Back to the Breaks ! - UPATED 3-12 Final version?

My first breaks song in a couple of years, but felt really nice putting together.

It's probably 90% done or so, although, I would like to add some vocals if I can find someone to do it (or failing that I might troll for vocal clips).  In particular, I think the final build up could use something extra.

Stuff used on the track

EZ drummer
Z3ta
Rapture

Lexicon LXP
PSP Mixbass
Izotope Alloy and Stutter
Sound Toys Decimator
Waves Doubler

Izotope Ozone for mastering


All comments are of course welcome, and thanks for listening :)

well I can hear that kick low thing really well, but the snare hardly at all?

:-) It's one of my favorites. The one on the left was Farvre's girl he was sending shots of his junk to? A much younger picture of her, evidently in a swimsuit competition. 

It seems like top notch craftsmanship.

I like the the drum tones and the way they differ throughout the piece. I like the both big ringing bass drum and the wood block/cow bell a bunch.

The stutters or turn around sections seemed a bit forced.

Good stuff.

best regards,
mike

Ah cool, that's the new tool they made? It's cool to hear it being used.

best,
mike

CLEAN


Not really my kind of music - but this is really well done. This kind of electronic stuff can be a bit boring sometimes - this is anything but boring.

Well done.

Thanks man, I really am trying to keep it moving.   If I can get some good vocals I think that will help even more.

Maybe if I could play an instrument (or sing) I would do rock too, lol.

I appreciate the listens and comments anyway.

Thanks man,

To be honest I do not know the genre but for the most part the mix and the song is cool.

Are the drums supposed to be that far in the back in this genre?

@ Studiocat

Thanks, my wife gave me a piano book to practice, so I'm really trying to work on learning to play, and developing stronger melodies

@ Bapu

Ty,  I'm not sure about the drums, I assume you are reffering to the amount of reverb on it.  I just kind of put it on till I thought it sounded good.   Although, I admit I am struggling with the amount on the snare.   The kick I really pumped up with the PSP Mixbass.  It sounded kind of wimpy before.

@ Philz

Thanks for the listen,  and agreed I'm a big fan of the filter sweeps as well.   That Z3ta is really a beast of a synth, to bad I don't know more about programming.

Yeah, I like lyrics too.   I just need to find a good vocalist.
 
Oh and thanks for the listen !

Thanks Janet,

my wife gave me   Hanon   - The virtuso pianist in 60 exercises.   I'm up to #6,  although I'm doing 8th notes instead of 16th, lol.

It's funny, I've played before, but never stuck with it enough to get my playing/timing real good (or to really be able to read music).


My family actually had a piano when I was growing up, I think it was at the 1906 world fair (saved from Austria I believe during/before WWII)   that was just beautiful, super ornate, but we had to sell it when my dad lost his job when I was a kid. 

If I ever find it, I'm going to do my best to get it back, to bad it's probably worth over 100k if not more :(
Oh well, that's life


Anyway, I think old is a state of mind.   At least that's what I tell myself as my body starts breaking down, lol.

Well, my wife said if I want to be good, then that book will make me so (she's been playing for years, can do Mozart and all that stuff).  

As for reading music, I just need to know enough to get through the music theory books.   I don't actually ever plan on playing pieces (although that could always change I suppose).


oh, and I will be 34 in May, I'm ancient :P

Yes, I really need to learn my chords.   So far any chord progressions in my music is almost certainly stricktly accidental.

Interesting.
I like the breakdown at 1:39.
The one at 3:58 is ok, too.
The one at 4:12 is questionable, and the ones at 4:26, 4:41, and 4:55 are mildy distracting. Through here, it seems to want to catch a long stride, and the breakdowns feel like it is tripping over itself. Let it grow some legs through this section, possibly introduce a counterpoint. It wants to run. Maybe some crazy building arps?
Disclaimer: I'm 52, so may not entirely get this, bit I'm going with the vibe as I feel it. On the whole, I like what you have done here.

Hey Mathew.

To be honest, I wasn't overly impressed at first listen, but the song did get stuck on my head and to be very sincere, I actually really like it! The leads are great fun and make me want to dance around. I've been thinking of this for several days so I though what the heck, there are a few suggestions i would like to make. Nothing to say about the mix, everything sounds very clear to me.

The kick, I'll start with this. It's a very long sound you've used and to me it get's a little monotone and tedious. I would suggest that you make three versions of the sample, one long like the one you've used to put on the first beat of every second or fourth bar or so, one shorter to keep things going without cluttering up the lows, and then one very short for accented beats. Kind of like:
boooooom - bom bom -- bom bom -- bom - bom booooom -- bo' bom - bo' booooom etc

I don't know if this made any sense. I can make you an audio example if you want. I realize you're using EZDrummer, but you could sample the kick and throw it into Drop Zone or something. This technique has worked wonders for me many times and seems like it could spice up your rhythm a little.

The bass sounds are great. Everything you've used for the lower parts sounds great and with a relatively modest and snappy drum kit, that's a great choice IMO. It works well together. But the long tones looses it's tension after a while. I'd suggest you add some faster LFO movement to some of the sounds, maybe side chain the hi-hats to some of them or something for the sake of movement, not ducking. But the best thing would be to use the synth envelopes to control filters perhaps. Maybe add some exciters to some of the sounds to brighten up the top a little and make it more in your face. You can do this without ruining the excellent chord progression through out the song. You still have some pads that keep the soundscape going nicely underneath everything.

The stuttering effect is cool, but maybe a little overly used? I dunno, have you tried using it on say the drums and bass only while the rest plays normally? And vice versa, using it on just leads and pads? An effect like that has to come in naturally, not to often, and not to rare. Or you could use it a lot more than what's sensible, but that would probably make an entirely new track

I hate to sound like a music critic here, and I apologize if it sounds like I'm trying to kick your song to the curb here, I don't. The reason is that I hear some good improvement potential of an extremely catchy track (BTW, I do listen to and create a lot of electronic music). And since I've been thinking of this for a few days while listening to your song several times, I thought I'd just share these things with you. I'm sure if you did add some movement, some more life to the beats and carefully planned your stutter effects, then no one would ask for vocals

I'm sorry if I offend in any way - I really don't mean too have this come across like that