WIP Feedback – Sistrurus & ElephantK0ng – Prevail

It’s different, reminds me of trying to connect to the internet on a dial-up modem 😉 Some cool ideas here but it’s a little chaotic for my liking.

Your drums are drowning here though. They might need to be a little louder in the mix, but also try and sidechain both your kick and snare (or sidechain more if you are) to let them cut through a bit better.

Hey!

This is actually a really good tune to provide feedback on.

The intro has a vibe, it builds tension and has a SciFi feel, it draws the listener in.
It feel like at 23 seconds the build up should enter the ‘hype’ phase and start to really build up in energy towards the drop. As you kind of slide into the drop from the intro you have done, the tension is killed too fast…. make them wait and bring up the attention with fatser rhythm, risers, filter sweeping.

The next thing to draw attention to as a song writer (of any kind) is to ask, what am I trying to say here?
What is the point? The idea?
This is an abstract concept when it comes to instrumental music, but it will make sense over time.

It feels like your basses and sounds are all one long sample of experimentation, perfect for going back through and scanning for ‘The moment’ – the sequence of modulation or riffing that you just want to hear over and over again. Or there might be more than one of these which you can re-sample and play against each other in a question and answer format.
The section 2min03 to 2min05 for example, there’s a riff there – how would that sound chopped out and looped? Could that be a riff that would stick in your listener’s head and from there you could build the development around that theme?
Interesting that this riff begins from drop 2 (and great that you are doing a change instead of just copying the first section over again). It’s interesting as it was QZB who said, in one of their past tutorials for us, that they often find the second drop ends up being the tune; as for some reason you strip out all the “nonsensical bullshit” (to quote them), and arrive at a solid idea. So it seems to be a theme that seconds drops often contain ‘The tune’, so look out for that in your future ideas.

In terms of mixing and production, there’s some good and bad points in here.
Good stuff would be: How you have filled the frequency spectrum up with just drums and bass (midrange)
But the bad would be HOW you have filled the frequency spectrum up with just drums and bass…
It needs refining, sculpting, less blaring & wild frequencies, more sub bass, more punch.

You will get there though! The main thing is to focus on the ideas, the motifs, the tune itself and keep chipping away at training your ears and developing your ability as an engineer.

Hopefully this helps! Keep it up!