Et in Arcadia ego (ElectroProg/Dark Ambient - Seismic Shadows)

[seismic1]

Love this! (as I have already said ) . Beautifully dark atmosphere and very well produced. Great work Tim

Thanks very much for the listen and great comments, jb. Glad you liked it

My tracks usually come together without a plan, and that often works out quite well for me.

This time, I made a conscious decision to create a track in a minimal style (a small amount of instruments, and actual notes too), in order to link two other tracks on the album I just completed. I was relying heavily on the reverb instances to build the atmosphere, and I think they did a pretty good job.

The EQ session took 8 hours, involving routing changes, different EQ plugins, EnergyXT's built-in EQ and 3 different amp/speaker combos, but it was informative and strangely therapeutic.

[seismic1]

Glad you finally finished something new. To be honest, given the length of the piece, I wasn't going to listen. With all the music I've done in my life, I can count on one hand the number of tracks I've done over 8 minutes long. The problem with long pieces like this is you never know what to expect or where they're going to go. After 3 minutes, it was obvious that this wasn't going to offer much in the way of change. By 4 minutes I was pretty bored.

I get that there are folks really into this ambient stuff (I'm assuming that's what this is called) but I need a little more variety in my music. Even if it's unmusical chaos, just to break up the monotony.

I have heard 8 minute tracks (mostly various trance genres) that I've found very interesting. And of course old prog rock with its constant changes, which is one of my favorite genres. But this stuff does absolutely nothing for me. Not because the soundscape itself isn't nice, because those instruments, on their own, sound pretty good. But musically, it's like listening to paint dry. For me anyway. I have no doubt that, because of the beauty of the sounds itself, you will get many comments along the lines of "Wow, that was amazing!"

I just need more than nice sounds.

Please feel free to completely disregard my comments as they are totally meaningless anyway.

But congrats on finishing something.

My problem over the last 21 months was principally related to being unable to make any new music (lack of time), as opposed to being unable to complete it, although I may not have been too clear on that point.

That is a scathing review. You didn't want to listen, got bored whilst listening, found it monotonous, and likened it to listening to paint drying.

If your comments were meaningless, better to put your brain in gear before posting.

Maybe I should call it a day

My friend, if you're looking for people to just say "Great Job!" and give you a maybe you should post that requirement along with your composition.

Now you're just being silly.

I gave you an honest review.

This may be true.

I don't think it was all that scathing.

Taken in the context of being a meaningless comment, I would agree, but if the comment was meaningless, why make it? Three paragraphs - really?

In fact, musically, it was quite accurate. Your piece had very little development. And for an 8 minute piece to have very little development, that can feel like an eternity to those not into this stuff.

My goal when writing this piece was to "keep it simple", and I think I succeeded there, although I agonised over the addition of the marimba, wondering whether I had exceeded my brief. I wanted the track to convey the hopelessness of the discovery of the tomb. I can appreciate the irony of your use of the word eternity in this context.

To summarise, this track is a combination of sound assembly and fairly minimal melodic "excitement".

If you prefer me not to comment on anymore of your music, just say so and I will stay out of your threads. I have no problem doing that.

I wouldn't dream of censoring you, or encouraging your silence. That would be churlish and unethical.

[seismic1]

Brooding, heavy atmospheric piece. The thematic repetition gets a bit long in the tooth, but it's offset nicely by the evolving orchestration. Good work, and good to hear that you're productive again.

Best,

dp

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, Dave

It isn't my favourite melodic motif, by a long way, but I think it helped me to capture the feeling of intense despair that the painting conveyed to me.

[seismic1]

Very well ! It is broad and dark as unconsciousness itself. Very slowly opening and consuming you. I liked it a lot !

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, Jiri. That description is very close to what I was aiming for. Glad you liked it

[ChameleonMusic]

Fits the underlying theme of the painting very well...I sat staring at it whilst listening!

I am such a sad bastard!

Loved the slow build and subtle rise and fall...mix is highly appropriate to the chosen soundscape as well.

Personally, I would have liked a few more parts in the higher frequency ranges for at least some of the piece, but maybe they weren't appropriate here?

Did you know that Arcadia has a unique Greek Alphabet letter - told you I was a sad bastard!

[htcnext2]

Sadness indeed! A cinematic approach, maybe sound without pictures. Stripped down to minimal happenings. Nice work.

Well, sadness could be the wrong term for a description of this track. It evolves very slowly, so you have to get into it. An appealing piece of ambience, eventually.

[mystahr]

This had so many opportunities of taking left or right turns and adding or upping ante’s.
Yet you chose to stick with the simplicity (devious that may be) underscoring the depth of that brooding and chilled sensation. And in kepping it simple you accomplished what oft is strived for, but rarely found.
Very very good. Here’s to also starting new stuff (which also gets finished).

Do nudge when the 4-track is complete. I’d love a full listen.

[seismic1]

.

Maybe I should call it a day

dont you f**king dare.
ignore wags, only one comment was everything you needed "not for me"
anything after that was irrelevant.

look at it this way

a man walks in to a room, a man is doing something...
several people seem interested.

"i have no idea what it is you are doing"

shouts the newcomer.

"as i dont understand it im going to tear it down" he continues

"i shall judge it against things i do understand, even though this is nothing like them"


"hey, its your fault i dont know what im talking about" he adds defensively, "if you only want comments based on some knowledge of the subject, you should say so" he finishes and leaves. safe in the knowledge, yet again he is the victim.


the man in the room, and those who are still listening, look up and ask as one "did anyone hear something?"

This post would not have been out of place in one of my favourite TV series from bygone days

Kwai Chang Caine

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

[seismic1]

.

Maybe I should call it a day

dont you f**king dare.

Maybe you should listen to vurt

I was. Last night

[seismic1]

Have we all become so sensitive that we can't even take criticism of our work?

I can only speak for myself, and couldn't really answer this.

I didn't insult him personally.

True.

I commented on his music.

True.

Even another person in this thread commented that it was terribly repetitious and yet nobody gets on his case.

I must have missed that one. My eyesight isn't what it used to be, and I'm a bit long in the tooth.

[seismic1]

lovely piece.
kept getting "high above a pine forest, looking down. we see the tell tale snaking of a road.
zoom down till we are following a black sudan..."
shades of badalamenti and snow influences

When I read that I immediately thought of the opening credits from The Shining, although I think it was a yellow VW and Wendy Carlos

see, if you give up now, that could be the opening scene of a murder mystery.
when a strange wizard looking bloke attacks a keyboard player in a church for no apparent reason. then disappears from a locked room in custody

You've given away the story. Spoilers

my one complaint, some idiot decided half one in the morning was a good time to listen
i feel it may have warranted some amplitude at my end

The last thing I do with each of my tracks before putting them on SoundCloud is a "high-volume" audition, just to wake up the furniture.

Thanks very much for the great comments, and for listening. Glad you enjoyed it

[seismic1]

The sound of ghosts trapped in another plane of existence longing to reach those they left behind in this world. This is gloomy as f*ck and that's a good thing in my book.

These comments are extremely close to what I was trying to express with this track, in terms of the album's storyline. There was a "gap" between The Crossing and The Entropy Clause, and I felt that this track managed to fill it whilst linking those two pieces together.

I enjoyed the slow build. I love the higher ghostly voices that gradually joined in.

It actually could have been longer. The mix was very good. Great job overall!

I see this transitions quite nicely into "The Entropy Clause" on your EP https://whatsisname.bandcamp.com/album/faders-2

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, Frantz, and I hope that you're "enjoying" the album

[seismic1]

Excellent ambient Tim. It does what ambient is meant to do: sound good and be a subtle presence in the background, which I like. It is very soothing to me but with a bit of an edge. Builds nicely at the end!
Well done!

Thanks very much for listening, and for the great comments, John. Glad you enjoyed it

I find that striking the right balance between subtlety/edginess can be a challenge.

[seismic1]

I wanted to slash my wrists by the end of the track....in a good way.

Thanks very much for the partially disconcerting comments, and for listening

Simple, but effective.

Job done

[Pacific05]

Excellent track.
Bravo