Solar Punk Feedback
- This topic has 2 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 2 months ago by ,
Alexander Heer.
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2026-08-09 at 23:07:49 #695282,Alexander HeerParticipant
What do y’all think about having social or political messaging in drum and bass? Also looking for thoughts on my track Solar Punk! I know that Submarine is on the genie list this year, and would be totally stoked if he was able to check out my track. He is one of my favorite artists so it would mean a lot to me.
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2026-08-16 at 22:39:17 #695343,
GENIE HQKeymasterHey! thanks for sending this, awesome vibe, idea and general execution. Already a big imnprovement in mix on the last demo you sent, well done.
The mix and production is strong, certainly well rounded. It has those awesome dynamics where the lead bass rises and rises in volume, quite a rare effect in D&B these days with so much smashed to a consistent RMS value. So keeping that is a great sylistic choice and refreshing to hear. The general sound composition is very good and sounds modern. Feedback is quite limited on this as it sounds like quite a lot of time has been spent on it
1. more subtle variation in the lead bass could be nice to keep it flowing on each repeat but without losing the solid repetition. These variations might come in; stereo width/ pan, filtering, modulations, micro tuning oscillations, or changes to processing FX that just so subtly give more variety to the ear if even possibly hardly consciously perceptible.
2. Drums are solid but sometimes dont cut through the wall off bass effect as much as they could. Plenty of ways of doing that, freq-dependant sidechain, envelope shaping (shaper boxetc). But it’s very slight. Maybe some more low end punch in the kick could help the energy and momentum of the tune too?
4. perhaps a bit more build in energy, excitement, tension into the drops could draw the listener in even more, but without being too over-hype. Just a bit more considering the ravers 😀
re political messaging in tunes,anything is possible in music so long as it’s tasteful. Just bear in mind people hate being lectutred to or feel attempts to intimidate them etc. Keep it inspiring, well meaning, and based in as much truth as you can and it will keep you in a good zone. But sometimes spoken quotes can detract from a really great track so just be minful of when it actually suits a track rather than just being keen to get an opinion heard! Unsolicited opinions can be a bit of a minefield, but when they are incontrovertible it’s hard to deny them..
Overall, nice work, keep it up!!
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2026-08-17 at 23:33:23 #695348,Alexander HeerParticipant
Wow, thanks again for such great and detail-oriented feedback. That short list of bass variations is very helpful. Gives me some things to reference when I am thinking about how to create variation in my track.
I did do some side chaining using kickstart for both kick and snare to the main basses, as well as kick to the tops. I think I need to really fine tune how much sidechain I can get away with before you start audibly hearing the choppiness – because I totally hear what you mean about it not punching through.
Will definitely work on delivering more hype in the build-ups. Its tricky – because I kinda hate over-hype kick rolls and snare rolls, just not my style – buuuut of course you have to build some hype to really sink the drop home. I think I will try a more aggro neurofunk style tune to really try to amp the hype to see how that feels.
These phenomenal pieces of feedback keep me moving towards progress and stoked on my improvement. I hope you don’t mind if I keep posting my tunes here, as I’ve got more in the pipeline!
Best,
Alex
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