snack master

i dig it. what synth did you use for the main line?

pretty straightforward dnb track here. i've been working on taking my drum work to the next level while also trying to avoid compositional habits i sometimes fall into, and this is one of the first tracks to come out of it. i hope y'all enjoy

thanks for posting, your feedback is right on regarding the high passing. i probably go too far with it sometimes, so i'll try to be a little more subtle with it in the future thanks to you. also, i haven't dipped my toe into the world of panning much, so it's probably time for me to do so ?

back with another track today, this one very much not ambient: FM Jungle Breaks FWIW, i may end up extending the track a bit more with some parts added on at the end.

Here's another ambient track looking for feedback: Snack Master - Expanse

Thanks for the feedback! Adding more chord stabs to the acid workout is definitely on my list of planned revisions ?

Hey everybody, I've got a couple different links for y'all today: River Rock: ambient Snack Master's Acid Workout: acid madness "River Rock" comes out of an ambient album I just stared recently and the acid workout is an early draft of something I'm developing for live performances.

i'm a little confused. are you specifically asking for my thoughts on your track? i'm not sure why you posted this in a thread devoted to reviewing my tracks.. that said, the track sounds fine, though it's not so interesting to me--it doesn't really seem like it goes anywhere.

thank you for the feedback! getting nitpicky is kinda what i was looking for :)

hey everybody, i'm curious what y'all think of this track: thanks

hey everybody, i have another track that i'd like y'all to hear: "See It Through"

thanks for posting, had missed this one 'til now

Curious if people have any thoughts on this one: Sweetly

Dunno what y'all might think about it, but here's the album that ^^ those two tracks ^^ ended up on: Snack Master - It'll Be OK I hope you all enjoy it!

just wanted to pop in and say that i recently discovered your tunes and am now a big fan of your work. great vibes, great production, arrangement, and great music all in all.

hey everybody--i have some new jams for y'all to bump: https://soundcloud.com/johnzn/itll-be-ok

thanks! i find WATMM to be a little difficult to just dive into, so i appreciate the sentiment thanks for commenting :) i think i know what you mean about moving the gamelan sounds into the foreground more, so i'll feel that out in finishing it.

Hey everybody! I'm wondering what you all have to say about the following tracks: Hard Snack Summer Feeling Energetic Acid Look At That Gamelan remix track

I do, and I think someone else said they do as well. I recommend it! It takes a little getting used to, but once you know how to finesse it, it's fantastic. I would recommend spending some extra money on getting a good burr grinder if you don't have one already. Baratza's Encore is a good place to start.

It's got some good moments, but I kinda feel like you have some clashing notes in your chord progression, though I'm not musical enough to say much beyond that.

Instead of the Sette, I use the Encore, but this is the same setup I use, and it makes great coffee. I'm thinking about forking over the $400 to get a Gaggia Classic so I can make my own cappuccinos, but that's unlikely to happen at this time :'(

Back with some new acid sounds: https://soundcloud.com/johnzn/nice-acid I'm still allowing myself to be a little sloppy with the mix and such, but this is also a first draft, so the final piece will be a little more refined.

Here's some acid I recorded today: https://soundcloud.com/johnzn/acid-rhythms I'm thinking the kick may be a bit too heavy, but other than that, I'm pretty pleased with this piece. It's really only a sketch, though. I plan on making proper pieces in this vein some time soon when I'm in my new studio space.

I'm really glad you stumbled upon my music! Everything you say is extremely flattering and encouraging to me, so thanks for the feedback! I agree with what you said about IDM sometimes being overly complicated. I'm a fan of most types of IDM, but was first exposed to IDM through things like LFO, SAW 85-92, and Ceephax, so I think I'm generally more a fan of the traditional IDM sound than the more complicated stuff that's come out since then. Now that I think about it, I generally loathe overly complicated things in general, so that's probably a bigger factor in my approach to songwriting than I ever realized before.

Reading my comments back, I may have come across a bit curt but that wasn't my intent, I was intending to just be to the point and clear. I'm glad my lack of friendliness didn't cause any offense or anything of the sort, just honest impressions. That said, Fun Jam is honestly pretty fun. Catchy little melodic plays and groove going on throughout that feel pretty fresh to my ear, I was nodding along with it. Great basis for a track. Digital orchestra had some great components too (really enjoyed the atmosphere and then the higher playful melody coming in about a minute in) it all comes together to evoke a range of emotions within it's 6 minutes, which is no easy feat. Both do come across as sketches though, maybe just a little refinement, along with some clearer mixing, would really open them up. I know that's not always the easiest with hardware (definitely an issue I've run into often with my own music) but also I don't know how your setup/recording situation is so maybe that's not a big deal at all for you to polish and tweak....both are very good starts to tracks though. Also listened to Digital which has some really nice components (melody was very catchy!) but was maybe missing something? I felt maybe it needed another section to the track, or maybe just revisiting it with fresh ears? The chords and generally just the sounds of each instrument sounded good (that main chord sound was great in fact) but I think it was missing just some cohesion or something? I liked it, no matter. Also I checked out Acid Chords on your Soundcloud and I know you didn't post it here asking for opinions, but it's good stuff. Again, the mix is an issue for me (drums particularly here) but the song structure, melody, strength and tone of the chords and interplay between all of it? Not usually my sort of thing but it works VERY well for what it's going for (what it seems like it's going for? lol). I do like the drums in this one if that's not clear, they're just mixed so low/behind everything I can't really feel them, ya know? Great little sorta nostalgic catchy piece. :) Don't worry about possibly coming off as curt--I asked for opinions and truly appreciated what you had to offer. I'd rather get a more honest and curt opinion than something that is softened opinion to protect "my feelings", especially when it's clear that thought was put into the feedback. I definitely need to improve my mixing / "mastering", as it's pretty basic right now. I usually just try to get levels correct, compress wherever necessary, and then slap Ableton's stock limiter on the master channel. If anybody has specific recommendations for me based on what they've heard so far, please feel free to share your thoughts. Regarding the feeling you had about something missing, I'm not terribly surprised. Working with the limited setup of the TQ5, the V-Synth and the Nord Drum 2, I think limited myself too much and might need to adjust my workflow to take advantage of the TQ5's or the V-Synth's multitimbral capacity to lay a few more lines down in these tracks. It was fun trying to write a whole song out of just three boxes and eight parts, and it definitely encouraged some novel approaches, but it did sometimes lend itself to frustrating rather than helping the writing process. Thanks for listening!