Infinite Space

[bit.tick]

Here's the track: https://soundcloud.com/arcticlight/infinite-space

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About:

So I recently purchased and decided to learn how to use FL Studio 11, where previously I had just been using a collection of open-source tools for music creation. It turns out that I really, really *like* FL Studio, and its workflow is fantastic. I cranked this track out in ~3 hours of actual work, and it's still of higher quality than pretty much anything else I've produced to date.

Honest criticism is always welcome and encouraged - That's how I know what to improve on.

Thanks for listening!

[djgalvanization]

I can see you posted a while ago, but hopefully you get to read this.

Interestingly enough, I have a track I'm working on called "Eternal Void" (very chill and completely different from this) so this title caught my eye.

Honestly, the originals forum doesn't get enough attention so I thought I'd take a look, but then again, it is all about VG music around here.

So here are my two cents on this piece.

I've used FL before (loooong ago) so no idea how it looks now. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds like you used most, if not all, stock sounds from FL. Nothing wrong with that, but if you want your stuff to stand out, it has to be unique. Frankly, I can tell this took a short time to make. But that's OK. I'm guessing this is a "see how it goes" starter track, in which case it's not bad. Nice use of pitch bending and various other techniques. Great first try.

In the grander scheme of things though, what your track needs (or future tracks, if you're done with this one) is more ambience. I can hear each and every sound you are using, perhaps with too much clarity, and the sounds do not evolve enough. They sound about the same throughout, even though you have nice arpeggios going on. Tons of ideas that sound promising for electronica, but you still have a long way to go to make it sound more professional and not so "in the box" and video game-y (unless that is your intention).

The best way to avoid "in the box" syndrome is usually to add some reverb to your background sounds. But not too much. Only enough so that the reverb can fill the gaps between silences. Convolution reverb is best. I don't remember what FL supplies by way of reverbs, but in Logic Pro it's Space Designer, which works nicely if you know how to adjust the parameters just right. The idea is to make the listener feel that the entire song is being played in the same "virtual place" - in the same room. Watch your frequencies on your reverbs on the low end as that can lead to a muddy mix very fast so be sure to drop reverberation on lower frequencies, unless your song design requires it.

You've definitely got some delays going on, so that's good. I'd also recommend getting some decent drum and percussion samples. Lots of free ones out there. Or you can sample a nice kick from a commercial track you like. That will dramatically improve your song. These here sound kind of bland and lack the necessary punch you need for a track like this. You'll need significant compression to bring out the punch and additionally you'll need side-chained compression that is dependent on your kick on the overlaying sounds so that your kick isn't drowned out by the leads and background.

There's tons more, but these are a good place to get you started on the road to musical nirvana.

After all of the above, the next step would be dedicating some time to sound design so you can make most of your own synths and stuff.

Good luck and keep at it! No one got good overnight. Persistence is key.