I listened to "For the Risen Eb", "Minimal Dissident" and "On Wind and Matter" and I can see why these people have made these comments. Your stuff sounds very interesting, but to the untrained ear, the lack of reverb/depth combined with the somewhat thin synth sounds and synth drums does make the overall piece sound a bit "thin". Combine this with the sequenced-sounding nature of the work (which is to be expected and is fine in this genre), and I can see why people are saying that. They're wrong, but I can see why they're saying that.

The progressions and parts are great--don't get me wrong. But there's no depth, so everything sounds rather "two-dimensional". Add some delay and reverb (sparingly, but especially to the voices, guitars and piano) and choose some slightly less synth-sounding instruments for the guitars, bass and horn-type sounds, and I think you'll add a lot to it.

I would also suggest you change up the drum sounds. They seemed to be the same in all 3 songs. At the very least, beef them up a bit. I'm not sure they work well for "On Wind and Matter". And the guitar's timing could stand to be a bit looser in the beginning on that piece.

Again, the parts are really good, and you have a pretty good mix overall, as far as balancing the instruments with respect to each other. They just need some depth and room to breathe.

Eenywho...that's my opinion. Hope it helps.

Key, what else are you using besides Dimension.. and is it the LE or full version your using?

what other synths you using?

you stuff does sound like it's straight of a midi unit.. errm you know about eq and compression yet? also cutting frequencies?

thats how you get punch on the drums really.. and using side chain compression , so it dips the bass slightly.. If your not clued up on the engineering side... you can cheat a small bit

http://www.loopmasters.com/genre/show/49

have a listen to the drums on that. notice they have.. well a lot of kick to em?

as for drum samples, well a lot recommend the vengeance ones.

if you like using pads, download crystal.. and things like that.. and the trick is to layer them , so they don't sound default..

I would deffo get some computer music mags, or look at their master classes..


Mistabishi has done a decent one..
http://www.youtube.com/wa...Qg&feature=related

and maybe more relevant..

http://www.youtube.com/wa...NI&feature=related

notice he's talking about lo-cutting things.. thats the eq side

even though it's different sequencers, the same principles can be applied across the board.

Thanks for the response planetearth and fog. I totally ignored eq and compression. So only drums need compression and eq? And I didn't use reverb and delay on the piano. I basically never used an effect at all under all my spaceanarchist songs. That's where I went wrong with these songs right?

I fooled around with a couple of nobs on the dimension dxi to attempt to get that wobbly bass, but with only minimal luck. Like one said, rapture might be more suited for that.

Fog, I used crystal oak on about 3 of them

I was going to suggest compression too, but some people just don't care for it.

But yes, I feel that's where the tracks could use some help. You can get "thicker" sounds either by choosing different ones in the first place or by EQ'ing or adding a bit of chorus or delay to the ones you already have. Add some reverb to each track for depth and to give them a place to "sit" in your 3-D space.

One other thing would be use of EQ when considering where you want things to sit in the "vertical" mix. The stereo field is the "horizontal" mix, but EQ and proper instrument selections help you cover the sonic range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz (not that you'll ever really cover that much). If too many instruments occupy the same frequency range, they'll mask each other, and you won't hear each one. I don't hear that happening much with your stuff, but as you expand your effects and instrument palettes, you might want to keep this in mind.

DimPro has some great instruments. Rapture might work well for what you do, but it isn't cheap. H.G. Fortune makes some great-sounding, otherworldly stuff, if you want ambient textures. Crystal is rewarding if you invest the time learning how to tweak it. Check out the links we posted earlier to see how to get that bass sound you want, too.

If you're just starting out, search this forum and kvraudio.com for "free [trance/techno/dub/whatever] sounds" or "free [whatever] instruments" and you see some suggestions that should be good for your genre. Before you start swapping out sounds though, why not remix one of the pieces you have and add a bit of reverb to the individual parts, some EQ to the drums, and some overall compression? Throw it back at us (in the "Songs" forum, please), and we can see how that's working for you.

Some helpful resources:

EQ
http://www.recordingeq.com/EQ/req0400/OctaveEQ.htm
http://web.archive.org/we.../EQ/req0900/primer.htm

Compression
http://www.recordingwebsi...tip/archive/rw34r.html

Fellow SONAR forum member Beagle's site
http://www.beaglesound.com/4.html

So it's my fault that I get those comments and not the fault of the synth? In other words, if I use a different similar priced synth, and worked with the same appoach, I would get similar results.

Keyborg


In other words, if I use a different similar priced synth, and worked with the same appoach, I would get similar results.

Er, no...not exactly. If you used a synth that cost 100 times what DimPro costs and you applied no EQ, delay, reverb or compression, your final mix would still sound thin and two-dimensional.

Again, the parts you come up with and play are quite good. Most of the instrument sounds in the songs I listened to are are probably fine if you "process" them a bit with EQ, delay, reverb and compression. I'd replace the drums in the songs, because they do sound a bit "light".

But even if you replaced all the sounds with new ones and didn't apply any effects, you'd still have the same problem--just with new sounds.

Gotcha 

I gave the song another listen and I don't think it is the synths so much as the sounds choosen, esp. the drum kit.  The kick is fine, but the snare is too small and many of the perc sounds are too Roland machine dated.  Handclaps, esp., for many people will say 1980s.  See about using some other sounds, but I'd also try running the drum kit (except for the kick) into a bus compressor and maybe a short reverb.  Not too much, which is the bane of reverb, but just enough to put it into some space and glue them together (which the compressor can do, too).

The piano when it comes in sounds a little weak.  Later, esp. chords, sound fine.  Again, it may just be too dry at first and a little (little being the operative word here) reverb just in the more naked parts.

Some of the other sounds might be a triffle static, too.  Some kind of filter movement or tremelo or vibrato on a few can give more of a sense of individual performance.

These are just a few ideas.  Tho not my favorite style, it is not badly done, but like most songs, can be better.  Identify a few things to work on, experiment and see how those help.

later,

@

So I would have to run multiple instances of fpc(my drum sample player)  to do this with the drums? I don't see a way  where I can route effects to individual pads on the sample player.