Two questions here: 1. When i am making tracks i do my processing of audio instruyments and softsynths and it all sounds good. However, when i bounce down the the individual melody or hook or bassline that i am making (say of 4 / 8 / 0r 16 bars) it always sound a bit 'flat' when i reimport it. I obviously do this to save CPU and cant risk running complex plugins/softsynths with heavy processing so am forced to but the audio always sounds less exciting and dull than when it was conceived of as the effected output of an audio instrument. Are there any ways arounf this? Any tips? 2. Also does anyone know of any good links that help to decipher the construction of any types of dance/ electronic music. I would like tyo know genre 'rules', specific types of sounds for specific types of dance music and how to construct and arrnge them. I would be most grateful for any info on these subjects cheers john

One important factor is to check your bounce settings. A 24 bit, 96 khz stereo file AIFF file will 'sound better' than a 112 kbps MP3. Check your setting and make sure you are creating bounces that reflect the best audio file format available on your system. Also, when re-importing a bounce to an audio track, make sure the audio track is in 'stereo' mode and not mono. As far as your second question I like the KVR forums for music production discussions. http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/ Many posters there work in genre you've detailed. Good luck, j