Emu XL-7 & MP-7 User's Group

I like the percussion in the intro, the tinkling sounds are a cool way to 
do a melody.  The bass drum sounds a bit flat, maybe layer it up with some 
more BD sounds to make it fatter?  Or compress it some more after boosting 
the low end is another option.  The synth stabs are smooth sounding, as is 
the lead you slowly bring in, is that from a Command Station?  The drum 
programming is pretty good, but you need to add some fills in here and 
there to keep it interesting, especially at your transitions.  They stay 
pretty static throughout much of the tune, maybe drop some of the rhythm 
parts out now and then to provide some contrast to the main drum pattern. 
The synth sound at 4:10 is really good, I'd love to hear you drop out 
everything (hh's especially) except that for 4 measures or so, especially 
right before you bring in the BD again.  It would make that a way more 
powerful drop, contrasts like that are good in dance tunes, keeps the 
interest up.  I didn't even hear the pads in the song until the very end 
too, maybe raise those 0.5-1.0 dB or so.  The melody you use at the very 
end is good too, you should use that in the song more.  I think (just me 
speaking here) that bringing in that at the same time as that BD I 
mentioned earlier would be WAY cool.

You've got a lot of really good parts going on in this tune, this is the 
first track I've reviewed in awhile I listened to more than twice :)  The 
only overall comment I would have is, that your sounds are really good, 
just work on the arrangment a bit more to keep it more interesting.  A lot 
of the parts remain unchanging for too long, tends to make your mind start 
to wander to other things.  The drum sounds are pretty good too, but maybe 
think about layering your drums sounds to get that really PHAT drum thing 
happening. This was by far one of the best things I ever learned for 
making drums just pound the carp (fish? err, crap) out of you.  Typically 
in my songs nowdays, I'll be using 3-4 BD's layered, 3 snares, and maybe a 
couple HH's.  Just make them all hit at the same time, and try to find 
good combinations of percussion hits, so that you have nice deep kick, a 
kick with more of the beater sound (click), and maybe a heavily compressed 
BD for the umph too!  This is really easy to do with just the XL-7, so 
it's not like you need a computer for it.

Other than that geat tune, if you rework it all let me know, I'd love to 
check it out!

rEalm




Hey rEALM.. there is a mp3 renamed for you on the fbi website, it is 
linked to the front page
 
www.fatbeatsinc.com