Downtown Agenda - work in progress

[Siege]

Working on this at the moment...just bones and a bit of basic framework as of yet....needs a lot more work.
Im having one of those moments were im struggling with ideas for it....im gonna break it down around 4 min but apart from that???
Theres a riff in it which im not sure about...dont know whether ive over used it or not...seems a little repetetive???

Any ideas??

thanks.

http://213.129.73.14/members/my_trac...6BF9412902.mp3

[rhythmtech]

sounds very nice this end, especially for the beginnings of a track

.. i reckon the riff is well cool.. real cool street nasty kinda pimp synth

bass needs a bit of work.. its a lovely low rumble but it would be nice to hear the notes rather than them just blend together

cool stuff

[stjohn]

yea man..sounding very nice from here too. lovely groovey shit!

hmm where to go... maybe you could introduce a 2nd bassline to play off the 1st one.. something big n chunky again... or some FM percussiony bits.. or a lead synth...

keep us posted calvin. sounding great

[Siege]

Cheers guys.....had a break from it lastnight...try make some progress tonight.
Thanks.

[Jay Pace]

easy Cal

Production on this sounds great.
Clean, nicely balanced with good texture in the synths and good use of stereo. I think the percussion is a little too loud in the mix though.

I love the synth pattern full stop. Its great.

Personally, sounds like you've got too much going on at once. The synth sounds quite hood like, brooding and atmospheric. I think the abundance of activity in the high end detracts from it. You could have a really quite dark moody track based on that synth hook, it would just need developing. Use it more sparingly, throw in some tonal and pattern variations and it would underpin the whole tune

Might be just that I really like the synth, but it sounds to me like the whole of the rest of the track's percussion and high end sounds more peak time banger and a little out of place with the atmospheric moods stuff bubbling underneat it.

The loop that kicks in at 2.25 sounds too loud and dominant in the mix. S'pose this is what makes it sound "peak time" to me. If you had a big bassline or massive hook it would compliment it, but with the ideas you've got it kinda dominates and drowns them out a bit.

Really depends what you want the focus of the track to be. Personally I love the synths, the echoing atmospheric noises and I'd want them to be the focus. High end should dance around and sparkle above it, and percussive noises tickle your interest. I'd avoid over using loops and go for more organic varying percussion patterns ebbing in and out of track.

The second synth pattern that comes in is great, woudl be really interesting to just develop those two synth lines, question and answer style with more variation in the patterns.

CAVEAT - goes without saying this is all very, very personal.
Think you're production sounds great and I've not got much to comment on there. I just find the material and ideas a bit confusingly mismatched in terms of style. I can hear a great moody spacey track brooding under a load of peak time pounding percussion that I want to just get rid of in my head. But thats just what I'd do, and you might be aiming for something completely different.

In any case, there are some really good ideas in there, everything you'd need to make a great track just needs a little bit more focus IMO

Nice one dude, look forward to hearing the final cut

[BloodStar]

i like it. nice groove track. those synths are nice, maybe some more variations and developping on them will help. production sounds good, ithink.

[Siege]

@Jay...thanks for listening mate...yeah,i hear what ya saying about the percussion..... replaced some last night with a more shuffly style.
Thought the riff needed using more sparingly, the trks still in early stages yet,
working on a lead to work with the riff, gonna get rest of framework done ,then il flesh it out more and work on variations,patterns etc..

@Bloodstar...glad ur liking it mate... sound a lot better when ive done.
cheers.

Il post it up when finished.

[BRADLEE]

Grabbing it right now Calvin...Just noticed it posted. Also added you to msn my friend.

[BRADLEE]

Yeah homie, Production sounds spot on to my ears. ****ing really nice actually. I enjoy the tune overall too. Yeah I recon another layer of persussion would give it more movement and maybe just an additional pattern or two for the main synth riff. That should really keep it chugging along.

Really can't wait to hear the final bit on it. Already sounds wikked.

[dirty_bass]

Love this.

I`d say the main bass riff is so lush and present and "real", that it makes the backing a little static and tonally dull.

I`d give a little more top end to the kick so it matches the presence of that main synth.
Also the hats sound just a little thin again, and lack the sparkle and presence needed.
A touch of verb and retuning the high freqs is needed.

Essentially you used 2 very nice, but very saturated and analog (sounding) synths as your main draw, and this in turn has exposed the sample based nature of a lot of the other sounds.
You need to add a similar sparkle, presence, and wetness to the other sounds in the mix to really bring it all up to scratch.

I`d say asthetically (and this is the subjective bit, so ignor me if you will), shorten the amount of time you take to bring in the bass riff.
Get the other synth in a little earlier, and then play with them.
Add some subtle positioning and note changes throughout to keep the interest. I think you don`t need to overly complicate this by adding more parts, as really, what you have here can be fleshed out, and the simplicity and the strong mood, will carry it thorugh nicely.

[Siege]

Cheers Steve....some good pointers there.
Il tweak the tops..try get the presence and sparkle you mentioned...also try improve the other sounds to equal the riff.
Regarding the arrangment..was thinking about introducing the second synth a bit earlier too...also think just focusing on the two synths to carry the trk through is the best option.
Il see what i can do.

Thanks

[Tyrisia]

well, to me it sounds like the main riff, and the complimentry riff could do with being left alone to do their thing, yes they are repetitive, but you can enhance repetition, and kinda make it the best bit of the tune if there is space, as someone else mentioned. Just look at that last tune Hawtin did for the latest DE9, it was abstract and very repetitive, but the repetition carried it. The percussion was all arty and abstract, but it flowed.

I reckon you have maybe got used to a certain way of using and forming percussion and are using that same process in every tune to an extent, not a criticism, it'll make your sound, but it's always good to detatch yourself a bit and ask yourself what kind of a tune you're trying to make.

I love the concept, production's ace, and it's a pretty brave tune, but if I was dealing with that riff, it would make me think 2 billion lightyears from anywhere, stuck on a spaceship with twenty gorgeous women with all the substances I'd ever want to abuse on tap, what would get me outta my space-chair and make me have a little shuffle-of-glee? Ok, total nonsense maybe, but I'm drunk.

[Siege]

Cheers for the listen Will.
The percussions quite different now and ive altered the arrangment slightly.
Also tweaked some of the other sounds...sounding a lot better.
Just gonna emphasise on the two synths to carry it through...

Il post some results when finito

[Little_Fella!]

Sorry, i know you've gone away already to hone n polish...

Just wanted to say that this track really does talk to you...

I agree with bringing the second synth in sooner so you can develop your dialogue before the break, although I will say that you pitched the hats etc. in perfectly for the dance floor, so don't change the timing on that...

As you say, "where to from here?"... quite difficult as I know you want it to change after the break, so that the 'question/answer' doesn't just turn into 'blah/blah... blah'... but without adding to or detracting from that lovely warm initial riff . (forgive me if i'm wrong)...

Personally I would head for mid-peak time jackin' as far as structuring your percussion is concerned... and I know that you can achieve this without it becoming a cliche... i think the dancefloor will really appreciate it...

Yeah, this is one to see right to the end...