Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Show off original scores and recordings made with Linux!

Moderators: MattKingUSA, khz

Post Reply
User avatar
vitaminx
Established Member
Posts: 50
Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:07 am
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Contact:

Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by vitaminx »

A deep techno and dub techno inspired track.

https://soundcloud.com/vitaminx/reptile ... e-download

It is entirely done with Renoise on Linux, all instruments are sample based.
The track has an unusual amount of delay and reverb busses, 14 in total.

As always I'd be very happy about your feedback regarding the composition, mixing, mastering, etc.

Greetings :)

OS
- Debian 9 + testing Linux

DAW
- Renoise

Instruments
- samples

Effects
- Renoise internal effects
- u-he Presswerk
- u-he Protoverb
- u-he Colour Copy

Tools
- jack
- cadence (kxstudio)
- catia (kxstudio)
User avatar
sysrqer
Established Member
Posts: 2519
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:47 pm
Has thanked: 319 times
Been thanked: 148 times
Contact:

Re: Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by sysrqer »

Really liked it. I was wishing it was a bit faster and steppa like in places, I think it could work really well at a faster tempo. Just my opinion though, it's great as it is but I lean more towards dub than techno.

I would suggest looking at the 150-400hz range a little, the highs sound a little muted but i think it's because there is a slight build up in this area rather than there not being enough highs. I know this style is supposed to be murky but I think it could be groovier and hit harder if that area was cleaned up a little.
User avatar
vitaminx
Established Member
Posts: 50
Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:07 am
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Contact:

Re: Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by vitaminx »

sysrqer wrote:Really liked it.
Thanks :)
sysrqer wrote:I was wishing it was a bit faster and steppa like in places
That could be a good idea for my next track.
sysrqer wrote:I would suggest looking at the 150-400hz range a little [...] it could be groovier and hit harder if that area was cleaned up a little.
OK I'll check that freq. range out, maybe I take it down a notch.
User avatar
vitaminx
Established Member
Posts: 50
Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:07 am
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Contact:

Re: Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by vitaminx »

sysrqer wrote:I would suggest looking at the 150-400hz range a little
I uploaded a new version here: http://www.callistix.net/music/Reptile% ... %201.1.wav

I did some cuts in that range but I'm not sure if that did anything audibly, can you confirm if it sounds better or not?

I'm also hitting the master bus compressor harder, before I had a maximum gain reduction of 0.2db, now it's 0.4db. But I want to avoid overcompression, what is your opinion, does it sound too compressed now?
User avatar
sysrqer
Established Member
Posts: 2519
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:47 pm
Has thanked: 319 times
Been thanked: 148 times
Contact:

Re: Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by sysrqer »

Sounds a lot better to me. If you took some off the chord stabs that play from the beginning you could relax that a bit, they are missing a bit of warmth that they had originally. Overall though, a great improvement.

Cleaning it up has a exposed the kick though and it doesn't quite sit right, could maybe do with done compression, slow attack and medium release, or just tightening the amp envelope a bit too make it shorter and snappier. Or maybe a new sample completely? A little sidechaining could make the groove move a bit more as well.

Just being picky with all of these suggestions, it sounds good as it is but if constructive criticism is welcome them those are things I would address.

I mentioned cleaning up the low mids because it's something that's taken me so many years to recognise when there is an issue there. I make electro dub so usually there's lots competing for the low end but i used to mistake low mid problems for low end problems and I felt like I could never get it right because of that. Now that I'm paying attention to the low mids my mixes have drastically improved.
User avatar
sysrqer
Established Member
Posts: 2519
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:47 pm
Has thanked: 319 times
Been thanked: 148 times
Contact:

Re: Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by sysrqer »

Oh and forgot to mention, doesn't sound overcompressed to me. I think 0.4db should be fine on the peaks.
User avatar
vitaminx
Established Member
Posts: 50
Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:07 am
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Contact:

Re: Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by vitaminx »

sysrqer wrote:if constructive criticism is welcome them those are things I would address.
Of course it is welcome :) I have a lot to learn still.
sysrqer wrote:Now that I'm paying attention to the low mids my mixes have drastically improved.
That's great advise. I'll pay more attention to that range too for my next works.
sysrqer wrote:Oh and forgot to mention, doesn't sound overcompressed to me. I think 0.4db should be fine on the peaks.
Cool! I've replaced the original Soundcloud version with the new one.

Thanks for your advise :)
jonetsu
Established Member
Posts: 2036
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 12:05 am
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 22 times

Re: Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by jonetsu »

I haven't heard the first version. The current version sounds pretty good. It's a nice effect when the bass is introduced. Can't say about the style, if it corresponds well to dub but then I do not care much about style etiquettes. Has a pretty good feel all around. A good foundation to build upon.

Cheers.
mijk
Established Member
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2018 7:21 pm

Re: Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by mijk »

i like how the music evolves as it plays along
sounds good, atmospheric, ambient
mixing is well with deep bass
sometimes it's a bit distracting to hear some standard sounds, or is it just because you have mentioned that the track was made with renoise? :)
the new mix is good, too, but the drums are slightly distorting, when the bassline drops in. The mix on soundcloud is better, mostly for the 2nd part of your track.
User avatar
vitaminx
Established Member
Posts: 50
Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:07 am
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Contact:

Re: Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by vitaminx »

jonetsu wrote:The current version sounds pretty good.
Thank you :)
jonetsu wrote:Can't say about the style, if it corresponds well to dub but then I do not care much about style etiquettes.
Yea, I actually have no idea if it fits the genre.
I don't mind too much either - I love to do stuff that can't be categorized easily.
mijk wrote:i like how the music evolves as it plays along
Thanks mate!
mijk wrote:sometimes it's a bit distracting to hear some standard sounds
What do you mean by standard sounds?
mijk wrote:the drums are slightly distorting, when the bassline drops in.
That could be analogue saturation from the Presswerk compressor.
Shouldn't be a problem though at it fits the mood of the song, at least in my opinion.
mijk
Established Member
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Sep 02, 2018 7:21 pm

Re: Reptile Humanoïde Dub

Post by mijk »

vitaminx wrote: What do you mean by standard sounds?
it's like preset sounds, when it doesn't sound organic, but this is only for some parts of your track.
Post Reply