Celadon (Seismic Hybrid Ambient Cinematica)

[seismic1]

Since you made these comments, I changed the EQ of the synth between 1:07-1:15, and also made a further cut to the synth volume level at 9:14

Much better! The issues have been fixed.

Thanks very much for checking out the latest mix, Frantz I plan to revisit this again, maybe next year, when the album that this is scheduled for release on hits the final mix stage.

[seismic1]

For some this might induce sadness or beauty, or just anxiety for others, like me.

Great music either way to have that effect.


-- although i recall a time when i would just be amused.

That's right! Music makes me either anxious or amused!

Somber, gloomy, dark, doomy, scary are some of the descriptors I've seen in this thread, and I have to say that I agree with them.

Anxiety isn't something I thought about consciously when I put this together, but with everything that's happened in the last 30 months, it must have been a significant contributory factor in its creation. I hope you have had sufficient time to recover

Pre-2012, a large proportion of the tracks I made were more conventional in structure, many of them featuring upbeat rhythms and, in a few cases, melodies that might stick for a while. I'm still trying to figure out why that changed. It's surely not related to the Olympic Games

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, trewq

[seismic1]

Very interesting piece.
Full of emotional depth, both complex and unpredictable.
There is an honesty to the emotion that his hard to achieve as a musician.
I really like how it evolves into a more melodic, and evolution of the overall feeling.
One note, the lead melodic line in the last part gets a bit loud and bright.
Very well done!

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen, and for the great comments, PatchAdamz. Glad you liked it

I found a problem in my ACE rack in Mulab. I had accidentally disabled the EQ! I have re-enabled it and reduced the volume by 3dB, to make that synth a little quieter (and cleaned up its sound a little, too). I replaced the track on Soundcloud with the new mix.

Nice to see you take a meticulous approach to your tunes.
Now if we can just get soundcloud to reproduce the tunes more transparently....

I think meticulous would be better replaced with erratic

It would be great if SoundCloud upped their streaming bitrate for Pro subscribers to 160kbps or higher. Other platforms are offering higher rates.

[ChameleonMusic]

Creates a strikingly dark, ominous atmosphere from the very first few notes.

Melodically I think one reason it works very well is the contrary motion - the combination of ascending & descending motifs.

Some wonderful, slowly evolving textures and well judged sound combos.

9 mins 20 secs or so - loved the more hopeful vibe here from the harmonic shift + uplifting Vangelis-style lead sound (maybe very slightly too loud above the mix? Not sure)

The whole thing has a warped Baroque feel to it at times - I kept 'hearing' ghostly snippets of JS Bach behind the scenes!

Film music - yeah, I agree with that idea, but it stands on it's own for me as well.

[seismic1]

Creates a strikingly dark, ominous atmosphere from the very first few notes.

Melodically I think one reason it works very well is the contrary motion - the combination of ascending & descending motifs.

Some wonderful, slowly evolving textures and well judged sound combos.

This piece came together quite quickly, and with more than a smidgin of synchronicity. I fired up Absynth for the first time in ages, and loaded one of the V4 patches which immediately suggested 1975 TD vibes to me and started from there. I added another 4 Absynth patches, and everything seemed to flow quite naturally (for a change). I was feeling quite disillusioned and disoriented by the events of the previous 30 months, so the mood of music reflected that quite strongly. The wavering, descending 'tron line at the beginning was probably influenced by Jerry Goldsmith's 1979 Alien soundtrack, so this was never going to be a cheerful, singalong

9 mins 20 secs or so - loved the more hopeful vibe here from the harmonic shift + uplifting Vangelis-style lead sound (maybe very slightly too loud above the mix? Not sure)

That lead synth is U-He's ACE. The original version of this had that lead synth 5dB louder After a couple of comments, I decided to cut it by 3dB, but it still seemed too loud so I cut it again. I think you're right. It's still too loud. When I remix this for the album, I'll cut it further.

The whole thing has a warped Baroque feel to it at times - I kept 'hearing' ghostly snippets of JS Bach behind the scenes!

...and I thought Brandenburg was a multi-coloured cake

Film music - yeah, I agree with that idea, but it stands on it's own for me as well.

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, Mark. Glad you liked it

[PatchAdamz]

"That lead synth is U-He's ACE"

I really like ACE, especially for bass.

[ChameleonMusic]

ABSYNTH...

That's a synth I should investigate a lot more...it's capable of so much!

[seismic1]

"That lead synth is U-He's ACE"

I really like ACE, especially for bass.

It seems to be very versatile. I've used it for leads, pads and bass.

[seismic1]

ABSYNTH...

That's a synth I should investigate a lot more...it's capable of so much!

I think you'd enjoy it. A lot of the factory patches are very inspiring, and are worth exploring using pitch and note-length variations. A veritable Smörgåsbord of options. Jan is a big fan of Absynth.

[ChameleonMusic]

ABSYNTH...

That's a synth I should investigate a lot more...it's capable of so much!

I think you'd enjoy it. A lot of the factory patches are very inspiring, and are worth exploring using pitch and note-length variations. A veritable Smörgåsbord of options. Jan is a big fan of Absynth.

Finally spent a couple of hours starting to get to grips with some of the depth of this one - yep, definitely worth it! Yeah, I remember Jan mentioning it a few times!

[seismic1]

ABSYNTH...

That's a synth I should investigate a lot more...it's capable of so much!

I think you'd enjoy it. A lot of the factory patches are very inspiring, and are worth exploring using pitch and note-length variations. A veritable Smörgåsbord of options. Jan is a big fan of Absynth.

Finally spent a couple of hours starting to get to grips with some of the depth of this one - yep, definitely worth it! Yeah, I remember Jan mentioning it a few times!

I'm looking forward to hearing the results of your research