<pony><WIP><Eurobeat>Find Yourself

[Raddons]

http://soundcloud.com/zach-shore/find-yourself-toastbeard/s-vhRVp#new-timed-comment-at-106012

This is my first attempt at Eurobeat (it's actually more of a Eurobeat/Happy Hardcore hybrid, as Tomb put it) that I feel comfortable with sharing. I plan on filling in a second solo and changing up that first solo patch. Can I have some feedback on it in its current state?

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

Well, for starters, the kick is practically not there and you have to strain a bit to hear the snare. I think you should either compress/boost the samples you have, or get better ones. Also, the track seems to have no layout. I mean, just look at the waveform: there's about one break from the grey fuzziness, and that's just an arp building up. An intro, a buildup, a breakdown, and an outro would all be nice.

HOWEVER, despite these complaints, the track has a fantastic happy vibe. I was joyfully headbanging the entire way through. The lead sounds are great and delightfully 8 bit at times. Of course what would a great lead be without a painlessly happy melody, which you demonstrate in this track perfectly.

Loving this so far, just need you to fix up a few things. ;D

[Raddons]

I'm sorry, but I think that kick is really prominent. That's something that was even mentioned in the Toastbeard sync listen, that the kick was really present. Maybe if you try listening on something else? Unless anyone else has something to say about the kick being non existent...

I will agree that form is a huge weak point for me, and definitely something I really need to work on.

[MRPPony]

YOU HELPED ME ON MY THREAD, NOW I HAVE TO LEAVE YOU A FEEDBACK!!!

Anyway, so far its coming along nicely. I know Super Eurobeat is generally over-the-top and synths are fast as omg you wouldn't believe it, but you can slow it down and make things a bit smoother during the breakdown at 2:00. This way it'll actually sound like a big buildup rather than it sounds like everyone stfu and you're still asjfoijaofnaisbnfeuianfianoafjoaiwjljavna on your synth.

Same goes for 0:42 seconds in. We've already went from one super fast synth pattern, you can slow it down a bit. Instead, use 0:53 as a way of making a rhythmic/"singing" synth lead and have it sort of sound like a verse section of the track. I don't want to link to another song as an example, but basically try varying your synth not just by sound, but also by how fast they should be played.

Other than that, yeah this is sounding pretty good. So jelly cause I can't do Eurobeat no matter what lol.

Also XXDarkShadow79XX (love your name lol), eurobeat's kicks aren't supposed to be that heavy. HHC yes, but not so much Eurobeat. He did say its Eurobeat/Happy Hardcore but its sounding more purely Eurobeat than anything, which isn't bad.

[Raddons]

I honestly have no clue why it wasn't clicking with me before with varying that section at :42. Maybe I was trying to introduce too many elements into it or something. But thanks so much for that! Even changing around the beat changes the whole thing!

As for the kick, I thought he was saying that he couldn't hear it though?

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

Well, I think MRPPony is right. I thought the kick was too short and I had to strain to hear it, but he said that Eurobeat kicks aren't supposed to be hard.

[Eurobeat Brony]

Wow wow WOW it's been a while since I've posted here.

You're definitely moving in the right direction! You even have the "stabs" on every other 8th, a detail a lot of folks starting off in Eurobeat tend to miss! As well, you have a brassy sound that's at least in the right direction, if a bit thinned (making multiple layers tends to fix this, actually when you have that sound playing chords it sounds much more lush. Consider using octaves to your advantage here). Might I encourage you to drop the tempo down a couple notches? Fast music is extremely fun, and I dig the energy this piece has, but I think slowing it down a couple BPM would really give it some clarity and weight which would serve great benefit to this track.

I'm diggin' it, and can't wait to hear more from you!
-EbB

[Raddons]

Oh wow, thanks! The stabs I actually didn't have originally and Stormwolf pointed out that I should stick them there.

When I pick this one up again, I'll be sure to bring the tempo down. After another listen with clean ears, I can tell you're totally right. Haha, a few years ago I used to only listen to power metal and that's where the speed comes from I guess. I think I'm going to start from scratch too. The mix is very cluttered in my opinion.

Thanks so much for your input!

[Eurobeat Brony]

Oh wow, thanks! The stabs I actually didn't have originally and Stormwolf pointed out that I should stick them there.

When I pick this one up again, I'll be sure to bring the tempo down. After another listen with clean ears, I can tell you're totally right. Haha, a few years ago I used to only listen to power metal and that's where the speed comes from I guess. I think I'm going to start from scratch too. The mix is very cluttered in my opinion.

Thanks so much for your input!

GODDOMMOT STORMWOLF STOP BEING BETTER THAN ME AT THIS STUFF

He's got a good ear for it though! Remind me to encourage him to try his hand at some originals soon... at any rate, I don't think you'd need to start from scratch, just bring the speed down slightly and work from there. (I happen to have enjoyed my fair share of Sonata Arctica and Kamelot, myself!)

[Raddons]

Oh wow, thanks! The stabs I actually didn't have originally and Stormwolf pointed out that I should stick them there.

When I pick this one up again, I'll be sure to bring the tempo down. After another listen with clean ears, I can tell you're totally right. Haha, a few years ago I used to only listen to power metal and that's where the speed comes from I guess. I think I'm going to start from scratch too. The mix is very cluttered in my opinion.

Thanks so much for your input!

He's got a good ear for it though!

Oh yes he does! Lesson Learnt is such a great song. So much fun to listen to! I will admit that that's where I got the influence for this once. I don't think anyone can tell though

[SticktheFigure]

While we are talking about Eurobeat itself, I must ask: Are there any articles/guides/etc I could read about the style? I think it's really interesting but I can't pull it apart too well by ear.
If there isn't such a thing, do you guys have any tips/advice/guidelines on it?

[Eurobeat Brony]

StickTheFigure, it depends on what you wish to glean from the style itself. Are you trying to make your own Eurobeat? Trying to understand the structure? Its history? Its future?

Eurobeat Prime is a good site for understanding the style on the mainstream level (i.e, Super Eurobeat releases and a few competitors), and the forums are, while old-fashioned to a fault, generally good-hearted. I also run a (seldom-updated) blog on it called eurobeatblog.com which has some presets/numbers to plug into Garageband/Logic for some of the patches I use.

[SticktheFigure]

I guess I'm looking to understand the structure and perhaps just play around with writing in the style.
Thanks for the suggestion! It's more than appreciated.