Why do my tracks sound so cheesy?
Why do my tracks sound so cheesy? Posted on: 03.05.2012 by Henrietta Dortch Hi Guys, I've been producing in live and logic for about a year, and i'm beginning to get frustrated. I'm trying to make big, fat, killer tracks, and everything turns into a cheesy, trance melody. Any suggestions? Any one know from experience how to break that barrier from amateur tracks? Thanks so much! http://soundcloud.com/stephenphilibin/rush | |
| Sylvia Greener 19.05.2012 |
Originally Posted by sphilibin
I know we already discussed the "Maschine"-topic but I would like to mention it one more time since this tool was a great improvement for my productions. This is because of being able to drum on it like you might do on your legs or your desk. It's just super direct and really enhances the workflow when it comes to layering drum beats, sounds and melodies. If you already own a keyboard you should probably want to record yourself drumming on some keys. If you should have missed the DJTT article on sampling and some production tips have a look at this: http://www.djranking s.com/2012/05/0...-sample-slots/ It's coming with some great samples for free as well (nice drum shots included) which might improve your productions! |
| Lorna Hagerty 19.05.2012 | Squares and Saw's for instant fatness, Sylenth is great for making a gritty generic bassline e.g. The Back in Time remix is just squares and saws and For Her has pretty chords on top of a huge grungy bassline made of squares and saws. http://soundcloud.com/manil-3/back-i...-pitbull-manil http://soundcloud.com/manil-3/for-her |
| Henrietta Dortch 09.05.2012 |
Originally Posted by JasonBay
|
| Georgina Schatzman 09.05.2012 | Are you planning to play this out at your gigs? |
| Henrietta Dortch 09.05.2012 |
Originally Posted by Eric Day
|
| Iluminada Gallelli 09.05.2012 |
Originally Posted by sphilibin
I really like the melody in your song, maybe more variation of the same melody here and there could give it some additional depth? My 2 cents. |
| Romelia Stankard 07.05.2012 | That's a big thing I see from a lot (most) people starting to produce prog house or similar, they tend to ignore the bassline completely and focus on melodies or for electro the bass is all in the high mids and isn't really bass and doesn't work. Basslines are not really optional for most genres. On that note you should listen to what you are working on in as many places as you can and stuff like that will stick out when you compare it to reference tracks. If you want to avoid cheese and make it sound full like a finished track, focus on percussion and bassline. Then build up some melodic elements around it to compliment it if you really want something melodic. I'm not really into progressive house but the prog house I do like is mostly bass driven and rhythmic with minimal melody. If drums are an after thought and you don't have solid driving bass under at all it is going to sound thin and cheesy.
Originally Posted by sphilibin
Originally Posted by JasonBay
Also good prog house has driving rhythmic bass and great percussion. Example of commercial prog house done right- very minimal melodic elements but just enough to work without being cheesy- great bass and percussion which drives the whole thing. |
| Rolanda Clodfelder 06.05.2012 | Is it just me or is there no real baseline in there either - t'would certainly would make things sound chunkier along with some decent drum builds and fills obviously. The lack of a bass riff was the first thing that stood out for me listening from the beginning. |
| Georgina Schatzman 06.05.2012 | Maschine is such a great creative tool as well. It makes programming drums and percussion parts a breeze and just playing it is a pleasure in and of itself. BUT, the stock samples are very cliche and vanilla. Some solid "standards" in there, but nothing unique or original. By all means, if you're a hands on kind of guy it's worth every penny. But more important than any drum sample or soft synth is an idea and the music itself. Don't let a lack of "X" or "Y" keep you from writing good tunes. All you really need to write a good track is Ableton Live itself. That's it. It has all the required tools. Any 3rd party stuff after that is down to personal taste. Just look at all the 80's and early 90's producers. They only had a drum machine or, plus a synth or two. That's it, but they made the most of them and wrote some of the most timeless tracks because they all had great ideas, and they didn't let the fact that they didn't have drum machine X or synth Y stop them from creating. |
| Henrietta Dortch 06.05.2012 | Well, i may or may not own massive, and i don't particularly like the flow of it either, so that's my big dilema, but i could live for awhile with it, providing i learned how to use it a bit better... |
| Evon Clerkley 06.05.2012 | Or you could take another house/dubstep song with fat drums and sample those drums with Audacity or your daw and use those. Not sure if that would constitute a copyright issue though |
| Evon Clerkley 06.05.2012 | Not really, you need both, but you say you already have massive right? That's a really good synth that you can do a lot with, so you don't really need another one atm. And if you're lacking good drum samples, something like battery would help. Or you could search online for free drum samples too. |
| Henrietta Dortch 06.05.2012 | So are we saying drums > synths? |
| Evon Clerkley 06.05.2012 | Maschine is good for many more things besides just drums. You can hook you midi keyboard into it, use it for midi fighter instant grat, and it generally helps to layout ideas. You can pick one up new for $520 (yes retail, not educational). If you don't have the dough for full maschine, you could look into mikro. If you don't have dough for mikro, you can look into buying Battery, which has been a renowned drum machine software for years among producers. |
| Henrietta Dortch 06.05.2012 |
Originally Posted by seitz
|
| Maricruz Mouw 06.05.2012 |
Originally Posted by Pav-Lov
|
| Ervin Calvery 06.05.2012 | I would save up. Maschine is $669, and certainly comes with drum samples. If it's really burning a hole in your pocket, give a listen to samples for Konkrete, Tremors, and Abstrakt at Soniccouture. |
| Henrietta Dortch 06.05.2012 | All EXTREMELY helpful guys! I'm trying some of these tips right now... So i have around $250 to spend, what should i look into buying? |
| Evon Clerkley 06.05.2012 | For white noise, try using lfo in massive to create that wave effect (sounds like white noise is coming in waves, each one louder and louder). Also you might want to switch up the kick pattern for the build ups - you hear a lot of that in afrojack's songs and in many well produced dance tracks. It sounds fresh and keeps your ear waiting and wanting that drop. Try it with some crisp toms. Consider adding a lower synth? Or use an extra oscillator in massive and drop it -24 (if you have an extra oscillator). Also use an insert in massive with sine shaper or even clipper to add whitenoise to the synth and make it dirtier. LFO that shit. You might want to add wobbles. Doesn't have to be straight up dubstep, but you hear it in most house beats - wobbles fall on the snare. Play around with LFO. Sounds a lot like Gigi D'Agostino, which I liked but moved away from. Also for good drum samples, maschine is a good investment if you got some dough. |
| Georgina Schatzman 03.05.2012 | And I'm not saying it would just be all drums, just more focused on the groove instead of chord progressions and a melody with a counter melody to compliment it and a rhythm lead. Here's a perfect example, Not that much percussion work, a lot of subtle synth work to compliment and move the groove along, and just subtle things that change constantly through out until you're lost in it and before you know it it's just crushing you. |
| Henrietta Dortch 03.05.2012 | I figured that, it also doesn;t help that i have little to no drum samples, suggestions there? |
| Georgina Schatzman 03.05.2012 | Well, then no wonder your songs turn out cheesy. |
| Henrietta Dortch 03.05.2012 |
Originally Posted by JasonBay
|
| Georgina Schatzman 03.05.2012 | Dune is definitely not going to help with that I'd say, it's like the go to synth for those trance/progressive house guys. Get something that's a bit more raw and "analog" maybe, like the V2 collection from Arturia. And instead of trying to right a "song", maybe trying making a "DJ" tool instead. i.e. a 6min track that's really drum driven that would just sound killer on the dance floor, instead of trying to write a melody or hook. |
| Henrietta Dortch 03.05.2012 | Also, my white noise buildups sound like bullshit, they have no drive to them. Suggestions? Buildup techniques? |
| Henrietta Dortch 03.05.2012 | Some songs i tweak for weeks, some i finish in a few days, once i get on a roll, also, i use ableton, and logic, along with massive. I am probably going to be getting Dune any day now though. Where is the best place online to learn about sound programming (for dummies.) Enlighten me, friends! |
| Meaghan Kallmann 03.05.2012 | There's actually a pretty good track in there somewhere. A few things I notice -- not a lot of distortion or grit anywhere. That really "clean" sound I believe tends to give tracks a very 90's trance vibe. I also don't know what kind of reverb you're using but it could be better. The delays times are a little strange, too. Melodically you have some good stuff going on. Just needs more "teeth." At the risk of sounding like a shill since I pretty much always say this, might try signing up for Sonic Academy. Really was a game changer for me. |
| Ervin Calvery 03.05.2012 | Maybe it's related to process - do you fall in to a rut when composing the melodies or trying to make everything so agressive-sounding? |
| Nedra Fresneda 03.05.2012 | Well, sound design wise, it sounds too "presetish". Try going a step further and work on not sounding like what's on the market. Using big unfiltered sawtooth synths with a power chord is basically the formula for an insta-trance song. Change that. Don't be afraid of using more natural sounds either. This is my take on the matter http://soundcloud.com/deejaypaddy/gauteng http://soundcloud.com/deejaypaddy/home-video-you-will-know-what-to-do-paddy-remix |
<< Back to Producer tips and DAW informationReply