DrumJ8 Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 (edited) This was my entry for the ISW Juggernaut Composer Contest. Phantom Foundry Are there issues with the bass? Any feedback on how to help make the bass sound better? Other issues? Thanks. Edited June 5, 2013 by DrumJ8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Burns Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 (edited) Hey I'll take a shot. I was going to enter this contest but couldn't come up with a sound I liked. I'm not exactly a bass/kick expert, but it's something I've been trying to improve at lately because my work has had less than adequate attention in this area. So low end mixing-wise, my first impression is that the track sounds pretty weak beneath 100hz compared to what's going on just above that range: it sounds a little crowded and muddy in the 100hz - 300hz zone. It sounds like a combination of the bass synth itself having that muddiness combined with the kick clouding up that zone as well. As you learn and experiment more with the low end, try to get a sense of different 'zones' that you start to pick up on and keep them in mind as landmarks. To my ears: 100hz and below kinda gives that gut punch feeling to instruments. 100hz to maybe 175hz has a 'boomy' sound 175hz to 300hz has a more 'tubby' sound Also, the kick needs some more punch or definition. It's up to you how to accomplish that -- better sub/tub balance, having it's own space in the spectrum compared to the bass synth, sidechain compression . . . all things to explore. Otherwise, today's listeners are very bass savvy and used to really interesting bass synths. The sound you're using just isn't very interesting, especially compared to the Cinematic Sample pack used in the intro. Hope that helps! Just my impressions. I think you'll be figuring out all of this on your own -- really the most important thing I can recommend is for you to be able to hear it in the first place, so you need a set of monitors or headphones that give you that information. You also need to make sure the room you're mixing in isn't radically boosting/cutting the bass response in strange ways. Edited June 18, 2013 by Patrick Burns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necrox Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 I have no advice to give on the bass, but I will say that the piano part a bit after 2:00 sounds awkward. Maybe it's the tone, but it felt out of place even though the rhythm was fine. The percussion was solid aside from the issues the guy below me mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumJ8 Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 Hey thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated. I use ATH-M30 headphones to mix, I don't have anything else to compare it to though. I'll work on it some more. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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