Hey VBeats!
Thanks for sharing the track! While I don't think it is great the way it is, I don't think that it's a bad start in general. You've got a groove going on, and that's sometimes really hard to get right for those who focus more on melodies and chords, so that just means there are things that can be improved upon in due time.
As far as specific notes, I'll list them shortly below, and I trust you to research/try those things at your own discretion:
- The off-key thing. Ableton Live 9, for example, has a "Tuner" plugin, which can show which notes are played on a sample. This can help determine if you need to do any transpositions on the samples that you can't necessarily edit. If your MIDI parts are the ones off-key, then I'd suggest picking a key (example, G minor), analyzing the notes in that scale, and sticking to them for dance music like house.
- Snares seem a bit dry. They need more reverb/space/delay. Try to experiment with mixing the dials on those three. I prefer to add lots of spacey reverb and a little delay.
- The low frequencies are too quiet while the high frequencies are very loud and sharp.
- The song is fairly repetitive, even for House. I feel like the issue is that there are many changes happening - adding or dropping instruments to parts of the song - but the actual parts don't vary too much. This will lead to my next note,...
- ...But longer buildups will help by introducing less changes, ones that actually build up into the most dynamic part of the song, the "chorus" or "drop" if you will, and then go into a deeper "verse 2" which needs to build up again.
- Look into trying different sounds/instruments. I don't feel like the various picks you made work well together, and would definitely recommend trying different sounds, and sometimes even moving whole parts an octave up or down.
- The mix/master are really needing repair. After you're happy with the composition part, I suggest putting the track in mono and adjusting the levels like so. When you're done with mixing, you want compression, EQing, Stereo Imaging and Limiters on the master channel AT LEAST. I can't describe in detail how each works separately and together, but would definitely recommend watching videos and reading articles on the subjects of mixing and mastering, which are two very different processes.
Hope this helps and best of luck in the future! Looking forward to seeing improved work posted on here later from you!
My latest release is below, if you'd like to take a listen:
Camila Cabello - Havana ft. Young Thug (AVGHOST remix)
Peace.
