SMW Castle (neurofunk / dnb)

[Chiwalker]

Hey everyone,

The range and diversity of skills on ocremix always amazes me - but I'm looking for something - don't really know what yet but I am in need of aid for this project.

old:

https://soundcloud.com/lukebarden/smw-castle-wip/s-iWq8T

updated:

https://soundcloud.com/lukebarden/monstawrs-in-da-castle/s-Ua8B8

Does anyone have some experience mixing these bass heavy + fast tempo kinds of tunes? I struggle off and on with arrangement but that seems to take care of itself. However, my ears are in the dark when it comes to the mix approach of this genre.

I'd be open to the idea of sharing this project as a collaboration and any suggestions you may have with the subtle problems of dnb / neurofunk that you see related to my project.

That being said, are there any neurofunk remixes/artists on ocremix?

Peace,

Luke

Edited March 4, 2014 by Chiwalker

[timaeus222]

I don't do neurofunk, but I've done Dubstep and Drum & Bass, and their combination is what I think this sounds like.

The snare you have sounds vaguely acoustic. Stylistically I think it works OK, but I think some transient shaping would help you get more accurate to the drum conventions of the genre (glued snare, punchy kick). The kick can also be stronger via parallel compression and transient shaping.

As for the bass, it seems stylistically fine, but the harmonics are weak relative to a particular reference neurofunk track. The sub bass is an OK choice, but personally I would prefer just synthesizing a bass that already has sub frequencies---in particular, I like distorting a particular quality of FM oscillator sine wave output as my "sub bass" frequencies. It feels richer and more present than simple sine wave sub basses.

I could collaborate if you'd like. Here's an example of an FM bass I did. =)

Edited February 25, 2014 by timaeus222

[Kanohi]

I wouldn't say I extensively produce Neurofunk, I'm more into Glitch Hop but I know they both utilize a lot of the same elements at times.

Personally I feel like the drums used from 1:12 and on simply don't hit hard enough. It still feels like the intro to me. It gets a little more intense around 1:57 with the addition of high-hats, but even then neither the Kick nor the Snare really stand out over the synths.

It's a cool arrangement, I'm interested to see where this goes!

[Chiwalker]

some more diverse arranging, a bit of mixing down, lots of happy struggles >_>

https://soundcloud.com/lukebarden/monstawrs-in-da-castle/s-Ua8B8

[jordanrooben]

Not a Neurofunk artist, but I work with a bunch of bass-heavy genres so I might be able to help.

Compression and EQ.

Bass can be a pain, but I find that the best thing to do is to EQ out as much of it as you can save for frequencies near 60hz, 240hz, and treble frequencies which depend on the bass. Usually around 4000hz or 8000hz. In addition to that, slap on a compressor with a low threshold, high ratio, and play with the attack and release. Compression can cause distortion when overused so be careful, but for a genre like this you might be fine with that.

Another thing you can try is to give the rest of the track some panning. Leads, pads, hats, keys, etc. can be pushed slightly the left or right, and this will leave more room for the bass and kick, which should be directly in the center and have their stereo separation set to 100% merged.

For my own work, I find that having a saw that's playing either perfect fifths, or an an octave higher can make the bass pop out without muddying up the lower frequencies. Similarly, layering really helps. I usually layer my kicks, snares, and basses. The snare sound pretty good for the genre. It's definitely weak, but that's fine.

[timaeus222]

Not a Neurofunk artist, but I work with a bunch of bass-heavy genres so I might be able to help.

Compression and EQ.

Bass can be a pain, but I find that the best thing to do is to EQ out as much of it as you can save for frequencies near 60hz, 240hz, and treble frequencies which depend on the bass. Usually around 4000hz or 8000hz. In addition to that, slap on a compressor with a low threshold, high ratio, and play with the attack and release. Compression can cause distortion when overused so be careful, but for a genre like this you might be fine with that.

I should clarify that the "it" is the rest of the song, not the bass. e.g. you don't carve EQ out of the bass to make it stronger.

Another thing you can try is to give the rest of the track some panning. Leads, pads, hats, keys, etc. can be pushed slightly the left or right, and this will leave more room for the bass and kick, which should be directly in the center and have their stereo separation set to 100% merged.

This, I believe, is on the right track, but I also want to elaborate on the ideas a bit here. Panning is good, but just panning left and right for spatial clarity is not entirely practical; the purpose of panning is to place instruments in a logical spot in the stereo field, so panning for clarity alone may not be realistic or practical unless you do think about why it makes sense for a particular instrument to be placed in a certain way. e.g. Why is an electric rhythm guitar hard-panned? To not only make room for the other instruments, but also to make way for a more layered (double/quad-tracked) complexity to the guitar tone that adds depth and energy that couldn't be done with a single mono recording.