Hi there, I've been making music very sporadically since I started a few months ago. I have had no feedback other than my own judgement, so I would love to know if what I'm making is a load of rubbish or half-decent.

This is probably my only finished track: https://soundcloud.com/dylan-balfour (it's not really meant to be used for a game or anything, but I would like to make music for games in the future)

I realise the production isn't great, but I don't really know where to start with things like compression and EQ, so some pointers on that would be great.

Thanks for listening!

HI Kerfuffle,

Your song sounds pretty cool! I like that background bed of synth that plays through most of it. In my personal opinion, the horns that come in around 1:30 sound sort of out of place, but this kind of song is all about mixing things up, so I guess that's ok.

My suggestion if you want to really get a good idea of how to use compression and EQ and stuff like that, is to get isotope's oZone, and purchase the instructional videos (i think its a $30 add-on when you're checking out). It's costly to get oZone and the iLok you'll need, but those videos alone really help you see what mastering is all about and give you practical, step-by-step view of the process, instead of generalizations that you'll find in many tutorials. I'm still learning myself, but everything became clear as I watched those videos, and oZone gives you all the tools you'll need to produce professional stuff.

It's also funny to here an elegant sounding british guy mixing a scandalous reggae song in the tutorial for some reason. :)

HI Kerfuffle,

Your song sounds pretty cool! I like that background bed of synth that plays through most of it. In my personal opinion, the horns that come in around 1:30 sound sort of out of place, but this kind of song is all about mixing things up, so I guess that's ok.

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, you're right about the horns, after hearing it so many times when making it, I've just become used to it and it's hard to notice things that are out of place, so it's nice to have a fresh set of ears listen to it.

My suggestion if you want to really get a good idea of how to use compression and EQ and stuff like that, is to get isotope's oZone, and purchase the instructional videos (i think its a $30 add-on when you're checking out). It's costly to get oZone and the iLok you'll need, but those videos alone really help you see what mastering is all about and give you practical, step-by-step view of the process, instead of generalizations that you'll find in many tutorials. I'm still learning myself, but everything became clear as I watched those videos, and oZone gives you all the tools you'll need to produce professional stuff.

It's also funny to here an elegant sounding british guy mixing a scandalous reggae song in the tutorial for some reason.

I will definitely have a look at this, I've heard oZone mentioned quite a few times but I never really knew what it was. It sounds oZone itself might be out of my price range, but the videos sound like just what I've been looking for.

Thanks again for the help!