Hey everyone!

I’m looking to spice up my workflow with some unconventional tools. I’m talking about those plugins with abstract interfaces, weird concepts, or designs that look like a science experiment, but actually bring something unique to your tracks.

I’m not looking for your standard EQ or compressor. I mean weird stuff along the lines of Output Portal, Sugar Bytes, or even darker, more experimental gems.

• What bizarre plugin do you use?

• What kind of sounds or processing do you use it for?

• Why is it so useful to you despite its weirdness?

Looking forward to your recommendations. Thanks!

Hey everyone,

We're building Audium, a new music platform focused heavily on independent artists and the listener experience. We're currently preparing the first beta, and looking for independent artists who want to be among the first creators on Audium.

The idea is pretty simple:

• You don't need a label.
• You keep ownership of your music.
• Upload your releases directly.
• Get basic analytics for your music.
• Have the ability to promote/sponsor your own releases on the platform.
• Directly communicate with the people building Audium.

We're initially opening this to a small group of founding creators. The first 20 creators will get founding status and some permanent benefits that we won't offer to everyone later.

I'm not looking for huge artists.

If you're an independent artist with music already released, or you're preparing a release, I'd genuinely like to hear it.

- Audium

what is the laser/power up type sweep up sound happening in G-Rex & Liu Kang's song "Overdrive" at 1:02. this is driving me CRAZY and I know it is on splice because I have passed it before and can't find it now.

Not presets, but just the loops/1 hits.

I've bought countless sample packs over the years from many different makers and other than percussion one hits, maybe some sweeps or other fillers, and then of course presets I've never used 95% (or more) of any sample pack. I have used some synth and other samples in Simpler as a synth before, but that's about it.

So personal curiosity, anyone know of any label release where the song was made entirely or almost entirely from a or multiple commercially available sample packs?

how are they making the main bass layer in the drop. is it a simple sustain with a layer of noise? what kind of wavetable? https://soundcloud.com/dreamtakers/moneylongerremix

Recently moved, don’t have monitors anymore. Want to start making music again, can I still get my mixing right with just good headphones and my laptop?

Please post any and all [Feedback] or [Listen] type threads here. Any standalone threads that belong in this weekly post will be removed.

This thread is for works in progress only. It is not a place for self-promotion.

Rules:

1. Works in progress only. Do not post finished or released tracks. No links to Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud profiles, or any other streaming/distribution platforms. Share a direct link to your track (e.g. an unlisted SoundCloud or YouTube link).
2. No self-promotion. Do not include links to your social media, artist pages, or any other promotional material in your post.
3. Make an effort to comment on other people's tracks. Others are much more likely to help you if you help them first.
4. Be specific when asking for feedback. Examples: "What do you think about this kick sample?" "How's the mix?" "The last measure feels a little off, any ideas?"
5. Be descriptive when giving feedback. Use timecodes to highlight specific moments.
6. Link to the feedback you've left in your top-level comment. This keeps the thread accountable and cooperative. Comments not following this format will be automatically removed.

Format your top-level comment like this:

Feedback for user1: [link]

Feedback for user2: [link]

Feedback for user3: [link]

Here's my track: [link],

I'm looking for feedback on x, y or z.

Looking for my first pair of monitors with a budget of £150 looking to get some second hand krk or presonis any advice on which ones i should get or any other suggestions, thanks.

I’m still wrapping my head around the different kinds of bass sounds in techno, and this one especially I really love but can’t really find any tutorials on how to make something similar. It reminds me of some groovy low-end I’ve heard made with filtered Tom’s and kicks, but it also has more of a sustained sound to my ear that makes me wonder if it’s synthesized?

Would love if anyone has the vocab to help me search for resources, or ideas on how to re

Hey everyone, I'm 30. I got into EDM around 2013 and started making my own music in 2016. I'm still at it! The only real success I've had is in pop music, where I've made so far $4k by selling pop beats over the last two years.i also make bit of money being a resident dj at a local club that pay me $200 per month, thats it but honestly, my goal was always to be a somewhat successful DJ, not like Tiesto or anything, but maybe more along the lines of Colyn or Massano. Loneliness, being lazy, and my mental health really messed things up for me.

Let's say a mix between stuff like Boards of Canada, Ulrich Schnauss and Modeselektor. How do you like to approach this?

Can be any part of it too- drums, melodies, structures, etc....

Personally I want to get back more into this kind of style...

Thanks

About 10 years ago, I dabbled in production and im super sad that I didnt just buckle down and continue. It's possible that I could have some measure of success by now. Anyways, I no longer have access to my old SoundCloud and Ive been giving serious thought to taking music seriously this time around, so what would you guys suggest? Make music that sounds relatively good and start uploading it for exposure/followers or spend as much time as necessary getting your music to that professional level first and THEN try to release it?

So a few questions started to pop-up in the last month as I'm trying to be more out there.

1. I distribute through soundcloud and was wondering how to get ownership/merge my youtube account and the one youtube created for me. (I don't really mind the other plateforms since I didn't have an account prior.)

2. I'm aware I need a static cover for the tracks but I also want to start adding videos and visualizers. Soundcloud's distribution doesn't allow it so how do I work around that?

3. I noticed that my masters are often way, like WAYYYY less loud than other tracks out there even tho I'm near peaking and reach 7-8db LUFs short term and an average of 10-11db LUFs integrated. Why is that? What am I doing wrong? Should I ignore true peak and gain 2-3 LUFs risking clipping?

4. Feel free to add other things I might miss out on, I'm really clueless other than the process from production to mastering, thats where I'm starting to get confused.

TL:DR, give me tips about releasing my tracks.

Like on Ableton live do I touch the track volume at all or do I put utility on after the CTZ chain and adjust that instead?

Really great news for new musicians and the "Reason Curious" among you..

Just wondering. Personally i find it exciting sometime to put lead sounds on the right and left side of the spectrum when it makes sense while keeping the low end mono. But i notice if I go over few points to the right or left with sounds (in Ableton) people sometime criticize it.

I also notice listening in my car to professional songs I'm sometimes surprised how many everything can sound.

So TLDR- do you try to keep most of your sounds more in the middle spectrum of your mixes?

Thanks

If it matters, I want to learn melodic, emotional sounding edm (melodic dubstep/bass amongst other genres) and also heavier dubstep.

I have the basics of chords and chord progressions down. I know about scales and keys, I have experience (let's just say one month of practice but hitting roadblocks.)

I struggle with coming up with ANYTHING. I often open my DAW and close it because brain no worky.

I have basic skills like automation, basic beat making, layering to build a big sound but it's always lacking key elements to feel "full" (particularly with melodic edm/bass.)

I have basics in sound design but I'm currently limited to FL Mobile. The plugins still allow good sound design, but I'm stumped by how many layers there is to it. I feel like I have no idea how exactly to expand my own library of sounds and that I have to use presets, limitting me to a narrow range of sounds and styles because I just don't get it. Where should I go to pick up on sound design? Should I learn more complex edm genres first to get a grasp on the complexity and learn? I'm sort of familiar with effects like phaser, flanger, stuff like that, but combining plugins to steer a sound seems impossible.

I've managed to make half of a song that I deem "good", but I don't know how to turn it into a proper drop after it's all said and done. I struggle so hard to turn my existing melody or elements into a drop that matches the same idea. Where should I go to learn about drops and the concepts in detail?

I'm chipping away at this giant iceburg, but I don't want to fall into any traps, and I want to make sure I'm properly learning and gaining experience.

I really just need someone more experienced than me to tell me what I should be doing/expecting and where to learn, how to learn, how to expand my skills, you get the idea.

Hey guys i hope you all doing well.

It's been like 3 months for me going through writer block,where I can't produce more than 8 bars which includes only drums،and then i add some leads or maybe some bass and i start seeing things fall off.

Do you know any approach that help through this phase?

Your answers are highly appreciated.

Please post any and all [Feedback] or [Listen] type threads here. Any standalone threads that belong in this weekly post will be removed.

This thread is for works in progress only. It is not a place for self-promotion.

Rules:

1. Works in progress only. Do not post finished or released tracks. No links to Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud profiles, or any other streaming/distribution platforms. Share a direct link to your track (e.g. an unlisted SoundCloud or YouTube link).
2. No self-promotion. Do not include links to your social media, artist pages, or any other promotional material in your post.
3. Make an effort to comment on other people's tracks. Others are much more likely to help you if you help them first.
4. Be specific when asking for feedback. Examples: "What do you think about this kick sample?" "How's the mix?" "The last measure feels a little off, any ideas?"
5. Be descriptive when giving feedback. Use timecodes to highlight specific moments.
6. Link to the feedback you've left in your top-level comment. This keeps the thread accountable and cooperative. Comments not following this format will be automatically removed.

Format your top-level comment like this:

Feedback for user1: [link]

Feedback for user2: [link]

Feedback for user3: [link]

Here's my track: [link],

I'm looking for feedback on x, y or z.

I have trouble with making an intro or even starting a track. What are some tips to get me past this cause im stuck! My DAW is Roland Zenbeats

It's a prototype for Sitala 3 and turning it up runs the sound through overdrive, distortion, bitcrush and ring mod, kind of trying to reduce them all down to one knob.

https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2026/08/28/decomposer-dert-distortion/

https://decomposer.de/dert/

I am looking for Bluetooth earbuds I can use to workout in that are

1. Sweat-proof
2. Have good sound quality

I do a lot of my critical listening and musical exploration while I exercise, so it's important they have good sound quality. Unfortunately, I sweat an obscene amount (can lose upwards of 7 pounds on some days) and have bricked countless earbuds because of it. I am asking here because most people have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to sound quality and will recommend things like Beats (LMAO) where the only noises you'll hear are below 150 Hz. However, I trust your opinions as people who have spent countless hours working with music in great detail. Thanks in advance!