First ever dubstep track (comments please)
https://soundcloud.com/kiefmusic/illuminate
Please Rate and Comment, Criticism is HIGHLY Appreciated
Not too bad, it’s got an amateur feel to it…you know what I mean?
I’m diggin it though, and it’s better than anything I can make
Just wondering, what program did you use?
Abelton is my daw and I use komplete 6 for my instruments. Timestretch by bassnectar was my inspiration.
you need to work on the mix.. the drums are far behind the bassline, you need to really beef them up and the track will sound much better. The kick is almost silent, try to layer and eq some bass heavy and sharp kicks together to form one usable kick.
Yeah i noticed that too, I am in process of fattening them up. Thanks for giving it a listen! ps do you recommend side-chaining the kicks to the sub or to the entire track so you can really hear it punch?
thats something should mess around with, try diffrent cobinations, even make a seperate sidechain kick to create diffrent sidechained patterns.
It sounds good, but i agree the kicks and snares need more. also if you have any sample packs try adding something simple to the end of an 8 bar phrase to signal a turn around. its awesome for a first song definitely you are on your way! One last thing, mess around with some pads or something to add some depth to your rises and to add just a hint of background noise to the mix as a whole. Nice Track bro!
maybe im reading this backwards or you said it that way and im confused. but you dont sidechain your kick. you would sidechain your bass to your kick, which will make the bass duck the kick so you can hear the kick better.
Because this is dubstep i dont think thats a sound you really want
I think your issue is different. your kick just isn’t good enough. (not being harsh, you can spend hours finding/perfecting the right kick)
do this
add some compression to the kick too. not so much that it looses its punch
do the same with the clap and add reverb to make it fatter
here’s the remaster, please let me know what else it needs
nice, snare/clap is much better
and the kick is improved (im on headphones so its tough to get a good feel)
bass sounds heavier too. do some eq’ing/mastering?
yeah lots!
I sacked up the kick and snares and eq’ed them as well
I also added reverb to the entire track as well as a pads layer to give it some more depth on the intro/breakdown/outro sections
Put a huuge reverb on the snare, but use only the high reverb, turn the low down. A reverb over the master is in 99% of the cases just a shitty idea. Use it on seperate tracks, on the master your track will lose contrast and character.
in dubstep, reverb on the drums is pretty much always a good thing, and if you are struggling with the puch of the drums, try using a multi band compressor on your master, look up some toturials on that, there are plenty.
You might wanna use a layered kick, just put a low kick on top of a high, punchy kick, (most producers call that the “top kick”)
To make your song a little more interesting just put some reverse claps, crashes and cowbells or anything in it.
And at last, maybe put some pitch glides in your wobble, the wobble itself is actually quite good i think, it has its own sound.
btw this really is not hatery, i’m just trying to help
Good luck with producing
Thanks very much everything I add to it I am doing for the first time so it is a learning experience and is knowledge I will keep with me. I know its not hatery because I specifically asked for criticism. After all how the hell am I gonna get better if I don’t know what I need to improve, and its nice to have a fresh set of unbiased ears to listen to it. I am continually working on this track and will continue to post updated versions as I finish them. Thanks again!
It really shows. No offence but parts are almost too much like the actual track. There’s nothing wrong with being inspired, experimenting with, or recreating another artist’s track but this had almost exactly the same notes. Anyways I thought it was pretty ok for the most part.
Not that my opinion matters :
updated version, please let me know how it sounds now!