First ever ambient / atmosphere work

[Madrayken]

So, I'm looking for kind folk to give me a few minutes of their time and lob even a 1 line comment on my stuff. I'm new at this, so I'm open to any criticism. Anything to improve; especially in terms of mixing.

I'm trying to create a bleak, yet gentle ambience; something lonely and desolate rather than overtly, energetically negative. Imagine being the last person on earth... yet immortal.

You've a choice of access: http://www.myspace.com/madrayken

...or direct downloads:

http://dene.iine.org/BellRotation.mp3
10MB

http://dene.iine.org/Drone1.mp3
6.5MB

http://dene.iine.org/Acchoral.mp3
5MB

Things I know already: BellRotation has some pop issues due to my hardware malfunctioning, and Acchoral suffers from a really abrupt ending. Drone1 is a bit 'toppy' in some areas (I think).

Again, huge thanks for your time!

Dene

[vurt]

bell rotation...

if i had to find a problem with the mix(you do ask) it might be that there doesnt seem much space between the instruments.
that might be a personal choice thing though, as its not really a bad sounding mix just perhaps i would have done it differently. i like the pad sounds that come in over the bell reperititions.
definitely not as bleak as being immortal at all though can you imagine that, outliving everything you loved and hated? what would there be...
id say more discovering a desolate planet and perhaps being the first there.

ill check the others later, as for tips on where to go with this kind of thing, for me ive always just let it go where it goes, sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt, but try everything and anything

[Madrayken]

bell rotation...

if i had to find a problem with the mix(you do ask) it might be that there doesnt seem much space between the instruments.

Indeed, I do ask! I didn't post these up here for blind adulation. I've not finished them, and want sanity checks and advice before I do another pass.

With this one I was struggling so much with the (for me, very new) problem of dealing with filtering and eq for the first time that I probably neglected simple positioning. I also think I failed to place the instruments near/far as well as left/right. Having listened to some new folks in the past who got a bit carried away with it, I'm also scared of pulling the listener's ears off with overenthusiastic balancing. I'd probably add some reverb to one of the bell sets (or even filtered delay?) to one of the bells to help out.

Thanks a load for sitting through ten minutes of a newbie's attempts!

[whyterabbyt]

LIstening to Bell Rotation. Like the repeated bell pattern, got a slightly sinister edge to it, but the track's not really the kind of 'bleakness', you mention. Wistfulness, I'd say mebbe. I think its the slight 'chirruping' sounds that lighten it, to be honest. Not sure that the horn-ish pad coming after the initial bells 'figure' quite works, it fights with the bells slightly too much initially, although its fine once its established. Maybe a tempo thing; if it were synched more it might gel tighter with the bell sound. To me its reminiscent in some ways of a guitarist called Steve Tibbets. Check out his album called 'Safe Journey' if you get the chance. I think the bells are fine, its the pads I'd pull back a bit, myself.

Balance is never something Ive worried about myself. I tend to do a little bit of judicious panning of tracks and leave it, generally. I use a lot of processing, so it fills outwards, so I dont worry bout it to much.

Drone1 : not so worried about the 'toppy' bits, but its a lot less static than I'd expect of a drone piece. There's a nice sort of stringy, buzzy part, after the choral sound section that I do like, and I like the washes of sounf, I would just have brought them in slower, and left them in longer. And doubled the length of it.

Acchoral : a bit more abrasive, but not quite rich enough to support those harmonium/organ tones without mebbe sinking them back a bit as well. They should either be purer, or maybe richer and more modulated, IMO. A little bit of light phasinger and leslie, for example, would bring in just enough movement to a tone that's just a little too static. Can I ask what you used for that tone?
Nice, though. Reminds me of a track on Harold Budd's 'Luxa'.

[Madrayken]

The tone was an accordian. I like to use real instruments where I can. Drone1 uses a series of overlaid recorder pieces I wrote a long time ago, and a vocal test from the same period that I didn't have the heart to throw away.

Acchoral was my first entirely 'live' thing. No pre-recorded anything. Just me and a mic, an accordian, and my weird singing style.

Using original instruments brings up an interesting problem. How much of their original, unprocessed sound do you keep before it all comes across a bit... flat and real-worldy? More experimentation is in order.

Bell Rotation was my first ever piece - I was quite happy with the interlocking bells, and quite liked the orchestral tone itself. I think I may have 'used too many notes' (got carried away with third+fifth progressions while playing). I'll have another go and try to find a less jarring way to introduce them.

Overall, I probably have to drink less coffee and relax more while twiddling. I listen to SighUp's stuff all the time, and he's never in a hurry to move on.

Thanks again for taking the time. There is not a single person in my circle of friends who listens to this kind of thing, so it's fantastic to get second opinions from folk who have some enthusiasm.

[intel]

I listen to SighUp's stuff all the time, and he's never in a hurry to move on.

therein lies the definition of "drone". SIGHUP is a man alone walking path in that regard.

without going indepth with each track I'll say that you're on the right path. keep it up and never stop growing.