KVR :: Music Cafe » Critical Mass (ElectroProg - Seismic Despair) [View Original Topic]
There are 42 posts in this topic.

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seismic1 - Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:30 am

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10 hours to record in July 2010, the Jan/February 2013 Edit/Remix/Master took a staggering 33 hours, and was beset by software and personal problems. After various setbacks, I can move on. Lots of different reverbs and delays on here.


mp3/192Kbps/7:00/9.6MB

or, on SoundCloud

http://soundcloud.com/whatsisname/critical-mass


Recorded in EnergyXT2.5.3/Remixed in EnergyXT2.7beta

polyIblit
EnergyXT Synthesizer
NI Pro-53
EnergyXT Drum Sampler
Drumatic 3
CM SR-202
Lounge Lizard EP-4
EVM Ultrasonique
Synth1
Valhalla Shimmer
IK CSR
EnergyXT Delay
Reflex FREE
FerricTDS
T-Racks Linear Phase EQ
T-Racks Opto Compressor
T-Racks Vintage Equalizer
T-Racks Brickwall Limiter

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Mariosprt - Thu Feb 07, 2013 4:07 pm

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fwiw, the effort payed off. This is brilliant stuff, man.
The rhythmic frenzy that chugs on until the slow middle part, and then the powerful chords.
Really beautiful, seismic!

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seismic1 - Thu Feb 07, 2013 6:45 pm

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

The slow middle part was only added to the track 2 weeks ago. Before that, the track was entirely upbeat, but I felt it could use a sedative.

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Frantz - Thu Feb 07, 2013 7:12 pm

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That middle section is beautiful!

(I will post my feedback tomorrow. I'm too tired at the moment. )

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abstractcats - Thu Feb 07, 2013 8:55 pm

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WOw! Great work, Tim. The production on this is great! I've just picked up Psp's Mixpack2, I'm hoping mine will get better. Sorry to hear about the personal stuff, dude!

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layzer - Thu Feb 07, 2013 9:59 pm

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echo Frantz, those choirs in the middle were absolutely delicious!
also liked the squirly lead that kept things interesting. clear, crisp percussion sounds tied it all together very nicely. enjoyed the trip

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seismic1 - Fri Feb 08, 2013 4:14 am

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Thanks for the listen/comment, FrantzM

The original track had some pretty wild lead synth on it, which I felt was "too much", so I edited a lot of it out and added that slow section. I think it gave the track more "body". Talk to you later.

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macmurphy - Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:43 am

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this sounds great Tim. i think it would be the perfect soundtrack for driving through London at night. all i need to do is learn to drive and move back to London.

neil.

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seismic1 - Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:22 am

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Thanks for the listen and comments, Scott. Glad you liked it

I guess it's taken me about 18 months to become comfortable with the mixing process, and now I've just started to tinker around with mastering parameters etc.

My father recently passed away. That was a sobering and unpleasant time for the family. I think we are all getting to grips with this new reality now. Thanks for your concern.

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Baard - Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:36 am

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Really like this one. Heard it before going to bed last night, and gave it another spin now. Soothing sounds and great production. Hard work surely pays off.

Sorry to hear about your father. Its great that one can channel the emotions from such experiences into creative work.

Thumbs up from me!

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V0RT3X - Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:15 pm

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I enjoyed this track, very complex sounding in some parts. The melodic parts are catchy too.

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GermanFafian - Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:38 pm

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Great track!
I really like the whole idea and how it develops, slows down and builds again.

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seismic1 - Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:00 pm

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Thanks very much for checking this out, layzer. Glad you liked it

Those vox were from EVM Ultrasonique. I've got another track featuring that coming up in about 4 months.

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ariston - Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:14 pm

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I really enjoyed this, thanks for sharing! I think it's easily my favourite track of yours, a nice gloomy vibe set to a driving beat and propelled by a way cool syncy-lead.

Hope your personal problems worked out okay, or are at least getting better.

Great job!

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folderol - Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:50 pm

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Very 'other world'. Spooky too... then it gets scary

P.S.
Those audio 'squiggles' are rather tasty.

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seismic1 - Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:40 pm

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That has to be a least my fourth track that has elicited a "driving theme" response. I was thinking of changing my car anyway. Should I take this as an indication of fate?

I don't know about the wisdom of driving through London these days. 20 MPH speed limits, congestion charging, the wrong kind of snow. Give me twisty country lanes anytime.

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

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mr.me - Fri Feb 08, 2013 2:45 pm

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Spooky intro indeed...then almost a chilled Psychotic angry...then I just said f@ck it and started bouncing my head, with an uncontrollable tap of my foot...

.....then...it said hold the hell on! ...time to be cool again.


Now both!

I thank you for this fantastic ride!

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seismic1 - Fri Feb 08, 2013 4:07 pm

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Thanks for checking this out, Baard. Glad you liked it

I was having problems completing this track, and I received the bad news during a very long and generally unproductive editing session. I didn't have any enthusiasm for continuing with this for a couple of weeks, but when I did return to it, everything seemed to fall into place quite quickly.

Thanks also for your kind words.

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seismic1 - Fri Feb 08, 2013 5:03 pm

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Thanks very much for checking this out and commenting, German. Glad you liked it

I was a little worried about whether the slow middle section would work within the overall context of this track, but I think I got away with it

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polyslax - Fri Feb 08, 2013 5:40 pm

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Wonderful work Tim! One of your moodier tracks for sure, but it came out fab and was a really enjoyable listen.

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seismic1 - Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:09 pm

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Thanks for checking this out, V0RT3X. Glad you liked it

I had to be very careful with harmonies when constructing this. There were quite a few notes involved

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Frantz - Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:07 pm

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First of all, my condolences on your loss. Somehow you managed to create a beautiful piece of music under difficult circumstances. It's another first rate composition with all parts and sections integrating into a complete, satisfying piece. The mood is more somber than your other pieces but it's still very enjoyable.

It's interesting to note that there is some funky bass starting at 0:59 but it takes a backseat in this introspective arrangement. I suspect the piece might have come out a little differently under happier circumstances.

For me, the highlight is 2:38 - 5:27. The slow section has real emotional resonance. Just beautiful. And the reintroduction of elements heard earlier works brilliantly coming out of the slow section. As an added bonus, there is a brief but tasteful solo at 6:09.

As usual, the mix and production is flawless. OK, I'll admit I want to put a low pass filter on the lead that starts at 1:40 but that's my issue with high frequencies that digital synths produce. In any event, that patch is clever and memorable.



Why are you tracking your exact hours? At work, I have deadlines and stress that I can't avoid. Music is just a hobby for me but I noticed it was becoming stressful when I gave myself artificial deadlines on my last track. When I switched my M.O. from "I'm going to finish this weekend" to "It's done when it's done," the pressure was off and it became fun again. Maybe something to think about?

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seismic1 - Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:36 am

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Thanks very much for checking this out and for the great comments, ariston. I'm glad you enjoyed it

I'm never sure how these tracks will go down, given that I tend to mix things up a little. Three weeks ago, I was not very happy with the overall feel of this track, but I got there eventually.

Things are slowly getting back to normal at home Thank you for your kind thoughts.

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mrblitz - Sat Feb 09, 2013 3:27 am

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cool! lots of driving imagery conjured up here.

yet another piece from you which is quite intriguing, harmonically.

it's kind of like 'knight rider' but to the umpteenth power.

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bluedad - Sat Feb 09, 2013 3:56 am

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I really enjoyed this, particularly the slow middle; the mix/production sounds great.

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seismic1 - Sat Feb 09, 2013 1:50 pm

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That would probably be the Surrey connection I live for "squiggles".

Thanks very much for listening and for commenting, folderol. I hope you have recovered

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seismic1 - Sat Feb 09, 2013 5:43 pm

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Spooky, chilled, psychotic, angry, uncontrollable, hell, cool.

ticking a few boxes then

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

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seismic1 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:01 am

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"Moody" is about right.

Thanks very much for the comments and for listening, Matt. Glad you liked it

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seismic1 - Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:04 pm

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Thanks very much for listening, commenting and for your kind thoughts, FrantzM. Glad you enjoyed it

I have to say that the music was just about completed (I had already added the slow middle section) at the time when this was interrupted by misfortune, so the somber mood of the piece was already fairly well integrated.

I think that bassline taking a backseat may have been related to the fact that Swollen had 3 layered basses which conspired to produce a very in-your-face effect. I was probably just pulling back from that slightly.

That slow section came together over a 2-hour period a few weeks ago. That is probably the longest piece I have put together in 2 years! I can't wait to start putting some new material together

That patch is a Pro-53 factory sync


I don't set deadlines for myself. I have enough of those at work

That 33 hours breaks down into 19 hours of structural and compositional work and 14 hours on the sonics. I don't know how this compares to other people. I remixed two more tracks over the weekend (sonics only) with a total time of 6 hours. It varies from track to track.

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Frantz - Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:25 pm

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"Itch" also had a lot of bass action. It makes sense to mix things up otherwise you could end up with an album that is too samey.



Those early emulations haven't held up that well. I have a Creamware Pro 12 ASB which is considered a fairly close Prophet emulation and it couldn't produce a sound that bright. In any case, I'm sure I'm the only one who noticed or was bothered by it.



Smart. I only mentioned it because you know the exact hours which indicates that you are timing yourself.



I am sure there is extremely wide variation. In 33 hours, Remmie (Emerald Tablet) could write a triple album and complete a world tour . Whereas I could easily spend 33 hours fiddling with the sound design for one track.

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seismic1 - Tue Feb 12, 2013 2:56 pm

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Thanks for the listen and comments, mrblitz. Glad you liked it

Rack up another driving reference or two. Actually, I wonder if there is anything in that. I quite enjoy driving, apart from those pesky rush-hour traffic jams.

Knight Rider - wow That's over 30 years ago. Hard to believe.

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mrblitz - Tue Feb 12, 2013 5:35 pm

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lol... yeah, i'm not sure it's really like 'knight rider' but covered that with 'to the umpteenth power'.

this is actually quite a bit more interesting than what i remember of knight rider.

i haven't driven a lot lately, but it sure is fun to daydream about; and this type of thing helps with that.

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tehlord - Wed Feb 13, 2013 11:08 am

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I really like this a lot Tim. I managed to find a few minutes to sit down and give the cafe some love, and I had this playing on my headphones as I looked at another couple of pages on the net. All of a sudden I had images of Vin Diesel in some kind of action film, as that's what I see this track as!

The choir part in the middle is inspired. Truly atmospheric.


Nice buddy

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seismic1 - Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:45 pm

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Thanks very much for checking this out and commenting, Gary. I'm very glad that you enjoyed it

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runagate - Wed Feb 13, 2013 5:48 pm

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That's some nicely-mixed music - I suppose it would be after 33 hours! I remember those days when I had no idea wtf I was doing - strangely, now that I do, I can't be arsed to spend that long. Paradoxical, I know.

Everything sounds great; my only gripe is I'd want a bit more variance in the melodic and rhythmic department, but I'd say that about damned near anything. Well done, I enjoyed this.

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seismic1 - Thu Feb 14, 2013 2:51 pm

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I find it useful to have this info available later. I might be able to learn something from it. Yesterday I managed to make a basic ambient track in less than 1 hour. It seems to vary from track to track.

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D.H. Miltz - Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:50 pm

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The lead that FrantzM mentions hits some sore spot in my ear, so I'm not fond of that sound. The rest of it I enjoyed, the slow section especially. Thanks, seismic1.

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seismic1 - Fri Feb 15, 2013 2:40 pm

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Thanks for listening and for the great comments, Geoff. Glad you liked it

I have another piece with those vox coming in about 5 months (at this rate, anyway)

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Jesse Gorter - Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:33 am

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Cool soundscape. Could be in a movie maybe?

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seismic1 - Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:00 pm

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Thanks for the listen and comments, runagate. Glad you enjoyed this and happy that you liked the mix

I think about 14 hours was actually spent on the sonic aspects of the mix (including 3 hours lost when eXT crashed and I hadn't saved) I always tell myself that it won't happen again, and then I get lazy, or maybe I just enjoy playing chicken with the save button.

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seismic1 - Sun Feb 17, 2013 3:43 pm

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Thanks very much for listening and commenting, DHM. Glad you liked most of it

No screaming syncs on the next one, but maybe a few harmonics.

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seismic1 - Mon Feb 18, 2013 5:56 pm

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

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There are 42 posts in this topic.