overall to much grit going on in this section and it helps to kind of spread the "type" of sound out to get things like complimentary sounds, juxaposition, counterpoint, easier/more creative eq'ing/mixing, etc...
- Is the intro for this preview the intro for the finished track?
- The percussion fits much, much better in this track btw--with the exception of when you bring in the noise hat. All the percussion apart from the noise hat fits really well together. I would consider getting rid of it entirely or really reducing it's presence and making it a percussive embellishment rather than an actual percussive element.
- The lead around the chanting is really well designed. It might benefit from some 1/4th ping pong but you can play with that and be the judge of that. I would also really like to see that sound automated in the following bars. It sounds good but it could be a lot better if you automated it and really played with it in the track. It's kind of a shame you didn't do that.
- The last note of the bassline for the bar needs more sustain.
- The crash stutter around 4:06 could use a bit more tweaking as well. You might try one-shotting it and letting it play all the way through or otherwise gradually automating in the high-ends.
- That lead around the chanting is probably the most unique lead I've heard throughout this whole album btw--relative to your other leads.
- You might consider having a slightly longer release on the crash around 2:31.
- I'd also take a look at your velocity for your snares and make sure you're not just having them hit at the same velocity during outros to parts of the track and breaks. It sounds like they kind of are but my ears are starting to get tired so I could be wrong...In any event this track could benefit from more dramatic velocity changes on the snares if you are programming that.
- The bassline immediately needs to be brought out more. It's a low-end heavy bassline so I would try just really hammering home that low-end drone and eq'ing out something in the mids that's not really clicking exactly with the kick for some reason. I'd try just a small parametric and fiddle with it until you like where it sounds.
- The sound that comes in at 0:57 could benefit from some nicer harmonic eq'ing and distortion. Especially to match the other synth that it's kind of playing off of a bit better.
- Try reducing the hi-end or the noise on the hihat and it will mesh with the snare better. I think the snare is good but the hihats could fit better with the snare this time--as opposed to the other way around.
- The fm wobble effect that comes in around 4:15 could use a bit more drive and presence. Again, some distortion might help that but you might play with the harmonic eq too.
- 5:08 onward is really nice. Sounds better without the noise imo.
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These previews weren't yet mastered at the point that I published them here. The album is already mastered and will be released any time now on Ektoplazm.
Still, if you feel like it, I would appreciate your input on whatever tracks you feel like commenting as reference for future tracks, when one composes is sometimes too much "inside" the tracks and others' perspective shines some light on things you've never questioned before
Peace & Light
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Some final thoughts...
- All of our filters/reso could be a lot more aggressive. I'm not sure if this is a stylistic choice or what but if you kept your sounds and viewed them as "stock sounds," then added some really aggressive filters to them you would have a lot of really nice psychedelic/dance energy going on. This would be awesome because you tend to have more acoustic low-end so this added filter aggression could complement that really well if done right.
- I'd take a good look at how you want to use noise-hats. Throughout all of these tracks I would say that they haven't really worked well and have been counterproductive to the groove of the percussion. If you want to use them I'd play with eq'ing but you could easily get away with just not using them--in these tracks.
I'll try to post anything else that comes to mind but I hope this helps some!
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Xamanist
Xamanist
Started Topics :
49
Posts :
938
Posted : Jul 18, 2016 12:36
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Thanks man! What a detailed and interesting review. I understood what you mean in most parts, fresh issues and ideas for me to think about.
I think the mastering did a lot of justice to the bass sounds of the tracks, they got fuller and warmer.
In these previews the intros and endings are faded, that's why sometimes they seem underdeveloped... All tracks are over 8 minutes and have vocals recorded by me, wife and daughter that are missing in the previews (except for "Am I the Universe" and "Plant World").
I agree with you that the rythmic part can improve (introducing sounds, more cohesive eq and sounds, etc), gonna take extra care with that in future releases.
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| (Darkness be Light) I'm thinking around 3:15. You introduce the hihats with a reverse crash and you could just keep the anticipation vibe going with an intro to the off-beat hats, a slight break, and then drop into the main rhythm--if you see what I'm saying? |
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Got it!
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| (Dna) - Is the intro for this preview the intro for the finished track? |
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No, this track as a long relaxed intro with chantings and ambient sounds
Thanks again, got excelent food for thought! The album will be released very soon, I'll let you know and I wish you dig the full versions.
Peace & Light
Sérgio Xamanist
facebook.com/xamanist
soundcloud.com/xamanist |
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