Drama

[Paulieworld]

Created on an iPad Pro using some inexpensive apps, a stylus, and some halfway decent headphones. I wrote this for my wife. She likes a little drama now and then. We just subscribed to a new cable service that features “chick flicks” and she is determined to see them all. No football for you!

https://soundcloud.com/paulieworld/drama

[wagtunes]

Sounds good. Kept my interest all the way through with the constant arrangement modulations. My only criticism is the volume level. I'd maybe tick it up a few notches. It's a little on the soft side, even for this type of track. Otherwise, good job.

[enroe]

Yes, it's always amazing what's possible even on an iPad. This song, "Drama,"
becomes truly dramatic when the electric guitar enters at 1:12. But then it
quickly reverts to a more epic, dreamy quality. The song could easily be a
film score—an underscoring of highly dynamic content. The chimes at the
end bring in a Christmassy atmosphere. The ending itself, however, is
unusual.

Overall: A great, diverse, dynamic, and even dramatic instrumental!

[Paulieworld]

Sounds good. Kept my interest all the way through with the constant arrangement modulations. My only criticism is the volume level. I'd maybe tick it up a few notches. It's a little on the soft side, even for this type of track. Otherwise, good job.

I think you are right about that. I wanted to have that one drum hit really stand out without clipping. However, the rest of the track suffered because of it. I remixed it a bit, but I think I was able to keep the keep the overall dynamic range that I wanted. I could probably run this thru one of my many mastering apps, but those never really gave me the results they promised. In any case, I think it’s a bit better now.

[Paulieworld]

Yes, it's always amazing what's possible even on an iPad. This song, "Drama,"
becomes truly dramatic when the electric guitar enters at 1:12. But then it
quickly reverts to a more epic, dreamy quality. The song could easily be a
film score—an underscoring of highly dynamic content. The chimes at the
end bring in a Christmassy atmosphere. The ending itself, however, is
unusual.

Overall: A great, diverse, dynamic, and even dramatic instrumental!

Thank you! I just remixed it and took out that unusual ending. Ironically, I was just reading an article about fade-outs. The author made some good points, both pro and con. On the con side, he said that they make the composer seem lazy or like he couldn’t come up with a proper ending. On the pro side, he said they were appropriate if the subject represented an ongoing thing. Drama is certainly an ongoing thing, especially in these current times.

[DCrown]

Sounds good. Kept my interest all the way through with the constant arrangement modulations. My only criticism is the volume level. I'd maybe tick it up a few notches. It's a little on the soft side, even for this type of track. Otherwise, good job.

Sounds good the way it is.
I would give only a good piece of advise if I knew what I am talking about.
You have some really good songs.
I just listened to your I cant dance song, I like the song, but you didn't give the mix what it deserves, you killed the vibe by overuse of compression and limiter, such a song needs to breathe and needs space for dynamics.
You believe in louder is better, don't you?
And maybe think about whether it is necessary to use a compressor on every track, especially on vocals!
LUFS less than -10 only for a few genres imo, but you can do it the way it makes you happy, of course, there are songs with -5 LUFS that could sound better -11 LUFS, well, loudness war obviously will never end.

[wagtunes]

Sounds good. Kept my interest all the way through with the constant arrangement modulations. My only criticism is the volume level. I'd maybe tick it up a few notches. It's a little on the soft side, even for this type of track. Otherwise, good job.

Sounds good the way it is.
I would give only a good piece of advise if I knew what I am talking about.
You have some really good songs.
I just listened to your I cant dance song, I like the song, but you didn't give the mix what it deserves, you killed the vibe by overuse of compression and limiter, such a song needs to breathe and needs space for dynamics.
You believe in louder is better, don't you?
And maybe think about whether it is necessary to use a compressor on every track, especially on vocals!
LUFS less than -10 only for a few genres imo, but you can do it the way it makes you happy, of course, there are songs with -5 LUFS that could sound better -11 LUFS, well, loudness war obviously will never end.

You know, you're the first person who has ever said this to me. Until now, everybody was " compress, compress, compress, loud, loud, loud." So that's how I produce my songs. I'd like to discuss this with you in more detail but I don't want to derail this thread. So okay, when do you not compress and limit? When do you do it? I assume for dance tracks you do. But what about hard rock tracks? Hard rock is usually pretty loud but does it have to be compressed. And if not, how do you get it loud without compressing it?

Again, don't want to derail this thread. If you want to PM me, cool. If you'd rather not be bothered, that's cool too. I'm always up for learning new things.

[Paulieworld]

When I first started this journey, I read a lot of articles written by experts. I bought 4 or 5 different mastering apps, each guaranteeing that they would make my music perfect. After a while, I just decided to listen with my own ears. I don't "master" anything anymore. That was more appropriate when music was intended to be pressed into vinyl. Now I just look at the waveshape in AudioShare and make sure it doesn't touch the top or bottom of the graph... except for a few metal tracks where the effect was appropriate for that type of material. I always keep the volume on my iPad set the same, and set levels to something that sounds good to me. I confess that I use compression much more than necessary. It can be an easy fix if you are getting burned out after listening to the same thing over and over. My current thinking is much the way I drive my car. If I'm going too slow... just pass me. If my track is too quiet... turn it up. The world is becoming louder and louder every day, but I'm not getting anything from it, except a headache. Don't misunderstand, I am always eager to listen to other opinions. This particular track is a good example. At first I liked that weird explosion at the end. But, after putting it down for a few days, I came back and decided it couldn't stand it anymore and got rid of it. That's the great thing about this current technology. 30 years ago I would have been stuck with it forever.

Anyway, thank you for listening, and please feel free to chime in about anything that might improve my so-called "music". I was a legitimate musician back in my day. I have perfect pitch, sight read quite well, and have musical photographic memory. I was a very "competent" pianist and bassist, and was always playing in one band or another. Now I am just too old to be bothered with the travel, late hours, rehearsals, crazy people and everything associated with live playing. Now I can just sit in my comfy chair and write all the parts to my hearts content. If I decide I don't like something... BAM... it's gone. I know I will never play in front of an audience again and I'm okay with that. It was great fun at the time and I have some wonderful memories (and a few I would rather forget).

Happy New Year!