Feedback on my breaks work-in-progress

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 10:22 pm

Hey everyone,

A friend has pointed out that there's a shitload of Melbourne people on here who know their shit when it comes to breaks so I thought I'd post a work in progress.

Disclaimer: It's my first attempt at a funky breaks track. All my other stuff has been very ambient (sort of like Air mixed with Orbital or something).

As I've said, it's not complete but I'd love for some criticism from experienced producers, so without further ado, here we go:

http://www.4bitterguys.com/michael/test5.mp3 (4.8MB)

What sucks? What's awesome? What's missing? Feel free to criticise ANYTHING. I want to learn!

I'll start:

I think it's missing a lot of the "ambience" behind a funky breaks track. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I think it just needs more flippy noises and pops and flubs here and there and maybe a bit of echoey ambient stuff. Some vocal samples would be good, even if it was just "Oh yeah", "uh huh" etc. Where's the best place to get these from without access to a singer?

I think the buildup needs something. There's a bit about a minute in with just bass and drums that needs something. It needs to flow better. Hmm okay I'll stop now.

Thanks for putting up with that stream of consciousness

jules · Post by **jules** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 5:39 am

the drums are the most important part of the track put more power and emphasis on them. that hard sync lead is a bit to loud.

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 2:26 pm

Cool, cheers. I've got a feeling the bassline is compressed a bit too much as well when I put it side by side with any Plumps tune. I'll make some more changes (have a list of things that people thought it could do with), add some more elements, emphasise the drums more, and report back. Is it common to stick a drum loop or something like that underneath your own sequenced drums? I'm thinking this would add a bit more detail to the beat while still allowing me to crank the kick + snare...

Fents · Post by **Fents** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 4:35 pm

a1studmuffin wrote: Is it common to stick a drum loop or something like that underneath your own sequenced drums? I'm thinking this would add a bit more detail to the beat while still allowing me to crank the kick + snare...

Its common in dnb...heaps of heads but a lil amen or somthing under a beat gives it more roll.

I had a listen to ur track and i reckon it could do with drum edits and change ups. I dont know how breaks works but i would like to hear like a double kick and snare at then end of say every 16 or 32 bars.

Nice choon btw.

Post by **JAMESSSS** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 5:35 pm

Fents wrote:
a1studmuffin wrote: Is it common to stick a drum loop or something like that underneath your own sequenced drums? I'm thinking this would add a bit more detail to the beat while still allowing me to crank the kick + snare...
Its common in dnb...heaps of heads but a lil amen or somthing under a beat gives it more roll.

I had a listen to ur track and i reckon it could do with drum edits and change ups. I dont know how breaks works but i would like to hear like a double kick and snare at then end of say every 16 or 32 bars.

Nice choon btw.

breaks "works" the same as dnb like this.

In fatc it works "more" cause you have more room to get drums into.

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:39 am

Cool, thanks for the feedback everyone, appreciate it!

shepherd · Post by **shepherd** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:57 pm

i'm no expert but know what i like

needs more bridges and drum change ups

the hook is cool but hammers away and gets a bit monotonous - change it up a little pitch and melody wise.

longer intro (maybe with some cuts or stabs from the melody)

don't use strings - that's my personal opinion but I hate em generally!

sound wise it sounds pretty fat ... good solid drums

keep at it - has a lot of potential. When yr done give it to me and i'll throw an acapella over it

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 10:16 pm

Beautiful, cheers Ben!

Should have a new version up pretty soon with (hopefully) some improvements and getting closer to the final thing.

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:45 am

Righto, I've taken on board what everyone had to say and have got it to a state I'm nearly happy with. It needs to be a little bit longer, the breakdown is a bit abrupt at the start, and I might change the beat up towards the end.

Get it while it's hot (4.6MB)

One thing I'm still not happy with is the sterility of it all. I listen to it compared to other breaks tunes and it sounds a bit dry, like I'm listening to it up close, whereas the professionally mixed tunes I'm comparing it to sound bigger, like I'm listening to it in a club. Does anyone have any tips for getting that sound? I know reverb/delay can add depth and dimension to the track but I don't want to muddy it up too much, anyone have any pointers?

jules · Post by **jules** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:35 pm

sounds good man, i like the build up near the end, in general you've clean it up very well.

as for that sound your after try playing it on a pa.

Spherix · Post by **Spherix** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 8:48 pm

throw an fat old 70s loop in recycle and chop it up, speed it to your bpm (whats breaks 120->140 or something?) and layer thebitch
get some more movement in dem suckaz

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:32 pm

Alrighty, here's the latest evolution. I'm quite prepared to call this complete apart from maybe a bit of mastering/mixing work, as well as tightening that snare up a bit more and focusing it more in the midrange:

Michael Davies - Bedroom Performer (4.3MB)

I guess people may find it interesting listening to the different revisions and comparing the differences, there's some pretty big changes between them all.

As per usual, feedback welcome.

LuKo · Post by **LuKo** » Mon May 16, 2005 2:28 pm

how did you get that nice filter sweep' effect at the 1 min mark?

i have been fiddling with the filters tryin to get that same effect but cant get it working like you have at that point

great track mate BTW

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Tue May 17, 2005 11:16 am

Cheers mate!

The filter is one that comes with Ableton, it's just an AutoFilter placed on the VST synth's channel. I leave the AutoFilter off for most of the song, but on the bars I want the effect to work (and all of this stuff is keyframed so it's tweakable), I turn the filter on, set it to a high pass filter, then over the bar, change the frequency value from maybe 10KHz (or whatever the highest setting is that's still audible - you need to play to figure this out) to 0Hz (or the lowest setting where it's noticable - again, you need to play around). You can also play with the resonance setting over time to get some cool effects. If you listen at 1:12 I'm doing a similar sort of thing with the AutoFilter but using a low pass filter instead of a high pass filter. Hope that makes sense.

LuKo · Post by **LuKo** » Tue May 17, 2005 2:11 pm

cheers for thew explaination - pretty much what i'm doing but you have just done it very nicely

there are a coupleof things you have said that may help me get the particular effect i;m chasing

i too use ABleton, rewired with reason its all i use at the moment

and some VST's i just got my hands on

once i find someone with webspace i will upload the track i finnished the other day

calstro · Post by **calstro** » Wed May 18, 2005 4:01 pm

Finally got around to checking this out...

Not being a huge fan of Breaks so can't really comment on style...

I like your atmospherics...

Beats sound more Electro to me... I agree with Spherix about chopping up a loop underneath...

a1studmuffin · Post by **a1studmuffin** » Wed May 18, 2005 4:39 pm

Yep, I tried doing the chopped loop thing on a newer track and was gobsmacked at how much better it made the overall thing sound. Now the drums in this track pale in comparison so I'd better do it too

Cheers for the suggestion lads!