Xen Type Beat

Share and discuss your LMMS music projects here, and see what people think!
Made a new track in 19 tone equal temperament. Let me know what you think!

https://youtu.be/2yLfYwqGflM
I like many things about it. The build up at 1:10 is nice (although I feel like it could have gone further) and the switch up at 2:10 is really cool! So overall well done.

However, I feel like there are some things you could do to improve. I assume you are using ZynAddSubfx for making the sounds, but regardless, I notice that most of your sounds are bass heavy. Zyn has a low-pass filter enabled by default (idk why, it's pretty annoying). I only realized this after a while too. But adding some higher frequencies to some of your sounds can make the song feel more alive and interesting. So if you're using Zyn, I suggest adjusting the cutoff frequency or changing the filter.

I think also you should use more automation on your drums and instruments. Maybe use it to automate volume, panning and filter frequency. And I would add a few more drums and different types of instruments. Maybe add some less mellow instruments every now and then or some that are shorter ("plucked"). And I think adding the occasional reverb effect or echo would suit your music quite well (to make it more "atmospheric").

I hope this doesn't sound too negative. My goal is to give tips for you to become even better!
Rakso wrote:
Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:23 pm
I hope this doesn't sound too negative. My goal is to give tips for you to become even better!
No, not at all :D

I need to work a lot more on my sound design, it's a very weak point for me. I have never succeeded at automation, I would like to have some way to emulate dynamics and make some more orchestral sounding instruments with swells and etc but I will have to dedicate the time to actually learning how to do it properly. I didn't know about the Zyn thing, I also tend to put on low pass filters because I feel like the upper ranges tend to have a lot of staticky crackly noise that I want to get rid of. In my last song I tried layering and it worked out really well, I just wasn't feeling it for this song. I'll take time out to work on studying electronic music techniques and finding tutorials, it's just not as fun for me as the composing part :P