Flexstyle

Looks like I'll be at MAG12, and I think I've even got a room lined up already. Just gotta buy some plane tickets and I'm in business!

Honestly, you're going to get the most feedback out of the WIPs board.

I recall listening to it on some cheap earbuds and not really hearing anything glaring a week or so ago. I can take a closer listen later on, if you'd like, though.

Thank you for making it available on Spotify! I don't have a lot of spare cash right now, so I'm glad I get to listen to it regardless. Loving the first track so far!

As long as (a) there are drivers available for Win7/Win8/whatever you're using to build the new desktop, and ( your new motherboard has a PCI slot, I'd say stick with the old M-Audio card. I've got an M-Audio Delta 1010LT in my rig right now, and that thing is super-stable with great audio quality. Not looking forward to having to use USB on the next rig, because I've never had a truly stable USB sound card yet. EDIT: If the new PC has firewire, see about using something with that. It's far better suited to transmitting audio data.

Actually, I've never used a bass guitar as the bass in a DnB-focused track. Synthetic bass (usually a Reese derivation of some sort) is my go-to when the drums are as synthetic as the ones you've got going here. Something like is probably as good an example as any.

I've had this same pair of Beyerdynamic DT880 phones for about 4.5 years now, and I've only had to do one repair, which was fixing a frayed cable for one of the earpieces. Fairly easy fix, really. Anyways, I do a few things: 1. Don't let anyone else grab them unless I'm right there supervising. Seriously. If you don't absolutely KNOW that the person using them is going to baby them as much as you, don't let 'em use your good headphones. 2. Don't stretch the band out over the top of your head to put the headphones on. Just slip them on from the front of your face, and that'll save a lot of wear on the band. 3. Have a dedicated place for them, and then keep them there when they're not being used. For me, that's just hanging on the side of my desk, but it's a fairly secure place with very little traffic. 4. DO NOT WRAP THE CORD TIGHTLY! This is one of the biggest mistakes I see with people and their headphones. If you must wrap the cable, give it a LOT of slack out of the earpiece(s), and THEN wrap the cable. 5. You're already on track with this, but invest in a pair of solidly-built headphones. No plastic crap, cos that breaks quickly. Metal construction is where it's at. Bonus: these are usually easier to work on, too, since they're held together with screws instead of glue. I haven't broken a pair of headphones beyond a simple electrical fix in a few years, so hopefully this helps you do the same!

So, just a few thoughts on bass mixing: 1. In DnB and breakbeat type tracks, I usually sidechain my bass synth or synths to both my kick and my snare. Often times I'll do this by creating a separate, "trigger" sample that actually triggers the sidechaining, but this sample hits at the same time as most of the kick and snare hits. 2. You might consider adding another layer to the bass, as it's mostly just sub frequencies right now. I understand that you want to leave room in the upper frequency range for your other instruments, but it'll be sidechained against the kick and snare anyways, leaving some room. This will make the bass sound a lot more powerful, because it'll have a much more full sound. 3. Finally, make sure that your kick and bass occupy predominantly different layers of the low end. My personal preference (which it sounds like is what's happening here, for the most part) is to let the kick occupy down to about 60 hz, and then let the bass be underneath that. I usually do some creative EQing to scoop the appropriate frequencies. I also usually don't let the kick occupy above about...oh, I dunno, 120 hz? for very long. That's usually where I like my snare to be, so I do a bit of a scoop there as well on the kick channel. Hopefully that gives some insight for you.

I would like to point out that I have provided a good, solid WIP, and that my track should now be colored blue instead of maroon.

Color me very interested. I'd be thrilled at being able to branch out into orchestral arrangement.

Beyerdynamic DT-880 user here, and I love mine. I can get close to what I'm looking for in a mix, with usually just a little bit of tweaking needed afterwards. I've used the Sennheiser HD280 set before, and I really didn't care for them at all. Mine had really weird frequency issues to where anything I mixed came out super-muffled, even if it sounded great on the headphones. Can't speak to Grado or AKG.

I'd love to contribute. Would give me an excuse to try out some of my more organic sounds that I've gotten recently.

Guess I was about...I dunno, 13 or so when I really started writing my own songs on the piano. My teacher introduced me to digital music composition at the age of about 15, and of course I've been ruined for life ever since.

This is one of my very favorites from the album, and it's also one that I voted as my top favorite in the staff voting-for-contest-entries thingy. So yeah, love it.

Yeah, Firebird uses a somewhat unique synthesis engine, I think, and the filters and reverbs are top-notch. Cheers y'all!

I'm not going to claim anything at this point, but feel free to consider me a resource for evaluation, etc., at this point.

http://www.tone2.com/html/firebird_vsti_vst_synthesizer_1.html I used to use this thing all the time back before my license file got corrupted. The licensing sucked, but the synth is capable of some really tasty sounds. Now that it's free, it's an absolute no-brainer for us PC folks. GET IT NOW!

Definitely one of my favorites from the album. It's got that thick, tasty analog feel to it, the production is crisp, and those strings are really holding the fort down.

I've had some 5/4 and 7/8 melodies floating around my head for a while now. I gotta get them out of my head and into some choons. Thanks for the reminder.

Well yeah, duh, of course there isn't one "best" producer of anything. Savant is really excellent, though, check him out.

Frack yes.

Just a couple of quick thoughts, as I'm not really able to give in-depth feedback while travelling: - You're not really using the entire sonic spectrum, in that I feel like the song could use both more bass and more treble. The kick isn't deep, and yet the bass is mostly midrange as well. There's no sheen on the track, either, although that could be a function of Soundcloud compression. Everything is kinda bunched towards the midrange. - It's a very "1998" trance feel. Not that that's a bad thing, as I do love me some retro EDM, but it does feel very dated. If you're aiming for a more modern trance feel, I'd invest first in some sidechaining and maybe a bit more variation in some of the percussion. That's all I've got for you right now, but hopefully that means something at this point.

I do believe I've been misread. I never said that you should enjoy it--did I not say it was an acquired taste, thereby insinuating that you (and others) may or may not have acquired it? Outright dismissal is offensive to me, though, because it means you haven't taken the time to understand what makes it enjoyable to so many people. I don't enjoy most black metal, for instance, but I appreciate the skill and energy inherent in so much of it. It's an avenue for passion, and for some feelings that just don't fit in other genres. I'd never be able to listen to more than half a song's worth of black metal, though, just as a personal thing. I also dislike country music, just because I'm not comfortable with the level of sentiment present in most country lyrics. But hey, the musicianship and wordsmithing is definitely there in so much of it, so I'd be foolish to dismiss it as a genre. Also, as a side note, I'm using the term "dubstep" in this context as loosely as most people use the term "techno," as I'm referring to anything between about 128-150 BPM with some sort of halftime or 4/4 beat + large bass section.

First, I'll admit that dubstep is, in many ways, an acquired taste. That said, anyone who dismisses the genre as a whole is acting out of ignorance. Here's what dubstep brings to the table: - A set of textures that is used very rarely in any other genre, thereby expanding the sonic palette in a very positive way - Insane flexibility. Many other genres can be combined with dubstep, which means its versatility lends itself well to VGM. - Powerful bass. Okay, yes, it gets to be a bit much, but you can't deny the emotional reaction to a strong, loud bassline on the right system. Bass moves the human body in a way that nothing else does. - Because of its reliance on rhythm, it brings a powerful energy to any occasion. This is why I think that dubstep fits so well into VGM, due to its ability to convey immense power and adrenaline. Dubstep, to me, is the new hip hop. It's not going away anytime soon, and it's finding itself integrated into many other genres, including the more cinematic ones, just as hip hop has been doing for forty years. Adapt or die. In all seriousness, dubstep is one of those sounds that builds on what came before, yet manages to be groundbreaking. Kinda like jazz, rock'n'roll, hip hop, and any other "new, too loud" genre.

Short answer: yes, it does. The dry samples are quite usable.