Any Opinios Boys and gurks?

[daftmat]

4t id pop this link on to see what ppl think of this little flatulent house ditty.
Love to hear all opinions, good and bad.

www.3sss.co.uk/wetness.mp3 (thanx Matt)
cheers
Matt

[grain]

Hi Matt...

I'm going to be honest with you as I'm sure what you want is honest and constructive criticism...

you need to work on your beats man.. weather its house or techno that you're going for, that kind of a beat just doesn't cut it.. Heres an exercise for you - grab a mix or two from the techno filez forum [for the type of sound you might be after can I recommend the Roman Flugel mix or the Darko Esser mix (they might not be exactly what you want to make but from whats there at the moment I'm sure you'll enjoy them anyway) ], then pick out a track in the mix that you like (and be sure to pick a track that has quite a few drum sounds in it) and have a REALLY GOOD LISTEN to the beat, that is, not just the kick drum and hi-hats, but EVERYTHING except the bassline and lead synth sounds - Kicks, Hi-hats, Snares, Shakers, Wooden percussion, Cowbells, Cymbals, Claps... All those things that make the RYTHMN.. Now, as I said, have a GOOD LISTEN and then - try to recreate that beat EXACTLY.. You will have to constantly refer back to the track, rewinding and relistening as you make your own copy of the beats. Forget about the bassline and the melodies - blank them out of your brain - just copy the beats.....
Now, you may be saying, but I want to make my MY OWN beats - but this is an exercise, its purpose is to LEARN about rythmn...
..so don't stop till you have recreated the beat EXACTLY... you may have to add reverb to some parts, you may need to use eq correction on some parts, you might try distortion or other effects on some parts... It may not be easy! When you've done this, try to copy a different beat... and another..
I promise, if you do this you will see for yourself what goes into making a beat and you will see the benifits when you go to make your own..

I think your bassline and lead part weren't bad at all - just let down by the rythmn - If you want to make dance music, you can't be neglecting the rythmn!

Hope this helps (if you actually take this advice I'm sure it will!)

:)

[daftmat]

thanx alot mate, really detailed. yeah never very creative with beats, wanted it minimal but maybe too much so. i dont agree with the amount of percussion you seem to be suggesting but added a hihat last night and that alone seemed to move things along. Ill keep messing lol, cheers for the advice.

[grain]

No bother... I'm a detailed kind of bloke!

I wasn't suggesting that you include all of sounds that I mentioned in that list - I was just trying to point out all the sounds that would be considered percussion, not that a beat needed to include ALL those parts...

I mean, even if you listen to a quality minimal track, where theres only a kick drum, a simple hi-hat and a clap, you'll notice that those sounds are crisp, clear and strong. probably theres some reverb on the hi-hat or clap or both, and probably theres some kind of simple bass (which may not actually be the bassline) on prehaps every kick, just before or just after.. and in this case I would consider the bass to be PART of the beat, where it is accentuating the kick, or adding nessesary low end...

The same excersice I mentioned can be done with a really minimal beat, and in that case pay REALLY close attention to the eq and effects and levels of parts. You should end up with have a beat that can stand on its own without the bassline or leading parts, even if its really minimal...

Download the Richie Hawtin mix from the techno filez section, thats sure to have minimal beats a plenty...

;)

[grain]

....just one more thing, you say youre never very creative with your beats, well what I am saying to do is an exercise (think of it as homework!) so you just try and complete the excersice. COPY those beats - no creativity there, just practical learning. Then you WILL find that creativity comes....

Leonardo Da Vinci didn't just pick up a brush and start creating masterpieces.. you put in serious practical learning first... then you can be confidently creative....