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Goldeneye - Cradle (dnb/big beat) WIP


Sole Signal
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Your synths and other stuff are drowning the drums out, making them sound flat and in the "background." When I think of DNB I think of stuff like this. Now that song has a good balance between the bass and drums. I'd recommend trying to emulate the levels in that song, but generally speaking: just make the drums louder and more crisp, thus bringing them closer to the "front" of your soundscape. That'd definitely make it sound more DNB-ish, and better in general I think.

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Well, yeah, it's a lot easier to have the drums stand out when it's just the drums and bass all by themselves (like the track you pointed me to). I do agree, though, that the snare especially in my track is quite flat. Does anyone have any techniques that they've found in processing snares? I've always had trouble getting them to sound good. Is it a matter of layering samples on top of each other, linking them to the same FX channel and processing them all together? Or separately? Then what, add compression, EQ, distortion? I dunno, it's definitely the one thing I really could improve on. My snares always seem to have problems in cutting through the mix.

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Well, yeah, it's a lot easier to have the drums stand out when it's just the drums and bass all by themselves (like the track you pointed me to). I do agree, though, that the snare especially in my track is quite flat. Does anyone have any techniques that they've found in processing snares? I've always had trouble getting them to sound good. Is it a matter of layering samples on top of each other, linking them to the same FX channel and processing them all together? Or separately? Then what, add compression, EQ, distortion? I dunno, it's definitely the one thing I really could improve on. My snares always seem to have problems in cutting through the mix.

I may be new but I learned a few tricks with distorting drums/and or beefing then up. You can increase the gain of a drum sample by inserting a compression plug in and messing with the said thingy. Also I find that putting the pitch down a bit on the snare makes it sound a bit fatter, as well as putting another sample of the same type and panning them both on seperate speakers makes em sound stronger - OA taught me that one ><

Sorry if my tips are too vague/useless, just trying to give a helping hand.

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Well, yeah, it's a lot easier to have the drums stand out when it's just the drums and bass all by themselves (like the track you pointed me to).
That's true, but that's not to say you couldn't pump up the drums a bit more, maybe not to the levels of the song I pointed you to, but just some more than what you have now. I listened to the update and the levels in the intro are great, everything is clean and clearly audible... though I still think it'd be cooler with the drums beefed up after the intro. As for guides to drum processing, I don't have any of those =/, but they're really popular, I'm sure you can find some good tips searching around the internet.
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Hey, the new version sounds much improved. One thing, the kick dies when the tempo picks up. (I have the same problem)

You could try adding a new layer, but I think the main problem is the balance between drums and the other synths.

I know the melody is important...but in DnB it's not AS important as, say, a classical piece. Lower the synths' volume and raise the drums' - it sounds like the drums are fighting for power when they should be given free reign with the track.

Of course, that's personal preference...either way, this track has potential. Looking forward to updates!

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Thanks for the comments guys.

Yeah, I guess I should have mentioned that I'm doing this for a soundtrack and the devs don't want too much liberty to be taken with the remixes. I'll probably split this into two versions: one that is more of a standalone track with a greater emphasis on dnb and the other one for the soundtrack with the bigger emphasis on melody and the original track.

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Nice track Greg! Really enjoying all of the layered instruments. To get the kick drums to cut through a lil more you could do something like this:

But a multiband compressor on some of the bass tracks. Put the lowest band at around 200-250hz and below. Then put a fruity peak meter on the kick. You can get route the peak of the audio to signal to the Gain knob on the lowest band for the multiband compressor on your bass tracks. Set it up so it ducks the volume a lil bit on the gain for the lowest band. This is basically FL's way of side chaining. Except the apparent ducking sound that is found is so many trance tracks won't be there. It will only duck the lower freqs on the bass. I did a similar thing on another track that had prob 2-3 different bass tracks and it worked wonders.

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Nice track Greg! Really enjoying all of the layered instruments. To get the kick drums to cut through a lil more you could do something like this:

But a multiband compressor on some of the bass tracks. Put the lowest band at around 200-250hz and below. Then put a fruity peak meter on the kick. You can get route the peak of the audio to signal to the Gain knob on the lowest band for the multiband compressor on your bass tracks. Set it up so it ducks the volume a lil bit on the gain for the lowest band. This is basically FL's way of side chaining. Except the apparent ducking sound that is found is so many trance tracks won't be there. It will only duck the lower freqs on the bass. I did a similar thing on another track that had prob 2-3 different bass tracks and it worked wonders.

damn a side chain on the lower frequencies....interesting. sounds like it'll work, specially for this piece since it puts quite a lot of demands on the lower end. good tips =P

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  • 2 months later...

Finished this; it can be found at my vgmix page, titled "Rocking the Cradle." I'll enable the download once I get the okay from the developers at HL2 Goldeneye:Source (it's a track I put together for that soundtrack.)

(yes I know I have an older mix with the same title but w/e) :<

http://www.vgmix.com/members/271/

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