Return to the Glass Cliff (Seismic Placidity)

[seismic1]

Really like this a lot. Well balanced.

I hope that the "balanced" comment can be explained by better choices I'm making in the selection of sounds, and improvements in the way I'm mixing this stuff. At least, I hope it can

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

[seismic1]

Really nice atmosphere. Very spacious and warm sounding.

"Spacious and warm" would certainly apply to the place that inspired this piece, (which can be seen in the image later on this page).

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

[seismic1]

Quite meditative, and relaxing, I love the bells!
The tranquil vibe is so loved.
You are a very creative composer, very nice mix, and superb use of your synth collection.
Thank you for this beauty.

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen, and for your great comments, Rene. Glad you enjoyed it

[seismic1]

Really nice timbres. The pad evolves nicely, especially when the first drums section comes in. The bass is subtle and warm. Great soundstage.

The pad is made up of a Dune2 synth patch, 3 Spitfire LABS instances, and a SynthMaster V2 bell patch (and later, an Iris vocal sample processed through Audacity). They're all soaked in reverb along with the Absynth bells. The bass synth is a lightly-tweaked preset from Ultra Analog VA-2. As with many simple bass patches, I think it sounds more impressive as part of a mix than as a solo instrument.

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, eassae. Glad you liked it

All those layers really make it rich. I love Dune 2, I've been using it a ton lately. I have Iris, but I haven't really delved into it yet.

I seem to be doing a lot more "pad" construction over the last 3 years or so. It's quite therapeutic. I usually throw a couple of likely sounds together at the beginning of a composition to see what sticks, and then build on it a little as a piece of music develops. It may not be the most scientific way to do it, but it seems to be working. I bought Dune3 36 months ago, and can't recall using it yet. Iris is great for adding extra layers to pads, but some of the Spitfire LABS freebies will do a great job too.

I'm currently playing with some granular stuff, which is quite interesting.

[eassae]

I seem to be doing a lot more "pad" construction over the last 3 years or so. It's quite therapeutic. I usually throw a couple of likely sounds together at the beginning of a composition to see what sticks, and then build on it a little as a piece of music develops. It may not be the most scientific way to do it, but it seems to be working. I bought Dune3 36 months ago, and can't recall using it yet. Iris is great for adding extra layers to pads, but some of the Spitfire LABS freebies will do a great job too.

I'm currently playing with some granular stuff, which is quite interesting.

Cool. Pad sound design is something I've been focusing on more over the past six months as well. It's kind of one of those elements that you can take for granted in music—or at least you can if you don't do a lot of ambient music—but is very challenging especially when you get into it, and start listening deeper.

Dune 3 is great. I think I have at least 3 instances of it on every track anymore. PhasePlant just introduced it's granular engine. I've played around with it a bit, but haven't come up with anything great with it yet. Still learning.

[VCA-089]

Another cool, meditative track to get calm after another disturbing day. The percussion layers are really nice, adding a little bit of movement to the texture.

The thing that bothers me a little is a singing bowl (a bell like sound) that is panned hard left and very dry, almost like playing in another room. It is a bit distracting when listening in headphones.

[PatchAdamz]

Nice relaxing and meditative tune full of presence.
Clear recording, your production is evolving very nicely.
The drums are very nice, both musically and sonically.

Excellent track!

[seismic1]

Really nice soundscape with warm sounds. Well done. Personally i am not the biggest fan of some of the glass/bell sounds (like the one at 1:34). In comparison to the warm and wide sounds it feels almost a bit "harsh". But that is a personal thing... Best part for me is the part with the drums and the deep warm base. But overall it is great piece and a good listen!

The bass patch is a slightly tweaked factory sound from AAS Ultra Analog VA-2 and the percussion at 6:46 is Chromaphone 2. It's a simple combination that seems to work quite well.

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, tomtom1. Glad you liked it

I'm going to take a look/listen to the straight bell-sound in the left channel in the next few days. My current thinking is to move some of that bell toward the right channel and decrease the overall volume. I may also have to adjust the right channel FX'd bell too, but that may not be necessary.

[Allomerus]

I like this a lot Tim. It has great space to breathe. The infrequent bells add nicely to the feeling and add some tension with their dissonant harmonics. The human sounding pad is gorgeous. The percussion is just right too.

Well done!

[sbj]

Very nice atmospheric vibe and the "New Age" flavor is really pleasant.

Enjoyed

Cheers

[seismic1]

I think this is your most accessible track in quite some time and it is also very good. Minimal, relaxing, and contemplative.

Make the most of it while you can I have some new stuff on the way in July which is almost certainly less "mainstream" than this one.

The pads and percussion are a sonic treat, especially the percussion.

Some of that percussion was Tremor, which seems to be frequently associated with EDM. It did take a "background" role here.

I like the bells but they are very upfront and clangy. Harshing my mellow, duuude. Maybe push them a little further back in the mix?

I just uploaded a new mix, with the bell-synth panned more towards the centre, and a -5dB volume cut. I think it's a little less jarring.

Very nice work.

Thanks very much for listening and commenting, Frantz. Glad you liked it

[Frantz]

I just uploaded a new mix, with the bell-synth panned more towards the centre, and a -5dB volume cut. I think it's a little less jarring.

Bells in original mix =
Bells in new mix = Perfect

Make the most of it while you can I have some new stuff on the way in July which is almost certainly less "mainstream" than this one.

Oh noes, more parallel sequences??

[jwnicholson]

Beautiful. I loved listen to the pad with the bell, and then the percussion kicked in. I really enjoyed it.

[seismic1]

I seem to be doing a lot more "pad" construction over the last 3 years or so. It's quite therapeutic. I usually throw a couple of likely sounds together at the beginning of a composition to see what sticks, and then build on it a little as a piece of music develops. It may not be the most scientific way to do it, but it seems to be working. I bought Dune3 36 months ago, and can't recall using it yet. Iris is great for adding extra layers to pads, but some of the Spitfire LABS freebies will do a great job too.

I'm currently playing with some granular stuff, which is quite interesting.

Cool. Pad sound design is something I've been focusing on more over the past six months as well. It's kind of one of those elements that you can take for granted in music—or at least you can if you don't do a lot of ambient music—but is very challenging especially when you get into it, and start listening deeper.

Dune 3 is great. I think I have at least 3 instances of it on every track anymore. PhasePlant just introduced it's granular engine. I've played around with it a bit, but haven't come up with anything great with it yet. Still learning.

My next few tracks feature very little (or possibly nothing) in the way of pad design, although use of reverb can go a little way towards "faking it". I've also been playing around with some granular stuff recently, but don't have PhasePlant. I bought Pigments a few months before PhasePlant got its granular expansion, and I still need to justify buying Pigments

[seismic1]

Another cool, meditative track to get calm after another disturbing day. The percussion layers are really nice, adding a little bit of movement to the texture.

Thanks very much for taking the time to listen and comment, VCA-089. This is probably the most "chilled-out" piece I have ever written. Glad you enjoyed it, and glad it was able to provide some relaxing vibes after a difficult day

The thing that bothers me a little is a singing bowl (a bell like sound) that is panned hard left and very dry, almost like playing in another room. It is a bit distracting when listening in headphones.

I remixed the track and re-uploaded it just over a week ago, with the bell-synth panned more towards the centre, and a -5dB volume cut. I think it's a little less jarring.