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Chill little house track

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 6:05 pm
by Barfunkel


Reaper and mostly free plugins.

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 8:51 pm
by Mattias
Very good. You always seem to nail the minimalism and narrow down only the most important elements with pretty good success.
The bassline might benefit from some adjustments downwards in volume and same with the kick although it kinda words having it that dramatic haha.

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Sun Nov 05, 2017 5:08 pm
by dubdub
Sounds nice, the bass and keys are super sweet. Reminds me a bit of old Jori Hulkkonen. The kick sounds a little bit too plastic for my taste (for this kinda track). Those higher delayed keys could have a bit more low frequency information IMO, it would make the track a bit more warm. Actually the whole topend could be a bit more saturated, it would fit better with the lowend that's very rich.

I think some classic high-pitched house strings from 4 minutes onwards would really seal the track.

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 8:24 am
by Barfunkel
Thanks for the input!

I often try to make those high pitched house strings but I haven't found a (free) tool that does them well, soundwise. I really should buy the Korg M1 plugin, that'd be super useful for house. Now if I only had an extra 50 lying about lol.

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 9:55 am
by dubdub
I think FM should get you there, maybe that free DX7 emulation?

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 10:47 am
by Barfunkel
dubdub wrote:I think FM should get you there, maybe that free DX7 emulation?
Dexed? I have that and use it quite a bit. I have like thousands of presets for it too but I don't remember good strings in there. Haven't searched thoroughly though.

Could always program them myself, of course but let's just say programming FM synths is not exactly my forte...

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:00 pm
by TvSkY
nice! if the whole thing was a little more dusty and lofi it would suit my taste in house . but thats just me . maybe just a little more warmth and saturation though

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:38 pm
by Barfunkel
TvSkY wrote:nice! if the whole thing was a little more dusty and lofi it would suit my taste in house . but thats just me . maybe just a little more warmth and saturation though
Warmth and saturation are things free plugins don't do very well IMO, or at least I haven't found very good ones (yet). I've tried lots of bitcrushers, saturators, tape emulations etc but they mostly sound like something Skrillex would use, not Theo Parrish.

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2017 5:02 am
by TvSkY
Barfunkel wrote:
TvSkY wrote:nice! if the whole thing was a little more dusty and lofi it would suit my taste in house . but thats just me . maybe just a little more warmth and saturation though
Warmth and saturation are things free plugins don't do very well IMO, or at least I haven't found very good ones (yet). I've tried lots of bitcrushers, saturators, tape emulations etc but they mostly sound like something Skrillex would use, not Theo Parrish.
this is true. harmonic distortion in the digital realm is an art not easily mastered.

some careful subtractive eq can give "warmth" , most of the olden times devices we associate with warmth had limited bandwidth as the bulk of their sound . Also resonant filters accomplish similar things and have some pleasing characteristics . you might want to try those on top of the tape saturation plugs to take the edge off .

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 4:13 am
by kostas
TvSkY wrote:Also resonant filters accomplish similar things and have some pleasing characteristics . you might want to try those on top of the tape saturation plugs to take the edge off .
that was a useful hint there!
dubdub wrote: The kick sounds a little bit too plastic for my taste (for this kinda track).
I ' ll agree with that

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 7:21 pm
by bioniceye
nice track but i agree the kick needs some more work
lower volume and some eq

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 9:10 pm
by Mimui
TDR vos EQ and put on the saturation. free digital harmonic distortionz.

VladG materials aswell :)

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 7:44 am
by Barfunkel
Mimui wrote:TDR vos EQ and put on the saturation. free digital harmonic distortionz.
I have that actually, but haven't used it much. Should maybe investigate it further. From the little I've used it I have so far considered it a very subtle effect, not something you can get creative with by pushing it.

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 7:47 am
by Barfunkel
bioniceye wrote:nice track but i agree the kick needs some more work
lower volume and some eq
Bass volume is a common problem for me and I suppose for many who work on headphones only. You don't really feel the bass unless you play superloud (and since I don't even have a soundcard lol, I have some trouble getting a loud, clear signal to 250 ohm headphones), so you overcompensate by turning the kick and the bassline too loud.

I had the chance to test this and some other recent tracks of mine on a quality club PA recently, which is super useful as even small mixing mistakes tend to be magnified and it's often obvious what must be done.

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 10:21 pm
by Mimui
the key is in the word subtle ;p

harmonic distortion is subtle as fck

Re: Chill little house track

Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 2:31 pm
by Amøbe
Very nice track - you do a transition around the 2:00 minute mark, which is extremely well done. I didn't even notice it at first, it just felt like a breath of fresh air :P