KVR Audio

Mace404 · Post by **Mace404** » Sat Nov 30, 2013 12:52 pm

Imagine:
Walking outdoors, a bit of a cloudy day. You come to a hold and gaze upon the sky.
The clouds slightly open up before you and a ray of sunlight gently hits your face.
Close your eyes and feel the warmth of the sun.

Longing for the summer.

Tip: Headphones and a slight bump on the volume

This was my first go at Shevannai which I won with the Call to Arms Charity fund raiser

Tags: EDM, Trance, Dance, Elven, Vocal
Track length: 6:14
Construction time: ~5 evenings over a 2 week period.

Hope you enjoy! Thanks for listening

SunRay Direct MP3 link
SunRay @ Bandcamp
SunRay @ Soundcloud

SuitcaseOfLizards · Post by **SuitcaseOfLizards** » Sat Nov 30, 2013 3:54 pm

Very nice! I liked the vocals and how they were mixed in. A very well-done tune, perfect to listen to while I'm waking up this morning!

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Sat Nov 30, 2013 4:42 pm

Tip: Headphones and a slight bump on the volume

That's your task to make it work on every sound system

Nice arrangement and atmosphere, but sounds quite like 1997-1998. Very synthetic sounds and low loudness. Certainly could use some modern technique.

The vocal is great indeed.

Mace404 · Post by **Mace404** » Sat Nov 30, 2013 7:22 pm

woolyloach wrote:Very nice! I liked the vocals and how they were mixed in. A very well-done tune, perfect to listen to while I'm waking up this morning!

Thanks

I used the melody of the vocals in the pad chords with some sidechain for the transition.
Jumping from the synth melody directly to the vocal was quite abrupt ^^
Also I put a somewhat simplified vocal on the background fading in slowly.

DJ Warmonger wrote:That's your task to make it work on every sound system

Oh it does, I just prefer the separation you get in this tune on headphones.

DJ Warmonger wrote:Nice arrangement and atmosphere, but sounds quite like 1997-1998. Very synthetic sounds and low loudness. Certainly could use some modern technique.

Funnily that is the year I stopped making music. Started again this year so I guess I have to catch up

Loudness is something I struggle with allot. I use ReaXcomp as multiband compressor on master followed by Waves L1. I kept dynamic range around 8-9 at the busy parts (TT DR meter).
Busy looking for some mastering tutorials since I really need to learn more in that area.

Thanks for the comments.

Tricky-Loops · Post by **Tricky-Loops** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 12:10 am

Nice song but it has a rather melancholic vibe, so I would call it "Lost in the Mountains" or something like that...

Regarding the loudness: could be more but on the other hand I like it that it's not over-limited and distorted like most modern tracks.

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 7:55 am

Regarding the loudness: could be more but on the other hand I like it that it's not over-limited and distorted like most modern tracks

Me too, I hate when they distort and when they are oversaturated. It is possible, however, to achieve powerful and clean sound at the same time. It is difficult, but gradually getting there

Still, to ever try, you need to hear some tracks as reference.

Optimal dynamic range for generic trance is 5 dB, so I aim at 5+ on DR meter after all the limiting.

Mace404 · Post by **Mace404** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 2:07 pm

Tricky-Loops wrote:Nice song but it has a rather melancholic vibe, so I would call it "Lost in the Mountains" or something like that...

Interesting..

How about:
Wandering through a lush forest mountain side, you have no idea where to go.
You come to a hold and gaze upon the sky. The clouds slightly open up before you and a ray of sunlight hits your face.
Close your eyes and feel the warmth of the sun. After opening them again realizing you still have no idea where you are.

I thought of the name during a late night listening session and while I was just staring at my computer's desktop the wallpaper changed to one with a ray of sunlight coming through a cloud. - That'll do

DJ Warmonger wrote:Optimal dynamic range for generic trance is 5 dB, so I aim at 5+ on DR meter after all the limiting.

I'll push it a bit more next one

seismic1 · Post by **seismic1** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 5:30 pm

I liked it. It doesn't sound squashed. All of the instruments come through the mix very well. I love the pads, synths and vox. The bass has a nice warm sound and the melodies and arrangement are great. I've just played this through my UX2/Rokits and my rDac/FMJ A19/773s and the overall sound is very clean and pleasant indeed.

Good work

Mace404 · Post by **Mace404** » Sun Dec 01, 2013 7:31 pm

Thank you

Always exciting how other experience your music but that surely gave me a smile on my face.

Mace404 · Post by **Mace404** » Wed Dec 04, 2013 12:19 am

I created a simple video to go with the song on Youtube.
Hope you like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khVn6jR1Gks

Darko A. · Post by **Darko A.** » Wed Dec 04, 2013 9:08 pm

Very nice work and superb production. I don't think it is not so loud, it sounds just perfect.

Regards

olliehay · Post by **olliehay** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:25 am

It does sound a little dated but nostalgia seems to be pretty hot in dance music at the moment so that might not be bad. It has a really clean sound and I like all the levels. I wouldn't say that it is melancholic myself, it does have a thoughtful vibe to it though. I look forward to hearing some more tracks now that you are back in the game.

Mace404 · Post by **Mace404** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:35 pm

Darko A. wrote:Very nice work and superb production. I don't think it is not so loud, it sounds just perfect.

Thank you.

olliehay wrote:It does sound a little dated but nostalgia seems to be pretty hot in dance music at the moment so that might not be bad.

Indeed, when I was working on the melody it reminded me of the "Synthesizer Greatest" cassettes I had in my younger years. I know the sound is very simple (mainly a slight unison'd pulse with a panflute mixed in softly) but somehow it just fits the song. I tried a lot of different sounds but kept returning to the simple one.

olliehay wrote:I look forward to hearing some more tracks now that you are back in the game.

Much more to come

SunRay (Melodic/Vocal Trance)