While the track is not based on anything, I did use this track from my house collection as a mixing reference:
It's a relatively modern production but I really love the smoothness of it. It's really pleasant to listen to, both at home and in a club. I wish I knew how to achieve such smoothness without losing all high frequency content. My tracks sound much harsher, for various reasons. One could of course blame the medium and just say that it sounds smooth because it's on vinyl. Unfortunately, that's not the way it works. As wonderful as vinyl is, it's not an instant road to happiness. Neither is mastering. Those things help a bit, but the track must sound more or less perfect sans mastering or pressing on vinyl. That's one of the major obstacles I'm facing on my journey, how to give the elements lots of presence and weight, while maintaining a smooth, pleasurable listening experience, even at loud volume. I suck at mixing (among other things), it's an area where I really have to improve so that I can make a Kerri-worthy track. To make things worse, I'm working solely on headphones at the moment and making a mix that translates well to speakers is very difficult on headphones alone. That thing will hopefully change in a week or two though, as I'm planning to buy a pair of half-decent studio monitors.
Anyways! For comparison's sake, here is a recent track of mine:
It's not much. The arrangement needs lots of small adjustments to keep it interesting, the mix is muddy, the individual elements sound weak compared to commercial releases, the composition is naive (and at the same time, too complex). However, that's where I am now. To reach the level of that Slowhouse track needs tons of work. And I'm not sure even that level is high enough! I must aim even higher, as unrealistic as that may be with this deadline.
Next post will deal with the most important aspect of the kind of house I like. Chords! Lovely, sweet chords, mmmm.
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