"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)

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 :)

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

WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE RIP OFF THE HPF KNOB FROM HIS SYNTHS PLEASE?!?

kthx :)

You ppl get offended so easily heh. No it's not necessary for the baker to know how wheat is grown, just as it is not necessary for the dj to know why A is the relative minor of C. But just like a baker who knows what flour to use to get what type of bread, anybody remotely serious about music should know that A is the relative minor to C. You don't need to know WHY it is this way, just that it is this way and what you can do with that. But to need a chart? Its like going in a bakery and see the baker reading "Bakery For Dummies".

"Harmonic Mixing"? lol

It's called a relative minor, and its been taught to first-year music students since Pope Gregory. Another proof that most DJs don't know crap about the music they make a living off of.

Going from FL to Reason? Its not a step backwards...but it ain't a step forward either. More of a sidestep heh. Now might be the time to invest time and effort into Cubase or Logic or Live..

I'm half looking for an extra controller.. I have a Korg M1 with a dead battery up for a switcheroo if you want :)

that was ridiculous, why would you purposely go looking for something like that?
sounds like Milas found the "Quantize" button in Logic. lol


HAHAHHAHHAhaha

Rawali dude.. squarewave + chorus + octave switch + pentatonic C scale. (C, D#, F, G, A#)

Jpenses pu que c'est disponible neuf chez le distributeur des A/B/C, tk on en tiens pas en stock, mais jvais me renseigner demain a la job voir si ca strouve.

Deadfunk: dude.. timbaland se sert d'a peu pres tout. Il paye pas son gear tsé. Access ship des virus a chaque gros producer pour les mettre sur le artist roster, c'est de meme avec toutes les compagnies qui font pas partie du holy trio yamaha/korg/roland. C'est pratique courrante. Alors qu'il en ai un dans son studio ou non, ca prouve pas grand chose :)

Mais ouais je sais que je juge la machine vite pas mal. Mais bon.. j'ai un virus ti dans la face 40h par semaine a la job et malgré que ca sonne très très bien (gotta love that phaser), c'est franchement rien d'exceptionnel je trouve. Et le Virus TI sonne pas super different du Virus A, B, ou C.... T'as du stock de plus mais c'est pas passé du noir au blanc non plus.

Aprizim: si y'avait des places comme ca.. jpenses que les compagnies de synth fermeraient leur porte assez vite. Ils doivent en vendre une couple quand meme pour rester en business :D Mais ouais ca serait cool quand meme.

Mais bon.. jsuis un vieux chialeux.
/me sacre un coup de canne au prochain qui reply.

edit: oh et pour le prix. regle generale les magasins se tiennent entre 60% et 75% du MSRP. Donc dans le cas du Virus Snow, ca devrait effectivement tourné dans le 800-1000, pas plus d'apres moi. Ce qui est un sale bon prix pour un virus.

Shit... faut jme donne un coup de canne.

I want one!$%!&#$

only in america

Meh, I've seen it happen a lot when I worked in repairs. Blown cd players are very common. But hey, go nuts and mount'em at any angle you wish, its not my gear :)

the rotating CD will try to go horizontal inside the machine, and gravity+vibrations from the music can nudge it and then pow.

ever seen a CD lose balance inside a player? quite a spectacular firework of plastic bits, very very dangerous.

Ca fait 30 fois que access sort la meme machine, pis a chaque fois les poissons l'achete haha.

lol you're really going to put a CD player at an angle while its in use? Cute.

Apex IKS-8

70$ @ Italmelodie, ask for me for a cheap-ass discount. Its basically foldable table legs. You only need a wooden tabletop. It was made for DJ rigs.

PHM = Killer
Broken = Killer
TDS = Killer
Fragile = 50% Killer, 50% suck
With Teeth = Toothless
Year Zero = Talent zero, all gone, bye bye.


Someting happened to Trent after TDS. He was my biggest influence for years. I had more respect for that guy than I had for myself. But now? He's lost it completely. It's the new pet shop boys, music for the heterosexually-challenged youth.

double the price for double the size? fuck it.. make it 1280x640 :)

still not interested

Pork

Diana Krall takes the cake.. and the plates and the table and the forks too. God I'd fork her....

HHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHAHHHAAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAAHHAH

omg what an attention whore....

Not only that, but locals get to trade tracks with international djs. Well.. not so much today as in the good old DAT days since now it's all beatport this and itune that, but at least local artists can spam their material to DJs who will play them outside Mourial.

How many pounds? His mom I mean... If she weighs 300lbs, at 47cents a pound...it still amounts to $141, or $159.16 with taxes in. Seems a lot to sleep with an older chubby lady. But hey... its still just $54 for a 115lbs MILF. Which is she?

It's like anything else. Is it worth 30$ FOR YOU? I sure as hell wouldn't pay 30$ to see Derrick Carter, but I'd pay 60$ to see Daft Punk. I wouldn't pay 15$ to see locals I never heard, but I'd pay 30$ to see locals I like. Boils down to : Are you getting your money's worth?

Also as was stated... Is it just some dj spinning tracks or is it some producer djing his/her own stuff? That's quite different there.

But in the end.. if 15$ is gonna make or break your night out, stay inside...you're broke.

thanks :D

2008 will be a good year... fuck yeah:)

addiction: love the flow, but the bass mix is completely off.
i had to get away: intro makes a good opener. the ambiance is very nice too. melancholy/boredom type thing...
guntreal: reminds me of dre's style (music-wise) but the violin sound is terrible.
dumb bitch: oh yeah! partaaay! love the brasses (where d'you rip'em from?)

all in all, lovely stuff man. production is mostly up to par besides some bass problems. vocals right on the spot, flow is excellent. I'd personally add some measure of actual musical instruments...maybe a small guitar/piano line here and there to humanize the whole thing, but that's personal. keep it coming.

(ffs.. delete Tom and A Place For Canadians.... )

y0

La plupart des tracks du show a Soma 2008 sont sur mon myspace... avec qq photos rippées de [ rave.ca ] prisent par les personnes qui les ont prises. D'ailleurs merci a ceux qui prennent/postent des pics c'est cool pour les dinosaures techologiques (z'avez vu le crt beige?) comme moi sans cams :)

Faque ouais.. prenez un speed, sortez le stroboscope que vous aviez fait en science en secondaire 2 et revivez le moment.....genre.

:D

right right...

[ www.myspace.com ]

...there

w00t w00t w00t w00000000t *cough*

Ce fut bien amusant. Props to K & A for the party, pis pour la timeslot...:D :D

I swear to fucking god, will farell is banging that cowbell to the beat of the track man.... hypnotizing!

You might wanna look into the Remote series from novation.... they's gots deez pads for beats and all.

That's one definition that just happens to suit your argument. Dictionary also describes atheism as "the doctrine or belief that there is no God."

Atheists are 100% CERTAIN there is no god. Being certain of something and expressing this certainty as if you had the truth in your hands is tantamount to religious belief. Atheists will not accept that others believe in god because they hold his non-existence as being an universal truth. Atheism is not the lack of belief, it is the denial of certain precise beliefs.

Agnoststics (which means Those Who Do Not Know) on the other hand are open to all solutions, might be a god, might not be, might be a old man in white robes, might be a plate of noodles, might also be my left testicle. Whatever floats your boat baby. These are the people, in my opinion, that represent a true "lack of belief".

I did...


Update » James wrote on Fri Jul 27, 2007 @ 6:33am from 74.56.12.84

@ OP:

Btw... it ain't a big controller by any means... but I just got myself an Ozonic and so far it rocks my fucking world. Two more octaves would've been great for actual playing, but since I was aiming at portability/live sessions 37 keys was a good compromise. Its got the usual M-Audio plasticky feel on knobs/faders although I think they'll hold for the duration, and the keys themselves are superb full sized keys with excellent synth-action. Plus, depending on your needs it can eliminate the need for some gear. Because of it I can sell my 1010 card and my 24 track console...no small feat. Next stop for me is a keystation 88 somewhere down the road so I can let loose and actually PLAY :)

haloween parties aside.. does anyone still dress-up to party? wasn't that over in 1996?

All religions need to disappear, bar none. And yes that means atheism too, which is just as rigid a belief system as any other.

I'd go for the VMX if you don't plan on DJing yourself. It's cute, efficient, cheap and has all the functions you need. Of course it ain't a great mixer by any measure but it'll hold its own for a mere 100$

-Purposefully making FLAWED (imperfect) music IS retarded, what are you? DJ Milas!?

If you've been "producing" (in my world we just say "i been making music", guess that explains a lot) for 10 years I'm guess you're at least 20, which means that you've seen and heard the production methods finally evolve in the late 90s after more than a decade of stagnation. Where were you when Reznor muffled his vocals like he was singing from the next room? Where were you when Tori Amos had a custom piano made so the microphones would pick more hammer than string?

Imperfections are not flaws. And if you think putting in, quite on purpose, imperfections in a track is retarded you have no say in any discussions on music from now until the planet implodes. You, me and everyone else are just piles of imperfections. If everything was "perfect", you'd be a Nazi and it'd be 1943 right now.

Don't worry, you will grow out of it someday... its just a passing phase.

listing to your "harmony"....

You kidding me? No really.. is it a joke? There's not even a chord in there. You simply use a root note and play half a pentatonic over it! lol! Hint: chords start at three notes... two notes is called AN INTERVAL and it's what we use to teach kids music.

Oh so you can come 'round saying the way most people make music is retarded and that you have been enlightened by some melody god that infused you with the gift of harmony, pretending others randomly tap keys until some sort of progression comes up but yet we can't express the opposite? Right. YOU are just expressing a valid opinion while we're venting gas right?

Yes, face the facts, the music you do is 80% patch design, 15% rhytmic structure and about 5% actual harmony.

And again, you've just sank even lower down you own ass by laughing at what madforbrad said. You've just, in a single inane replied, contested the existence of shuffle, one of the few 'human' tricks to have been correctly implemented and overtly abused in electronic music.

As for not knowing you.. I don't see how this can even be brought into the equation except if you feel you've stepped into something a whole damn lot larger than you and you're running out of excuses. Next step is "your mom" I guess? I don't know Trent Reznor but I can assure you he uses keyboards.

Do yourself, and everyone else, a favor and learn to use this:
[ chordmaps.com ]