Eric James - "Shadows In December" (Dream Trance)

[Eedee]

LoF: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=167158#p2490847



Free DL link: http://eedee.bandcamp.com/album/shadows-in-december

01. Relevant (Intro)
02. Winter's Eve
03. Ripples in Frozen Water
04. Molten Aura
05. Nebula Ballad
06. Tomorrow
07. Murmurs Amongst the Deep (Interlude)
08. Liquid Mirrors
09. Shadows In December

[mdemaz]

Loving the tracks so far.
Some of the tracks sound like tracks from the 90s.
I get a sweet vibe from those tracks, like Molten Aura.

Nebula Ballad is my favourite so far.

That snare...

[Eedee]

Thanks man.

[B.A.D.]

Oh wow, I was surprised and didn't expect it at all, but man, those tracks are sweet. Very nice for some background chillout stuff, you have an ear for electronic vibes but I do think you need some work on individual track mixing. What I have noticed the most about your beats is that you don't work a lot on drums, and if you do, then you are not doing it "correctly" (there is no correct way, but there are ways that make it sound "better" [dynamically and frequency wise] )

specially on the snares and kicks... You have to much rumble going on. For example on the track "Molten Aura", your kicks mud out the snare, hats and cybmals. Try to cut down a bit on the lowest end of the kick and boost up the knock. Also some snares are to back away. You need to bring them higher than the kicks and hats. (On Ripples in Frozen Water the drums are more clear, but your kick has tooo much reverb and mumbles down the feel of itself) Panning is a good idea, and most of the times you use it wisely, but I recommend that you use it more, specially for double snaring and things like this. Also for this kind of music, try to make a flowing left to right panning automation with the hats, you will see it sounds awesome and changes the entire mood of the song).

Another things I can notice is that the Pads you use are not mixed properly, some of them have too much hiss or too much reverb on the low end. Try to EQ the mids up so the Pads are more present on the track.

Also, you really need a new Piano VST/Plug in. The ones you have are not very good, however here is a trick to make it sound more "acoustic".... try to cut down the very very Low and Highest frequencies out completely, add a double reverb. first a soft and very low one to give the room atmosphere, and then a bigger and more convusling one to give more power to the piano itself. Soft Limit Compression is also good for it.

Tomorrow is really really good, but again you have a lot of trouble on the drum samples.

Liquid Mirrors is on some Tiesto shit, that one is definitively the highlight for me, great use of Delays. But work on that piano, I have the feeling that its channel might be peaking a bit.

Also, you definitively need to work on your track volumes, they are quite out of place on many occassions, like for instance, the pianos are always too loud, and the pads very quiet. The kick drums overpower the rest of the drumming, and you still dont have a perfect Equalizing, on many times the mig-high to high frequencies are perceived absent, so thats why Snares and High hats are so important, same as high synths. Don't let the lows overpower the tracks.

The whistle on Shadows in December is awesome.

What program did you use and what headphones/speakers are you using?

Hope the feedback helped a bit

[Eedee]

Thanks, man!

And I use Maschine/Nexus/Massive and my headphones are shitty cheap Logitex you find at Walmart... I do want a better pair but money is tight.

[FxTDilz]

Hey bro as you know I have no clue about how everything works when it comes to producing a work but I do know if something sounds good or doesn't so that's what i'll let you know lol. I don't even know if these beats are meant to be rapped over or not? lol. but i'll still try give some feedback

Relevant - before reading what that was called i was thinking, well that talking relates to eric lol. So I see how its relevant, definitely a dope intro into something that's going to express your emotions.

Winters Eve - this name is dope, and the beat is dope. I like it when it picks up more than when it's soft though lol.

Ripples in Frozen Water - another classic, dope poetic eedee title. This sounded completely different once it picked up, I feel you should've had some sort of water noise or some shit in there to relate it back to the title? idk though.

Molten Aura - I felt like this one had to much going on it for the most part, but at moments like 1:05 area it sounds dope.

Nebula Ballad - You make some weird noises on your keyboard bro lol. wasn't feeling the intro, when the intro finishes it sounds so familiar like some type of games theme music mixed with halo or something? lol. i like this one.

Tomorrow - This one bored me...

Murmurs Amongst The Deep (Interlude) - I don't really get it? lol.

Liquid Mirrors - This one is definitely dope, I also liked how whatever your using (maybe snare) kind of sounds like a mirror breaking so it fits the title.

Shadows In December - I really feel like this one should be rapped over lol.

Overall bro I love how your branching out with different thing, and I can definitely see your beat production getting better and better. Keep learning your mixing and mastering side of things too Eedee, you'll perfect the whole package soon homie and someone'll have to snatch you up.

Love you bro, no homo!