Well I usually finish my tracks in the first few hours of starting. but that's because I start properly with references etc. otherwise any fresh listen will always result in things to improve, and that process can be infinite! Because nothing is ever finished. But I thought it would be interesting to show what I consider 'done' here after what was achieved on the live stream
The second melody is much better. A lot more interesting and catchy. Love your channel, as a life long trance fan it’s great to see videos like this. Thanks for the video
Hey Guys, I started created this timestamps for easier navigation of the video. Feel free to comment more timestamps below, I will add them to this post. Cheers. 0:00 Intro 1:55 Track Overview 2:50 Reference, Reference, Reference 4:54 Transitions 6:57 Fix Drops 24:50 Break and Melody 28:10 Second Melody
To your q. I prefer 'simple' and getting locked into the grove, not too much of distraction. New alternative to playful and immature 😅. . .to my ears at least. Well, no right or wrong, just a matter of taste I guess. Lastly. It ads so much joy watching your vids and listening to you - in addition to boosting our knowledge. Thank you!!!
Looking forward to learning how to know when my unfinished track is finished by finishing it to a standard which is not in a finished state...I love my music making hobby..I really do...or I would if I could finish it
I used to find it hard knowing when to stop but I was given some advice. The only people who will tell you is your audience. You need to just put them out and after putting a good few out you will see the mistakes better and you'll see if you are improving. This is the only way we learn and if you do put something out that you personally don't like, it will give you a kick up the ass to do better next time. I am in no way at the point where I would like to be, but I am getting there. Every week that goes by I try to get better but if I don't put it out there I will never see. Best of luck buddy and keep moving forwards.
@@b00ts4ndc4ts yeah I hear ya man!! I'm trying..I've finished and mastered a few recently...but as usual they're just sitting in the archives on my nas🤣
Long time watcher, love your videos! Very inspiring. :) Got hooked when I discovered the organic house video. I recon you add the new Arp on the last turnaround (bar 401) as the final crescendo to give that big finish. with a tiny 1 beat-1 bar breakdown before it.
I think the updated melody is more fun. A bit more to dance out to for the second drop. How about "Connection" for a title or "Connections" a la the vocal and connecting 90's style to today.
I like the idea of a adding complexity to the melody for the last drop. Just as you needed to tweak 5 more things after fixing the filter on the lead in the first drop, that particular melody may require its own rabit hole of changes to other elements to fit naturaly. Alternativly, the local peaks (high notes of each "Q" & "A") of the new melody could use some rythmic tweaking to play off of the syncopation in the rest of the track.
Take away for the video is that you should make notes. That's what I do and also what has helped me the most to finish my tracks. You go checking things on till it is good enough. It's never perfect though and embracing imperfection is what also let me finish tracks.
This music turned out very well! The piano and the violin and the excellent trance sound! He flew away! This is real club music! The mixing made it sound very clear! The following came to mind for reference music: Es Vedra - Cala D'Hort (DJ Janis vs. Plus one Remix) DJ Georgio Presents Manjaro - Apperception (Dance 4 Peace Theme) As you showed me how to mix it! I'm starting to understand quite a few things now! Thanks!
second melody is much more "uplifting". I dig it more. still maybe needs some work on the notes but the direction is great! love your stuff thanks a lot for the inspiration 🤟
Keep moving forward and know when to stop and put it out there. Your audience will let you know if it's good or not. If you look back over your journey, you will see if you are improving or not. Tunes are like children, at some point you have to let them go so they can have a life of their own.
Prefer the 1st melody pattern but why not play both. 1st pattern on drop one then 2nd pattern on drop 2 ❤ Classic Trance records were a measly 8 to 11 minutes long back in the day as you will of course know. 🎉🎉 Amazing content! Love it x
You can loose your audience if you make your tracks too long. If you have more than one idea with different versions of the same melody, why not just do different mixes instead?
For the arp/melody, this is what I would do. Start with the arp, and then during the drop 'morph' into the full melody by introducing more melodic notes over time. That way you keep the original traditional trance sound, but build energy and end the drop with a more modern sound. Just my professional 2c 😎
Excellent content buddy, this tune makes me think of 'Weather Experience' Prodigy and 'Superstring' by Cygnus X. In terms of progression, what a mashup that would be if the keys work together.
It's driving me crazy not being able to put a face to your name, or even how to pronounce your name (Bee The Lick, Btheelick???) - please put me out of my misery🤣 Superb production channel by the way - you are the G.O.A.T.
I like the original arp tbh. Maybe the new melody could work in the break and then drop back to the arp? I also feel the violins in the end is a bit much 🙂. Track name suggestion: "Can't Make Up My Mind" 😁😁
Excellent video. Love the track. Original arp sounds better. If anything, you can add the extra William orbit style only at the end. Or, keep org arp and add another track that answers the lead with a different lead sound. Track title: Tide
Excellent video as usual, thanks for sharing. You should consider doing a paid masterclass. You give out more info for free than a lot would share on a paid 'course'👍. I prefer the original 'non melody', I find the second a tiny bit cheesy, but it's still way way better than anything I've ever come up with😁
Yes absolutely, it's all down to individual work flow. Or inspiration, or happy accidents. Sometimes you just need something to play with to the ideas flowing. The hard part is separating what's work (actually working IRL in terms of results for a living) and what's a hobbyist playing with their toys! Personally, I would play around forever If I had more options, My time management is pretty bad! I kind of like the limitation of using this small amount of freeware to make effective music but I do find myself making the same moves sometimes.
As always great content the knowledge you give is very valuable as a noob on production 👏 also how cool is your vital skin how do I get hold of that ❤😮
I personally think the original melody is the best, although I'm not sure if it's because I'm more familiar with the original melody from listening to it so many times on stream 😅. As you suggested, maybe there's a place for the new melody near the end of the track in some way to add a bit of energy & variety?
IMO the 2nd arpeggio is very nice, but distracting. What about maintaining the simpler one and only playing the second one in a new “bridge” section? This may add an unexpected and rewarding variation to a hypnotic-by-design trance track.
This video should end with a mic drop. The new melody is great, but I think it clashes slightly with the piano. I would definitely only use it in the last drop...then I friend of mine told me I always used the best thing at the end of the track :) Names: - essence of life - saga - eternal movement - hyperfection - Universum
I like the new melody at the end, but I would not place it into the build-up. there it sounds a little bit messy and does not fit the rhythm of the voice sample. But maybe it sounds right, if it starts in the drop as new and final element.
Thanks Ben - what Vital skin are you using there? Track is coming along nicely! I think I like the original arp better, imo. Maybe figure out an answer to the 1st arp? Name - Stage 4... and yes, I am bad with song names.
Producing is mostly fine. Mixing is bad. Well mixing on a singular source in general is problematic , the ears / brain need different perspectives so they can average out 'the truth'
@@iambadd if you're like me who has a good 9 pairs of high end headphones due to not being allowed to use my monitors and still can't mix on them...yes headphones bad 🤣 some people get it close, I am absolutely terrible, especially with the low end, I need the sound to not be in my head to work with it..hence always having to use an engineer for anything.
Im only able to mix it with my headphones for now. But i can give you one tip: Try to listen to your track on more devices. For example, listen it on your phone, in your car, on any bluetoothspeaker, or even on your TV (connecting your pc/laptop through hdmi). It doesnt matter if these things are high quality, youre just doing it to mimic the way other people would listen to your track. After all these things, i mix it again till its kinda okay on all devices. Ofc it wont be the best on all, but you can get it listenable.
If I may jump in here re headphones. In my experience you can do it all on headphones, even mastering but..... you have to have headphones with an extremely flat, transparent response. Ollo Audio changed everything for me. I still use their 1st model. Now I can do a mix, master and export, and it'll sound great on any system right away. My monitors now sit unused 😢 and gathering dust. By all accounts, the new Ollo headphones are even better. Will probably get some. Also, use something like Span to get a visual idea of how the sonic energy is distributed and balanced. Skrillex states that on a drop it should look like a brick. Have a look at Eminems latest offerings with a frequency analyser. Just astounding. After all that it's down to personal taste and desired sonic footprint.
@@Bthelick I need help with the sound processing and with arrangement. I get confused if i should be adding more on every 8 beats o every 16. also thank you so much for your help your videos are really helpfull
Why? BECAUSE IT WAS MADE IN "THE ANCIENT TIMES" WHEN PEOPLE STILL HAD ATTENTION SPANS! :D God, I love old electronic music. They didn't get bored of their ideas. :)
I like the second version of the arp-melody thingy better. I suspect I have heard too many arp melodies with supersaws in my days and that kinda thing feels overused. And not in the good way. What I liked about 90s trance back in the day was all the great melodies, and when it started being arps with similar rythmical patterns instead of melodies I also lost interest in the genre.
You attempted comparing to a different style of trance to be honest, and I'm saying it as a trance producer making this stuff for 15 years already. This classic 2000s sound you attempted doesn't need to be compared to such floaty, dreamy, typical modern uplifting trancers. (Btw they are often too bright and filled with reverb and sound terrible in the club.) It's meant to be a bit "emptier", with louder drums, different kickdrum, less white noise in the background etc. Edit: ah ok, you explained it a few sentences later, my bad 🤪
Title worth of third quality pr0n adds;this one simple trick...,inside the real knowledge,timing - insane;trying to finish 90's track...for 3 months....
🤣. Yeah I wish I didn't have to play the algorithm game it would be quicker and easier but them's the breaks as they say. At least it's not click bait as everything in the title is true!
feels like one of the most important tips here is to take notes and come back when your ears are less tired
Well I usually finish my tracks in the first few hours of starting. but that's because I start properly with references etc.
otherwise any fresh listen will always result in things to improve, and that process can be infinite! Because nothing is ever finished.
But I thought it would be interesting to show what I consider 'done' here after what was achieved on the live stream
The second melody is much better. A lot more interesting and catchy. Love your channel, as a life long trance fan it’s great to see videos like this. Thanks for the video
I've not watched for a while now, but these vids always get me in a good mood for making music.
I really like the added violins to really squeeze the very last drops of emotion from the listener. When done right it can be a very cathartic element
I honestly prefer the 1st melody! it's simplicity is solid and easy to follow as it were!
This would definitely be a big hit in the 90s. Brings back memories.
Hey Guys, I started created this timestamps for easier navigation of the video. Feel free to comment more timestamps below, I will add them to this post. Cheers.
0:00 Intro
1:55 Track Overview
2:50 Reference, Reference, Reference
4:54 Transitions
6:57 Fix Drops
24:50 Break and Melody
28:10 Second Melody
The second melody adds probably too much, maybe a fusion between the first and second one could be the solution? Great video Bthelick 🔥🧡
Amazing again boss, i never be tired of talking about how you made my level of production improves, thank you!
As a rock/metal musician I find these videos so fascinating. I truly love your videos, man!
Thanks. It probably resonates somewhat because rock/metal was where I started
You never lose it!
To your q. I prefer 'simple' and getting locked into the grove, not too much of distraction. New alternative to playful and immature 😅. . .to my ears at least. Well, no right or wrong, just a matter of taste I guess. Lastly. It ads so much joy watching your vids and listening to you - in addition to boosting our knowledge. Thank you!!!
I agree!
Great stuff and continuation of the narrative from last stream! Subtle changes, huge impact! Thank You!Cheers, sir!!
new melody -> just the last drop. it's a good progression in complexity and energy. Also you should name this "Waves N Gulls"
Man i love this stuff, thisll be a great watch
Oh that new John O'Callaghan tune is absolutely lovely :D
Never stop making viedos please ben! Love your shit!
Great video ben
Looking forward to learning how to know when my unfinished track is finished by finishing it to a standard which is not in a finished state...I love my music making hobby..I really do...or I would if I could finish it
I used to find it hard knowing when to stop but I was given some advice.
The only people who will tell you is your audience. You need to just put them out and after putting a good few out you will see the mistakes better and you'll see if you are improving.
This is the only way we learn and if you do put something out that you personally don't like, it will give you a kick up the ass to do better next time.
I am in no way at the point where I would like to be, but I am getting there. Every week that goes by I try to get better but if I don't put it out there I will never see.
Best of luck buddy and keep moving forwards.
@@b00ts4ndc4ts yeah I hear ya man!! I'm trying..I've finished and mastered a few recently...but as usual they're just sitting in the archives on my nas🤣
Glad I watched this this morning, i need to do my list today 🙏🙏
Long time watcher, love your videos! Very inspiring. :)
Got hooked when I discovered the organic house video.
I recon you add the new Arp on the last turnaround (bar 401) as the final crescendo to give that big finish. with a tiny 1 beat-1 bar breakdown before it.
I think the updated melody is more fun. A bit more to dance out to for the second drop. How about "Connection" for a title or "Connections" a la the vocal and connecting 90's style to today.
always TOP NOTCH content, thank you for sharing~!
beautiful melodies ❤
Very cool and interesting, big thanks for your explanation
OG lead for me boss. Like the cadence of it. But also like the idea of changing up final drop. Kinda wanna hear both in full 😅
If you were a sports announcer I would definitely watch a lot more sports!
Dance music is the best sport. Dancing at a rave is the best exercise. Everyone is a winner and that means no losers
I'd like to cast a Rocket League match one day that would be cool!
I like the idea of a adding complexity to the melody for the last drop. Just as you needed to tweak 5 more things after fixing the filter on the lead in the first drop, that particular melody may require its own rabit hole of changes to other elements to fit naturaly. Alternativly, the local peaks (high notes of each "Q" & "A") of the new melody could use some rythmic tweaking to play off of the syncopation in the rest of the track.
Take away for the video is that you should make notes. That's what I do and also what has helped me the most to finish my tracks. You go checking things on till it is good enough. It's never perfect though and embracing imperfection is what also let me finish tracks.
More trance tutorials like this please sir
This music turned out very well! The piano and the violin and the excellent trance sound! He flew away!
This is real club music!
The mixing made it sound very clear!
The following came to mind for reference music:
Es Vedra - Cala D'Hort (DJ Janis vs. Plus one Remix)
DJ Georgio Presents Manjaro - Apperception (Dance 4 Peace Theme)
As you showed me how to mix it! I'm starting to understand quite a few things now!
Thanks!
second melody is much more "uplifting". I dig it more. still maybe needs some work on the notes but the direction is great! love your stuff thanks a lot for the inspiration 🤟
Keep moving forward and know when to stop and put it out there. Your audience will let you know if it's good or not.
If you look back over your journey, you will see if you are improving or not.
Tunes are like children, at some point you have to let them go so they can have a life of their own.
Prefer the 1st melody pattern but why not play both. 1st pattern on drop one then 2nd pattern on drop 2 ❤ Classic Trance records were a measly 8 to 11 minutes long back in the day as you will of course know. 🎉🎉 Amazing content! Love it x
You can loose your audience if you make your tracks too long.
If you have more than one idea with different versions of the same melody, why not just do different mixes instead?
For the arp/melody, this is what I would do. Start with the arp, and then during the drop 'morph' into the full melody by introducing more melodic notes over time. That way you keep the original traditional trance sound, but build energy and end the drop with a more modern sound. Just my professional 2c 😎
Excellent content buddy, this tune makes me think of 'Weather Experience' Prodigy and 'Superstring' by Cygnus X. In terms of progression, what a mashup that would be if the keys work together.
I would save the second melody for the repeat. and I would only use the odd bars, and keep the even bars the same as the original riff.
New melody is good! Bit of a banger! Like it!!! - Track name: Tide Pools
Or how to old Anjunadeep style :D Love this, thank you!
It's driving me crazy not being able to put a face to your name, or even how to pronounce your name (Bee The Lick, Btheelick???) - please put me out of my misery🤣
Superb production channel by the way - you are the G.O.A.T.
Haha thanks.
yeah it's B the lick. (Long story I'll have to do one of those 'about me' videos)
B for Ben.
My face is on the main Spotify profile art
Excellent video
New melody gave me anxiety! Love this content
🤣 In a good or bad way???
Hey, pretty cool track! I'd use alternate arp change on last drop.
I like the original arp tbh. Maybe the new melody could work in the break and then drop back to the arp? I also feel the violins in the end is a bit much 🙂. Track name suggestion: "Can't Make Up My Mind" 😁😁
I actually love this revival of trance. Check out these guys like: Spray, Adam Pits, Guy Contact, Bliss Inc.
Great video.
Excellent video. Love the track. Original arp sounds better. If anything, you can add the extra William orbit style only at the end. Or, keep org arp and add another track that answers the lead with a different lead sound.
Track title: Tide
I like the alternative aro hook to happen later.
Excellent video as usual, thanks for sharing. You should consider doing a paid masterclass. You give out more info for free than a lot would share on a paid 'course'👍. I prefer the original 'non melody', I find the second a tiny bit cheesy, but it's still way way better than anything I've ever come up with😁
2nd melody in the 2nd drop will be good
Hi Ben,
Do you see a genuine role for hardware synths in an effective professional workflow, even if it is not in yours?
Yes absolutely, it's all down to individual work flow. Or inspiration, or happy accidents. Sometimes you just need something to play with to the ideas flowing.
The hard part is separating what's work (actually working IRL in terms of results for a living) and what's a hobbyist playing with their toys!
Personally, I would play around forever If I had more options, My time management is pretty bad! I kind of like the limitation of using this small amount of freeware to make effective music but I do find myself making the same moves sometimes.
final drop for the melody.
I think the 2nd melody in the last drop would be best!
Try Dynastia by Outobugi, this is cool the OTT alternative with more control over compression.
Ah not heard of these, they look great. thanks!
As always great content the knowledge you give is very valuable as a noob on production 👏 also how cool is your vital skin how do I get hold of that ❤😮
Thankyou.
Yes that skin is great isn't it. I found it on the vital forums it's called "default modify2" by Pansony
@@Bthelick thankyou sir I will have a look for it
Lets goo seagullss!
Awesome work! Is it possible for you to share the template?
It contains third party samples unfortunately.
Looking firward to your 'union jack' red herring breakdown. btw . It is a TRANCE TRACK, the artist is union jack. X
On its way! Already recreated just need to record my script
I personally think the original melody is the best, although I'm not sure if it's because I'm more familiar with the original melody from listening to it so many times on stream 😅. As you suggested, maybe there's a place for the new melody near the end of the track in some way to add a bit of energy & variety?
IMO the 2nd arpeggio is very nice, but distracting. What about maintaining the simpler one and only playing the second one in a new “bridge” section? This may add an unexpected and rewarding variation to a hypnotic-by-design trance track.
This video should end with a mic drop. The new melody is great, but I think it clashes slightly with the piano. I would definitely only use it in the last drop...then I friend of mine told me I always used the best thing at the end of the track :)
Names:
- essence of life
- saga
- eternal movement
- hyperfection
- Universum
I prefer the 1st pattern - it's simple and you focus more on the piano. There's lots of other movement to focus on.
Chicane 🥲🔊
track name suggestion: Voyager
Last drop - 1 bar melody 1 bar default arp and so on 👍
First, you’re the best sir !
This is just the type of video i needed to work on my energy levels on the drop
I like the new melody at the end, but I would not place it into the build-up. there it sounds a little bit messy and does not fit the rhythm of the voice sample. But maybe it sounds right, if it starts in the drop as new and final element.
but perfect example for "tracks are really never finished" :)
Thanks Ben - what Vital skin are you using there? Track is coming along nicely! I think I like the original arp better, imo. Maybe figure out an answer to the 1st arp? Name - Stage 4... and yes, I am bad with song names.
Thanks.
The skin I found on the vital forums, it's called default modify2 by panasony
@@Bthelick Thanks! Found it
1st melody better imo, more solid less distracting.
For me personally melody 1 wins by far... much easier to dance to. Goes into the feed right away. I would keep it for the whole song.
Is producing in just headphones bad? My room has all sorts of resonances if I use speakers
Producing is mostly fine. Mixing is bad. Well mixing on a singular source in general is problematic , the ears / brain need different perspectives so they can average out 'the truth'
@@iambadd if you're like me who has a good 9 pairs of high end headphones due to not being allowed to use my monitors and still can't mix on them...yes headphones bad 🤣 some people get it close, I am absolutely terrible, especially with the low end, I need the sound to not be in my head to work with it..hence always having to use an engineer for anything.
Im only able to mix it with my headphones for now. But i can give you one tip:
Try to listen to your track on more devices. For example, listen it on your phone, in your car, on any bluetoothspeaker, or even on your TV (connecting your pc/laptop through hdmi).
It doesnt matter if these things are high quality, youre just doing it to mimic the way other people would listen to your track. After all these things, i mix it again till its kinda okay on all devices. Ofc it wont be the best on all, but you can get it listenable.
If I may jump in here re headphones.
In my experience you can do it all on headphones, even mastering but..... you have to have headphones with an extremely flat, transparent response.
Ollo Audio changed everything for me. I still use their 1st model.
Now I can do a mix, master and export, and it'll sound great on any system right away.
My monitors now sit unused 😢 and gathering dust.
By all accounts, the new Ollo headphones are even better. Will probably get some.
Also, use something like Span to get a visual idea of how the sonic energy is distributed and balanced.
Skrillex states that on a drop it should look like a brick.
Have a look at Eminems latest offerings with a frequency analyser. Just astounding.
After all that it's down to personal taste and desired sonic footprint.
Can you make a video on producing music like MAU P
I take it you saw my first mau p vid already?
Any specific problems / questions you have?
@@Bthelick I need help with the sound processing and with arrangement. I get confused if i should be adding more on every 8 beats o every 16. also thank you so much for your help your videos are really helpfull
Ps...
Yes it is an acid line but it works like an arp. Acid lines dont move that much.
Fat tune. Love it.. Ahem. (P)hat
Why? BECAUSE IT WAS MADE IN "THE ANCIENT TIMES" WHEN PEOPLE STILL HAD ATTENTION SPANS! :D
God, I love old electronic music. They didn't get bored of their ideas. :)
I like the second version of the arp-melody thingy better. I suspect I have heard too many arp melodies with supersaws in my days and that kinda thing feels overused. And not in the good way.
What I liked about 90s trance back in the day was all the great melodies, and when it started being arps with similar rythmical patterns instead of melodies I also lost interest in the genre.
Arpeggio for Strings
You attempted comparing to a different style of trance to be honest, and I'm saying it as a trance producer making this stuff for 15 years already. This classic 2000s sound you attempted doesn't need to be compared to such floaty, dreamy, typical modern uplifting trancers. (Btw they are often too bright and filled with reverb and sound terrible in the club.)
It's meant to be a bit "emptier", with louder drums, different kickdrum, less white noise in the background etc.
Edit: ah ok, you explained it a few sentences later, my bad 🤪
Ah good, glad to hear my instincts didn't fail me thanks for letting me know
Title, (get that bird) Out of here
They are never finished, just abandoned...
Remember the presets. Lol
Second one is very BK. More my taste.
Keep the origianl melody, imo
I like the original melody better, the adagio version is a bit too chaotic for me
The extra doesnt add anything. . I prefer more simple. Pure arp is lush.
,
Title worth of third quality pr0n adds;this one simple trick...,inside the real knowledge,timing - insane;trying to finish 90's track...for 3 months....
🤣.
Yeah I wish I didn't have to play the algorithm game it would be quicker and easier but them's the breaks as they say.
At least it's not click bait as everything in the title is true!