KVR :: Music Cafe » Relax (ElectroProg - Seismic Jollity) [View Original Topic]
There are 54 posts in this topic.

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seismic1 - Sun Jul 01, 2012 9:12 am

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This one took 10 hours to record in May 2010. The June 2012 remix took about 14 hours, most of which was concerned with the actual sonics. Only 2 synths were harmed in the making of this, The excellent Synth1 and the EnergyXT synthesizer. The drums are all EnergyXT.

mp3/192Kbps/6:36/9.1MB

Or, on SoundCloud

http://soundcloud.com/whatsisname/relax

Recorded in EnergyXT2.5.2/Remixed in EnergyXT2.6
Synth1
EnergyXT Synthesizer
EnergyXT Drum Sampler
IK Classik Studio Reverb
T-Racks Linear Phase EQ
T-Racks Opto Compressor
T-Racks Vintage Equalizer
T-Racks Brickwall Limiter

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n0rd - Sun Jul 01, 2012 4:29 pm

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Good track seismic1...

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tatsama - Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:59 am

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Nice number you get here Tim.. diggin that pad in the back.. very cool vibe.. i can see vocals fitting into this.. have u considered adding some vocals to this ?

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polyslax - Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:21 am

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Nice mood arc in this Tim, well managed and arranged as always. The syncopated bass and synth parts really grabbed my attention as well. Quite enjoyed this start to my holiday Monday!

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4lb Kitty - Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:56 am

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Excellent work! Relaxing and energetic at the same time. I could almost meditate to this music.

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wavephonic - Mon Jul 02, 2012 7:26 am

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that was a great opening, the bell-like tone ended up as a nice counter-point. the arrangement evolved just at the right times and for me climaxed with the wall of padded synthy atmosphere.
I liked it, well done

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macmurphy - Mon Jul 02, 2012 7:31 am

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great tune Tim. lovely sounds and a very satisfying arrangement.
energetically relaxed... yeah, 4lb Kitty hit the nail on the head

neil.

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DramaNoMore - Mon Jul 02, 2012 7:56 am

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Very reminiscent of wipE'out, back when it was good.

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seismic1 - Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:32 pm

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Thanks very much for listening and commenting, n0rd. Glad you liked it

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seismic1 - Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:06 pm

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Thanks very much for listening and commenting, tatsama. Glad you like it

Vocals? That's an interesting idea. I haven't really thought about that. I had the same comment about a couple of my other tracks, but I don't currently own a microphone, and even if I did, I don't think you would want to hear me wailing about the Fibonacci sequence or hash tables

I am currently trying to learn the drums, much to the amusement and discomfort of other family members/neighbours

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mrblitz - Mon Jul 02, 2012 3:17 pm

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cool! really enjoying the arrangement!

how about grabbing a couple of vocal samples from one of the various sample sites around the web?

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layzer - Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:00 pm

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Bravo, Tim! this one was steady driving ...great for running or cycling to.
i loved the high pitch square bleeps. nice tone... and of course, synth1 shined in the mix as well.
good one!

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seismic1 - Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:33 pm

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Thanks for listening and for the comments, Matt. Glad I was able to get your holiday off to an enjoyable start

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seismic1 - Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:15 pm

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Thanks for listening and commenting 4lb Kitty. Glad you enjoyed it.

Perhaps I could market this as practical dualism on a tight budget

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seismic1 - Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:20 pm

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Thanks very much for listening and commenting, wavephonic. Glad you liked it

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seismic1 - Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:33 pm

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Yep. Music for gardening (sounds like a Brian Eno album)

Thanks very much for listening Neil. Glad you liked it

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bluedad - Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:45 pm

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wow, very cool tune. Great choice of sounds, and impressive choice of tools. Should be a lesson there for many of us. Great mix, too!

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abstractcats - Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:13 pm

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Great tune, Tim! I could listen to this, on a long car ride, to keep awake.

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seismic1 - Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:41 am

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Thanks very much for listening and commenting, DramaNoMore. Glad you liked it

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Bronto Scorpio - Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:47 am

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Lovely track!
It's very relaxing yet powerful indeed
I love the synth sound at the beginning!

Cheers
Dennis

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D.H. Miltz - Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:22 am

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Nice. I don't think it needs vocals. Quite enjoyed it. A sidenote: "Seismic Jollity" is a very nice phrase.

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mr.me - Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:49 am

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This is cool!

I too like the pads.

Synth 1 is nice lil gem, loads nord patches aswell (fuzzy recollection).

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seismic1 - Tue Jul 03, 2012 1:39 pm

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Thanks very much for listening and commenting, mrblitz. Glad you enjoyed it

I may follow up on that vocal sampling idea later this year when I start work on some new tracks. Or I might buy a Roland R-05 for some field recordings.

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seismic1 - Tue Jul 03, 2012 3:52 pm

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Thanks for listening and commenting, Dave. Glad you liked it

Those high pitched squares were from the EnergyXT synth. I had a hard job with the EQ on there. I didn't want to mess with the patch too much as the sound lost its ringy character, but there was just too much medium-high frequency resonance coming through in the mix on headphones, so I applied HPF/LPF/HSF/PEQ to tone it down.

Synth1 is a star.

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seismic1 - Tue Jul 03, 2012 4:51 pm

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Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment, bluedad. Glad you liked it

I really enjoy putting tracks together with low-cost, or freeware synths. There are so many possibilities, and some of these VSTs are extremely powerful. They sound pretty good as well, and that is what it's all about.

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seismic1 - Tue Jul 03, 2012 5:02 pm

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Thanks very much for listening and commenting, Scott. Glad you liked it

The next track is more of a fusion thing. But what will be fused?

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any1particular - Tue Jul 03, 2012 5:18 pm

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And all those hours of hard work has paid off Tim!!!! The mix is nice and clear-can you show me how to do that? Nice nice nice nice nice EDM and nice again....T-Racks? I have that bundle and never use them...have to revisit.. perhaps there's some tutorials on youtube?

May I ask?What's you DAW of choice?

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seismic1 - Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:40 am

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Thanks very much for checking this out, Dennis, and thanks for the comments. I'm glad you like it

That synth at the beginning is Synth1

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seismic1 - Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:38 pm

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That's a relief. I am not exactly renowned for my vocals Maybe I should turn my attention to lyric-writing, but then again, maybe I shouldn't.

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, DHM. Glad you enjoyed it.

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seismic1 - Wed Jul 04, 2012 4:34 pm

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Thanks very much for listening and the feedback, mr.me. Glad you liked it

Synth1 is definitely the biz.

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seismic1 - Thu Jul 05, 2012 3:51 pm

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Thanks very much for listening and commenting, Chuck. Glad you liked it

As far as the mix goes, there is no silver bullet. I just sit down in front of the DAW, and (usually) split the kick, snare, any toms, and cymbals/claps out to separate tracks, then I set all instrument tracks to their approximate final levels. This track was set to about -9dB on individual tracks, iirc. Then I pan them. At this point I might tweak the levels again. Finally, I go through each track and eq it. As a rule I tend NOT to worry too much about conflicts between different instruments frequency content at this time. Hopefully the panning in conjunction with the original choice of sounds has already, at least, partially addressed that problem. Then I fine tune the levelling and panning and listen to the final mix in order to address any residual frequency conflicts. All of this is done using my monitors. Next I'll play it through the phones to see how it sounds. Then I put it through a meter just to make sure that my ears are working. Once I'm happy with that, I render to wav and then put that through T-Racks.

12 months ago, I put up my first track (unmixed). The feedback and suggestions made regarding the mix and arrangement convinced me to spend some time on these aspects of the track. I went away and spent quite a few hours working with the track. Until that time I had never really considered the sonic aspects as I found the whole thing rather intimidating, but once you start playing with the parameters regularly it becomes easier, although you discover new techniques along the way, so it never seems to become any quicker as the workflow evolves.

T-Racks is fairly straightforward. I haven't read the manual all the way through. I dip into it every 2-3 months. You just need to play with it. Some of the preset chains are pretty good.

All of the tracks I have posted were made in EnergyXT. It's pretty straightforward to use, has a light footprint on the computer and a straightforward workflow. Some people don't like it and it has a few quirks, but I have been using software for a long time, and I think all software has them. I bought FL Studio about 7 months ago, but I think it has quite a steep learning curve so haven't got around to making any complete tracks with it yet. I just use it as a vehicle for developing ideas at the moment.

All the best, Chuck

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seismic1 - Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:33 pm

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Weekend bump and a little story.

This afternoon marked my return to active duty as a live "musician" after over 17 years of silence. A 3-hour jam-session with a guitarist and bassist and myself on the drums (out of my comfort zone, if I ever had one). Wow. I think The bad moments outnumbered the good moments by a factor of 20:1, but there WERE some good moments during the afternoon, and that is the important statisitic here. Never mind the fact that I can't play the drums for $%&*. We played with the windows open, due to warm, humid conditions, so local tartan-clad passers-by were somewhat bemused or unsettled.

All in all, this was a cathartic experience, and I am in a strangely pleasant mood tonight. So is the missus, but she arranged alternative entertainment elsewhere with friends, so I can't claim any credit for that

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any1particular - Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:07 pm

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Good story...enjoyed it...too bad KVR doesn't have a like button?

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crimsontider - Sun Jul 08, 2012 12:18 pm

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That's really good and polished. Sounds like it was made using some hardware like the virus but I see it's not. Shows how far the home PC software has come. I have never even tried the EnergyXT but it sounds great, I am assuming it producing the virus type sounds.

Also the drums upbeats are really make this a good one. You are obviously one of the better writers on the forum.

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seismic1 - Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:02 pm

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Both of the arps are Synth1. The upper bassline is Synth1 and the deeper bass is EnergyXT. The intro synth is Synth1. The main string pad is EnergyXT, sometimes layered over a slightly retuned Init Patch from one of Teksonik's Synth1 Banks. All of the lead sounds are EnergyXT. The drums are all EnergyXT kits with some IK reverb.

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, Greg. Glad you liked it

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crimsontider - Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:01 am

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Synth1

One day when I was clear headed I finally heard the simple but excellent tonality from a totally striped to the bone note. It was like listening to a vintage strat unplugged with your ear pressed up against the wood. The core sound to build upon was very, very good. I don't have the skills to shape it effectively.

It's like programming with lower level software where it's harder but you can do more.

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2NDMOUSE - Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:56 am

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Lots of energy and excitement in this track Seismic. Nice work on the melody in particular. Its the part that always makes people come back for a 2nd listen , so its always nice to hear someone paying attention to , and focusing on that part. Great work on the bassline too =)

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seismic1 - Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:11 pm

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Assembly coding. I used to do that for pleasure on my home computer a loooong time ago. I also wrote some control routines for a minicomputer array processor back in the day. Oh the nostalgia..........

My favourite part of this "music" process is putting the sounds and the melodies together. I usually start with a sound that I like and the melody follows on from there. Occasionally, it works in the opposite direction, but I find that the sounds tend to drive the mood of the track, and so the melody tends to evolve from that.

My next track definitely has some of that. I found a synthetic pluck sound in one of the SQ8L banks that I thought would lend itself to a jazzier style, and decided to take a different direction. Since I recorded it, I lost the Kore Player Sky kit, but have this week acquired the C&V SDX for Superior Drummer 2, so a solution seems to have presented itself.

See you later, Greg

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crimsontider - Fri Jul 13, 2012 4:49 am

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[quote="seismic1"]


sounds tend to drive the mood of the track, and so the melody tends to evolve from that.

/quote]

This very true, I believe some of the best music was/is written shortly after a widely accepted new instrument/technology is introduced. Meletron is a good example of an instrument that both set a mood for music and was so powerful to the musician that it helped inspire great works. The Marshall amplifier and effects pedals inspired Rock/Metal to go in all directions. Some of my favorite music was introduced right after the digital synth explosion in the 80's. The Roland 808 and 909 inspired genre's themselves.

I am in total agreement that whatever sound you are using sets you off in particular directions.

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seismic1 - Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:51 pm

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Thanks very much for the great comments, and thanks for listening

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crimsontider - Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:11 am

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What vsti's do you use the most, and what is your favorite non big sample library VA for pads?

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seismic1 - Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:49 pm

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From the tracks I have posted so far:-

Drums/Perc - EnergyXT Drum Sampler, CM SR-202, Drumatic, Superior Drummer 2, SynthMaster, CM Dominator

Lead synths - GenesisCM1.02, EnergyXT Synthesizer, CM Dominator, SynthMaster, NI Pro-53, CM AMB Electra Bass Rack

Bass synths - CM AMB Electra Bass Rack, NI Pro-53, EnergyXT Synthesizer

Pads - Genesis CM1.02, EnergyXT Synthesizer, CM Dominator, NI Pro-53

I haven't really used many sample libraries for Pads, although I occasionally used Kore Player for this on my old computer.

I also use RedTron a lot, which is heavily based on sampled Trons.

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crimsontider - Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:31 am

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That's great that you are not one to discount older vsti's. If they are good they stay good imo.

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seismic1 - Thu Jul 19, 2012 3:27 pm

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Some Pro-53 on the next track, and SQ8L, and some guitar. Two things I found with Pro-53. It often seems to need careful choice of LCF parameters, and I have seen midi-triggering problems under EnergyXT with Pro-53 and Kore Player. I have always managed to circumvent these problems through sheer persistence, but one of these days, I need to run this workflow through FLS. It might make life easier.

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astrochimp - Mon Jul 30, 2012 1:06 pm

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whow! i nearly missed this one. it's very, very good! it has a lot of moments that i tend to like most about your music: moment with little or none beats elements, where the rhythm just comes from the arps and the synths. i find those parts always very fascinating.

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2NDMOUSE - Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:19 am

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It's a great mix Seismic. Everything is crisp and clear.
Stylistically , it's not normally what i'd go for but I really like the lead synth parts , first at 2:40....then followed by an almost japanese koto-ish plucked lead.
It's a very capable track but i have a personal dislike of supersaw sounds.
The snare drum sounds like the same one that was used in Yazz " the only way is up "
Top marks for a very cohesive mix. No muddiness or ambiguities with any of the sound at all =)

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wavephonic - Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:12 am

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relax, my fav thing to do. it got me sitting back but kept my head bobbin around. you nicely weave notes in and out, I like that. your overal arrangements make me think you were into progressive rock, although the music is more of an electronic slant, the tracks go through passages and progressions much like some older material.

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seismic1 - Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:25 pm

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Thanks very much for listening and taking the time to comment, astrochimp. Glad you liked it. I only drop the beats out to pull you in


Remember this from September last year?



I just put up my Jazz-tinged Tangerine Dream mashup thingy (6 months later than planned)

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=355410

Warning - it has drums

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seismic1 - Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:50 pm

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Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment 2NDMOUSE I had a lot of fun putting this together. Most of the patches are default presets, but some of the Synth1 sounds came from preset banks I downloaded. I think that supersaw is just a Synth1 string preset layered over a Synth1 init patch! The snare came with the EnergyXT drum sampler. I have a track coming up where I use a supersaw like a sledgehammer over the top of a relatively low-key rhythmic device. I hope I get away with it

Glad you liked the mix

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seismic1 - Wed Aug 01, 2012 4:02 pm

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Yeah, I used to love Prog back in the day. It was pretty much all I listened to for about 20 years. I still listen to some of those bands now, but because I also listen to other styles as well, there is less time for that. I'm glad you spotted that passages/progressions thing. It's something I made a conscious effort to do and it's very nice when people pick up on that.

Thanks very much for listening and also for the great comments

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astrochimp - Tue Aug 07, 2012 9:48 am

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you know me very well!

i do remember the conversation we had and just checked out your tangerine jazz and i gotta say it's very, very good! definitely something original and unusual!

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evolutionator - Tue Aug 07, 2012 11:20 am

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Ok.

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seismic1 - Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:31 pm

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Memory. A wonderful thing. It's great when it works

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seismic1 - Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:32 pm

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Tx

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There are 54 posts in this topic.