KVR Audio

tonedef71 · Post by **tonedef71** » Sun Jul 07, 2019 8:38 pm

"The Fourth of July: the emotional turning point of summer in North America"

Another concept piece performed by Cubic Audio's Ascension virtual instrument along with Addictive Drums 2 laying down the beat.

I composed it during the long Fourth of July weekend shortly after binge-watching season three of "Stranger Things" on Netflix.

It is written in C Lydian Sharp 6 with a short excursion into G Major for the bridge.

https://soundcloud.com/tonedef71/the-fourth-of-july

Bansaw · Post by **Bansaw** » Sun Jul 07, 2019 11:37 pm

Liked the fireworks at the end, nice touch.
Interesting to hear something unique.
Little too much distortion/saturation 0:20 > for me.

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Mon Jul 08, 2019 2:31 am

It starts warm and nostalgic. Then the off kilter drums come in and it becomes a bit awkward.

The synthetic fireworks and militaristic snare rolls make for an amusing sound painting.

tonedef71 · Post by **tonedef71** » Mon Jul 08, 2019 3:05 pm

Thank you for the candid feedback. It is always interesting to hear the initial impressions from other folks about what works and what does not.

Bansaw wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 11:37 pm Liked the fireworks at the end, nice touch.
Interesting to hear something unique.
Little too much distortion/saturation 0:20 > for me.

Regarding the saturation, I did not really notice it on the cans I mixed with. I probably should have rolled off some of the high end. I wonder if something like that is best smoothed out during the mixing stage, or better left to the mastering process.

Frantz wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 2:31 am It starts warm and nostalgic. Then the off kilter drums come in and it becomes a bit awkward.

The synthetic fireworks and militaristic snare rolls make for an amusing sound painting.

At what point do the drums sound out of whack: right from the very start (because they are wrong for the track), or at a certain moments in the track (more breakdowns needed)?

Originally, the track was devoid of drums with the exception of the snare roll cadence at the end. I added the organic drum kit parts to give the track more propulsion and to provide a better sense of transition between the parts.

Frantz · Post by **Frantz** » Mon Jul 08, 2019 4:13 pm

tonedef71 wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 3:05 pm At what point do the drums sound out of whack: right from the very start (because they are wrong for the track), or at a certain moments in the track

Things first sound strange at 0:38. Perhaps the bass line and drums are not meshing?

tonedef71 · Post by **tonedef71** » Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:24 pm

Frantz wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 4:13 pm
tonedef71 wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 3:05 pm At what point do the drums sound out of whack: right from the very start (because they are wrong for the track), or at a certain moments in the track
Things first sound strange at 0:38. Perhaps the bass line and drums are not meshing?

Hmm... I'm not sure. I thought I had heard something sound a bit off at 0:45, but it was gone on subsequent playback. I think that streaming playback via the internet may suffer from inconsistency at times.