Session #5 Notes!

[COLOG]

Posting to remind you to send me Val's music!!!

Also extra info about release stuff recently; I won't be putting songs out quite as fast in the coming week as I have recently. I got these 2 recent tracks done quick to enjoy my final days of freedom before I have some employability training stuff to do all week :cc. (will be too drained to make music) And also want to spend some more time with my gf

Making my recent tracks has been a blast. Music has felt increasingly like an escape for me recently, I've just been kind of depressed but making music is the only thing I enjoy. It's incredibly rewarding hearing people enjoy my releases so far since I put so much of myself into them.

The M3 mixer is cool and I'll integrate it. It's miles from my current workflow, so It'll take me some time to become familiar with it. Same kind of thing stands for ozone - I made these recent tracks partially to test the waters with it. I appreciate the bandcamp advice too. Sooooooo ready to make money and end the misery of looking for work in this forsaken country

I'm excited to hear your mix and see it on LF!!

[aymat]

Yo!

Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/@houseofforgottentapes/videos

Also heres the artist spotlight we put together with the first LF release: https://aymat.org/artist-spotlight-laszlow-emergency-landing-ep-lf001/

Would love to do one for you as well, I'll send a list of questions for the interview once the release is ready  

By the way, I'm going to leverage the Bandcamp followers for LF and my own BC account when I send out messages and promos to the subscriber list. That should get plenty of additional eyes and ears on your releases so we'll be able to build up your subscriber list a lot quicker   

Don't sweat putting out releases quickly. Just find your tempo, sometimes you have really productive moments where it feels like you can just crank them out and other times its a freaking dry spell. Both are fine and absolutely normal!

I can tell you've been putting yourself into the tracks, and in honesty, that's the right approach. When you lose yourself in what you're making, it really brings out something that resonates with other people. If you're enjoying yourself it'll come across in the music and the people listening to it will pick up on it. The more you're enjoying yourself making your music, the better it becomes  ️ 

I'll be mastering the track today and I'll record the session so you can see how I approach it. Ozone is great, but its like a big swiss army knife... lots of options and you don't really need all of them but they're useful every once in a while. For the most part, the basic modules are really what do the heavy lifting and I find keeping it simple is the best approach. 99% of what ozone is you probably don't need or may never use, but that 1% you do use is solid.

Brotha, you have no idea how ready I am as well , making money with music is not easy but its also not impossible. It's just believing in what you're doing and sticking with it. Finding other avenues that are music related also helps bring in that income. You're a talented producer, John. Ive said it before, at your age you are LIGHT YEARS ahead of most producers doing this and you have plenty of time ahead. That's an advantage most producers don't have, and you have an opportunity to establish yourself early so you'll be so much further ahead. Stick with it, you have a bright musical future ahead of you and I'll also do my best to help you make that happen. Talk soon! - J

[COLOG]

What a thoughtful response, thank you!

I'm definitely up to do a spotlight and I'll give the writing some good focus whenever you have questions ready. So excited to get back to making stuff at the weekend

Appreciate it as always!

[aymat]

@​johncave 

Mix and Master ready!

MIX
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ctnNrBv0MQ4OW6Ar89WCfgB4hvHAX2rq/view?usp=drive_link

MASTER
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z5m0A3HS2OQx1027U_hRWlm32PEq7O9G/view?usp=drive_link

Have a listen and let me know what you think!

I'll have the video walkthrough for the master out to you later today, and I'll get the artwork and interview questions done over the weekend. Once you get those back to me, I can have everything ready for release by next Friday

[COLOG]

@​aymat apologies for the long wait for my reply!! Not been at home for a few days and I couldn't remember my password for this site on my phone.

I'm happy with the mix and master! Only a few things to mention

Things I like:

1 Beautiful seperation
2 Kicks feel more present/punchy
3 Drum loop feels sharper
4 That acid-ish low synth layer that comes in for a while before the interlude sounds much clearer.
5 Bringing some of those vocals in louder at the start was something I wish I'd done. It sounds more like the track 'came from somewhere'. Don't know how to explain it but it's cool
6 The subtle elements in the interlude stand out better and the stabs just at the end of the interlude have more 'epic presence'

Things I dislike:

1 it feels like some of the pads/ambience is missing in the main interlude (maybe mixed very quiet or maybe it is actually missing?)
2 The pads/leads/snares seem to need a bit more air/top end presence. (this could be to do with point 3) - I understand your preference is definition of the more transient parts but I would rather have pads be louder/more present even if it makes the mix seem messier. (Just stylistic choice)
3 The bass top layer feels slightly less present than I'd like, and the sub sounds a tiny bit too loud.
4 I had a chorus around 200-1000hz in kilohearts multipass on the bass. I love chorused bass especially for reeses. Did you reduce the stereo width? It sounds thinner. (Could again be to do with point 3)

It's better than my mix :p. Handle the criticisms in any way you want and preferably enact it through very marginal changes because I am nitpicking and I'd still be happy if it was released the way it is. Your mix sounds closer to a lot of my favourite reference tracks (and more professional).

Excited to see what you pick for the artwork

[aymat]

@​johncave 

All good and everything you stated is absolutely fair! Btw, this is absolutely normal input so no need to worry, we'll keep revising until we get it just right. I'll do another round this weekend and send it over! - J