THX-15 - ElectroProg (Seismic Dirge)

[seismic1]

Great work, Tim, soundtrack material..! Somehow the first part of the song reminds me of the early "Doom" game series. Love the vocal sound, where did you get it?

Best,
Adi/Thedeadsoul

Thanks for checking this out Adi, and for the comments. Glad you liked it

The vocal is from SampleTank Free, routed through Valhalla Shimmer.

[astrochimp]

Yes. That piano came from SampleTank Free, along with the Female vox and the Taurus.

i tried to use that piano myself once, but it didn't work at all, but it's perfect for your song!

[seismic1]

Actually, this was just a punctuated anagram, if there can be such a thing.

THX-15 = 51XTH = Sixth.

OK, sixth what? Is it a musical interval.

2 days before I originally recorded this, I completed the burning of a CD's worth of "completed" wavs for earlier tracks. That was the fifth such CD created at the seismic studio. The working title for the next CD was Sixth. At the time I wrote this I didn't have a title for this track so I gave it the same name. A little later, the anagram idea came along

[djOrloff]

As always, hypnotic, abstruse music that is useful to listen

[dexterbella]

The levels seemed a bit out on this in places but I was only listening on crappy speakers so it's probably down to that! Overall I really liked this an awful lot.

[clintmartin]

Great work as always! Very good.

[seismic1]

Good stuff, it has a solid structure, well produced.

I don't feel the "meandering" sensation, it's more something that's increasing in power, without exploding. Keep on the good work

Thanks very much for commenting and listening, bzur. It is much appreciated. Glad you liked it

[seismic1]

It wasn't Maddy, but it's funny that you mention Oldfield. My favourite album from MO is Ommadawn, and that unison vocal duet from Clodagh Simonds and Bridget St. John on Side One had a ghostly quality that still sends shivers down my spine all these years later, and was probably a subconscious contributor to the thinking behind the vocal part here.

You seem to be referencing Oldfield a lot lately so that's why I thought of it. Ommadawn is also my favorite of his. Everything on it flows seamlessly (except for that horse song).

I don't mind "On Horseback". It may sound a little superficial and banal, like an afterthought, but I love what he does with the layering on there.

To answer your question, the vocal is from SampleTank Free, but I had to pick the notes carefully to achieve the cleanest sound and, when I had it, I smeared it with Shimmer to smooth out the rougher edges.

It worked like a charm. In the future, I wouldn't mind hearing SampleTank lady singing backed by a mellotron choir.

Uncanny

About two weeks ago, I was doing exactly that, but I couldn't get the sounds to mesh nicely. Maybe the melody/harmony wasn't right - I didn't spend very long with it. Then I replaced the 'tron with a dose of Ultrasonique and things started to gel. I may revisit that later, along with a slightly detuned and de-timed unison effect on a dual lead vocal. I have some problems with Axis Parts 1/2 to attend to, along with the remix of "Recant"

Incidentally, I put up a new version of THX-15 last night. I made a slight cut in the ensembler level at the end and changed the volume automation on the piano.

[V0RT3X]

Nice work on this! I like how the synth melody builds in it @ 2:02 and how the piano clashes in a good way with it. It sounds mysterious and dark, Great work! Love the sound of the vocal synth too!

around 4:39 the sound of the guitar sounds i noticed are a bit bright but other than that i think it is mixed very well.

Cheers!

[seismic1]

Love this, man. You're such a good composer and producer, my hat's off.

Thanks very much for the listen and the kind comments Moe, but I fear it's more likely that this is just a practical demo of the infinite monkey theorem.

Glad you liked it

[Frantz]

Uncanny

About two weeks ago, I was doing exactly that, but I couldn't get the sounds to mesh nicely. Maybe the melody/harmony wasn't right - I didn't spend very long with it.

Great minds think alike.

Years ago I played around mixing and matching various vocal and choir patches on my Roland JV-2080 ROMpler. I also found many combinations did not gel so I'm not surprised.

Incidentally, I put up a new version of THX-15 last night. I made a slight cut in the ensembler level at the end and changed the volume automation on the piano.

I will check it out later tonight.

[seismic1]

Excellent Tim. Love all of it but in particular the choir section!

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

[Frantz]

Incidentally, I put up a new version of THX-15 last night. I made a slight cut in the ensembler level at the end and changed the volume automation on the piano.

I compared the new vs. old 320kbs MP3s ("THX 1520130825Master_1.mp3" vs. "THX 15Master_1.mp3") focusing at 4:21 and found any difference in the level of that part is so slight that it is pretty much inaudible. I even checked to make sure the files were different but they do have different sizes. Do you remember how many dB you cut that part by?

[seismic1]

Yes. That piano came from SampleTank Free, along with the Female vox and the Taurus.

i tried to use that piano myself once, but it didn't work at all, but it's perfect for your song!

That piano is quite a specialised sound. This track was built around the piano part which was the first to be written. I had quite a clear idea of how I wanted this to sound when I wrote it. I just wasn't too sure of the arrangement/instrumentation. The track only crystallised in the final 2 hours of the original writing/recording session. The recent remix focussed on polishing up the different elements, but I was able to leave the original piano track alone.

I think the sonic qualities of that piano dictate that it should be used in a less busy manner than a normal piano would be, especially alongside other instruments.

[seismic1]

As always, hypnotic, abstruse music that is useful to listen

Thanks very much for your continued interest and comments, djOrloff. I hope you liked it