Mono no Aware

[Salvatorin]

https://soundcloud.com/happycream/mono-no-aware

 

I had a lot of trouble getting this to work! Because of the thumping bass drum noise was clipping way over the limit, but then the chords would drown it out. What I ended up doing was creating three different mixdowns, one with a focus on the crispy "drum" sounds, the other more on the chords, and the third on the bass frequencies. Then sort of upping the ideal parts of each I got this. But I felt ever in danger of clipping! I used a compressor mostly as a limiter but I really don't understand compressors. Every time I use them they pump up all the wrong things.

 

What do you think? All my music these days sounds super quiet on most speakers because i don't really use compressors. But I like there to be dramatic dynamic variation with the track.

[th555]

Ohhhh I love these unfiltered synth chords. Nice sounds and I like the big shakeup at 3:15.

[Squee]

This is really nice. Reminds me of the soundtrack for Fez - just with a 4/4 kick.

 

About the mixing...

I'm not really 100% sure as I don't have all the parts in front me of, but it sounds like there are excessive amounts of bass in one of your tracks. It's especially noticeable around 1:37. I noticed when I put on my headphones. I can't tell if it's part of the kick or what, but I were you I'd definitely high the shit out of it, because it ends up making your mix muddy.

 

Apart from that, I really like this track. Maybe add a tiny bit of saturation or something to the bass and then turn it down a bit. It'll help the bass cut through the mix :)

[Salvatorin]

Thanks for the tip. I don't have a subwoofer system at my house but I often want really really low frequencies. But I can't actually get a sense for how loud they really are. Thanks for listening.