KVR Audio

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:50 pm

Our ill-fated hero stands at the open door of the dark, empty room. There is nowhere else to go. He enters the room and quietly closes and locks the door, temporarily (in his own mind at least) delaying the pursuing terror. He turns around and realises that the room is in fact not quite empty. Some 20 feet away in the centre is a large mirror, with no visible means of support, apparently hovering some 10 inches from the floor. He turns towards the mirror and approaches it silently, stealthily, until he is just able to discern his outline encapsulated within its dark framework when, suddenly...............

Projection/Incidence/Reflection

Originally recorded over 15 hours in March 2010, The February 2012 remix took 10 hours. I heard Valhalla Shimmer just before starting the remix and knew it had to go on this track. This was a "concept" piece based on a horror scene I had in my head for some reason whilst working on the original version. Shimmer gave it an edge.

edit: mp3 download link removed

http://soundcloud.com/whatsisname/mirror

Recorded in EnergyXT2.5.2/Remixed in EnergyXT2.6/EnerygyXT2.7beta
Wollo FMERA 2
NI Pro-53
Microtrance
EnergyXT Drum Sampler
Superior Drummer 2.3
EnergyXT Delay
EnergyXT Reverb
Frohmage
Valhalla Shimmer
T-RackS 3 Equalizer

Edit: 20130216 remix: re-introduced a delay that got lost on earlier mix. Edited drum parts, EQ mods, added FerricTDS to master bus, re-levelled and mastered using T-Racks3 - took 5 hours

DR - 15

polyslax · Post by **polyslax** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:14 am

Wow, very nice piece Tim! The arc of energy and emotion is handled with great skill. I love the slow contemplative build. Your lead story and the opening of the track instantly made me think of Lamb Lies Down.

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:32 pm

polyslax wrote:Wow, very nice piece Tim! The arc of energy and emotion is handled with great skill. I love the slow contemplative build. Your lead story and the opening of the track instantly made me think of Lamb Lies Down.

Hey Matt, thanks for listening and commenting. Glad you enjoyed it. "The Lamb" was an odd album for me. It wasn't one of my favourites back in the mid '70s, but later as time passed, I appreciated it more and more. By the early '80s I had grown to love it.

Thanks very much for the SoundCloud comments too. Made my day

Morgaxx · Post by **Morgaxx** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:02 am

As I commented on soundcloud, I enjoyed this. Fine choice of sounds and mood. I will ask again, does our hero survive in some way? Ill fated, as in dead or merely suffering psychic scares for eternity?

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:05 pm

Thanks for the listen and comments Morgaxx. Glad you enjoyed it

Do you sometimes feel cheated at the end of a "happy-ending" movie, knowing that the sequel is soon to follow? This was a great chance to redress the balance. Think of the mirror as a supermarket cashier.

jopy · Post by **jopy** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:48 pm

like polyslax said, the skill with which you develop your ideas and build up suspense is really impressive.

kcisANDderit · Post by **kcisANDderit** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:11 pm

horror, really?! well, I'd call it beautiful (it's relative, I guess)

the rhythmic shift @ 4:48 was totally unexpected. Made me wonder what ambient fans would think of it. whatever, I thought it was cool. now I understand why it's labeled electroprog

this piece is 10 min long but it doesn't feel like it. You know, some things go on for 5min+ and you think to yourself, "that needs a cut." not this, not
at all. The pacing is great! I struggle with that a lot. I tend to pack my ideas to tight and then go back and forth trying to get a good flow

listened on soundcloud, will be back for more. good stuff! (i have an account there...need to put some music up tho)

one more thing... The opening part, what synth/patch?

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:15 pm

jopy wrote:like polyslax said, the skill with which you develop your ideas and build up suspense is really impressive.

Thanks very much for extremely kind comments jopy. Glad you enjoyed it

macmurphy · Post by **macmurphy** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:15 pm

i loved the gentle build up leading into the smack in the head by the drums - expertly done.

as kcisANDderit said it really didn't feel like ten minutes... evidence of witchcraft and/or a very deft hand at arranging

excellent tune Tim.

neil.

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 8:05 pm

kcisANDderit wrote:horror, really?! well, I'd call it beautiful (it's relative, I guess)

It sent chills down my spine when I wrote it, but I always had that little story from the original post with me. A little like that 2001 fantasy scene, which I always found exhilarating and unsettling.

kcisANDderit wrote: the rhythmic shift @ 4:48 was totally unexpected. Made me wonder what ambient fans would think of it. whatever, I thought it was cool. now I understand why it's labeled electroprog

The rhythmic barrage was intentionally jarring, but, like the horror/beauty contrast was a required component. Without a comparison/point of reference each has little meaning.

kcisANDderit wrote: this piece is 10 min long but it doesn't feel like it. You know, some things go on for 5min+ and you think to yourself, "that needs a cut." not this, not
at all. The pacing is great! I struggle with that a lot. I tend to pack my ideas to tight and then go back and forth trying to get a good flow

Most of the tracks I put up here and on SoundCloud were approximately 2 years old at the time of posting. My feelings towards them usually change over the intervening period, and I tend to cut down the length of the tracks when it comes to the edit/remix process, and maybe add a melody line or two. This track was an exception. It actually grew by some 12 seconds (longer fade-out), but the edits were really just FX additions, a cymbal here or there, or the addition of the string synth during the Incidence section. The original version of this came together so quickly in one long session. It was basically done in one day, which, for me, is really fast.

kcisANDderit wrote: one more thing... The opening part, what synth/patch?

That synth was WOLLO FMERA 2
The patch was from the Dimitri Schkoda patchbank
These can be downloaded from www.wollo.com (go to the VST link)
The patch name is Plastix Tears

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment. It is much appreciated.

ThoughtExperiment · Post by **ThoughtExperiment** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 9:39 pm

As has been said before, that 10 minutes goes by very quickly. A very fine arrangement that tells a story well. Nice one Tim

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:45 am

macmurphy wrote:i loved the gentle build up leading into the smack in the head by the drums - expertly done.

as kcisANDderit said it really didn't feel like ten minutes... evidence of witchcraft and/or a very deft hand at arranging

excellent tune Tim.

neil.

Maybe I should have called it Smack My Witch Up. Yeah, those drums weren't very subtle, were they?

Thanks for the very kind words Neil, and thanks very much for listening.

Programentalist · Post by **Programentalist** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:27 pm

Very nice, great tension and atmosphere and the transition to the more fast paced section at 4:48 was great.

While you built some good moods though, I didn't quite feel the horror vibes. Everything was too nice somehow. Felt more like dramatic moments in life (some sadness there perhaps?) but not quite haunting in that sense of the word.

Still a very cool piece, and making it last for 10 minutes without me getting bored is impressive

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 9:44 pm

mikusan wrote:As has been said before, that 10 minutes goes by very quickly. A very fine arrangement that tells a story well. Nice one Tim

Hey Mike (Ratledge), Thanks for listening and commenting. Glad you enjoyed it.

Now it's back to the heavy stuff

D.H. Miltz · Post by **D.H. Miltz** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:59 pm

Well done. Like Programentalist I'm not sure I felt the horror, but horror or no I enjoyed it. Thanks.

Mirror (ElectroProg - Seismic Ambient Horror)