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Funk You Man!
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» AlienZeD replied on Thu Jun 5, 2008 @ 11:53am |
 Coolness: 510270 | [ www.rave.ca ]
'Funk you' all the way to your speakers! all criticisms welcome :) (related to the track please...) |
| I'm feeling hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiya right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» James replied on Thu Jun 5, 2008 @ 11:46pm |
 Coolness: 37785 | You had to ask..... ;)
-Real "funk" music has 50% of its groove in the bassline, your bassline is ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta. -Real "funk" implies shuffled beats, you have none. -Real "funk" is based on the blues scale, you're modulating by semitones, and not in a way that makes us think "ouhhh what bravery to break scales like that, he's a genius!", its more in the "lol he's cute" kinda of way. You're obviously not in control of where the notes go. -No bass in the mix -Please... PLEASE break the freaking psytrance mold and choose another kick and another bass sound.... for fuck's sake GMS was doing that in 1998 and it was yesterday's news back then too. -Drumline in general is way too generic, its every psytrance track ever produced. Meh, good psytrance overall. If you want to follow in the footsteps of GMS and the like, you're on the right track. If you aim for originality then its a complete failure. So all in all, I think its a good, if somewhat generic, track. Frankly, with so many so called psytrance acts that sound *exactly* the same as this, I don't see you getting a big record deal from this type of music. Break the fucking mold, what you're doing as been done.....over and over again, and you're not doing it good enough to be excused. my 2 cents |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» AlienZeD replied on Fri Jun 6, 2008 @ 1:21am |
| Coolness: 510270 | ok so I admit it's no 'funk' per se
I appreciate the review :) what can I do about the lack of bass in the mix? prolly my bass sample eh? i'm having a hard time producing GOOD bass :\ thx |
| I'm feeling hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiya right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» James replied on Fri Jun 6, 2008 @ 4:59am |
| Coolness: 37785 | Dunno dude.. I had the same problem when I was doing psytrance. To me, the kick is too low and the bass too fast to let it really breathe in the mix, I never was able to make a good psytrance groove, Kalan's your man for that :) |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy replied on Fri Jun 6, 2008 @ 12:04pm |
 Coolness: 106825 | I tend to agrees with James (the guy has a knack for saying it as it is)
I like the the kick, it seems a bit lower than your usual psy kicks (that might be what is conflicting with your bassline) Maybe if you try nudging your baseline over a bit to the right, you might get it to groove a little more. Dont forget this music is supposed to sent your mind flying when your on shrooms or acid, you have to fuck with our minds a little more by making it a bit less predictable. Try to use more contrast between your sounds, and your beats. Gotta trow a monkey wrench in there. Hope this helped, good luck. |
| I'm feeling six right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Br34th3 replied on Fri Jun 6, 2008 @ 5:55pm |
 Coolness: 128475 | tracks fine.. just needs a better mix. |
| I'm feeling hr, br, fr, sr right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» James replied on Fri Jun 6, 2008 @ 7:46pm |
| Coolness: 37785 | "Gotta trow a monkey wrench in there."
Perfectly phrased. The track's good, but it needs that Oomph.. that Zing.... that ...well anyways. Yknow that ONE element that makes ppl go "man what's that track he's playing?!" Something crazy.. a new texture of synthesis not too common yet, or a classic one with a new twist, a catchy hook melody. On the other hand I tend to like the predictability of "cuts" in dance music. Psytrance is already a genre that tends to make "surprise" shifts/cuts/blah, so having most of the fills being predictable helps to dunno.. stay on course for the duration. This is personal but too many breakdowns and cuts that 'surprise' you to the point of losing where the 1 beat is, it gets me totally off and I leave the floor. I think you've got all the right moves when it comes to choosing sounds and structuring the progression of the track. You definitely have a better grasp on psytrance than I ever did, and better than most people I know who produce this type of music out of their bedrooms, kode six not included of course :) But as I said in the first post, it is very very obvious that you are not in control of the melody. By that I don't mean the melody sounds childish/amateur/blah, but its clearly the result of groping the keyboard in unclean ways until you hit two notes in a row that are not a complete dissonnance. I'm not telling you read The Theory Of Music in a single sitting, but please do take the time to learn about chords, voicing and scales. This will open so many new melodic/harmonic avenues to you that it will speed up the process of composition, make it easy for you to know which chords/keys/notes are available to you, and finally.. it will help you see all the melodic/harmonic possibilities in terms of chord progressions. For example... your song is currently in the key of D minor, which is the relative to F major. If you want to make a "bridge" in your song to change the groove/melody for a few bars, you could switch to F major and it will automatically be melodically correct, not fiddling/estimation/trial-n-error. The most used chord progression is the 1-4-5 progression, there's no telling how many hits were composed on 1-4-5. So what is 1-4-5 and how does it relate to your song? 1-4-5 refers to degrees in the scale. Take CMajor: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C, the 1-4-5 would be C-F-G. Right now you're in Dminor so 1-4-5 is Dm, Gm and A. That means that at any moment, you can change to one of these chords and it will sounds perfect. Switch the bassline to the root (D, G and A) at the same moment and you have very epic stuff going on melodically. Another approach, perhaps simpler at first would be to just use scales. A scale is just a collection of notes spanning over an octave. The C Major is the first people lear: C-D-E-F-G-A-B. Now major ain't very nice for riffs, so you could try minor instead. That would be: C-D-D#-F-G-G#-A#. Already, you have a better selection of notes for a "riff" that sounds cool. But there are still too many notes that could sound not quite right, make it simpler and switch to a pentatonic scale (five notes instead of 8 over an octave). The Minor Pentatonic scale is the most commonly used scale for film music, rock n roll riffs, and pretty much everything "catchy" you've heard in your life. The scale is: C-D#-F-G-A#. If you limit yourself to strictly these five notes, you pretty much have a hit melodically. Synth on C, bass on C, synth mods to D# and bass mods to A# = killer groove. Once you're familiar with scales, learn chords.. they follow a simple principle: 1-3-5. That means if you hit degrees 1 3 and 5 from any starting note, you get a chord. What makes it major or minor is the scale. For example in the C Major scale, the 3rd degree is E. The 1-3-5 chord starting on C would be a C Major... 1-2-5 = C-E-G. If you were to use to minor scale instead, the 3rd degree of the scale would be D#, so 1-3-5 becomes C-D#-G, a minor chord. Hmmmm k... this is way too much theory for now, I'll let you ponder on it ;) (ps: I do give lessons (for a fee obviously) if you want to go down that avenue and learn about theory) |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy replied on Fri Jun 6, 2008 @ 9:42pm |
| Coolness: 106825 | ...Or get one of your friends that kicks ass on the piano to come play you some riffs. |
| I'm feeling six right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» rawali replied on Sat Jun 7, 2008 @ 4:56pm |
 Coolness: 141395 | I say add a 7 in there in your in for some fucked up shit... nevertheless james just pointed out the absolute basic must-know to composing melodies... seriously good-to-know kinda stuff if not absolutely necessary |
| I'm feeling sinus right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Virtual_Light replied on Mon Jun 9, 2008 @ 2:10am |
 Coolness: 95475 | I only listened on headphones but seems fine..
Mastering is the key at that point .. Saturation in the ass end is key in the mastering process. Musically not so "funky" .. but I don't think that required a shit storm of a comment to point out. Maybe blast a maximized version on a big system in a DJ set to test it .. (L2/3 Maximizer, hi res CD master preset, as long as attenuation doesn't exceed -3) |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Deadfunk replied on Mon Jun 9, 2008 @ 9:36am |
 Coolness: 153715 | master preset? |
| I'm feeling hardcore right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» clown replied on Mon Jun 9, 2008 @ 10:44am |
 Coolness: 222475 | it must be one of the plug-in's pre-sets !! |
| I'm feeling kode 6 debut album right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Br34th3 replied on Mon Jun 9, 2008 @ 3:25pm |
| Coolness: 128475 | L3 is a multiband frequency limiter.. with presets yes. It is a life saver.. but the better the mix to begin with the less you'll have to push it. better production.. better mix.. better mastering.. better track. LERN SEEN? |
| I'm feeling hr, br, fr, sr right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» databoy replied on Mon Jun 9, 2008 @ 4:22pm |
| Coolness: 106825 | L2/3 are great to test your mixes, but doesn't replace a good mastering and definatly wont turn coal into diamonds. |
| I'm feeling misty right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Deadfunk replied on Mon Jun 9, 2008 @ 9:26pm |
| Coolness: 153715 | music production is like mining diamonds, the producer getas a rock and the engennier polishes the rock until it has the right shape, but if the producers gives a diamond-less rock, the engeener can work his ass off, he wont be able to make a diamond out of it!
im not saying that this song is bad, but you cant polish a turd, if your mixdown isnt great, "mastering" wont make it perfect... |
| I'm feeling hardcore right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» spotless_mind replied on Mon Jun 9, 2008 @ 10:35pm |
 Coolness: 38220 | alienzed.. i like it. not everyone gets this type of music, so don't worry about it. melodies are overrated. :P ;)
good bass sample is an oxymoron. so that might be your problem right there. invest in a simple analog monosynth and you'll never have a problem again. for kicks and basslines, analog is the only way to go. kick samples give me ear fatigue too :( here is big bitch babicz (aka rob acid) on mastering if anyone is interested (warning.. it's depressing because he's got too much nice gear)--> [ www.vimeo.com ] |
| I'm feeling hotness right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» AlienZeD replied on Thu Jun 12, 2008 @ 11:36pm |
| Coolness: 510270 | I just put some finishing touches on it, the progression makes a tiny bit more sense now and hopefully the song is a lot more 'mastered' now :)
thx for ALL the input! [ www.rave.ca ] |
| I'm feeling mantastic right now.. | |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Dakurv replied on Mon Jul 7, 2008 @ 1:50pm |
 Coolness: 30060 | i dont think any music theory lessons from you james, is music production skills are very good. He just needs a great lead sound/melody and some more beeps and noises thrown in there. Awesome track.
i could teach you some analogue , subtractive , additive or modular synthesis ( for a fee of course ) kidding ;) You should remind james the song is called ¨funk you¨ Update » Dakurv wrote on Mon Jul 7, 2008 @ 1:54pm should read ¨ i dont think he neads any music theory... ¨ |
| Good [+1]Toggle ReplyLink» Br34th3 replied on Mon Jul 7, 2008 @ 4:38pm |
| Coolness: 128475 | said Steve. |
| I'm feeling hr, br, fr, sr right now.. | |
Funk You Man!
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