Going to submit something a little different...as I also have a lot of fun programming my own sounds.
So, it'd be the synth(s) in this one that I'm curious about, rather than the arrangement. (Arranged as a demo really, with a little putsing around at the end)
Started with a single init patch in sylenth that came out nice, but it was too thin for my liking...so then, decided to see how things went if I just copied it twice and adjusted each of the new patches to fill out the top/bottom end (paying attention to frequency distribution as well, so they can either all be played as one, or separately). Also ended up adding a little more unique flavor to the sound. (I think...)
The most bland kick ever, was also made with sylenth, for giggles. (Just needed something clean to really pump those chords)
Posted by SystematicX1 on Jan-25-2024 06:36:
Re: Why Not
quote:
Originally posted by TranceLover007
This is not Trance but to keep this thread alive, I will post a new WIP currently on my desk. BTW, thanks for your advice on my latest track bass line
Off the top, not a fan of the "phantom" voicing behind the track.
:00:00::32 Comes in Strong! Nice tonality This would just be my preference however that Piano at :35, although nice I believe you could hold off on using it. It makes the track almost seem...rushed.
I'd hold off and build into it. ie The Piano that is just using the chords would sound really nice with that bass line you just introduced.
I believe this would also apply to that classic/flamenco guitar. The support from those instruments sound really nice but in needs to develop into each other without being so rushed into it.
Listening further this is a solid concept but you are introducing a LOT of pieces, imo....too much. It's almost like you are clock watching and trying to cram as many different instrumentation's as you can in that time frame..lol
Yea, this is not even a production issue but arrangement/composition bundle of wow! =OP
I'd for sure keep rolling this D as it is exciting to listen to just, needs a different "approach".
------------------------------------------
I have no idea what I am doing. I so suck at Trance and have never been any good at it,hence why it has been so long since I have even attempted
All good...Just takes practice...I've practiced alot, and I still feel awful at it.
Unfortunately, to me at least... It don't sound like trance, the way the mix sits now. (Assuming the given context, that the song posted was meant as a trance tune...Could be wrong, assumptions are bad, please correct me if I am)
What helps me a lot, when venturing into new/unfamiliar territory...is just to listen to a whole bunch of it for awhile, and maybe even straight up copy something I like the sound of, to get a better feel for it.
Doesn't always help though...I'm a massive fan of the music Dave Tipper puts out, but there's no way in hell I've got the tools, patience or talent to put together anything like that.
Got hoards of solid bangers I'd be happy to send as reference if you're not big into it / don't have a reference library of your own...
One of my all time favorite classics, to compare vibe in context...not to say anything has to sound like *that*...but all the good stuff is in there...140bpm, four on the floor, driving bassline, FX, cool plucks/arps...
Posted by Storyteller on Jan-26-2024 16:49:
45 minutes well spent 😁. One familiar with older stuff will recognize it. My personal all time favorite track.
Posted by theterran on Jan-26-2024 19:36:
45 minutes well spent 😁. One familiar with older stuff will recognize it. My personal all time favorite track.
Dig it. Especially like the bass.
Otherwise, moar plz.
Posted by Storyteller on Jan-27-2024 19:19:
Continuously updating my clip when I have the time. Will shortly spend some time for feedback on others. Added piano and arp.
For those that don't know. It's a remix of Chicane - Offshore. Absolute classic.
Posted by Storyteller on Jan-29-2024 17:03:
Re: Why Not
quote:
Originally posted by TranceLover007
This is not Trance but to keep this thread alive, I will post a new WIP currently on my desk. BTW, thanks for your advice on my latest track bass line
Nice and spacious start. Guitar lick hitting an odd note near the end which is somewhat uncomfortable for me. Vocals are sometimes hard to interpret what they actually say.
Mixing wise no comments. Slick!
Posted by Storyteller on Jan-29-2024 21:30:
quote:
Originally posted by theterran
Yeahhhh, keep the thread alive!
Going to submit something a little different...as I also have a lot of fun programming my own sounds.
So, it'd be the synth(s) in this one that I'm curious about, rather than the arrangement. (Arranged as a demo really, with a little putsing around at the end)
Started with a single init patch in sylenth that came out nice, but it was too thin for my liking...so then, decided to see how things went if I just copied it twice and adjusted each of the new patches to fill out the top/bottom end (paying attention to frequency distribution as well, so they can either all be played as one, or separately). Also ended up adding a little more unique flavor to the sound. (I think...)
The most bland kick ever, was also made with sylenth, for giggles. (Just needed something clean to really pump those chords)
Not sure what you want to hear
#1 is indeed clean and thin
#2 more of the same with wider sound
#3 get's close to those 2000-ish klubheads type stuff, probably simply because of the single note. It does sound nice
#4 With the chords this comes to life.
1m14s adding the piano is a nice touch.
quote:
Originally posted by SystematicX1
I have no idea what I am doing. I so suck at Trance and have never been any good at it,hence why it has been so long since I have even attempted
Intro is promosing. nice rythm with the highpassed kick and hats. That bass is cool, maybe too loud but I like the sound of it. at 1:44 you could have just dropped a kick with sidechained bass already . Snarerolls coming it from faarrrr away. Synth might need to play an octave higher or with highpass, seems conflicting with the bass a bit which doesn't do it justice. Now, where is that bang where the beat comes in?
In the end it doesn't seem to go anywhere really. It needs a release of the tension really bad.
Posted by SystematicX1 on Jan-31-2024 05:32:
45 minutes well spent 😁. One familiar with older stuff will recognize it. My personal all time favorite track.
NOW we're talkin. Freakin Chicane even.....WOOHOO Story GOIN BIG!
Ok, I see where you are going with this right off the bat. Question I have for you being a WIP. Creatively, is this your intention to start big right off the top? Or...Would you consider some build. If you ask me, I'd almost say it deserves it because yea...that bassline and how you have the "meat" already down....possibly a consideration? That Chicane hook/stab you have going would be a great start!
MORE SUB! =OP
Speaking of which, only chirp I am hearing would be to me, the stabs (maybe the piano) stab is a little to....chimey? Not even sure that is a word....tin sounding and a little to processed on the higher frequency? My tweaters reacted a little funny to them like a crisp twang distortion clipping tone when they hit. Just an observation..
Dood.....You are now committed to this..lol This sounds freakin awesome Story
------------------------------------
Just working out the comp and putting the arrangement down on this one. Fer sure needs to build some Melody pieces and possibly a lead somewhere. And for some reason the ghosting on the Vox intro's didn't record hmm
Originally posted by SystematicX1
NOW we're talkin. Freakin Chicane even.....WOOHOO Story GOIN BIG!
Ok, I see where you are going with this right off the bat. Question I have for you being a WIP. Creatively, is this your intention to start big right off the top? Or...Would you consider some build. If you ask me, I'd almost say it deserves it because yea...that bassline and how you have the "meat" already down....possibly a consideration? That Chicane hook/stab you have going would be a great start!
MORE SUB! =OP
Speaking of which, only chirp I am hearing would be to me, the stabs (maybe the piano) stab is a little to....chimey? Not even sure that is a word....tin sounding and a little to processed on the higher frequency? My tweaters reacted a little funny to them like a crisp twang distortion clipping tone when they hit. Just an observation..
Dood.....You are now committed to this..lol This sounds freakin awesome Story
Thanks much! I'm mostly just having fun and recreating the parts to get a feel of how the track was built. I'm hoping if I have the parts I can give it a unique twist (although the bassline is already doing a lot of that ). Initially I just had the kick and bass and figured to just drop in the Offshore plucks and took it from there.
The offshore plucks are sampled. I've been spending a lot of time the past few days on getting the piano and the strings and sounding reasonable. The strings will probably do the job when the pads are added. However, replicating the pads is royally fucking me over . It's killing me, no idea how to recreate, couldn't find any tutorials on it either that cover specifically that washy sound in the top-end. I might just have to resort to sampling that stuff and filtering out that bit of fairy dust. Not sure that is feasible though...
quote:
Originally posted by SystematicX1
Just working out the comp and putting the arrangement down on this one. Fer sure needs to build some Melody pieces and possibly a lead somewhere. And for some reason the ghosting on the Vox intro's didn't record hmm
Great vibes in the intro, making me happy. Cool sub, a bit too loud. Some notes hit really low. These might not be audible on some systems unless you take care of overtones (consider adding a bit of saturation if you haven't). Great rhodes, nice stereo image, I'm not entirely convinced on the chords.
Nice vocals. Maybe give the first vocal a reversed reverb to introduce it a little more organically.
I'm not feeling the piano entirely, it's partially due to the chords and also that the do not feel as intricate as other parts, maybe play with/lower velocity to make them feel more lively? At the 2:00 min mark I'm hungry for some type of chorus, for the whole mix to go full on (maybe even without the vocals).
Posted by theterran on Jan-31-2024 13:02:
quote:
Originally posted by Storyteller
Not sure what you want to hear
#1 is indeed clean and thin
#2 more of the same with wider sound
#3 get's close to those 2000-ish klubheads type stuff, probably simply because of the single note. It does sound nice
#4 With the chords this comes to life.
1m14s adding the piano is a nice touch
Thanks for gettin' back.
Suppose I just wanted to know if the combination of all 3 ended up being an appealing sound with some oomph to it. Each of the 3 initial patches/layers were played separately, and then for the chords, I assigned each note top/med/bottom to each of the respective patches.
I dunno, for me, blending sounds together is tough, like...mixing paint...trying to get just the right color.
So, I guess #4, is what I was hoping to hear...I've always wanted to do something uplifting. Above and Beyond uses stabs like these a lot in their uplifting prog. Just has that beefy, full, majestic sound that I always envied...So I was trying to recreate something similar to use for myself in a project.
Posted by theterran on Jan-31-2024 13:56:
quote:
Originally posted by SystematicX1
Just working out the comp and putting the arrangement down on this one. Fer sure needs to build some Melody pieces and possibly a lead somewhere. And for some reason the ghosting on the Vox intro's didn't record hmm
I dig this one. And for sure, you're free to let me know what sorta critical feedback you're after...As I plan on poking in a little more often [hopefully].
I like the groove at 2:00, though could maybe use a little more movement/momentum after that. Might be a good place to spice it up with the piano, and maybe accentuate or even counterpoint the vocals.
Clap seems a little hard on my ears / sticks out a bit relative to the rest of the percussion. Personal taste : could do with some slight softening / blending into the mix. (Nothing more than 1-2db I'd wager...)
Some subtle flourish into the first vocal set could be cool.
Definitely dig the dark/sparkly groove at 2:05.
Seems like there isn't an apparent melodic climax or resolution...Which, isn't necessary I suppose, but it just feels like it wants to go somewhere, but doesn't inevitably arrive. With the addition of the melody pieces and lead you intend on adding, it might resolve things...
Looking forward to more!
Posted by SystematicX1 on Feb-01-2024 20:14:
quote:
Originally posted by theterran
I dig this one. And for sure, you're free to let me know what sorta critical feedback you're after...As I plan on poking in a little more often [hopefully].
I like the groove at 2:00, though could maybe use a little more movement/momentum after that. Might be a good place to spice it up with the piano, and maybe accentuate or even counterpoint the vocals.
Clap seems a little hard on my ears / sticks out a bit relative to the rest of the percussion. Personal taste : could do with some slight softening / blending into the mix. (Nothing more than 1-2db I'd wager...)
Some subtle flourish into the first vocal set could be cool.
Definitely dig the dark/sparkly groove at 2:05.
Seems like there isn't an apparent melodic climax or resolution...Which, isn't necessary I suppose, but it just feels like it wants to go somewhere, but doesn't inevitably arrive. With the addition of the melody pieces and lead you intend on adding, it might resolve things...
Looking forward to more!
Hey Thanks for the feedback on that guys..
Story, great observations and yea, I did have a ghosting vox before that initial vocal because yea...it does pop out at you. Don't know why it didn't record?! I also have some chopped bits I am playing with to assist in bringing it in. I'll have to look into that sub
theterran - Thanks for that! Yea, I've been giving you guys to much a polish track compared to this one. It is in the younger stages and still kinda feeling out the composition.
The Vox is the most challenging so far as it is pulled from multiple samples of one lines and hooks. Don't know if you can tell that or not but the lyrics make no sense..lol they just are within the tonality of what I am looking for on this track. Putting them all together like a puzzle and building around that is challenging and these may very well be placeholders for the temp moment. So yes that is the reason there is no defined structure...yet
IF, you were to take the vox away, on the percussion side, has a lot of build and swing and I noticed that the clap at the beginning was yea, a bit snappy. However, go down the line as the percussion track builds, it seems to blend with no anomalies floating. It's just that beginning part that snaps a db. Might have to automate some eq on that intro.
Posted by Storyteller on Feb-01-2024 21:55:
good luck SystematicX1 . Do share your next update!
To get out of the block with the Chicane stuff I went somewhere else and made a generic house loop. It sounds fun.
Secondly there is the Chicane stuff, I finally got close to those shimmering washy pads, don't think I can do much better. Had to sample & resample it with heavy editing, don't know how to recreate the sound from another source (i.e. royalty free sample, vst instrument).
Originally posted by Storyteller
good luck SystematicX1 . Do share your next update!
To get out of the block with the Chicane stuff I went somewhere else and made a generic house loop. It sounds fun.
Secondly there is the Chicane stuff, I finally got close to those shimmering washy pads, don't think I can do much better. Had to sample & resample it with heavy editing, don't know how to recreate the sound from another source (i.e. royalty free sample, vst instrument).
053 - Grooven is class, smooth and clean but dynamic, pretty sweet!
No bounds (Work in Progress) - Sounds very promising and have a lot of potential.
Cheers,
Darek
Posted by szm on Feb-02-2024 00:03:
st, thats some awesome mid-bass warmth in the chicane track, is that just the property of the sound or you adding some warmth somehow, really like it?
I got some new headphones was wondering if i can get a tonality/balance check? appreciate, care tho its loud.
Posted by Storyteller on Feb-02-2024 06:00:
quote:
Originally posted by szm
st, thats some awesome mid-bass warmth in the chicane track, is that just the property of the sound or you adding some warmth somehow, really like it?
I got some new headphones was wondering if i can get a tonality/balance check? appreciate, care tho its loud.
Regarding the bass, a lot of it comes from a Trillian preset but there isis (more or less in this order): regular compression, eq boosting around 1 & 4k, highpassed pingpong delay, sidechain compression triggerd on kick, 2 flux mini instances on 1/4th notes and 1/16 notes for volume and filter shaping. Lastly there is continuous automation on the filter cutoff and env depth of trillian for more movement.
About the WIP: Cool reversed arp sound. I would expect a but more initial punch on the kick (did you check your DM? Lol). If you're going for that supper deep saturated lofi vibe then I'd expect the other percs to have that effect too. The pads could benefit from a slight dip, probably somewhere around 1-2khz (guess) as they seem a bit harsh in that area. The string in the end are great but could pop out more when the pads are tamed a little.
Posted by theterran on Feb-02-2024 16:44:
Looks like one has survived the night. Though, my ears definitely didn't...
Programming big saw-wave synths be like that I guess.
Quick and dirty arrangement to get the core idea going...will hopefully be able to expand from there.
Yay, for over the top drops.
Posted by theterran on Feb-02-2024 18:17:
quote:
Originally posted by Storyteller
good luck SystematicX1 . Do share your next update!
To get out of the block with the Chicane stuff I went somewhere else and made a generic house loop. It sounds fun.
Secondly there is the Chicane stuff, I finally got close to those shimmering washy pads, don't think I can do much better. Had to sample & resample it with heavy editing, don't know how to recreate the sound from another source (i.e. royalty free sample, vst instrument).
Funky house loop. (A good funky!) Yeah, does sound like it could be fun.
Sounds like good progress so far on the Chicane track. As to the pad, referencing the original : it sounds like some breathy saws,some white noise, a resonant bell-pad and a dash of overall resonance. Then it got pushed with whatever effects to saturate/drive it. Could probably high-pass a sparkly bellpad and layer it in for extra shimmer.
Was able to get relatively close with just presets, but yeah, it'd definitely take some effort/tinkering to hone it in to that exact sound. (Close good enough in most cases anyway...less you're doing it for the sake of challenge)
Liking most of your stuff. Good ideas... Well mixed. Sounds like punchy/fluffy laid back goodness. 👍
Posted by SystematicX1 on Feb-02-2024 23:09:
quote:
Originally posted by theterran
Looks like one has survived the night. Though, my ears definitely didn't...
Programming big saw-wave synths be like that I guess.
Quick and dirty arrangement to get the core idea going...will hopefully be able to expand from there.
Yay, for over the top drops.
That Arp that starts at the 0:00:07 mark starts closed then opens up the filter/cutoff has been bouncing in my head all day long
Posted by szm on Feb-03-2024 05:35:
appreciate the FB as always st. took a listen on some speakers, it sounds quite bad. doh.
Posted by theterran on Feb-03-2024 07:01:
quote:
Originally posted by SystematicX1
Don't know if you can tell that or not but the lyrics make no sense..lol they just are within the tonality of what I am looking for on this track. Putting them all together like a puzzle and building around that is challenging and these may very well be placeholders for the temp moment. So yes that is the reason there is no defined structure...yet.
It's just that beginning part that snaps a db. Might have to automate some eq on that intro.
Sorry, missed this bit. Yeah, I think the large majority of lyrics in EDM don't ever make any sense lol.
And yeah, that's understandable on the beginning stages of an arrangement.
Force of habit on the suggestions perhaps... like I said, whatever sorta feedback you're looking for, I'd be happy to try and give.
I think contextually, as musicians... the feedback tends to be more critical I guess... which sometimes ends up being counterproductive to a creative process.
And thanks for your feedback as well!
Posted by Storyteller on Feb-03-2024 08:59:
quote:
Originally posted by theterran
Sounds like good progress so far on the Chicane track. As to the pad, referencing the original : it sounds like some breathy saws,some white noise, a resonant bell-pad and a dash of overall resonance. Then it got pushed with whatever effects to saturate/drive it. Could probably high-pass a sparkly bellpad and layer it in for extra shimmer.
Was able to get relatively close with just presets, but yeah, it'd definitely take some effort/tinkering to hone it in to that exact sound. (Close good enough in most cases anyway...less you're doing it for the sake of challenge)
Thank you. I tried a bunch of times (also yesterday evening). Although I hear some resemblance it isn't what I'd like it to be. If you're willing I'd love a post about the settings you used. I tried mostly with Serum and Sylenth with things as saturation/distortion, overdriving supersaws, highpass and some reverb but it's hard so smoothen it out to make it that spacious, breathy and gentle.
quote:
Originally posted by theterran
Looks like one has survived the night. Though, my ears definitely didn't...
Programming big saw-wave synths be like that I guess.
Quick and dirty arrangement to get the core idea going...will hopefully be able to expand from there.
Yay, for over the top drops.
Initially I thought the low end is a bit heavy but that evens out when the hats come in. The sounds mostly have a similar nature. I'd like to see some contrasting parts added to make the whole more dynamic/versatile. Apart from that not much to add at this point. Do share an update when you have one!
quote:
Originally posted by szm
appreciate the FB as always st. took a listen on some speakers, it sounds quite bad. doh.
Keep on producing. Trust the process and give it time. Knowing the music you put out through labels in the past you got it in you 💪
Posted by TranceLover007 on Feb-06-2024 21:27:
