3 new D&B tracks

[Vivi]

First up is a remix I did of a friend's song. He is releasing his first instrumental album soon (usually does really beautiful piano work) and has asked me to do remixes of all the tracks as a bonus download after *finally* listening to the first remix I did, From The Cosmos. As usual with my remixes, I took it in a completely different direction that's more original than remix, but I can't help it.

Original here for comparison.

Second up is a liquidish drum and bass track that I spent a good chunk of time on.


And lastly (should have done the previous song as the last one, huh), another liquid D&B track that I didn't spend half the time I spent on the prior song.


These might seem repetitive like most of my songs, but I make my music for myself first. So I like to repeat parts I like and the length doesn't bother me. If this is why I never make it anywhere with music, that's okay with me. I make what I want to hear, not what other people want.

With that said, I really enjoy feedback too though. Mastering tips, what you personally liked or didn't like, and general opinions are always nice to read. (And yes, they all 3 use the same kick/snare. I was really proud of them. I've been trying to get a sound like this together for a long time.)

These and all my other D&B songs that I've done this year will be a free download on December 1st on my bandcamp and website (which isn't ready yet), if anyone wants them. I figured doing a yearly compilation album just to get my stuff out there would be better than trying to put together a standard album, since focusing on a polished/cohesive track listing seems to be my downfall.

[Michael Fedora]

Haunted Sanity remix is ok. I don't like haunted songs anyways, so I'm probably not the best critic haha.


At Last, Clarity is *amazing*! Well done! Absolutely love it.
More At Last, Clarity critique below

Spoiler! :

The bass might be a little chopped off on the low end, but it didn't hurt so that's good.
(i.e. sometimes low frequencies can hurt if their too low/loud. At least for me they can)

It actually felt a little muted... maybe a little tooo soft? I dunno. But too soft is better than too rough.

Beat at 4:05 is boss.

The lead at 4:25-5:08 (and the earlier place) gets lost due to some ducking (against a background-ish pad I think), which is sad because I wanted to hear it.

Otherwise really really good.

Drums on Time Stands Still were pretty cool, but I feel the mixing was off just a little. Maybe because the background-synth was very wet and the drums very dry?

More Time Stands Still critique;

Spoiler! :

The voice at 1:30-45 (somewhere in there) and 2:03 (etc) was cool, but not long enough to make me understand why it was there.

Time Stands Still is a little repetitive on 1:27ish to 2:53. Maybe just one "section" too long, because it felt like it was building up but then flattening out before the drop.

The drop/low was good.
The "crickets" at 3:30-3:42 got realllly loud at 3:37.

Second drop was cool, and then square synths yay! And the bass. Nice.

The ending/last third was ok as well. Though I still think the reverbed crickets were too loud again

Overall pretty good.

Well done!

[Vivi]

The lead on At Last, Clarity is actually a really simple synth line that doesn't have a lot going on.This is the lead solo'd out, with both the regular and the time stretched version (for the half time drum part at the end). The first 5s is the lead regularly. You can hear it's really just a few note hits without sustain on. After 5s it plays how it sounds in the song, which was duplicating the lead and reversing it to fill it out a little more. Same for the time stretched part. It plays the original lead time stretched, then it plays again with the reversed lead. I didn't do any kind of compression on it to cause any ducking or anything, it's just kinda how it sounds regularly.

The bass is a bit soft because I wanted to have it there, but not overpower the song. It's suppose to be a liquid track that's something a bit more relaxing, and having too big a sub I feel would detract from that.

As for Time Stands Still, the idea was that you are trapped in a moment. When something happens and time seems to slow down around you, it feels like you are there forever, even if it's only be a few seconds, or a minute, or whatever. I wanted to try and emulate that feeling by making the song a bit repetitive while subtly adding in sounds (such as the trumpets when the chorus loops around. The vocal hit was added once per 16 bars just to mix it up a little so it's not as repetitive as it could have been. Just added flavor, really. And yes, this song is very wet. Everything is apart from the drums and mid bass, so I can definitely understand why it sounds off to you.

The "crickets" is a fx build that has probably too much of an effect called "fade to grey" applied to it. It adds reverb and echo and can really make higher frequencies hurt when overused. It sounded find to me, but I can easily lower the DB on it or tone down the effect for the comp album.

I'm really glad you enjoyed At Last, Clarity! I worked really hard on it as I thought I had something good going, and I haven't but that much effort into a song in a long time. Glad it shows And thanks for the critique, I always love your breakdowns.

[Michael Fedora]

That is a sweeeeet lead. Must've taken a really long time to do haha!

And ah, I understand on both At Last, Clarity and Time Stand Still.

And your welcome! I never really know if going into that much detail is too much, so I'm glad I'm helping you out somewhat

Keep up the good work!