Smile! prog house <remix> feat. Zabrina (feedback needed)

[djbtown]

Hey everyone,

First time posting a track but long time producing... hope you enjoy!

IMHO most Smile song remixes up until now have been constrained by the fast tempo of the song. So when I heard the slower Smile song cover by Zabrina that Daniel Ingram posted on his YouTube recently (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_MSlvkrKPc), I knew what I had to do.

It's a 5-minute Archie-style remix, and borrows heavily from his style. 25 tracks in Logic Pro using Vengeance EC3 percussion samples and customized synths. It was mastered on pretty bad headphones using a fraternity speaker system for reference, but I did what I could. Feedback would be great: mixing, mastering, song structure, synth design, I'm all ears! http://soundcloud.com/djbtown/smile-djbtown-remix-feat-zabrina

http://soundcloud.com/djbtown/smile-djbtown-remix-feat-zabrina

[MatthewMosierMusic]

slow clap

Congratulations, you have just made my favorite remix ever. Its awesome dude.

[Conduit]

Hey man, all I can say is great job. Everything from the synths, to the slight vocal glitches are perfect. By far my favourite remix of this song. Congratz.

[djbtown]

Thanks for all the support! Youtube link is here if anyone wants to submit it to Trixie Variety Show or anything like that... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xrUxeGxOes

[Edened]

I can see this getting featured on EqD. This track is really awesome in so many ways. You used the vocals so well and I love the occasional "pinkiestep" haha. Nothing more to say about this great song.

EDIT
Never mind it was already featured on EqD. Somehow I just saw it now.

[Kryptage]

Really cool work here man. This style is right down my alley, and my one complaint is that your clap could be a bit quicker, seems a bit too verbed and feels a little floppy. A bit more EQ on the mid-low end on it could help, especially in house, those claps should be quick and snappy. The bass drum could have a bit more umph and snap, it seems to get lost in the mix here and there, it's important it stays powerful and present no matter where in the song.

Otherwise dude, your melodies are great, orchestration as far as sounds and your use of different sounds, especially in that electro-y part, just wonderful really! It's really your mix that needs work, not your music. So great work, I'll be looking out for more!

[djbtown]

@Edened thanks!

@Kryptage, I agree about the claps being too verbed - I think I tried that to give the very beginning a bit more complexity (when it's just the drums) but it does muddy it. Is EQ the only thing the bass drum needs to give it umph, or would you recommend sidechaining it into a compressor that slightly pushes down everything else on the beats? Or perhaps layering a different bass drum sample? At any rate, thanks for the great feedback! Oh, and I heard your Smile remix on your soundcloud - love it!

[Kryptage]

@Edened thanks!

@Kryptage, I agree about the claps being too verbed - I think I tried that to give the very beginning a bit more complexity (when it's just the drums) but it does muddy it. Is EQ the only thing the bass drum needs to give it umph, or would you recommend sidechaining it into a compressor that slightly pushes down everything else on the beats? Or perhaps layering a different bass drum sample? At any rate, thanks for the great feedback! Oh, and I heard your Smile remix on your soundcloud - love it!

As far as the umph getting the boxy-ness out is important, but you also wanna make sure your high passing most of the sub frequencies out of everything. If you have a sub bass find the part of your bass drum where most of the meat is, and take that frequency out of the sub bass as well. Side-chaining your bass instruments with the bass drum is also important. And layering two bass drums is something I do quite a bit, I would definitely say that layering on for the punch and another for the bass always can give it more kick.

I hope that helps.

And thanks for that listen man, glad you liked it.